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i 



l^arbarti College libtavs 


1 


FROM THE GIFT OF 


1 


WILLIAM ENDICOTT, jR. 




(Out of in?) 




OF BOSTON 






h 









) 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF TBB 



CLIFTON ANTIQUARIAN CLUB 



FOR 1884-88. 



PEOOEEDINGS 



OF THE 



Clifton Antiquarian Club 



FOR 1884-88. 



VOL. I. 



EDITED BY 

ALFRED E. HUDD, F.S.A., 

Hon. Secretary, 



LP? 



Priitted for the Club by J. WEIGHT & C0.» Stone Bbidge. 



1988. 



^y^ V\sZ 



NOV 17 1921 ^^ 






TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

PiBST Meeting, Rules, &c. ------ 1-3 

Anglo-Nobman Doobways. By John Taylob, Bristol City Librarian 4-11 

On the Ck>N8TBUCT0BS OF Stanton Dbew Cibcles, Maes Knoll 

Gamp, and the Wansdykb. By John Beddoe, M.D., P.R.S., Ac. 12-13 

The Megalithic Remains at Stanton Dbew. By the Rev. H. T. 

Pebpect, M.A. - • - - • - - 14-17 

On some Abchitbctubal Remains of Deebhubst Pbioby Chubch. 

By Thomas S, Pope, Architect ----- 18-21 

Notes on the Eably Histoby of Deebhubst. By the Rev. Geobge 

BUTTEBWOBTH, M.A. ------- 22-26 

The Saxon Chapel Recently Discovebed at Deebhubst. By 

Alfbed E. Hudd, F.S.A. .-.-.. 27-32 

On Old Cabved Chests. By Thomas S. Pope, Architect • - 33-38 

Medlsval Abmoub. By Lieut.-Col. J. R. Bbamble, F.S.A., Hon. 

Treasurer -------- 39-50 

Ancient Bbistol Documents. No. I. Bristol Local Act of Parlia- 
ment passed during the Protectorate, for Levying Rates for main- 
tenance of Ministers, and granting St. Ewen's Church for a Public 
Library. With Notes. Communicated by Lieut.-Col. J. R. 
Bbamble, F.S.A. ....... 61-57 

On the Roman Road between Bath and Caebwent. By Alfbed 

T. Mabtin, M.A. .----.. 58-66 

Pbogeedinos of the Club, 1884-85 . - . . . 67-83 

Old Ibon-Wobk in the West of England. By Thomas S. Pope, 

Architect ........ 85-91 

On an Ancient Cope at Yatton, Somebset. By Lieut.-Col. J. R. 

Bbamble, F.S.A. ...-.-. 92-95 

Cubiosities of Pabish Registebs. By John Taylob, Bristol City 

Librarian ...----- 96-103 

The Human Remains fbom the Stonby Littleton Long Babbow. 

By John Beddoe, M.D., F.R.S., &o. - - - - 104-108 

On a Romano-Bbitish Intebment Discovebed at Fabmbobough, 

Somebset. By Alfbed E. Hudd, F.S.A., Hon. Sec. - - 109-113 

Notes on Ancient Nobwegian Wooden Chubches, with notices of 
similar early structures in Qreat Britain and Ireland. By Fbancis 
Fox TucKETT, F.R.G.S. ..--.. 114-129 

Recent Excavations at Silbuby Hill. By Alfbed C. Pass - 130*135 

Ancient Bbistol Documents. No. II. A curious Deed belonging 

to the Parish of St. Mary-le-Port. With Notes, and - - 136-141 

No. III. From the records of St. Nicholas Church. With Notes. 
Communicated by Lieut.-Col. J. R. Bbamble, F.S.A. - - 142-150 

Ancient Bbistol Documents. No. IV. On some Old Deeds belonging 
to the Church of St. Thomas, Bristol. With Notes. Communicated 
by the Rev. Chas. S. Taylob, Vicar ----- 151-155 

Pboceedings of the Club, 1886 --*.•• 156-168 



VI 



CONTENTS. 



Ancient Bqistol Documents. No. V. From the Beoords of St. Mary- 

le-Port. With Notes. Communicated by Lieut. -Col. J. R.Bbamble, 

P.S.A., V.P. 

Notes on Old Bristol Houses. By Thomas S. Pope, Aichiteot 
Cheddab Ghubch, Somersetshire. By the Rev. J. Coleman, M.A., 

Vicar --------- 

The Church op St. Mary the Virgin, Wedmore. By Lieut. -Col. 

J. R. Bramble, F.S.A., V.P. - . - 

Ancient Bristol Documents. No. VI. Regulations of the Vestry of 

St. Thomas in 1563. Communicated by the Rev. C. S. Taylor, 

Vicar. With Notes. No. VII., Regulations of the Vestry of St. 

Stephen in 1524. Communicated by Alderman F. F. Fox. With 

Notes by the Rev. C. S. Taylor, M.A. . - - - 

On Some Optical Peculiarities op Ancient Painted Glass. By 

Francis F. Tuckett, F.R.G.S. ----- 

The Commerce op Bristol in the 14th and 15th Centuries. By 

John Latimer- ------- 

A Descriptive Catalogue op some Remarkable Copes. By the 

Hon. and Rev. Walter I. Clifford, S.J. - 
Appendix. Notes on the Stitches employed in the Embroidery of the 

Copes. By Mrs. M. E. Baqnall-Oakeley - - - - 

The Misereres in Bristol Cathedral. By Robert Hall Warren 
Notes on the 18th Century Lady Chapel op Bristol Cathedral. 

By Thomas S. Pope, Architect . - - - - 

Th3 Hospital op St. Katherine, Brightbow, Bedminster. By 

Alfred E. Hudd, F.S.A., Hon. Sec. . - - - 

Proceedings op the Club, 1887-88 - - - - - 

Index, Societies, Members, Rules, &c. . - . - 



page 

169-171 
172-174 

175-177 

178-192 



193-206 

207-216 

217-228 

229-238 

238-240 
241-250 

251-256 

257-276 
277-296 
297-304 



LIST OF ILLUSTHATIONS. 



PLATE 

</ I. — Double Triangular-headed Saxon Window at Deerhurst, with details. 

From a drawing by J. G. Buckler, Architect, 
yil. — The Saxon Chapel at Deerhurst, Plan, Chancel-arch, Window, North 
Door, Dedication Stone, Impost of Arch, &c. 
"^III. — Old Carved Chests at Deerhurst, Mark, and Lechlade. 
V IV. — Ditto, at Chippenham Church. 
^ V. — Ditto, from Highworth, Lyme Begis, Ac. 

/ VI. — Illustrations of MedisBval Armour, from Monumental Brasses at Trump- 

ington (A.D. 1280) ; Stoke d'Abemoun (1327) ; Strensham (c. 1390) ; 

Cheddar (1442); Cirencester (1462); Hutton (1496); ChurchUl (1672). 

•'VII. — Plan of the Koman Station at Sea Mills, reduced from the Ordnance 

Map. Plan of Abona (Sea Mills), from Seyer*s, Bristol, 
yVIll, — Long Ashton Church, N.E., and Tithe Bam; from drawings by Mr. 
Roland W. Paul. 
^ IX. — Stanton Drew, Parsonage, and Old Bridge; and "Church House," 
Chew Magna ; from drawings by Mr. R. W. Paul. 
v^ X. — Stanton Drew, Church, West ; ditto, N.E. ; Plan, and Font. 

\ Old Iron- work at, 1, Wedmore ; 2, Cirencester ; 3, Huntspill ; 4, Hawks- 
bury ; 5, Moorlinch ; 6, Portishoad ; 7 and 10, Portbury ; 8, Little 
^Xl, Sodbury; 9, East Brent; 11, Lyme Regis; 12, Westonzoyland ; 

/ Xn. V 13, Whitchurch : 14, Berkeley ; 15, Cromhall ; 16, Cromhall ; 17, 
/XIII. Axmouth ; 18, Langley Burrell ; 20, Christ Church, Bristol ; 21, St. 

John's, Bristol ; 22, Kempsford ; 24, Somerford Keynes ; 24, 
Inglesham. 

/XIV. — Norwegian Wooden Churches. Church of Borgund, Laerdal; Church 
of Hitterdal, Thelemarken ; and Plan. Church of Umaes, Sognef jord. 
yXV. — ^Details of Wood Carving from the Churches of Urnaes, Borgund, and 
Hitterdal, Norway. 
y XVI.— Plan of Recent Excavations at Silbury Hill (1886). 
y XVII.— Sections of ditto. Worked Flint found in Shaft No. 6. 
y XVHL— Old Woodwork in a Cellar, 43, High Street, Bristol ; 2, Angle-post, St. 

Peter's Street ; 3, Norman Pillar in Nelson Street : 4, Crypt, 22, 
High Street. From drawings by T. S. Pope, Architect. 

/ XIX. \ 

'I Scenes from the History of Reynard the Fox, from the Miserere 

/ mcj ( Carvings in Bristol Cathedral. 

y XXII.— Remains of Norman South Aisle of St. Augustine's Abbey Church. 
Drawn, from a Photograph taken during the building of the New 
Nave of Bristol Cathedral, by Mr. Roland W. Paul. 
^ XXIII. — St. Eatherine's Hospital, Bedminster. 1, '* The Guest House," S. side, 

from a Drawing by the Rev. J. Qbaitt ; 2, Ground Plan ; 8, 15th 
Century Capital, from a Drawing by Mr. Pope; 4, The Guest 
HousC) N. side, from a Drawing by Rev. E. Leslie. 



EREATA. 



On p. 35, 1. 7, for Sittem read Sitten. 
„ p. 64, 1. 3 from bottom, fonr Westward read Eastward. 

„ p. 127, last line, for St. Wodlas read St. Woolas. 

„ p. 136, 1. 6, for 1885 read 1884. 

„ p. 149, 1; 6, /or Planyrs read Flauyrs (flowers). 

p. 166, 1. 8 from bottom, the inscription on the seal of Bruton school reads — 

The Sealle of the Skolle of Bbew, in Latin capitals, not Old English, 

as printed. 



tf 



^roreetrfngsf of tf)t 



Clifton ^ntiqnnvinn Clitli, 



1884—5. 



FIRST MEETING. 



On January 23rd, 1884, a meeting took place at the Bristol 
Museum and Library, which was attended by the following gentle- 
men: The Hon. and Bight Rev. Bishop CliflFord, Rev.B. H. Blacker, 
Lieut-Col. J. R. Bramble, Dr. G. F. Burder, Dr. A. Steven, Messrs. 
J. Bush, J. Dallas, F. J. Fry, W. V. Gough, H. M. Herapath, Alfred 
E. Hudd, W. P. Hudden, Christopher James, W. E. Jones, T. 
Kerslake, Harold Lewis, A. T. Martin, T. S. Pope, P. D. Prankerd, 
S. H. Swayne, John Taylor, William Thomas, and John Williams. 
Bishop Clifford having been requested to take the chair, called 
upon Mr. A. K Hudd to read a circular letter which had been 
printed and circulated amongst archaeologists residing in Clifton 
and the neighbourhood. In this letter, which was signed by Bishop 
Clifford, Col. Bramble, Messrs. J. Bush, A. E. Hudd, T. Kerslake, 
A. C. Pass, J. Taylor, and J. Williams, it was proposed to form 
a small Society, having its head-quarters in Clifton, and consisting 
of a limited number of members, which, without interfering with 
other societies in the West of England having somewhat similar 
objects, might arrange meetings and excursions for the study and 
investigation of objects of archaeological interest in the West of 
England and South Wales. This circular having been re-ad, letters 
approving of the objects of the proposed Club, and expressing 
regret at being unable to attend the meeting were read from the 

Rev. C. S. Taylor, Lieut.-Col. Macliver, Dr. Langley, Professor 

1 



2 Clifton Antiqtuirian Cltib. 

John Rowley, Alderman F. F. Fox, and Messrs. W. Adlam, F.S.A., 
W. Edkins, J. Reynolds, C. J. Trusted, and A. C. Pass. 

On the motion of the chairman it was then unanimously re- 
solved by those present at the meeting '' That a society to be called 
' The Clifton Antiquarian Club ' be hereby formed, to consist of 
forty membera" 

The first forty members of the Club having been elected by the 
meeting, the following rules, which had been prepared by a pro- 
visional committee, were read and adopted : — 

1. — ^The Society shall be called the "Clifton Antiquarian 
Club." 

2. — The chief object of the Club shall be the investigation of 
antiquities, especially of those in the surrounding cQuntry. 

3. — The Club shall consist of not more than forty Ordinary and 
ten Honorary Members. 

4. — The Officers of the Club shall be — a President, two Vice- 
Presidents, a Treasurer, and a Secretary, all of whom shall be elected 
annually from amongst the Ordinary Members. 

5. — The affairs of the Club shall be managed by a Committee, 
consisting of the Officers and four Members to be elected annually; 
three to form a quorum. 

6. — Ordinary Members shall be elected at the Annual Meeting, 
by ballot. Candidates must be previously nominated in writing by 
two Members, and approved by the Committee : the names of all 
candidates must be sent to every Member at least seven days before 
the Annual Meeting. One adverse vote in ten shall be sufficient 
to exclude. 

7. — Honorary Members shall be elected by the unanimous vote 
of the Committee. 

8. — The Committee shall have the power of inviting not more 
than five gentlemen to attend any meeting of the Club. 

9. — ^There shall each year be two excursions, and two meetings 
for general purposes, one of which — to be held in January — ^shall 
be the Annual Meeting for the election of new Members and the 
appointment of Officera At least seven days' notice of all meet- 
ings shall be given to every Member by the Secretary. 

10. — Special Meetings may be called by the Committee. The 
Secretary shall call a Special Meeting within ten days of receiving 
a written request to that effect, specifying the object of the meet- 
ing, and signed by not less than ten membera 



Rules. 3 

11. — Each Member shall give three days' notice to the Secretary 
of his intention to join the excursion meetings, and he shall be at 
liberty to introduce a lady, subject to the same rule as regards the 
notice. The expenses of each excursion shall be defrayed by those 
who attend it, or who have signified their intention to do so to the 
Secretary. 

12. — Each Ordinary Member shall pay an Annual Subscription 
of Seven Shillings and Sixpence, which shall become due on the 
first day of January in each year, and shall be paid in advance. 

13. — Members whose subscriptions are in arrear for one year 
shall be considered as having withdrawn from the Club, if after 
application the same be not paid. 

14. — ^Any Member being absent from four consecutive meetings, 
without explaining the cause of his absence to the satisfaction of 
the Committee, shall be considered to have retired firom the 
Club. 

15. — All matters not included in the foregoing Rules shall be 
settled .by a majority of two-thirds of the Committee, provided 
that any Member may appeal from their decision to a General 
Meeting of the Club, at which the votes shall be taken by 
ballot 

The Meeting then proceeded to elect the Officers and Committee 
for the year 1884, the following being the result : 

President : The Hon. and Right Rev. Bishop Clifford. 

Vice-Presidents: John Reynolds; Alderman Francis F. Fox. 

Treasurer : Lieut-CoL James R. Bramble. 

Secretary : Alfred E. Hudd. 

Ccymmittee: Q. F. Burder, M.D., Francis J. Fry, W. E. Jones, 
Alfred C* Pass. 

Hon. Members: General John de Havilland, F.S.A., York 
Herald; John Beddoe, M.D., F.RS. 

(Elected Hon. Members of the Clab at the first meeting of the Committee.) 

The President then called upon Mr. John Taylor, to read a 
paper he had prepared for the meeting upon "Anglo-Norman 
Church Doorways," which is here printed A discussion followed 
upon the interesting subject of the lecture, and will be found 
printed in a later portion of this volume. 



Clifton Antiquarian Chib. 



^njjlo^^orman CftwrtJ 38oorbjap«« 



By JOHN TAYLOR, Bristol City Librarian. 



{Read January 23r</, 1884.; 

In his novel " He Knew he was Right," Mr. Anthony TroUope 
represents a gallant colonel, one of the leading characters of the 
fiction, as blinding the real object of his visit to a country village, 
by giving out that he is attracted to the place by curiosity to see 
a remarkable doorway to an ancient church, the living of which ia 
held by a college friend. The reader is aware, from the general 
character of the man in question, that the church, apart from 
more tender attractions, would hardly have drawn him from Pall 
Mall ; but in these days of attention to architectural antiquities, the 
pretence would not be a particularly weak one. We confess to 
have ourselves gone many a mile to inspect a church porch, and 
have not always regretted the journey. We had a friend whose 
delight it was to collect engravings and photographs of Romanesque 
doorways of churches, and who was as proud of his collection of 
chevron and medallion moulded arches, whether derived from 
some stately cathedral, or from some demure village sanctuary, as 
any gatherer of postage stamps or book plates of his display of 
royal or presidential heads and armorial devices, and with, perhaps, 
more reason. Even apart from the artistic merit of the carved 
work, such a collection might call up a host of impressive relations 
with the past. Each church, of which some sculptured arch 
was the exponent, not only presented some distinct points of 
architectural interest, some special picturesqueness of form, group- 
ing, or situation, but besides embodying the pious fervgur of long 
generations of worshippers who sung their praises with a merry 
noise while stirring events were happening in the land, was 
connected with a thousand weddings, baptisms and burials, and 
with many interesting local incidents and customs, as its vestry 
records would show ; while there were the historical associations 



Anglo-Norman Doorways. 5 

with the momumental tombs within the sacred walls, and the 
touching memories of the humbler graves without. A church 
door at the present day is too often intended as much to 
exclude as to admit worshippers, being more persistently shut 
than open, and any thought beyond a protective purpose in 
its connection would be accounted superstition. In the earlier 
ages of the Faith, it was not likely that the many Scriptural 
allusions to the doors of the Temple, whether of spiritual or of 
literal reference, would fail to find symbolical expression in the 
architectural arrangements of the Church. When Christ Himself 
says " I am the door," the material symbol would inevitably be 
magnified in order to recall to His followers the adorable presence 
of the divine founder of their religion, while the encouragement to 
do so would be increased by the other instances of typology which 
run through the Scriptures, from Jacob's vision of angels at BetheL 
whose bright sanctities made him exclaim " This is the very gate 
of Heaven," to St John's vision at Patmos, where the twelve angel- 
guarded gates of the Church triumphant are said to be each of 
one pearl. In the affectionate outflow which such imagery elicited, 
an endeavour would be made to realize to transcendental view 
by art presentment and costly workmanship, a feature of 
such spiritual meaning as the Divine portal, Christ Himself, 
through which the believer must enter to the religious life upon 
earth, and to the rewards of that life in the celestial city " with 
all its spirea" The folding doors of Solomon's Temple were of fir 
tree, and carved with cherubim and palm trees, and open flowers 
" covered with gold fitted upon the carved work," The royal gates, 
as the western doors of the Christian Basilica were called, were 
in an instance related by Anastatius, covered by Pope Honorias I. 
(A.D. 626-638) with silver, between the narthex or outer portico 
and the nave. The door also of the anastasis or screen that 
corresponds with the altar rails of the Gothic church, was also covered 
with silver. At the entrance of the Temple was a fountain which 
represented the water of regeneration. " Hither he hath brought," 
says Eusebius, " pledges of holy purgations, to wit, fountains lying 
over against the Temple, which with great plenty gave means of 
washing unto such as enter the hallowed cloisters." The custom 
of ablution before prayers was abandoned by the Eastern Christians 
because they did not care to continue a practice in common with 
the Mussulmans who also, as readers of the Vision of Mirza are 



6 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

aware, used to bathe before offering their deyotions. The western 
Church concluded that plunging at all seasons into cold water was 
not good for the health : and moreover the fountains were some- 
times frozen. The custom was therefore commuted into sprinkling, 
and the baptismal new-birth became symbolized under that form, 
a reminiscence of the completer ablution being jet afforded by the 
holy water stoups at the entrance of the pre-Reformation Churches 
of England, and of course in all Roman CathoUc Churches of the 
present day. The barbaric enrichment by the use of the precious 
metals was afterwards exchanged for the more precious employment 
of thought in the execution ; and as there was no aptitude in the 
door itself for architectural treatment^ the ornamentation of its stone 
frame-work by sculptured fancies became instead the work of the 
artist The recollection of the importance of the Basilican portals, of 
which the most conspicuous example is that of St Sophia with its 
outer and inner narthex, marble doorways, and fourteen bronze 
doors, is better preserved in the great continental churches than in 
the English, which latter are usually but subordinate features in 
the general design of the building. There are of course noble ex- 
ceptions to this remark among mediasval English doorways, some 
of which will by-and-bye call for attention. 

In the adaptation of the basilican arrangements, as comprised in 
early Romanesque, or as M. de Caumont calls it primitif 
romane, which extended from the fifth to the tenth centuries 
inclusive, the head of the doorway was a simple round arch with a 
tympanum wrought in mosaic as in the Church of St Pieire 
at Vienna, where the ornament is a group of variegated bricks 
between two triangular figures. The rude doorway of the old 
English church and the stately and finished Norman portal both 
look back to the same parentage and are collaterally but in- 
dependently derived finom the Roman arch. The lingering tradition 
of classical construction is well exampled at Sompting in Sussex, 
where the volutes and scrolls of Corinthian capitals are partially 
reproduced The uncouth old English or Anglo-Saxon arch has 
its own charm, and is a romance in stone that recalls the memory 
of the fierce days when the Faith in England had to fight for 
existence with as many outward foes as Bunyan's pilgrim in his 
day with spiritual enemie& The western porch at Monkwearmouth 
is almost sublime in its rugged simplicity. Notwithstanding the 
Church was wasted by the Danes in 868, enough of its structure 



Anglo-Norman Doorways. 7 

remains to enable us to realise the presence of the fervid Benedict 
Biscop who founded the monastery there in 674, and was buried 
within the eastern porch sixteen years after. Benedict was a 
thane of Eg&id, son of Oswig, the first of the kings of North- 
umberland after the union of the provinces of Deira and Bemicia 
into one monarchy. Having become a monk he made religious 
visits to Rome, and at one time brought back with him John, the 
arch-chanter of St. Peter's, who was allowed by Pope Agatho to 
come to Britain. Besides teaching Bede how to chant the psalms 
after the Roman manner, the Pope's singer filled the little church 
at Monkwearmouth with devout listeners to his solemn tunes, and 
we may yet see the very doorway through which they passed with 
Bede himsel£ Ita ponderous arch springs from massive abaci 
supported on either side by two stout piers or baluster shafts, 
which jointly are equal in thickness to the wall of the church. 
These again stand upon a sort of second impost which rests on a 
jamb curiously sculptured with entwined serpents, a reminiscence 
of the mysterious ophite worship. " This is decidedly," says Sir 
Gilbert Scott, "the most remarkable doorway of its kind yet 
known." The English doorway was contemptuously thrust aside 
by the Norman workmaster, who brought the round arch to such 
elaborate finish and durable grandeur that his doorways with their 
receding semicircles begot the reverence of the church builders of 
aft;er time, who in numberless instances in spite of a want of 
harmony with pointed styles affectionately enshrined them in their 
own structures. As in later day the church artist poured his 
religious feeling into the coloured panes, the Norman carver 
delighted to honour the doorway with the richest labour of his 
hands, and after that the chancel arch. In the first half of 
the eleventh century, indeed, he showed little more art workman- 
ship than the Saxon. His arch was set flush with the wall, while 
its plain surface was hacked into concentric bands of stellated 
ornament, or into indented squares technically known as hatched 
mouldings, of which there are examples in Westminster Hall. 
This kind of marquetry in later time was more carefully done, 
while the tympanum of the doorway was sculptured with figures 
of men and animals, though in most cases of a deplorably rude 
kind. It is not until the first half of the twelfth centuiy that we 
find such bold and vigorous and fondly executed work as the portal 
of Dunstable Priory term/p. Henry I. (AD. 1181), the sculpture of 



§ Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

which gives as much character to the facade as an illuminated 
capital to the page of a missal. Recessed in five orders the 
mouldings, which are carried down the jamb, consist, the outer 
one of zigzag, the second and third of angels or other carved figures 
entwined in ovals of waving tendrils, the fourth of zodiacal signs, 
which was a favourite device, and other basso relievos, and the 
fifth or inner moulding of flowers, etc., in high alto relievo. We 
cannot view this sadly decayed porch without thinking of the 
December night of 1290 when the body of Queen Eleanor was 
brought into the church, the bier having previously rested in the 
Market Place where the Chancellor and nobles marked out a spot 
for a lofby cross which was afterwards erected by the king. 

It might be thought that the lavish ornamentation and dignified 
repose of the advanced Norman arch were emblematic of the se- 
curity of times when men could build at leisure and unmolested ; 
but the finest examples of its kind refer to the days of Stephen 
and Henry II., which were full of the confused noise of battles and 
sieges, both at home and in France as well as in Wales, Scotland, 
and Ireland. The Sagittarius who figures among the carvings of 
arches, such as at Kilpeck, near Hereford, is believed to indicate 
work of the time of Stephen, and may well suggest the character of 
his militant reign. 

Mr. Ruskin reasonably fears that the seemingly unmeaning billet 
or zigzag moulding of the round arch will involve the ornamentation 
of Romanesque architecture in the charge of belonging to that kind 
of art, which followed for its own sake and being unimitative of 
outward nature, but derived from the fallen and unregenerate nature 
of the workman, degrades the morals and intellectual powers of the 
artist Curiously enough he had been anticipated in this idea, 
though none would accuse him of having derived it fix)m the boy poet 
Chatterton. " Take a walk to College Green," says the latter, re- 
ferring to the noble gateway of St. Augustine's in his native city, 
*' view the labyrinth of knots which burst around that mutilated 
piece, trace the windings of one of the pillars, and tell me if you 
do not think a great genius lost in these minutiae of ornament." 
For such lost spirits of self-created architectural design we must 
look rather to India, where the subtle arabesque enrichment so 
luxuriantly exampled by the art of that country, which never, Mr. 
Ruskin asserts, represents a natural fact, but being generated from 
the artist's own evil imagination is expressive of all that in him is 



Anglo-Norman Doorways. 9 

soft, self-indulgeDt, voluptuous, weak, debased, and superstitious. 
" It (Indian art) will not draw a man, but an eight-armed monster ; 
it will not draw a flower, but only a spiral or zigzag." A spiral or 
zigzag is just what the Norman carver executed, and yet Mr-i 
Buskin is loath to admit that he worked only from a corrupt heart 
and evil fancy ; a conclusion in which it is easy to agree, though 
his mouldings seem to come under the same condemnation as the 
work of the Eastern designer. Were it necessary by the way to 
defend the Indian artist, we might point to Mr. Birdwood's 
Indvstrial Art of Indiaj and even to Mr. Ferguson's Indian 
Temples, for sufficient evidence that his art was not all self- 
evolved, but that often there was a loving appreciation of external 
nature, the floral ornamentation especially beiug at times almost 
pre-Baphaelite in its honesty, while the human figure with a simple 
duality of arms may constantly be seen, though in hardly so 
emaciated condition as in Christian art. Mr. Buskin's apology 
for Norman arabesque is found in the fact that it was wrought by 
** persons practised in carving men, monsters, wild animals, birds 
and flowers in overwhelming redundance." With some limitation 
perhaps as to redundance, the same excuse applies to Indian art, 
which, however, in accordance with a different theology developed 
into other forms than those of Bomanesque. The latter gained " in 
truth, and therefore in grace, until just at the moment of transition 
into the pointed style you have the consummate type of the 
sculpture of the school given you in the west front of the Cathedral 
of Chartres." That fa9ade is undoubtedly one of the most splendid 
results of the style of the first half of the 12th century ; the door- 
ways being thought by Sir G. Scott to " be probably the finest 
remaining of the transitional period " ; it being as he remarks a 
characteristic of French art to lavish all the resources of decorative 
inventiveness upon the portals. Such exquisite work in combining 
human figures with the aspiring foliage and diapered ornament 
conveys its own apology for existence ; but it may be admitted 
that a hardly less noble example is to be found in the north-west 
doorway of Lincoln Cathedral, though the enrichment is simply 
arabesque or rather Byzantine, the Corinthian capitals of the 
columns, however, being hardly in harmony with the chevron and 
other mouldings, with which they are related. If Lincoln be re- 
ceived to favour there can be no difficulty in pleading for the style 
in general. Not indeed that sculptured mouldings are necessary 



lo Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

to produce the finest effects of the Norman arch. If simplicity and 
dignity compose the sublime in writing, sublimity in architecture 
results firom the like combination. There can be no better English 
example of this remark than the western front of Tewkesbury 
Abbey, where six slender receding columns bound up to support 
an equally receding arch, whose apex is no less than 65 feet from 
the ground. In the composition there is nothing smaU, mean, 
or trivial; but without any parade of ornament there is an 
effect like that of some lofty cli£^ whose " high and bending 
head looks dreadful down," the loftiness in both cases being the 
cause of the impression. In the stately arch of Tewkesbury 
ornament is no more required than in the overhanging crag in 
order to excite awe and admiration ; but when as at Malmesbuiy 
the elevation is unimposing, there is need to awaken the attention 
by art device. Like the rock-cut temples of the East, the caver- 
nous south porch of Malmesbury, exuberantly enriched both 
within and without, derives its effect finom art treatment A 
bold, plain-moulded exterior arch enshrines a series of carved 
mouldings of eight orders which recede and diminish till the deep 
interior is reached. Within the porch we find a Norman arcade 
with chevron moulded heads, above which on either side is a mass 
of barbaric sculpture in keeping with the even more rudely em- 
bellished archway which forms the immediate entrance to the 
church. This is perhaps the most elaborate example of a Norman 
entrance in England, though other noble illustrations of the kind 
are abundant The lavish decoration of Adel Church, near Leeds, 
has given the late vicar of that church a fine opportunity of in- 
dulging his fancy for symbolic interpretation. In his Archceologia 
Adelenaie he finds that the seven receding arches of the doorway 
are the " rainbow round the throne like unto an emerald," and are 
in some way related to the seven lamps of fire burning before the 
same exalted seat, which ** are the seven spirits of God " ; the zig- 
zag or other indented mouldings giving the idea of brilliancy, 
while a plain moulding contained in the composition is the sim- 
plicity of the gospel of Christ Where subtle parables are, there 
is the subtle vicar, who is no doubt right in interpreting the figures 
of the bull and the eagle, the lion and the human face beneath the 
pediment of the porch to be the symbols of the four evangeUsta 
But when he discovers the patriarchal covenant, the law and the 
prophets, the four rivers of paradise, the four gospels, the rose of 



Anglo-Norman Doorways. ii 

Sharon, the devU, emblems of Persian fire worship, with significa- 
tions of blessedness, peace, hope and faith, and charity of the bond 
of matrimony, of the bond and the unity of the church of brotherly 
love, and union expressed in certain straight or intertwisted lives, 
we hesitate to proceed, and rather believe that the interpreter's 
judgment is overmastered by his imagination. 

Note.— Illustrations of some of the Doorways, &o., mentioned in Mr. Taylor's 
paper, may be found in the following worKS : — 

Sompting Church, Norman capitals, " Archsdological Journal," vol. I., p. 34. 

Monksveannouth Church, W. door, Bloxam's ''Gothic Architecture," 11th ed. 
V. II. p. 1. 

Ettpeck Church. Lewis's << Illustrations of Kilpeck," plates 13, 15, 21. 

St. Augustine's Gateway, Bristol. Seyer's *' Bristol," vol. II. p. 215 ; and 
*' Arohaeologia," vol. XVI, plate 65. 

Chartres Cathedral. Nesfield's « Specimens," plates 21, 23, 24, &c. 

Lincoln Cathedral Winkle's '< Cathedrals," voL IL, plate 56. 

Tewkesbury Abbey. Lysons* « Gloucestershire Antiquities," plate 70. '< The 
Builder," Jan. 3rd, 1885. 

Malmesbury Abbey, Porch. Knight's << Old England," fig. 1038. 

Some fine specimens of Norman doorways in Gloucestershire churches are figured 
by Lysons, plates 8, 36, 38, 44 ; and by Mr. J. P. Moore in his recently 
published *' Architectural Sketches." 

A« E. H. 



12 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



iletnarto on i\it 



Constructors; of Stanton Breb) Ctrcleoi. 
iHaes Unoll Camp antv tfie WB^n^^^t. 



By JOHK BEDDOE, M.D., F.R.S. 



[Read at Stanton Drew, May 2Sth, 1884.) 

I SHOULD ascribe the circles at Stanton Drew, and the other 
megalithic remains in that neighbourhood, to the neolithic race, 
some of whom were buried in the long barrows and chambered 
tumuli of our own and other countries, from Barbary to Scotland 
inclusive. This race seems to have been almost uniformly long- 
headed, well-featured, but of rather small stature and physical 
development It is probably represented now-a-days, in more or 
less purity, by the Berbers, the Basques, and some of the 
Spaniards, and by the well proportioned handsome men, usually of 
small stature, and with dark hair, who occur pretty numerously in 
South Wales and the West Highlands, and in Connemara. 

Maes EnoU and the Wansdyke are generally believed (and I 
agree with the verdict of the majority) to have been the work of 
the Belgae, {.«., of a tribe of Belgic origin who crossing the 
Channel, subdued the prior occupants of parts of Hampshire, 
Wiltshire, Somerset and East Dorset Other Belgic tribes, as the 
Attrebates in Berkshire, brought over their tribal names ; but as 
the Belgic Gauls of the continent formed a confederation, it may 
very well be that this special conquest was made by settlers from 
several of the Belgic tribes, and therefore retained the appeUation 
of the whole confederacy. 

There has been a good deal of disputing as to who the con- 
tinental Belgse were, ethnologically speaking, and you will fix)m 
time to time see them set down, ex caihedrd, as Germans or as 
Celts, according to the exigencies of the argument, or the leanings 



Stanton Drew Circles^ &c. 13 

of the writer. A good deal of partisanship and even of national 
feeling has been imported into the question. 

I have a pretty decided opinion of my own, but^ mindful of what 
seems to me the ill-founded confidence of some other ethnologists, 
I do not put it forth dogmatically. I believe the Belgse to have 
been constituted as followa First a stratum of the early dolmen- 
building race, the same who erected Stanton Drew, Avebury and 
Stoney Littleton ; then one of the true Celtic, broad-headed race, 
who for a time prevailed ; then one or more thin strata of a com- 
paratively tall and fair race, more or less akin to the true Gotho- 
(Jermans, who became the military aristocracy of the Belgse, but 
who, if even they spoke German, of which there is no proof, did not 
transmit that language to their subjects. The Belgse, I do 
not doubt, spoke what is commonly called a Celtic tongue ; whether 
it was a dialect nearer to the Gaelic or to the Eymric I cannot 
say. Dr. Guest thought it approached the Gaelic, and though 
that is not the prevailing opinion, I own to a great respect for 
Dr. Guest's views. 

It is generally supposed that the Wansdyke, together with the 
gigantic earth fortress called Maes Knoll, which we have been 
exploring, were meant by the Belgae to be a barrier against the 
Dobuni or Boduni, and that these latter, the people of Gloucester- 
shire, were at the time of their construction still a people o^ 
mainly, the old neolithic type. I think it was Mr. Hyde Clarke 
who pointed out that the Boduni pretty early submitted to the 
Romans, and that their doing so was consistent with the idea 
of their being an Iberian tribe, who had been '* unterwerfen " and 
somewhat tyrannized over by their Belgo-Gallic neighbours. I am 
not aware of any craniological evidence against this conjecture. 

NoTA. — The megalithic circles at Stanton Drew were visited in 1664 by John 
Aubrey, M'ho is the first writer who mentions them. Perhaps the best 
account of the monument is that by the late Mr. William Long, F.S. A., in 
the *'Arch8eologicalJournal," vol. XV., pp. 190-215, and the most correct plan 
of the remains yet published is that of Mr. 0. W. Dymond, in the Journal of 
the British Archaeological Association, vol. XXXIII, p. 900. 

A. E. H. 



14 Clifton Antiqtiarian Club. 



%%t iHegalttlitt Eematns at 



By thk Riv. H. T. PERFECT, M.A. 



{Read at Stanton Drew, May 28M, 1884.) 

Stanton Drew, as well as Stonehenge and Avebury, is situated 
in the district which is known to have been occupied by the Belgse. 
Theie is a hamlet in this parish variously written as Belgetown, 
Belluton, or Belton, which evidently took its name from the BelgsB 
of this district The final syllable ^ ton/' which is Saxon, would 
seem to point to the transitional period when BelgsB and Saxons 
were contending together for the possession of the soil, at the time 
when this town or homestead was still an important settlement 
The veiy name of Beige-town, the close proximity of the stone 
circles and the fortified camp of the Maes Ejioll, seem to bespeak 
this immediate locality as one of the greatest importance in early 
Celtic days, and offer a pleasing temptation to group these three 
points together as collective evidence that the locality of Stanton 
Drew was one of the leading centres of Celtic life in England amongst 
the Belgse, or even centuries earlier amongst their predecessors. 
However this may be, the so-called druidical remains in 
this parish consist of one large circle adjoining a smaller one, 
with apparently the remains of an avenue connecting the two 
together. Several of the stones^ both in the laige circle as well as 
in the avenue, are missing, having been broken up in olden days 
when these monuments were not so carefully preserved as they now 
are. Others are some little distance underground. The plan of 
them which I have had the honour of presenting to your president 
is one which was drawn out by the Rev. S. Seyer in 1822. I have 
myself personally made a round of the stones on two or three 
occasions in company with others, and by means of probing the 
surface to a considerable depth with an iron bar, I am able to 



Megalit hie Remains at Stanton Drew, 1 5 

verify the existence of all those which are marked on the plan, with 
the exception of four. These I am able to say with equal 
confidence do not now exist. There is one very important stone 
missing in the large circle which in all probability stood at the 
head of the avenue. The stones in the smaller circle are of much 
larger proportions than the rest, and one of them deserves special 
attention. It looks like the remains either of one huge stone 
broken by its fall, or of a pile of stones which had been constructed 
for some specific purpose and had fallen abroad again. If these 
circles contain any important interments it is here that they will 
most likely be met with. Besides these two principal circles, there 
is also another in an adjoining field, but the stones there are 
of much inferior size. Near the church again there is a re- 
markable group of one prostrate and two erect stones, supposed by 
some to be the remains of a dolmen. 

The stones are not all the same. They are of three or four di£fer- 
ent kinds, the most striking of them being conglomerate or pudding 
stone, which is the fundamental rock of Compton Martin, about 7 
miles away. It is often a matter of wonder to visitors how such 
huge blocks could ever have been transported from so distant a point, 
and it certainly shows that they who superintended their removal 
must either have been very remarkable for animal strength, which 
would be an evidence of the greatest antiquity, or else of mechanical 
knowledge and civilisation the remains of which do not exist. If 
we look at the illustrations in Layard's Nineveh, and see how the 
huge bulls were moved, we can easily imagine how these stones could 
have been dragged along by means of many hands and many ropes 
and rollers. But then we must remember that Nineveh and Egypt 
were nations of the highest civilisation, possessed of the most 
perfect scientific culture; whereas the primitive people who 
erected these monuments have left us no remains whatever of 
civilisation or of scientific knowledge. 

The Druidical remains in this parish are usually classed with 
those at Stonehenge and Avebury. The stones here do not bear 
the mark of any tools, and are altogether ruder and smaller than 
those at Stonehenge. Those at Stonehenge not only show the 
mark of the tool, but are trilithons consisting of two uprights with 
a slab on the top. The stones at Stanton Drew are supposed by 
many, (although their opinion is rejected by some of the most 
learned antiquaries), to have been raised by the Druids for 



1 6 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

religious as well as political purposes : and some have connected 
them with a very intricate system of astronomical observations or 
of serpent worship— but of all this we simply know nothing. 

The question of their age, again, has been a matter of much 
dispute. Upon this point there are two great theories. One 
that they were erected before the occupation of the country 
by the Romans; the other that they were erected after that 
period. If we admit the latter of these theories, we have a very 
clever hypothesis submitted to us for our acceptance by Mr 
Fergusson. He places the erection of the circles in this parish in 
the Arthurian age, about A.D. 550, during the period when, after 
the Romans had forsaken the land, the Britons had to contend 
with the Saxons for the mastery of the soil Professor Pearson 
the historian, would fall in with this view and connect them with 
a new revival of Druidism which the Romans had done all in their 
power to destroy. An argument is often brought forward in &vour 
of this post-Roman theory, namely, that no mention is made of 
these circles by the great Roman historians, although Roman roads 
were constructed for military purposes in their immediate vicinity. 
The absence of these accounts is assumed as an evidence that the 
circles did not exist at that time. One Roman author, however, 
Hecataeus, does allude to a magnificent circular temple in the Island 
of the Hyperboreans over against Celtica^ which many archaeolo- 
gists assume refers to Stonehenge ; but this is altogether doubtful. 
It certainly is strange that the Romans should not have taken 
more notice of the circles if they really did exist in their days 
and were the temples of the Druids, for the Druids were a priestly 
caste of great power in Britain during the Roman occupation, and 
are known to have used all their influence in exciting the 
Britons against the Romans. In addition to the testimony of 
Hecatseus, another argument against the post-Roman theory, is 
the fact that when a barrow was opened about 300 yards from 
Stonehenge, under the superintendence of Sir Richard Hoare, 
some time ago, there were found chippings not only of the stones 
forming the outer circle, but of the stones which are of Syenic 
character. Now these barrows belong to a period before the 
Romans, and contain no Roman remains ; but they do contain 
these chippings, which seem to require a belief that the circles 
existed before the Roman occupation. I( on the other hand, we 
believe these circles to belong to an earlier period than this, we 



Megalithic Remains at Stanton Drew. 17 

are driven into a choice of two alternatives, viz., that they were 
the work of one of the many branches of the Aryan and Celtic 
families, or of the still earlier settlers in the land who were ot 
Turanian origin, such as the Basques in Spain, and others else- 
where in the present day, and others again whose existence has 
ceased to have any historical status in their westward course. In 
any case we can easily imagine that these circles were used as 
places of deliberation in social and political matters as well as for 
religious purposes, and we may also easily conceive that the Druids, 
if they did not actually erect them themselves, might have been 
glad to take advantage of them to encourage their own religion by 
the older traditional reverence of earlier tribes. In accepting this 
latter theory, the pre-Roman one, which I myself prefer, we might 
trace back the date of their erection by many centuries from the 
Roman period to the time, at least, of the Patriarchs of JudsBa. 
There is an indication in the Pentateuch of a desire to connect 
holy events in family and national life with the erection of stones 
in the history of the Abrahamic family. In Egypt we know, this 
inclination had assumed at this time a form of the most stupendous 
grandeur. I can easily imagine that tribes which had broken 
away from the centre of Eastern civilisation many centuries before 
this, and had separated themselves from the influence of scientific 
knowledge, may have landed on these shores with only the rudest 
elements of devotion connected with temples of stone and graves, 
and dependent only upon manual and muscular power for the 
expression of their devotional feelings. The absence of all 
scientific knowledge in the history of such people would naturally 
encourage us, when endeavouring to account for the removal 
of such huge blocks of stone from their native soil — I say the 
absence of all scientific knowledge on the part of these people 
would naturally encourage us to date back the erection of their 
stone monuments to the very earliest days, when civilisation and 
scientific skill did not exist, and man's animal power was such as 
now we cannot understand. This would lead one to believe that 
these stone monuments belong rather to the earliest Turanian 
dispersion from the far East than to the after emigration of the 
Aryan tribes, which would include the various families of the 
Celts. 



1 8 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



0\\ some ^rtj)itectural SBlemaiiw o! 



By THOMAS S. POPE. 



(Read at Deer hurst. Sept, 29M, 1884.^ 

Before entering upon the immediate subject we are considering, 
it is well to mention that most probably nearly all the first early 
Saxon churches were somewhat similar to that formerly exist- 
ing at Greensted, Essex, and illustrated in Vol. 3, of Weale's 
" Quarterly Papers on Architecture" being constructed in great 
part of timber ; which accounts for the ease with which the Saxon 
buildings were burnt by the Danes. 

In districts like this, near the Cotteswold Hills, where at that 
time there must have existed considerable remains of Roman 
villas and other works, the Saxon builders naturally used many of 
the old materials near at hand, and in their new buildings copied 
to the best of their ability what they saw around them ; as wc 
modern architects still do. 

There appear to be two dates in the Saxon work now remaining 
at Deerhurst — one in the arches and remains in the choir and 
transepts, particularly in the capitals to the arch at the east end, 
and another in the tower- work and the triangular window. The 
arches and remains at the eastern end retain the marks of fire 
upon the stonework, and are ruder than those in the tower. 

The original plan seems to have consisted of a choir with two 
transepts, and an eastern end finished possibly with an apse for the 
monks, shut off from the nave by a stone wall, (of which there were 
traces until quite lately) and a door similar to that at Monkton 
Pembroke ; a nave for the parishioners, and a kind of inner porch, 
or narthex, possibly for those who had not been admitted to full 
church membership ; a western tower, which also formed the porch. 



Deerhiirst Pnory Church. J9 

The first-floor chamber served probably as a watch-tower, more 
especially for the river, judging from the two recesses now walled 
up, but formerly having iron bars, and looking up and down the 
river. A highly important arrangement in those days, when the 
Danes ascended the rivers in their light boats, and possibly the 
Welsh were not always as quiet as could be desired. Formerly 
remains existed of a gallery in the south transept, as described 
by Mr. Buckler in his MS. in the British Museum.* 

This gallery might have been for the women, the early Saxon 
convents generally consisting both of men and women, who retired 
into monasteries for rest and quiet in those ages of lawlessness and 
violence. We find galleries in the very early churches in Rome, 
which are believed to have been built for the accommodation of 
the women ; somewhat like the synagogue galleries of the present 
day. The two openings remaining in the chancel walls, north and 
south, seem to show there were two galleries. 

The double triangular-headed window was probably always open, 
giving light to the interior, being placed high up in the walls so 
as to be out of reach of fire, and of the missiles of those attacking 
the place. I have seen something similar in one of the early 
churches at Rome, filled with pierced stonework. 

We must, I think, consider that the Priory was in those early 
times in constant danger of attack, so the openings were as few as 
possible, and placed out of reacL The general aspect of the 
country around may be gathered from the name as described by 
the Yicar, and also from the fact that wolves' heads are carved as 
terminations of the labels, tending to show that wolves were, at 
that time, common animals in the neighbourhood. 

The niche over the door, containing a figure said to represent 
the Blessed Virgin, has a singular ornament under it, and there is 
a similar one upon a fragment at Bradford-on-Avon. 

The triangular-headed window in the tower, of which a rough 
sketch from a drawing by Mr. J. 0. Buckler is here given, 
is similar to the arcade over the western porch at Lorsch, 
on the Rhine (date 774, A.D.). It is therefore not unreasonable 
to think that the tower of Deerhurst and Bradford Church, 
were erected about the same time, and the upper bowl of the font, 
with its imitation ornament of the goldsmith's art, seems also to 

*Tlii8 paper is to be published, with iUustrations, in the next volume of 
the *' Proceedings of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society." 



20 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

be of the eighth century, whilst the eastern arches marked with 
fire I take to be some of the work of the original founder, whoever 
he might have been« The mouldings upon the eastern wall of tower, 
and upon the chancel wall, mark the ancient Saxon roof, showing 
that even at that time, the roof over the choir was higher than that 
over the nave. The drawings in Lyson's '' Gloucestershire Antiqui- 
ties,'' also show a different height of roof. The roof was, I think, a 
comparatively low-pitched one to prevent too much of the church 
being seen from a distance, .especially from the river, so as not to 
attract an enemy. The fact that the cill of the triangular window in 
the tower slopes outwards seems to show that originally it was an 
exterior one. The long western window in the tower, with its curious 
Lombardic oorbel, may have been used for the entrance of pro- 
visions, and such other necessaries from the river ; and the tower 
itself, as a refuge for the surrounding peasantry in times of danger 
or inundation from the river. A similar corbel exists in the south 
wall of church. The upper part of the tower has no doubt been 
rebuilt at some later period, but I think with materials from an 
ancient tower. The two triangular slabs in the eastern wall were 
probably windows removed and built in the eastern gable during 
one of the many alterations of the church. 

Some of the remains of the dodrways and entrance to the- choir 
are evidently, judging from their section, old materiab re-used, the 
triangular headed ones being probably early Saxon. 

The Aumbry in the south aisle is of very early date, and has 
probably been removed and rebuilt in its present position ; it con- 
tains a piscina, and a very curious circular recess upon its eastern 
side, possibly for a relic. 

The Font has undergone several vicissitudes, and appears to 
consist of two separate stones ; whether two fonts or not it is 
difficult to say, but evidently there are two different kinds of 
work in the upper and the lower part, the upper reminding me 
of the goldsmith's art, or early Irish manuscripts, rather than 
mason's work. The representation of the little connecting links, 
technically called "garters," inclines me to think it was copied 
from goldsmith's work, for which the Saxons were celebrated 
The lower portion has patterns very similar to some at the church 
of S. Ambrogio, at Milan. 

The arches over what I have called th^ Tiarihex are Norman, 
and this arrangement of arches was probably intended to have 



Deer hurst Priory Church. 21 

been continued around the south aisle, judging from the remains 
of Norman piers still in that aisle. The Normans probably found 
the ancient church much dilapidated, and injured by 5re, but also 
held in great reverence by the peasantry around, as having been 
built by their Saxon ancestors. The Norman builders, therefore, 
built up those side piers to assist in supporting the old church, and 
then formed the openings at present filled in with the early English 
arches (which, by the way, are very similar to work at St. David's, 
and Llandaff), some time elapsing during the reconstruction, for 
the church had now become an alien Priory, and possibly there 
might have been some red-tapeism even in those early days. The 
coloured stone reminds me of some that is found near Cardiff. 

The north aisle appears to be 14th century, or " Decorated " 
work, with some fine brasses at the east end; one dated 1400. Here 
are two very early oak chests; judging from the curious framing and 
ironwork they may possibly be 13th century work ; one of these 
is figured in this volume. 

The south aisle seems to have been rebuilt just before the 
Reformation, judging from the Tudor windows ; or possibly the 
walls were then raised. The corbels for the cloister roof remain in 
this wall, and in the western side of the farm-house adjoining. 

There are some fairly good 15th century oak seats in the south 
aisle. Considering the time at which the church was restored, 
we must congratulate the restorers for leaving us so much of this 
most interesting church untouched. The chancel is fitted up with 
some good Jacobean oak work, with the table in the centre and 
seats around, which is said to be the work of the Puritana 

To study these ancient churches to any purpose, we must begin 
with the early churches of Rome itself Many Saxon churches 
were re-built by the Benedictines ; in the case of Ramsey Abbey 
we have the architect's name, Adnoth, who came, it would 
seem, from Worcester, in the time of Dunstan, and may therefore 
have been familiar with the buildings then existing at Deerhurst. 

X^OTE. — lUustrations of Deerhurst Church may be found in Lysons a " Gloucester- 
shire Antiquities," pi. 55, *' North and South Views of Deerhurst Priory/' 
from drawings taken about 1790. In the "Journal of the British Archaeolo- 
gical Association," vol. I, p. 17, a portion of the Sanctuary Arch, with Saxon 
capital, (not correct as to details) and Id. p. 65, the upper part of the Font. 
In the Rey. J. L. Petit's "Remaiks on Architectural Character," 1846, pi. 
4, the couplet window in the Tower; also figured in " the Archieological 
Journal,*' voL I, p. 32, and in most works on Saxon Architecture. In "the 
Builder" for May 1st, 1886, are two sections of the Tower, and a ground-plan 
of Deerhurst church, from drawings by Mr. R. H. Carpenter, A. E. Hi 



22 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 






By THE Rev. GEORGE BUTTER WORTH, M.A. 



{Read at Deerhursty September 29M, 1884.) 

A MONASTERY T^as probably founded at Deerhurst at the end of 
the seventh or the commencement of the eighth century, by some 
founder whose name is now lost to us, and, according to Leland, 
Itinerary y vol, vi., p. 79, this is said to have been " a notable 
Abbay" in the time of the Venerable Bede.— A.D. 674-785. 
Though no such mention of Deerhurst can now be found in the 
extant works of that great church-historian, we have no special 
reason to doubt Leland's statement that such a record existed in 
his time — c. 1500-1552. However, as the alleged mention of 
the monastery by Bede rests solely on the authority of Leland, 
that great antiquary may have been mistaken in this, as he cer- 
tainly was in another portion of his account of the locaUty. 

There can be no doubt that the monastery was in a flourishing 
condition at the beginning of the ninth century, for in the year 
804, some valuable estates were granted to it by iEthelric, son of 
iEthelmund, ealdorman of Worcestershire, on condition that after 
his death his body should be allowed to rest within its walls, and 
that his soul and that of his father should be constantly held in 
remembrance by the monks.- The words of the original document 
relating to this bequest are given by Dugdale. (Codex Diploniati' 
C118 Mvi Saxonici, No. 186.^ 

About the end of the ninth century or the beginning of the 
tenth, the Danes became very troublesome in the Severn district. 
rChronicle of Florence of Worcester for the years 894, 898, 915, &c.) 

In one of their incursions they are said to have visited 
Deerhurst, to have devastated the neighbourhood, and to have 



Early History of Deer hurst. 23 

destroyed the monastery. — (Lelafid's Itinerary.) To what extent 
this alleged ''destruction" by the Danes of the monastic 
buildings was accomplished, we cannot tell; probably the 
portions built of wood were entirely consumed, but the church 
and other parts, if any such there were, which were con- 
structed of stone, remained standing, and were almost immedi- 
ately afterwards repaired, and re-occupied by the monks, who had 
temporarUy been scattered. One of these brethren, afterwards 
known as " St. Werstan," is said to have fled to Malvern, where 
he founded a cell, that in course of time expanded into the great 
Benedictine foundation, of which some majestic fragments re- 
main in Malvern Abbey Church and Gate-House. William of 
Malmesbury informs us that Alphege, or Elphege (who was after- 
wards Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered by the Danes, 
and, as St. Alphege, still retains a place in our Book of Common 
Prayer) became Bishop of Winchester, A.D. 980, in succession to 
Bishop iEthelwold. The same writer also tells us that Alphege 
had, previously, taken the habit at "Dirhest," which at that period 
was a " small cell." After living at Deerhurst for some years, 
Alphege grew dissatisfied with the want of discipline and worldli- 
ness of the brethren, and retired to a stricter religious house at 
Bath, where he afterwards was appointed Abbot. From this it 
appears that soon after the middle of the tenth century, Deer- 
hurst monastery, so far from being " utterly destroyed, " was, 
in one sense, in too flourishing a condition, and that peace and 
plenty caused the prevalence there of too good cheer. From the 
end of the tenth century till the middle of the eleventh, nothing 
is known of the history of the monastery, and during this period 
the Danish incursions may or may not have been repeated. There 
is evidence, however, that at the latter date there were still some 
monks in the Priory, as a Saxon thane named ^Ifric, or 
Elfric, who had become a monk, died at Deerhurst, A.D. 1058, 
and was buried at the neighbouring Abbey of Pershore. Now 
this Elfric had two brothers, Odda and Dodda. Of the latter, 
not much is known, except that his name appears in history in 
connection with those of his brothers, both of whom he is said to 
have survived. The third brother, Odda, also called iEthelwine, 
was a ^uch more important personage. He is described by 
Florence of Worcester, as the " friend of the churches, the solace 
of the poor, the protector of widows and orphans, the enemy of 



24 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

oppression, the shield of virginity." (Chronicle^ A,D. 1Q51J 
On the banishment of Earl Godwine, by King Edward the Con- 
fessor, in 1051, Odda, who appears to have been related to the 
King, was made Earl over all the western part of Godwine's 
earldom and part of Swegen's, namely over Somerset, Devon, Dor- 
set, and " the Wealas," that is, no doubt, over Cornwall. {Freeman ; 
" Old English History,'' p. 268.) In 1052, Earl Odda was ap- 
pointed to the command of the English fleet sent against Earl 
Godwine, but does not appear to have had much success. On 
the second of the calends of September (the 31st of August), A.D. 
1056, Odda died, in his own monastery at Deerhurst," having 
previously been made a monk by Bishop Mldied, of Worcester ; 
but his body was carried to the grander Abbey of Pershore, 
where he was buried with great pomp. 

In the year 1675, a stone was dug up in an orchard at Deer- 
hurst, thus inscribed, in letters generally considered to be of the 
11th or early part of the 12th century; the letters printed in 
smaller type are enclosed within those which precede them : — 

*ODDA DVX IVSSIT HANG REGIAM AVLAM CON- 

STRVI ATQVE DeDiCARI IN HONORE S TEINITATIS 
PEO ANIMA GeRMANI SVI iELFRICI QvE DE HOC 

LOCo ASVPTA EALDREDV8 VERO EPS QVI EANDE 

DeDiCAVIT n IDiBVS APL XHII AVTE ANNO $ REGNI 

EADWARD(I) REGIS ANGLORV. 

" Duke Odda had this Royal Hall built and dedicated to the 
honour of the Holy Trinity, for the soul of his brother Elfric, 
which quitted the body in this spot. Bishop Ealdred dedicated 
the same on the second of the Ides of April, in the 14th year of 
the reign of Eadward King of England," i.e., A.D. 1056. 

This stone, which is preserved in the Ashmolean Museum at 
Oxford, was not found close to the church, but in an orchard near 
the house known as Abbot's Court, about 100 yards to the south- 
west of the church; the finder of the inscrpition was **Mr. 
(afterwards Sir) John Powell," the upright Judge who was dis- 
missed by James H., and replaced on the bench by William III. 
He was lessee of the Abbot's Court property at that time, under 
the Chapter of Westminster. 

On the authority of this inscribed stone, Deerhurst Church 
was described by the late John Henry Parker, C.B., as**the 



Early History of Deerhurst. 25 

oldest dated church in England," but he was hardly justified, I 
imagine, in bo doing, as the term '' Aula Begia '' may not refer 
to the church, but to some other building erected by Duke Odda. 
If, however, Odda did not rebuild the church, but confined his 
work to the less sacred buildings of the Priory, and we actually 
see, at the present day, a church much older than anything he 
may have erected, it will have to be conceded that, whatever 
ravages the Danes committed on their alleged visit to Deerhurst, 
they, at all events, contrary to their usual line of proceeding, 
spared the church. There can be no doubt of the accomplish- 
ment of some considerable work by Odda, which was commemo- 
rated by an act of episcopal consecration, and probably the church 
was rebuilt by him. Touching the date of the existing church 
there is a strong presumption in favour of a late Anglo-Saxon 
date, and, at all events, we cannot assert of a single feature in 
the building that it must have been there before Odda undertook 
his good work. 

As Mr. Pope has undertaken to describe the architectural re- 
mains, I will not refer to them further at present, but will pass on 
to some of other points of interest in the history of the parish. 

In A.D. 1016, exactly forty years before Odda's building was 
consecrated, the celebrated meeting took place, on an island within 
bowshot of the Priory, which resulted in the division of the king- 
dom between the Saxon, Edmund Ironside, and the Dane, Cnut or 
Canute. The scene of the meeting now goes by the name of 
the ''Naight," and is a wedge-shaped meadow adjoining the 
Severn, bounded on one side by a little stream, but is no longer an 
island as it was described in the last century by Atkyns and 
Eudder. The good people of Gloucester have sometimes claimed 
for the " Eyot " close to their city the honour of having been 
the scene of this meeting ; but, as " the articles of peace " were 
certainly signed at Deerhurst, our little " Naight " is far more 
hkely to have been the spot. 

Of the " worthies of Deerhurst " we have already mentioned the 
two saints Werstan and Alphege, the powerful Earl Odda and his 
two brothers Dodda and JElfric. In the north aisle of the church is 
a fine brass of the date A.D. 1400, recording the death of Sir John 
Gassy, Chief Baron of the Exchequer in the reign of Edward HE., 
and his wife Alicia. He is represented in his Judge's robes, 
with a lion at his feet ; she in a long, loose dress, fastened at 



26 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

the wrists and neck ; a dog at her feet, differs from all 
other such representations, in bearing its name Tim, engraved 
beneath. Above the effigies is a rich double canopy, and a 
figure of the Virgin receiving instruction from her mother, St. 
Ann. A figure of St. John the Baptist has disappeared since the 
beginning of the century, when the monument was figured in 
Lysons's " Ohiuiestershire Antiquities" plate 18. The inscription 
round the stone reads — 

"9tc jAcet |oI|^ €^%ti mxUn qtunbam (^tofxislvi |tftto Jiccti fltgU 
qui obtU (mtjo) ftie ^ait ^nno lint: ffi€(S€€. et jLltctat ttxot ^w 
qitoc* aubttji ppcr beti^,*' 

For more than a century the Gassy family appear to have 
held the same estate in Deerhurst parish, and their crest still 
appears on the front of an interesting moated house on this 
estate, a mansion which would be worth visiting by any anti- 
quaries interested in early domestic architecture. 

There are other monumental brasses in the church ; to a lady 
"Elizabeth, daughter of Thos. Bruges, Esq., of Coverle, and 
wife of Wm. Cassey, Esq., of Whyghtfylde, and then of Walter 
Bowden, Esq., 1525," of which the inscription is lost, though the 
effigy remains ; and to " Edward Guye, Gent, 1612 ; by his wife 
Frauncis, eldest daughter of John Gotheridge, Esq., he had six 
sonnes and one daughter." (See Haines's " Manual,** 11. p. 68.) 
There are also several stone slabs with sculptured arms and 
inscriptions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 

In the West window of the South aisle is some good fourteenth 
century stained glass, the only portion remaining of the large 
quantity that must have at one time added so greatly to the 
beauty of the church. 

The Saxon Font is well known, and is generally supposed to 
be one of the most ancient specimens left to us. It was for 
many years standing in a farm yard, but has been restored to 
the church, and re-united to its stem, which was discovered a 
few years ago, more than a mile from the church. 



Saxon Chapel Discovered at Deer hurst. 27 



3Ketentl^ BBiseoberetn at BBeeriiurst. 



By ALFRED E. HUDD. F.S.A., Hon. Secretary. 



{Read December Uthy 1885.) 

Since the members of the Club visited Deerhurst, ia September, 
1884, discoveries of great interest to antiquaxians and architects, 
as well as to the general public, have been made in the imme- 
diate neighbourhood of the Priory church in that village. These 
discoveries are of such importance, that, as remarked by a recent 
writer in " The Builder," (Nov. 21st, 1885), the monastic history 
of Deerhurst has been seriously misunderstood, and must be re- 
ai'ranged to agree with the facts which have lately been brought 
to Ught. 

It has been thought that a brief account of the more important 
of these discoveries might be of interest to those of our members 
who visited Deerhurst, as an addition to the papers which were 
read on that occasion by the Rev. George Butterworth, and Mr. 
T. S. Pope, both of which are printed in this volume. 

The last few years have added considerably to our knowledge 
of the architectural remains of pre-Norman times, and it is now 
generally admitted that the Saxons had a distinct architectural 
style of their own, not derived from Normandy, but more nearly 
resembling the early work of North Italy and the Rhine district. 
The West of England is rich in remains of this " primitive 
Romanesque style," amongst which the most famous are the 
cruciform church of St. Lawrence, Bradford-on-Avon, built by 
St. Aldhelm early in the eighth century (A.D. 705), the larger 
Priory church at Deerhurst, and the nave of the parish church 
at Avebury, all three of which buildings are well known to most 
of us. The discovery in the little village of Deerhurst of a 
second church of undoubted Saxon date has not only greatly 



28 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

increased the interest in that popular place for antiquarian pil- 
grimages, but has added materially to our knowledge of the 
architecture of the period, a period just preceding that in which 
our earliest English style gave place to the foreign style brought 
in by the Normans. 

In plate LV. of the " Collection of Gloucestershire Antiqui- 
ties/' published by Samuel Lysons, F.S.A., in 1804, is an illus- 
tration of " the north view of the Priory of Deerhurst," in the 
background of which may be noticed a picturesque half-timbered 
house, standing a short distance (rather more than one hundred 
yards) to the S.W. of the church. This house, called " Abbot's 
Court," consists of an irregular block of buildings of various 
dates, the original erection having been added to at both ends ; 
the eastern addition consists of the fine half-timbered erection 
partially shown by Lysons, and is probably of the time of Eliza- 
beth, or James I., while the western portion, plain and more 
modern looking, may have been added a century or two ago. 
Until the beginning of the year (1885) this house had been occu- 
pied by a tenant farmer, renting under the Ecclesiastical Com- 
missioners, who took over this farm with the remainder of their 
estates in the neighbourhood, from the Chapter of Westminster 
Abbey, to which the property had belonged since the year 
A.D..1065 (if not earlier).* In consequence of the Abbot's Court 
farm having been joined to another by the Commissioners, the 
old house was no longer required by the farmer, who has a more 
convenient residence upon another portion of the estate. The 
Abbot's Court buildings were therefore, at the beginning of 
August last, placed under the charge of Mr. Thomas Collins, of 
Tewkesbury, the well known builder whose careful treatment of 
ancient work in the numerous local buildings he has restored is 
probably known to many members of this Club; the. choice of 
the Commissioners was from an antiquarian point of view, 
a most fortunate one. The original intention was to con- 
vert the farm house into two or three separate tenements, but, 
soon after the commencement of the alterations, features of great 
interest — which had been hidden for centuries under the mass of 
plaster and whitewash with which the walls were covered, both 
inside and out — were brought to light, and proved of so important 

* Set letter from the Rev. Georse Butterworth in the ** Journal qf the British 
ArehcMogical AsaocicUion,''* voL XLI., p. 415. 



Saxon Chapel Discovered at Deerhurst. 29 

a character, that upon their bemg reported by Mr. Butterworth 
to the Commissioners, orders were at once given that all these 
ancient remains should be carefully preserved. 

The first of these discoveries was made in the following 
manner. Mr. Butterworth had always suspected, from the great 
thickness of its walls, that the central portion of Abbot's Court 
was very old, but had not until last summer discovered anything 
to indicate its age. On visiting the house soon after the com- 
mencement of the repairs, in August last, a faint indication of a 
semi-circle under the plaster covering the front wall caused him 
to carefully examine this portion of the building, and, upon 
removing some of this covering, the remains of a round-headed 
doorway of very early character, were exposed. The eastern half 
of this arch had unfortunately been destroyed when the large 
square window of the farm house was inserted, but enough 
remained to indicate the great antiquity of the work. (See plate, 
"North door.") Shortly after this, some peculiarity about a 
window at the back of the house which gave light to a room on 
the first floor, caused the Vicar and Mr. Collins to remove 
a portion of the plaster from its upper portion and side, when a 
very curious double-splayed, round-headed window, of undoubt- 
edly "primitive Eomanesque" or Saxon character, was brought 
to hght. (See plate, " Nave window.") 

In the opinion of Mr. J. H. Middleton, F.S.A., who read a 
paper on the subject of the recent discovery to the Society of 
Antiquaries, this window and others similar to it (which have been 
destroyed) were probably always open to the air, and like those 
remains of which we saw on our recent visit to Avebury church, 
are believed to have been furnished with " wattle and daub " 
osier screens. A portion of the oak lining to the head of one of 
these windows, was found in sitit ; the arch of this window is 
formed of long, thin pieces of blue lias, with mortar joints from 
lin. to 2ins. in thickness, and was covered with stucco. It is 
double splayed, its sill being about lO^ft. from the ground, its 
opening about 2Jft. wide by 8ft. Sins. high. The construction of 
the voussoir of thin slabs of stone, instead of ashlar work, 
gives the window a very Boman-like appearance, reminding one 
of the Boman work at Lincoln, Dover and elsewhere, and it tends 
to show, that unless the 11th century builder copied some work 
then existing in the neighbourhood, that this portion of the 



30 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

building is of much greater antiquity than the age of the Con- 
fessor. Opposite to this, in front of the house, and on the same 
level above the ground, there are remains of what may have been 
a similar window, but this at the time of my visit was left in the 
condition in which it had been in use for centuries, and looked 
like one of the small square windows usually found in such 
situations ; probably its ancient features were destroyed at the 
same time as the eastern half of the North door. 

An examination was then made by Mr. Butterworth and Mr. 
Collins of the interior of the house, and in a small room which 
had been used as a pantry, two large rough looking stones were 
noticed partially projecting from the west wall, and covered with 
plaster. The stones, which were placed 6^ft. apart, and about 7ft. 
above the floor, proved upon examination to be the imposts of a 
large circular headed archway, the very rough and solid jambs of 
which were found under the plaster ; the crown of the arch had 
unfortunately been destroyed. (See plate, ** Chancel arch.'*) 
Mr. Butterworth then thought it was time to make his discovery 
known, and consequently, on August 17th, he wrote to the London 
" Timez " an account of "A Saxon House in Gloucestershire," 
and described the structure as a small house, 80ft. long on the 
outside, with walls 2|^ft. thick, its four external walls being per- 
fect, in one of which was the large archway named above, a 
smaller arch being in the north wall forming the front of the 
house. It was then thought that the house had always 
had an upper storey, and, notwithstanding the presence of an 
early English bracket in one of the angles, no idea that the 
building had been a Chapel occurred at that time either to the 
Vicar, or to Mr. Collins. This however proved to be the case, 
and on September 28rd, Mr. Butterworth wrote to inform me 
that since he had written to The Times further discoveries had 
caused him to modify his first opinion, and that it was nearly 
certain that the old building was an ancient Chapel. The most 
important of these IsAerJiiids was an inscribed stone, which was 
found built into the wall at the back of the house, where it had 
been hidden by a fruit tree growing against the wall. This stone 
had unfortunately been mutilated in mediaeval times by the 
central portion being cut away to utilize it as the head of a lancet 
window, but a portion of the inscription remains, and is 
figured on the Plate as it now appears. 



Saxon Chapel Discovered at Deer hurst. 31 

Yarious restorations of this inscription have been attempted, and 
by filling in letters to fill the spaces according to the ideas of the 
different writers, it has been supposed to have read, either — " In 
honour of the Holy Trinity this altar is dedicated " — which is the 
version now most generally received, or, "In honorem Sancti 
Petri Apostoli hoc Altare dedicatum est," as suggested by Mr. J. 
T. Micklethwaite, F.S.A. 

In 1676, another inscribed stone, now in the Ashmolean 
Museum at Oxford, was found in the orchard adjoining Abbot's 
Court, which also recorded a dedication to the Holy Trinity; 
this inscription has been previously given in this volume, in 
Mr. Butterworth's paper. As there stated, this had always, 
before the late discoveries were made, been taken to refer 
to Deerhurst Church, but it is now almost certain that it 
belonged to this little Saxon chapel, which is therefore probably 
the Boyal Hall which Duke Odda caused to be dedicated to the 
glory of the Holy Trinity and in memory of his brother Elfric, 
and which was dedicated in the year 1066. 

I think there can be little doubt but that in these remains we 
have a portion of Earl Odda's chapel, and that the writer in Tlxe 
Builder of Nov. 21st, 1886, is correct in applying to these 
interesting relics, the account given by William, of Malmesbury 
in his ** Oesta Pontijicum** (Hamilton's edn. p. 109), in which 
we are told that in A.D. 980 Athelwold, Bishop of Worcester, 
was succeeded by Elphege, who had taken the habit at " Dirhest," 
at that time a small cell (exiguum cenoUum), but in A.D. 1126, 
when the account was written (^antiquitatis inane simulacrum J , an 
empty ruin. These words of William of Malmesbury would 
accurately designate the desolate condition of the '* little cell " if 
we are right in conjecturing it to be the newly discovered chapel. 
The same writer states that there is in the British Museum a 
Tewkesbury Chronicle, which records that " Almaric, the brother 
of Earl Odda, was buried at Deerhurst in a small chapel opposite 
the gate of the Priory, because that chapel was formerly the 
Eoyal Hall." 

It has been supposed that the chapel formed part of a Manor 
House belonging to the Abbey of Westminster, which was 
probably the residence of the steward of the estates. 

From the presence in the east wall of the chapel, near the site 
of the altar, of a beautiful little early English bracket, there can 



32 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

be little doubt that religious services were held here during the 
18th century, long after the time of William of Malmesbury, but 
at what period the chapel ceased to be so used we have no 
evidence, except that of the date of the building which occupies 
the site of the destroyed portion of the chancel, which is late 
16th or early 17th century work. 

I understand from the vicar that a Committee, consisting of 
some of the leading archaeologists of the county, has been formed, 
under whose direction it is hoped that, by the consent of the 
Ecclesiastical Commissioners, steps will be taken to carefully 
preserve this most interesting building. 

Very little originaUty can be claimed for these notes, which are 
chiefly compiled (by consent of the writers) from accounts that 
have been published in various newspapers and journals. Shortly 
after the discovery of the remains, in August last, I paid a visit 
to Deerhurst with an antiquarian friend, when the vicar most 
kindly received us, and showed us all that had then been found. 

Those who wish further information on the subject are referred 
to the letters from the vicar (the Eev. G. Butterworth) published 
in The Times newspaper for Aug. 17th and Nov. 4th, 1885 ; in 
the Journal of the Brit. Arch. Assocn. for Dec, 1885, vol. 41, 
pp. 414-418 ; and in Oloucestershire Notes and Queries^ vol. 8, 
pp. 804-7 ; also to fuller accounts by an anonymous writer in 
The Builder for Nov. 21st and Dec. 12th, 1885, in which much 
valuable information, both architectural and historical, is given. 
The paper read by Mr. Middleton, F.S.A., to the Society of 
Antiquaries, has not yet been published, but a brief communication 
on the subject was contributed by him to the Academy ^ Sept. 26th, 
1885, which is reprinted in Oloucestershire Notes and Queries. 

The Club is indebted to Mr. Walter de Gray Birch, F.S.A., Hon. Sec., 
and the Council of the British Archseological Association, for the loan of the 
plate of illustrations, from their journal, vol. 41, part 4. Also to Mr. Collins, of 
Tewkesbury, for drawings of the ground plan and eleyations of Abbot's Court and 
the Saxon Chapel, which he kindly sent for the inspection of the members. 




3>eerhxirsir CbxircL 




Mark Clfxxjirck 




JL^chlade Cb. 



I 



i 

3 
o 
i 

i 

■J 

a 






On Old Carved Chests. 33 



^n ^Iti Carbetr Cfje$;t<« 



By THOMAS S. POPK. 



{Read November V2(h, 1884.) 

In the middle ages carved Chests formed the most usual 
domestic furniture, and were used for tables and seats, 
scarcely a room being without one of them; dresses, silver, linen, 
and valuables of all kinds were kept in them. They formed, with 
the cupboard and the bed, the principal furniture of the rich as 
well as of the poor, and, covered with leather, they served as 
trunks do now-a-days for transport in travelling. Large chests 
called ^^BtandanW were used by the King and nobility in moving 
their goods and furniture several times a year from house to 
house. In the 13th century the Chest-makers formed a portion of 
the Corporation of Carpenters and by their rules were forbidden 
to let out their chests for dead bodies, as they, the chests, were 
taken to the cemeteries, emptied of their contents and returned to 
be used again on similar occasions. Coffins were often called 
chests, as in the epitaph at Chepstow on a man named Chest : — 

** Here lies one Chest within another. 

That chest was good which was made of wood, 

But who will say so of the other ? '* 

The Synod of Exeter, in 1287, required every parish to provide 
" cista ad lihros et Vestimenta " and valuable chests are often 
mentioned in old wills. Some of the richest of them were pro- 
bably those sent by the bridegroom to the bride, the night before 
the marriage, filled with dresses and jewels, and kept during the 
lives of the mscrried couple as articles of furniture. 

Representations of old chests are sometimes carved upon the 

stonework of old churches ; the tradesman was shewn with his 

chest open and the miser sleeping upon his chest. Upon the ex- 

8 



34 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

terior of the choir screen at Amiens cathedral a chest is shewn, 
in use as a writing desk. At the Louvre in Louis Xlllth's time, the 
hall of the guards was still provided with chests, which served as 
seats. 

Many old chests were simply trunks of trees hollowed out 
in the middle and bound around wdth wrought iron, much of 
which is very beautiful in design as in the chest at Brampton 
church, Northamts., which appears to be of the 12th century, and 
upon similar chests in Westminster Abbey. Many of these 
chests are bound together at the angles with wrought iron ; but 
the fact that a chest is rude in workmanship does not prove its 
age. Most chests were raised about 6ms. from the floor upon 
two legs to preserve the contents from damp and dust, and many 
had three locks, commonly believed to have been one for the 
parson, and one for each of the churchwardens ; but I think the 
number of the locks was proportioned to the value of the contents 
of the chest. Some of these locks are of very good design, as are 
those in Fairford church, at Zeals house, Wiltshire, and 
that illustrated in Pugin. Mr. Parker in his ** Glossary '* says 
there is a peculiarity in Early English chests, which is that 
a strong piece of wood is fixed across each end of the lid, on the 
underside of it, appearing on the outside when the chest is 
closed ; and the end of this and the upright piece at the back of 
the chest are halved together, and an iron pin is put through 
them, so as to form a hinge. I believe I have seen such, but 
have never sketched one. There are many illustrations published 
of old chests in antiquarian and architectural books. Possibly, one 
of the earliest is that in ** The Glossary *' from Stoke Debenham, 
Surrey. The peculiar ornament of a circle with patterns mitred 
*to a centre occurs upon chests of all dates, and a similar pattern 
upon stools sent from the West coast of Africa. These are there- 
fore no marks of date. 

Nails arranged in different ways are very effective ornaments in 
old chests, as in old doors, but this method of ornamentation has 
been much neglected in modern work, unwisely, I think, as it 
is effective and not costly. Many pretty pieces of metal work are 
found upon old chests, such as escutcheons to locks, handles, etc. 
The handles at the ends of chests are generally good examples of 
hammered iron work, thoroughly well adapted to their purpose. 
It is very difficult to state with any precision the date of old 



On Old Carved Chests, 35 

chests ; we can only judge from the general appearance of the 
framing and workmanship. 

At Sion in Switzerland I saw an old chest of deal with Eoman- 
esque arches carved upon it, but had not time to make a drawing, 
or to examine it thoroughly. Dr. Liebke in his " Ecclesiastical 
Art," mentions an early Eomanesque chest with carved round 
arches and ''Ave Maria'' at Sittern, in Wallis. The chest from Deer- 
hurst in my illustrations Figs. 1 and 2, and that from Mark church, 
Fig. 3, are very old, judging from their framing and appearance. 
The cope chest in Wells cathedral, is probably of the 
13th century. That at the old church, Chippenham (see 
sketches of two sides, Figs. 5 and 6), is the most 
interesting example I have met with in this neighbour- 
hood, and judging from the quatrefoil diaper and metal 
work is probably of early date, say early 14th century ; it 
is evidently intended to represent a farmyard, with the horses, 
geese, owls, etc. The chest at St. John's church, Glastonbury, 
formerly used for containing the ancient cope now degraded to a 
pall, appears to be early 14th century, and is a very good example 
of its kind ; the shields only were coloured, and upon the sides are 
examples of the ordinary sunk circles mentioned above.* 
The fine chest — Fig. 7 — I found in a shop at Highworth, and 
was informed that it had formerly belonged to the church,which has 
been " restored to death." The chest is ornamented with flam- 
boyant tracery, but I think it is of English work, probably 14th 
century ; it is now in the possession of the Eector of Highworth. 

The chest in Minehead church is most probably Flemish, as 
may be more particularly seen in the panel upon the side carved 
with a skull and cross bones at the foot of a cross. Col. Bramble 
thinks it may have been a Eeliquary altar. 

It is not unusual to find chests fastened with three padlocks ; 
in that at Mark church, Somerset, (Fig. 3) the padlocks are 
rude representations of men's heads. At Mark is also another 
chest, covered with leather, which you are asked to believe is 
made from a man's skin ; it is certainly thick enough for any- 
thing. Many old chests were made of cedar- wood, which was 
reputed to keep the contents safe from insects ; these chests were 
usually painted upon the inside. Perhaps one of the best known 

* This chest has been figured recently, in'' The BuildA-,'* JskU. 9th, 1886, p. 108. 



36 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

and largest chests in this neighbourhood is that still remaining 
at Iron Acton Court, made of yew tree, and ornamented with 
poker paintings upon the inside. A curious chest, also of yew, 
is illustrated in Buckler's " Churches of Essex," from Ingatestone ; 
this chest was bound with wrought iron, interlacing as usual, 
the yew being only Jin. thick, and lined on the inside with strong 
linen ; each of the cross bands is turned into a hinge. A 
common type is that in Portbury church, an oak chest 
bound around with thin wrought-iron interlacing; many such 
occur in country churches. The admixture of gothic and renais- 
sance details in chests of the early 16th century is curious ; another 
common form of late 15th century work is that of chamfered framing 
filled in with linen pattern panels, as in Fig. 9, a chest which is 
put together with oak pegs. 

A mark of Jacobean chests is a festooned facia or fringe at the 
bottom ; another feature is the very pretty arabesque patterns 
in low relief upon the framing, shown in my drawings of the oak 
chests from Shireharapton and Bowden Hill, Wilts, the patterns, 
cut in such low relief that one might easily rub off an im- 
pression like a brass. Another not uncommon design in 16th 
century work is that of laurel wreaths, enclosing the arms 
of the family in a central panel, with rude portraits of the 
owners, gentleman and lady, one on either side ; as that in Louth 
Church, Lincolnshire, illustrated in Collings's ** Gothic Architec- 
ture ; " in this case the Royal arms, with the king and queen. 
Most of the older Jacobean chests have the mouldings upon the 
framing rim, ** butt up," as the carpenters term it, as is done in 
the modern Queen Anne style. Where the mouldings are mitred 
at the angles, one may be quite sure the work is of comparatively 
modern date ; such are the chests at Axbridge, Pucklechurch, 
and that at Tytherington. 

It is common to hear in Devonshire that the carved oak 
was brought by the Spanish Armada, and some of the 
richer patterns rather favour that idea ; such as the richly 
inlaid chest, Fig. 8, from Lyme Regis church, at which 
town it is related how the people assembled on the cliffs 
to see the Armada sail across the West Bay, and they also sup- 
plied ships for the defence of their country. Our secretary, Mr. 
Alfred Hudd, has a very pretty Spanish chest, covered with black 
leather, with the date 1636, and the rose and pomegranate 



On Old Carved C/tests. 37 

worked out in nails. At Llanrhaiadr church, Denbigshire, is a 
very quaint old chest, in one piece, hollowed out of a trunk of a 
tree, with alms box upon the top. We most of us know the 
pretty mortuary chests on the screens of Winchester cathedral, 
said to contain the bones of the Saxon kings. They are renais- 
sance in style, and made of oak and chestnut, the work of 
Bishop Pox, date 1525. 

I have been asked to mention the carved chest in St. Mary Red- 
cliflfe church ; it appears to me to be an old chest with some of the 
panels carved in modern times, and the figures added to the 
angles. The modern manufacture of old chests is carried on to 
a great extent, and is a simple one. The " Artist " purchases for 
a few shillings an old oak chest without carving ; he then covers 
it with a pattern, most likely copied from some really old oak 
chest or wainscotting ; then varnishes it with varnish with a little 
dark stain, and sells the " old oak chest " at a very remunerative 
price. 

Scarcely one of these old chests quite resembles another, which 
seems to shew them to have been the work of separate persons ; 
many no doubt of the village carpenter, who thus amused him- 
self during the long winter evenings, before the days of penny 
newspapers. He copied to the best of his ability what he saw in 
the churches and halls around him, varying the design some- 
what ; some of these designs seem to be taken from the bind-, 
ings of old books. 

I can only hope in conclusion that these remarks are not quite 
as dry as the dust in the chests about which I have been 
endeavouring to interest you. The continual manufacture of 
shams has been my principal motive in writmg this paper, to 
warn my friends of modern antiques. 



Mr. Pope's paper was illustrated by upwards of forty tracings 
from drawings by the author, chiefly from examples in the 
western counties of England, dating from the thirteenth to the 
seventeenth century, including — 

Old chests at Deerhurat, Fairford, Hightvorthy Wells, Chijy- 
penhairty Slymbridge, Glastonbury, Minehead, Portbury, Zeals 
House, Cirencester, Lyme Regis ^ Clifton, Tytherington, 
Bowden Hill, Elberton, Stanton St. Quinton, Lechlade, 



3^ Clifton AniiquaHan Club. 

Wanborough, Tormorton, Shirehampton, Mark^ Wroughton, 
Slaughterford, Middlezoy, Easton Grey, Biddestone and many 
others. The examples from places, the names of which are 
printed in italics in the above list, are figured in this volume, 
having been lithographed for the purpose by Mr. . Eoland W. 
Paul, to whom the Club is also indebted for the lithographs of 
Long Ashton, Chew Magna, etc., printed in this volume. 



«. . ai L» J ■ 



Mediceval Armour. 39 



iHetitaebal Armour. 



By Lieut. -Col. J. R. BRAMBLE, Hon. Treasurer. 



{Read March \lth, 1885.) 

During the excursions which we have had the opportunity of 
making to churches in the neighbourhood, I have on many occa- 
sions had the honour to call your attention to the various types 
of Armour and other costume represented in monumental effigies ; 
and occasionally it has happened that, owing to the fortunate 
circumstance of there being within the compass of a single day's 
excursion, or, still better, in a single church, examples of Armour 
of several distinct periods, I have been able to point out to you 
to some extent the special peculiarities characteristic of the 
different dates, and to explain the means by which any one with 
a fair knowledge of such peculiarities may assign a date approxi- 
mately correct to any examples which may come before him. 

But, notwithstanding the great extension of Antiquarian lore 
during the last twenty years, it is still a most common expeiience 
to find, on visiting a church, whether in town or country, that 
the date assigned by tradition to any effigy without an inscrip- 
tion, which has been there for so long a time that the " memory 
of man runneth not to the contrary," is completely and often 
ludicrously incorrect — from one to two hundred years being 
comparatively a trivial error. An effigy at St. Philip's Church 
was long pointed out as being that of Bobert, son of William the 
Conqueror, although the armour was some 200 years later ; and 
other instances might be quoted by the dozen. 

Some few years ago I accompanied our Vice-President, Mr. 
John Reynolds, and Mr. George Wright the Congress Secretary 
of the British Archseological Association, to Tewkesbury, to make 
arrangements for the visit of that Association. In passing up 



40 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

the north aisle of the nave of the magnificent Abbey church, I 
casaally assigned the date of 1875 to an effigy in the armour of 
that period. The expression of mingled scorn and triumph 
which passed over the really very intelligent countenance of the 
verger was not readily to be forgotten ; he evidently thought he 
had caught the Antiquarians napping, and exclaimed, '' No, Sir ! 
that is Lord Wenlock, who was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury 
in 1471." If the monument had been that of the unfortunate 
nobleman in question he must, as was well said at the subse- 
quent visit of the Association, '' Have gone in his grandfather's 
armour," but neither this fact nor the circumstances that Lord 
Wenlock was not buried at the Abbey, and that the arms, " a 
chevron between three lions masks " were not his, had any effect 
whatever upon the tradition. There was a monument and a 
name' must be given to it. The tradition is now completely 
exploded, and the anecdote is simply given as an instance among 
many others of anachronisms arising from want of knowledge 
of this very interesting branch of Archeology. 

Under these circumstances it has occurred to me that if we 
could have the opportunity of examining at one time a complete 
series of mediseval monuments of all the different dates which 
are to be found in English churches, and of tracing from the 
effigies upon such monuments the gradual development of armour 
from complete mail to complete plate, from complete plate 
through the second mail period, and so on to its gradual almost 
entire disappearance, more real information would be afforded in 
comparatively a short time than would be gained by the inspec- 
tion of a much larger number of isolated examples not presented 
before us in chronological order. Except in a few large cathe- 
drals such an opportunity is not to be obtained. The series of 
rubbings from Monumental Brasses laid before you this evening 
will, however, amply illustrate the subject to which your notice is 
invited. 

Li the brief notes to be laid before you it will be hardly 
necessary to say that it is not proposed to do more than to give 
such a general description of the different styles of mediffival 
armour as will enable any one giving fair attention to the rules, 
and careful consideration of the examples, to understand the 
varieties which we are likely, in the course of our wanderings, to 
encounter. Anyone desirous of pursuing the subject further has 



Mediceval Armour. 4 1 

ample opportunity afforded him in the works of Sir Samuel 
Meyrick, Hewitt, Planche, Haines, and others, by whom it has 
long since been amply illustrated. It must be fully understood, 
however, that it is impossible in armour, as in architecture, or 
any other matter of archaeological enquiry, to set down any hard 
or fast line, and to say '' up to a certain date such and such 
armour was worn ; after such date a different style was adopted." 
Such a statement can only be approximately correct. There are 
certain broa.d lines and distinctive styles, but they are shaded 
into one another in a gradual and almost imperceptible manner. 
Still, by careful examination and comparison of various examples, 
it is quite possible with armour, as in architecture, to form a 
pretty accurate judgment as to the date of any particular speci- 
men, and in doing so the architectural accessories are often of 
very great assistance. 

For our present purposes it is not necessary to go back to the 
times of our primitive ancestors, and trace the first use of 
defensive armour ; to imagine how one of the early Britons first 
conceived the idea that a coat made of ox-hide would keep out an 
arrow better than a coat of paint, and that it was better to parry 
the blow of a club with the bone of a dead animal than with the 
arm of a living man. 

Neither is it necessary to describe the richly embossed armour 
of the Greeks, upon which Homer dilates with all the enthusiasm 
of one born of a nation of warriors ; the plainer armour of the 
Bomans ; the chain armour of the Scythians ; or that of quilted 
stuff, still worn by some of the Arab tribes. Except in some 
very isolated cases we shall meet with no armour in England 
earlier than the first half of the 13th century — complete chain 
without any vestige of plate, and from that date our study of the 
subject may well be commenced. 

Mediaeval armour as we find it sculptured in our churches may 
be conveniently arranged in six divisions : — 

1. Complete Mail 4. Complete Plate 

2. Mixed Mail and Plate 5. Mail Skirt period 
8. Camail (or Capmail) period 6. Taslet period 

I. Complete Mail. — The period of Complete Mail may be said 
roughly to be coeval with the Norman and early English periods 
of architecture, the 11th, 12th, and 18th centuries, or from the 
time of William I. to Edward I. inclusive. It must be here 



4iS Clifton Antiquarian Club, 

observed that the word "Mail" cannot properly be applied 
to any but chmn armour. It is by no means unusual to find 
in novels and even books of higher pretension a description 
of a knight " clad in plate 7nail,'' or " sheathed in plate mail 
from head to foot," (^hen plate armour is evidently intended), 
who slowly enters the arena and challenges the whole of the 
assembly to mortal combat. Not many years ago a famous 
writer of fiction, well-known to most of you, but whose literary 
productions at that time were, or at all events were supposed to 
be, confined to much more prosaic subjects, described two suits of 
armour, " on view in Clare street," as being of plate mail. I 
entirely failed to convince him that this was an impossibility — 
** chain mail " and " plate mail " was his idea of the distinction, 
and nothing could shake it. " Mail," however, is derived from 
the same root as the French m^ille, a stitch, mesh, or opening 
in net work, and should never be applied to " plate armour." 

With the armour of the period before King Henry III., we 
have little to do. Examples anterior to that date may be found 
on the seals of the various monarchs, of which a fine series may 
be examined and compared at the library of the Guildhall in 
London ; also in illuminations in books of the date, and in the 
Bayeux tapestry. But of monumental effigies we find none in 
England which can be clearly identified as being earlier than the 
second quarter of the 13th century. 

Armour anterior to that date consisted of a leather tunic or 
** haqueton," over which was a hauberk of mail, which, in earlier 
examples, clothes both legs and body in one piece, but later the 
body only, the legs being protected by " chausses " fitting closely 
and covering both feet and legs. 

The helmet in the time of William I. was conical, somewhat 
like a Chinese cap ; in the time of William II. a " nasal," or 
bar running from the forehead to the end of the nose, was added 
— this ** nasal " gradually developes into a complete faceguard, 
the top of the helmet becomes flat instead of conical, and even- 
tually the entire helmet takes the form of a small barrel with slits 
for the eyes and nose. This, as an external protection or " tilting 
helmet," as it is often termed, held its ground with slight modi- 
fications up to the 14th century. 

The early shields are of large size, kite shaped, or curved to- 
wards the body; Subsequently the top is cut square instead of 



MedicBvat Arniouy. 43 

curved, and ultimately they become much reduced in size and 
assume the ** heater " shape. The earliest known shield having 
heraldic bearings is supposed to be that of the Earl of Essex, in 
Temple church, London, the date assigned to which, is 1165, 
but until a much later date the large majority of shields were 
quite plain. 

Perhaps the earliest specimen of armour on any sepulchral 
monument in this part of England to which a 'po%\tive date can 
be given is that on the tomb of Wm. Longespee, in Salisbury 
cathedral ; to this the date of 1226 can be fixed by direct evidence. 
At St. Mark's or the Mayor's chapel in Bristol, there is a very 
early effigy attributed, probably correctly, to Maurice Berkeley de 
Gaunt, the founder, who was buried there in 1280. He is repre- 
sented in a hauberk, with sleeves covering the arms and hands, 
and coif covering the head, all in one continuous piece, and 
chausses covering the legs, the whole being of linked mail. There 
is no admixture of plate whatever. The figure wears a long flowing 
surcoat, open nearly to the waist, where it is secured by a broad 
belt, from which depends diagonally by two straps, a broad heavy 
sword, with cross hilt, the arms of the guard being slightly curved — 
as is not unusual with early effigies — towards the point of the sword. 
The figure is represented as crossed-legged, and as holding the 
scabbard m his left hand, whUe he sheathes his sword with his 
right. He does not carry a shield. On the heels are plain prick 
spurs, i.e., spurs ending in a single point instead of a rowel. 

Another early effigy Ues by the side of the former. It is sup- 
posed to represent Eobert de Gournay, who died 1260, and from 
the style of the armour this may well be the case. This effigy 
is very similar to the former, but the sword and belts are much 
lighter, and the coif is not continuous with the hauberk, but is 
in the form of a flat circular cap or coif laced to the hauberk 
above the ears. On the left arm is a curved kite-shaped shield, 
but with the top straight. The hands are crossed, not folded, 
over the heart. 

It may be interesting here to notice the different modes in 
which these early effigies are represented, sometimes as sheath- 
ing the sword — it is usually described as drawing the sword, but it 
is doubtful whether in every case sheathing is not the better 
description — sometimes, and in later times usually, with the hands 
raised as in prayer — occasionally, as in the case just mentioned, 



44 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

\vith the hands croseed. The helmet is frequently removed and 
used as a rest for the head — the hand coverings of mail are 
thrown back, or the gauntlets of plate, used in later times, are 
laid aside. In one early effigy, at Pershore Abbey, the collar or 
neck of the hauberk is unlaced and thrown back. In every case 
the aim seems to be to suggest by the whole attitude the idea so 
well expressed by Sir Walter Scott in his ** Lady of the Lake." 

'* Soldier rest, thy warfare o'or, 
Sleep the sleep that kuows not breaking ; 
Dream of battlefields no more ; 
Days of danger, nights of waking.** 

I am strongly inclined to think that the crossing of the legs, the 
motive for which has been for so long a matter of controversy, is 
simply a further development of the same idea of rest and repose. 
The idea that persons were so represented because they were 
Knights Templars, or had taken part in a crusade, has long since 
been abandoned, as many represented with the legs crossed 
certainly never either belonged to that order or joined in a 
crusade, and in Ireland some female effigies are so represented. 
On the other hand, many effigies which presumably represented 
actual Templars or Crusaders have the legs straight. The idea 
that the persons represented had, although not actual Crusaders, 
taken a vow to join, or had assisted by money in the objects of 
those expeditions, appears to be merely conjectural and founded 
on no sufficient basis, but simply to be another instance of the 
struggles which an idea, originally untenable, will still make for 
existence. 

About the year 1270 we find the first step towards plate armour, 
the OenouiUeres, or knee-caps, as shewn in the effigy of Sir Roger 
de Trumpington c. 1280, being the earliest of the series before 
you. Originally it is probable that these were of thick leather, 
but many are certainly of metal, and, in later instances, are 
richly engraved. This effigy affords a very good and complete 
specimen of the armour of this period, and special attention 
should be directed to the helmet, used as a pillow, which is 
secured to the sword belt by a chain, and also to the shoulders, 
from which rise the ailettes or wings, on which are emblazoned 
the arms of the wearer, the two trumps on a field semee of 
crosdets (Trumpington). The same arms appear on the shield, 



Mediceval Armour. 45 

and also on small escutcheons on the scabbard of the sword. 
From illuminations of the period the ailettes would appear to 
have been fixed at right angles to, and not parallel with, the 
shoulders; but on an incised plate they could not readily be 
shewn in such a position. 

II. — So far we may be said to have been considering the period 
of mail virtually complete ; but about the beginning of the 14th 
century the plate makes rapid strides. The mail shirt, &c., are 
worn as before, but additional defences are put on over them. The 
arms from shoulder to elbow are protected by " demi brassarts," and 
from front of elbow to wrist by " vamhraces ;** the front of the shins 
by ^'jambarts.'' Frequently also the feet are covered with scales 
of plate in the fashion of the tail of a lobster, and the front of 
the shoulders and the bend of the elbows are protected by disks 
or small circular shields, to which the name of ^^ palettes'* or 
** roundels " has been given. In later instances a more ornamental 
form is given to these — in the case of Sir John de Creke (c 1325) 
at Westley Waterless, the form is that of lion's faces or 
masks. 

About this date also the surcoat takes a very peculiar form 
known as the " eyelash No doubt the long surcoat, originally 
worn to prevent the heating of the armour from the rays of the 
sun, was found very inconvenient on horseback, and some inno- 
vator, wise in his generation, boldly cut away the front of the 
skirt and reduced the remainder to less ample proportions. 

The shield gradually becomes much smaller, and instead of its 
former concave shape it assumes a flat or " heater " shape, so 
called from the article of domestic utility, known as a "flat 
iron." 

III. — ^After 1870 the shield, as a piece of defensive armour, 
will seldom be found on sepulchral effigies. The sleeves of the 
hauberk are much shortened, and shew plate armour beneath 
protecting the lower arm. We then enter the " Camail Period,' 
of which there are numerous specimens in our Cathedral. 
It may be said to be coeval with the Decorated or Edwardian 
period of architecture. The Coif de Mailles, or chain armour 
covering the upper part of the head, disappears, and is replaced 
by a conical helmet, or scull cap of plate, called a ^^ Basdnet.'' 
This is pointed, and in early cases sometimes fluted. The tilting 
helmet was worn over this, but practically is never seen on early 



46 Clifton Antiquarian Club, 

monumental effigies, except used as a pillow. From the edge of 
the bascinet depends a curtain or cape of mail, from which the 
name of "camai7," ("cap," or "cape" mail) is derived. It is 
attached to the bascinet by a cord runniag through rings, and 
frequently with a small tassel at each end. In early examples 
this cord and rings are plainly seen, but soon after 1880 it will be 
found that the cord is concealed, a pipe or groove being provided 
at the edge of the bascinet through which the cord runs. It has 
been suggested, with great probability, that the cord when 
exposed was liable to be cut by sword or lance, and that therefore 
the additional protection was provided. This is one of the small 
l)oints to which particular attention should be given in attempting 
to determine the date of an effigy in this class of armour. Very 
soon after the commencement of this style the surcoat disappears, 
and is replaced by a closely fitting sleeveless garment, extending 
from the shoulders and covering the hips, to which the name of 
'*Jupon** has been given. This garment was made of velvet, 
silk, or stuff, and was frequently embroidered with the arms of 
the wearer, thus being literally a " coat of arms," and no doubt 
the origin of this term. In early examples, the lower border of 
the Jupon is simply escalloped, but gradually the border becomes 
much more enriched, and about 1895 to 1405 is often of a rich 
vine leaf or other floriated pattern. Below the Jupon can usually 
be seen the fringed edge of the mail shirt worn beneath it. During 
the early part of the Camail period the legs are often protected 
by "banded" or "studded" armour, the plate or cuir-bonlli 
(leather) of which the ground work was composed being concealed 
by velvet or other stuffs, secured to it by large round-headed 
studs or by longitudinal bands of metal, which, themselves, must 
have greatly added to its strength. The Genouilleres or knee- 
caps not infrequently resemble pot-lids, and sometimes star-like 
rays or points project below them as in one of the examples now 
before you. 

The sword-belt during the camail period is almost invariably 
worn straight across the hips. It is broad and generally riclily 
jewelled. In» some monuments actual jewels are known to have 
been inserted, but, naturally, the sockets are all that now remain. 
This hip-belt is characteristic of the age, and will be found not 
only on military effigies but on those of civiUans, both male and 
female, of the 14th century. On the left side is suspended a 



J 

■ 

■ 



iii 

•i 



MedicBval Armour. 47 

sword, and on the right a dagger, the former invariably, and the 
latter usually, hanging quite perpendicularly. On visiting the 
little church of Rodney Stoke, near . Cheddar, a short time since, 
I noticed that the local stone mason, who was employed to restore 
an effigy of one of the Rodney family of somewhat later date, 
had substituted a second sword on the right side for the dagger 
which no doubt formerly existed there. The effect is peculiar. 
Probably when the stone has mellowed by age in the course of a 
few centuries, it may be instanced by our New Zealand successors 
as a unique example of the very early influence of Japanese art 
on English manners and customs ; or, on the other hand, it may 
be pointed out to a Society of Antiquarians that " two sworded 
men " were not confined to that Eastern nation. 

IV. Complete Plate. — About 1410-15 a further change is 
developed. The camail is covered by a ** gorget " of jointed over- 
lapping plates. The jupon is abandoned, and the lower part of 
the body armour consists of several rows of overlapping plates 
called ** a skirt qftaces'' There is no doubt indeed that this form 
of skirt replaced the mail shirt at an earlier period, although the 
jupon which covered it prevents the alteration from being readily 
noticed. In the northern Chantry chapel at Chew Magna, which 
the club recently visited, is the effigy of Sir John St. Loe, about 
1440, habited in a skirt of taces covered by a jupon. The taces 
appear clearly at the sides at the lacing of the jupon. Additional 
pointed plates are added on the breast, others of the same 
description above and below the knee, and gauntlets of plate 
having pointed cuffs protect the hands. During the whole of the 
full plate period the rest or socket for the end of the spear is 
often represented on monuments, screwed into the right breast. In 
the early part of the century the bascinet or headpiece was pointed 
as in the camail period ; but the point became gradually less 
acute, and ultimately the bascinet was globular. Except in very 
early examples the sword belt (which is narrow) crosses the body 
diagonally. A dagger is usually worn on the right side affixed, 
not to the sword belt, but apparently to the lower plate of the 
skirt of taces. The date 1430 to 1450 may be named as the 
culminating period of armour — full plate, of fairly Ught, and so 
far as compatible with the nature of the metal and the object to 
which it was applied, of a graceful form. The superior workman- 
ship and artistic qualities observable in monuments, both in stone 



48 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

and bntss. of this period* do not. to 9Ay the least, detrart from 
the effect referred to. 

Then, after the middle of the 15th eentnry, there is an altera- 
tion for the worse. Piece after piece is added to the armour : 
those pieces become of greater weight, and are clomsr both in 
form and s^»pearance. The '^ panldnjH* *' or pieces protecting the 
shoulders are freqoently doubled, are of great thieknesSy and 
sometimes of different shapes on the right and lefk, the one on 
the left shoulder being raised on the apper edge so as to form a 
protection to the head and neck on that side. 

The necessary consequence of the additional weight of Armour 
added for the protection of the upper part of the body was that 
an equivalent weight had to be saved elsewhere. So, before the 
improvement in the manufacture of torpedoes, we endeavoured to 
proWde for additional armour on the more exposed parts of ships of 
war by leaving the parts below the waterUne unarmoured. We 
find therefore, that about 1440-5 the lower plate of the skirt of 
taees was replaced by two short hinged plates of 4 or 5 inches 
width, one in front of each leg, known as '* TuUles" These 
gradually became longer; the skirt of taces proportionately 
shorter, and a skirt of mail over which the tmlles hung took 
little by little the place of the former plates. The pauldrons and 
elbow pieces continued in many eases to be of enormous weight ; 
the latter are often shaped almost like the iron caps of the Civil 
War period. The armour for the feet consists of numerous over- 
lapping plates, and later examples are rounded and of excessive 
breadth at the toes. After 1460 the head is more usually 
represented as bare — the hair up to about 1470 is cut short, 
api)earing almost like a wig round the head — subsequently it is 
long and flowing. The helmet, on which the head generally rests, 
is globular, with a beaked \'isor in early, and a rounded one in 
later examples. Sometimes — especially in late examples, a 
helmet is found with longitudinal bars instead of a visor. 

In the latter part of the 15th and early part of the 16th cen- 
turies a " tabard,'* or square coat with square sleeves emblazoned 
with the arms of the owner, and similar to that still worn by 
heralds, is often found. In the early part of the 16th century 
four tuilles, two in front and two on the sides, are also occasionally 
met with. After the first quarter of the 16th century the edge of 
the skirt of mail is not infrequently indented, and the armour 



Mediceval Armour. 49 

bordered with a studded or rivetted edge of about fin. in width. 
A collar or curtain of mail sometimes hangs from the helmet, at 
other times the gorget of plate is absent, and a mail collar 
appears in its place. 

About 1570 the mail skirt disappears. The enormous stuffed 
trunk hose or breeches then worn rendered a modification of the 
armour necessary, and the " tuiUez " develope into " tadeU ** of 
jointed plates covering the front of the thighs. At first the shape 
of the taslets was generally square with a narrow straight border, 
but before the end of the century the ends became oval and the 
edges are invected. The pauldrons or shoulder-pieces are very 
large and consist, like the taslets, of numerous overlapping plates 
with invected edges and curved to fit the shoulder and upper part 
of the breast ; while the lower edge of the breastplate assumes a 
more pointed form. The modern guard to the sword first appears 
about 1600. 

After 1680 armour below the knee is seldom seen, being re- 
placed by large high boots. The taslets become longer, ending 
in a curved piece covering the knee. The plates of which both 
taslets and pauldrons are composed become smaller and more 
numerous. 

The next change involves the almost entire disappearance of 

armour. The taslets and pauldrons are gone — a " buff coat " of 

thick leather under breast and back plates (similar to those 

still worn, for parade purposes only, by our Life and Horse 

Guards and the French Cuirassiers) and the hehnet of ridged 

form with a brim somewhat like that of a modem hat, well 

known from engravings of the time of the Covenanters, alone 

remain. Then these disappear ; and the last vestige of mediaeval 

armour, the gorget, in the form of small narrow plates of metal 

in front of the neck, still worn by French commissioned officers, 

is to be seen on the Brass of George Hodges c. 1680 at Wedmore. 

He wears large bucket boots with rowelled spurs attached by 

large leathers, laced breeches, buff coat fastened down the front 

with laces tied in bows, the sleeves beiug apparently attached to 

the coat in the same manner ; the gorget referred to ; laced collar 

and cuffs turned back over the coat and a sash round the waist 

tied on the left side. A diagonal belt supports a long straight 

sword with hilt of modem form. The hair is long and curling, 

and he wears a pointed beard and moustache. In the 

4 



50 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

right hand is a spear or javelin about 6ft. long with tasselled 
head. 

We have thus traced so far as we can within the space per- 
mitted, the rise, progress, and decay of MedisBval Armour, Those 
who wore it, and who often in their time did good service to this 
the realm of England, are long since gone from amongst us. 

'< The Knights are dust, 
Their good swords rast, 
Their souls are with the Saints we trust," 

but who dares to say that the age of Chivalry is past. We now 
put the armour on our ships and on our fortresses ; but our men, 
whether of knightly degree or of more lowly birth, fight the 
battles of their common country on one common ground of duty 
and of danger. But the hearts of our soldiers beat as true behind 
the red coat as ever they did behind the Damascened breastplate, 
and tales of even truer chivalry could be told — aye and will 
be told — of Eorke's Drift, of Afghanistan and of Egypt, than of 
Cressy and Poictiers, of Evesham or of Agincourt. And we 
of this generation who have Chard, Beresford, Roberts, still 
happily preserved to us ; and the heroes Eyre, Earle, and Stewart 
fallen on the field, we cannot say of glory, but of duty ; aoid last, 
the glorious name of Gordon — ^a name of which Englishmen will 
be proud until England and time shall be no more — ^need not go 
back to the Middle Ages for incentives to valour ; and something 
better than valour. " A gentle Knight and true ; " the highest 
praise of our forefathers — ^may it not truly be said of all these ? 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 5 1 



^nmnt Bristol Comments;. 

No. I. 



By Liiut.-Ool. JAMES R. BRAMBLE, Treasubib. 



{Read November 12/A, 1884.) 

Bristol Local Act of Parliament passed during the Pro- 
tectorate FOR LEVYING BaTES FOR MAINTENANCE OF MINISTERS 
AND GRANTING St. EwEN's GhURCH FOR A PUBLIG LIBRARY. 

Notes. 
[The Act of Parliament of which a copy is here given contains 
information which, while it is valuable to the student of Bristol 
history, is not without a more extended interest. 

The provision for levying a rate of Is. 6d. in the pound on *' the 
rent or true yearly values of all houses/* &c., and of 6s. " for 
every one hundred pound stock employed in trade *' for '' the 
more frequent preaching of the gospel and better maintainance 
of the ministers," a£f6rds a striking evidence of the difference 
in the views of the Nonconformists of that and the present date 
as to the duties of the State with respect to religion. But in 
the time of the Commonwealth the form of religion accepted by 
the State was not that of the Church of Englaoid. 

It appears by the memoranda at the end that this Act was 
passed at the request of the Corporation for the purpose of 
remedying defects in a former Act which had proved unworkable, 
and from some of the enactments it would seem that difficulties 
had arisen, or were apprehended, in getting parties to accept 
the duties which were sought to be imposed upon them ; and for 
this reason not only the members of the Corporation generally, 
but also their officials were authorised to act in case of need, and 
the quorum was reduced from nine to seven. 



52 Cliftofi /intiquarian Club. 

The enactments with respect to '' St. Owin's/' otherwise 
"Audoen's" Church, are of special interest. This church, 
called in more modem times St. Ewen's, stood almost exax^tly in 
the business centre of the city at the comer of C!om and Broad 
streets, on the site now occupied by the Council house. We are 
told by Wm. Wyrcestre {DaUaway^ p. 118), that the church of 
the parish of St. Audoen, with the chapel of the *Fratemity, in 
honour of St. John the Baptist, stood in a direct line between 
the church of St. Werburg (which church lately stood on the east 
side of the Commercial Booms at the comer of Com and Small 
streets, and was taken down in 1878 to widen those streets), on 
the west, and '' Bradstrete " on the east, and that the great east 
window stood " super stratum Bradstrete.'* 

In pages 96-7 this church is quaintly described as consisting of 
a nave on the north side of an aisle — ^habet unam navem ecclesiae 
ex parte boreali alae — and one aisle — alam vel elam — which was 
the chapel of St. John the Baptist and of the Fraternity. In 
p. 144 the chapel is stated to have been on the south side. It is 
evident, therefore, that it stood next to Com street, with the nave 
on its inner side. 

At the same page it is also stated that the length of the church 
of " Seynt Ewen id est Sancti Adoen " was " 22 virgas ; " the 
breadth '* 15 virgas " by measurement or " 30 gressus." Wm. 
Wyrcestre's " gressus ** appears to have been 20 inches, and this 
would make the entire church about 78 feet in length by 50 in 
breadth. 

But it was not the entirety of the church which was granted 
for a Public Library. The chantry of St. John appears to have 
been amongst those suppressed by Henry the YIII., as stated 
by Barrett (History of Bristoly 'p. 477). The old chapel in St. 
Ewen's church in 1551, 4th of Edward VI., was granted by the 
parson and parishioners with all their right and title to the Mayor 
and commonalty of Bristol ; and the Corporation erected on the 
site a Council house with a shed before it covered with lead, and 
supported by five stone pillars. This would have reduced the 
width of the church by probably some 20 or 25 feet, but would 
have left the nave of some 70 feet by 25 to 80 feet, in a situation 

* NoTB. — Much information with respect to this ancient Gaild wiU be found in 
the valuable work by our vioe-preeident, Mr. Alderman Fox, on " The Merchant 
Taylors of Bristol." 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 53 

which was perhaps the most valuable which could have been 
selected for the purpose intended, and could hardly now be 
improved upon. 

But it does not appear that the intended conversion into a 
library was ever carried into effect, and St. Ewen's remained as 
an Ecclesiastical edifice until 1787. An Act was then passed for 
taking down the church and attaching the parish to that of 
Christ church, instead of All Saints', as was provided for by the 
Act of Cromwell. 

Under the Act of 1787, St. Ewen's was pulled down, and the 
site, together with that of the old Council house (which had been 
rebuilt in 1704), were again united; and form the site of the 
present Council house, opened in 1827. Some stone carvings, 
found in removing the foundation, were removed to " Broom well," 
Brislington, then the residence of the late Mr. Braikenridge, 
where they are still, I have been told, built into one of the boun- 
dary walls. 

It should be remarked that the City Library had been founded 
in Bristol as early as 1618 — 43 years before the passing of the 
Act granting St. Ewen's. On the 6th December of that year, the 
Council agreed " that if Mr. Redwode will give his Lodge adjoin- 
" ing the Town Wall, neere the Marsh of Bristol, to the Mayor, 
" and commonalty to be converted to a Librarye, or place to put 
^' books for the furtherance of learninge, then the same shall be 
'' thankfully accepted, and that such bookes as shall be given to 
" the citie by the reverende father in God the Lord Archbishop of 
" York, or any other well disposed person, for the furnishing of a 
"librarye, shall be thankfully accepted and preserved in the 
" place aforesaid." Mr. Redwode gave his " Lodge " and the Bristol 
Library came into existence. The house was rebuilt on the same 
site in 1740, and continues to be the central Bristol Public 
Library to this day. Long may it continue to flourish under the 
able care of our friend and associate Mr. John Taylor. 

It is somewhat singular that no tradition even should have 
exiJBted that St. Ewen's had been at one time granted for the pur- 
pose of a Library, but until the writer's accidental discovery of 
the document under consideration the fact appears to have 
entirely escaped notice.] 



54 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

At the Parliament begun 
ai Westminster^ 17th 
of September^ 1656. 

AN ACT for explayninge a former Act off Parlia 
ment made for more frequent preachinge of the 
Gospell and maintaynance off ministers in the 
Cytty of Bristolly and for supplying certaine 
defects in the said former Act. 
THE LORD PROTECTOR doth consent : 

Let this Bill be presented to the Lord Protector 
for his consent. 

Wheabas by a late Act off Parliament, bearinge date the first 
day off April], in the yeare off our Lord Gk)d one thousand six 
hundred and fifty, intituled an Act for the more frequent preach- 
inge of the Gospell and better maintaynance of the ministers 
within the Cytty of Bristoll, the Mayor and Sherifes of the said 
Cytty, for the time beinge, and severall other prticular psons, 
or any nine of them (callinge to theire Assistants three Inhabit- 
ants off each pish), are authorised and ympowered to tax, rate, 
and Asseass a certaine sum uppon the rents or true yearely 
values of all Houses, Shops, Warehouses, Cellars, Stubbes, and 
Tenements not exceedinge one shUlinge sixpence yearely in the 
pound, and five shillings yearely for every hundred pound Stock 
ymployed in Trade by any pson or psons within the said Cytty 
and Liberties thereoff. Be it enacted by his Highnes the Lord 
Protector and this present Parliament, and by the Authority 
thearoff, that it shall and may be lawfuU to and for the sd 
Mayor, Sherifes, and the sd p'ticular psons named and appoynted 
to make the sd Asseassment in the sd fformer Act or any nine off 
them under thire hands and seales to nominate and appoynt a 
Treasurer, Collector, or Collectors for the coUectinge and re- 
ceivinge of all such some and sommes of mony as shal be taxed, 
rated, and asseased, by virtue of this or the said recited Acte of 
Parliament and from time to time to call them to an Accompt, 
remove or displace them, and allow them Sallories as they or any 
nine of them shall think fitt. And if any Cittisen, Burgess or 
Tenant or occupier or aoiy other pson or psons inhabitinge within 
the sd Cytty shall refuse or neglect to pay any sume or sumes 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 55 

off mony taxed rated or asseased upon them or any off them by 
virtue of this or the sd recited Act and accordinge to the trew 
meaninge thearoff, That then it shall and may be lawfull to and 
for the sd Collector or Collectors (after demand off such rate and 
tax by such Collector or Collectors who are hearby authorized 
thearabouts) to levy the some or somes so taxed, rated and 
asseased as aforesaid by distress and sale of the goods off such 
pson so refusinge or neglectinge to pay the same, deductinge the 
sume asseased and reasonable charges of distrayninge and restore 
the overpluss to the Owner thearoff, or otherwise if any pson or 
p'sons so to be asseased shall refuse or neglect to pay the sd tax 
or asseasment within six daies after demand thearoff made by the 
said Collector or Collectors such p'son or p'sons so refusinge or 
neglectinge shall forfeit the double value off the said tax or 
asseasment to be sued for and recovered in the name of the said 
Treasurer in an Action of debt in any Court of Record in the sd 
Cytty wh. said Court or Courts of Record are hearby authorized 
and ympowered to have Jurisdiction cognizance and to hould plea 
thereoff to all intents and purposes whatsoever All wh. said 
Rates and Asseasments soe made as aforesd shall stand good and 
be effectuall from time to time untill uppon complaint or proof of 
some irregularity or inequalUty thearin, to the Justices off the 
Peace at the generall Sessions of the Peace within the sd Cytty, 
the said Justices shall see cause to alter the same. And if the sd 
Justices shall see cause to alter it, then the said rate with such 
alteration as shalbe made by them shall stand and be off full 
fforce And be it also enacted by the authority aforesaid That in 
case the Inhabitants of such pish wh. are to be called to be 
Assistants to the sd Mayor Sheriffes and pticular psons ympow- 
ered by the said recited Act for the ratings and asseasings as 
aforesaid shall refuse or neglect to come and give assistaunce 
accordingly, that then it shall and may be lawful for the said 
Mayor Sherifes and pticular psons to proceede without them And 
be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid that in case the 
said Mayor Sherifes and pticular psons ympowered by this and the 
said recited Acte of Parliament should happen to dye refuse or 
neglect to act, and thereuppon no sufficient number to be left to 
execute the powers hearin and thearby given and granted That 
then it shall and may be lawfull to aoid for the Mayor Recorder 
Aldermen, Sherifes, Townclerke, Steward, Comon Counsell and 



56 Cliftofi Antiquarian Club. 

Ctiambeilains of the Cvtty for the time being or aay Sexen (^ 
them from time to time to pat in executim all and eTery the 
charges powers and authorities given and granted in and by this 
and the sd recited Act off Parliament onto the sd MaycH* Sherifes 
and pticnlar psons or any nine of them in the same and in as 
large and ample manner and forme to all intents, purposes and 
constructions whatsoever any thinge in this or the before recited 
Acte of Parliament to the contrary in anjrwise notwithstand- 
inge. And wheareas there is acertaine Pish Church within the 
said Cytty called by the name off St. Owins ortherwise Andoens wh. 
for the smalnes off it and little use made thearoff may be conve- 
niently miited to the Pish Church off All S^ beinge very fitt 
and near therabuts And the said Pish Chnrch of St Owinge 
lx;inge very convenient to be converted into a Comon and Pubik 
Librerary for the use of the said Cytty Be it also enacted by the 
Authority aforesaid, That if (mc) it shall and may be lawfnll to 
and for the pson or psons named and appoynted to make the said 
Asseasments by virtue of this and the said recited Act aecordinge 
to the powers thearin lymitted to take order that the same church 
of St Owens be converted and ymployed to and for a Publik 
Library within the said Cytty. 

HEN. 8C0BELL, Clerk off the ParliamenU. 

At an Assembly off the Mayor Aldermen and Comon 
Counsell held the Seconde day off January, 1656. 
Wheareas formerly theare was an Act of Parliamt made for 
the maintaynance of preachinge ministers in Bristoll since which 
sever all off the Commissioners thearein named are dead, whearby 
and for some other defects thearin the sd Act is become impracti- 
cable, it is now thought fitt and ordered that Mr Aldworth 
Burgess in Parliament with the advice and Assistance off Mr 
Ald'man Joseph Jackson now in London be desired on the behalfe 
of the Corporation to doe his best endeavours to obtaine aai Act 
off this present Parliament for the maintaynance off the said 
ministers, wheareby the defects in the last Act may be supplied 
(iff possible) , that the Mayor Aldermen and Comon Counsell off 
this Cytty may have the like powers and authorities committed 
to them as by the former Act was given to the sd Commis- 
sioners. 

The XXVIIth off October 1657. 

It is ordered that Coppies of the Act of Parliament be sent to 



Ancient Bristol Documents, 57 

the Church-Wardens of every pish to be communicated to the 
respective Vestries and the severall Churchwardens doe one Friday 
the 6th day oflf November next by two off the Clock in the after- 
noone attend at the Comon Counsel! house and theare give an 
accompt of theire procedinge in making the rate for the maintay- 
nance off ministers according to a former Act of Comon 
Counsell. 

ALDWORTH. 
ffor the Churchwardens off 
the Pish off St John Baptist. 

[The copy is made on three sheets of Foolscap, on which, 
besides the usual horizontal and perpendicular wire marks, is the 
water mark I H S, with a cross bottonee standing on the hori- 
zontal stroke of the H. In the same line, but rather smaller, 
BINAV.] 



58 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



Between 36at]^ anln Caer^mt. 



Bt a. T. martin, M.A. 



{Read December I5th, 1885.) 

My present remarks will be confined to that part of the XlVth 
Iter in the Antonine Itinerary, that lies or seems to lie between 
Bristol and Oaerwent. This Iter, which is sometimes called the 
Via Julia — a name which, however, has no earlier authority than 
the 18th century — ^makes the stages and distances as follows : — 
from Venta Silurum or Caerwent to Abone, 9 miles; Abone 
to Trajectus, 9 miles ; and Trajectus to Bath, 6 miles — or 24 
miles in all. It has been very forcibly pointed out in a paper by 
our esteemed President in the Bristol and Gloucestershire ArchsBO- 
logical Society's Transactions (Vol. III. pp. 83-89) that this 
total distance of 24 miles necessitates a pretty straight road from 
Bath to Caerwent. Bishop Clifford in this paper gives us a very 
salutary caution against the impropriety of needlessly altering 
the distances of our authorities to siiit our theories, and I shall 
therefore assume that the route we are considering must have 
been from Caerwent to Sudbrooke, then to somewhere at the 
mouth of the Avon ; then past Bristol to Bitton, and so to Bath. 
For this is the only route that will even approximately fit the 
distances in the Itinerary. My object to-night is twofold, (1) to 
bring forward some additional evidence in favour of the route 
past Sudbrooke, (2) to revive the old theory of Seyer that Sea 
Mills is the site of Abona. 

In the paper already alluded to, there are some interesting 
remarks on the alteration in the bed of the Severn, and a map, 
which is coloured so as to show what is in all probability the 
ancient bed of the river. It seems that the waters of the Severn at 



On ike kotnan Road. 59 

one time washed the foot of the hills from Portbory to Aust. The 
same paper points out that on the western side of the river the 
contrary prooees has been going on — ^probably half at least of the 
camp at Sudbrooke having been washed away by the river. But 
this process of denudation was, it seems to me, limited to a very 
small area. Sudbrooke suffered because it was a cape or head- 
land receiving the full force of the water coming through the 
shoots. Westward of this, the process has been exactly the 
same as on our side of the river. Seyer states that there was a 
tradition that the ships in old times used to go right up to Oaer- 
went : whether this was so or not we cannot teU, but if we con- 
sider the levels of the ground between Galdecott and Portskewett 
it seems pretty clear that there was here a wide estuary, extend- 
ing at least up to Galdecott, if not further, of which Galdecott 
and Portskewett Pills are now the only traces. It seems, more- 
over, pretty safe to conclude that the Bomans would have 
chosen such an estuary as this as a landing place in preference 
to any spot on the open shore. My theory, therefore, . is that 
from Gaerwent the route lay along a road through Galdecott to 
somewhere about Deep Weir, and that at this spot, or near this 
spot, was the actual place of embarkation. On the 25-inch map 
of Galdecott Parish, the remains of a road, called the Portway, 
are shown. This road, if continued, would enter Galdecott a Uttle 
west of the cross-roads. Isaac Taylor points out that Galdecott 
is exactly equivalent in meaning to Gold Harbour : this, if cor- 
rect, would be additional evidence in favour of this route. The 
camp at Sudbrooke would, on this theory, have been a gar- 
risoned port protecting the mouth of the harbour, which would 
have been amply protected on the land side by the neighbourhood 
of so strong a place as Gaerwent. 

I must now call your attention to the opposite side of the 
Trajectus. Assuming that the Bomans embarked here, the ques- 
tion is — where did they land ? That it was somewhere near the 
mouth of the Avon is clear, I think, from the considerations of 
distance before mentioned. I venture to suggest that it caoi have 
been at no other place than somewhere in the mouth of the 
Avon. Just as at Butupiae in Kent, the spot chosen for the land- 
ing station was on the side of a river or estuary ; so here, I think, 
the probability is all in favour of the Bomaois having chosen some 
such sheltered spot in preference to any place like that at the 



6o Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

foot of Blaize Castle, where the ships would have been exposed to 
all the dangers of storm and currents; and would, moreover, 
have had no better protection from hostile attack than would be 
afforded by a camp in their rear. If the landing place was at 
Sea Mills, the camps on Eingsweston and Blaize Castle hills 
would have, I think, a much better strategical meaning than they 
would on any other theory. 

It is, I believe, generally admitted that the Bomans occupied 
the camp at Sea Mills ; but I shall, nevertheless, put very briefly 
before you the arguments on which this admission rests, not 
because they require additional evidence, but because I think 
their bearing and importance have not been suflSciently 
estimated. 

These arguments are twofold, (1) the name, (2) the remains. 
As to the first of these, it is only necessary to remind you that 
the fields in the neighbourhood were, according to Seyer, in his 
time, called the Portburies,* and that the older name seems to 
have been Portchester. This last name would pretty certainly 
imply a fortified port of some importance. As to the second argu- 
ment, the remains, I shall pass over coins, as they have been 
found in so many locahties, that they afford us no direct help. 
But Barret (" Bristol " p. 12) tells us that in making the Sea 
Mills Dock in the year 1712 — " They also met with a fine 
arched gateway underground in digging out the dock at its upper 
part, which seems to have led to some principal part : and the 
rudera of buildings destroyed, and remains of old foundations 
have been traced up the adjoining hilly ground next the river 
side. Seyer states {Memoirs of Bristoly vol. I. p. 156), " Many 
thick flat tiles are often found here in the walls and foundations, 
having grooves on one side ; apparently intended as bricks for 
building: some have been in my own possession. These are 
certainly Boman, such being found in other Boman stations."! 

* I recently met two old residents at Seft MiUs, who told me thev distinctly re- 
membered some of the fields there being caUed '*the Polborvs," but they were 
unable to poiut them out, and no such names are now in use there. 

A. E. H. 

to. W. Manby, inhis *' Fugitive Sketches/' published Jan. 1802, writing of the 
"grand naval magazine of the Romans " at Sea Mills, states (p. 18) : — *' Coins are 
found to this day, fragments of urns, scorious relics of iron ore, called Roman cin- 
ders, and bricks, S^in. in length, 4|in. in breadth, and lin. thick, aU being scribed 
down on one side. These are in my possession, which I principally found in a 
field called the Three-acres, where many had been turned up in pfoaghing." — 

At Ml. a. 



On the Roman Road. 6i 

This, I take it, is a statement of the utmost importance. Nowhere 
else, I believe, in the neighbourhood have there been found any 
remains of buildings. And the conclusion that may be drawn 
from this is that here at Sea Mills there was a landing place and 
port of some considerable importance ; and further, that this was 
the eastern terminus of the traject — as it is hardly likely that a 
port of this kind existing, there should be any other landing 
place of importance in the immediate vicinity. 

I shall now, with your permission, direct your attention to the 
remains of the camp as existing (1) in Beyer's time ; (2) at the 
present time. On the plan accompanying this paper, which is a 
reduced copy of the Ordnance Map on the 25-inch scale, is a 
tracing of Seyer's plan of the camp. The dimensions are given 
as about 50 acres. Wright gives the area of Bichborough as 
4 acres, Lymne 12 acres, Kenchester 21 acres, and Sil- 
chester as 120 acres. These figures show that the station must 
have been one of some considerable importance. Seyer's plan 
appears not to be correct as to the points of the compass, but it is 
inserted here so as to as nearly as jfossible correspond with the true 
directions of the Trim and the Avon. On Seyer's plan may be 
seen a mound running all round — ^two bastions which I have 
marked A and B. — Sneed Park House and Little Sneed, immedi- 
ately above it. The point marked C is, as nearly as possible, 
above the present lodge at the foot of the Mariners' Path. The 
black lines inside the mound in Seyer's plan seem to be hedge- 
rows. They remain now very much as they were then, except 
that stone walls have, in some cases, taken the place of hedge- 
rows. Mr. Hudd has very kindly accompanied me in a visit of 
inspection to the camp. We found that the greater part of 
Seyer's plan can even now be identified. 

From the foot bridge over the railway to the point marked A, 
the mound still exists, and is very strongly marked. At A the 
bastion may still be seen. Between A and B the mound has 
been totally destroyed, possibly in order to give the house an 
uninterrupted view over the river. At B there appears to be the 
second bastion, and immediately beyond this there is another at 
a spot marked with a cross, which does not appear in Seyer's 
plan. From this point to C there are no traces of the mound. 
But on the east side, on the right of the road leading to the 
bridge over the Trim, the fall to the level of the stream in Sea 



66 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

that even if I have not estabUshed my point, I have said 
suflScient to revive an interest in Sea Mills and possibly to 
stimulate our local antiquaries to fresh investigations, and I hope 
to new and important discoveries. ^ 

Note. — Since reading the paper, Mr. Hudd and myself have 
examined a small collection of various objects that have been « 

found in the fields, either within the station or in the immediate 
neighbourhood. This collection consists of some broken pieces 
of Samian ware [potter's marks on two pieces, F. PVDEN and 
OP. CAIVI C? CALVI),] pieces of coarse ware, fibulae, beads, 
coins and tesserae of a pavement. 



Proceedings, 1884-5. ^7 



1884-5. 



MEETINGS AND EXCURSIONS. 

The proceedings at the first meeting, held January 23rd, 1884, have 
already been printed. On the conclusion of Mr. Taylor's paper on 
Norman doorways some discussion took place. 

Mr. T. S. Pope remarked that in Norman times the great monasteries 
formed centres of art, or possibly colleges of workmen, which influenced 
the architecture in the surroimding districts. For instance, Malmesbur^' 
Abbey seems to have influenced not only all the early work in that part 
of Wilts, but places as far distant as Stanton and Kempsford; and 
Glastonbury had influence in South Wales, and Gloucestershire, as 
at St. David's, Llandaff, and Slymbridge. In the church at the place last 
named is a doorway very like one in ** St. Joseph's Chapel." Possibly the 
workmen passed into Wales from Glastonbury, by way of Gloucestershire, 
working on the way. llie circular-headed early arches in Oldbury 
Church point to the same conclusion. The interesting Norman doorway 
at Ditteridge seems to have been imitated from Roman work, and it is 
possible even that the great western archways at Tewkesbury may have 
been suggestec^ by Koman work then remaining in that neighbourhood. 

Mr. W. E. Jones thought there was little doubt that much of the 
early Norman work was built by Saxon masons working under Norman 
tuition. Upon careful examination of the architectural remains of the 
Norman period, we find evidences of thought on the part of the designer 
in the planning or working out the general distribution of parts or 
grouping, whilst the details are feeble ; in other cases we find the general 
arrangement shewing little power; but, evidently a master hand has 
appeared on the scene before the work was completed, and to a certain 
extent redeemed its character by the great beauty and power in the 
finishing or carving and ornamentation ; or perhaps he has bestowed all 
his art power upon one of those beautiful porches or doorways described 
by Mr. Taylor. In a progressive art like architecture, it is difficult to 
give a precise date when one style ceased and another began. In sonie 
phases of architectural art it took centuries to shake off we forms and 
traditions of one style and adopt those of another, and between the two a 
variety of most curious and interesting features are to be obser^'ed, which 
taken by themselves are entirely misleading, but when associated with 
and traced back to the previous, and forward to the succeeding styles, 
enable us better to understand what style in architecture really means. 

Mr. S. H. Swayne, Mr. H. Lewis, Mr. A. T. Martin, and' Mr. A. E. 
Hudd took part in the discussion. 



68 Clifton /Antiquarian Club. 



THE FIKST EXCURSION 

took place on Wednesday, May 29 th, 1884, when about thirty members 
and friends accompanied the President (Bishop Clifford), to Ashton, 
Barrow Gumey, Chew Magna, Stanton Drew, &c. Starting from Clifton 
on a beautiful May morning, and pas*«ing the remains of the three ancient 
camps at Clifton, Burwalls, and Ashton, and through Ashton Park, the 
first halt was made at 

Ashton Court, 

where in the absence of Sir Greville and Lady Smyth , the members were 
received by Mr. William Dyke, who conducted them over the most 
interesting portions of the mansion. Some fragments of the 15th 
century house of the Ashton Lyons family still remain, but have mostly 
been covered up and altered during various reconstructions, especially 
in that under Inigo Jones, about 1634. The interesting collection 
of pictures having been examined, Mr. Dyke led the way across the Park 
to 

Long Ashton Church, 

a fifteenth century building, dedicated to All Saints, which was con- 
siderably *' restored" in 1871, under Mr. Ferrey, when the chancel and 
the greater portion of the north wall of the nave were rebuilt. There is 
a good, square, perpendicular tower at the west end (a sketch of which 
by Mr. Paul, is given on the plate) : this was probably built by Sir Thomas 
De Lyons, whose arms — a chevron between three lions couchant — still 
remain on a shield over the west window. This family came into 
possession of the Ashton estate temp. Edward I, and in the north porch 
are two effigies (figured in Mr. R. W. Paul's Sepulchral Slabs of N, W. 
Somersety pi. 9), supposed to represent two male members of that family 
of the early part of the 14th century. The Lyons arms also remain 
among the beautiful fragments of stained glass, now in the south window 
of the chancel. The chief feature of the interior of the church is 
the handsome chancel screen of carved oak, richly colored and gilt. 
Though the present colours are said to be accurately copied irom 
the old ones, the effect of the restoration has given this fine screen such 
a very modem look that it has certainly lost somewhat in its effect. 

In the north aisle, the interesting monument to Sir Richard and Lady 
Choke, c. 1486, was examined, and here a paper was read by Mr. John 
Price, of Ashton, on the Choke family, and their connexion with the 
parish. Sir Richard Choke, Kt., though never " Lord Chief Justice 
of England,'* as described by Collinson {vol. 2. p, 291), and other writers, 
was a most distinguished man, who was made by King Edward IV., in 
1461, one of the Justices of the Common Pleas, which office he retained 
till his death, in the first \ear of King Richard III. 

Ashton Cross, 

erected in the 14th centun*, recentlv removed from the roadside near the 
Angel Inn, and re-erected in the churchyard to the south-west of the 
church, was next inspected. Ti)is is the only one remaining of the seven 
crosses mentioned by Pooley (Crosses of Somerset^ pp. 117, 118), as 



l.MijA^U'M^Cbxirck . 



, i.tUi-'-^Mi—-- 



Tii^^^^y^ 



Proceedings, 1884-5. 69 

formerly standing in the parish. Bishop Clifford stated that the position 
from which it had recently been moved was not its original site, and that 
therefore its removal was not a matter of much consequence from an 
antiquarian point of view. The large and ancient tithe-bam a short 
distance to the south-west of the church was not visited, but it has 
a good 1 5th century roof in excellent preservation, and is an interesting 
example of its class. It is here figured from a sketch by Mr. Paul. 

Barkow Gurnet Court 

was next visited, by kind permission of the owner, Mr. H. M. Gibbs, who 
having recently purchased the estate, is making extensive alterations and 
repairs to this interesting mansion, which, soon after the suppression of 
the Benedictine nunnery in 1536, was built on the site of the Priory 
buildings by John Drew of Bristol, to whom the house and lands were 
granted. The house is still, notwithstanding various alterations, a 
fine specimen of the Elizabethan style, especially as regards its external 
appearance, but considerable liberties have been taken with the internal 
arraue:ement8 ; several richly decorated ceilings remain, and some old 
carved mantel-pieces, with shields of arms of the Gores and other 
families who have held the Manor. A view of the front of the house, 
from a drawing by J. C. Buckler, was published in 1816, in Rutter's 
Delineations, pi. 16; the original drawing is in the Smyth Pigott 
collection, now in the Taunton Museum. Hardly any fragments are left 
of the Benedictine priory foiinded here, about A.D. 1211. by one of the 
Berkeley family, except a few walls, and some carved beams now in the 
large tithe bam at the back of the Court. 

A history of the priorv, by the Rev. Thomas H\)go, was published in 
the 12th volume of the Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archmological 
and Natural History Society. 

Barrow Church, 

dedicated to **St. Mary the Virgin and St. Edmimd the King," has 
been rebuilt. It contains some old monimients, and a good 14th century 
incised cross-slab, 5^ feet in length, which probably commemorates one 
of the prioresses. Mr. R. W. Paul, who figures this cross in his 
Sepulchral Slabs, pi. 13, was mistaken in supposing the blue colouring 
to be original, it having been added by a late rector of the parish, who 
coloured in a similar manner *'the elegant 15th century stoup, which 
stands against the wall close by," in the porch. This stoup has nothing 
to do either with the ancient priory, or the parish church, having been 
taken to Barrow from Temple parish, Bristol, where it formerly stood. 
The heraldic tiles and other remains recently discovered outside 
the west end of the church having been covered up to protect them from 
the weather, could not be examined, but as they had been seen by 
several members of the Club on previous occasions, and will again 
be visible when the ** restoration " of the Court is completed, a short 
account of the remains, written by our Treasurer, Col. Bramble, may 
be of interest. 



70 Clifton Antiquarian Club, 

On some Heraldic Tiles, found in 1883, at the Mtnchekt, 

BaBKOW GuttNEY. 

The following are the chief bearings of these tiles : — 

1. Three leopards, or lions. England. 

2. Three chevrons. Clare, Lords of the Honour of Gloucester. 

4. A chevron between ten crosses form^e. Berkeley. 

5. Three eagles displayed, single heads, Bodney of Backwell and 

Stoke Rodney. 

6. A maunch. Probably De Mohun, Lords of Dunster. Although 

this family generally have a hand holding a fieur de lis in the 
tnaunch (heraldic sleeve), yet not unfrequently, especially in 
early cases, the maunch only is found. In Glover's RoU we 
find, '* Reginald de Moun de Qoules ou ung Manche d^ argent, ^^ 

7. Per f esse six cinque foils or roses counterchanged ; or, it may be 

three cinque foils or roses, on a chief as many counterchanged. 
This coat, which not unfrequently occurs on tiles in Somerset, 
is generally attributed to Patton, but I doubt the correctness of 
the suggestion. 

8. Quarterly per f esse indented, in the first quarter (second in the tile, 

which is reversed) a mullet, Acton of Chelvey. According to 

Collinson, this coat is to be foimd in the window over the 

altar. The Actons of Iron Acton did not bear the mullet. 

From the position of the tiles the tomb is probably that of a Rodney 

who married an Acton, and a reference to the pedigrees of these families 

might lead to the identification of the individual. 

The other tiles, two birds addorsed, a common subject, and others, are 
merely conventional and not heraldic. 

This pavement was discovered about four feet beneath the surface of 
the soil, during the excavations in connection with the *' restoration" of 
Barrow Court, in 1883. The central space, about 3 ft. by 6 ft., has 
a black cross formed of narrow tiles, and the spaces between the arms of 
the cross are filled with heraldic tiles described above ; this central space 
is surrounded by two lines of lettered tiles, forming two inscriptions 
which though in pai-ts imperfect and destroyed, can be partly read. 
^' Dominus '' or '' Domina d' Acton '' appears on the inner line of tiles, 
and on the outer row are alternate Ms and R's, which Dr. Hardman 
believes to stand for *' Maria Regina." Remains of walls were foimd at 
the same time, but the discovery of such remains, outside the walls of the 
church, is curious, and has not hitherto been satisfactorily explained. 

DUNDKT. 

After an ascent of a few miles, up country lanes and roads gay with 
spring flowers, from which beautiful views were obtained of the valley of 
the Avon, Bristol Channel, Welsh hills, &c., the fine tower of the 
little church of St. Michael the Archangel, Dundry , was reached. With 
the exception of the tower, this church has been entirely rebuilt ; 
a statement that the tower was built by the Merchant Venturers of 
Bristol, during the reign of Edward lY., and was probably intended for 
n landmark, was read by the secretary from Murray's Guide to Wilts, 



Proceedings, 1884-5. 7^ 

Dorset and Somerset ^ 1882, p. 422, but no authority being quoted 
in support of the statement, it can only be taken as a tradition.* 

Bishop Clifford said the tower was on the site of an ancient beacon or 
" Dawn tree," (Sax. dagian to dawn, or spread light) which had given its 
name to the village. CoUinson, Vol. II. p. 104, derives the name '*from two 
Erse words, Dun and Draegh^ signifj'ing '* a hill of oaks," and states that 
[¥ several oak trees still remained on the hill near the village. A. third 

'' ' suggested origin of the name, the well-known " Done-dree" of the local 

legend, needs only mention here. The curious square **Dole stone" in 
the churchyard was inspected, and the fine octagonal churchyard cross, 
figured and described in Crosses of Somerset^ by Peoley, p. 60, who, 
however, was mistaken in supposing that the ornamental crocheted finial 
is modern, the spire and cross only ha\dng been added by the restorers, 
llalf-an-hour's drive down hill from Uundry brought the party to the 
quaint old town of 

Chew Magna, 

where they were not sorry to find luncheon awaiting them at the Pelican 
Inn, after partaking of which a visit was made to ''the Church Manor 
House," a curious old building near the church in which the court leet 
used to be held, and which is now occupied as the parish school. The arms 
of the Idth century builders. Saint Loe impaling Fitz Paine, still remain 
over the western doorway, and of the same date is the carving in stone 
of Saint George and the dragon, over the window. A view of the north 
side of the house by Mr. Paid is here given. Mr. George Adlam, F.S.A., 
. whose absence from home prevented his attending the excursion, 
had forwarded to the Secretary some '' Notes on the Ajitiquities of Chew 
Magna and the neighbourhood," in which he stated that this and similar 
church houses in various villages in this portion of Somersetshire 
had been built for the use of the parishioners, and were, in medieval 
times, used by them on festivals and other similar occasions. On entering 
the churchyard, Mr. Hudd drew attention to a large stone lying on the 
left side of the path, near the gate, which on examination proved to 
be the socket, turned upside down, of a Cross which probably once 
stood in the village. It was plainer, and probably older than the 
fine 16th century Churchyard Cross, figured by Pooley, which is still 
standing on seven octagonsd panelled steps near by. At 

The Chukch 

the vicaXy the Rev. J. Galbraith, accompanied by the Messrs. Colthurst 
and other gentlemen, met the members. Before entering the building 
some interesting features of the exterior were inspected. It was 
stated that the church was dedicated to Saint Andrew, and that 
the chancel had at one time extended considerably further eastward. 

* In Godwin and Hine*8 Antiquitiea of Bristol, is a fine engraving of Dundry 
tower from a drawing by W. C. Burder, with the following description : — 
" The Tower, which was erected by the Merchant Adventurers of Bristol, A.D. 
1482, as a landmark for seamen, is remarkable for the beauty of its design," &c. 
There appear to be no records remaining of the doinjB^s of the Society at the period 
named, and a '* Past. Master" of the Society, to whom I applied for information 
on the subject, writes — ** I fear there is nothing but rumour, or rather tradition 
for the statement." It seems a most unlikely site for a '* landmark for seamen." 

A. £. H. 



^2 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

In both the north and south porches traces appeared of what looked 
like the remains of the '* Porch-galleries *' once frequent in the district, 
but of which that at Weston-in-Gordano is the only one left in anything 
like a perfect state. The '* faire church " mentioned by Leland is said 
to have been built, or rather rebuilt, by Bishop Beckington, about 
the middle of the 15th century, with the exception of the north 
aisle, which was founded principally by Sir John St. Loe, c. 1420, and 
contains his tomb. His effigy has sufiPered much from the '* restorers," 
having been scraped all over and otherwise injured. Collinson, Rutter, 
and other old writers, described this effigy as *^ cross-legged " which is a 
mistake ; though on the occasion of this visit, some of the members 
thought the alteration had been made at the time the effigy was 
*' restored,' ' subsequent examination has shown that this was not the case. 

The well-known wooden effigy attributed to Sir John Haut>'ille, the 
Baber and other monuments, the carved oak chancel screen, the ancient 
font, the old oak lectern with its chained book, and other objects of interest 
having been examined, the vicar pointed out the Lock tomb-stone 
which he had recently caused to be re-erected near the west end of the 
church. Respecting this Mr. George Adlam, F.S.A., thus writes in the 
Antiquary^ vol. 11. p. 183, — "In your interesting account of John 
Locke and his birth-place, you mention that the grandfather of the 
philosopher was John Locke, who purchased an estate at Pilston, East 
Brent. But it appears in the '* Life of John Locke " that Nicholas Locke 
was his grandfather. This Nicholas is described as a clothier, living at 
Sutton Wick, in the parish of Chew Magna, in the churchyard of which 
parish he was buried, imder a goodly tomb, opposite the belfry door.. 
This tomb no longer exists, but in 1855 a small carved head-stone was 
exhumed, and has been re-erected by the present vicar. It bears 
the following inscription : — 

1674. 
HERE LIETH THE BODY 
OF PETER LOCK OF 
THIS PARISH WHO 
I DEPARTED THIS WO 

IN GOOD. 

The register of buriab, under the date 1674, contains the following 
entry: — "Peter, son of Peter Locke." 

Tne pedigree would, I take it, stand thus : — 

NicholM Look, of Sutton Wick, clothier, 
buried at Chew M. 1648. 



John Lock. Peter Lock. 

John Lock, the philosopher. Peter Lock, buried at Chew, 1674. 

On the invitation of Mr. John Colthurst a visit was then paid to 
the remains of Chew Magna Court House, with its ancient gate-house 
recently restored, and the few other fragments of the ancient palace of 
the Bishops of Bath and Wells, which had been pulled down about 
A.D. 1698, by Edward Baber, Esq. The sites of the ftncient buildings 
were pointed out by Mr. Colthurst, who, with the vicar, was, on the 




/ 



,/■ 




Hxn 









-0 



mmmmmmmmmBmmmmeBmmmBmmBtsmi 



Proceedings, 1884-5. 73 

motion of Bishop Clifford, accorded a hearty vote of thanks for their 
courteous reception of the Club. 

Remounting the carriages the party then proceeded to 

Stanton Dbew, 

where they were received at the church by the vicar, the Kev. H. T. 
Perfect, M.A., who read a paper in which he endeavoured to show that 
the church had originally stood north and south, instead of east 
and west, and that it was terminated by a Norman apse. Ihis theory of 
the vicar's, which was not accepted by the architectural members of the 
party, was chiefly founded on a lithographic view published in jbhe 
Journal of the British Archaeological Association for 1877, vol. xxxiii., 
p. 298, purporting to represent *' the Church at Stanton Drew." This 
was, as Mr. Perfect remarked, " so unlike the present building that any 
attempt at reconciling the two seemed utterly absurd," unless the church 
had been altered as he suggested. Without re-producing the lithograph 
*{see note) it would be difiicult to follow Mr. Perfect's argument in 
support of this theory, and we therefore pass on to his description of 



'I' 



The Church. 

"The church of St. Mary, Stanton Drew is not very interesting* 
especially in its interior arrangements. In August, 1869, the church wan 
visited by the Somersetshire Archaeological & Natural History Society, when 
a distinguished antiquarian, Mr. E. A. Freeman, expressed nimself 
grateful that a plan of the church hanging on the wall enabled them to 
see where they were. Instead of a nave and aisles the church consists of 
two almost equal bodies, so that it is difficidt to tell which is the nave 
and which the aisle. — {see plan). The chief points of interest in 
the church are the small early Norman font, (of which we give a sketch) ; 
a decorated doorway on the south side of the tower ; a curious niche, 
partly obscured by the organ gallery ; and the strange bosses on the roof. 
The queer capitals are said to resemble some in Devonshire, and are very un- 
like the usual Somersetshire type ; (see Freeman. Proc. Som. Arch, and 
N. H. Soc. xiv. 1. p. 22). The square tower in the centre of the north 
side of the church probably formed a porch in itself, before the con- 
struction of the present porch. A private chapel was also added to the 
east of the tower, which now belongs to Sir Edward Strachey, Bart., who 
allows it to be used as a vestry. On first entering the church it strikes 
one that the east end of the north, or central aisle, now the private 
chapel of Mr. S. B. Coates, has the appearance of having been the 
old chancel, and that the south aisle, including the present chancel, was 
a more recent addition." Whilst examining the wooden screen which 
separates this chapel from the western portion of the aisle, the vicar 
discovered a stone partition, about 4 feet high, by 1 foot 4 in. in depth. 
At first he was under the impression that this was the old chancel screen, 

* It may however be stated that the original water-colour drawing from 
which the lithograph was taken, painted by William Lloyd in 1784, now in the 
possession of Mr. J. T. Irvine, does not contain the words *' the Church," which 
were added by the lithographer without any authority. My own impression is 
that Idle view represents the old house still standing a little to the east of the 
church. 

A. £■ H* 



74 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

but finding no opening in the centre for the choir to enter, Mr. Perfect 
concluded that it was simply a partition of a proprietory character.* 

The celebrated megalithic circles near the church were then visited, 
and Mr. Perfect read a paper on the remains, which has been printed at 
p. 14 A short discussion followed, in which Bishop Clifford, Dr. Beddoe, 
F.R.S., the Secretary and other members took part, but time did not 
allow of the date and uses of these megalithic structures being discussed 
at any length. After thanking the vicar for his reception, the party left 
Stanton iS-ew, and drove to the pretty village of 

NOBTON MaLKEWARD, 

where they were most hospitably received and entertained at tea by Mr. 
and Mrs. Cashmore (Norton Court). On account of the lateness of the 
hour it was found necessary to abandon the intention of visiting Norton 
church, and a direct path was pointed out by Mr. Cashmore, and the 
Rev. J. Catton, M.A., the vicar, who themselves led the way up the steep 
hill-side to the last object of the day's excursion, 

Maes Kkoll Camp. 

Here the Rev. J. Cation made some observations upon the subject of this 
camp, and of the Wansdyke of which it was an important fortification, if 
not the western extremity. He pointed out the direction of this great 
Belgic barrier, which can be traced from this point at intervals, for about 
eighty miles in an easterly direction, though all traces of its supposed 
extention westward, to Portbury or Portishead, seem now lost. At the 
request of the President, Dr. John Beddoe, F.R.S. made some remarks on 
the subject which are printed at p. 11. A descent was then made to the 
road on the other side of the hill, where the carriages were rejoined, in 
which the return journey to Clifton was safely accomplished. 

* These ** Pardose " screens to separate a chapel from the main body of 
a church, or to protect a monument, were frequent iu the 14th and 15th centuries, 
not only in Somersetshire, but throughout England. They were generally made 
entirely of wood, and were sometimes most beautifully carved and painted. 
Few of them remain in good condition in this part of the country. 

A. E. H. 



EXCUESION TO 
GLOUCESTER, DEERHURST, and TEWKESBURY.' 

The second excursion took place on Monday, September the 29th, 
1884, when the president, Bishop Clifford, Mr. Alderman F. F. Fox, 
vice-president, and about 24 members and friends, including several 
ladies, left Clifton Down station in a saloon-carriage, and proceeded 
by Midland express to Gloucester, which city was reached about 10 a.m. 
Here carriages were in readiness to take the party to Deerhurst Priory 
and Tewkesbury, the principal objects of the day's excursion, but, before 
leaving Gloucester, a brief visit was paid to the Cathedral, where some of 
the chief architectural features were pointed out and commented on by 
Mr. T. S. Pope, and other members. Among the features specially 
noticed were the richly decorated windows of the south aisle, which are 



Proceedings, 1884-5. 75 

nearly covered on the exterior with the "ball flower ornament''; 
the beautifully "restored" south porch; the huge round Norman 
columns of the nave ; the choir, with its handsome vaulted ceiling and 
grand east window, one of the largest in England ; the cloisters with 
their splendid groined roof, " the earliest example of fan- vaulting " ; the 
'' carolB/' twenty in number, said to have been used by the monks 
for writing and study ; and the very perfect lavatories with the ad- 
joining manutergia^ or recess for towels. Circumstances did not permit 
a visit on this occasion to the Lady Chapel, the cr^'pt and other inter- 
esting portions of the building. Remounting the carriages, a pleasant 
drive of about an hour up the Severn valley, with fine views of the 
Cotteswold hills to the east and the Malverns to the west, brought the 
party to what the late Mr. Parker, F.S. A. described as " the oldest dated 
church in England," — 

Deebhtjrst P&ioby Chubch, 

where they were received by the vicar, the Rev. George Butterworth, 
M.A. After some of the most interesting features of the church had 
been inspected, the vicar read a paper on the early history of Deerhurst, 
which is printed at p. 22. lie was followed by Mr. Iliomas S. Pope, 
who gave an interesting account of some of the architectural remains, 
especially of the Saxon work for which this church is famous. 

In the discussion which followed considerable difference of opinion as 
to the date of this early work was expressed by the president, and other 
members, some thinking it probable that Mr. Pope was right in supposing 
there were two periods of Saxon work represented, perhaps of the 8th 
and 10th centuries, while others inclined to the belief that there were 
few if any remains earlier than the 10th centuiy. 

After a short interval for refreshments, a start was made for Tewkesbury, 
before reaching which town the secretary pointed out to the members 
the site of the so-called " Queen Margaret's camp,'' and of the battle 
fought May 4th, 1471, between the Yorkists and Lancastrians, which re- 
sulted in the complete defeat of Queen Margaret, the death of Edward. 
Prince of Wales, and the settlement of Edward lY., " the rightful heir," 
upon the throne of his ancestors. 

Tewkesbury Abbey. 

Upon reaching the abbey the party was met by the vicar of 
Tewkesbury, the Rev. Hemming Robeson, M.A., who kindly acted 
as guide, and conducted the members roimd the exterior and interior of 
the building, explaining 'and pointing out the chief points of interest. 
The grounds were entered by way of the Abbey gate-house, a large, 
square, early 15th centur}' building, over 40 feet in height, which is said 
to have been erected by Abbot Parker, who died 1412. 

Willis speaks of this gate-house as a " very noble one *' ; a good view 
of its exterior front, before its restoration in 1849, is given in Lysons's 
Gloucestershire Antiquities, pi. 69. The curiously-carved gurgoyles 
are original, and interesting. A little to the east of the gate-house is. a 
building now known as ''the Abbey house," which is said to have been 
before the Dissolution, the Infirmary of the Monastery. After having 
been alienated for centuries, and occupied as a private house, this 
building has recently (1884) been restored to the abbey, and is now 



76 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

occupied as the residence of the vicar. Numerous alterations and 
repairs have left little of the original building, but, on the north side is 
a curious bay window with a fragment of an inscription, and some 
shields beneath being the arms of the abbey, and of Fitz-Hamon. 

The West Fkont. 

A curious square chamber at the S. W. angle of the Abbey church, 
which had for centuries been used as a garden storehouse by the owners 
of the Abbey house, was then entered by some modem stone steps. 
This was on examination by the architects present, pronounced to have 
been the basement of a square Norman tower, and the vicar's suggestion 
that it should be restored to the church by opening out the wall 
separating it from the south aisle of the nave, was much approved 
of. Though there seems to be no sign of a corresponding tower at the 
N. W. angle, there can be little doubt that two western towers were 
originally designed by the Norman architect of the Abbey church, but 
in what way the great round-headed arch of the west front was intended 
to be finished still remains a puzzle. It certainly was not intended for a 
large window, as it is at present used. This arch differs from those 
somewhat resembling it in other particulars in the west fronts of Lincoln 
and Peterborough Cathedrals, in that the arch mouldings are carried 
continuously from the ground to the head of the arch. 

From the west end of the abbey, the members were conducted past the 
site of the cloisters, and of the monastic buildings, to the east end of the 
church, where the rather continental -looking arrangement of chapels 
clustering aroimd the chancel was duly admired and commented upon. 
In this respect Tewkesbury Abbey has no rival amongst the grand old 
minsters of England, and before the destruction of the Lady chapel, the 
site of which was pointed out, must have held its own, even when 
compared with the magnificent contemporary Gothic churches of the 
continent. 

The Iktebiob. 

Entering the nave, by the doorway on the south-eastern side, the 
members seated themselves in a position from which a good general view 
of the interior of the building could be obtained, while the vicar pro- 
ceeded to give a brief account of the history and builders of the abbey, 
pointing out the portions which had been added at the periods named ; 
after which a more minute examination was made of the details, including 
the most interestmg monuments, the stained-glass windows, and other 
beauties ; from the ^^ Clarence vault," with its supposed remains of the un- 
fortimate brother of Edward IV. and Richard III., to the carved bosses 
of the roof, recently restored and coloured by Mr. Gambier Parry, which 
are an almost complete illustration of Bible history, from th^ Creation 
to the Judgment. 

After a vote of thanks to the Rev. H. Robeson for the kind manner in 
which he had received the Club, and the information he had given 
respecting the various objects of interest, which had added so greatly to 
the pleasure of the visit, had been proposed by Bishop Clifford, and 
carried enthusiastically by all present, the members proceeded through 
the picturesque streets of one of the most interesting towns in England, 
noticing in passing the various quaint specimens of 16th and 16th 



Proceedings, 1884-5. 77 

century half-timbered houses of which so many are there to be found, 
to "the Swan Hotel," where dinner was partaken of. The return 
journey was made by an evening train from the Tewkesbury station, 
Clifton being reached soon after 8 p.m. The magnificent weather with 
which the members had been favoured, added greatly to the enjoyment 
of the excursion. 



MEETING, NOVEMBER 12th, 1884. 

BisHor Cliffobd, President, in the Chair. 

A paper upon " Old Car\'ed Chests " was read by Mr. Thomas S. Pope, 
illustrated by upwards of forty drawings by the author of examples in 
the West of England, dating from the 1 3th to the 17th century. This 
paper is printed with illustrations in this volume. In the discussion 
which followed, Bishop Clifford, Col. Bramble, Mr. Almond, Mr. Thos. 
Kerslake, Mr. John Taylor, and other members took part. Col. Bramble 
thea exhibited and read some notes upon some ancient documents from 
Bristol. Ist, ** On St. E wen's Church as a Public Library," which is 
published in this volume ; 2nd, *' Some old Deeds belonging to the 
Parish of St. Mary-le-Port," which it is hoped to print hereafter. 
Several members took part in the discussion on the contents of these 
documents which are of considerable local interest. 



ANNUAL MEETING, JANUARY 28th, 1886. 

The first Annual Meeting was held on Wednesday, January 28th, 
1885, Bishop ClifTord, president, in the chnir. 

Lieut.-Col. J. R. Bramble, treasurer, read a financial statement for the 
previous year, showing a satisfactory balance in hand. At the request 
of the treasurer an auditor was appointed to examine the accounts, Dr. 
G. F. Burder imdertaking the duty. 

The president then read an address^ of which, owing to the im- 
fortunate loss of the MS. notes, only a brief abstract can be here given. 

Abstract of President's Address. 

Bishop Clifford commenced with a brief statement of the causes that 
led to the formation of the Clifton Antiquarian Club, which have already 
been alluded to in an earlier portion of this volume ; one of the chief of 
these being to continue the work so well commenced under the guidance 
of Mr. John Reynolds, of Redland, whose " archajological picnics" 
during past years had afforded much pleasure to all who had been 
privileged to take part in them. It was pointed out that the field over 
which the work of the Club might be supposed to extend, included not 
only the whole of the Counties of Gloucester and Somerset, with the 
ancient City of Bristol, which lies between the two, but belongs to 
neither ; but also, irrespective of county boundaries, any place or object 
of antiquarian interest which could be easily reached from Bristol as a 
centre. 

The first twelve mouths of the existence of the Club had shown, by 
the good attendance of members and friends at the meetings and 



yS Clifton Antiquarian Club, 

excursions, that the promoters were not mistaken in their opinion that 
such a society was wanted in this neighbourhood. 

Some interesting papers had b^en read at the evening meetings of the 
Club ; these it was proposed to publish in tlie Journal of Proceedings, 
which would also contain a report of the excursions. 

The president then referred to some of the objects of interest which 
had been visited during the year, commencing with the prehistoric 
remains, and megaUthic circles nt Stanton Drew. Though much 
smaller than the somewhat similar remains at Avebury and Stonehenge, 
these in our own neighbourhood are perhaps older, and are certainly next 
to them in point of interest. It was intended that in the course of the 
coming year or two excursions should be arranged to both these large 
circles, and also to other megalithic remains within easy reach of 
Bristol. 

Among other monuments of prehistoric times, the president also 
alluded to the Wansdyke, the great western fortress of which Belgic 
boundary line, now known as '^ Maes Knoll," had been visited by the 
Club on the same day as Stanton Drew. It was proposed to visit shortly 
the most perfect portion remaining to us of the Dyke, on the Wiltsliire 
downs between Calne and Marlborough. 

Coming down to a rather later period, when the history of our 
country may be said to commence, we have within a short distance 
of Bristol nimierous camps and battle-fields, the scenes of some of the 
important engagements, in which Britons and Saxons, Englishmen and 
Danes, contended for the mastery. Also we have many historic sites 
connected with later periods of history. 

To architectuitd students, and especially to those who are interested in 
the rise and progress of church architecture in our country, the district 
is rich in examples; the churches of Deerhurst, in Gloucestershire, 
Bradford-on-Avon and Abury in Wilts, are amongst the finest specimens 
left to us of the Primitive Romanesque, or Anglo-Saxon style. In 
Gloucester Cathedral, Tewkesbury, Glastonbury and Malmesbury Abbeys, 
and Bristol Cathedral with its noble Chapter house and great Gateway, 
we have splendid examples of the late Romanesque or Anglo-Norman 
style. The next stage, the Fii'st Pointed or Early English, is finely 
illustrated in Salisbury and Wells Cathedrals, and in the beautiful 
** Elder Lady Chapel," at Bristol. Gloucester Cathedral, St. Mark's, or 
the Mayor's Chapel, Bristol, and Bristol Cathedral show us the Second 
Pointed or Decorated style. But perhaps our district is richest of all in 
examples of the Third Pointed or Perpendicidar style, of which in 
Somersetshire more especially, we have some of the most noted churches. 
Though it is rather the fashion to find fault with this Perpendicular 
architecture, we should remember that it has many beauties of its own, 
and moreover that it is more than any other an exclusively English style, 
and is by some supposed to have originated in our County of Gloucester. 
No one can look at such churches as that of St. Mary Redclifi*. or Bath 
Abbey, or at such splendid towers as those at St. Cuthbert's, Wells ; St. 
John*s, Glastonbury ; Wrington, Banwell, St. Stephen's, Bristol ; 
Dundry, Thombury, Bitton, Taunton, Bruton, Huish, and many other 
Somersetshire examples, without admiring these works of the English 
school of architecture. 

We have also in the West of England and South Wales fine Norman 



Proceedings y 1884-5. 79 

and Mediseval Castles, at Berkeley, Chepstow, Raglan, etc., and numerous 
interesting remains of domestic architecture in Manor houses, dating 
from the 14th to the 18th century, such as Clevedon Court, Tickenham, 
Lytes Carey, Nailsea, Chelvey, Barrow, Long Ashton, and many more ; 
some of which have been visited by the members of the Club during the 
past season. 

Bishop Clifford concluded by advising every member of the Club to take 
up some special branch of antiquarian study, so that more good results 
might follow from the visits and excursions to places of interest, than if 
all gave their attention to similar branches of the subject. 

A vote of thanks to the president for his interesting address was 
moved by Mr. W. V. Gough, seconded by the Rev. Beaver H. Blacker, 
M. A., and carried by acclamation. The ballot for officers and committee 
for the year, 1885, then took place, the following being the result: — 
president, Bishop Clifford ; vice-presidents, Mr. John Reynolds and Mr. 
Francis F. Fox ; treasurer, Col. Bramble ; secretary, Mr. Alfred E. 
Hudd ; committee, Mr. F. J. Fry, Mr. W. F<. Jones, Mr. A. C. Pass, and 
Mr. John Taylor. 

Mr. W. Derham, M.A., and Mr. S. Cashmore were elected members 
of the Club, in the room of Mr. J. Dallas and Dr. Steven, who had left 
Clifton. 



SPECIAL MEETING, MAECH 17th, 1885. 

On Tuesday, March 17th, 1885, a special general meeting of the 
members of the Club was held in the Lectuie Theatre of the Bristol 
Museum and Library, Bishop Clifford, president, in the chair, to hear a 
lecture from Lt.-Col. James R. Bramble — '* On Mediaeval Annour," which 
is printed at p. 39. 

On the conclusion of this most interesting lecture, which was 
illustrated by numerous rubbings from monumental brasses. Bishop 
Clifford in moving a vote of thanks which was carried by acclamation, 
remarked that instructive lectures such as that just given added greatly 
to the pleasure to be derived by those who had the privilege of hearing 
them, from visits to ancient buildings and museums where examples of 
the objects themselves, or representations of them in brass or marble, 
could be examined. It was hoped that other members of the Club who 
were quite competent to do so, would follow the excellent example set 
them by their worthy treasurer, and that Col. Bramble would also 
at some future meeting continue the history of the interesting subject 
he had so well commenced by giving the Club the benefit of his extensive 
knowledge of the history of English civil and ecclesiastical costume. 
Mr. J. Almond, Mr. H. M. Herapath, Mr. John Williams and the 
secretary added a few remarks on the subject of the lecture. 

Advantage was taken of the occasion to make a presentation to 
Mr. John Reynolds, one of the vice-presidents of the Club, consisting of 
a silver epergne, several volumes of books, and an illuminated address 
containing the names of the subscribers. The inscription engraved on 
the epergne was as follows — ** Presented to John Keynolds, Esq., by 
seventy-^ree friends in recollection of many pleasant antiquarian excur- 
sions under his guidance.'' Several subscribers who were not members 



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'tstfr •A.r't *rz-*-..r*-rf'A -'Y V>^ airaL-v-r* ,^ lift *,1-J; -.•-it ^ 
^t- .-.*-;;< • j<^? >.*.-.. 1 '•'•->, wi#-^ 4-v,«ir ry.--^" ait-^EJ^Tv imi ±r: 

*^;j<r */' r*/^.»^^.* 'yf IV^-vx^ V» '^ ^^^ttr^ '■a tiii'» ocn-**i':ii- the Tiewof 

r-p r/7 U»^ r/r...j»ftt «r.r»-»r..n^ w-.tik wr.>-a tii*' day op«j#e*L will »jc ^oon be 

y,,A/ n,s»t^^ * p^iK. by k;ryl ^^frmi^vm. of Henry Bnywce. Et-^^ BIackJaiMia> 
Hh»^rw waw wr^^ r«*/'f./^ w'n^^re a ^iLr^t ^toppa^e wa» niade f«3r tike 

The Wajtadtke, 

ni^;$itf \Xm yiwUttfi with th^ Rornaii roa^L knriwn a« the "^Via Julia.* 
T>»i« i* fi^iff^ \fy Stnk^lky in hw book on Abxiry, and i» reproduced in 
itte iUrr, A, C', hffiith'fi recently published Antir^uities of X. WUUkire^ 
pL jji. fitf, 2, wYterf: a grj^jd a/rc^nint of the WiitAhire portion of the dyke 
will )fH found, 'thin ancient XernVstiaX bomniary, conid^n^ of a lu^ 
hank with a dit/rh <m \U north 4irle« extended for nearly 100 mile;> from 
HtfmerMdtihirH Ut the woodland* r^f Berluhire, and is supposed to have 
})4!en ittrttXlrturuA^ about ^VXl B.C., by the Belgae, to divide their 
utm^-n^'urtM f rr#m thrjue (4 the Boduni and other British tribes whom they 
Wl driven northward. A few remarks upon the dyke were made by 
CoL Bramble and Mr. Hu/ld near Shepherd*8 shore, where a halt. 
WHH matU: itt examine itn remains w)tich are here for some miles in nearly 

KrriMii VAnuWium, Its name is almrjftt eertainly from Woden, the god of 
nin/lariiii, W<xlen*« dyke having become Wansdyke, in the same way 
tliat W^Klen's daeg has bc<Mjme W ednettday. 

rankling the little village of Beckhampton, where few if any remains of 
♦♦ th<! avifiiue " exist, Avebury was reached soon after 1 p.m. Here the 
hungry antiquaries were not sorry to find a substantial luncheon awaiting - 
thcrn at the Red Lipn, to which, after the drive over the breez\' 
Wiltsliire downs, ample justice was done. 

AVEBUEY ChtTBCH. 

A vii»it was then paid to the interesting parish church of St. James, 
wli<rc the vicnr, the Kcv. Bryan King, M.A., pointed out the chief 
fcuturcn of interest, foremost amongst which are the very curious 



Proceedings, 1 884-5. 8 1 

remains of the ori«^inal Suxon church discovered during the restoration 
of the building in 1872. The most interesting of these are the circular 
clei'estory windows, of which there were originally eight. One of these 
when it was discovered still retained portions of plastered basket-work, 
known as " wattle-and-daub," which the vicar believed to have come from 
a still earlier church of British Christians which probably stood near this 
spot in pre-Saxon times. The Norman font, the handsome carved-wood 
chancel screen richly coloured and gilt, and other features of this 
interesting church having been noticed, Mr. King led the way to the 
interior of the huge encircling mound surroimding what, though but a 
fragment of the original structure, is still undoubtedly *' the grandest re- 
lic of an ancient heathen temple in Europe." 

The Stone Cikcles. 

Of the 648 stones which, according to the Kev. A. C. Smith's account, 
the Avebury temple was composed, only about 48 remain above ground ; 
A-iz., 31 inside the mound, 15 in the Kennet avenue, and two known as 
the '* Long Stones," near Beckhampton. Mr. King pointed out most of 
the 31 stones still visible inside the temple, and the piosition of others 
which had been ascertained by the Kev. A. C. Smith to be under the 
surface. 

After thanking the vicar for his guidance and his interesting account 
of both the pre-historic and early Christian remains of the locality, the 
party left Avebury by way of the Kennet avenue, and soon arrived at 

SiLBVBY Hill. 

llie more energetic members of the party made the ascent of *' the 
largest artificial hill in Western Europe " ; and on the plateau at the 
summit a brief account was given of the structure, and of the excavations 
which had from time to time been made, in the vain hope of discovering 
its real nature. It doubtless had some connection with the circles 
at Avebury, and was probably either a sepulchral mound of some mighty 
British chief or hero, or a post for observation or defence. Passing the 
remains of the Roman road, and the fine British and Roman stronghold 
known as Oldbury camp, with the well-known white horse carved on the 
hillside near it, the members arrived at 
■ 

Chekhill Kectoky, 

where they were hospitably entertained by the Rev. W. C. and Mrs. 
Plenderleath, who had kindly invited them to partake of tea, after which 
Cherhill church and a fine old tithe bnm near it were visited. The drive 
was then continued to 

Calne, 

where the parish church was examined, imder the guidance of Mr. 
Thomas S. Pope, who made some remarks on its interesting late Norman 
and *' Third Pointed " architecture, and upon a curious wooden chest in 
the north aisle. The pai'ty returned from Chippenham by the 7.45 
ti-ain, reaching Bristol soon after 9 p.m. 

6 



82 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



FORMATION. OF A SECTION OF THE CLUB. 

In May, 1885, it was resolved to form a section of the Club for 
a more detailed examination of objects of antiquarian interest in tlio 
neighbourhood of Bristol, walks and excursions to be taken at short 
intervals, generally on Saturday afternoons. 

On Saturday, June 25th, the first sectional excui'sion took place, when 
a visit was paid to 

PoRTBTJRY, Somersetshire, 

where the Church, the remains of the Priorj', the ancient Camp, and other 
antiquities were examined, and several objects of special interest were 
carefully drawn to scale by members present. The vicar, the Rev. T. O. 
Tyler, M.A., and Mrs. Tyler, met the members at the church, and after- 
wards kindly entertained them at tea, at the Itector}-. 

An excursion to Old Sarum and Stonehenge had been planned for 
Friday, October ^nd, but at the last moment it was postponed sine die, on 
account of the unsettled state of the weather. 



. MEETING, DECEMBER 15th, 1885. 
Bishop CrrFFORD, President, in the Chair. 

Mr. Alfred E. Hudd, hon. sec, exhibited ground plans and elevations 
of the Saxon chapel recently discovered at Deerhurst, which had been 
kindly forwarded for the purpose by Mr. C'oUins, of Tewkesbury, 
and read some notes on the subject which have been printed at p. 27. 

A tracing and photograph of the celebrated Saxon font in the parish 
church at Deerhurst, which is said to be of the time of the Venerable 
Bede (a.d. 072-735), kindly lent him by the Rev. G. F. Browne, B.D., 
of Cambridge, were also exhibited by Mr. Iludd, and were much admired. 

A paper was then read by Mr. Thomas S. Pope, on ** Old Iron-work," 
illustrated by numerous sketches by the author from examples in 
the neighbourhood of Bristol and by some specimens from tliQ Bristol 
Museum, which it is hoped will be published hereafter. In the 
discussion which followed several members took part. The recent 
disappearance of some noteworthy examples of ancient ironwork formerly 
remaining in the neighbourhood of Bristol was alluded to. 

Lieut. -Col. J. R. Bramble then exhibited a beautiful 15th centurj^ Cope, 
lately discovered in Yatton church, and kindly sent for the inspection of 
the members of the Club by the vicar of Yatton. Many years ago this 
cope, which was of blue velvet with a rich oq>hrey containing figures of 
twelve saints imder canopies, had been cut to pieces and made into 
a pall, probably in the 16th centur}\ Thefigm-es were, notwithstanding 
the rough usage the work has received, in fair preseiTation, and many 
of them were identified by Colonel Bramble and Bishop Clifford. It is 
to be hoped great care will be taken of this valuable relic of antiquity. 

A paper on " The Roman road from Bath to Caorwent '* was then 



Proceedings, 1884-5. 83 

read by Mr. A. 'J'. Martin, M.A., of Clifton collep^e, in which the writer 
br()ii«^ht forward a considerable number of factn to support the theory 
that the station Abona. upon this road, was at Sea Mills, as supposed by 
Sever, and not nearer the Severn, as had been suggested by Bishop 
Clifford and other wi-itei-s. This paper is printed at p. 58. 

Votes of thanks to the readers of papers, and to those gentlemen who 
had sent objects of interest for exhibition, were carried unanimously, on 
the motion of the president 



65>8.86 J<iH\ Wright & Co. Pbintkhh, Bkibtol. 



Clifton Antiquarian Club. 85 



^Iti Sron-b)orik in tf)e S^est of 



By THOMAS S. POPE. 



{Read December Ibth, 1885.) 

TN making these few remarks upon the subject selected for our 
■*■ consideration this evening I have confined myself chiefly to local 
remains, most of which, though more or less simple in design, 
exhibit the great characteristic of all good work — fitness for the 
purpose they have to fulfil. This paper treats only of iron-work, 
brass and other metal- work being reserved for another occasion. 
I need scarcely remind my hearers that Bristol possesses some 
good old brass eagle lecterns, a fine old brass corona in Temple 
Church, and also, although not so well known, some interesting 
specimens of old church plate. It is a matter for wonder that 
so little ancient iron- work remains here, taking into consideration 
the foreign trade of Bristol — especially with Spain, a country so 
rich in metal work — and also its nearness to the Forest of Dean, 
and to the City of Gloucester, which was the Birmingham of the 
middle ages. In the 19th year of King Henry II. no less than 
25,000 great nails with heads were supplied by the Borough of 
Gloucester for the King's house at Winchester. The scarcity of 
old metal-work can only be accounted for by the general scramble 
at the Beformation, and during Cromwell's wars, when the people, 
instead of turning their swords into reaping hooks, turned much 
of the church iron- work into pikes ; for we know that old tombs 
and reliquaries were in many instances protected with elaborate 
iron-work, which is all gone, and could scarcely have been taken 
on account of the value of the metal, which was but little. Much 
injury has also been done by modem ''restorations," the old 
work having been thrown away as useless, and replaced in too 

Vol. I., Part II. (1885—6.) 1 



86 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

many instances by cast iron, or, what is nearly as bad, malleable 
iron, very cheap, very pretentious, and, may I use the term, very 
snobbish in design. No doubt better work has been done of late 
years by such men as Skidmore, Hardman, and Singer of Frome, 
but so long, I think, as the real workman cannot associate his own 
name with his work we cannot expect much that is good. The 
absorption of the workman into the large manufacturing firm 
prevents his taking that pride in his work that no doubt pre- 
vailed in the middle ages, which produced such masterpieces as 
the Gloucester candlestick, now in the South Kensington Museum. 
Imagine a Benvenuto Cellini, or a Peter Vescher, shut up in a 
Birmingham manufactory ! 

I have been able to find but few remains of old iron-work in the 
neighbourhood of Bristol, and these consist principally of hinges, 
closing-rings, latches, escutcheons, and fragments of railings and 
grilles, with a lock here and there, until we come to " the Queen 
Anne period " as it is now called, of which there is an abundance 
of specimens in Bristol and the neighbourhood, to which I shall 
have to call attention presently. 

The beautiful enamelled candlesticks in St. Thomas Church, 
Bristol, are scarcely, I think, home made ; I have seen their exact 
counterpart in some foreign publication. Possibly they are of 
12th or 13th century date, and of foreign make ; Nuremberg was 
the seat of such manufactures for a long period.^ 

The methods of iron ornamentation used in this neighbour- 
hood were very simple ; plates of iron perforated with patterns 
in one or two thicknesses were fixed for closing-rings to latches, 
and to form ornamental locks, with a background of red cloth or 
leather, and often had an ornamental twisted rim enclosing and 
giving depth to the whole ; the ring generally had a knob of 
iron at its lower portion and two of the same description near the 
centre ; these knobs were often ornamented with dots or crosses 
sunk into the surface of the iron, and sometimes the ring had 
two lizards meeting in the centre, as in an example at Tewkes- 
bury. Hinges were ornamented in a similar manner, and, with 
the decorative scrolls, both ornamented and strengthened the 

'These candlesticks are figured in vol. III. of the TraiM, B. and G, Arch, Soc. 
PI. III., where they are described as of copper, originally gilt, the patterns filled 
io with champlev^ enamel ; and it is suggested that they are more probably the 
work of Limoges rather than German. Kp. 



Old Iron-work in the West of England. 87 

doors, being returned on the framing and bolted through the 
thickness of the doors, the bolt heads forming part of the 
ornamentation of the hinge. Nails also, in many cases, were 
used as a means of protection, and being arranged in patterns, 
added to the effect of the doors. Several patterns of old nail- 
heads are given in Parker's Glossary, 

Grilles, such as the one which remains at South Petherton, 
protected the windows, and were so admirably constructed that 
it was almost impossible to break through the iron without re- 
moving the stonework also. The heads of stanchions to windows 
were often formed with grotesque patterns, as in the one* from 
Huntspill Church. The ends of the hinges at Cirencester Church * 
are formed with representations of dogs' heads. I have noticed 
in early Italian iron-work that the ornamental heads seem to be 
taken from serpents, and are often made of scrap-iron, with nails 
driven through it to represent teeth, a thin piece of iron sharpened 
at the end for a tongue, and eyes and eyeballs almost starting 
from the head; wonderfully clever, reminding one of the "fiery 
serpents " of Moses. Such a work is an iron bracket upon a 
column at Sienna. Our English lizards and snakes are much 
tamer productions ; those at Tewkesbury, and on an old lock at 
Christ Church, Bristol,* seem to have been taken from the little 
harmless creatures which we see in our streams, but the tongues 
are, I think, dogs' tongues ; very mild these compared with the 
foreign serpents. The hinges upon the door to the crypt under 
the chapter house at Wells have terminations representing birds 
pecking at flowers. These hinges are well illustrated in CoUings's 
Gothie Details, 

Sometimes plates of iron are continued around the upper edge 
of a door, with scrolls at intervals, as at Wedmore^, and, I think, 
at Westerleigh. I give some sketches of hinges I have met 
with, those from Moorlynch®, Hawkesbury^, and Inglesham 
Churches being among the best. I have not given a sketch of 
the very remarkable early hinges at present upon the porch door 
of Meare Church, Somerset ; they are very rough, and appear 
either to have been removed from some older building, or are 
copies by the village smith, possibly from some at Glastonbury 
Abbey, not far distant. Some very good hinges also remain upon 

« Plate xi fig. 3. 3 Plate xi. ^g 2. * Plate xiii. fig. 20. 
5 Plate xi. fig. 1. ^ Plate xi fig. 6. 7 Plate xi. fig. 4. 



88 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

the north door of Chedzoy Church, similar in design to those at 
Wedmore ; the rough hammer marks left on the iron gives an 
effect we fail to obtain in modem work. The hinges upon the 
south porch of Gloucester Cathedral are no doubt early, and are 
effective in design. The smaller hinges found upon old pews are 
quaint, and sometimes rather pretty. I show some few examples 
of the 16th and 17th centuries. There were not long since some 
fire-iron dogs and brackets for cooking, in an old house at 
Olveston, upon the hill near the Thornbury road. 

Locks. —Of old locks I have been able to find but few ; of two 
of the best I gave sketches in my paper upon old chests®, viz., 
one from Fairford and one from Zeals House, Wilts. In most 
cases the ancient locks have been removed from old chests and 
comparatively modem ones substituted. There are still remain- 
ing three old locks upon a chest in the belfry of Christ Church, 
Bristol, of the best of which I give a sketch ® ; judging from the 
mouldings of buttresses I should think it was late 15th or early 
16th century work. I also show sketches of old locks at Little 
Sodbury Court, and at Ottery St. Mary Church, Devon, both pro- 
bably of 16th century work. 

Ring-platea and Latches. — Considerable numbers of ring-plates 
and latches still remain, of which I give a selection ; those 
from Portishead ^®, Portbury^S Little Sodbury ^^ and East 
Brent ^, are among the best. Drawings of many good examples 
are published in Brandon's Analysis, Collings's Details, and 
Instrumenta Ecclesiastica, One of the best I have seen was 
upon an old Manor House at Norton, Wilts, opposite the Church. 

Knockers. — There is a plain though quaint knocker at Iron 
Acton Court, and one more ornate at the old Manor House at 
Gumey Street, near Bridgwater. The ring plate at Little Sod- 
bury Court seems to have also served the purpose of a knocker. 
I may here state what may be useful to some of my hearers that 
I found this very pretty 16th century iron- work at Little Sodbury 
through pursuing a principle of going on in a house or church 
until I am told to go out. I found this upon a door to an upper 
bedroom, and sketched it before I had to make my excuses. The 
fact is the mediseval traditions in small details were retained in 
country places down to Queen Anne's time. I have seen much 

8 Proceedings, ante, pp. 33-38. » Plate xiii. fig. 20. " Plate xi. fig. 6. 
" Plate xi. figs. 7 and 10. " Plate xi. fig. 8. »3 pjate xi. fig. 9. 



Old Iron-work in the West of England. 89 

80-called modem design in ornamental glazing, which is merely 
copied from the repairs of mediaaval and Jacobean glass. King 
Solomon was not far wrong when he said, '' there is nothing 
new under the sun." 

Latches. — Some old Norfolk latches had plates of quite 
medisBval pattern ; I sketched one at Wedmore which very in- 
geniously served as latch, ring-plate, and knocker ; it was upon 
an old cottage. 

OriUage. — Some very pretty ironwork remains in old church 
windows, as at Langley Burrell/^ what the French call 
''gnUager a picturesque and ingenious way of glazing, with 
small pieces of glass. 

Hour-glass Stands. — Many of the old iron stands for hour- 
glasses remain in our churches, but most of the glasses are gone. 
I give some specimens from Bristol, Kempsford, Somerton Keynes, 
and Inglesham.^^ The one at St. John Baptist Church, Bristol,^^ 
remains perfect, and there is also one, illustrated in Weale's 
papers, at Gompton Bassett, Wilts. The one from St. John's, 
Bristol, is probably of Nuremberg make, having the eagle of the 
empire upon the bracket. 

All who have been in Dartmouth Church will remember the 
leopards in iron-work on the door, and probably also the inner 
columns with wrought iron scrolls fastened with pins on the 
capitals. The work on the door is well illustrated in Wyatt's 
Iron-work. 

Scrapers. — Old scrapers made of wrought iron, quaint in de- 
sign, and cheap to make, remain at Lyme Begis,^^ Weston 
Zoyland,^ Marshfield, &c. 

Casement Fastenings. — Some casement fastenings and stops for 
ditto, of which many remain in the old houses in this neighbour- 
hood, are figured from Cromhall,^® Corsham^, Axmouth,*^ &c. 
They are interesting from their quaintness. 

Screens. — One of the most interesting sketches is that of the 
screen around a tomb in Berkeley Church,^ very simple in design, 
using but httle material, but yet quite suitable for its purpose, 
and with the addition of a little gold and colour, quite orna- 
mental. The railing to a bishop's tomb, Bath Abbey, is also 

'< Plate xii. fig. 18. 'S Plate xiii. figs 21, 2?, 23, 24. '• Plate xiii. fig. 21, 
'7 Plate xi. fig. 11. '8 Plate xi. fig. 12. '» Plate xii. fig. 16. 

»« Plate xii. fig. 16. " Plate xii. fig 17. " Plate xii. fig. 14. 



90 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

effective with its bannerets at the angles, and coats of arms sur- 
rounded with garters, in the centre. I have also given sketches 
of railings over butchers' shops at Malmesbury, which, if not 
very old, which is questionable, are evidently in the true spirit 
of the old work, and serve their purpose admirably, giving plenty 
of air and excluding birds, &c. There is a pretty piece of railing 
remaining round a tomb in Salisbury Cathedral, with bannerets 
at the angles, and also some to Bishop Beckington's tomb in 
Wells Cathedral. Members may remember the wrought-iron finial 
from a tomb in Chew Magna Church, of which I gave a sketch. 
There is also some good iron- work in Farley Castle Chapel. 

We have many examples of fine wrought iron Queen Anne 
work, notably at St. Mary Bedcliff, at Temple Church, and at 
St. Nicholas Church, which, however, is not so good as the others. 
There was a good gate with piers at Maule's Nursery, Stapleton 
Boad, a gate, now much damaged, at the Barracks, Hotwells, and 
some pretty pieces at Sion Hill, and scattered about the Hotwells. 
Much of this has been illustrated lately in the BuUdifig News. I 
give some few examples : I believe the iron-work at Temple 
Church is foreign, the leaves having the appearance of being 
stamped ; that at Bedcliff is much better, being hammered out 
by hand. One of the prettiest bits is from a gate near Moreton- 
in-the-Marsh, taken from a sketch kindly lent me by my friend 
Mr. Wood, the architect. No one can look upon this 17th cen- 
tury iron- work without feeling that in this the best traditions of 
art have been retained, much more than in the plain brick houses 
which it has been the fashion to copy of late. In much of this 
18th century iron-work the outline is so good, as in the panel 
from the vicinity of Bristol ^ (which I found at Mr. Harris's 
shop), that by filling in gothic foliage one could make very good 
mediaeval looking screens, as I have always thought the late Sir 
Gilbert Scott did for some of his Cathedral screens. 

In conclusion, I would call attention to Violet le Due's account 
of his visit to the ancient serrurier, in his work entitled 
Mobilier, in which he quaintly states what he saw there; he also 
gives an illustration, I believe of the Gloucester candlestick, 
although he does not call it by that name. 

And now, gentlemen, I feel I am nearly hammered out, so far 
as iron-work in our neighbourhood is concerned, but must assure 

»3 Plate xii. 6g. 19. 



Motion 



8 .£iale> Sadiury 







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Plat4^ in. 








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e 








^ 



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'/6. Cromhall 



7 




V 




^6. Ccr^uijnv 




iy. Casemcftt step 
Axnwvuth/ Ckarch/ 




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fS.lMnglet/Jk(rTtll Church 



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Old Iron-'Work in the West of England. 91 

you, if you have found the subject somewhat dry, that I have 
done my very best to get some sparks out of it. 

The following is a list of the drawings of ancient iron- work in 
illustration of the above paper exhibited by Mr. Pope ; those 
printed in italics are reproduced in Plates xi., xii. and xiii. 

Eailings, &c. — 1 and 2, Bath Abbey ; 3, Luckington Church ; 
4, Bristol Cathedral ; 5, Berkeley Church ; 6, Bradford ; 7, Here- 
ford Cathedral; 8, Langley BurreU; 9, S. Petherton; 10 and 11, 
Malmesbury. 

Hinges, &c. — 12, Branscombe, Devon ; 13, Cirencester Church ; 
14, Wedmore Church ; 15, Inglesham Church ; 16, Newnton ; 17, 
Norton; 18, Hawkesbury ; 19, Kempsford; 20, Moorlinch 21, 
Wliitchurch ; 22, Winterbourne ; 23, Melksham ; 24, Bleadon ; 
25, Box; 26, Abson ; 27, Tewkesbury. 

Escutcheons, Eings, &o. — 28, Corsham; 29, JB. Brent; 80, 
Ubley ; 31, Sherboume ; 32, Horton ; 33, Wanborough ; 34, 
Locking; 35, Colyton; 36, Porthury ; 37, Iron Acton; 38, Port- 
Imry ; 39, L. Sodbury ; 40, Chew Magna; 41, Portishead; 42 and 
43, Eedcliflf; 44, Berkeley. 

Locks.— 45, Little Sodbury ; 46, Ottery St. Mary ; 47, Christ 
Churchy Bristol; 48, Old Iron Key. 

Casement Fastenings.— 49, Bristol; 50, Pucklechurch ; 51, 
Winterbourne; 52, Corsham; 53, CromJulU; 54, Bishopstone ; 56, 
Codford; 56, Bristol; 57, Little Sodbury; 58, Axmouth; 59, 
Sodbury ; 60, Liddington, Wilts. 

Hour-Glass Stands, Scrapers, Enogeers, Grillage, &c. 
— 61, Somerford Keynes; 62, Inglesham; 63, Kempsford; 64, 
near Barnstaple ; 65, Laycock ; 66, Luckington ; 67, Marshfield ; 
68, Lyme Regis ; 69, Weston Zoyland ; 70, Iron Acton; 71, near 
Bridgwater ; 72, Gumey St. Manor ; 73, Publow ; 74, Draycot, 
Wilts ; 75, Dartmouth ; 76, Huntspill ; 77, Sharncote ; 78, 79, 
Alms Box, Sutton Benger, Wilts ; 80, 81, Hour-glass and Bracket, 
St. John*s Church, Bristol. 

Bailings. — 82, Sherston Church ; 83, Chew- Stoke ; 84, Gate, 
Patchford ; 85, Panel, Bristol : 86, and 87, Lamp brackets, Led- 
bury ; 88, St. Stephen's, Bristol; 89, Ledbury; 90, Carew; 91, 
Bristol. 



92 Clifton Antiquanan Club. 



0\\ an Ancient Cope at |^atton» 

domeriset. 



By Lbut.-Cou J. R. BRAMBLE, Hon. Tbkasitrkr. 



{Read December 15M, 1885.) 

In the Account Books for the Paxish of Tatton, the following 
entries appeax, under date of 1481 : — 

'* Paid at Bristow for a Sewte of Vestments and 

a Cope. £xxyi 

^' In costs spende abowth the buying of the same 
Vestments. 
'' Paid at Bristow in coste to John Beks, when he 

fett home ye Vestments. vd 

" I paide to ye Bushope ys man for halowyng of 

ye Vestments. vid 

What became of the " Sewte of Vestments " I am unable to 
tell you ; probably when in the years 1547 or 8/' the images and 
iryn " in the church were taken down, and the " Sylvr Crosse 
of our Church was sold by the kenne/' and the proceeds 
bestowed "upon the makyng of a syrten Sllusse, or yere ajenste ye 
rags of the salt water/' the vestments suffered a similar fate. 
But what from its design I cannot doubt to have been the Cope 
to which the entry refers was made into a Fall — ^not into an 
altar cloth as some have supposed — and by the courtesy of the 
Rev. Prebendary Walrond, the Vicar of the Parish, I have the 
pleasure of being able to exhibit it to you this evening. 

As most of the Members are aware, the cope is the proces- 
sional, as distinguished from the eucharistic vestment of the 
MediaBval Church. The eucharistic vestment or chasuble is 
often shortly described in ancient documents as simply a " vest- 
ment," or with its accessories as a " suit of vestments." The 



Ancient Cope at Yatton^ Somerset. 93 

cope was in form a complete, or nearly a complete semicircle ; the 
straight side (passing round at the back of the neck and hanging 
down in front on each side when worn) being richly embroidered 
with gold and silk, in a design which varies according to the date 
of the work. Not infrequently also the semicircular edge was 
ornamented with a narrow border of embroidery of more simple 
pattern. The embroidery is termed the orphreys from auri- 
fragium. The cope was fastened across the breast with a morse 
or clasp often richly jewelled. Beneath the cope was worn a 
cassock, and over this a surplice with hanging sleeves. The 
chasuble, on the other hand, was worn with an alb, having tight 
sleeves. Over the surplice was worn an almuce or fur hood, 
which rested on the shoulders over the cope, and had tails or 
pendants, which hung down in front beneath it. In modern 
copes there is usually a richly embroidered hood or quasi- hood, 
but in mediaeval copes, the hood where it exists is of very small 
dimensions, and the almuce, as a rule, affords a much more 
graceful substitute. 

The body of the cope as distinct from the orphreys was of 
velvet, silk, or other fabric, some times plain, and at others 
richly embroidered in a diapered or conventional pattern, or in 
special cases with groups of saints and emblems. The cope now 
before you has a groundwork of blue velvet richly embroidered 
in gold and silk in a conventional floriated pattern. In a paper 
on English Mediaval Embroidery, in the first volunlfe of the 
ArcJueological Journal, pages 329 — 31, are figured several de- 
signs, similar in character, although different in detail. This 
portion of the cope has been cut into three strips, each about 
ten inches in width, and these alternately with two strips into 
which the richly embroidered orphrey has been divided, have 
been sewn together side by side. 

The pattern hangs right and left from the centre, and from 
this mode of arrangement the work has been utterly unfitted for 
the purpose of an altar-cloth, or ante-pendium, although well 
adapted for the purpose of a pall. The size of the pall is 6 feet 
10 inches by 4 feet 4J inches. There is a narrow border and 
intersecting line of gold tissue. This was not improbably sup- 
plied by the border of the semicircular edge of the cope, to which 
allusion has been made. The orphreys measure 12 feet in length 
by 7 inches in width. The length may appear excessive, but it 



94 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

must be recollected that it had to pass round the neck, and that 
it sometimes reached to, and even rested on the ground. It is 
richly worked in gold and silk upon canvas. The embroidery is 
of the kind known as feather-stitch. It comprises twelve figures 
of saints under canopies, a design specially characteristic of the 
period to which I have assigned it. From the character of the 
costumes, and of the groining, etc., of the canopies, the work is 
undoubtedly Flemish. 

The number twelve might lead one to infer that the Apostles 
were intended to be represented, but this cannot be the case, as 
some of the emblems which can be deciphered cannot be attributed 
to any Apostle. The figures so far as I can decipher them are — 

In the one half : — 

1. Male figure, habited in a long gown, belted at the waist, 
with long hanging sleeves and Flemish hood. No emblem. 

2. Male figure with Gross Saltire. St. Andrew (to whom the 
mother church at Wells is dedicated). 

8. Male figure standing sideways, habited in a long gown, 
belted at the waist and low cap. He holds a harp before him in 
both hands. King David. 

4. Male figure, in white gown, girded at waist, over which is a 
large blue cloak or robe, caught up over the left arm. He holds 
a book in the left hand, and the right hand is raised in the atti- 
tude of blessing. 

5. An aged man, bearded, head bare, nimbus. He wears a 
loose gown, with hanging sleeves ; a book in left hand, the right 
slightly raised and holding a carpenter's square resting on 
shoulder. St. Matthew. 

6. A bearded male figure, habited in a white gown, with 
flowing blue mantle or robe, and cape covering shoulders ; high 
cap with gold circlet ; large gold sceptre in left hand, leaning on 
shoulder ; open book or tablets, with curved tops, Uke the repre- 
sentation of the tables of the law, in right hand. Possibly 
Solomon to correspond with No. 8, David, to which it is opposite, 
but the tablets would suggest Moses. 

On the other half : — 

7. Youthful male figure, in loose gown, belted at waist, with 
open hanging sleeves ; circular cap ; left arm raised from elbow, 
and pointing forwards. 



Ancient Cope at Yatton, Somerset. 95 

8. Young male figure, in deacon's vestments ; alb, with rich 
apparel of gold ; dalmatic and amice. (See Note.y 

9. A bearded male figure, with white undergarment and large 
blue eastern shawl or mantle, folded closely round him and held 
by the right hand ; circular cap. 

10. A bearded male figure, side faced, in gown of fur or hair 
belted at waist; the legs are bare, and he is represented as 
stepping forward with the right leg, and with the left arm 
raised. St. John the Baptist. 

11. Figure, in deacon's vestments, as No. 8. Emblem, the 
gridiron. St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr. 

12. A young male figure, in gown of white and gold, belted at 
waist, with open hanging sleeves ; right hand, or both hands, on 
breast. 

I may perhaps remark that the name of the messenger en- 
trusted with the bringing of the vestments from Bristol still 
remains in the Parish of Tatton, under a sUghtly altered 
spelling: "Beakes." 

Note. — ^The samts represented as Deacons are — (1) St. Stephen, 
emblem. Stones in hand. (2) St. Lawrence, Gridiron. (8) 
St. Leonard, Fetters or Chains in hand. (4) St. Vincent, 
L:on-spiked bed in hand or behind him, with flames be- 
neath. 



96 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



Curiosttteis tA ^xx^ ^t^xxx%. 



Bv JOHN TAYLOR, Bristol City Libeariak, 



{fiead January 26M, 1886.) 

One point of the superior wisdom of the East in ancient time 
was the legislative registration of the people, a practice that was 
not adopted by law in England until the 16th century. In the 
Old Testament Scriptures there are several mentions of the 
genealogies of the IsraeUtes. 

Servius TuUius, in order to number the births and burials, 
directed that when a child was born the kindred should bring a 
piece of money into the ^rarium of Juno Lucina ; and in like 
manner into the treasury of Venus Libitina (where the appliances 
for funerals were sold) when any died. Also, among the ancient 
Bomans, the father was obliged to enter the name of the child, 
within thirty days of the birth, in the public registei*, the birth 
itself being marked as on other joyful occasions, like that of mar- 
riage, by adorning the threshold of his door with flowers. 
Juvenal, in his ninth satire, refers to both practices in a passage 
that may be judiciously left unquoted. Sir Francis Palgrave 
states, though somewhat inaccurately, that Parish Begisters were 
never kept in any part of the world until the 16th century. He 
relates that the only mode by which at the Baptistery of Florence 
an account was taken of the infants of the city, who were all 
brought there to be baptized, was by dropping beans into a bag, 
and casting them up at the end of the year, a practice similar in 
principle to that of Servius TuUius. In monastic houses, how- 
ever, it was customary to keep a mortuary roll of the inmates 
and of benefactors to the brotherhood. Venerable Bede says, 
with reference to Oswald, king of the Mercians, who was killed in 
war with the infidels, that in ''the books wherein the departure 
of the dead is set down " the day (6 Aug., A.D. 642) of his being 



Curiosities of Parish Registers. 97 

taken out of this world would be found recorded, that masses 
might be sung for his soul.^ But this death-roll was only part 
of the monastic system, and intended for the benefit, temporal 
or spiritual, of the fraternity ; it had no reference to the advan- 
tage of the people at large. 

Till the time of the Tudors there is no reason to suppose that 
any system, even so rough as that of numbering the people by 
beans, was practised in England. Mr. Bums, in his valuable 
History of Parish Registers, has laboriously ascertained some 
instances of registration before the general order of Henry VIII., 
in 1588, when every parish priest was required to keep a book for 
entering the names of all who were christened, married, and 
buried within his district, with the date of each event. By the 
Parish Register Abstract, pubhshed by Government, in 1880, it 
appears that of 10,984 Registers then extant, 812 begin in A.D. 
1538, forty of these containing entries prior to that date. The 
spoliation of Parish Registers during three centuries saddens the 
heart of the genealogist. Parliamentary soldiers, parish clerks, 
churchwardens, and even the clergy themselves have in numerous 
instances treated these important documents as if they were of no 
more value than schoolboys' copy-books. At Wingfield, Cam- 
bridgeshire, the leaves of the register from 1604 to 1616 were torn 
out by Cromwell's troopers. The clerk of Plungar, in Leicester- 
shire, was a utilitarian grocer, who converted the registers in his 
care into waste paper for his commodities. With like regard to 
useful purposes the early registers of the parish of Christchurch, 
Hants, were destroyed (so the historian of the Huntingdon 
Peerage says) by the curate's wife, who made them into kettle- 
holders ; but this time the parish clerk, by timely interference, 
saved the destruction from being complete. At Clifton, by Bristol, 
the registers were for years given up as lost, but were finally dis- 
covered at Clifton, in Oxfordshire. Besides much wilful wasting 
of these documents there has been capricious neglect to make the 
proper entry of names. At St. Ewe, Cornwall, the parishioners 
refusing to allow five shillings annually for keeping the register, 
the only entries were two baptisms that were generously inserted 
by " me, Joseph May, Clerk." At Tunstall, Kent, the clergyman, 
after recording, A.D. 1657, three "Mary Pottmans," got tired 
of that prolific family, and finally enters the name saying: 

* Bede, B. iv,, c. 14, 



98 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

*' From henceforth I omit the Pottmans." Among the actual facts 
which have been worked into the machinery of fiction, are the 
wilful mutilations and interpolations of registers for felonious 
purposes. Jasper Arnold, parish clerk of St. Andrew's Holbom, 
was bribed A.D. 1718 by William Godgard, for £5, to tear leaves 
from the register that contained an entry of his first marriage, 
he having taken a second wife while the first was alive. They 
were fined and sentenced to the pillory. At the York assizes, 
William Radcliff was tried, 17 March, 1820, for having in 1801 
forged in the Parish Register of Ravensfield an entry of marriage 
between Edward Badcliff and Eosamunde Swyft, 24 Feb., 1640, 
and for having cited that entry in a pedigree presented to the 
Heralds' College, to show his descent from the ancient family of 
the Radcliffs, formerly Earls of Derwentwater, with a view to 
impose on the College, as well as upon the Governors of Greenwich 
Hospital, in whom the forfeited estates of that noble family were 
vested. Had such forgery been committed in a Parish Register of 
a date subsequent to the Marriage Act of 1753, the fate of the 
false Derwentwater might have been as tragical as that of the last 
of the real family, for the offence would have been capital ; as it 
was it was only a misdemeanour. The prisoner was fined £50, 
and sentenced to three months' imprisonment in York Castle.^ A 
like instance occurred in 1829, when it was discovered that the 
registers of St. Peter's Comhill, and of Stoke Fleming, in Devon- 
shire, had been altered to assist a claimant to the Earldom of 
Peterborough.'^ 

It may surprise some to learn that marriage was first made an 
ecclesiastical contract by Pope Innocent III, who ordered that 
weddings should be celebrated by the church ; and further sanc- 
tified the marriage vow by making it one of the seven sacraments.* 
The civil law is somewhat at variance with the canon law with 
regard to the degrees of affinity, within which it may be permitted 
to marry. The vulgar saying that first cousins may wed but 
second cousins may not, arises from the fact that by the common 
law any couainB may marry ; but by the ecclesiastical law neither 
first nor second cousins may be united. The superior authority 
of the civil to the ecclesiastical legislature is shown by the former 
being able to interfere between man and wife, too often finding it 
necessary to break the bonds which religion has consecrated. 

" Bums, 53. 3 lb. 54. ^ Blackstone Com., vol. i., 439. 



Curiosities of Parish Registers. 99 

Such separations were formerly however within the jurisdiction 
of the Church. Not only consanguineous but spiritual relations 
were at one time forbidden to intermarry. In 1462, John 
Howthon, of Tonbridge, was sentenced by the consistory court 
of Eochester to be whipt three times round the market and church 
for having wedded Dionysia Thomas, for whom his former wife 
had been godmother ; and in 1465, a dissolution of marriage be- 
tween John Travenock and Joan Feckham was declared ; Letitia, 
the former wife of Travenock having, been godmother to Joan. 

Seasons of marriage were also subject to the appointment of 
the church. By the Register of Norton (Co. Durham) we find 
it stated that '' marriage comes in on the 18th of January, and 
at Septuagesima Sunday it is out again until Low Sunday (the 
octave or first Sunday after Easter), at which time it comes in 
again, and goes not out till Eogation Sunday (that before Ascen- 
sion-day) ; thence it is unforbidden until Trinity Sunday, from 
thence it is forbidden till Advent, and comes not in again till ye 
13 of January."^ Another prerogative of the church was the 
privilege of the priest to kiss the bride. In the articles of 
visitation in the diocese of London, it is set down A.D. 1554 
** Then whether there be any that refuseth to kysse the priest 
at the solemnization of matrimony or such like ceremonies here- 
tofore used and observed in the church."® 

Thus Herrick " To the Bride " :— 

''If nine times you the Bridegroom kiss, 

The tenth you know the parson's is ; 

Pay then your tithe, &e.'' 
Before the Eeformation the services of baptism, matrimony, 
and the churching of women were performed at the church door, 
usually in the porch. In the will of Henry VI. it is directed 
that there should be "on the south side of the body of the 
church of Eton College, a fair large door with a porche, and the 
same for christening of children and weddings." It was the 
custom to arrange the marriage settlement in the porch of the 
church ; and in this respect the usage seems to have been derived 
from the ancient Hebrews ; Seldon in his Uxor Hebraica 
(Opera HI., p. 680), asserts that nowhere else, than before the 
face of, and at the door of the church, could the marriage dower, 
with that people, have been lawfully assigned. Mr. EUis in his 

s ChronicoD Mirabile, 62. ^ GoL Topograp. and Genealog., vol. III. p. 325. 



loo Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

edition of Brand's Popular Antiquities states, as an instance 
of the mediaeval practice, that " Robert Pitz Roger, in the Vlth 
Edward I., entered into an engagement with Robert de Tybetot, 
to marry within a limited time John, his son and heir, to 
Hawisia, the daughter of the said Robert de Tybetot, to endow 
her at the church door on her wedding day, with lands amounting 
to the value of £100 per annum." Edward I. was married with 
great pomp and splendour at the door of Canterbury Cathedral ; 
and to mention a later royal instance — Charles I. was wedded 
by proxy at the door of Notre Dame. Chaucer's " Wife of Bath " 
will, of course, occur as an illustration to the reader — 

**She was a worthy woman all her live, 
Husbands at the church dore had she five." 

At the southern entrance of Norwich Cathedral, there is a 
carved representation of a marriage. One of Douce's prints 
represents a marriage solemnization at the church door. In 
the Ludlow Church accounts, we find frequent reference to the 
wedding door : as, '' 1560 Paid Thomas Seasons for mending 
and fastening the window over the wedinge churche dore." 
The porch at which the wedding was performed appears to have 
been usually on the south side of the church, but at Ludlow it 
was on the north side. The ancient missals instruct that at the 
nuptial ceremony the bridegroom and the bride are to stay at 
the door of the church, while the service is advanced to the point 
where the One Hundred and Twentieth Psalm is now chaunted, 
and towards the conclusion they are to enter the church as far as 
to the steps of the altar. 

The supposed Pagan origin of the marriage ring nearly 
caused it to be abolished from the bride's finger during the 
Commonwealth. Indeed, marriage within the walls of a church 
was superstitious. In the register of Cirencester, 1655, it is 
stated that the omission of entries of weddings over three years 
was owing to the Rump Parliament at the time setting forth an 
'^ Act that all Banns should be published three several market 
days at the High Cross, and after such publishing, the parties to 
be married by a Justice of the Peace, so that there was little 
done in the churches, the said Parliament also consisting of 
Anabaptists and Independents." ^ In the Register, for instance, 
of St. Margaret's, Lothbury, we find, 1654, Robert Robinson, 

7 Bums, 162. 



Curiosities of Parish Registers. loi 

Abigail Finnock, both of this parish, was published three days, 
ye 2nd, ye 7th of June, in Cheapside, and married 6th July by 
Alderman Andrews.® The statute of August, 1653, however, 
allowed the betrothed couple to choose whether they would be 
" asked " on three successive Sundays in church, or be cried in 
open market, on three following market days at the town nearest 
to their customary place of worship.® In Flecnoes Diarium there 
is a satirical reference to the secularisation of marriage. 

At Boston, Lincolnshire, the last pubUcation of banns in the 
market place was made on July 1, 1659, between the statutory 
hours of ten and twelve. From the registers of the same town, 
it appears also, says Mr. Jeaffreson, that whilst the marriage 
banns, published in open market place during 1656 and the two 
next years, were as many as 814, the number of similar 
announcements delivered in its church during the same years 
was only 181.^® The marriage solemnized, or rather performed, 
before a justice of the peace, required the appointment of a 
public registrar. This officer was sworn before an alderman or 
other magistrate, and in the parish books of St. Margaret's, 
Lothbury, is preserved a form of the oath.^^ Oliver Cromwell 
himself was married at St. Giles', Cripplegate, the entry being 
" 1620, Aug. 22, Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Boucher." In 
the entry of the marriage of the Protector's daughter in the 
register of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (in the naming of which 
there is a careful omission of the epithet '^ Saint "), it is said that 
''Publication was made in the pubUque meeting place in the 
Parish Church of Martin's-in-the-Fields, in the county of Mid- 
dlesex, upon three several Lord's days, at the close of the 
morning exercise, between the Hon. Bobert Bich, of Andrew's, 
Holborn, and the Bight Hon. the Lady Frances Cromwell, of 
Martin-in-Fields, in the county of Middlesex. The Parish 
Begister at Portsmouth, is richly illuminated in celebration of the 
entry of marriage of King Charles U. to the '' most illustrious 
Princesse Dona Catarina, Infanta of Portugal, daughter of the 
deceased Don Juan the Fourth, and sister to the present Don 
Alphonso, King of Portugal," who were married at Portsmouth, 
" 22nd May, 1662, by the Bight Eev. Father in God, Gilbert, Lord 
Bishop of London." ^^ 

^ ArchcEologia, XLV. p. 98. ' Jeaffreson's Brides and BridalSy I. 190. 
'° Vol. I., p. 131. " ArchcBohgia, XLV. 78. " Bunw, 161. 

2 



I02 Clifton Antiquartan Club. 

Even so seemingly exhaustive a list of Christian names as is 
to be found in Miss C. M. Yonge's two thick volumes on the 
subject, might be supplemented by an examination of Parish 
Registers. The reasons in many instances, could they be got at, 
for the election of particular names for children would be a 
curious chapter. In 1207, Maria, Queen of Aragon, considering 
her infant son to have been granted to her by the special inter- 
cession of the twelve Apostles, resolved to show her gratitude by 
naming him after one of those scriptural saints. In modem 
time, probably the whole twelve names would have been bestowed 
upon the infant, but the Queen, instead of giving so many to the 
child, applied them to the same number of lighted candles, as 
explained in the following verses of Southey : — 

Twelve waxen tapers she hath made 

In size and weight the same, 
And to each of these twelve tapers 

Hath been given an Apostle's name ; 
From that which shall bum longest 

The infant his name shoidd take, 
And the saint who owned it was to be 

HiB patron for his name's sake. 

After no such loose religious principle, but on the contrary, 
one that involved no less a doctrine than that of saving grace, 
did many Puritan names derive their application. At Northam, 
county Sussex, appear (1588-91), Accepted and Thankful Frewen ; 
in 1593 and 1629 respectively, may be found Faithful and Con- 
tented Butler. At Hammersmith, A.D. 1682, there is the less 
explicable name, Iszephroniah Archer, daughter of William and 
Iszephroniah.^ At St. Helen's, Tryphosa Hodgson. At Bishop- 
wearmouth, the daughter of Wm. Thomson was christened 
Robert, owing to a drunken midwife mistakmg the sex." At 
Merrington, 1701, we find Dulcibell, daughter of Tho. Carr, 
chaplain to the Earl of Strafford. At Beyton, appears Affable 
Battle, chaplain, buried 20 March, 1723.^^ In the Bristol 
registers, occur Nigel, Sobrietas and Mirabilis. In the register of 
Temple Church, in the same city, may be seen the odd name of 
One-too-many. A late dignitary of Bristol Cathedral was 
some years back a preacher at the above church, and on a cer- 
tain morning, after the usual service, several poor women of the 

'3 CoUectiona Top. and Gen. iii. 312. ^ Chron. Mirab. 75. '5 n, 61. 



Curiosities of Parish Registers. 103 

parish, brought their infants to be baptized. One of these 
women being asked in due form, the name of the child, replied. 
One-too-many, which according to her feelings of family increase 
was an expression of the fact. The clergyman without appre- 
hending the sense of the name, christened the infant somewhat 
according to the sound, and it was not until the name came to 
be entered in the vestry minutes, that he discovered the whim of 
the mother. 

The custom in some country parishes of calling a child by the 
name of the saint on whose day he happens to be bom, is one 
that, if more generally adopted, would be a self-sufficient expla- 
nation of a Christian name ; and if the Bomish calendar were 
used, might a£ford a copious vocabulary. We should then find 
such old world names as Alban, Alcuin, Aldhelm, Eloy, Ethel- 
burga, Gwendoline, Werburga, etc. A reverend contributor to 
Notes and Qmries (1868), baptized a child, Benjamin Simon 
Jude. On inquiring the reason of so odd a conjunction of 
names, he was told that the infant was born on the festival of 
St. Simon and St. Jude, and that it was always unlucky to take 
the day from the child. The practice of giving foundlings the 
name of the parish where they are baptized has afforded to many 
of these waifs a cognomen of more prestige than properly 
belonged to them, while it has helped unduly to multiply the 
surnames of particular families. In the register of St. Lawrence, 
Jewry, the surname of Lawrence is, or was formerly, invariably 
given to the strays found within that parish ; and in the 
Temple register it appears that from 1728 to 1765, no fewer than 
104 foundlings were christened there, all of whom were sur- 
named Temple or Templar. Had all parish officers been of the 
inventive genius of Mr. Bumble, this somewhat objectionable 
practice would not have been persisted in. That superior person 
tells Mrs. Mann, who conducts a farm for the raising of pauper 
children, that he " inwented " the idea of naming the foundlings 
of the workhouse in alphabetical order. On some occasions 
foundlings have been named after the thoroughfare in which 
they were exposed. An instance of this occurred at Bristol, 
where a female infant was christened Anne Wine Street, she 
having been found in the street of that name. 



I04 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



from tjbe fttonep ilLittleton 3Barroto. 



By JOHN BEDDOE, M.D., F.R.S, 



{Read November llth, 1886.) 

The ancient tomb at Stoney Littleton belongs to that variety of 
the long barrow which is called a chambered barrow or galleried 
tumulus. It is not, I think, however, quite clear that these 
chambered barrows differ as to the period of their erection from 
other long barrows ; certainly no difference between their respec- 
tive tenants has yet been made out. 

This one is of considerable interest and is fortunately in a very 
fair state of preservation. It is the subject of a paper by Sir 
Richard Colt Hoare, in the 19th volume of the Archaologia, 
which is illustrated by several careful drawings, including a 
ground plan drawn to scale. This plan and one of the drawings 
correctly indicate the entrance as being at the south-eastern end 
of the barrow, though in the text Sir Bichard speaks of it as 
** facing the north-west." ^ 

Our business, however, lies with the osseous contents, whereof 
the, alas ! very scanty relics are in our local museum. They 

' The mistake made by Sir R. C. Hoare in his original account of the barrow, 
published nearly seventy years since, as to the position of the entrance, was 
noticed by Sir John Maclean in a paper on Chambered Tumuli, in the Transac- 
tions of the Bristol and Gloucester Archaeological Society for 1881 (vol. v. p. 109), 
but had been copied by most previous writers on the subject, some of whom had 
even added to the confusion. Thus both the late Thos. Wright, F.S.A., in The 
Celt, the Soman, and the Saxon, and the late Llewellyun Jewitt, F.S. A., in Oraue 
Mounds and their Contents, state that the entrance was on the north-west side. 
Mr. Kains-Jackson in Our Ancient Atonuments and the Land around them (1880), 
misquotes Sir Bichard, as follows : — '* The entrance of the tumulus faces the south 
west.''* In the Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archceological and Natural History 
Society for 1858, there is a ground plan on Plate 3, which shows the entrance on 
the south-west, while on Plate 4 is an elevation of *' the south entrance." — £d. 



Human Remains from Stoney Littleton. 105 

have been described in the Crania Britannica of Davis and 
Thurnam, in connexion with Thurnam's account of another famous 
long barrow, that at Uley, near Dursley, but may nevertheless 
furnish occasion for some further remarks. 

Thurnam, following hints thrown out by Daniel Wilson and 
Bateman, worked out with much ability the theory now generally 
accepted, which connects the long barrows of Britain with a long- 
headed race of comparatively small stature, believed to be of 
Iberian kinship. The skulls found in such barrows, though nar- 
row, are as a rule of good form and capacity, certainly not 
smaller, perhaps even slightly larger, than the average of round- 
barrow folk, or of modern Europeans. It must be remembered, 
however, that these huge tumuli are almost certainly the graves 
of chiefs and of their families and dependents, not of the mass 
of the people, and that chiefs among barbarians owe their position 
to the superior endowments of themselves or of their ancestors, 
such superiority implying, on the average, greater volume of 
brain. The commonalty were probably buried, if buried at all, 
with very little care, and their remains have mostly perished, 
just as those of the round-headed serfs of the long-headed grave- 
row men must have perished out of Swabia. Dr. Henry Bird, 
indeed, thinks he can recognize, in the small ill-developed skulls 
occasionally found in small " tump " barrows on the Cotswold, 
remains of an earlier population than that of the chambered 
tumuli. It is, I think, possible that they were coeval with or 
even later than the long barrows, and contain the only relics of 
the servile population that have come down to us. 

There is little doubt that rites analogous to the Hindu Sutti 
were practised at the obsequies of chiefs in the neolithic period.^ 
The dependents who were put to death on these occasions must, 
sometimes at least, have been inferior in cranial type to their 
lords. In an undisturbed barrow it may often be possible to 
distinguish by position the principal interment from the rest, the 
chief from the dependent ; but the Stoney Littleton barrow had 
been well rummaged and ransacked before Sir E. C. Hoare's day, 
and the position of the several bones he found in it may have 
been shuffled to any extent. This, however, may be affirmed, 
that the fragments we have to do with were not found in the 
principal chamber, and there is, therefore, some slight presump- 

" See Thurnam's account of the Rodmarton barrow, in Crania Britannica, 



io6 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

tion against their having belonged to the principal interment. 
When the barrow was explored in 1816, by Sir R. C. Hoare and 
the Bev. John Skinner, it would seem that these fragments were 
not quite the only remains of the two skulls to which they 
belonged. At least Mr. Skinner expressed his regret that he 
could preserve no more, seeming to imply that there were other 
and smaller fragments which might have been preserved and put 
together, had he only known how to do so. We must, however, 
be grateful to him for what he did, rather than censorious as to 
what he left undone, for osseous remains had not then the in- 
terest which they have for modem archaeologists. His words are, 
'' Two of the skulls appear to have been almost flat, there being 
little or no forehead rising above the sockets of the eyes, the 
shape much resembUng those given in the works of Lavater, as 
characteristic of the Tartar tribes. I wish I could have preserved 
one entire ; but I have retained the upper part of two distinct 
crania, which will be sufficient to confirm this remarkable fact," 
Sir B. C. Hoare speaks of '^ the two skulls discovered in this 
tumulus, which appear to be totally different in their formation 
from any others which our reseaxches have led us to examine, 
being /ronie valde depresaiV* 

Thurnam traced the fragments to our Bristol museum, and 
with the assistance of our fellow-citizen, Augustine Prichard, 
made a careful examination of them. His account is as follows : — 
" The general resemblance of these portions of skulls to the 
Uley cranium is sufficiently apparent. The frontal bone is from 
the skull of a man, of not more than middle age. The frontal 
sinuses and temporal ridges are unusually marked and promi- 
nent. Its narrow and contracted character is very obvious, and 
its peculiarly receding and flat form fully justifies the observa- 
tions of Mr. Skinner and Sir Eichard Hoare. In the great extent 
to which it is present, this last is probably an exceptional and in- 
dividual peculiarity. As in the Uley skull, a central ridge is to 
be traced along the median line. The length of this frontal bone 
is 4*8 inches, its breadth 4*2 inches ; in the thickest parts it 
measures the third of an inch. The length of this skull must 
have fallen short of that of the skull from Uley, the length of 
the frontal bone being one inch less ; the elongation of this bone 
in the Uley skull being most unusual. The defective calvarium 
consists of the frontal bone, the greater part of the right, and a 



Human Remains from Stoney Littleton. 107 

smaller portion of the left parietal bone. It has probably formed 
part of the skull of a female, of rather advanced age.. The 
frontal sinuses, temporal ridges, and other features are much 
less defined and prominent. The forehead is narrow and reced- 
ing, but less so than the former. The tendency in the form of 
this skull has clearly been to narrowness and elongation. The 
length of the frontal bone is 4*9 inches, the breadth 4*5 inches ; 
the greatest thickness is a quarter of an inch." 

Dr. Thumam does not mention the lower jaw which accom- 
panies the other relics of Stoney Littleton in the Bristol Museum. 
This may or may not have belonged to the owner of either of the 
skulls of which we have portions ; if to either, it was probably to 
the woman, though the teeth are too little eroded for a person at 
all advanced in life. The mandible is imperfect, but there is enough 
of it to show that the chin was narrow and angular, and the 
alveolar arch oval rather than round. 

There can be little doubt that Dr. Thumam was right in 
attributing one of the skuU-firagments to a man, and the other 
and larger one to a woman. His measurements and mine, which 
follow, are pretty nearly in accord : they are all in inches. 







Length of 
frontal. 


Uin. bmdtli 
offnmteL 


Steplunic 
bnadtlt. 


Uudmam 
Pwietal 
bnultli. 


Stoney Littleton, 


m. 


4-9 (?) 


3-7 


4-8 




>> 


f. 


50 


8-7 


4-4 


5-2 (?) 


Micheldean 


ms. 




4-02 


4-72 


6-6 


99 


fs. 




8-85 


4.55 


5-6 


Gloucester 


ms. 




8-82 




6-5 



I have here compared these fragments with the skulls of people 
most likely to be akin to their ancient owners. The Gloucester 
skulls mentioned are those of Mr. John Bellows's find, and are of 
the Boman period ; the Micheldean ones are medisBval, from the 
ossuary there. It will be observed that the measurements of our 
fragments are small, except the length of the frontal, which is 
about equal to the average of European races. The skulls were 
therefore probably of fair length, but narrow and decidedly low, 
especially the male one, containing, we may be certain, but small 
brains. Li this most important respect they differ from the 
ordinary long-barrow type ; and in the lowness of the forehead, 
coupled, in the case of the male, where it is most marked, with 
great prominence of the brows and frontal sinuses, they approach 



io8 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

more nearly to the Ganstatt type, that to which the famous 
Neanderthal skull belongs. Sir Richard Hoare had opened 
several long-barrows ; and though he had found in them little 
that interested him, had probably seen some typical long-barrow 
skulls ; yet the form of these Stoney Littleton foreheads, '' these 
foreheads villanous low," seems to have struck him as a novelty, 
as something quite peculiar. Dr. Thumam compares them to 
the only perfect adult skull that was got from the chambered 
tumulus at Uley ; but the forehead in that one, as he himself 
says, though narrow and contracted, was not low ; and its cubical 
contents were eight or nine per cent, over the average of ancient 
British or modern English crania. In truth, Thurnam was per- 
haps a Uttle biassed towards seeing this likeness ; he had started 
his valuable theory about the connexion of long-barrows with a 
long-headed race, and was on the watch for resemblances of this 
sort. 

In the absence of certainty, we must fall back on conjecture. 
We have here, I suppose, the remains of a male and female serf, 
not unlikely a brother and sister, sacrificed, it may be, at the 
obsequies of a neoUthic chieftain, or at the least buried in his 
tomb ; their blood may have been the same with his, or it may 
have been that of an earlier, lowlier endowed, and subjugated 
race. 



f 

^ 



Oil a Romano-British Interment. 109 



^n a 3^omano=3Sritifift Xnterment, 
titscoberetr at Jfarmborouj^. 



By ALFRED E. HUDD, P.S.A., Hon. Skcrbtary. 



{Read November lUh, 1886.) 

In October last, one of our Members, Mr. A. C. Pass, received a 
letter from a friend residing near Gamerton, in which it was stated 
that a few days previously a large stone coffin had been found in a 
field near Farmborough, Somerset, some particulars of which 
were given, and a kind offer was made to meet him and any 
other member of our Club, at the nearest railway station, should 
it be thought worth while to investigate the discovery. Accord- 
ingly, a few days afterwards, Mr. Pass and I proceeded to Glutton 
by a morning train, and there found our friend's carriage awaiting 
our arrival, in which he drove us to Barrow Vale Farm, near which 
the coffin had been found. The farmer, Mr. Stephen Butler, in- 
formed us that about a fortnight before our visit, while his men 
were ploughing a field, the progress of the plough was inter- 
rupted by a large stone. On attempting to remove this with a crow- 
bar it proved to be the cover of a large stone coffin, which they broke 
into several pieces and removed, when, finding inside a second 
coffin, of lead, they opened that also, and searched over the con- 
tents hoping to discover some rings, coins, or other valuables. 
Not finding anything worth taking away, they replaced the frag- 
ments of the lid, and covered the whole with earth, which was 
afterwards ploughed over. Mr. Butler told us that though there 
was nothing to be seen except a slight depression in the ground, 
he could point out the spot, at a place called "Hobbs's Wall," 
a few fields from his house. On reaching this place we succeeded 
in persuading Mr. Butler to have the remains again uncovered 
for our inspection ; and with the assistance of three men, the con- 
tents of the grave were soon opened out to our view. 
First appeared, about six inches under the surface, a stone cover 



no Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

of oolite, measuring eight feet long, and about three feet wide 
at the widest part. When first found this was a single slab, but 
it had been broken into several pieces by the men, and a portion, 
which they had not replaced, was lying in an adjacent quarry. 
On raising the cover we found that the interior of the stone sar- 
cophagus was completely filled with a second coffin, of lead. The 
upper portion of this leaden shell was easily removed, owing to 
circumstances to be presently stated, and we then found that the 
contents had been very much disturbed and destroyed when the 
coffin had been opened in the previous week. The men told us 
that when first opened it contained a nearly perfect human 
skeleton, partially embedded in a fine yellowish clay,^ which had 
probably penetrated through the interstices of the covers of the 
coffins. In their search for valuables the men trampled upon the 
contents of the coffins and managed to completely smash the 
skull and most of the larger bones. They then replaced the re- 
mains in the leaden coffin, filled it with earth from the ploughed 
field, leaving above ground only some fragments of the covering 
stone, as before stated. 

The sarcophagus was placed exactly north and south, the head 
to the north. Nothing whatever was found inside to throw any 
light on the nature of the interment, and there was no trace of 
inscription, ornament, or marking of any kind either on the lead 
or stone. The sarcophagus rested on the lias rock, nearly three 
feet below the surface of the field. 

The nature of the soil, a tenacious lias clay, with which the 
remains had been mixed up, made it difficult to examine the con- 
tents of the coffin ; but so far as our examination went, there 
appeared to be nothing but a few fragments of bone. 

As Mr. Butler wanted to plant his wheat in the field and could 
not keep the grave open after we had inspected the remains, *he 
removed the lead to his house, and re-covered the remainder with 
soil as before. 

The following description of the coffin may be of interest : The 
stone sarcophagus, formed from a single block of Bath stone 
(oolite), measured 7 feet long, about 2 feet 4 inches wide at the 

* Several Roman coffins have been found partiaUy fiUed with lime, gypsum, or 
some similar substance, upon which the bodies were laid ; but the yeUowish 
material found at the bottom of this sarcophagus was not of this nature. No lime 
has been found in the numerous Roman coffins which have been discovered near 
Bath. See Prot, Som, ArckU Soc», vol. V., p. 65. 



/ 



On a Romano-British Interment. 1 1 1 

shoulders, and 1 foot 11 inches at the foot. There was no step 
or cavity for the head, as in mediaeval stone cofiGbas, the cist being 
simply and roughly hollowed out to a depth of about 1 foot 8 
inches to contain the leaden shell, which fitted it tightly. The 
stone cover, also of oolite, and originally formed of a single block, 
measured 8 feet in length, by 8 feet at the shoulders, and had a 
neatly cut flange or projecting edge about 2 inches in depth, 
which fitted over the four sides of the sarcophagus ; instead of 
being fiat on its upper surface, as is usually the case with the 
covers of the Romano-British sarcophagi, this example is of 
the coped form more common in mediaeval times, its central 
ridge being rather higher at the head, which was roughly rounded 
oflf, than at the foot, where it was bevelled off, leaving a triangular 
sloping end. Another peculiar feature of this hd when first 
found was the presence of a couple of iron handles or clamps, 
firmly fixed into the stone on either side, about 8^ feet from its 
smaller end, apparently for the purpose of lifting it. These had 
been knocked off by the men when the stone was uncovered, and 
one of them is now in my possession; it is so Uttle rusted that 
we were under the impression at the time that it could not be of 
great age. The Eev. Prebendary Scarth states that,^ " clamps of 
iron seem to be peculiar to the later Boman period," and he 
mentions instances on coffins found at York and London. In the 
latter it was thought that the clamping was probably added at a 
later period, which may also have been the case with the Farm- 
borough example. The leaden coffin has since, by kind permis- 
sion of the landowner, been sent to Bristol. Like Boman leaden 
coffins found elsewhere, this seems to have been cast in thick 
sheets by pouring molten lead on a level floor, and it has not been 
rolled. The sheet of lead thus formed measured about 8 feet 6 
inches by 8 feet 8 inches, and weighed about 2 cwt. The coffin 
was then formed by cutting four pieces about a foot square from 
each corner, turning up the edges, and fusing the ends to the 
sides — ^probably with red-hot iron — Cleaving the top sheet or lid 
to be fastened, to the upper edges of the sides and ends after the 
body had been placed within. When we first saw it we were 
under the impression that the leaden cover '' fitted on like the 
lid of a pill-box," as it had been described to us ; but on ex- 
amining it more closely we feel certain that the cover has been 

'Proc. Soin. ArchK 5'oc.,.1854, p. 67. 



1 1 2 Clifton Antiquarian Club, 

cut through most carefully about a couple of inches below 
the joint on all four sides, probably by some former explorer. 
Stone coffins of undoubted Boman date, similcu: to this in 
shape, size, and material, and covered with large stone lids, have 
been found at Bath,* at Caerleon,* and elsewhere; but large 
leaden coffins contained within Eoman sarcophagi are very un- 
usual. In a description of the Ancient Sepulchral Remains 
discovered in and around Bath, the Rev. Prebendary Scarth says,^ 
'' Leaden coffins of the Boman period are not unfrequent in this 
country, but in no case, it is believed, have they been found placed 
in a receptacle of stone." The recent discovery at Barrow Farm 
is not however the only case of the kind that has been recorded. 
In Butter's Somerset^ is an account of a large freestone coffin, 
with a lid, shaped to the body, excavated from a solid block, found 
in the year 1828, about a foot underground, in a field at Wem- 
berham, Yatton. It contained, besides bones of a skeleton, 
some parts of a lead coffin. One found in Kent is recorded by 
Hasted,*^ the lead coffin being in six pieces, put together without 
solder, and enclosed in a coffin of stone. A Boman sarcophagus, 
containing an ornamental leaden coffin, was found in London in 

1853, and is described by Mr. Hawkins in the Archaological 
Journal? 

A stone coffin lined with lead, found at Crowle, Worcestershire, 
is mentioned by Dr. Nash,® who supposed it was Danish ; and a 
large Boman sarcophagus lined with lead, found at Gaerwent in 

1854, is described and figured by Mr. Octavius Morgan, F.S.A., 
in the Archaeological Journal}^ Dr. J. Collingwood Bruce, to whom 
I forwarded a short account of the late find, kindly sent me a 
copy of a paper he had pubUshed on A Roman Burial at York, 
in which he states that " the remains were enclosed externally in 
a large stone coffin of sandstone, roughly carved, and destitute of 
inscription or ornament ; this was lying north and south. With- 
in the stone coffin was another of lead, which contained the body. 
The lead of this coffin had been cast in sheets and not rolled." 

There can be no doubt, I think, that these Farmborough coffins 
had been opened previous to their recent exposure ; and it has been 

3 Scarth, Aqua Solis, p. 75, and Som. Arcid, Proc., vol. V, 

-♦ Isca S'durum, pp. 23, 24, figs. 7, 8, 9. * Proc, Som. Archl, Soc.^ vol. V., p. 67. 

* Delineationa of N, W, Somerset (1829), p. 70. J History of Kent., vol. III., p. 615. 

® Archl Journal, vol. X., p. 255. » Nash's Worcestershire. 

'" Archl, Journal, vol. XII. pp. 76, 78. 



On a RomanO'-British Interment. 1 1 3 

suggested that the very careful and painstaking manner in which 
the lead had been cut all round, indicates the work of one who 
wished to examine the contents with the smallest possible amount 
of damage to the coffins themselves. As the site is within three 
or four miles of Camerton, the home of the late Kev. John 
Skinner, whose antiquarian researches are weU-known. it may 
possibly have been examined by that gentleman. I have recently 
spent some hours in searching through the MSS left by Mr. 
Skinner to the Bath Literary and Philosophical Institution, in the 
vain hope of finding some record of the discovery of a Koman 
sarcophagus at Farmborough. It is however quite possible, so 
extensive were Mr. Skinner's operations in this neighbourhood,^! 
that a record may yet turn up, giving particulars of the first 
discovery and contents of these coffins. There are, I believe, 
some of his MSS in the British Museum which may throw light 
on the subject. 

As to the date of the interment, I may say that both Dr. Bruce, 
and the Eev. Prebendary Scarth consider it to be late Roman, 
while Mr. C. Roach Smith, F.S.A., inclines to the opinion that 
the remains are " early post Roman." The last-named antiquary 
writes : '^ the leaden coffin is made not unlike the Roman, but 
void of any ornamentation. Moreover, RoTnan interments of this 
kind are usually accompanied with funereal vessels and other 
objects. The name of the field, Hobbs's Wall, is suggestive of 
antiquity. Is there any history or tradition connected with the 
place?" 

I am not aware of any " history or tradition " that throws 
any light upon the name Hobbs's Wall, or Hobbs's Well as it is 
also called, but the place is close to the Barrow hills, near which 
some pre-historic interments were found by Mr. Skinner, and is 
only a short way from the great Roman road from Ilchester to 
Bath and Lincoln, the Foss. In the case of the Roman coffin 
discovered at Wemberham, near Yatton, considerable remains of 
a Roman villa were afterwards found ^^ a few yards from the spot. 
It is not improbable that similar remains may be yet discovered 
not far from Hobbs's Wall. 

" He found many Roman remams in the neighbourhood of Camerton (which he 
considered to be the site of Camerlodunum), including upwards of 1|800 Roman 
coins, most of which are now in the Bristol Museum. 

" Proceedings Socielt/ of Antiquaries, 1886, pp. 29—32. 



1 1 4 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



fi,tsxt% on indent ^orbegtan W^^^tw 

(" 8TAVEKIKKEB,") WITH SOME NOTICES OF 8IMILAE EABLT 
8TBUCTTTBES IN GBEAT BBITAIN AND IRELAND. 



By FRANCIS FOX TUCKETT, F.R.G.S. 



{Read December 15th, 1886.) 

During a journey in Norway last summer I was much interested 
in visiting for the first time several of the curious and very 
ancient wooden churches which, with occasional repairs and 
alterations, have been preserved for six or seven centuries, and 
stiU seem likely to outUve many far more recent structures of 
stone. But little is known of their origin, and, though referred 
to by Pergusson, Buskin, Freeman, and possibly other writers, 
the work of Prof. Dahl^ is the only one specially devoted to them 
with which I have met, and I am mainly indebted to it for such 
details as I am able to lay before you in dealing with this part of 
my subject.^ I venture, however, to hope that, with the help 
also of the accompanying illustrations,* I may be able to convey 
some idea of structures which, however different in construction 
and ornamentation, may remiad us of, and perhaps throw some 
light on, the earUer but long vanished specimens of our native 

' Denkmale einer ansgebildeten Holzbaukunst aas den frilhesten Jahrhundertea 
iu den innern Landachaften Norwegens, Dresden, 1837. 

' Passages quoted without special reference are from Prof. Dahl's book. 

3 My grateful acknowledgments are due to A. H. H. Murray, Esq., for his great 
kindness in permitting me the use of the illustrations (from Mr. Fergusson's 
Handbook of Architecture), of the churches of Hitterdal and Umses (Plate I. 
figs. 2, 3, and 4), and to B. Lovett, Esq., on behalf of the " Religious Tract 
Society," for that of the church of Borgnnd (fig. 1), which appears in his charming 
volume, Norwegian Pictures, Those on Plate XV. are reproductions by photo- 
lithography, on a reduced scale, of some of the plates in Prof. Dahl's valuable 
work referred to above, and to which I am in other respects so largely indebted. 



Ancient Norwegian IVooden Churches. 1 1 5 

wooden ecclesiastical architecture, and prove not altogether un- 
worthy of your attention. 

"It is not often," remarks Prof. Dahl, " that the use of wood in 
architecture for common purposes has developed into a higher 
and decorative style, and still more seldom have specimens of 
such development, dating from an early age, been preserved to 
our day. 

" The * Stavekirker,' of Norway, seem to have arisen from a 
combination of various elements. The influence of Latin Chris- 
tian architecture in certain decorative details, such as the 
cushion capital, is not easily to be mistaken, whilst in others 
the design points to still earlier northern and heathen models. 
It is clear that the old Scandinavians had not only a poetry 
but a plastic art of their own, of which some notion may be 
formed from the appearance of the ancient wooden residences 
of the kings or jarls in the earliest times, if, indeed, this art 
be not imitated from a foreign and ancestral style. In the 
plan, Byzantine tendencies, which the intercourse of the Norsk 
Varangians, or body guards of the eastern emperors,* through 
Bussia sufficiently accounts for, are observable, but variously in- 
fluenced by the special material made use of, which obviously 
both requires and permits much that is incompatible with the 
employment of stone or brick. 

" These characteristics, however, are not only to be met with in 
public buildings, but are even more conspicuous, especially in 
remote districts, in the dwellings, furniture, and costume of the 
natives. Compare the curious interlaced patterns on the portals, 
and the carvings on the capitals of the pillars, as well as on the 
pillars themselves. 

" In this way, then, a special style was developed which was 
peculiar to the northern lands; for though in Germany the 
earliest churches were built of wood, in the absence of undoubted 
examples it must remain uncertain whether they were similar in 
character. 

" Most of these structures have undergone from time to time, 
by enlargement and repairs, some modification of their original 
form. In the more isolated districts, however, the inhabitants 
troubled themselves less about so-called improvements, and this 
has contributed to the maintenance of their ancient characterise 

4 See Gibbon, Wm. Smith's edition, vol. vii. pp. 20, and 80—83. 



1 1 6 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

tics. These buildings were often only chapels of ease in which 
service was performed but a few times in the year, and their 
maintenance was dependent either on the commune or private 
individuals. But httle, therefore, or only what was absolutely 
essential, was done to maintain them, and this was often limited 
to an external coatiag of the boards with tar, which materially 
contributed to their preservation. During repair the leading 
features, partly from want of knowledge, partly from the force 
of habit, and partly, we may suppose, from superstition, were 
retained. Sometimes, in quite new buildings, the old boards 
with their carved work are nailed on, and made to do duty 
again; and also, when ancient churches have been enlarged 
and their former decorations removed, these have been subse- 
quently replaced. It was in the interest, too, of the owner of 
the church to do as little as possible to it, because the sum 
to be expended was frequently larger than that which the 
building produced. For when, during the reformation, under 
the Danish rule, all church property was confiscated and the 
income reduced, the churches often became the property of 
private individuals. As a consequence, the proprietors were fre- 
quently changed, and thus it has happened that at sales where 
there were few buyers, an entire church, with altar, bells, and 
fittings, has been sold for 30 Norsk specie dollars (about £6 15s. 
sterling), and that, too, rather from religious sentiment than from 
any idea of profit. For, looking at the fact that the owner is 
under an obUgation to maintain the fabric, its possession becomes 
a burden. 

" The most closely allied structures are probably the Kussian 
country churches, as Olearius observed them in the 17th century, 
but it is to be noted that differences in the form of worship and 
former restoration could not admit of true uniformity. In fact, 
the Eussian village churches resemble in their construction 
ordinary log houses, as the beams lie horizontally, one above 
another, whilst, in the ancient Norwegian structures, the boards 
stand upright, and they are therefore named * stave,' or * brush- 
wood' churches (* Stave,' or * Eeiseverk,' Kirker.) " 

Of the dozen or more existing specimens of the ancient 
" Stave-Kirker," one, that of Gol in the Hallingdal, has been 
removed to the grounds of the royal castle of Oscarshall near 
Christiania ; a second is in the possession of Herr Gade, the 



fi9'- 






OhuTclL of Borgund, Lierdal. (From Lovetft "NorwegiaH Picture*" RtligUnu ^aet SotieiyJ. 



PLATE XIV, 



fys. 




Chuich of Hitterdal, Thelemarben. (Frtmt F«rgtu»on'» "Mandhoot of 
Architeetvre," John Mtirraj/.J 



Chnrobat HittenUl. (D') 



Chnnli of Unues, Sognefjord flhm Ferguum'i "Mandbooi of 
ArcMlMtare," John Murray. J 



Ancient Norwegian IVooden Churches, ny 

American consul at Bergen, who has re-erected it on his estate of 
Fantoft ; and a third, from LsBrdalsoren, was sold some years 
ago to the King of Prussia, and is now in Silesia. I have seen in 
all six, those of Borgund (Plate XTV. fig. 1), UmaBs (fig. 4), and Vik 
in the neighbourhood of the Sogne Fjord, those of Yaage and 
Lom in the Ottadal on the way to Bodsheim, Jotunheim, and 
Galdhopigen, (the highest summit of the Ymes Fjeld and of 
Norway,) and that of Gol at Oscarshall. One of the most remark- 
able of all is that of Hitterdal (Plate XTV. figs. 2 and 8) in Thele- 
marken. The ancient church of Borgund, with its separate and 
much later " Klockstapel," or belfry (whose bell bears the name 
of St. Laurentius and the date 1663), reminding one of that of 
Coventry, is no longer used, and has become the property of 
the Antiquarian Society of Ghristiania. The interiors were, at 
least originally, mostly very obscure, with but few, and those 
small, windows. In some (Borgund and UrnsBs), the roof still 
remains perfectly open, while in others (Lom and Hitterdal) 
a plain ceiling has been interposed, which greatly diminishes 
the picturesque effect of the interior. Of the fantastic ex- 
teriors it is not easy to give a very intelligible description, and 
reference to the accompanying illustrations (Plates XTV. and XV.) , 
will convey a better idea than any words of the external gallery or 
arcade (" Lop ")> the numerous gables, the shingle covered roofs 
and walls, themselves coated with thick and ancient layers of 
tar and surmounted by conventional dragons' heads, the 
portal surrounded with elaborately intertwined monsters — 

'' Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimseras dire." 
On the west door of the church at Borgund are two Bunic 
inscriptions — 

*^ Thorir raist runar thissar than Olau missoy* 
(Thorir wrote these lines on St. Olaf s fair) and 
*' Thittai kirkia a kirkiuvelli.** 
(This church in the chui'ch ground) 

Though the ancient church (Plate XIV. fig. 4), charmingly 

situated several hundred feet above the water, on the verdant 

promontory of Urnses, upon the eastern side of the great Sogne 

Fjord, is by no means so picturesque in its construction, at least 

externally, as those of Borgund, Lom, Hitterdal, Gol, &c., and 

its original form has been somewhat modified by later additions, 

it is still highly interesting and remarkable on account of the nume- 

3 



ii8 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

rous fragments which have been preserved both internally and ex- 
ternally. Apparently the exterior boards and pillars of the entire 
building were at one time covered with sculptured bas-reliefs (Plate 
XV. figs. 1 and 4). Prof. Dahl is of opinion that most of the old 
wooden churches were covered with carvings not only on the 
portals (Plate XY. figs. 2, 8, 6, 6, 7), but also on the gables, posts, 
and walls, but, in the course of repeated repairs with new un- 
decorated planks and pillars, these have generally disappeared. 
Though the interior of the building at UrnsBS was much 
modified in the 16th and 17th centuries, the massive wooden 
colunms and their cushion capitals have been preserved, and 
show a Byzantine character (Plate XV. fig 8), " the carvings re- 
sembling the designs in the Bible of Charles the Bold of the 
9th century, and similar ornaments of ancient Greek MSS. of 
the same period." The carving on the doors, doorposts, (Plate 
XV.) capitals, &c., shows the utmost variety, no two being alike. 

The question has been raised whether these decorations, at 
times heathen in character, may not have been, at least in some 
instances, rescued from still older structures of the pagan period, 
and utilized for the adornment of the Christian churches. If 
this be so their interest is only heightened and rendered more 
mysterious. In this connection we may remember the instruc- 
tions of St. Gregory the Great to St. Augustine of Canterbury : 
** If the temples of the idols are well built, it is requisite that 
they be converted from the worship of devils to the service of 
the true God.''^ 

No records exist giving any precise information as to the age 
of the " Stavekirker,'* ^ and though there is a local tradition at 
Borgund that the church there dates from the year 1073, it is 
probable that both it and those at Urnaes, Lom, Hitterdal, etc., 
were erected in the 12th or 13th centuries. 

**In consequence of the loss of Ufe on the occasion of the 
burning of the Gruekirke early in this century, through the 
door only opening inwards, a law was passed that all church 
doors should open outwards, and, in carrying out this, grievous 
destruction was wrought both to stone and wooden structures." 

5 Appendix A. 
^ Except that on one of the doorposts of the church of Tind, there is a two- 
line Runic inscription, stating that *' Bishop Rainar dedicated this chnrch," etc. 
As Rainar, or Kagnar, was the third Bishop of Hammer on the Mjosen Lake, 
from 1180 to 1190, the church would appear to date from the last quarter of the 
12th century. 



Plate XV. 



N. Doorway of CTuirch., Urrues 




Ancient Norwegian IVooden Churches. 1 1 9 

The dimensions of the '^ Stavekirker " are not large, that of 
Borgond (Plate XIV. fig. 1) having a nave 89 feet in length, and a 
circular apse of 16 feet. The Hitterdal Church (figs. 2 and 8) is 84 
feet long by 57 feet wide. That of UmsBS (fig. 4), porch (or 
gallery), 8 feet; nave, 81 J feet by 28 J^ feet; chancel, 21 J feet by 
16 feet ; and the vestry ( ? ) behind, 10 feet long by 16 feet 
wide. 

Mr. Buskin^ remarks, " The changes effected by the Lombard 
are more curious still, for they are in the anatomy of the building 
more than in its decoration. The Lombard architecture repre- 
sents the whole of that of the northern barbaric nations. And 
this, I believe, was at first an imitation in wood of the Christian 

Boman churches or basilicas It (the basilica) had a nave 

and two aisles, the nave much higher than the aisles ; the nave 
was separated from the aisles by rows of shafts, which supported, 
above, large spaces of fiat or dead wall, rising above the aisles, 
and forming the upper part of the nave, now called the cle- 
restory, which had a gabled wooden roof. These high dead walls 
were, in Boman work, built of stone ; but, in the wooden work 
of the North, they must necessarily have been made of horizontal 
boards or timber attached to uprights on the top of the nave 
pillars, which were themselves also of wood. Now, these 
uprights were necessarily thicker than the rest of the timbers, 
and formed vertical square pilasters above the nave piers. As 
Christianity extended, and civilization increased, these wooden 
structures were changed into stone, but they were literally 
petrified, retaining the form which had been made necessary by 
their being of wood. The upright pilaster above the nave pier 
remains in the stone edifice, and is the first form of the great 
distinctive feature of Northern architecture — the vaulting shaft." 
In Appendix 9 to the same volume, Mr. Buskin says : '' I cannot 
pledge myself to this theory of the origin of the vaulting shaft, 
but the reader will find some interesting confirmation of it in 
Dahl's work on the wooden churches of Norway. The inside 
view of the church of Borgund shows the timber construction of 
one shaft, run up through a crossing architrave, and continued 
into the clerestory, while the church of UrnsBs is in the exact 
form of a basilica ; but the wall above the arches is formed of 
planks with a strong upright above each capital." 

7 Tht Stones of Venice, vol. I., ohsp. I., § xxvil 



I20 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Fergusson^ remarks: ''There exists in Norway a series of 
wooden churches of great interest to the antiquary, which are 
now fast disappearing from that country. Everywhere we read 
of the wooden churches of Saxon and Norman times in our 
country, and of the contemporary periods on the continent ; but 
these have ahnost all been either destroyed by fire or pulled down 
to make way for more solid and durable erections. That at 
Little Greensted, in Essex, is almost the only specimen remaining 
in this country. 

" The largest of those now to be found in Norway is that of 
Hitterdal. It is 84 feet long by 57 feet across. Its plan is that 
usual in churches of the age, except that it has a gallery all 
round on the outside. (Plate XIV. fig. 2). Its external appear- 
ance is very remarkable, and very unlike anything in stone 
architecture. It is more like a Chinese pagoda or some strange 
creation of the South Sea islanders, than the sober production of 
the same people who built the bold and massive round Gothic 
edifices of the same age. 

'' Another of these churches, that at Borgund, is smaller, but 
even more fantastic in its design, and with strange carved 
pinnacles at its angles, which give it a very Chinese aspect. 

" That at UmsBS (Plate XIV. fig. 4), is both soberer and better 
than either of these, but much smaller, being only 24 feet wide 
by 65 feet from E. to W. It still retains a good deal of the Bunic 
carving that once probably adorned all the panels of the exterior 
(Plate XV. fig. 1), as well as the various parts of the roof; as 
these decayed, they seem to have been replaced by plain timbers, 
which of course detract very much from the original appear- 
ance. All the doorways and principal openings are carved with 
the same elaborate ornaments, representing entwined dragons 
fighting and biting each other, intermixed occasionally with 
foliage and figures. (Plate XV. figs. 2, 8, 5, 6, 7.) 

'' This style of carving is found in crosses and tombstones, not 
only in Scandinavia, but in Scotland and Ireland. In its original 
form in wood, it is only known to exist in these singular churches. 

'' There can be no doubt about the age of these curious edifices, 
for not only does the dragon tracery fix them to the 11th or 12th 
century, but the capitals of the pillars and general character 
of the mouldings exactly correspond with the details of our 

' Handbook of Architecture^ 2Dd Edition, p. 933. 



Ancient Norwegian IVooden Churches. 121 

own Norman architecture, so far as the difference of material 
permits. 

"With the churches at Wisby (in Gothland), these wooden 
churches certainly add a curious and interesting chapter to the 
history of architecture at the early period to which they belong, 
and are well deserving of more attention than they have re- 
ceived." 

The Curator of the Bergen Museum is, I believe, of opinion 
that some of the intertwined patterns are derived from Irish 
sources, and this may well be the case, considering the prolonged 
ravages and settlements of Vikings in that country.^ It must, 
however, be borne in mind^^ that "all comparative study of 
national and primitive forms of decorative art, seems to show that 
such distinctive terms as ' Bunic ' and ' Celtic ' applied to 
interlaced patterns, knots, and fretwork have been too confi* 
dently used. Such designs are found in Archaic art in most 
parts of the world, and still appear in the native work of Japan 
and India." 

As already hinted. Pagan and Christian symbolism seems to 
have been combined in their production— 

*' New things and old co-twisted, as if Time 
Were nothing." 
Great Britain and Ireland. — ^Mr. Petrie ^^ considers that many 
of the smaller and very ancient Irish chapels were constructed of 
wood, and the whole class was known as " Duirtheachs " or " Der- 
theachs," the probable meaning of which is " house of oak." 
According to a fragment of a commentary on Brehon law,^^ 15 
feet by 16 feet were customary dimensions for such buildings, 
and the stone chapels are usually found not to differ very greatly 
from them." On this point, however. Miss Stokes^* remarks: "The 
belief that the early churches of Ireland were generally of wood 
is much shaken by the evidence of the monuments themselves, as 
well as by the testimony of the oldest Irish writers. The virgin 
Crumtheris is described as living in a stone-built oratory near 
Armagh in the 5th century, and we find stone buildings men- 
tioned as erected in parts of the country where wood must have 

9 See Appendix B. 
"> Early Christian ArchUeetwrt in Ireland, by Margaret Stokes, p. 125. 
" The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, p. 343. " Petrie, p. 365. 
'3 See further, Smith's Dictionary qf Christian Antiquities, vol. I. pp. 342-3. 

'* Op. cit. , p. 36. 



122 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

been quite as easily attainable as stone, if not more so; for 
instance, in the Marty rology of Donegal, (p. 96), St. Becan is 
described as building a cashel at Emlagh, in East Meath, for 

which stone was evidently the material chosen It may 

be suggested also that those passages so often quoted from Bede 
and William of Malmesbury, in which it is said that most of the 
oratories of the Scotic saints were formed of wattles of wood and 
clay, may be merely applicable to the erections of the first Irish 
teachers in Scotland and the north of England. Their buildings, 
like the tent of the nomad, or the temporary shed of the foreign 
missionary at the present day, might naturally have been of 
some less permanent material than they would use for that 
church in their native land, near which they might hope to 
spend their life and await their death. However this may be, 
we have, at all events, sufficient evidence that, even in the very 
earliest times, wood was not the only material employed. " " 

It should be noted that these Irish chapels seem always to 
have been small and quadrangular, and, even when chancels were 
added, the arrangement was not apsidal — a peculiarity which 
has subsequently prevailed in the British Isles, and distinguishes 
our churches from continental structures, including several of the 
" Stavekirker." 

In connection with the question of the material of Irish 
churches and chapels or oratories, it may be noted that the 
church at Glastonbury, founded, according to tradition, by a 
saint of the name of Patrick, but undoubtedly by missionaries 
from Ireland, was said to have been 60 feet long by 26 feet broad, 
and seems to have been of wood. 

As to Scotland, it is held that the churches constructed by the 
Christian Picts were probably either of wood or of earth, which 
would account for the entire absence of any buildings within 
their territory of earlier date than 800. 

Coming to England, it would appear that no certain remains 
of any building, except Boman, (though churches of considerable 
size, existed), prior to the invasion of the Saxons, Jutes and 
Angles, have been met with. Parker ^^ says : "When the Saxons 
were converted to Christianity they were not masons ; they dwelt 
in wooden houses, and there can be no doubt that their churches 

's Appendix C. 
»* An introdn4ition to the Stxuiy of Oothic Architecture, p. 9. 



Ancient Norwegian IVooden Churches. 123 

were also usually of wood. This is confirmed by numerous pas- 
sages in contemporary historians, and the frequent mention of 
the destruction of churches by fire." 

The charter granted by King Eadgar to Mahnesbury Abbey in 
974 states that the churches were " visibly ruinated, with moul- 
dering shingles and worm eaten boards even to the rafters." 
Again Cnut's charter to Glastonbury Abbey in 1082, is dated 
from the wooden church there. 

I may next refer to the well known story in Bede (Book III. 
chap. 17), of the post of the church on which Bishop Aidan was 
leaning when he died, and which could not be burned when the 
rest of the building was consumed by fire. In Chapter 25 of 
the same book he says : '^ In the meantime. Bishop Aidan being 
dead, Finan, who was ordained and sent by the Scots, succeeded 
him in the bishopric, and built a church in the Isle of Lindis- 
farne, the episcopal see ; nevertheless, after the manner of the 
Scots (a name at any rate including the Irish) , he made it, not of 
stone, but of hewn oak, and covered it mth reeds ; and the same 
was afterwards dedicated in honour of St. Peter the Apostle, by 
the Reverend Archbishop Theodore. Eadbert, also bishop" of 
that place, took off the thatch and covered it, both roof and walls, 
with plates of lead." 

The reference in Bede to Benedict Biscop crossing the sea 
into Gaul, and carrying back with him masons to build " a stone 
church in the Roman mannei'" and, again ^^ " He (Naitan, king of 
the Picts) also prayed to have architects sent him to build a 
church in his nation after the Roman manner^ promising to dedi- 
cate the same in honour of St. Peter," seems to imply that " the 
Eoman manner," referred not merely to style but also to a mate- 
rial different from those in use at that time in England.^^ 

The " pilaster strips," so conspicuous on the [tower of Earl's 
Barton church, Northamptonshire, and the use of the baluster as 
a shaft, are further indications, '' pointing clearly to their having 
originated in an indigenous style of wooden architecture." '^ The 
same writer mentions that according to Conchubean, an Irish 
author of the 11th century, " the Scots were accustomed to build 
with boards, (' tdbvlis dedolatis,') or, as we may perhaps understand 
the passage, with timbers not left in the round, but smoothed 

'' Hist. EccUb,, Book V., chap. 21. «» Appendix D. 
'» Mr. A. Kesbett in Smith's Didionary of Chrwtian An6iquiUe8, vol. I. p. 388. 



124 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

with the adze. In this way the church at Greensted near 
Ongar, Essex, was constructed, the slabs of oak left after a plank 
had been sawn out of the middle, being smoothed on the inside 
with the adze, and placed upright with the curved portion out- 
wards, side by side, so as to form a wall."** Prof. E. A. Free- 
man '^ says tersely, '' A Saxon tower, in short, is an Italian cam- 
panile in timber, and then turned into stone." 

Looking at the peculiar flat pilasters and arcading of St. 
Aldhelm's church of St. Lawrence, at Bradford-on-Avon, which 
are only surface decorations without structural importance, one 
is tempted to fancy that one sees in them a sort of sterile ^' ex- 
ample" of an arrangement which, in the " Stavekirker" of Norway, 
served the useful purpose of shelter and protection from snow and 
rain. Is it fanciful, too, to trace a possible connection between such 
a structure as the lovely octagon or "tombhouse," (Fergusson), 
which occupies the usual place of a '^ Lady chapel " in the won- 
derfully interesting cathedral at Throndhjem, and the curious 
eastern termination of the Stavekirker of Borgund and Hitterdal ? 
This octagon is externally Early English in character, and has 
somewhat the appearance of a chapter house, whilst '' internally 
it is a dome 80 feet in diameter, supported on a range of columns 
disposed ootagonally, and all the details correspond with those of 
the best period of decorated architecture." (Fergusson.) This 
structure is on the spot where originally stood a small wooden 
chapel, erected by King Magnus the Good, (1035 to 1047) only, 
but illegitimate, son of ''Saint Olaf," over his father's grave. Of 
that sainted monster, who was doubtless mainly instrumental in 
the nominal conversion to Christianity of the kingdom which he 
governed from 1016 to 1080, a lively idea may be formed from 
the fascinating pages of Old Snorro Sturleson's " Heimskringla, 
or Sagas of the Kings of Norway,** written in the 12th century, 
and covering a period of some 800 years. By way of specimen, 
I will conclude the present paper with a typical extract from 
Saga VIL, chap. 72, Laing's Translation. The king during his 
progress in the Uplands '' enquired particularly how it stood with 
their Christianity, and, where improvement was needful, he 
taught them the right custom. If any there were who would 
not renounce heathen ways, he took the matter so zealously, that 
he drove some out of the country, mutilated others of hands or 

*° See Appendix E. " HUtory of ArchUecture, p. 215. 



Ancient Norwegian Wooden Churches. 1 25 

feet, or stung (sic) their eyes out; hung up some, cut down 
some with the sword, but let none go unpunished who would not 
serre God. He went thus through the whole district, sparing 
neither great nor small." Thus the mingled heathen and 
Christian symbolism of early Norsk ecclesiastical decoration 
found a less innocent analogue in matters of faith and practice 
under the Draconic rule of Olaf Haraldsson, '' the Saint ! '* 

APPENDIX A. 

Mr. Dasent in The Story of Bwmt Njal, or Life in Iceland 
at the end of the 10th century, says : " Besides their domestic 
buildings, the great chiefs who were the first settlers invariably 
built another. This was the Hof or Temple for the gods, and 
this it is not hard to restore. These buildings consisted of two 
parts, a nave and a shrine, which last is expressly compared to 
the choir or chancel of Christian churches. It was built round 
and arched. In it, in a half circle, stood the images of the gods, 
and before them, in the middle of the half circle, was the 
altar ('stalli')- On it lay the holy ring ('baugi'), on which 
all solemn oaths were sworn ; and there, too, was the blood 
bowl ('hlautbolli')> ^ which the blood of the slaughtered 
victims was caught, and the blood twig (" hlauttvein ") with which 
the worshippers were sprinkled to hallow them in the presence 
of the Almighty Gods. On the altar burned the holy fire which 
was never suffered to be quenched." 

B. 

I am indebted to the kindness of our Honorary Secretary for 
the following extract from Mr. J. 0. Westwood's essay on Celtic 
Ornament, in Owen Jones' Orammar of Ornament. — " That 
the Scandinavian artists adopted Celtic ornamentation, especially 
such as was practised about the end of the 10th or 11th 
centuries, is evident from the similarity of their carved wooden 
churches (illustrated in detail by M. Dahl) and the Irish metal 
work of the same period, such as the Cross of Cong, in the 
museum of the Boyal Irish Academy, Dublin." 

C. 

Professor E. A. Freeman {History of Architecture, p. 198,) 
says : " It is distinctly proved by historical testimonies collected 
and sifted with the most extensive and patient learning, that an 



126 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

ornamental Bomanesque style existed in Ireland anterior to the 
eleventh century, one, moreover, which exhibited many of the 
identical decorations which some of our archaeologians would fain 
make us believe were hardly known till the 12th. This style, 
which seems to have been in use from a period anterior to the 
9th down to the 12th century, is by no means identical with our 
Norman, although strongly resembling it in character." 

D. 

My thanks are due to my friend, the Eev. F. E. Warren, B.D., 
Eector of Prenchay, for the following additional particulars of 
early wooden churches in Great Britain and Ireland, extracted 
from his well-known work on The Liturgy and Ritual of the 
Celtic Churchy Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1881. 

" Where wood could be obtained it was generally employed, so 
much so that the custom of the Irish to use wood obtained for it 
in the middle ages the title of * mos Scottorum,' ' opus Scoticum,' 
'the Scottish style.' 

" The church of St. Derbhfraich, near Clogher, in Tyrone (5th 
century), was a wooden structure. So was that of St. Ciaran 
of Saighir, in the same century. 

** In the 6th century St. Monenna * founded a monastery, which 
was made of smooth planks, according to the fashion of the 
Scottish nation, who were not accustomed to erect stone walls, 
or to get them erected.' St. Columba's church at Derry was 
built of timber and watling. 

" In the 7th century St. Kevin (Coemgen) built his oratory of 
rods of wood ; St. Gobban, a famous builder, constructed a 
wooden church for St. Mulling. It is told of St. Mochaoi, abbot 
of Nendrum, that on one occasion he went with seven score young 
men to cut wattles to make his church. 

" In the 9th century the Annals of Ulster record a hurricane 
which occurred on the festival of St. Martin, and which pros- 
trated a great many trees in the woods, and carried the churches 
(Diurtheachs) from their places. 

" In the 12th century the custom of building churches of wood 
was still continued in Ireland, as appears from St. Bernard's 
notice of a church built by Malachy, archbishop of Armagh.^ 

» << Porro oratorinm intra paucoB dies conaiunmAtain est de lignis qaidem levi- 
gatis, sed apte firmiterqae contextam, opns Scoticum palohmm satis.'* — S. Ber- 
nard!, VUa 8, Malaehicif c. vi., § 14. 



Ancient Norwegian IVooden Churches. 127 

" The same custom prevailed in other portions of the Celtic 
church. In Scotland, St. Ninian's church amongst the southern 
Picts at the end of the 4th, or beginning of the 5th century, 
obtained its name of ' Candida Gasa ' from the very unusual 
circumstance that it was built of stone, the use of which for 
building purposes was not customary at that date.^ 

'' St. Adamnan implies that the first buildings at lona, includ- 
ing the church, were of wood. 

" Early in the 8th century, Nectan, king of the Picts, sent 
into England for builders in stone, after that Benedict Biscop 
had introduced there the Boman custom of emplojdng this more 
durable material. 

" In the Northumbrian church, Finan, who had been a monk 
at lona, and who succeeded Aidan as bishop of Lindisfarne, 
A.D. 651, ' built a church fit for an episcopal see, not of stone, but 
altogether of sawn wood, covered with reeds, after the Scotic 
fashion.' 

'' In England, the buildings at Glastonbury, as they existed in 
the British church, before the Anglo-Saxon refoundation of that 
monastery m the 7th century, were, according to tradition, of 
wood. 

'* In Wales, when St. Kentigem founded his monastery of St. 
Asaph, in the 6th century, he built the church of dressed wood, 
* after the manner of the Britons, since they were not yet either 
accustomed or able to build with stone.' St. Gwynllyw, at the 
close of the same century, is recorded to have built a cemetery 
chapel of wood.^ 

'' On the continent, when the great Celtic missionary St. Col- 
umbanus received from the King of the Lombards a site for his 
church and monastery at Bobbio, a.d. 615, he was said to have 
been supematurally assisted in procuring the wood for that 
purpose. 

'' It must not be inferred that the use of wooden buildings was 
confined to the Celtic race. Such work was known in France as 
'opus Gallicum,' in contradistinction to stone work, 'opus 
Bomanense.' It is described in Itolia Montimenta Historim 

"3 « Eo qaod ibi ecclesiam de lapide, insolito Brittonibua more fecerit." — Bede, 
H. E., III., 4. 

^ It is supposed to be the church at Newport, Monmouthshire, situated in the 
hundred of Gwentloog, and dedicated to him under the name of St. Wodlos. 



128 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

PatruB,* vol. I, Edict. Reg. Langobard. App. XI, p. 246. In 
Anglo-Saxon times, King Edwin (616 — 633), built a wooden 
church at Tynemouth ; there was a ' monasteriolum ligneum ' in 
the same town, rebuilt by St. Oswald in stone. The wooden 
cathedral at Ghester-le- Street remained till a.d. 1042. The first 
church of St. Peter at York, a.d. 627> was ' de ligno.' There is 
a wooden church of the 11th century, at Little Greensted near 
Ongar, Essex, now." 

E. 

St. Edmund, who is said to have been bom at Niirnberg in 
841, became king of East Anglia in 855, and, after a crushing 
defeat by the Danes at Thetford in 870, was captured by them 
in a wood at Eglesdene (now Hoxne), tied to a tree, and slain with 
arrows. His body is said to have lain buried there for thirty- 
three years in an obscure wooden chapel, and then to have been 
removed to Bedrichesworth (St. Edmund's-Bury) where a large 
wooden church was constructed for its reception. During the 
ravages of the Danes in 1010,^ St. Edmund's bones were re- 
moved to London to avoid falling into their hands. There they 
remained three years, and, when they were being re-conveyed to 
Bury St. Edmund's, they were deposited on their way, in a 
" wooden chapel," which there seems good ground for identifying 
with the nave of the little church at Greensted, Chipping Ongar, 
Essex. '' The building is formed of split trunks of oak trees, the 
top part being cut to a thin edge, which was let into a deep groove 
in the plate, and pinned. The bottoms of these upright timbers 
were morticed into the sill. Their sides were grooved, and 
tongues of oak let in between them, so as to make the whole firm 
and weather tight. Upon the face of the timber inside the church 
were a great number of triangular cuts, having a rough bur on 
one side, such as would be produced by the angle of an adze. 
These cuts are the key for the plaster with which the interior of 
the church was covered. There are twenty-four timbers on the 
south side, and twenty-five on the north. The nave is 29 feet, 
9 inches long, 14 feet wide, and 5 feet 6 inches high to the top 
of the plate. The west end, part of which remains, was carried 

*5 *<And the Danes held sway over the East Angles, and for three months 
harried and burned, ay, even into the wild fens they went, and there slew men 
and cattle, and bnmed throughout the fens; and Thetford they burned, and 
Cambridge." — Aiiglo-Saxon Chronicle, Thorpe's translation, M.X., p. 116. 



Ancient Norwegian JVooden Churches. 129 

ap in the middle as high as the ridge of the roof, and consisted 
of two layers of planks fastened together with tree-nails. It is 
probable that the outside of the church was covered with plaster, 
or rough-cast. The external covering would carry us through a 
portion of the long period of existence of this church, and it 
must be remembered that its mode of construction completely 
prevented any repair by replacing one of the timbers. Every 
part is of the same age. To replace a side timber the roof plate 
must have been lifted ; each tree being framed into the sill as 
well as into the plate. This is the strongest proof of its great 
antiquity, for it is not likely that any rebuilding would have been 
executed, after the 11th or 12th centuries, with such materials in 
the manner found here.*' In 1848, the bottoms of the timbers 
having become unsound, they were taken down, the decayed and 
worm-eaten ends cut oflf, and then the whole carefully replaced. 
These extracts are from a little illustrated book by the Rev. P. 
W. Eay, Rector of Greensted, entitled The History of Oreensted 
Church near Ongar, Essex. — Slocombe, Chipping Ongar, 1869. 

F. 

In connection with the subject of wooden churches, I may, 
perhaps, be allowed to call attention to one erected in a region 
abounding in forests of enormous extent, and furnishing timber 
of gigantic size. Douglas Pines, 200 to 250 feet in height and 
6 to 10 feet in diameter, and "cedars" of scarcely inferior pro- 
portions, are abundant throughout thousands of square miles of 
forest in Washington Territory, U.S.A., and at the " town " of Old 
Tacoma there is a curious illustration of the connection between 
structure and material. The church, a small, bam-Uke 
erection, appears from a little distance to have gone into 
strange partnership with an Irish round tower or Ravenna cam- 
panile, standing, like them, detached from the building, but, on 
a nearer approach, it is seen that the practical and economical 
architect has merely cut down a fine old pine, some 6 or 7 feet 
thick, to within about 40 feet of the ground, and crowned the 
stump with a sort of pepper-castor structure, in which the bell is 
suspended. The inhabitants boast that theirs is "the oldest 
church tower on the American continent,'' and, as the age of the 
tree is probably upwards of 400 years, the claim is not altogether 
unfounded. 



130 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



lietent €^ta\)attong at ^tltiurp J^tU 



By ALFRED 0. PASS. 



{Read December 15M, 1886.) 

SiLBURY Hill is said to be the greatest artificial mound in Europe ; 
it is 125 feet high, and covers about five acres of ground ; the 
summit is flat and is 108 feet diameter. 

Various conjectures have been formed as to its original pur- 
pose ; one of these is, that it was a sepulchral monument, and 
another, that it was erected for religious worship in connection 
with the so-called Druidic temple at Avebury, which is exactly 
one mile distant from it. 

The question of the date of its erection has also been much 
discussed. 

In the belief that this great mound had been raised as a 
tumulus, it has on two occasions been opened. In the year 1777, 
the Duke of Northumberland, and Colonel Drax, brought miners 
from Cornwall, and sunk a shaft from the summit to the base of 
the hill. In 1849, the Archaeological Institute caused a tunnel to 
be made from the south side to the centre of the hill, when the 
original nucleus or starting-point was found, consisting of con- 
centric layers of material. In neither of these examinations was 
any trace of sepulture discovered, but merely a few fragments of 
stags' horns, probably the tools used by the builders when exca- 
vating the chalk rock, of which this mound is chiefly composed. 

From these two examinations it may reasonably be inferred 
that the mound is not sepulchral ; for if so, we should naturally 
expect to find, in the primary centre of the hill, the body of the 
great dead, for whose honour it was raised. 

In describing the tunnel of 1849, the Dean of Hereford, in his 
Diary of a Dean, says : " Nothing could be more evident than the 
existence of the primary heaping of the mound, through the 
centre of which, or very nearly so, the elevated tunnel was cut. 



Recent Excavations at Silbury Hill. 1 3 1 

At the floor of this was traceable the line of the original turf of 
the natural hill, and it was clear to demonstration that this had 
not been cut through. No cist, therefore, had been found below 
that line in any part yet examined. . . . One thing is manifest, 
that the examiners of 1777 did not hit the actual centre of the 
tumulus, whilst we have excavated its very core." 

Now, had this mound been erected as a monument, we should 
expect to find it placed on an elevated situation where it could be 
seen from afar, but, on the contrary, it is placed on very low 
ground, at the very bottom of a gently-rising down ; and this 
fact has been referred to by Duke, who, in his Druidic Temples, 
says : '* This peculiar spot is a hollow nearly surrounded on all 
sides with moderately rising ground ; " and also by the Rev. 
A. C. Smith, who, in his Silbury, says : " Standing as it does on 
comparatively low ground, and surrounded with undulating 
downs, which tower above it, very limited indeed is the view from 
the summit." 

Had it been raised on the summit of one of these ** undulating 
downs " it would have been visible for many miles around. The 
barrows in this neighbourhood are placed on the hill tops, and 
are remarkably prominent objects in the landscape. 

On looking down from the summit of Silbury Hill to the 
meadow below, a well-defined line is seen, which plainly marks 
out the area whence was obtaiaed the chalk used for making the 
hill ; the land within this line is under the level of the adjacent 
ground, and in summer the grass grows here of a brighter green, 
owing to the greater amount of moisture in the soil. 

It will be seen that this boundary line extends in the form of 
a circle, nearly surrounding the base of Silbury Hill, at a dis- 
tance of 100 feet on the north and east; but to the west it 
includes a larger area. On the south is a deep trench separating 
the mound from the adjacent high ground, and across this part a 
narrow causeway or ridge of chalk rock w^as allowed to remain when 
the rest was removed, and this appears to have been the only 
approach to the mound. Even between this causeway and the 
hill there is still a great gap of some depth. There may possibly 
have been two approaches on this side. 

A special survey of Silbury Hill has been made for me by 
Messrs. Ashmead, and the accompanying plans were prepared by 
them. The southern boundary of the meadow is a steep escarp- 



132 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

ment formed by the removal of the chalk from the sloping side of 
the rising down. Here chalk has been removed to a depth of over 
40 feet from the original surface of the down as shown in plan 
No. 2. 

Having for some time past thought that an excavation in the 
meadow at the foot of the mound would disclose the depth from 
which the chalk had been removed, and would also throw some 
light on the origin of the hill, I apphed to the owner of the 
meadow, Mr. Pinniger, and obtained from him leave to sink a 
a shaft there. Subsequently, he kindly gave me further per- 
mission, so that this autumn I was enabled to have ten shafts 
sunk in the meadow, to the west and north of the hill, at the 
spots shown on the plan. All these shafts passed first through 
about a foot of dark surface soil, and then through white alluvial 
clay, until the undisturbed chalk rock was reached ; this solid 
chalk being the limit of depth of the excavated material used in 
constructing the mound. 

In shafts Nos. 1 and 8, marks of the original workers were 
visible in the form of notches or steps in the chalk. 

The measurements prove that the chalk had been generally 
removed to a depth of about 15 feet, but near the foot of the hill 
this depth was increased to about 21 feet below the present level 
of the meadow, and this has all been replaced by alluvium. 

Near the mound, the alluvial clay in the moat contained a 
large admixture of chalk rubble which has rolled from the hill ; 
but further from the mound, at shaft 6, there was not one frag- 
ment of chalk rubble in the entire depth of 15 feet ; but only fine 
white tenacious clay, with a few fractured flints and some bones. 

A very large part of the chalk used in making Silbury Hill was 
obtained from the west side ; here, instead of a trench 100 feet 
wide, a large area has been excavated to a depth of over 20 feet 
near the hill, and 15 or 16 feet elsewhere. 

All the chalk and earth required for making this great mound 
was probably carried in baskets on the heads of men, women, and 
children, from the trench, although it could have been obtained 
with far less labour from the high ground to the south, had there 
not been some motive which led the builders to take the materials 
from near the base of the mound. 

It may appear strange that the hill was formed by this method, 
but in our own day, vast railway embankments in Europe and 




ILiHiY NilJLL 
WILTS. 



Plan 




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W 



£ 



m' 



y' s 



O 
6 




^ e 



IS -*-- 

^ nv 




O 
7 



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'^^«*><^ ^^rf^ 







- NOTE 



Shafts stL^^A/ vn/ /^S6 



TThOirhtcL (Jizcs X 
shewn/ thiis 9 



G C Ashmead & Son. Bristol 



PkteM. 



Scale of Reel- 



i 



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WILTS. 



p T t s e fv t 



Z e V e t 



Sect 

Fro m WE5 

o f 



From Nor 



V 



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I I ^ 



T X g 



t 



TV d 



f 



'esf.nt le\tl of a -round. 



1 



/ 



J 



NOTE - 

GrouncL^ oru>& ea:coiVObte.ff^ , since/ 
fzlZed. Z71. hy Alluvijof.l. ofeposrt . 



shewn/ tJvtts 



V « 



Scale oF Beet - 



too 

1^ 



50 O 



lOO 



GC Ashmead i Son Bnstol 



PkteMl. 



ONS 

r ho East. 




H t-o South 



Worked Flmt.N^S Shaft, 



Recent Excavations at Silbury Hill. 133 

India have been thus made. Sir Thomas Brassey, in his book 
Work and Wages, refers to " the Italian villagers, men, women, 
and children, carrying earth in baskets on their heads," to 
construct railways. 

My excavations were commenced in the month of September, 
after a long continuance of dry weather, so that the adjacent Uttle 
stream, the Kennet, had been dried up for more than two months ; 
yet water continually stood to the depth of 8 feet in the deep holes 
(21 feet) , sunk at the foot of the mound ; and I think it would 
never at any time of the year fall much below that level. 

From these results it will be seen that when Silbury Hill was first 
formed, it was nearly surrounded by a deep and wide trench or 
moat, which at all times contained a considerable depth of water ; 
and the large excavated area to the west of the hill, although not 
so deep as the trench, must necessarily have been a pond of water 
during a great part of every year. This fact has hitherto escaped 
observation, but it was from a surmise that this would prove to be 
the case, that I was first led to attempt these explorations. 

For what purpose was this moat intended? There is one 
reason probable, and that is for the purpose of defence. By sur- 
rounding the hill with water it could be approached only by the 
narrow causeway situate on the south side, and this could have 
been stockaded as a further defence. 

My conclusions are, that the builders of this mound selected 
its pecuUar low situation for the sole purpose of obtaining the line 
of defence furnished by the water in the surrounding moat, and 
that Silbury Hill was erected as a tribal stronghold or place of 
retreat and defence in case of a sudden attack by enemies. 

The mound at Marlborough strongly resembles Silbury Hill, 
and was erected in a similar low situation near the same stream, 
the Kennet, possibly for the same purpose and by the same race 
of men. 

In the course of these explorations an interesting discovery was 
made which throws light on the date of the erection of the mound. 
In shaft No. 5,^ after passing through 9 feet of white alluvial 
clay, the men came to a distinct blackish layer about a foot in 
thickness, consisting of the usual tenacious clay, with a large 
admixture of charcoal, fractured flints, bones, and small burnt 
Sarsen stones, all evident indications of human occupation. I 

' See Plan. 

4 



134 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

had the whole of this layer carefully set aside, and washed it in 
water through a sieve, so as to separate all the clay ; and then 
examined the residue for traces of human workmanship. Besides 
other flints, one well- worked ^ini implement^ rewarded this search. 
In another shaft also (No. 6), flint flakes were found in the allu- 
vium. These flints I sent to the highest authority upon flint 
implements, Mr. John Evans, D.C.L., P.S.A., who kindly ex- 
amined them, and wrote as follows : ** The flints from No. 5 shaft 
are, I think, aU artiftcial. One, which is very well wrought, may 
be either an unfinished arrow-head as you suggest, or a small 
knife such as is sometimes found in the interments in barrows. 
The flakes are probably the waste pieces from chipping out some 
large tools, though some of them have been used as instruments 
for cutti7ig and scraping. The evidence you have obtained shows 
that flint has been in use since Silbury Hill was formed, for 
cutting instruments, for I think that the knife or arrow-head from 
shaft 5 must be accepted as probably not later than the Bronze 
period, to which most of our flint arrow-heads belong ; and fur- 
ther, I think that any doubt that may have existed as to the 
mound being pre-Boman may now be dispelled." 

These finds reveal the important fact that, long after Silbury 
Hill had been erected, the neighbourhood was inhabited or visited 
by a people who made and used flint weapons. The time was so 
long after the formation of the mound that not less than 5 feet of 
alluvium had accumulated in that part of the trench which these 
flint-workers occupied when they temporarily encamped there, 
lighted their fires, cooked their food, and formed their flint 
weapons. 

The time of their stay must have been either summer or 
autumn, for in the spring and winter months the level of their 
encampment, which is 9 feet under the present surface, would be 
always under water, because it is much below the level of the 
adjacent stream which forms the only drainage for this district. 
In the winter of every year this meadow is now frequently sub- 
merged by the overflow of the stream. 

Besides their weapons, these flint men left behind some remains 
of the animals which supplied them with food; and Professor 
Lloyd Morgan has identified the bones of deer, ox, and pig ; also 
of man's faithful companion, the dog. More remarkable still, 

"PUte XVI 



Recent Excavations at Silbury Hill. 135 

there was found in this black layer, a human bone, broken into 
two pieces. It is a femur, possessing peculiar characteristics of 
some interest, from the fact of the linea aspera being developed 
to a very unusual extent. 

I wish to call attention to the lower jaws and to the fragments of 
bones from this black layer. These fragments are just such small 
hard pieces as we now see left uneaten by dogs, and these are 
evidently the dogs' leavings. Sir John Lubbock, in his account 
of the Danish Kitchen Middens describes a similar fact ; and he 
alludes to the frequent occurrence of the lower jaws of animals 
which the dogs had left there uneaten. 

We may infer that some of the food was cooked by boiling, 
for the small Sarsen stones found associated with the other re- 
mains, have all been burnt, and probably have been used as pot- 
boilers. 

It does not follow that the builders of Silbury Hill were actually 
the same race as the flint workers, whose traces were found in 
the trench. A long interval of time must have necessarily 
elapsed to account for the deposit of 5 feet of alluvium ; so these 
men may have supplanted some previous race of dwellers, but if 
so, it simply carries back the date of the erection of Silbury Hill 
to a still more remote period. 

In every shaft but one many bones of animals were found in 
the alluvium at all depths. Professor Lloyd Morgan has kindly 
examined these, and finds they belong exclusively to ox and deer. 
It is remarkable that not any bones of sheep were found in these 
excavations, although that animal has for many centuries been 
most abundant in Wiltshire. 

In addition to the objects already referred to, a brass coin of 
Marcus Aurelius was found 6 feet under the surface in shaft No. 
2 ; and in another shaft, an iron arrow point was found ; these 
things however, bear but Uttle on the date of the mound. 

As the outcome of these excavations, I have ascertained that 
Silbury Hill was originally surrounded by a deep trench or moat. 
Also, that it was erected by a people, probably a rude race of 
hunters, so little advanced in civilisation that they were using flint 
implements a long time after the hill was built. This discovery 
places the date of the erection of Silbury Hill at a very early 
period, possibly many centuries before the arrival of the Eomans 
in Britain. 



136 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



^ncunt Bristol Botumeitts. 

No. II. 

SI nu*totts( Beeli belongfuig to ti)e ^arfel^ of M^ 



By LiBUT.-CoL. J. IL BRAMBLE, Tbiasurbr. 



{Read November 12M, 1885.) 

The Parish of St. Mary-le-Port, otherwise St. Mary de Foro, or, 
St. Mary of the Market, from the Cattle Market having formerly 
been held in the street, is one of the smallest in Bristol. The 
church consists of nave with north aisle ; a chancel in prolong- 
ation of the north side of the nave; western tower, and 
modem vestry of two stories erected in the angle between the 
chancel and aisle, on the site of the former Eectory house. 
It is a fair specimen of a small 15th century city church, and 
has a peculiar quaintness owing to the row of tall 17th century 
gabled houses which have been erected against, and partly over, 
the north aisle and porch, filling up the narrow space between 
the aisle and the street. But perhaps the fine collection of 
Deeds relating to the parish property, and the books, accounts, 
and other papers which have been carefully preserved for a very 
long series of years, form the most interesting study in connec- 
tion with the church. One of the Deeds is of as early a date 
as c. 1280, and in many cases the armorial bearings and Mer- 
chants* marks on the seals are still very perfect. 

The following Deed tells a tale much more sensational than is 
often found in the musty contents of a church chest, and 
hardly requires the talent of Mr. Joseph Leech to form the foun- 
dation of a local romance of considerable interest. 

The names of many of the persons named as being present at 
the church on the occasion to which the Deed refers are to be 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 137 

found in Ricart^s Calendar, or in The Great Orphan Book, the 
former of which has been pubUshed by the Camden Society, and 
the latter by the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological 
Society. 

The " pewe (pair) of indentures *' bond for £20, &c., are still 
among the Church Eecords, the seals with the Baynard Arms 
being very beautiful. The shield is hanging by the sinister chief 
from the helmet on which is the crest a demi Unicom proper. 
The arms are quartered, and in each case the bearing in the first 
and fourth is a double-headed eagle displayed. Those in the second 
and third are a fesse between two chevrons. The latter are 
given by Edmondson, as Baynard of Blagdon, Com. Somerset. In 
the Deeds the vendor is described as of Lackam, Com. Wilts. 
I cannot find that the eagle was ever used by any branch of the 
Baynard family, and no doubt the engraver omitted to transpose 
the arms on the seal, the bearings thus appearing reversed in the 
wax. In the margin, in Old English caps, " S. PhiUp Baynard.'* 

The property enfeoffed is not now to be found amongst the 
Church lands. It no doubt formed part of 
*' Certyne lande given for the kepinge of dyvce obitte and the 
"mayntenance of lampez and hghte in the seid Churche for 
" ev." (Chantry Certificates, Gloucestershire, RoU22, B. dk (?. Arch. 
Socy's. Proceedings, Vol. VIII. p. 250), and was duly confiscated 
by that most religious king, Henry VIII; but as to this the 
local records are silent. 



Co fill ttllt cristen people of whate estate degre or condicion 
they be to whome this present writing shall come John Edwardes 
Rauf ap Eys Bichard Abyngdon late Shirifs of the Towne of 
Bristowe John Grene Thomas Barbor Thomas Cachemay Edmund 
Segeford David Willys John Bale John Peasly Rowland Cowper 
Clement Haywardyn Grifl&th Davy and John Seycell Burgeises 
of the same Towne of Bristowe men of gode evedens and sadnes 
send gretyng Knowe ye that we the forsaid John Edwardes 
Richard Abyngdon John Grene Thomas Cachemay and others 
seriatly abovenamed were psonally psent wn the Pish Church of 
Seynt Mary Port of Bristowe forsaid the xxiith day of Juyn in the 
yere of o*" lord god m c.c.c.c.c.viij wh Richard Boys pson of the 
same Church and many others where and when John Newman 



138 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

theldre then of Bristowe forsaid Bochoi' of his gode mynd which 
he then heve unto the welth of his Sowle said openly these 
wordes or nygh like unto the same. iSlStdttrfiC ye knowe right 
well that I being a pore man toke to wyf Johan Luke nowe my 
wyf late the wyf of Thomas Luke Bochor which Johan brought 
to me an hundred pound and more in money and plate. So it is 
nowe that I and she ben condescended to do for o>^ sowles and for 
the sowle of the said Thomas Luke w part of the said money 
Wherf ore I w* thassent of the same Johan my Wyf have purchased 
of Mast Philip Baynard a messuage win the Towne of Bristowe 
abovesaid sett win the Shamels ^ of the same towne to me and 
myn heirs forev' for which I paid to the same Maist Baynard in 
hand Twenty Pound of the money which I had of the said 
Johan my Wyf and Twenty Pound more must be paid to hym at 
certeyn daies heraft as ben betwene hym and me by a pewe * of 
Indentures agreed 3nil fUrt()(rtnort yowe knowe right well 
that Maist Edwardes Maist Bauf ap Bys John Grene and Thomas 
Barbo^ have recowd the same messuage ageyn me before the 
Kynges Justice' of his owen Bench $t Westm to theym and their 
heirs Wherefor I woU nowe that my Eecorders enter now the said 
messuage beforce of the said Becorde And aft that doon I will 
that they and their heirs stand and be seased of and in the forsaid 
messuage w^ his apptences ^ to thuse of me of the said Johan my 

' " ShameU " or Shambles, otherwise Worshipful Street. The houses known 
by this name were between the Church-yard of St. Mary-le-Port and the River 
Avon, occupying the northern portion of the site on which Bridge Street was 
erected about 1760. It appears from the conveyance that the premises in ques- 
tion abutted on the Churchyard. 

* *' A pewe of Indentures." Deeds were of two kinds. A deed yoQ, and an 
IwUniuTt, The former was polled or cut straight at the upper margin, and was 
applicable to such deeds as the present— not made between parties, but all being 
interested in the same manner. Where however there were two parties in 
different interests — a vendor and a purchaser, the Deed was supposed to be made 
and executed in duplicate on the same piece of parchment, which was afterwards 
cut into two parts in an indented line, and each party took one portion — hence 
the term " a pair of indentures.*' The distiuution is still observed although. the 
reason has long since ceased. 

3 ** Reoowd the same messuage ageyn me before the Kynges Justice,'' &c. This 
refers to the ancient form of conveyance by *' suffering a recovery." It was in 
effect a mock action brought by the purchaser against the vendor, in which, by 
consent, judgment was given for the purchaser. 

^ John Newman retains the property for himself and wife for their lives. His 
charity is to take effect when the property can be of no further use to him. 
Happily we now live in better times, and never hear of such selfish proceedings. 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 139 

Wyf for tme of o^ lyves And aft o^^ decease I woU that the rent 
issues and pfits comyng of the said messuage be disposed and 
comited by my said Eecorders and their heirs forev^ in this wise 
that is to say for an Obite yerely to be holden foreV win the said 
Pish Church for the Sowles of me and the said Johan my Wyf 
and of Thomas Luke by the yere by my said Eecorders and 
and theire heirs to be assigned paying for the same obite iij s iiijd 
also for the fyndyng of a lampe before the blissed Sacrament of 
the High Aulter of the same Churche forev^ viijs And I woU that 
all the Besidue of the said Bent issues and prfits comyng of the 
same messuage be comited and emploied by my said Becorders 
and theire heirs forevi* towardes the helpyng sustinince and 
fyndyng of an honest prist to syng for the sowles of me and of 
the said Johan my Wif and Thomas Luke win the Chappell of 
mayden Uncombre otherwise called Seynt Wilgefort^ lately 
builded within the said Pissh Church amonge other gode doers 
there forev^ 3nl) immediately aft these wordes by the forsaid 
John Newman in man and fome abovespecified spoken and deliv- 
ered we the forsaid Becorders by vertue of the said recorde and 
wyll abovedeclared entered into the said messuage in the prsence 
of the same John Newman and of divers other prsons and owte 

s " Mayden Uncombre, otherwise Seynt Wilgefort." I have been favoured 
with the foUowing valuable note by our president, Bishop Clifford : *' The name 
of Saint Wilgefort, or Mayden Uncombre, appears in the Eoman Martyrology as 
a Virgin and Martyr on July 20th. She was honoured in Belgium, Holland, 
Germany, Normandy, and £ngland, under the name of Wilgefort or Oncommer 
(Outcommene, Outcommer, Ohukummerus) in the 15th and 16th centuries. Her 
name occurs in the Salisbury OrdOj printed at Paris 1533, in the litany of the 
Saints ; and the same Ordo contains an Antiphon and Prayer in her honour. She 
was also (after 1590) called " Liberata," and was confused with a Saint of that 
name honoured in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and other parts of France, besides 
Normandy ; but this was an error. She was said to have been martyred in 
Portugal, but the legends about her are late and spurious. This I gather from 
the Bollandists. There also I find that the German name Ohnkummer is composed 
of the preposition Ohn without, and the substantive kumTner, which signifies 
sadness or anxiety ; so that the meaning is, the Maiden without sorrow or anxiety. 
The Belgian name, Oncommer, has the same meaning. 

'* The name Wilgefort is certainly not Portuguese, and the legend about her 
Portuguese origin is spurious. The name is evidently of Geiman or Belgian origin. 
It is conjectured (with probability) that the name originally was Virgo^Fortis — 
(for in her life, written in French, she is called vierge forte) — and this was popu- 
larly corrupted into Vilge-fortis. Her popularity in the 16th century accounts 
for a chapel having been erected in her honour in St. Mary-le-Port at Bristol." 

I may add to these particulars that I have not met with any similar dedication 
in England. 



140 Clifton Aniiquarian Club. 

of the said messuage we brought a possenett of bras^ in the name 
of possession and season of the forsaid messuage And immediately 
thereupon the said John Newman and we the fomamed John 
Edwardes Bauf ap Bys John Grene Thomas Barbo' and others 
abovenamed came unto the Taveme called the Bores hed^ of 
Bristowe forsaid and then and there the same John Newman 
eftsones rehersed his wyll and intent above declared And then and 
there he afi&rmed the same and moreov desired us the said 
Becorders w* his cappe in his hand that we the same Becorders 
and 0' heirs wold stand and be seased to thuse abovewritten, and 
that we wold pfome and fulfill his said will abovedeclared which 
to be don and pfomed we the same Becorders for us and o^* heirs 
then and there quieted unto hym And thereupon the said John 
Newman paid for us all at the same Taveme for such wyne as we 
there drank 13ntl aftward the xxxjth day of August in the yere 
abovewritten the same John Newman was felonously murdred at 
Bristowe forsaid by Denys Grene then svint of the said John 
Newman and there the same day dyed 4^Urtf)(rtnOrt we the 
forsaid John Edwardes Bauf ap Bys John Grene Thomas Barbo>' 
and others abovenamed certify that the forsaid Johan Newman 
now widowe and executrice of the testament of the same John 
Newman trustyng verely the forsaid will of the same John 
Newman late hir husband by hym in man and forme abovewritten 
declared to be gode and effectuall in consciens and in lawe paid 
unto the fomamed Philip Baynard aft the deth of the forsaid John 
Newman the forsaid Twenty pound as it appereth by wrytyng 
sufficient in the lawe under the seale of the same Philip. Which 
the same Philip will be redy at all tymys to confesse and endlache 
in any Court Spi all or temporall 9[iS(0 we the forsaid Becorders 
certefy that we be seased of and in the fomamed messuage to 
thuse of the forsaid Johan (by reason of the Survivo^) for tme of 
hir lif and aft hir decesse to the further use and pfomance of the 

^"Brought a possenett of bras in the name of possession." Possenett, or 
Posnet, '* a lyttel potte " PaUgrave or ** small iron pot with a handle on the side/' 
Orose, In the Craven dialect " a boiler." Promp. Parv. (Camden Socy.) p. 410, 
note. This refers to taking actual corporeal possession by " livery of seisin. 

7 « The Bore's hed.'' I do not find the name of this tavern elsewhere, and can- 
not say where it stood. Entries repeatedly occur in the accounts of money spent 
at the Raven, the Swan, the Star, the Lamb, 'the King's Head, and other Tav- 
erns, but the Boar's Head is not mentioned ; neither does the name occur in any of 
the published Histories of Bristol, or in Mr. NichoUs' paper on '* The Old Hoitel- 
ries of Bristol. Bristol and Olouceatershire Arch, 8oey. *8 Proceedings, VoL VIL 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 141 

will and intent of the abovesaid John Newman by hym above- 
declared and by us the said Becorders and o^* heirs to be doun 
forev^^ iHortObtt^ we the same Becorders testifie that we 
oftentyms herd the fomamed John Newman say that Willyam 
Newman his Son shuld neV^ have oon peny of hym nother the 
value therof in land or godes forasmoche as the same WilUam 
was unthrifty and wold not be ruled by his said Fader but folowed 
the company of Strong Thevys in the lif of his said Fader by force 
wherof his said Son WilUam was arrested for Felony and comytted 
to the Kyngs Gaole of Newgate in Brystowe and there remayned 
by the space of half an yere and more for suspecione of Felony 
Fro which Gaole his forsaid Fadre delyverd hym w* his greate 
coste and charge And furthermore we certefy that to ^ knolache 
the fomamed WiUiam Newman aft that he was delyverd fro the 
Kyngs Gaole of Newgate forsaid untill aft the deth of his said 
Fadre came nev^ to Bristowe nother in the sight of his said Fadre 
311 kDi)il|) prtntfiigt} and evy of theym we the fomamed Be- 
corders and others abovenamed certefy unto you for trouth and 
ben redy for to swere upon the Holy Evangelists of god that the 
same prmpses conteyn verey trouth and soe ben the voice and 
fame witn the said Towne of Bristowe and Suburbes of the same 
{n lDitlUfi(fi(t wherof we the said Becorders and others above- 
named to this psent writyng have putt o^ Seals (Sobtttg the 
xviijth day of January in the ixth yere of the reign of o>^ most 
drad souaygn Lord Kyng Henry the VHI.® 

(At the foot are seven slips of parchment, to each of which is 
attached two seals of small size with the name of the owner 
neatly written in a small hand above each. Edwardes' seal 
(broken) has a portion of an escutcheon with the letters \ Barbor's, 
an eagle (single-headed), displayed (not in an escutcheon) : 
Wyllys, a Chevron between three Griffins (?) heads erased. All 
the others merchants' marks or initials). 

" The murdered man probably died without having made any written wiU ; and 
it was necesaary to have evidence of intentions expressed by word of mouth 
which was formerly sufficient in law. 

9 9th year of Henry VIII., 1517. 



142 Clifton Antiquarian Chtb. 



No. m. 
jTrom tbe Berortifi( of »U ^i(l)Olafl( Cfturcft. 



Bv^ Lieut. -Col. BRAMBLE, Treasurer. 



(Jitad January 26M, 1886.) 

The Parish Church of St. Nicholas, Bristol, stands close to 
Bristol Bridge, immediately at the entrance of the old city, over 
the south gate of which the chancel stood, until church and 
bridge were both rebuilt in the year 1762. The crypt of the old 
chancel still exists under High Street, east of the present building. 

A church appears to have been erected on this site in very 
early, probably in Saxon times, but the earliest portion of the 
existing building, the crypt, with small exceptions which may 
be early English, dates from about 1500. This crypt consists of 
two vaulted aisles of about equal dimensions, and is entered on a 
level from the roadway, dividing it from the river Avon. The 
existing doorway is modern, the original entrance was near the 
east end of the south wall, which at this point is now some 12 
feet in thickness. In the records the crypt is known as " the 
Crowde," while the building over it is described as " the upper 
Church," or " the Church above." '* The crowde " had its own 
sets of vestments and books appropriated to it, as appears in the 
lengthy schedules still extant. 

Among the records of the Parish is a manuscript book of 
vellum, 12 inches by 8 inches and \\ inches thick, exclusive of 
covers. It is bound in oak, covered with pigskin, and was 
formerly secured by two clasps. This book contains copies of 
ancient charters and feoffments, inventories of plate, vestments, 
books, and other matters, many of somewhat more than local 
archflBological and historical value. The earliest entry, a short 
inventory of plate, basins and books, is dated 9 Eich. II. (1385, 
the date of Wycliffe's death). After this follow four blank pages 
and then two pages containing a much longer inventory, dated, 
18 Eich. II. (1394). The following extract of an entry, bearing 
the date of 1481, relating to the duties of the minor church 
officials is, from its allusions to the ceremonies and customs of 
the period, of considerable interest. 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 143 

^otoe tl^e Clerfte an2i tbe ^uffrigan of ^rpnt 

^ttib0las( CftUrCft OUgftt to llO in the seyde church after 
the use laudable of yeris paste & the agrement nowe of all the 
worshipfuU of the Paryshe the yere of owre lord mcccclxxxi. The 
SuflErygan^ owgh to fasten the Churche dorys wt a dewe serche in 
the sayde Church for fere of slepers.^ 

And at a dewe season in the mornynge to set opyn the dores 
and the entre close dore undyr payne of suche damage as shall 
be leveyde of his fautes. 

The sayde Suffrygan to se oyle in the ij lampes And also 
that they be brennynge and cleane water in the holy water 
stokkes under the payne of ij^ as ofte as he is founde fauty in 
any of this. 

The sayde SuflBrygan to rynge the ffurste pele to mateyns ^ of 
convenient lenght <fc to Evensonges. The clerke the seconde 
pele and bothe at the ryngyng of the laste pele with ij bellys ye 
payne of the firsten ijd the seconde iijd and at the thyde whoo 
yt fayles iiijd. 

The Satyrday * the Clerke and the Suffrygan to ring none wt 
ij belles a pele of leyneth convenient w* owte any fyale excepte 
dowbyll ffests ^ under payne of iiijd to eche that fayles in this 
same. 

' "Suffrigan,** A deputy or assistant. 
° **Fere o/depera," These words are written over an erasure. 

3 '* Mateyns," There were seven canonical hours in the middle and later ages, 
^hich were thus distinguished : (1) Prime about 6 a.m. (2) Tierce about 9 a.m. (3) 
Sert about 12 at noon. (4) Nones about 2 or .3. (5) Vespers about 4 or later. 
(6) Compline about 7 ; and (7) Matins & Lauds at midnight. — Calendars of the 
Middle Ages. Vol. II., 201. 

On Festivals, Mass was, in England, said affcer Tierce ; on common days at 
Sexts ; in Lent or on Fasts at Nones.— iValcot^s Sacred Archcsology, p. 368. 

* ** The Satyrday,'* Ac, As early as Anglo-Saxon times the hallowing of the 
Sunday began with Saturday afternoon's service. — Rock's Church q/' our 
Fathers, vol. IV., p. 16, quoting Leges Regis JSadgari, "And let Sunday's 
Festival be held from the noon of Saturday until the dawn of Monday." 

5 ** Double Feasts," Certain Feasts on which there are two offices, or the 
proper office is repeated. In the Saram Use they were Christmas day and four 
f oUowing days ; Circumcision ; Epiphany ; Purification ; Annunciation ; Easter 
and three following days; Invention of the Cross; Ascension; Pentecost and 
three foUowing days ; Trinity ; S. John Baptist ; SS. Peter and Paul ; Assump- 
tion and Nativity B, V. M. ; ** Festum Reliquarium ;" S. Michael; All Saints; 
Saints ; and S. Andrew. In double feasts the choir was '* ruled '* by four clerks 
of whom two were principals. 



144 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

The sayde suffrygan evry Satorday to spryng the churche wt 
water for resyng of dowste & to streke hit undyr payne of vijd 
tociens quociens as he fayles. 

The sayde suflErygan to par® the crowde^ the steyrs & the 
churche dores & so to be had a weye as ofte as nedyth payne of 
iiijd tociens quotiens. 

The Gierke and the Su&ygan bothe to laye farthe the Bokes 
in the quere at the seconde pele both afore mateyns & also afore 
evensonges and the servyce so ended and don to sette the sayde 
Bokes elapsed and securely in ther place payne of ijd to eche that 
fayles tociens quociens. 

The Gierke and the Su&ygan to see in principall festis ^ that 
the Gopys to be borne at the sensyng auters be redy upon the 
auters by for the begynnyng of Evensonges and in lyke wyse at 
matenyns and second E vynsonge ® and they bothe to se the foldyng 
upp undyr payne of iiijd tociens. 

The Gierke and the Suflfrygan to see in principall fests the 
auters dressyd in the Ghurche above ^^ at ther charge and to see 
coppewests ^^ avoyded and duste fro auters and ymagery undur 
payne of iijd toe. quociens. 

The su&ygan to go w* the curate and to wayte opon his 
koope ^^ and sensor at all his sensynge undyr payne of id toe. qu. 

The Gierke and the suffrygan to swepe the glasyn wyndowys 
churche wallys and pillars evry quarts ooncys" undyr payne 
of iiij to eche of them as ofte as they fayle. 

The suffrygan to rynge curfew ^* w* on Bell at ix of the clokke 

* ** Par,^^ Prepare or keep in order. 

7 " Cratw2e." The crypt or lower Church. 8tit introductory note. 

" Principal f easts. In the Trentale, St. Gregory, the principal feasts are ten : 
Christmas, the Epiphany, Candlemas, the Annunciation, Easter, Ascension Day 
Whit Sunday, Trinity Sunday, the Assumption, and Nativity of the Blesse 
Virgin. 

9 ** Second Evensong." CompHne. ^^ Church above." iS^ introductory note. 

" " Coppewests. Cobwebs. " " Koope.*' Cope. '3 «• Ooncys." Once. 

^* Curfew, The curfew was probably from its first institution rung at St. 
Nicholas for the City generally. "Item. The Maire and the Shiref chargen and 
commanden on the Kyng our Souerain lordis behalf that no manner of personne 
of what degree or condioion that they be of at no tyme this Christmas goo a 
mommyng with cloce visaged nor go after curfew rong at St. Nicholas withowte 
lighte in theire handes that is to say skonce light lantern light candel light or 
torche light." — RicarVs Calendar ^ temp. Edward IV., Camden Society, p. 85. 
The curfew is stiU rung at 9 p.m. When the writer was churchwarden, a few 
years since, the sexton, thinking to escape trouble, stopped the curfew for several 



Ancient Bristol Docttments. 145 

a convenyent pele the mowtnance of halfe a qrte of an owre large 
under payne of ijd. 

The Gierke and the SuflErygan to dresse uppe the Byshopes 
Gete ^** a genste Seynte Nicholas daye undyr payne of iijd a pece. 

The Gierke and the Sufifrygan to dresse upp the Sepulcur^* 
taking for a Sop(per) vid. 

The Gierke and the Suffrygan to se the lyght on Ester Evyn 
a boute the Sepulchur^® takyng for ther dyn(ner) iiijd. 

The SufErygan to se dayle for the hight awt when matens ys 
don that there be redy a genste the hight masse wyne & water & 
to set on the awt bothe Boke and chalice the payne of ijd toe. qu. 

The Gierke and the Sufifrygan in their surples to resseve of 
the Vicar y chisiple " and other of his omamentys and they to 

days, intending to quietly drop it ftltogethor. It will probably be a long time 
before a similar attempt is made. 

'5 " Bt9ihop*9 Oete.** This refers to the ceremonial of the "Boy Bishop" who 
with his officials were known as a "Nicholas and his clerkes." In Bristol, this 
occasion appears to have been a civic festival, as is seen by the subjoined extracts 
from Ricar^B Calendar. For full particulars of this festival, see Rock^a Church of 
our Father8, vol. iv. 215. Also Oentleman'a Mag,, 1821, part 11. , pp. 198-200. 
** Item on Seynt Nicholas Eve yn semblable wyse the Maire and Shiref and their 
Brethren to walke to Seynt Nicholas Church there to hire theire evensong, 
and on the morowe to hire theire masse and offre and hire the bishop's 
sermon and have his blissyng; and after dyner the said Maire, Shiref and 
theire brethren to assemble at the mairez counter* there waytyng the 
Bishoppes comming pleying the meane whiles at Dyce, the towne clerke 
t3 fynde theym Dyce and to have Id of evry Raphill [raffle] and when the 
Bishope is come thedir his chappell there to synge and the bishope to give them 
his blissyng and then he and all his chappell to be served there with brede and 
wyne. And so departe the Maire, Shiref and their brethren to hire the bishope's 
evesongge at Seynt Nicholas Chirch forseid* — RicarVa Calendar (Camden So- 
ciety), p. 80. 

x6 (< j^^er Sepulchre,*^ in which the Blessed Sacrament and Crucifix were 
deposited from Good Friday till Easter. It was usually a temporary but some- j 

times a permanent erection, and stood at or near the north side of the chancel. 

In Mr. John Taylor's Book about Bristol will be found a curious detailed i 

description of the Easter sepulchre and its appurtenances, presented by '* Master ! 

Canynges " to Redcliffe Church in 1470— eleven years before the date of this 
record, and other particulars relating to the one at All Saints. 

'7 *< Chisiple," Chasuble— the distinctive Eucharist ic Vestment of a Priest. 

'^ The ToUiil or ToUe!f otherwiae the Ciountar or Comptoir, was where the Mayor held his 
Comt. It does not appear elear when the original was erected or where it stood. In 1682, 
extenrive " drapery worke, in tpnbre and the paynted or steyned clothes " was paid for, and in 
1660 a new "ToUll" was boat, bat whether on the site of the old one is not stated. The new 
Tolsill was a oovered walk against All Saints Chorch, bnt was palled down after the new 
Exchange was opened in 1748. Foor brazen pillan or tables which formerly stood in the Tolxey 
are now erected in front of the Exchange. 



146 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

fold hit when mas ys don the workyndayes the payne of a \^ 
tociens. 

The Gierke to ordeyne the Sonday & ffests the Belles at the 
hyghe mass Sacrynge ^ to be ronge solempnely and evy 
fiferyall^® day to knoll to Sacrynge the pajoie of iiijd tociens 
quociens. 

The Suflfrygan to be charged wt rynging for dundour ^^ under 
payne of vid tociens quotiens also uppon the same payne to ryng 
to owre lady masse ^ in lente season a computante pele. 

The Gierke to ordeyn Sprynges ^ for the churche and for hym 
that visiteth the Sondayes and dewly to here his holy water ^ to 
evy howse abydyng soo convenient a space that e^T^ man may 
receyve hys holy water payne of iiijd toe. qu. 

And the Suffrygan to weyte uppon the preeste in visitaton of 

'B ** Sacrynge," The Sacring Bell is rung at the elevation of the Host, and at 
other points of special solemnity in the Mass. 

*' And when thou hearest the belles rynge 
To that holy sakerynge 
Knele ye most bothe y-ynge & olde 
And bothe yer hondes fayr upholde 
And saye thenne, yn thys manere etc. 

ConstUtUiones Artis Oeometrie HcdliweWs Hist, of Freemasonry, pp. 32, 33. 

»9 ** Ferial Day." ** Day unoccupied by the service of any solemnity, or for a 
"Saint.** — RocVs Church of our Fathers, vol. i. p. 9. 

^ " Dundour." Thunder. Bells were rung, — ^to still stonns ; such bells bear- 
ing the legend, Maria gratioi plena, or Verbum caro factum est, — WaicoiVs Sacred 
Arch,, 67. (The custom is still observed in the Tyrol and other parts of 
Europe. — Ed.) 

>' '* Lady Masse." There was a daily Lady Mass in cathedrals, minsters and 
most large churches. It was usually the Eame as the '* Matin Mass " or first mass 
of the day, and was sung at earliest dawn with all ritual solemnity. — Rock, 
III., 259. 

" ^^ Sprynges," Small brushes made of hyssop, with which th Holy Water 
was sprinkled. 

33 «Bere Ms holy water." It was one of the customary duties of a parish 
clerk to carry holy water at certain seasons to all parishioners, from which duty 
he derived the name of "aqua bajulus," by which he is often distinguished in 
ancient records. In the " Great Orphan Book," at the Bristol Council House, will 
be found an entry of the will of Felicia Holleway, of the parish of St. Mary-le- 
Port, who gives *' to the Water Bearer " xijd. In 1416, Thomas Curtas was pre- 
sented, because he hindered the parish clerk of St. Mary, Bishophill, York, from 
entering his house on the Lord's days with holy water, as was the custom of the 
city. — York Fabric Rolls, p. 248. In 1543, the Vicar of Kelvedon, Essex, com- 
plains *' that there is not caryed holy water nor ryngyng to evensonge accordyng 
as the derke shuld do with other duties to him belongyng. — Ardid, Hale*s 
Precedents in Criminal Causes, 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 147 

seke ^ beryng wt. hym the surples, boke, oile, fate and stole. 
And in daye tyme in the Suflfrygans absence abowte such 
sayde occupacions the Gierke to se for the save garde of the 
churche. 

The Gierke to synge in redynge the Epistele dayly undyr 
payne of ijd and uppon the same payne to ring ye complene pele^^ 
in lente season. 

The SufiErygan to sette fire or do to be sette for the sensres in 
the fire place, and not in the sensours undyr payne of id. 

The Suffrygan to sette oyle for the lampes in the Ghurch 
above ^ as often times as nedith the payne of a jd. 

The Sufii-ygan to se that awbes amys towels & awter clothis ^^ 
be had to weshyng. The pcurators payeing ther for and to be 
redye a genste ffestys the payne of ijd. 

The Gierke to be charged w* ryngying of none & curfewe in 
principaU ffests and others acordyng wt a solempn and a 
convenient pele in lenght at viij of the clokke under payne of 
vid toe. qt. 

The Suffrygan to wame the pcuratours that the sensours 
candyl stykkys and Shipp *® be redye sett fourth be for the laste 
pele the payne of id the coope also before every evynsong whan 

^ " VisiUiXion of Seke.** In 1540 the pariah of Milend, near Colchester, was 
presented to the Archdeacon by the Rector, because in the said Church there 
was ^'nother clerke nor sexton to go with him in tyme of visitacion (of the sick) 
nor to help him to say masses, nor to rynge to servyce." — Archd. HaJes* 
Precedents, p. 113. And at Wyghton the clerk is presented, because when he 
ought to go with the Vicar to visit the sick, he absented himself, and sent a boy 
with the Vicar.— rori Fabric BoUs, 257. 

^ ** Compline pele in Lente season." Compline, or second vespers, at 7 o'clook 
on ordinary occasions. But in the Foundation of Eveline temp. Hen. VI., we 
find, *' And at iii of the clokke aftyr mete in the seide worke days, ii pelys 
Ironge with the sede bell he shaU precede in the seide churche to his Even songe 
and continue till compleyn be seyde. Except in the time of Leutyn, when aftyr 
the rewle of the churche evensong ys sayede a fore none. " — Heam, Duo Rerum 
Anglic, Script, torn, II , p. 551, quoted in Hampsoh's Kalendars of the Middle 
Ages, vol. XL, 201. Our President informs me that this rule was to enable the 
Priest to break his fast, which he could not do in Lent until after evensong. The 
latter portion of the clause commencing from ** and uppon ** is an iiisei-tion 
apparently contemporary. 

^ •* Church ahove," See introductory note. 

^ Albs, amice, towels and altar cloths. The apparells and other embroidery 
was usually merely stitched on and readily removable. 

^ ** Shipp,** The vessel for incense, so called from its pointed oval form. 
After the 12th ceutury it was furnished with a foot and a cover jointed in the 
middle.— Walcott^s Sacred ArcJiceologij, 



148 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

hit shall be usid the sayd Su&ygan shall se redy m the Quere 
undyr payne of id tociens quotiens. 

Hit was so accostemyd and nowe agreed of olde that the 
Gierke shold take for ryngyng of a Paresthyng ^ ther fro none 
un to viij And a morowe ^ fro viij unto none w*- v Bells iij* iiijd 
and no more from hens forward undyr the payne of vi« viijd 
toe. qc. 

Item the undirsofregan whiche at the ordynance her of his 
callyd hym (?) shall se that ij Torches *^ on the Sondaye be 
brennyng at the hygh masse sacryng. And all or lyghts save 
the quyre lyghts a cordyng to evy feste and in the feriall dayes 
the su£Erygan to be chargyd wt. the same and wt. the quer lyght 
at all times uppon payne of ijd. 

The su&ygan and the elerke to weyte upon the quer dayly 
and to the Gierke at Gesonys according to kepe the Organs under 
payne of iiij toe. qu. 

The elerke and the sufi^ ought to sette to churche the crosse ^ 
as well the poore as ye riche under the payne of ij toe. qu. 

The elerke aught not to take no Boke oute of the quere for 
chulderyn to lerne in wt. owte lisence of the pcuratours undyr 
payne that the curate and the pcutous assign he. 

The elerke and the suflfrygan in svyce tyme aught not to 
absente them from the quere w^- owte license of the Gurate or his 
debite ^ & neither of them to be absent from any Evyn song 
messe mateyns or any other devyne service w'- owte license bothe 
of the Gurate & of the pcuratos under payne of iiijd toe. quoc. 

The sufirygan to se that there be a torche redy for the 
messes that is sayde in the churche dayly. And the torches to 
put owte fro all man(ner) awtys and the quere payne of id 
toe. qu. 

The Gierke to fynd ryngars and ropys for the Bellys wt. dewe 
serche of the Bawderykys ^ and clapys at all tymes. And suflfy- 
ciently to wame the procuratos when nede ys to a mende the 

^ "Paresthyng," Parishioner. » "Morowe.** Morning. 

3' '« Torcftes" Candles of a large size. 
3^ "Sette to Church the CroM,** dx. This is probably an aUasion to the pro- 
ceedings at the Adoration of the Cross on Good Friday. It woald, of course, be 
absolutely unnecessary now t^ give a direction of this character to Church 
officials. ^i" Debits," Deputy. 

^ " Bauderykys," Bawdricks. Stout leather straps, by which the clappers 
are attached to the bells. 



<m < • 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 149 

sayde Bawderykes •* Claperys and Whelys under such payne as 
the curate or his debite w*- the pcto*. & ij or iij of the Whor- 
shipfull of the proch will assign as ofte as nede ys. 

The clerke and the sufErygan to ryng dayly to hyght masse at 
the custenable owre payne of ijd eche of them tociens quociens. 

Also the sufErygan to find palme'^ and flanyrs^ a genste 
palme sonday at his coste uppon payne of xxd. 

And also the Gierke and ye sufirygan to make clene the segys ^ 
of the ohurche when they be called uppon. 

The other thyngs longyng to eny of ther svice the Curate or 
his debite w^ the proctors shall certyfye hem when any nede shall 
happyn in tyme comyng. 

And all theye sayde paynes duly to recue, 
To the wele of Seynte Nicholas Churohe. 

Deo gras. Bicus Blewett. 



Thys ben the Caswell ^ Avaylis ^ longgyng to ye Gierke and ye 
SufiErygan. 

In p'mus the Clerke to have ye vaylys of the bellys ye Banys 
and of evy Pardoner *^ for ye Surplys &c. 

Also the Clerke to have ye vaylys *^ on Seynt Nicholas nyght 
goengewythsospitati". 

Also the Clerke to have ye herse cloth ^ when any such fall ye 

35 " BUwing of Palms:' iElfrio says, '* The oiutom exists in God's Gharoh by 
its Doctor's established, that everywhere in God's congregation the priest should 
bless palm-twigs on this day, and distribute them so blessed to the people." 
The earliest known form is in Ecgberht*8 Pontifical. Rock, iv,, 6S, ei aec, for full 
description. (The custom is stiU continued in Ifcaly on ** Palm Sunday," the 
Sunday before Easter Day. In Venice, sprays of oliye are blessed by the Patri- 
arch, and afterwards distributed among the priests and people. — Ed.) 

^ '* Flanura." Branches of Willow ? ir^^Scffya," Seats. 3«"Ca«aett." Casual. 

» « Avaylia." From which our modem word " yaila " is derived. 

^ *^ Pardoner.** The Pardoner was an Ecclesiastic authorised by the Head of 
the Roman Church to travel throughout Catholic Europe for the purpose of 
vending pardons or indulgences, with the intention of raising a sum for some 
special purpose. — Promptorium Parvulorum, Camden Soc., 383. 

«< *' Seynt NichoUu night.** See note « Bishop's Gete." 

43 ** Sospitati.** Probably the Watchmen, or similar officers, from the verb 
sospito, ''I keep safe." Their services might be speciaUy necessary after, 
the proceedings at the Mayor's counter. 

43 " Herse Cloth.** After the Grand Mass of Requiem was sung over the 
oorpse of Abbot Islip, they buried him in the chappeU of his buyldynge, which 

6 



150 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

is kept uppon ye grave dorynge ye month wt ij lampis on at ye 
fete and ye tother at ye bed of grave as ye usage ys. 

Itm the Suffrygan to have the vantage of ye Orossis ^ y^* is 
to say for evry corse y*. decessith in ye pysh iiijd. 

All so ye Suffrygan to have ye vantage of y« Vgyn on All 
Hallow day ** wher for he muste se dayly y*- ye vestment of ye 
hy aater be foldyd when masse is do & so y put upp &c. 

Also wher ht was of old usage yt ye vantage of weddynggs was 
longgynge to ye Gierke Therfor to put a way al varyans in tyme 
to come byt is ordeyned by ye Agrement of ye pyshons w** ye will 
and consent of the Gierke & SufiErygan That ye Suffi-ygan hens 
forward shuld have ye avaylys of weddynggs And ye Gierke to 
have for a knowlegge of ye same halfe ye avantagge for ye 
leyeng of al man hers ^ y* shalbe leyde on ye Ghurch except 
for al such hers yt ys yerly kepte of olde fundacon longjrtb to the 
SufErygan only &c. 

was hangid with blacke doth garajrahed with sohoooheons, and over his sepal- 
tare a pawle of blacke veliret and ij candleatiokB with angells of sylyer h, gylte 
with ij tapera thereon, and iiij aboat the corpse bamynge still.**— VtA. Hon, Vol. 
iv. plates, xy. eta, p. 3. "Then in the qaere ondernethe the hersse was made a 
presentacion of the corps oovered with clothe of golde of tyssewe, with a cross 
and ij white branches in candle-sticks of sOver and gylte." " The herse with all 
tother things did remain there antiU the monthes mynde.** — Ihid^ see also Rwik s 
Ohtirch of our FcUhers, vol. ii., p. 517. Henry Seydon by wiU, dated 1400, 
directs that he be buried in the crypt of St. Nicholas, and that 5 lbs of wax be 
made into 4 tapers, *' vt ardeant circa corpas mev*dao qaol't die ad missam in 
diet' Grippa darante quatuor septiman post obitum meam.** — Or€cU Orphan 
Book, No. 115. 

^ " Vantage of ye OrosH.** According to the 8arum Proce8$ianale, a boy with 
holy water foUowed by a cross bearer, headed a faneral procession. — Bodt voL 
ii, 470. 

4S " il0 HaUowi Day,** First of November, consecrated by Gregory IV. to 
the worship of the Virgin and aU Alartyrs and Saints. . On that day the Mayor, 
etc., went to All HaUowen Charch, " there to ofi&e," and after ** sondry wines " 
at the Maire*s place ** fro thence every man departing anto his parish charch to 
evensong.*' Probably on these occasions there were customary gifts made at the 
altar of the Blessed Virgin, bat I have been unable to trace any direct statement 
to that effect. 

^ ** Sera." The Herse, from whence the modem word " Hearse," was a frame 
of wood or of metal like a waggon head ; used to support the PaU or " Herse 
cloth *' (see ante). They were used not only in the faneral ceremonies but also at 
the "Mynde* and Anniversaries. 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 151 



No. IV. 

^n 0omr ^IH 9et)ifi( btlongfttg to tf)e Cf)ur(t) of 



By THi Rbv. C. S. TAYLOR, Vioxe. 



{Read November lUh, 1886.) 

St. Thomas Chtjboh is comparatively rich in ancient documents ; 
our registers are complete from 1652, our list of Churchwar- 
dens is unbroken from ISSQ, and with the exception of about 
thirty years near the beginning of the 18th century (probably 
resulting from the loss of a single account book), our Wardens' 
accounts are almost complete from the period of the Beformation 
to the present day. We have also a very interesting Manuscript 
Bible, dating from the beginning of the 15th century. 

But I wish to speak this evening of a series of about one hun- 
dred deeds, dating from 1294 to about the time of the Beforma- 
tion, which have been carefully preserved in the vestry chest. 
They are in very good condition, having been kept dry and clean, 
and perhaps because nobody knew or cared much about them, 
not very many of the seals seem to have been stolen. 

So far as I am aware no one knew exactly what they referred 
to, till in 1881 1 placed them in the hands of Prebendary Wick- 
enden, of Stoke Bishop, who had done good work in examining 
and classifying the manuscripts belonging to Lincoln Cathedral. 
He very kindly went through all our papers, stating their nature, 
and the names of the grantors and grantees. 

The further task remained of ranging together all those which 
referred to the same property, in order to trace the descent of 
each property, so far as these deeds throw light upon it. This I 
did myself, and when the work was accomplished I found that 
the deeds referred to the pre-Beformation history of certain 
houses that now belong to the Church, until in 1566 all the pro- 
perties were collected into one feoffment, and have been conveyed 
by successive grants to feoffees from that time to this. 

But very much to my astonishment I found also the deeds 



152 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

under which the properties passed into the possession of the 
Church which maintained the Chantry founded by Bichard de 
Welles in 1888, at the altar of the Blessed Virgin ; that founded 
by Bobert Chepe in 1410, at the altar of St. Nicholas ; and that 
founded by John Burton in 1455 at the altar of St. John the 
Baptist. John Stoke in 1881 founded a chantry at the altar of 
the Blessed Virgin, but no documents are now to be found 
which relate to the property of this chantry, perhaps because the 
particular houses which formed the endowment were left by will, 
while, in the other cases money was left, and the deeds record 
the purchase of the properties by the trustees of the chantries. 

Of course these chantry properties were taken from the Church 
in the time of Edward VI., and it is a very jremarkable thing 
that the deeds were not taken as well. The chantry estates 
never formed any part of the endowment of the parochial clergy. 

The oldest of our deeds is dated November 8rd, 1294, it is a 
fine,^ executed in the King's Court at Westminster, before four of 
the King's justices, whereby on payment of sixty marks, a tenement 
called "Eedehall," passed from the possession of Bobert de 
Pembroke and his wife Agnes, and Bobert de Warden and his 
wife Johanna to that of John Welysholt. This property is now 
known as Penner Wharf in Bedcliff Street. 

But perhaps the deeds which possess most general interest 
are those which show how the Church acquired possession of the 
Cattle Market. On June 4th, 1484, WilUam Spencer and three 
others granted to ** Master Nicholas Pittes, Vicar of the Parish 
Church of St. Thomas the Martyr " and three others, a piece of 
land in Wine Street, which piece John Burton who died in 1456 
had bought under the name of two racks.^ 

The staple occupation of the inhabitants of the parish had 

been since the beginning of the 14th century the manufacture of 

woollen cloth, which at the Beformation ceased almost entirely, 
causing great distress in the parish, and rendering it difficult to 

' A fine was a fictitious suit at law before the King or his justices ; the action 
was supposed to be founded on a breach of covenant, the defendant made over- 
tures of compromise which were accepted, and a formal record of the proceedings 
was made in the rolls of the Court. Freehold estates could thus pass without 
the formal delivery of possession, and a title by fine was the best that could be 
given. 

' Racks were machines used for stretching cloth ; the term ''ground for so many 
racks " is common in old Bristol d^ds, it still survives in the name " Rackhay." 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 153 

maintain the almshouse and fountain of water which existed 
there. These circumstances were represented to Queen Elizabeth 
by the Mayor, and on December 11th, 1570, she granted by letters 
patent to the Mayor and Commonalty of the City, the right to 
hold a cattle market every Thursday in Thomas Street ; which 
right was purchased by the vestry of St. Thomas, on August 20th, 
1571, the price paid being the piece of land in Wine Street, 
which was then used as a meal market, and on which the Guard 
House afterwards stood. The Vestry still possesses the letters 
patent, but unfortunately the seal is much broken. 

Burton's Almshouse was already in existence in 1885 when 
Walter Derby left a legacy to the inmates, and the work of 
bringing water in leaden pipes to St. Thomas Church is men- 
tioned in the will of John Stoke, who died in 1381, but in 1666 
the Vestry had obtained from the Vestry of St. Mary Bedcliff, 
the feather of water* which had belonged to the dissolved hospital 
of St. John on Bedcliff Hill. 

Among other expenses attendant on procuring the letters 
patent, two hogsheads of wine were given '' unto my Lord," and 
a butt of sack to the Mayor for his trouble. 

There is a curious history also attaching to a house known as 
the Mansion House, or, Foster's Place, in Temple Street. It was 
sold in July, 1535, by Sir John Walsshe, of Little Sodbury, the 
patron of Tyndale, to Maude Jubbe, gentlewoman, of Long 
Ashton, for £30, and in October of that year she transferred it 
to trustees for the maintenance of a priest to officiate in the 
alms-house on Bedcliff Hill, and to pray for the souls of all 
Christian people ; the residue to be applied to the repairs of St. 
Thomas' Church. 

The trustees seem to have placed the management of the trust 
in the hands of the Churchwardens, and the house is found among 
the church properties in the Warden's account of 1552; the priest 
disappeared at the Beformation, and the rents of the house are 
duly entered in the Church accounts. Queen Elizabeth, however, 
seems to have discovered that it was charged with the payment 
to the chantry priest, and in 1579 the Vestry had to pay the Queen 

3 A "feather of water " was the right to a pipe of a certain diameter to con- 
vey water from a spring. Robert de Berkeley gave RedcUff Spring to St. Mary's 
Church in 1207, and St. John's Hospital, on RedcUff Hill, was entitled to a pipe 
one inch in diameter. St. Thomas' pipe began to run on St. Andrew^s £yo, 1666. 



154 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

thirty shillings, in discharge of her claim. In 1869 the house 
was sold for street improvements for £889, which, deducting ten 
per cent, for compulsory sale, would be about twenty-five times 
its purchase value in 1585. 

We can trace with very fair accuracy the date at which nearly 
all our houses came into the possession of the Church. Some 
which stand between the churchyard and the street are, no doubt, 
built upon land which had belonged to the Church from the 
beginning ; but the first house which the deeds show as having 
become a part of the church property, is one in Thomas Street, 
which was acquired in 1409. Nos. 88 and 89 Bedcliff Street 
came into the possession of the Church in 1425, and Penner 
Wharf, with the adjoining house, in 1460. 

In 1479 the feoffees of the church bought 18 and 19, St. Peter's 
Street, which were described as standing opposite to the Castle 
gates, from Henry Poyntz, and his wife Alicia ; and between 1456 
and 1496, the Church acquired a piece of land at the corner of 
Thomas Street and Mitchell Lane. On April 10th, 1549, William 
Butler bought a chamber over the gateway of the Bear Inn, from 
Milo and Hugh Partryck, to whom the property of Stoke's 
Chantry had been granted by the King, and about 1570 he gave 
it to the Church. Finally, a house in Thomas Street was 
acquired, I do not know how, between 1608 and 1636. 

Thus we see that nearly all the property that the Church 
possesses was acquired between 1400 and 1686 ; subsequent bene- 
factions were mostly left for the poor.^ The deeds do not state for 
what consideration the property passed, so that it is impossible to 
say whether they were bought or given, but I expect they were, 
for the most part, purchased. 

These deeds throw much interesting light upon the manner of 
the endowment of town Churches, and at any rate they negative 
the absurd idea that Churches were endowed in any way by the 
action of the State. These houses passed to the Church by gift 
or purchase on the part of individuals or the authorities of the 
Church, just as houses might do now. 

One of our deeds, bearing date October 28th, 1884, which 

4 As St. Thoinaa* Charch was, like St Muy Radcliff and Leigh, mxtil 1852, a 
Chapel of Bedminster, it was only neoeMary to provide for the maintenanoe of 
the fabric and Mrvioee ; the income of the Clergy was chiefly provided from the 
endowments of the mother Charch. 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 155 

conveys a property in Bedclifif Street, contains the first mention 
of the Ganynge family in Bristol, as the name of John Gaimynge 
appears among the witnesses. He was, I suspect, the father of 
the first William Ganynge, who died in 1896. John was a family 
name of the Ganynges, and is found in every generation that can 
be traced till the connection with Bristol ceased. 

And also we have on a deed bearing date February 2nd, 1852, 
one of the ancient seals of the city, before the lilies of France 
were quartered on the national flag ; and also one dated Septem- 
ber 9th, 1864, with a much more elaborate castle, and a flag, with 
the French lilies quartered with the English lions ; this last seal 
often occurs subsequently. Mr. Planchd^ thought that the earUer 
seal may very likely have been made in the reign of Edward 1st. 

Two deeds of the middle of the 15th century record the found- 
ation of obits of Henry Gildeney and Margaret his wife, and 
Matthew Sherwyn, Thomas Sherwyn, and his wife Isabel. And 
finally there are three bonds to keep the peace. On August 
29th, 1487, John Lamport, and his wife Johanna, were bound 
under a penalty of six pounds of wax to keep the peace towards 
John Smalcombe and his wife Isabella. On March 81st, 1458, 
Patrick More Weaver was bound to no less personages than the 
Mayor and the Ghurchwardens of St. Thomas the Martyr, in a 
penalty of twenty shillings, not to molest William Smalcombe, 
weaver, in any way. 

And on June 19th, 1478, William Arnold, aJia;^ Gillam, was 
bound to the Ghurchwardens of St. Thomas the Martyr, in a 
penalty of forty shillings, to keep the peace towards Patrick 
Grane, oXica Sherman, of Bristol. 

It is worth noticing perhaps, as an index of nationality, that 
we find two Patricks in these bonds. The Smalcombe family seem 
to have had a tendency, perhaps inherited, to fall into hot water. 

I have brought for inspection our oldest deed, the deed which 
contains the name of John Ganynge, and that which bears the 
oldest city seal. Also a rental of 1477, and portions of the Old 
Service books, used as covers for Warden's accounts ; the rental 
is cut to show the payment of the amount due at each quarter- 
day, just as the Exchequer tallies used to be cut. 

s On the Mnnioipal Seals, &o., of the City of Briftol, by J. R. Planch^ Somer- 
■et Herald, in tht JowmaX qf the BrUith Archaeological AsBoeiation^ toL xxzi, 
p. 188, and plate 12, fig. 2. 



156 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



^roteetitngs of ti)e Cluib^ 



1886. 



MEETINGS AND EXCURSIONS. 

The second Annual Meeting of the Members of the Club took place 
on Tuesday, Januaiy 26th, 1886, when, in the unayoidable absence of the 
President (Bishop Clifford) the chair was taken by Lieut. -Col. Bramble, 
Treasurer. 

The financial accounts for the past year having been read by the 
Treasurer, and audited by Mr. John Williams, a brief statement of the 
proceedings of the Club since the last Annual Meeting was read 
by the Hon. Secretary. 

The election of Officers and Committee for the year 1886 then took 
place, with the following result: — President, the Hon. and Ht. Rev. 
Bishop Clifford; Vice-Presidents, Mr. John Reynolds, and Mr. 
F. F. Fox; Treasurer, Lieut.-Col. J. R. Bramble ; Secretary, Mr. Alfred 
E. Hudd ; Committee, Messrs. W. E. Jones, A. C. Pass, John Taylor, 
and Thos. S. Pope. 

The Secretary announced the resignation of Mr. Walter Derham, M.A., 
in consequence of his removal to London ; also that two more vacancies 
had been created by the election as Honorary Members, by the 
unanimous vote of the Committee, of Mr. Thomas Kerslake, and Mr. 
William Edkins. The followinggentlemen were then elected as ordinary 
members of the Club : — Mr. Francis Fox Tuckett, Mr. Robert Hall 
Warren, Mr. John Fuller, and Mr. Arthur Baker. 

A paper was read by Col. Bramble, entitled: Extracts from the 
Parish Records of St, Nicholas^ Bristol^ in which some curious regulations 
for the government of the Church officicds, with their various duties, etc., 
gave much interesting information explanatory of mediaeval ceremonies. 
This paper, which is printed at pp. 142-150, gave rise to somediscussioD, 
in whicn Mr. J. Taylor, Mr. Pope, Mr. William Thomas and other 
members took part. Some of the curious phrases and ceremonies referred 
to being somewhat obscure, Col. Bramble promised to add explanatory 
notes before publishing the paper. 

Mr. John Taylor, Bristol City Librarian, then read a paper on Some 
Curiositiei of Church Records, giving many quaint and amusing ex- 
tracts relating to baptisms, weddings, and oUier ceremonies of the 
Church, during the Middle Ages, which is printed at pp. 96-103. 



mmm^im^f^mm^^a^mm^mmmr^^^mm 



Proceedings, 1886. 157 



SPECIAL MEETING, MAECH 8rd, 1886. 

A special meeting was held on March 3rd, 1886, at the house of the 
Secretary, to arrange for the work of the session, and to fix on localities 
to be yisited during the sxunmer. Among other places mentioned were 
Wemberham Roman Villa, Yatton, Hinton Abbey, Wellow, Whitchurch, 
Salisbury, and Stonehenge, most of which have since been visited. The 
Secretary was requested to endeayour to arrange during the summer for 
a two days' excursion to some place of antiquarian interest, and he 
promised to do so. This excursion took place in September, the locality 
selected being Salisbury, and an account of the proceedings there will be 
found on pp. 161-164. 



EXCUESION TO WEMBEEHAM EOMAN VILLA, YATTON. 

On Saturday, April 8rd, by kind permission of Cecil Smyth-Pigott, Esq., 
a visit was paid by the members of the Section, to the recently discovered 
Roman Villa at Wemberham, near Yatton. Some remarks were made at 
the villa, by Mr. A. T. Martin, M.A., on this and other Roman remams 
in the neighbourhood. The villa^ was probably the residence of the 
officer who had charge of the dykes and earthworks for keeping the sea 
from overflowing the low country surroimding Yatton, and- is valuable as 
evidence of the trouble taken by the Romans in reclaiming land from 
the sea. Soon after their departure, the dykes being neglected, the sea 
again flowed up to the valley, probably as far as Nailsea, and was only 
again reclaimed long after the Norman conquest. On reaching Yatton 
the members were met by the vicar, the Rev. Prebendary Walrond, and 
the chief features of the very fine parish church were inspected under 
the guidance of Col. J. R. Bramble, Mr. T. S. Pope, and the Secretary. 
The beautiful west front ^ was much admired, as was also the general 
effect of the interior, although the chancel is undoubtedly too small for 
the nave. Col. Bramble pointed out the chief peculiarities of the fine 
monuments in the Newton chapel, and some of the other architectural 
features, after which, by invitation of the Rev. Prebendary and Mrs. 
Walrond, a visit was paid to the Vicarage, where the members were 
kindly entertained with afternoon tea. A fine 15th century stone fire- 
place in the kitchen was examined, and a sketch was made of it by one 
of the members present. After thanking their kind hosts for their hos- 
pitable reception, the party returned to Bristol by the 5.30 train. 

^ Farther aocounta of this villa will be found in the Proceedings of the Somerset- 
ahire Arch, 8ocy, for 1885, vol. xxzi, p. 64 ; and in the Proceedings qf the Soc, of 
Antiquaries, for 1886, p. 29. 

• In a paper on The Perpendicular Architecture of Somerset by Mr. E. A. 
Freeman, published in the third volume of the Proceedings of the Somersetshire 
Archl. Soc, (1852), the writer savs of this west front that it is ''(^uite worthy of 
forming the entrance to an^ small cathedral or abbey," and that it is ''a most 
noble and magnificent design, quite unsurpassed among our parochial edifices." 
He finds fault however with * ' the very awkward effect " of the central mullion 
of the west window. 



158 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



EXCURSION TO HINTON CHAETERHOUSE, &c. 

On Saturday, May 1st, 1886, the first general meeting of the members for 
the year took phice. On reaching Bath, by the 10.8 a.m. train from 
Bristol, carriages were in waiting in which the party proceeded through 
the beautiful valley of the Avon, passing Claverton with its picturesque 
church and old houses, to Limpley Stoke, where the quaint little church 
on the hiU was glanced at in passing. On arriving at 

HiNTON Chartebhotjse, 

they were most kindly received by Mr. andMrs.T. D. Salisbury, under whose 
guidance they were conducted round the groimds of Hinton House for an 
inspection of the remains of the Carthusian Priory, founded by Ela, 
Countess of Salisbury, in 1232. The Hon. Secretary stated that by kind 
permission of the owners of the property, the Rev. S. P. and Mrs. Jose, 
and of their present host, Mr. Salisbury, he had been allowed to make 
some excavations in the orchard near the house, and in other parts of the 
grounds, and had found some foundations of walls, which he pointed out 
to the members present, some of which had probably formed part of the 
great Cloister Court of the monks. So little is known of Carthusian 
houses in England, that it is difficult to understand the few remains that 
are still left of the Hinton Charterhouse buildings However, having 
paid visits to several continental houses of the order, to Mount Grace, 
the most perfect of the monasteries remaining in England, and to the 
London Charterhouse, the Secretary thought he had some ground for 
supposing that the walls discovered in the orchard originally formed part 
of the western side of the great Cloister Court of the Priory, which was 
exclusively reserved for the use of the monks. The beautiful little 13th 
century building to the S.E. of the house, which much resembles in 
some particulars the chapel of the Witham Charterhouse, in the same 
county, was not the great church of the monastery, of which only a small 
fragment remains. The other group of buildings probably formed part 
of the Prior's House, which was so situated that the Prior was able 
to overlook both cloister courts, one eye on the monastery and one on the 
world, so to speak, the latter being represented only by the lay brothers, 
and the few passing strangers of the sterner sex, who sought the 
hospitality of the monastery. The first English house of the Carthusians 
was founded at Witham, in Somersetshire, A.D. 1181, and, as it is hoped 
that the members of the Club may visit the remains of that monastery. 
Mr. Hudd's paper is withheld upon the subject for the present. 

Fasley Castle. 

After partaking of some light refreshments at Hinton House, and 
thanking Mr. and Mrs. Salisbury for their kind reception, the members 
drove to Farleigh Hungerford, where the picturesque ruins of the 
Somersetshire residence of the Hungerfords were examined. In the 
chapel, the monuments to various members of the family, the arms, 
armour, and other antiquities were inspected, and the following note 
was read by Mr. F. F. Tuckett upon the Saint to whom the chapel 
was dedicated. 



Proceedings, 1 886. 1 59 

St. Julian, Hospitatob. 

Julians, either as saints or martyrs, abound, but the legend of St. 
Julian '^Hospitator'' is the most curious and interesting of them all. 
He is usually represented in art accompanied by one or other of the 
following emblems: — A stag near him; ferrying people over a rirer; 
receiving a young leper, as he lands from a boat; a hawk; 
a boatman in a barge ; an oar ; and, more rarely I believe, a sword. In 
a fine terra-cotta by Andrea della Robbia in the church of the Campo 
Santo at Arezzo, this last emblem is seen, and in the predella beneath it 
is a very realistic representation of the saint in the act of vigorously 
decapitating a sleeping couple in bed. This seemingly inconsistent pro- 
ceeding excited my curiosity at Arezzo, but, not having recently read 
the curious legend, I turned to Mrs. Jameson's Poetry of Sacred and 
Legendary Art, from which the following particulars have been con- 
densed by '' £. A. G.'' in Saints and their Symbols. 

" 8. Julian Hospitator, A.D. 313, (Husenbeth says 9th century), Jan. 
9th, patron saint of travellers, boatmen, and wandering minstrels, was a 
rich coimt, who lived in great state, and spent his time in feasting and 
hunting. One day, after he had pursued a deer for a great distance, it 
turned and spoke to him, saying, ' Thou who pursuest me to death shalt 
cause the death of thy father and mother.' Horrified at this prophecy, 
and hoping to prevent the possibility of its fulfilment, he would not 
return home, but at once rode away to another country. Here he took 
service under the kins, and greatly distinguished himself. He also 
married and lived happily, quite forgetting the terrible prophecy. But 
meantime his parents, distressed at his loss, did not cease to search for him, 
and at length came to his castle. Julian was absent at the time, but his 
wife, hearing who they were, gave them welcome and put them in her 
own chamber to rest. When the Count returned he went straight to his 
chamber, and, not recognizing his parents at once, by a fatal mistake 
slew them both in a fit of jealous rage. When he had learnt what he 
had done he was stupified with horror, but at length, rousing himself, 
determined to spend the rest of his life in devotion to God's service, that 
so he might be forgiven his fearful sin. He and his wife Basilissa left 
that country, and established themselves in a cell near a great river, 
which was so often swollen by mountain torrents that many were 
drowned in endeavouring to cross it. Here he f oimded a Hospital, and 
occupied himself with tending the sick and taking all who asked him 
across the river. One night, while a storm was raging, he heard a voice 
calling to him, and going out he found a leprous youth lying on the 
opposite shore. Julian ferried him across, and, as he seemed almost 
dying from cold and exhaustion, laid him on his own bed and watched 
him tenderly. Just as morning dawned a light shone from the leper's 
face, and he rose up, saying, ' Julian, the Lord hath sent me to thee, for 
thy penitence is accepted, and thy rest is at hand,' and then vanished 
from their sight. Julian and his wife fell down and praised God for his 
mercy, and soon afterwards they both died peacefully." ' 

3 Hospitals for Lepers were often dedicated to St. Jalian. A different account 
of the saint to the above is given by the late Rev. H. J. B. Nicholson, D.D., 
F.S. A, in the little Guide to the Abbeyof St, AJhan (1882) p. 13, as follows :— 
"Julian and Bardissa his wife lived in E^pt and applied theur property and their 
time to the relief of the poor and sick, fittinff up tneir house suitably for their 
comfort. They suffered martyrdom in 313, &c. 



i6o Clifton Antiquarian Club, 

The incident of the leper has a striking similarity to that of the child 
in the legend of St. Chnstopher. 

The Secretary read some notes by Mr. John Taylor on the subject of 
the murder of her first husband, John Cottell, by Agnes, afterwards 
Lady Hungerford, and on her execution at Tyburn, in 1523. 

Luncheon haying been partaken of, the drive was continued to 

Norton St. Philip, 

where the very picturesque, half-timbered, 15th century hostelry, the 
" George Inn," was the first object of interest noticed. The fine Per- 
pendicular Church, dedicated to St. Philip and St. James, was examined 
under the guidance of the Vicar, the Rev. H. B. Bumey, who pointed 
out its chief features, which have been described by Mr. Freeman in 
the Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaological Society y Tol. xxi., 
p. 47, as *' eccentric from beginning to end." The naye arcade is 
peculiar, no two arches being alike. There is an interesting canopied 
tomb to an unknown merchant in the naye, and in the south porch the 
Secretary pointed out some remains of what seemed to haye been a 
'* Porch Gallery," such as were once common in Somersetshire, though 
not much known elsewhere. The western tower is rich and massiye, 
though rather peculiar. A drive of a few miles through pretty country 
lanes, g^y with spring flowers, brought the party to 

Wellow, 

where the beautiful Church, one of the finest in this division of the county, 
was visited. It is said to have been nearly rebuilt about a.d. 1372, by Sir 
Walter Hungerford, and has since been '* restored." It contains a hand- 
some oak chancel-screen, a fine timber roof, an Early -English font, a curious 
pillar-piscina, and some interesting monuments. In the north wall of 
the chancel is a fine effigy of a priest, probably of the 14th century ; 
he is habited in chasuble, amice, alb and stole, his feet resting on a lion, 
and is remarkable for a deeply-impressed cross carved on his forehead, 
and a chalice carved in relief upon his breast. Over the south door are 
two large canopied niches, side by side, the object of which is not 
evident, the church being dedicated, like the chapel at Farley, to St. 
Julian. Had time permitted, it had been intended to have paid a visit 
to the remains of the celebrated Chambered Tumulus, situated on the 
hill-side at Stoney Littleton, about three-quarters of a mile from Wellow, 
but it was only possible to get a distant view of this '' long barrow," 
which is supposed to have been constructed perhaps as long as two 
thousand years ago, possibly by the same race who erected the mega- 
lithic circles at Avebury and Stanton Drew. Dr. Beddoe, promised a 
short paper on the subject for one of the evening meetings, which he has 
since given. This paper will be found at pp. 104-108. 

Returning to Bath by way of Odd Down, the remains of Wansdyke 
and of the Roman road were passed. Dinner was served at the White 
Lion Hotel, after which the return journey to Bristol was made by the 
8 15 train. The weather having been fine, quite an old-fashioned May 
day in fact, and the drive being through some of the most beautiful 
scenery in the county, the excursion was much enjoyed. 



Proceedings, 1886. 161 



EXCUESION TO 
WILTON, SALISBUEY, STONEHENGE, &c. 

At the request of several members of the Club an excursion extending 
over two days was carried out on Wednesday and Thursday, the 8th and 
9th of September, 1886, when some of die most interesting of the 
antiquities of south Wiltshire were visited. In the absence of the 
President on the Continent, the excursion was under the guidance of the 
Treasurer and the Honorary Secretary. Leaving Bristol in a saloon 
carriage by the 8.30 a.m. train, the ancient town of Wilton was reached 
about 10 o'clock, and, by kind permission of the Earl of Pembroke, a 
visit was made to Wilton House, which occupies the site of the ancient 
monastery, founded a.d. 800, re-founded bv King Alfred, and which was 
long one of the most celebrated nunneries m England. The *' Pembroke 
Marbles," an interesting collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, and 
the splendid gallery of paintings, chiefly of the German and Flemish 
schools, with some grand works of Vandyck, were inspected. The 
house, conmienced temp, Elizabeth, has a porch designed by Holbein, 
and other ancient features. The beautiful church erected by Wyatt, 
which contains some 13th and 15th century stained glass, ancient 
mosaics, &c., was afterwards visited. The journey was then continued to 

Salisbuby, 

where, after luncheon had been partaken of, visits were paid to the 
Cathedral, the Poultry Cross, the Church of St. Thomas, and other 
interesting remains of mediaeval architecture. 

At the Cathedral the members were received by the Hon. and Rev. 
Canon Gordon, and the Rev. Succentor Lakin, and, in addition to the 
numerous treasures of architecture and sculpture usually seen by visitors, 
some ancient rings, chalices, &c., preserved in the Treasury, and a 15th 
century chasuble, and other interesting antiquities were examined. In 
the nave. Col. Bramble made some remarks on the fine series of monu- 
mental effigies, especially on that of the so-called *'Boy Bishop." 
Under the able guidance of the Rev. librarian, an instructive half -hour 
was spent in the library, where the original Sarum copy of Magna 
Charta, and many other valuable MSS., dating from the 10th to the 16th 
century, some early printed books, &c., were exhibited and described. 
After thanking the Rev. Succentor Lakin for his kind reception, the 
members left the Cathedral by the western doorway, and proceeded to 
visit other remains of mediaeval architecture in the city. The fine 
fresco painting over the chancel arch in the church of St. Thomas the 
Martyr was examined, but could not be well seen owing to the fading 
light. It represents the *' Last Judgement," and is imdoubtedly one of 
the finest works of its kind remaining in England. In the ** Swayne 
chapel " in the same church are remains of other frescoes, though not 
of so important a character as the large one above-mentioned, which 
was discovered not long since, during some repairs to the church. 

Dinner was partaken of at the White Hart Hotel, where accomodation 
for the night had been secured t 



1 62 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

On Thursday, September 9th, some of the members paid a visit to the 
interesting old building, known as '* the Halle of John Halle," the 
Refectory or Banqueting Hall of John Halle, merchant and wool- 
stapler, four times Mayor, and Member of Parliament for Salisbury, who 
died in 1479. The fine and lofty roof of black oak, the carved oak 
screen at the south end, and other canred woodwork, reminded the 
Bristol visitors of the somewhat similar and nearly contemporary 
^* Canynges House" in Redcliffe Street, but the Salisbury building has 
been more fortunate in retaining much more of its original work. The 
windows still contain much ancient stained glass, with shields of 
arms, various badges — fleur-de-lys, planta-genista, bear and ra^ed 
staff, etc. — and a portrait of John Halle, himself, '^ in his habit as he 
lived," a good example of a merchant's costume of the time of Ed- 
ward IV. Some of ^e windows have also scrolUlike labeb, bearing an 
inscription variously read Prebe or Crete, the meaning of which has 
given rise to much discussion ; possibly it was, as some suppose, the trade 
'^ pass word " of the Woolstaplers Guild. An exhaustive account of all 
that could be gathered concerning John Halle and his house was pub- 
lished by the late Rev. Edward Duke, F.S.A., in his Prolusiones His- 
toricae, with several illustrations. 

Leaving Salisbury about 10 a.m., the members drove to 

Old Sarum, 

where short accounts were given by Mr. F. F. Tuckett, Mr. A. Warren, 
and the Honorary Secretary, of the curious history of this deserted city. 
It seems difficult to realize that this bare-looking hill, almost without 
any sign of habitation, was, only a few centuries ago, a thriving City, 
with a beautiful Cathedral, a strong Castle, and numerous thickly- 
populated streets, the whole being surrounded by strong walls of Roman 
and Norman masonry. Though nearly all this has disappeared, the site 
is still one of considerable interest, its huge earth-works being among 
the finest left to us of the period anterior to the Roman invasion. 

The late Mr. Edward T. Stevens, F.S.A., wrote an excellent descrip- 
tion of the antiquities of the neighbourhood of Salisbury for the Wilt- 
shire ArchsBological Society in the year 1876, which was afterwards 
published imder the title of Jottings of some of the objects of interest in 
the Stonehenge excursion^ and is still the best guide-book to this part of 
the county. On pages 24 to 41 a good account is given of the ancient 
history and existing remains of " this very remarkable place, in some 
respects the most noteworthy m Britain." After centuries of occupa- 
tion as one of the chief towns of the coimtry under Britons, Romans, 
Saxons, Normans, Old Sarum rapidly declined in importance on its 
desertion by Bishop Richard le Poer, in 1258, and although it con- 
tinued to return two members to Parliament, until the passing of the 
Reform Bill, not a single house stood upon its site. 

Amesburt 

was next visited, where the church and remains of the monastery, 
founded in a.d. 980, by Queen Elfrida, were inspected under the 
guidance of the vicar, the Rev. Arthur Phelps, and of Mr. Kemm, who 



Proceedings, 1886. 163 

had kindly prepared a short paper on its history and architecture. Few 
remains are left of the Priory, which was granted at the dissolution to 
the Earl of Hertford, afterwards Protector Somerset, who built a resi- 
dence out of the old buildings, which is now the property of Sir 
Edmund Antrobus. Here the poet Gay is said to have composed the *' Beg- 
gar's Opera." The writer of the account of Amesbury in Murray's Guide 
to Wiltshire, Dorsetshire and Somersetshire^ 1884, p. 114, says of the 
Nunnery : — '* It increased in splendour and in Royal favour and became a 
fayourite retreat of ladies of royal or noble birth. Eleanor, of Brittany, 
daughter of GeofErey Plantagenet and sister of Prince Arthur, became a 
nun here, where she was buried, after her death in St. James* s Priory, 
Bristol.** Readers of Mr. John Taylor's Ecclesiastical History of Bristol^ 
will hardly need to be reminded of the real facts of the case. The 
Princess lived in captivity for about twenty years in Bristol Castle, died 
there August 10th, 1240, was buried in St. James's Priory Church, 
Bristol, and, in the same year, her body was translated to Amesbury. 

On the invitation of Mr. J. Edwards, a visit was paid to his interest- 
ing collection of antiquities from the neighbourhood, including the 16th 
century Chancel Screen from Amesbury Church, removed when the 
church was *' restored," and some bronze and other objects from the 
Barrows. Luncheon was then partaken of at the George inn, after 
which a start was made for Stonehenge, passing the site of the ancient 
British village formerly known as *^ Vespasian's Camp," and other 
pre-historic remains. 

Stonehenge. 

On reaching the stones, a short paper on the probable origin and uses 
of the monument was read by Mr. Algernon Warren, in which he 
brought forward what he believed to be a new theory as to the locality 
from whence " the foreign stones " of the inner circle were originally 
brought to England. It is well known that no such stone is now to be 
found nearer than Ireland or Scotland, but Mr. Warren stated that he 
had recently met with a gentleman, Captain Tronson, late of H. M. 
Indian Navy, who had informed him that during a late visit to Norway 
the captain of a Norwegian steamer pointed out to him on the shore of 
the Hardanger Fjord, '' the place where the stones came from that you 
Englishmen think so much of," and told him that it was currently 
reported and believed by the natives of the district, that the glacier had 
cut away the rocks from the shore of this Fjord, and that the boulders 
had been floated off on the ice to the south of England, where they had 
been set up by the inhabitants of the island, and used for religious 
ceremonies. Captain Tronson said he had inspected the rocks at the 
place pointed out to him, and that they certainly bore a great resem- 
blance to the stones at Stonehenge. Nothing was known as to the 
period at which this alleged transfer took place, whether during the 
glacial epoch or within historic times, but as the locality which produced 
ike stones of the inner ellipse is still unknown, no such stone being 
found in Wiltshire, it might be worth while to submit specimens of 
the Norwegian stone to Professor Maskelyne, or some other capable 
authority, ior comparison with the Stonehenge Felsite, Schist, and 

4 Bristol Past and Present, vol. ii. pp. 42, 43. Annates de Tkeokesburie, 111. 



164 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Diabase. In the absence of history we cannot afford to completely 
ignore tradition. 

Mr. Warren referred to several of the old theories respecting the 
origin and uses of the momiment, and to some of the more recent ideas 
on the subjett. In the discussion which followed, the Rev. A. Phelps, 
Mr. F. F. Tuckett, and the Secretary took part. Mr. Hudd read some 
extracts from the ** Report on the present condition of Stonehenge,*' 
recently published by the Wiltshire Society, and, after an examination 
of the stones, it was the opinion of all present that measures ought to 
be taken without delay to protect the remains from further injury; 
several of the stones mentioned in the Report bearing decided traces of 
recent chipping, it was feared that imless precautions be at once taken, 
as suggested, still more serious damage may be done. 

Of the numerous accounts ancient and modem, descriptive of the 
megalithic remains at Stonehenge, that by the late Mr. W. Long, F.S.A., 
published by the Wilts Archaeological Society, is by far the best and 
most exhaustive. In addition to a history of the various theories that 
have been given to account for the remains, Mr. Long gives an 
interesting description of the present condition of the monument. It 
has been well said by a modem historian that *' the amount of research, 
the meditation, and the versatile mental labour wasted on these stones, 
resolve themselves into an interesting psychological phenomenon. They 
are in themselves a monument of how hard it is to convince man that 
anything is a dead secret to him.'' ^ Notwithstanding all this labour, 
Stonehenge remains at the end of the 19th century almost as great a 
mystery as it was two hundred years ago. Perhaps the opinion now 
most generally held by antiquaries who have studied the subject is that 
in its present form, it is a relic of the Bronze Age, dating probably from 
500 to 100 B.C., though some portion of the monument may date from 
far earlier times. The suggestion that Stonehenge was a temple of the 
Belgae south of the Wansdyke, and that Avebury was a much more 
ancient temple of the older people whom the Belgae had dispossessed, 
seems a reasonable one. 

There can be little doubt but that both were connected with the 
numerous sepulchral remains in their vicinity, and the fact that near 
Avebury there are several ** long barrows " in which no trace of metal 
has been found, while in the '* round barrows" near Stonehenge, 
numerous bronze implements were discovered, certainly favours the 
theory that the monimients were the work of different ages and peoples. 

A short drive across the Downs brought the members to the fine old 
Elizabethan, or rather Jacobean, mansion called 

Lake House, 

where by the kind invitation of the Rev. Edward Duke a most inte- 
resting and valuable collection of antiquities from the barrows in the 
neighbourhood was examined, and a short account of some of the more 
noteworthy objects was given by the owner. Several of these, includ- 
ing the unique objects in amber, have been figured in Archseological 
Journals, and other works, and are amongst the most valuable relics that 
have been discovered of prehistoric man in Britain. Some account of 

s Bwrton*% HiHory 0/ Scotland, vol L p. 145 (1867). 



Proceedings, 1886. 165 

tliis collection will be found in Ancient Wilts, toI i. p. 212, where Sir 
R. C. Hoare described some little curious articles of bone from 
" Barrow No. 20 " as a " perfect novelty ; we are at a loss to conjecture 
what their meaning and their usage were." It has been suggested that 
they were used in playing some game, or in casting lots. The most 
important of the amber objects were found in '' Barrow No. 21 " of 
the Lake group, -and have been described and figured by the late Dr. 
Thurman in Archcsologia, vol. xliii., and by Dr. Stevens, Jottings, 
pp. 59-63. 

After thanking Mr. and Mrs. Duke for their very kind reception, and 
the opportunity of inspecting their interesting collection, the members 
regretfully turned their backs upon the charming old house and drove 
to Salisbury, whence they returned to Bristol by an evening train. 



WHITCHUECH, NOETON MALREWAED AND THE 

WANSDTKE. 

On September 18th, 1886, a Saturday, afternoon excursion of 
the members took place. Leaving Bristol about 2.30 p.m., they drove 
to Whitchuirch where, in the absence of the Vicar, the Rev. J. Carter, 
the interesting 12th century architectural remains, transition between 
Norman and Early English, the late 15th century carved oak screen, 
the 16th century oak alms -box, and other features were pointed out and 
commented upon by Mr. T. Pope. Some few fragments of mediaeval 
domestic architecture remain in the village, the most interesting of 
which are at Lyons Court, where a large 14th century arch, a small 
square window, and other portions of the ancient mansion of the Lyons 
family are incorporated in '* Court Farm '' house. Li the field south of 
this house, between it and Maes Knoll Camp, remains of two stone cofiBns 
were found in the spring of 1886, which are still preserved on the 
premises. In making a deep drain a very roughly made cofBn of stone 
containing human bones, covered by flat slabs of oolite, was discovered, 
from 2 to 3 feet below the surface, and a few yards from it a stone cover 
of another coffin was found lying at an angle of about 45<>. No other trace 
of the second coffin could be seen, and no coins or potterv was found. 
The remains belong probablv to the Romano-British period, between 
the withdrawal of the Roman legions and the arrival of the Saxons. 

In 1874, a jar containing several thousand Roman coins — some of 
which were exhibited at an evening meeting of the Club, on November 
11th, by the Secretary — ^was found in a field about a mile west of Lyons 
Court.« 

On reaching Norton Malreward, the members were met by the 
Rector, the Rev. Wm. Marshall, and by Mr. Samuel Cashmore, who called 
Attention to the few remaining fragments left by the *' restorers " of the 
Parish Church, the chief of which is the fine late Norman Chancel 
arch, and some interesting sepulchral slabs in the porch. A brief visit 
was made to Maes Knoll Camp, from whence 

The Wavsdykb 

in its eastward course towards Stantonbury, was pointed out by the 

« BrUtot Past and Presmi, voL i. p. 26. 



1 66 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Secretary, who stated that since the previous yi^it of the Club to Mae» 
Knoll, in May, 1884, he had, with two other members of the Club, walked 
oyer and examined the greater portion of the remains of the Dyke in the 
three counties of Somerset, Wilts, and Berks, a walk which he could 
strongly recommend to any of those present who enjoyed a few days 
ramble in the coimtry. In the spring, when for miles of its course the 
dyke and its vallum are a perfect mass of wild flowers — ^primroses, 
violets, anemonies, wild hyacinth, celandines, etc. — ^it is transformed into 
a thing of beauty not soon to be forgotten by those who have had the 
pleasure of seeing it, and, as in its course from Maes EnoU to the wood- 
lands of Berkshire, the crests of the hills are generally followed, one get» 
the advantage of bracing air and extensive prospects, in addition to the 
** mild excitement," mentioned by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, of tracing 
the dyke from field to field, over hill and dale, fields, woods and rivers, 
the *' scent,'' at times faint, being recovered time after time, and fol- 
lowed, perhaps without a break for miles. As both the eastern and 
western terminations of the Dyke are somewhat of a mystery, there is 
yet work to be done here by explorers, without going far from home. 

On returning to Norton Mabreward, the members were most hospit- 
ably entertain^ by Mr. and Mrs. Cashmore (Norton Court), and mer 
thanking their hosts for their kind reception the party returned to 
Bristol by road, a drive of about five miles. 



MEETING, NOVEMBEE 11th, 1886. 

Bishop Cliffokd, Pbesident, in the Chaib. 

The following exhibitions of objects of antiquarian interest were 
made : — 

1. By Dr. John Beddoe, F.R.S. (by permission of the authorities of 

the Bristol Museum): Human remains from the Stoney 
Littleton tumulus (in illustration of paper on the subject). 

2. By the Hon. Secretary : About 30 small copper coins found in a 

ditch, one mile north of Maes Ejioll, in 1874, lent for exhibi- 
tion by Mr. George Harding, of Fishponds. These coins 
formed part of the large find described by the late Mr. 
NichoUs m Bristol Past and Present, vol. i. p. 25 , and referred 
to above, in connection with other late Roman or Romano- 
British remains found in the neighbourhood. They are pro- 
bably of 4th century date. 

8. — ^By Col. Bramble: Impression of Seal, probably of Bruton, 
Grammar School, of which an amusing account was given. 
The inscription on the seal Je fiknlt of Vnte had been sup- 
posed by the present owners to belong to a medieval guild of 
Brewers. 

4. — ^By Mr. R. Hall Warren : Portraits of two French ecclesiastics of 
the 17th century, inlaid in tortoiseshell, pearl, buhl, etc. 

5. — ^By Mr. C. J. Trusted. Two models in bog oak of Irish antiquities, 
a ** round tower " and a " celtic cross, the originals of which 
had been visited during the summer by Mr. Trusted who made 



Proceedings, 1886. 167 

some remarks on tlie yery interesting details of these early 
Celtic structures. 

6. — ^By the Rev. Chas. S. Taylor : Ancient documents belonging to 
the Church of St. Thomas, Bristol, (in illustration of paper). 

7.— By the Hon. Secretary. Bones and other remains from a Romano- 
British interment recently found near Farmborough, Somerset, 
(in illustration of paper). 

The first paper of the eyening i^as by Dr. Beddoe, F.R.S., on The 
Human remains from Stoney Littleton Tumultu, now preserved in the 
Bristol Musemn, to which they were presented by the late Rey. John 
Skinner, of Claverton. This paper is printed at pp. 104-108. 

Mr. Thomas W. Jacques followed, with a paper on the subject of the 
Ancient Camps near Bristolywiih. suggestions for a systematic inyestigation 
of their remains by the Club, and for the preparation of an archsological 
map of the Bristol District, upon which all prehistoric and Roman 
remains should be recorded. 

The Rey. C. S. Taylor, M.A., read a parper on Some Ancient Docu- 
ments belonging to the Church of St. Thomas^ Bristol^ most of which he 
exhibited. This is printed at pp. 151-155, being No, IV. of the Old 
Bristol Documents published in our Proceedings, a series of which it is 
hoped to continue in future yolumes. Many such interesting documents 
remain in Bristol which haye not hitherto been printed. 

The Hon. Secretary, (Mr. Alfred E. Hudd, F.S.A.), read a short paper 
on a recently discoyered Romano- British interment at Farmborough ^ 
which is printed at pp. 109-113. 

Seyeral Members took part in the discussion which followed the 
reading of these papers. 

In reply to a question by the President as to the proposed excayations 
on the site of the Roman station at Sea Mills, (Abone), Mr. A. T. 
Martin stated that permission had recently been giyen by Mr. Tagart and 
Mr. Eyens, and that he hoped to commence digging there shortly. 



MEETING DECEMBER 15th, 1886. 
Bishop Cliffobd, Pbbsibskt, in thb Chjlib. 

The Hon. Secretary gaye notice of some proposed alterations of Rules, 
to be brought before the next Annual Meeting. 

Mr. F. F. Tuckett exhibited numerous specimens of 17th century 
silyer and silyer gilt buttons worn by the Swedish and Norwegian 
peasantry ; also articles canred by Lapps from reindeer bones, and an 
engrayed silyer '* peg tankard,*' or rather cup with 3 p^^^, dated 1684. 

Seyeral sketches, a collection of photographs of the principal existing 
Norw^ian '* Stayekirker," and of caryed portals, bench ends, etc. (in the 
museums of Christiania and Bergen), of others which haye been destroyed, 
together with Professor Dahl's yolume and some others illustrating the 
subject of Mr. Tuckett's paper, were also shown by him, as weU as a 

7 King Eadgar is said to have ordered that ''pegs should be fastened into 
drinking horns at stated distances, and whoever dxaok beyond his peg at one 
dranghC should be liable to severe punishment." 



1 68 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

curious wooden Norsk *' scratcliback," 21 inches in length, bearing the 
date of 1763, and the following rhyming inscription on the flattened, 
toe-shaped expansion at the extremity, whose under surface is roughened 
by two sets of grooyes at right angles to one another, to obtain the 
desired friction : — 

Klaa Haa or Scratch Away 

min my 

Store Taae Big Toe 

dot it 

Er ndepaa (T lidepa*) la ? 

Much information respecting these curious implements is giyen in vol. 
xxY. of the Journal of the British Archaological Association^ by Mr. 
H. Syer Cuming, in a paper on the Scalptorium, or Scratch-back. They 
were in use until recently in England and many other countries, but were 
generally made in the form of a small hand on the end of a long handle, 
Tcry different in appearance to the curious specimen shown by 
Mr. Tuckett. 

Mr. Alfred C. Pass exhibited flint implements, worked flakes, human 
and other bones, and other objects from his recent excavations at Silbury 
Hill, Wilts, described in his paper on the subject. Also a Roman coin, 
(1st brass of Marcus Aurelius), and a small iron arrow-head, from Sil- 
bury ; found nearer the surface than the other antiquities. 

Mr. Tuckett read a paper on Ancient Wooden Churches of Norway 
which was followed by Mr. Alfred C. Pass, with an account of his 
Recent Excavations at Silbury Hill^ Wilts. 

Bishop Clifford, Dr. Beddoe, Mr. Prankerd, and other Members, took 
part in the discussion which followed the reading of these papers, both 
of which are printed in this yolume, at pp. 114-129 and pp. 130-135. 



349*^7 * wnaHTAoa., MKiM. 



Clifton Antiquarian Club. 169 



ancient Bristol documents. 

No. V. 

jTrom tfte »ecorliJf of *t* iWarp4e^-5ort 



By Libut.-Col. J. R. BRAMBLE, P.S.A., V.P. 



{Read November \2th, 1884.) 

THE oldest of the deeds belonging to the Parish of St. 
-'" Mary-le-Port is a conveyance of a shop in St. Mary-le-Port 
Street from William Langbord to Walter Panes. It probably 
relates to a house on the south side of the street, now numbered 
82, and in the occupation of Messrs. Butler. In subsequent 
deeds this house is spoken of as "before the Harts-homes," 
evidently the former sign by which the house opposite was 
designated. 

The document in question is written on vellum, 7| inches 
wide by 5J inches deep, exclusive of J of an inch turned up at 
the bottom, as is the usual custom to this day. The writing is 
admirable, firm, clear and distinct. It is no doubt the finest 
specimen of writing in the whole collection of Charters, and 
proves that the writer, not improbably " John of the Temple, 
Clerk," must have been a most accomplished penman. The 
ink is scarcely faded, and shines in the sun like an enamel 
on the surface of the vellum. 

Below hangs, by the usual double strip of parchment, the half 
of a seal of dark green wax, which still bears the impression 
of the fingers which squeezed it into shape. The seal was 
evidently heraldic, the bearings have the appearance of a stag 
regardant, but the portion remaining is too small to be clearly 
identified. In the margin are the letters S. WILL . LAN 

The date is about 1250, but cannot be given with certainty. 
As usual, in early deeds relating to property in a city, the 

Vol. I., Part III. (1887—8.) 1 



lyo Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

witnesses are the Civic Officers, the Mayor and Pradpositors, with 
others. The present witnesses are stated to be "Roger de 
Bercham, then Mayor of Bristol!, Robert de Kyhneynan and 
Roger de Cantoc, then Prepositors of the same city." In none of 
the existing Rolls of Mayors — they differ much in their earlier 
portions, which have evidently been compiled — do these names 
occur together. The name of Roger de Bercham appears in 
Ricart's Calendar as Mayor 1257, but the Prepositors are Hugo 
Mychell and William de Berwyck. In the list printed by Barrett 
the name does not appear in the list of Mayors, but as that of a 
Prepositor in 1267. Robert de Eilmeynan appears in Ricart's list 
as Prepositor in 1248, and as Mayor in 1256 and 1262. In 
Barrett's list as Prepositor in 1240 and Mayor in 1261. Roger 
Cantock appears in Ricart's list as Prepositor 1238, and in 
Barrett's list 1287, and (query whether the same man) 1260, 
and, under the altered name of Seneschal, 1271. Reginald de 
Panes and Thomas Haselden (or '^ de Hamelesden ") also appear 
in the same lists between 1247 and 1274. 

The difference of a year is readily intelligible, as the election 
took place at Michaelmas, and therefore up to the 1st March 
following, four months, would have been in one year, and the 
remainder in the following year. 

Scient psentes & futuri quod Ego Willmus Langbord Filius 
& hes Henr Langbord quondam Burgens de Bristoll Dedi 
concessi & hac psenti carta mea confirmavi Walter de 
Panes totam illam seldam meam cu ptinentes In villa Bristoll 
In vico Ste Marie que pxima est selde Henr Langbord fratris 
mei. Habendam et tenendam totam ilia pdtam seldam cu 
omibus ptinent suis sibi Walter de Panes & hedibs & 
assignatis suis de me et hedibs & assignatis meis. libe et quiete 
pacifice & integre. ad faciend inde totu libitu sun in omibs 
inppetum. Reddendo inde annuatim michi & hdibs et assignatis 
meis. ipe Walte & hedes et assignat sui Unu par albaru 
Cyrotetarum de ptio unius oboli argenti ad Pascha p omibs 
surtiis exactionibs. queret et demandis ad dtam seldam 
ptinentibus. Et p hac mea donatione concessione & psentis 
carte mee confirmatone dedit michi pdtus Walto. Quadginta 
solidoB estlingorum de futroim (?) Quare Ego dtus WHlmus 
Langbord & hedes & assignati mei. pdcam seldam cu ptinentis 



Ancient Bristol Docmnents. 171 

suis. pdco Walto de Panes & hedibs & assignatis suis. conta 
omes mortales inppetum warantizabimus defendemus & 
acquetabimus p surtm pdcm Et ut hoec mea donatio concessio 
& psentis carte mee confirmatio. pptue firmitatis robur 
optineant psentem cartam sigilli inpssione roboravi. His 
testibs Eogo de Bercham tuc maiore Bristol!. Bobto de 
Kylmeynan & Rogo de Cantoc tuc eiusdem ville ppostis Ric 
Fuaene Eeginaldo de Panes. Thorn. HazUeden Walto Wyneman 
Ric tinctore Johne de Templo clico & aliis. 

TRANSLATION. 

[Know all (men) present and future that I William Langbord 
Son and heir of Henry Langbord formerly Burgess of Bristol 
have given conceded and by this my present deed have confirmed 
to Walter de Panes all that my shop with its appurtenances, in 
the town of Bristol, in the Street of St. Mary, which is nearest 
the shop of Henry Langbord my brother. All the said shop with 
its appurtenances to be had and holden to him, Walter de Panes 
and his heirs and assigns, of me and my heirs and assigns, freely 
and quietly, peaceably and entirely to do therein at his entire 
liberty in all things for ever. Yielding from thence yearly 
to me and my heirs and assigns, by Walter himself, and his heirs 
and assigns, a pair of white Gloves of the price of one silver penny 
at Easter for all services, exactions, claims and demands to the 
said shop appertaining. And for this niy gift, concession and 
my present deed of confirmation, the said Walter gave to me 

twenty pounds sterling of for which I the said William 

Langbord, my heirs and assigns the said shop with its 
appurtenances to the said Walter de Panes and his heirs and 
assigns against all mortals for ever will warrant defend and 
acquit for the aforesaid services. And that my gift, concession, 
and my present deed of confirmation may for ever obtain strength 
of firmness (be firmly established) I have strengthened the 
present deed with the impression of (my) seal. These being 
the Witnesses, Roger de Bercham, then Mayor of Bristol, Robert 
de Kylmeynan and Roger de Cantoc, then Prepositors of the 
same town, Richard Fuaene, Reginald de Panes, Thomas 
Hazlleden, Walter Wyneman, Richard the Dyer, John of the 
Temple, Clerk, and others.] 



172 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



^otes on #lti Bristol ||ou$(e9* 



By THOMAS S. POPE, Architect. 



(^Read January 27(h, 1887.) 

As modern changes seem likely soon to obliterate nearly every 
vestige of the ancient domestic architecture of our city, I wish to 
bring before the notice of the Club some little known remains of 
old Bristol which still exist in some cellars in High street. I 
have made measured drawings of these remains, and have 
the pleasure of presenting copies for the Club Album. 

The chamber shown in my sketch No. 1 (Plate xviii., fig. 1), of 
the present cellar of No. 43, High street, was probably the shop 
or store of the mediaeval merchant or tradesman who inhabited 
the house, and was probably some few feet only below the level of 
the street, the level of which was altered when the present Bristol 
Bridge was built. There are still some shops remaining on the 
Continent very similar to this in arrangement The sitting-room, 
or solar, was probably over the shop, and wainscotted with oak, the 
great Hall being behind ; as was formerly the case in some of 
the old houses in Bedcliff street, which had open roofs with the 
timbers exposed. 

Of these merchants' halls there are few remains, but some idea 
may be formed of their style and proportions from the " restored " 
specimen in Canynge's house, Eedcliflf street,^ now occupied by 
Messrs. Jefferies, and in the old house in Small street, now 
used as the Law Library .^ When the Club visited Salisbury, in 
September, 1886, we saw a still finer example in " the Hall of 
John Halle.''^ 

The front of this old house in High street has some of the 

'See Skelton'a Antiquities of Bristol. Plate 48. 'Id, PI. 13. 
3lUustrated and described in the Rev. E. Dake's Prohisioiwa HiMorkce. 



PlateXYm. 



V 


illlllll 


^^„^^ 


y- 



z.f 



2 .'Oecrioti^ «^ Mol«(ia39 




riQ.3. Rtlar id 
^ Cdtar 
^ r^^r ^ Nelson et 

*'^ j 11 Hi<,fcL'=>r«rf. 

y^ fig.4"Pto.n. 




Notes on Old Bristol Houses. 173 

timber work remaining, although the barge-boards are un- 
fortunately gone ; it has been divided into two, including 
Mr. Day's house and shop, and still forms quite a handsome 
block. When new, it must have been very picturesque, taken in 
connection with the old Bristol Bridge and the houses upon it. 

In his Antiquities of Bristol, Dallaway remarks of these 
" profitridissimi cellarii regis,' as William Wyrcestre calls them, that 
they were formerly very numerous, and formed, in fact, " subter- 
ranean Bristol" He thus describes ** the house of the ancient 
Burgess of Bristow: — The souterrain was a very large cellar 
with a groined and ribbed roof of stone, and when extending 
under the street,* divided by arches and pillars. Such instances 
are not so frequent as those covered by timber beams. In these 
were deposited the heavier goods. The ground floor was divided 
into narrow shops, three or four upon the same ground plan, 
with stalls or bulkheads, and open to the street. ... In the 
houses of the chief merchants there was built behind these shops, 
a Hall with a high arched roof of timber frame. It served to 
hold . . . the more valuable goods, and at set times for their 
feasts. The first floor contained the habitable house, bedrooms, 
parlour, kitchen, all of which are mentioned in deeds and wills, 
and lastly garrets, which had two projecting stories under the 
roof,"^ which were used for drying clothes. 

William Wyrcestre describes no less than 189 of these cellars 
or vaults under the houses in '^Hygh strete, Brad strete, 
Wynch strete, Castel Strete," &c. Cellars vaulted in stone, with 
pointed arches without much ornament, remain in some of these 
streets. Of one of these, at No. 22, High street, I give a plan and 
section (Plate xviii., fig. 4). Judging from the details and 
mouldings, I should think this was of 15th century date, but it is 
rather pecuHar work. 

There was an Act passed, t. Edward III., compelling persons 

* When the old houses at the comer of Com street and Nicholas street were 
pulled down, in 1851, for the new building for Messrs. Stuckey's Bank, a large stone- 
vaulted crypt, extending under the street, was discovered ; this was supposed to be 
the ancient crypt of the destroyed church of St. Leonard, the tower of which 
stood over the west end of Com street. In 1858, a large vaulted cellar of good 
workmanship was found under the premises of the Old Bank, on the other side of 
Com street. See Proceedings Archaeological Inst.: Bristol volume, 1851, and 
Mr. Latimer's ** Annals of Bristol," pp. 824 and 362.— Ed. 

5 Dallaway. Note pp. 66, 66. 



174 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

building in towns to erect stone party walls three feet thick 
to the level of the top of the ground floor. This arrangement 
was carried out in the old houses in Peter street, opposite the 
church, now mostly pulled down. 

We still have some few old houses left in St. Mary-le-Port 
street, enough to give us an idea of its former most picturesque 
effect; but most of the old Jacobean gabled fronts have been 
pulled down from the streets of old Bristol, leaving but a few 
fragments of old wood and plaster work at the back, where they 
are not often seen. After all, we can hardly regret these 
picturesque but dirty old houses being replaced by modem ones 
with ample light and air, and decent drainage, matters respecting 
which the builders of these old half timbered houses did not 
much trouble themselves. 

I give a sketch (PI. xviii., fig. 2) of the wooden corner-post 
opposite the church in Peter street, supporting a corner of an 
old house. Also (PI. xviii., fig. 8) of one of the Norman pillars 
in the cellar of a warehouse in Nelson street, to which access 
was probably obtained in former times from the river Froom, 
now arched over and formed into Rupert street. These pillars 
were recently inspected with the other remains of Norman 
Bristol, by some of the members of the Club, and some doubt was 
expressed as to whether they occupy their original position, or 
have been removed from some ancient building in the 
neighbourhood. 



Cheddar Church, Somersetshire. 175 



Ciietitiar C^urct), domersetsttr^* 



Bt thb Rbv. JOHN COLEMAN, M.A., Vicar. 



iJtMd Ocioher 4ih, 1887.) 

The site of the parish church of St. Andrew at Cheddar is 
certainly one of very great antiquity, and probably the scene of 
Pagan worship. A coin of the Emperor Domitian was recently 
dug up in the graveyard, as well as remains of Boman pottery. 

The earliest documentary evidence of the existence of a church 
here is to be found in the Wells Cathedral Liber AUms, I. folio 

106, and is as follows : — " praesentatus fuit 

ad ecclm de Ceddre-hole Wills Giffard fil Gilleb, regis marescal, 
qui erat admissus per Godefr, Epm. Bathon." Godfrey was 
Bishop of Bath A.D. 1128 — 1185. On the same folio is a 
transcript of the donation of the Church to the prior and convent 
of S. Mary at Bradenstoke. It runs thus : — " Inscriptum cartsB 
de donasione ecclesiaB de Ceddre-hole. Johannes regis marescallus 
omnibus fidelibus sanctsB ecclesisB salutem ! Notum facio vobis 
quod ego dedi et concessi in perpetuam eleemosynam eccles.sanctsB 
MarisB de Bradenstok et Ganonices ibidem Domino servientibus 
ecclesiam de Ceddre pro salute animsB mese et patrio mei 
et fratrum meorum et parentum meorum ibidem quiescentum 
quam ecclesiam autem dedi iis cum omnibus pertinentiis suis 
libere et quiete possidendam et ut donatio ista firma sit im- 
positum sigillo meo et praBsenti carta eis confirmavi — Hiis 
testibus," &c., &c. 

Another Chapter document (folio 27) refers to the grant, by the 
prior and convent of Bradenstoke, of the church and all rights 
in it to the Dean of Wells, in the time of Bishop Beginald 
Fitzjocelin (A.D. 1174 — 1191), which grant Bishop Jocelin Trot- 
man confirmed to the Chapter A.D 1240. 



176 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Of this early church few traces remain ; but it would seem that 
the materials of the more ancient fabric were utihsed in the 
construction of the present edifice, which is a combination of 
18th, 14th, and 16th century work. Portions of the plinth of 
the north and south aisles of the nave are of an earlier date than 
the remainder ; and what might be fragments of Boman brick- 
work, appearing here and there in the masonry of the tower, are 
probably pieces of the encaustic tiling of the floors of the first 
church. 

A fine double piscina in the south wall of the sacrarium, of 
13th century date, and the character of the masonry, show that 
the chancel is the earliest part of the building as it stands. A 
document quoted by Mr. Wadley in Bristol Wills points to the 
latter half of the 14th century,^ as the date when one at least of 
the side chapels was erected. William de Gheddre the elder, of 
Bristol, desires in his will (November 21, 1382) to be buried in 
the chapel of the Blessed Mary, in the parish church of Cheddar ; 
and Bobert Gheddre, of Bristol (March 21, 1382), makes the 
same request, adding, as to the chapel, '' de novo foindata,'* 
With this agrees the Wells Chapter record (folio 283) of a 
Chantry established in the parish church of Gheddre of the 
annual value of 10 marcs, on behalf of our present King 
Edward, and the benefit of his soul after his death. Qy. 1375 — 77. 

It has been reasonably conjectured that the family of the 
Chedders, who were possessed of great wealth, were promoters of 
the building of the church, as it now stands ; the tomb with the 
brass effigy of (as is supposed) Sir Thomas de Chedder* in 
armour, standing on a lion, on the north side of the chancel, 
and that of the Lady Isabella beneath, together with the frequent 
occurrence of the Chedder arms, lead to this conclusion. Mr. 
Freeman has characterised the clerestory windows as " a sort of 
transition between the decorated and perpendicular styles," and 
the perpendicular work in other parts of the church as ** singu- 
larly good," and " the parapets and windows as some of the best 
work in the County."* The tower is very similar in design to 

» In the Wells Chapter records, Liber Albusfol. 163, in dors.^ " Ceddre and its 
chapels " are named in a confirmation by the Bishop, A.D. 1321. — ^Ed. 

" A drawing of this brass is given in this volume, ante p. 39, in illustration 
of Colonel Bramble's paper on Medisval Armour. 

3 Somerset Archaeol. Soc. Proceedings ix. p. 41. 



Cheddar Church, Somersetshire. 177 

the towers at Banwell and Winscombe, and possesses sculptured 
figures in the west front of the Angel Gabriel and the Blessed 
Virgin. An interesting feature is the Chantry chapel, added, 
at a late date, at the east end of the south porch, in which are 
two graceful windows set under a square head, pierced so as to 
constitute one square headed window. A renovated figure of 
S. Erasmus or S. Elmo, remains in this chapel. Altars of 
S. Erasmus existed in the church of S. Cuthbert, Wells, and in 
the parish church of Nettlecombe, Somerset. All the ancient 
glass that was found when the church was largely repaired in 
1873 was placed here with yery good effect. According to Bishop 
Clifford two of the figures represented are St. Barbara and 
St. Catherine. 

The following notes relating to Cheddar are from " Bishop 
Drokbnsford's Register " (1309 — 1329). Somerset Record Soc, 
1887. Edited by Bishop Hobhouse. 

** November 30th, 1317. Robert Cotes, deacon, was instituted 
vicar of Cheddar. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Wells. 
The Dean to induct." {Drok. fol. 157b.) 

" 4 KaL, October, 1321. Present in Street chapel : — The Bishop, 
Dean, and Archdeacon of Wells, the Chancellor, Treasurer, and 
eight other Canons." Among the subjects of their enquiries as 
recorded in Drokensford's register was : — 

(5,) " Touching St. Columban's chapel in Cheddar, respecting 
which, ' inquiry shall be made and precedent shall rule ;' and 

(7,) " Touching the impounding of the Dean's cattle in Cheddar 
moor." (Drok. fol. 22a). 

October 7th, 1321. The Bishop commissions two Canons 
and two of his clerks to inquire, ** whether, when Cheddar 
belonged to the King, the chapel of St. Columban* was a Royal 
Free Chapel." (Drok. fol. 178a.) 

* The site of St. Columban's Chapel is now unknown. — Ed. 



178 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



Sl^elimore. 



Bt Li«ut.-Col. J. R. BRAMBLE, F.S.A., V.P. 



(i^tfoi/ OcU^er Srd, 1887). 

The church of Wedmore, dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, is o 
large size, and occupies a somewhat imposing position on liigh 
ground, in the small town which forms the centre or nucleus of 
the parish — the largest in the diocese. Hence it affords a 
striking appearance ; but it can hardly be said to compare 
favourably with many other of the principal churches of 
Somerset. The absence of a clerestory, of a " west front," the 
'' batter," or diminishing size of the tower towards its summit, 
and the inferior character of its parapet, all tend to this result 

But in estimating the appearance of the building it must be 
taken into consideration that it formerly possessed a spire. This 
would not only have given the requisite height to the composition, 
but would have removed the appearance of awkwardness incident 
to the *^ batter" of the tower, giving a more harmonious appear- 
ance to the entire structure. Unfortunately, under an apprehen- 
sion of danger, the spire was taken down in the early part of the 
present century and has not been replaced. 

The general character of the masonry in the later work is 
inferior, especially in the eastern portion, where the absence of a 
" ground- table " is noticeable. 

There is every probability that a church stood here from very 
early times. Gollinson informs us^ that it appears in the annals 
of Glastonbury^ that the " island of Wedmore," containing 70 
hides, belonged to that monastery by the gift of St. Wilfrid. 

■ Collinson. Hist. Som. 1. 189. ^ Johaiinis Glastoniensis Hist. 93. 



Church of St. Mary the Virgin, IVedmore. 179 

Subsequently, King Alfred is found in possession, and then King 
Harold gave it to 6iso, Bishop of Wells, and in Doomsday it is 
certified to be in the possession of that Bishop, and that he held 
it in the time of King Edward. From its situation and owner- 
ship it is very unlikely, therefore, that the parish should have 
been left for some centuries without any ecclesiastical centre; 
and by the extracts from the Report on the Wells charters 
annexed to this paper, it will be seen that the *' church of 
Wedmore " is mentioned in a charter of 1186. 

But unless a small window in the west wall of the south 
transept, afterwards described, is the last relic of an early church, 
there is nothing architectural in the present building of earlier 
date than the beginning of the 18th century. To this date may 
be assigned the lower portion of the tower and the western half 
of the chancel, but with trifling exceptions these form the only 
parts which are of earlier than perpendicular date. 

The church, as it now stands, consists of a long chancel, with 
north and south chapels extending about one half its length, a 
central tower, north and south transepts, nave (without 
clerestory), north and south aisles, a fine tower-porch on the 
south side of the nave, and a large chapel filling in the space 
between the porch and transept. 

With the exception of the chancel the whole of the edifice, 
including the tower, is surmounted by a parapet of trefoil- 
headed panels. In the case of the tower only, the panels are 
pierced, but the openings are so narrow that from most points of 
view they are invisible, and the parapet appears solid, and has a 
heavy eflfect, very different from the beautiful trefoiled, pierced 
parapets so characteristic of Somersetshire work. 

The tower has two stages above the roof. The lower has a 
single, two-light window in each face, and in the upper part of the 
south side a clock has been fixed. The upper, or bell stage, is of 
richer character generally, and has three two-light windows in 
each face, all but the centre one of each face being simply panelled 
and not pierced. 

No consecration crosses were found either within or without 

the building on the occasion of our visit, but it is understood that 

one has been deciphered on the south wall between the chancel 
and porch. 

The porch and chapel project southward considerably beyond 



i8o Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

the transept, and communicate by a small door between two 
windows, each of two trefoiled lights under segmental arches. 
Above is an equilateral window of two trefoiled lights. 

The 13th century church was apparently cruciform, probably 
following the plan, if not standing on the foundations, of the 
earlier church. The tower stands on four low, massive lantern 
arches of Early English date. They are of square section, with a 
simple chamfered edge. The north and south arches, however, 
differ in detail, and from appearances disclosed at the recent 
restoration, it would seem that the south transept was added at a 
somewhat later date. The southern arch is furnished on its 
north side wdth a hood moulding with head terminations, and 
has a stop-chamfer at its base only. The northern arch has no 
hood moulding, but a stop-chamfer at capital as well as at base. 
The groining of fan-tracery is much later, of 15th century 
date. Eastward, the chancel probably extended little more than 
half the present length. Late 15th century arches have been 
inserted opening up the side chapels, but in the walls over each 
of these arches may be seen the remains of a group of three 
plain lancet windows. 

It will be observed, however, from the weather moulding on the 
chancel arch, that these windows could not have formed part of 
the original chancel, which must havje been too low to include 
them. The present roof also cuts off the upper portions, but 
from the outside it will be seen that at some intermediate date 
there has been a roof more lofty than the present, which has 
run into the windows of the belfry stage of the tower. 

At the east end of the south chapel there is a beautiful two- 
light early decorated (c. 1800) window, with a spherical triangle 
in the head, and cinquefoiled rear-arch, which not improbably at 
one time occupied a position at the east end of the chancel. It 
appears to be the only work in the decorated style now in the 
building, and is much earlier in date than the chapel in which it 
is now inserted. 

Over the north side of the arch, between the south transept 
and aisle, will be found a short internally splayed semi-circular 
headed niche (like a blocked up window), closely resembling a 
rude window in Caversfield church, Bucks.,' which is considered 
to be of Saxon date. A close examination of this niche could 

3 Figured in Bloxam's Principles of Gothic Architecture, 11th Ed. vol. 1, p. 56, 



Church of St. Mary the Virgin, IVedmore. i8i 

not be made when the church was visited, but it has all the 
appearance of considerable antiquity. 

The existing chancel is lighted by an east window of five, and 
north and south windows of four lights each — all of large size and 
of plain, late perpendicular design. Under the south window is a 
stone bench, without divisions, under a very depressed arch, and 
eastward of the bench, or sedilia, a piscina in a cinquefoiled 
recess. The basin is quatrefoiled (set square) , and at the back is 
a narrow shelf, 8^ inches, with free ends. Close to the eastern 
respond of the arch opening into the north chapel, is a 15th 
century bracket, probably intended to support a lamp. The 
design is a head, over, rather than on, which is a pointed 
crown ; the long face and peculiar smile are of semi-grotesque 
character. 

The weather moulding on the tower, which shows the original 
pitch of the Early English roof to have been lower and more 
acute than that of the present, has already been referred to. 

In the extreme west end of the north wall of the chancel — 
west of the arch opening into the north chapel — is a short stair- 
case. This commences by a doorway (with marks of hinges) in 
the north chapel, about 5 feet from the ground. There are then 
4 steps in the thickness of the wall, and the southern aperture 
skews slightly eastward. Above this doorway, but close to the 
tower, is a square-headed loop, about 5 feet by 1 foot This 
loop is now built up. 

On a level with the south opening of the stair, about 6 feet 
6 inches from the ground level, there are the marks where a 
beam was inserted in the eastern arch of the tower. There are 
the evident remains of the rood-loft in the usual position, west 
of the tower, with the staircase leading to it in the north-west 
angle, and the existence of two lofts is very unusual. Still it 
is difficult to suggest any other explanation. The erection, 
whatever it was, must have been coeval with the highest of the 
three roofs, as the present one cuts the loop, and the original line 
runs through the doorway at about one half its height. 

At the Lampeter Meeting of the Cambrian ArchsBological 
Association in 1878, the Bishop of St. David's (the well-known 
ArchflBologist, Dr. Basil Jones,) referred to Llangeitho church in 
Cardiganshire (figured in Meyrick*s History of Cardiganshire), 
and said, " The representation depicts two screens across the 



1 82 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

church. I know of no similar example except in the Cathedral 
church of this diocese (St. David's)."* In the ground plan of 
St. David's Cathedral it will be found that the principal screen is 
placed a few feet westward of the central tower at the entrance of 
the ritual choir, but that a few feet eastward of such tower there 
is a second screen.^ The screen at Llangeitho has been destroyed.*^ 

In his description of that chmxh, Meyrick says, " There is a 
double screen to separate the chancel from the body of the 
church which exhibits a curious specimen of laborious, but 
elegant Gothic workmanship. Each part of the screen consists 
of three ornamental arches, in the spandrils of which birds and 
beasts are grotesquely introduced."^ 

From the plate which accompanies the description, the latter 
would appear to be applicable, to a great extent, to the western 
screen only. The side bays in this are each filled in to a height 
of about 4 feet, above which are 4 septfoiled arches ; the 
centre bay remaining open. The eastern screen, which occupies 
a position about half way between the western and the east 
wall of the chancel, is of much plainer character, apparently 
quite destitute of carving. It is, in fact, little more than a loft, 
with coved front, standing upon two square posts, forming the 
supports for three very depressed flat sided arches. The copper 
plates of this date are very deficient in architectural accuracy, 
but so far as can be judged from this one, the eastern screen is 
some century or more later than the other. There is no chancel 
arch. 

It is singular that a similar arrangement of screens has 
apparently existed at Axbridge — like Wedmore, a cruciform church 
— about five miles distant, but with the exceptions mentioned, the 
writer is not aware of any other instance, and would be glad to be 
informed of any similar cases which may be noticed, particularly 
in Somersetshire or other West of England churches. The 
arrangement would probably be confined to those of cruciform 
plan. No mention of any second screen is made in YioUet 
le Due, Bloxam, Parker, or other numerous works on gothic 
architecture which have been consulted ; or, with the exception 
above given, in the proceedings of the principal Societies. 

The north and south chapels are of 15th century date, but 

* Arch. Gamb., 4 Series, vol. ix., p. 334. s Hoare's Giraldus, vol. ii., p. 33. 
*Proc. Soc. Antiq., xii, 38. 7Meyrick'8 " Cardiganshire," p. 276. 



Church of St. Mary the Virgin, IVedmore. 183 

differ in detail, as do the low, wide, depressed arches opening to 
them from the chancel, and those communicating with the 
transepts. The north chapel has a fine panelled roof in which are 
paintings of angels, lines from the Te Deum, etc. This chapel 
is now lighted by a square-headed window of one quatre-foiled 
light on the east, and a four centred window of four trefoiled 
lights on the north. Under the latter window is a stone slab, 
6 feet 6 inches by 8 feet 2 inches, standing on modern supports. 
It may be an altar slab, but has been used as a tomb-stone, 
and has a marginal inscription to Robert Sherwell, Gent., of 
Blackford, in Wedmore Parish. None of the five crosses usual 
on an altar stone can be detected. At the south end of the east 
wall is a piscina under a trefoiled arch. The basin takes the 
form of five sides of an octagon, with the north and south sides 
prolonged, and there are four drain holes covered by a "four 
leaved flower " charged with a tudor rose. Above is a shallow 
shelf with engaged ends. 

The chapel, south of the chancel, is lighted on the east by the 
beautiful early decorated window previously described ; on the 
south, by a square-headed window of four cinquefoiled lights 
surmounted by a segmental arch. In the east corner of this 
window a small detached arch covers a piscina with cinquefoiled 
basin, but without shelf. The mouldings of the jamb of window 
are the double ogee. Under the east window is a very fine stone 
altar slab, 7 feet 6 inches by 2 feet II inches, and 7^ inches 
thick, the lower edge moulded. Four of the crosses are plainly 
visible. This stone was no doubt the former High Altar. It was 
found at the time of the recent restoration, buried under the 
stone on which the Communion table stood. North of the Altar 
is a small doorway. 

The transepts appear to have been divided both from the 
chapels and aisles by parclose screens. In the tower respond, at 
the west entrance of the south transept, outside the screen, there 
is a niche for a saint, or, possibly, a lamp, but it is much defaced. 
There are no signs of an altar in either transept. 

The nave and aisles, which are of considerable length and 
width, are separated by arcades of five bays. The pillars are 
lofty and well proportioned, but the bases have a somewhat 
clumsy effect. The caps are circular and floriated — ^a not 
unusual feature in Somersetshire work of the 15th century. The 



1 84 Clifton Antiquarian Club^ 

section of the shafts is very ordinary perpendicular, a sqaare with 
the angles cut into a wide shallow cavetto, and three-quarter 
shafts attached to the fiat faces. On the north sides of the first 
and second piers in the north arcade are marks probably of par- 
close screens, as if the two eastern bays of the north aisle had been 
enclosed as chapels. This arrangement was very frequent in 
England, and is still constantly found in Continental churches. 

There are doorways in the north and south aisles opposite each 
other, that on the north having a window over. There are three 
other windows in this aisle, one east and two west of the doorway, 
one at the west end of each of the nave and aisles, and two in the 
south aisle west of the porch. They have each four trefoiled 
lights, and the tracery is of plain, late perpendicular, character. 

The porch is exceptionally lofty, being formed of three stories — 
in fact, a low tower. The vicar states that, as far as living 
memory goes, there were always two rooms over the porch, but 
the writer is disposed to think that at one time it was open to 
what is now the second fioor, in the same manner as at Wraxall, 
in the same county, and that over the church door was one of 
the curious '' porch galleries," almost peculiar to this district, 
the use of which has never been fully explained. The niche now 
in the interior of the church over the south door, until the recent 
restoration, occupied a similar position outside, and would have 
stood over this gallery. There is a turret stair in the north-west 
corner, leading to the rooms above. Near the top of this stair is a 
loop in the aisle wall, deeply splayed on the south (or out) side, 
affording a view of the interior of the church in the direction of 
the High Altar, but not commanding it. This was probably the 
room of a sacristan or other custodian of the church, or, possibly, of 
a priest or anchorite. There is now no stoup or benetura in or near 
the porch, but until the restoration there was one of inferior 
workmanship on the right of, and close to the inner door. 

The interior doorway is of fine Early English work of two orders, 
with nook shafts of blue lias with floriated caps. The shafts are 
new. The door is furnished with hinges and ornamental bars of 
wrought iron, with curved heads of pecuUar design, the free ends 
of every bar being divided into five or more portions, which are 
arranged in as many curls. In square-headed nails it bears the 
date 1677, with JJ. c w below it. 

On the north side are the door and windows of the south-west 



Church of St. Mary the Virgin, IVedmore. 185 

chapel previously alluded to. This chapel is open to the church 
by two arches, supported in the middle by a quasi pillar composed 
of a piece of wall with moulded ends, the responds being of the same 
character. It is lighted by two very large Perpendicular windows of 
four trefoiled lights each, which occupy, practically, the whole of 
the south wall. Below the windows is a stone bench. In the 
south end of the east wall is a piscina under trefoiled arch. The 
basin (like that in the north chapel) takes the form of five sides 
of an octagon. In the centre is a defaced boss or flower. No 
shelf. The roof is panelled and of good design. 

Close to this chapel, and to the porch, is the font. It is of 
octagonal form, and, not improbably, the bowl, which is very large, 
and has been extensively repaired, is that of the original 15th 
century church. The basin is much larger than is usual in per- 
pendicular work, and it may well have been a square font with 
the angles cut off to form an octagon, and the lower edge moulded. 
At Chelvey, in this County, a square, late Norman font has been 
converted into an octagon, but there the Norman mouldings 
remain. The bowl stands on an octagonal shaft of panelled work, 
similar to the parapet of the church. There is a modern octagonal 
step and a standing-place for the minister. 

The roof of the nave has been extensively restored, but its 
principal features are old. It has moulded beams, with king and 
queen posts, and spandrels, wall beams resting on corbels carved 
with semi-grotesque heads, and cornice braces. The construction 
is not comformable to the arcade below it, and conveys the idea of 
a roof not designed for the present building. 

The pulpit is of good Jacobean design. In the upper divisions 
are blank panels with borders of grapes, vine leaves, &c., while 
in the panels below appear the thistle, fleur de lis, and groups of 
flowers conventionally treated. There was formerly a canopy or 
sounding board above, and a reading desk, of similar date (looking 
westward), below it. Behind the pulpit, in the north transept, is 
the entrance to the rood loft, long since destroyed. 

At the restoration of the church in 1881, there was found under 

the plaster on the wall at the back of the pulpit, a painting of St. 

Christopher, depicted, as usual, as a giant carrying the child 

Christ across a river. It is probably coeval with the nave, but 

has evidently been retouched, and, to a great extent, repainted 

more than once. The saint is represented in a tunic and cope- 

2 



1 86 Clifton Antiquarian Club, 

like upper garment, of. more ample form than is customary, and 
amongst the fishes below, a mermaid, holding a mirror, is disport* 
ing herself. On the shoulder of the infant Christ appears the 
dove, the representative of the Third Person of the Trinity. The 
figure portrayed above, holding up his hand in the attitude of 
blessing, must be intended for God the Father, although, singu- 
larly, he is drawn as a young man, with cross-staff, and pennon in 
the left hand. Taken alone this would doubtless be attributed to 
Our Saviour.' The fisherman seated on the bank, and the 
two curious ancient, two-masted ships, with high poop and 
forecastle, and castles in the tops, also the hermit with his lantern, 
should also be noticed. 

Monuments. — CoUinson gives an account of, and copies of the 
inscriptions from a large number of monuments, but there are 
none of any great antiquity, and few of more than purely local 
interest. 

The most ancient appeal's to be a stone coffin slab, now level 
with the floor of the chancel, which has been twice appropriated. 
In the part covering the head is the matrix of a brass. It 
formerly contained a small demi-figure of a priest with an in- 
scription and an oblong plate beneath. From the outline this may 
have been of the latter half of the 15th century. Below this 
matrix the stone has been cut in two and probably turned over, 
and there now appears an inscription to the memory of James 
Downton, a former vicar. 

At the east end of the south east chapel, under the stone altar, 
is lying a coffin-shaped pennant slab, which was found buried in 
the south-west chapel. It is 27 inches long, 13 inches broad at the 
head, and 9^ inches at the foot, and the edge, except at the head, 
has a plain chamfer. On the slab, in relief, is a cross with fleurs 
de lis at the terminations, and above the cross is the head of a 
girl with long flowing hair, bound with a fillet. There is no date 
or inscription, but the form of the cross indicates the 15th 
century ; and the flowing hair and fillet that the lady represented 
was unmarried.® The face and a portion of the cross have scaled 
off, but the pieces are preserved, and it is understood to be the 
vicar's intention to have them carefully cemented in their proper 

' A good lithograph of this painting is given by the vicar in hia " Wedmore 
Chronicle," vol. i., p. 34. 

^ Haines' Manual of Hon. Brasses, part 1., ccxiii. 



Church of St. Mary the Virgin, iVedinore. 187 

place. This slab is a very interesting character, and of an 
unusual type in this district. It is worthy of careful 
preservation. 

In the vicarage garden are portions of two sepulchral slabs 
which formed part of the filling in of the window east of the north 
chapel, recently re- opened. They have evidently formed part of 
one or more altar slabs, the distinctive crosses being visible. 
They have both portions of marginal inscriptions, now almost 
illegible, and one has a portion of a Latin cross with its 
Calvary. 

At the east end of the north chapel there are the remains of a 
monument, which was formerly of very much larger size and 
stood at the east sidie of the north transept. On it . are brass 
plates, the inscriptions on which are of some interest, and 
although they are given in CoUinson it is worth while to repeat 
them here. On a third plate is the efllgj" of George Hodges 
(c. 1680), which should be noticed as being probably the latest 
instance of military costume on any brass in England. All 
armour, except the gorget still worn by officers in the French 
army, has disappeared ; and the buff coat and modern sword hilt 
of the Caroline period will be noticed.® 

" Sacred to the memory of Captain Thomas Hodges, of the 
County of Somerset, esq., who at the siege of Antwerp, aboute 
1583, with unconquered courage wonne two ensigns from the 
enemy, where receiving his last wound, he gave three legacies : 
his soule to his Lord Jesus, his body to be lodged in Flemish 
earth, his heart to be sent to his dear wife in England. 

Here lies his wounded heart, for whome 

One kingdom was too small a roome : 

Two kingdoms therefore have thought good to part 

So stout a body and so brave a heart." 

** The effigies of George Hodges, esq., who lived many 
years at this place, in a pious and religious maimer, whose 
better part was wrapt into the best place, and his mortal 
lyeth heere interred in the sepulchre of his grandfather and 
father." 

There are eight bells. The inscriptions and other particulars, 
as given below, are extracted, as to the first and second, from " The 

9 This effigy is figured at Page 39 as an illustration to Col. Bramble's 
paper on Mcdisoval Armour. 



8 


1 4 


8 


2 11 


Diameter. 
37 in. 



ft 



t> 



f « 



1 88 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Wedmore Chronicle," as to the remainder, from EUacombe's 
Church Bells of Somerset. 

Weigbt 
cwt. qn. lbs. 

1 J. TAYLOR & Co., BELL FOUNDERS. LOUGHBOROUGH, 

A oox •■ •■ •• •• «• •• 

2 As 1 with addition of PRESENTED BY J. F. BAILEY, 1881 

3 Mr. IOHN. tucker. Mr. WILLIAM. BROWN. CHURCH- 

WARDENS. 

MY. TREBLE. VOICE. MAKES. HEARTS. REIOICE. 

4 O. LORD. HOWE. GLORIOUS. ARE. THY. WORKS. 1705 . . 39 

(Coins impressed Chas. II). BILBIE. CAST. ME. 

5 Mr. IOHN. TUCKER. Mr. WM. BROWN. CHURCH- 

WARDENS. 1772 .. ... .. .. 41i 

6 B. BILBIE. CAST. ME. 1705. GEORGE. STONE. GABRIEL. 

IVYLEAFE .. .. .. .. .. 45J 

7 IOHN. BARROW. GEORGE. GREEN. CHURCHWARDENS. 

EDWAD. EDWARDS. lAMES. BILBIE. CHEWSTOKE. 
FECIT. 1801 .. .. .. .. .. 50i 

8 I. TO. THE. CHURCH. THE. LIVING. CALL. AND. TO. THE. 

GRAVE. DOTH. SUMMONS. ALL. WM. BILBIE. FECIT. 
PETER. EVENS. & GEORGE. VOWLES. CHURCH- 
WARDENS. 1775. WM. BILBIE. FECIT. .. .. 57 

D 



In the Register of Bishop John de Drokensford (vol. 1 of the 
Somerset Record Society) the following entries with respect to 
Wedmore occur. 

Fol. 271a. : — Bp. to Sub-dean. The Dean's estate at Zelemore, 
in Wedmore, having been damaged, buildings pulled down, and 
goods taken in open day, publish a monition to the effect that 
this contempt of ecclesiastical rights is mortal sin incurring 
excommunication. There are persons unknown deceiving our 
simple peasants. When names are known use our power for 
correction. 10 Kal. Nov. 1826. 

Fol. 271b (latter portion Fol. 246a by misplacement) Bp. 
to Sub-dean. Your certificate shews that two servants of 
Abbot Adam, of Glastonbury, and two monks, entered in 
open day on Dean's land at Zelemore, destroyed cottages and 
seized eflfects, thereby the Abbot and four others have incurred 
Excomm. ; cite them to show cause " quare non " and if 
contumacious, pronounce sentence in this cause, which is pro- 
moted both " ex-officio " and also " ad instantiam Decani." 

Banwell 8 Id. Nov. 1326. 

Bp. to Vic. of Cheddar and two Cathedral Vicars. Recital of 
above proceedings, and a Commission to cite Abbot and four 



Church of St. Mary the Virgin, IVedmore. 189 

accomplices to Wells Consistory, at Dean's suit, next law day 
after St. Edm, to answer ** quare non." Wells same day. 

(The result does not appear). 

In the Rejyort on the Manuscripts of Wells Cathedral, edited by 

' the Rev. J. A. Bennett, F.S.A., for the Historical Manuscripts 

Commission, will be found numerous references to the church 

and parish of Wedmore. The following are extracts, in some 

cases slightly epitomised. 

In the Lib. Alb. I fol. 12. " Godefrid de Wedmore " is one of 
the attesting w^itnesses to a grant of land at North Curri to St. 
Andrew and the church at Wells. 

3rd year from translation of St. Thomas Martyr. 

** Same, fol. 18. In the Charter of Bishop Robert de ordinatione 
prebendarum. We therefore make of Wedmoreland six prebends 
and the Deanery, and we assign the church, &c., of Wedmore 
to the Sub-dean." A. D. 1136. 

,, fol. 34. Walt, de Wedmore is an attesting witness to the 
grant of certain houses to be a canonical house. A. D. 1235. 

,, fol. 51. By Charter of Bp. Josceline, the Rectory of 
Merk is, with the consent of the Rector and Chapter, annexed to 
the Dean's Prebend of Wedmore. 

„ fol. 58. In Charter of Hen. I to Godfrey, Bp. of Bath, 
*' Merk in Wedmore is of the Bishop's demesne." 

Hen. II to Ivo the Dean of free 

warren in Wedmore, 

M. Regina addressed to W. de 

Moiun Vicecomes, &c. At her request Osbert Eps. Essecestrensis 
has granted to Bishop Giso the church of Wedmore, to which he 
has often laid claim. 

Order made by Bishop Josceline for the good of the church 
which he loves so well. 

The church of Wedmore which had belonged to the Sub-deanery 
to become a Prebend of the Deanery and to pay to a Vicar in the 
church of Wells four marks a year. Pontif . anno 4th 

(in exchange for Woky). 

" Same, fol. 58 in dors. Charter of Bp. Josceline with consent 
of Dean and Chapter. The revenues of vacant prebends except 

(Note.) — The Bishop takes those of the Deanery, including Wedmore, and of 
other offices. 



190 Clifton Antiquarian Club, 

that of Wedmore to belong to the Chapter. Pontificat anno 8th. 

„ fol. 59. Bobert Malherbe, son of Henry de Mudesleg, 
quit claims to Peter the Dean and successors a half virgate in 
Wedmore, in Bemestone Hundred. 

„ fol. 119 in dors. Bad. de Windelzore, Canon and Preb. 
inducted to Wedmore 4th portion. 1818. 

,, fol. 148. Prebends of Wedmore, 4th and 2nd absent 
from general convocation of church at Wells, '* qui fuerunt extra 
regnum." 

„ fol. 159 in dors. Insp. and Conf. by Chapter of a grant 
made by the Dean J. de Godelee of lands in Wedmore, &c. Many 
details of lands and names of persons. 1822. 

„ fol. 171 in dors. Conf. of Grant of lands in Wedmore by 
the Dean. Names of persons and places. 1825. 

,, fol. 178 in dors. Insp. by D. and C. of a final concord 
between Bp. Walter and Dean Godelee, with regard to certain 
rights in Wedmore, Blakeford and Baggeley. 

,, fol. 183. D. and C. appoint John Hilebond receiver of 
gifts for Cathedral fabric. Stephen de Wedmore one of sureties. 

1829. 

„ fol. 184 in dors. Agreement under which Dean might 
enclose 600 acres in Wedmore Moor. 1380. 

„ fol. 195 in dors. The homage of Wedmore and Modeslee 
(Mudgley) prove that John de Aschebury, proctor for Dean R de 
Bury, received from the Exs. of John de Godelee (late Dean), 
" nomine implementi," 24 oxen for 3 carrucse, each valued at 
18s. 4d. ; also as implements for the church land, 2 oxen, worth 
26s. 8d. ; 2 afl&ri worth 20b. One bull worth 12s., one cow lOs., 
one boar 8s. 4d., one sow 2s. Summa i£20 14s. Od. 

Also for dilapidations in the buildings, £15s. 10s. 
Also one plough bound with iron, with a hempen rope ; one 
carruca bound with iron, another with all its belongings, with 
8 men and 2 iron chains of the length sufficient for 8 oxen. Two 
tables and tressells in the halL 
A similar list for Modeslee. 

„ fol. 220. Val. of Prebends to fix minimum price at 
which Escheator might sell proceeds of benefices during the first 
year after death of Canon. Wedmore jB40. 

„ fol. 250. Presentation to the Vicarage of Wedmore of 
John Browning by Dean S. Pympel, Dec. 15th, 1361, 



Church of St. Mary the Virgin, IVedmore. 191 

I Ah, Albus III. fol. 327 in dors. Grant by Nich. Carent Dean 
of reversion of Ten. and Lands in Wedmore, and confirm, 
by Chapter. 1468. 

„ fol. 449 in dors. Mark annexed to Preb. of 

Wedmore. 

Large Vol. marked D fol. 44. Appmt. by Thos. Crumwell, 
miles dominas Crumwell deeanus with consent of C. of W. 
Butler to be bailiff of Bempston Hundred ; to have custody of 
park at Wedmore and also woods of the Hundred. 

,, fol. 121 in dors. Warrant by Dean fitz William 

for Thomas Clerke armiger, to have every year ** unam damam " in 
summer, and "unam damam" in winter from the park at 
Wedmore. June 1st. 35 Hen. VIII. 

Vol. E a continuation of Vol. D as far as A.D. 1565, 
fol. 44. 

Indenture between the D. of Somerset and the Bp. by which 
the Bp. sells to the D. the palace at Wells, manors of Wells, 
Westbury, the Hundred of Wells, park at Westbury and all 
manner of wild beasts in it with appurts. 

In consideration D. pays Bp. i*400 and grants, his mansion 
commonly called the Dean's House of Wells, manor,' advowson 
and hundred of West Coker, boroughs of Stogursey and Welling- 
ton, certain lands worth .i60 2s. Hid. a year, park of Wedmore 
and the church and chapel, and vicarage of Mark, also annuity of 
£VJ from M. of Glastonbury. 10 Dec. 4 Edw. VI. 

Confirmed by D. and C. Dec. 29th, 1550. 

The are other entries not set out in the printed report. 

In a Vol. of Chapter AcU. 1635—1644. 

P. 97, Mr. Humphrey Sydenhan, installed as Preb. of Wed- 
more III. June 23, 1643. 

Page 272 of the Eeport is set out ; — 

A surrender by Wm. Fitzwilliam, Dean of Wells, to Edw. VI. 
of the office of Dean and certain lands and manors including 
Wedmore. Mar. 13th. 1 Edw. VI. 

P. 281 under the head of Escheatory Accounts ; — 

In the Roll for 1372. Received from the Prebend of Wedmore 
II. vacant by the death of Roger Wyle, 41. 

In the same Roll under the head of debts due ; — 

40 1. from the Prebend of Wedmore, at the first vacancy caused 
by the death of John Carleton, anno 60^ 



192 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Certain sums axe distributed ; — To the Prebend of Wedmore 
n. 41. 

In the Fabrick Roll for the year 1457 (p. 290), appears : — 

For reading the Epistle when certain Stalls were vacant ; — 
Wedmore II., for two terms, 20d.; Wedmore III. and IV., for three 
terms, 2s. 6d. each. 

Amongst the miscellaneous Charters, Nos. 811 — ^814., p. 802, 
about Bents — " at la Thele in Wedmore." 

(The writer desires to acknowledge the courteous and valuable assistance in the 
preparation of the foregoing paper, which he has received from the the Vicar, the 
Bev. Sydenham H. A. Hervey, and from the Editor). 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 193 



indent Bristol documents 

NOS. VI. AND VII. 



VI.— Keinilattons! of tfte l^esitrp of ^t Cf)omad, 

in 1563. 

CSomnnaciTBD bt tek Bev. C. 8. TAYLOR, M.A., Vicab. 

VII.— Beffulationd oC x\it ^(dtrp of ^t* J^tepb^n. 

m 1524. 

Communicated by Alderman F. F. FOX. 

(Read November 24th, 1887.) 

[It is only necessary to say as an introduction to these documents, that 
the paper on the Regulations of St. Thomas' Vestry was read at a meeting of the 
Club held on November 24th, 18S7, to which meeting Mr. F. F. Fox very kindly 
sent a copy of the Regulations of St. Stephen's Vestry, which were also read. 
Mr. Fox also permitted me to add the notes on the St. Stephen's document which 
follow it, in order that the relation between the two sets of rules and their bearing 
on the early history of the Vestries of the City churches might be made more 
apparent. C. S. T.] 

No. VL 

CoNSTiTTJTiONS made and ordained by the proctors and major sort 
of the parishioners of St. Thomas within Bristowe, and fore 
proctors of the same parish church concluded at a Vestry there 
holden within the same parish church the xxth day of January, 
Anno Dm. 1562, to be observed and obeyed as a Law of all those 
that from henceforth shall be chosen proctors of the said parish 
church hereafter for ever by the ordinance of these men whose 
names be here underwritten. 

First it is ordained that and if any of the ancient proctors 
being admonished of the proctors for the time being to appear in 
the Vestry and they obstinately refuse the same without a lawful 
cause shall forfeit unto the church for every such default 
money — xiid , 



194 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Secondly it is ordained that the new proctors be chosen every 
year upon the Sunday before St. James' day and publication 
thereof to be made by the curate the same day unto the 
parishioners and the same ordinance to have a continuance 
for ever. 

Thirdly it is ordained that the old proctors shall not only 
deliver unto the new proctors within xiiii days after they be 
chosen all the keys appertaining unto the proctors, and also such 
goods of the church as they have charge of by inventory, but also 
four pounds ten shillings which goeth from proctors to proctors. 
And for non-doing the same the old proctors shall forfeit unto 
the church every of them five shillings except they can shew 
reasonable cause at the next Vestry, and by the same Vestry 
be eased of their fine. 

Fourthly, it is ordained that the old proctors shall not only 
bring in their account unto the parishioners in writing erased (at 
or of this side the end of nine months) inserted (the Monday next 
after St. Andrew's day) after they be discharged of their office. 
But also shall presently make payment of all such sums of money 
as they shall be found indebted upon the foot of their account, 
which moneys shall be forthwith transported by the proctors for 
the time being and the assistance of the parish into the treasure 
coflfer, there to remain for the necessities of the church and 
reparations of the lands. Which coffer hath iii locks, and three 
keys, of the which iii keys, the one remaineth with the proctors 
for the time being, and the other two in the hands of two of the 
Ancientest of the parish. And for not bringing in their aforesaid 
account and moneys the said old proctors shall forfeit unto the 
church every of them xxs. 

And further it is allowed that the proctors at their account 
shall have allowed xls. for their convyding, and every proctor 
shall pay his groat. Agreed August 4, 1579. 

Fifthly, it is ordered that any proctors for their time being 
shall not bestowe any moneys upon the reparacions of the church 
or church lands, neither grant any lease of the church land without 
the consent of a Vestry. And if they do the lease shall stand voyd 
and the monies so bestowed upon their own cost and charges. 

Sixthly, it is ordained that the proctors for their time being 
shall do their diligence in gathering up the church rent, and all 
other the church profits, as darks' wages, moneys for pews and 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 195 

bellsy and other revenues coming and growing towards the 
church to the uttermost of their power. 

Seventhly, it is ordained that any proctors for their time being 
shall not put in or take out of the almshouse any of the 
alms people without the consent of a Vestry ; if there be that be 
ungodly, uncharitable and unquiet, having three admonitions of 
the proctors and will not amend, that then it shall be lawful for 
the proctors to displace them. 

Eighthly, it is ordered that this great book of account with all 
other books of accounts shall be kept and remain in the treasure 
coffer from time to time. 

Ninthly, it is ordained that the proctors for the time being 
shall whether they hfive just occasion or none occasion call 
four Vestries by the year, that is to say every quarter one, 
and for non-doing of the same they shall forfeit to the church for 



CVCIJ DUUll UClOrUlb 

John Brampton 


1544 


liU. 

Michael Sowdley - 


1566 


W. Belsher - 


1552 


ElCHARD AliKYN 


1563 


Phitjp Captrell 




William Gbbbes 


1558 


Edmund Rogers 


1560 


William Sutton 


1559 


BiCHARD BlBWETT - 


1561 


Bobert Burgess 


1561 


Nicholas Blake 


1564 


Bobert Ai.flatt 


1568 


BicHARD Woodcock • 


1560 


John Hamond 





The dates placed after the names are those of the years in 
which the person named served the ofl&ce of Warden. It will be 
noticed that they extend back through the whole period of the 
Beformation. The accounts of 1544, when John Brampton 
served, are the oldest that we possess ; of course they contain 
entries relating to the old unreformed service of the Church 
of England, receipts for Cross and bells, and payments for the 
Sepulchre light, for bearing of the copes in procession, for holy 
water springalls, and other matters of the same kind. William 
Belsher had served in the last year of King Edward and the first 
of Queen Mary, he had received back the bells from the King's 
Commissioners, and had paid for the setting up of a new Bood. 
Michael Sowdley comes down as a man of evil odour ; he it was 
who broke all the windows containing '' Trinities and Crucifixes," 
and took down the old cross in the churchyard ; however, to 
make amends, he restored to the church the old Latin Bible • 



196 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

The meeting at which these ordinances were set forth was 
not an ordinary vestry meeting, for several of those who 
signed had not served the office of warden, but rather as the 
expression, "proctors and major sort," implies a gathering of 
the chief of the parishioners. And no doubt the ordinances 
were not a new set of constitutions framed at that time, but 
rather a declaration of customs which had been long observed 
but which it seemed well to place on record at a time when 
the old order in things ecclesiastical was changing and giving 
place to a new one. 

It is a very remarkable thing that these ordinances are strictly 
followed so far as the altered circumstances of the times will 
permit, and yet their observance is entirely owing to the tradition 
of successive generations of vestrymen ; the very existence of 
these orders was, I believe, unknown. Very hkely their traditional 
observance had come down from a long series of vestrymen 
to those who framed the orders. 

The normal type of a City Vestry in Bristol is a self-elected 
body, into which a member is admitted by election to the office 
of junior warden, the next year he serves as senior warden, and 
continues to be a member so long as he retains an interest, 
by ownership or occupation, in the parish. He cannot resign. 
The Incumbent is a member by custom in right of his induction, 
by which he was admitted to the temporal privileges of his 
benefice. 

By the first rule it is clear that the Vestry was composed then, 
as now, of the old wardens ; also that then, as now, the right and 
duty of summoning meetings lay with the wardens. 

By the second rule it is clear that the new wardens were chosen 
by the old wardens as they are now; custom over-riding the 
right of election both of the vicar and the parishioners. The 
election made by the Vestry is still declared to the people during 
the service on the Sunday after the vestry meeting ; when I first 
went to the parish I was unaware of the custom and omitted to 
give the usual notice, but I was at once reminded of my duty by 
the clerk. 

It is worthy of remark that down to the year 1593 the wardens 
were chosen just as they are in most parishes now, to serve 
for their year, very rarely serving again in the next year ; but 
from 1593 onwards the junior warden of one year has always 



' Ancient Bristol Documents. \cfi 

served as senior warden in the year following. It would be 
interesting to see whether a similar change of custom occurred in 
other Bristol parishes about that timer and if possible to trace 
the cause of the change. 

It is curious that of the three keys of the treasure coflfer only 
one was to be kept by the wardens, the other two by t\yo of the 
leading parishioners. We may notice that the vicar is nowhere 
mentioned in the rules ; I believe the cause is accidental, that he 
was at the time non-resident. The Wells registers are deficient 
at the time, and the name of the vicar in 1562 is unknown ; 
I suspect that Arthur Saule, who was Prebendary of Bedminster 
in Salisbury Cathedral, had appointed himself to the vicarage, 
but he was Prebendary also of Bristol, and can have had little 
time for parochial matters. In 1600, Samuel Davies, Vicar, had 
apparently come into residence, and from that time onwards he 
and his successors always sign the Vestry minutes first, and have 
been chairmen of St. Thomas' Vestry, though not at St. 
Mary EedcliflF. 

It is remarkable that it is said that the balance in the hands of 
the wardens is to be conveyed to the treasure coflfer " with the 
assistance of the parish." This direction, coupled with the fact 
that two of the keys were kept "in the hands of two of the 
ancientest of the parish," seems to show that the parishioners 
outside the Vestry were not altogether ignored with regard to the 
conduct of Vestry business. They took no part in it, but their 
interest in it was recognised. 

Moreover, in our oldest lease, which bears date March 8, 1451, 
and which conveys the property on which Warry's Court, in 
Redcliflf Street, now stands, to Richard Foster for 36 years, at an 
annual rent of 6s. 8d., the property is granted by John Burton 
and Matthew Sherwyn " ex assensu et consensu omnium paro- 
chianorum ecclesiae parochialis St. Thomae, Bristol." Of course, 
in their literal meaning the words cannot be true, indeed, a general 
meeting of parishioners would be a most unfit body to regulate 
the Church property, but they seem to imply that some sort of 
interest in the management of that property was recognised as 
belonging to the general body of the parishioners. No such 
clause has now been used for at least three centuries. 

The Convydings, or feasts, form a prominent feature in the 
vestry accounts of the period. In 1566, on the occasion of 



198 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

the sealing of the lease of the new water pipe, the Vestry provided 
for the parishioners " a convyding of wine, fruit, biscuits, 
caraways, and other things " at a cost of vs. ixH- But any excuse 
was good enough for a drinking, from the presenting of a 
dead Chantry Priest to a Bishop's Visitation; Mr. Thomas 
Brent, in the year 1746 spent ITs. 6d. '* in washing down the 
oath " of admission I suppose. It is to be hoped that the 
operation was performed to his satisfaction. 

The Almshouse referred to in rule 7 is the Almshouse in 
Long Kow, commonly known as Burton's Almshouse, which 
is still under the control of the Vestry. It is mentioned in 1385, 
m the will of Walter Derby, and there is no reason to doubt the 
tradition which connects its foundation \^ith Simon de Burton, 
c : 1292 ; at any rate, it existed before the time of John Burton, 
who died in 1455. 

The chief points of interest in the rules are these, that they 
show that the customs of the Vestry of St. Thomas are now almost 
exactly what they were 825 years ago ; and that they suggest 
the question whether the customary ix)wers which even then 
belonged to the Vestry, had not grown out of a pre\'iou8 state 
of things when the parishioners had possessed a greater interest 
in the management of the affairs of the Church than they did in 
1568. In other words they raise the question which is answered 
by the earlier constitutions of St. Stephen's which follow, whether 
the Vestries of the City parishes were not originally open. 



No. VII. 

In the name of God, amen. In the year of our Lorde God 
d.m.cccccxxiiijto (A.D. 1524), and the xvth daye off August 
m the xiijth yere of the reig(n)e of oure sovereign lorde kynge 
Henry the viijth. Hyt is accordyd inacted and agreede by 
Thomas Harson, parson of the parishe churche of Seynt Stephans 
the Martyr yn Bristoll, within the diocese of Worcestur, Jhon 
Savage and Hew Jonys, proctors of the same churche, Robert a 
Vyntre, Wyllyam Goodwyn, John Harbarde, Davithe Vayhan, 
Willyam Tynye, Jerome Grene, Edmond Bodye, John Amayn, 
Hew Norishe, Wyllyam Nashe, Edward Jonys, John Barnard, 
Nicholas Alwyne, Rycharde Vayhan, Bycharde Ballob, John 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 199 

Gane, Kichaard Williams, Nicholas Morton, John Eede, John 
Thomas, John Hathwey, Harrye Hoper, with all the whole assent 
ande consent of the whole parishonars of the seyd parishe of 
seynt Stephans aforesaid, That all these articles and com- 
posicyons folowinge concernynge the good rule and order of the 
said churche shall be well and trewlye observide ande kept from 
thens forthe for ever more, upon payne and forfetture oflf these 
penaltiese folowynge hereafter: — 

First, hyt is agreed that the pi-yncypall proctor for the 
tyme beinge, the whiche dothe receyve al maner of receytes 
ande casualtese^ unto the said churche belongynge or com- 
mynge, whatsoever they be, shall brynge in his trew 
accomptys of all maner receytys and chargis that belongithe 
to the said churche by the fyrst mundaye folowynge after the 
puryficacyon of our blessed lady the vyrgyn, then and there to 
make his accomptis before the whole parishonars there aperinge, 
and there to discharge himself ofif all suche treasure and goodys 
as he hath or hadd in his kepynge the sayde yere, and also such 
receytis of rentis and casualtese as he hathe receyvid off the 
said churche in his yere beinge; and he that dothe make 
defaute to performe and kepe the articles shall forfet and paye 
xl. s. sterling, whereof half shall remayne to our moder churche 
of Worcetur ande the other halfe unto the churche of Seynt 
Stephans aforesaid ; agaynst the whiche daye of accompt the 
curate shall wame al the whole parishonars in generall to appear 
thean and there in the sayd churche, and there to receyve here 
ande see the said accomptis, which accomptis to be gevyn at viij 
of the clok in the mornynge ; ande every man that faylithe, 
being lawfully warnyd, except an excuse resonable for his defaute, 
shall paye forte pens sterlynge as hit is rehersyd afore ; and 
thean and there the sayde proctor to be dischargyd, and the 
second proctor to contynnew as pryncypall proctor and to have 
a felowe chosyn thenne the same daye to be seconde proctor 
withe hym ; and he that thenn refusithe to be assocyate or 
felow with the seyd proctor shall paye xx. s. in maner and 
forme before sayd. Also it is condescended^ and agreed that 

' The casualties would be such miscellaneous receipts as payments for pews, 
for the cross and bells, or for the clerkb* wages. 

' * Condescend, to agree, East. This is also an archaism. Halliwell, 
Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial words. 



200 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

there shall be do proctor nor proctors let out no tenement 
nor tenementis of the sayd churche for yeres or Ijvds without 
the advyse ande consent of the pai'son and xij of the princypall 
parishonars of the same parishc, or the most parte of the same, 
and m the contrarye doynge that he or they that so dothe shall 
paye xli sterlinge to the use of the churchis aforesayd. Also 
that no proctor of any chauntry of the sayd churche let out 
nether housys nor landis for yeres nether lyvis without the 
assent and consent of the parson ande xij of the most honest 
men of the seyde parishe, or the most part of themme ; and he 
or they that dothe the contrarye shal paye xli, in maner and 
forme afore sayde. Also hit is agreed thate at any tyme that 
the seyde parsonne or the seyde proctors or theyre successors 
with xij of the pryncypall menne of the seyde parishe, or the 
most part of themme, that at all tymes whenne there shal be any 
mocyon to be movid for to cesse or taske* the ij clerkys wagys or 
tabuls,* or any wother reasonable thynge that* shal be to the 
honour of God and our blessyd Lady and oflF Saynt Stephan, 
necessarye to be had for the sayde church at all tymes, the sayde 
parson proctors and the xij princypall menne or the most part of 
themme doth cesse or taske the seyd parishonars, every manne 
to obey thereto and to performe the cessynge or taskynge, and he 
or they that doth or will denye this act shall paye vj s. and viij d. 
sterlynge in maner and forme aforesayde, tociens quociens ; and 
that no manner of manne shall dispyse no proctor or proctors for 
requyrynge of the churche dewtese or clarkys wagys or theyr 
tabulls, upon payne of forfetture xij. d, tociens quociens, to the 
use afore sayd. Also that any manne of the sayde parishe or 
of any other parishe holdynge or kepynge any tenement or 
tenementis that hath beyne dwellynge housis in tymes past 
within the sayde parishe, that thenne he or they that so dothe 
shall paye the clerkes wagys and here the church taske as wother 
men dothe, and he that denyeth shall paye forte pens, tociens 
quociens, as is afore rehersid. Also that the seyde proctor or 
proctors, or theyr deputys, at every pryncypall feast shal be redy 

3* Task. (2) Taske that a price gadereth, tavXx, Halliwell. To task was 
to tax. 

^Tabuls. Probably the lists of contributors to the clerks* wages or Easter 
offerings. There are several such lists in the wardens* accounts of S. Thomas 
Church. 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 20 1 

to sett on the copys on the prystys at evenyngesonge, matens, 
processyons, and hye masse, withe chyldryn to here theam upp, 
upon payne of forfetture of iiij. d. toeiens quociens, except an 
excuse reasonable provyd by the parson or his depute, to the use 
aforeseyd. Also that every proctor or proctors of every chauntrye 
within the seyde churche shall make theyre accomptis upon the 
Munday after Candelmas daye afore sayd, or the morow after 
folowynge, upon payne of xl. s., sterlinge in maner afore seyd. 
Also, hit is agreed that ande yff hyt happyn the parson or 
proctors or theyre successors att any tyme do command or send 
for any of the seyd parishonars to have communicacion with 
themm, that theann they to comme and tarye tyl syche com- 
municacion or accomptys be ended, for the behave and profet 
of the seyde churche, and he or they that commythe not and 
taryethe not the seyd accomptis or communicacion shall paye 
ij. s., toeiens quociens, as is afore seyde, except a lawful excuse 
provid by the parson or his depute. Also, and yff any of the 
seyd parishonars dothe feyn himself seke or goo from whome 
after that they be lawfully warnyd, that thenn every of themm that 
so dothe shall paye xij. d, toeiens quociens, to the use afore seyd. 
Ande also yff hit happyn that the sayd proctor or proctors fynd 
any of the parishonars in any suche faute, that thean to present 
him or them to the ordynarye of the seyd diocese to sewe for the 
seyd penaltie, and in the contrarye doynge the sayd proctor or 
proctors or theyr successors to paye xij. d., toeiens quociens, ut 
predicitur. Also hyt is inactyd that the parson and proctors and 
theyre successors shall order at everye pryncypall ande double 
feast a decon ande subdecon, to be vesturyd and processyon and 
hye masse of the seyd feastis, upon payne of iiij. d, toeiens 
quociens, to the use afore sayd, except there be a reasonable 
excuse hadde and provyd. Also that the seyde proctors and 
theyre successors shall kepe an obyte for Water TyncoU, yerely, 
by the prystys and clerkys of the sayd churche, upon the xyjth 
daye of Marche, ande an other obyte for all benefactors and 
good doers, to be kept the ixth daye after Ester daye, upon payne 
of forfettyng of vi. s., viij. d., toeiens quociens, to the use afore 
sayd. Also that the seyd proctors and theyre successors shall 
yerely present thys present wrytynge, with all wother wrytingis 
of feoffamentis, at the seyd daye of accomptys, that new feoffors 

maye be made, yf nede requyre, acordynlye to the tenor of our 

8 



±oi Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

wryting is, upon payne of forfettynge xx. d. tociens quociens, to 
the use afore sayd. Also hitt is agreed that all suche money as 
belong to the seyd church or chauntys, withe other specyall 
wrytyngis and our common seale, to be put in a cofin in the sayd 
church, havynge iij. lockys, and the parson or his depute to have 
one key, ande an auncyant man of the parishe to have an other 
key, ande the pryncipall proctor to have the thyrd key, for the 
save custody of the premysis. Moreover hyt is agreed, and for a 
fynall conclusyon determyned, over and above all and synglar 
payneys and penaltese above rehersed, that we the fomamyd 
parson, proctors, withe all the whole parishonars afore sayd, or 
the more parte thereofif, bynd us and our successors, parsons, 
proctors, and parishonars, for tyme beynge, for evermore, by 
these presentys, to abyyd and obey all maner of customs of 
wholy churche or any other lawfuU payns to be fulminated ande 
executed against us, for the observans ande the performynge of 
the premyssis, at the jugement of my lorde the by shop of 
Worcestur, our ordynarye, or in his abzens the vicar generall for 
the tjnne beynge. In witnesse whereof and performang per- 
petuall of these our seyd agrementis, consentis, and actys, ande 
penaltese, ande every of them, welle ande trewly to be observed, 
fulfylled, and kept, we the seyd parson, proctors, and parishonars 
hathe put to our commyn scale the day ande yere above expresszd. 
Ande furthermore, for a more sure and stronge coniirmacion of 
the premysis, we have instantly deyned ande reciuyred Master 
John Bell, Doctor oflF Comon, now beynge vicar generall of thys 
diocese, to confyrme and put to his authorite and seale of his 
office to these our present actes and wrytnge. 

Et nos Johannes Bell,^ decretorum doctor, reverendi in Christo 
patris et domini, domini Jeronimi,® Dei et Apostolici Sedis gratia 
Wigornensis Episcopi, in remotis agentis, vicarius in spiritualibus 

s John Bell, LL.D., was Archdeacon of Gloucester in 1518 and 1589 ; he 
obtained the prebend of Demford in Lichfield Cathedral in 1526, and the 
prebends of Nomianton in Southwell, Asgardby in Lincoln, and Beculverland in 
S. Paul's in 1528. On the resignation of Bishop Latimer, in 15S9, ho was 
appointed to the See of Worcester, and it was during his episcopate that the 
diocese of Bristol was formed ; he resigned the See on November 17, 1543, and 
dying on August 11, 1556, he was buried in Clerkenwell Church, London. 

^ This was Jerome de Qhinucci, who had been appointed to the See by the Pope 
in 1522 ; both he and Lorenzo Campegio, Bishop of Salisbury, were deprived of 
their Sees by Act of Parliament in 1535 on account of non-residence. 



Ancient Bristol Documents. 203 

generalis, ad specialem rogatum et requisitionem supradictorum 
rectoris, Iconomorum/ et parochianorum, seu saltem majoris et 
sanioris partis eorundem, primitus et diligenter examinatis per 
nos matura cum deliberatione omnibus et singulis articulis, 
clausulis, conditionibus, ac penis supradictis ad firmiorem eon- 
firmationem et corroborationem premissorum, auctoritate nostra 
ordinaria premissa omnia et singula approbamus, et quantum in 
nobis est confirmamus, ac eisdem omnibus melioribus via modo et 
forma eflScatioribus quibus de jure possumus, auctoritatem 
nostram ordinariam impartimus Sigillumque quo in hujus modi 
vicariatus officio ad presens utimur apponi et communiri fecimus. 
Datum apud Corinium® quo ad sigillationem xvii^ die Decembris 
Anno Domini millesimo quingentesimo vigesimo quarto. 

These constitutions shew two bodies of men as interested in 
the regulation of the affairs of St. Stephen's Church ; first, a 
general assembly of all parishioners ; secondly, a small body 
composed of the rector, the wardens, and twelve principal men, 
in whose hands the actual management of the church business lay. 

The general assembly, or open Vestry, as we should call it, was 
an essential part of the parochial organization. '^ All the whole 
parishioners in general " were to appear in the church at the 
summons of the curate, for the passing of the warden's accounts, 
which accounts it is distinctly declared they are to ** receive, hear, 
and see ; " the people were not merely permitted to be present 
while the accounts were gone through by a select Vestry, but so 
necessary was their presence considered to a complete audit that 
every one who absented himself after having been duly sum- 
moned subjected himself to the infliction of a fine. For the 
warden was " to make his accounts before the whole parishioners 
there appearing." 

Again, it was in their open meeting of all the parishioners, that 
the new warden should be chosen, who would serve as fellow to 

1 By the 26th Canon of the Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451, it was ordered that 
an ceconomus, or steward, should be chosen out of the clergy of each diocese, who 
should manage its revenues, and the title was frequently given to the steward or 
treasurer of a cathedral or religious house in later times ; it was thus a natural 
one to apply to a churchwarden who had the control of the property of a parish 
church. 

' The word in the original is a rather obscure contraction, but I believe it 
represents ** Corinium," the old name for Cirencester. 



204 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

the junior warden of the preceding year now promoted to the 
post of senior. 

Furthermore, the parishioners not only possessed the privileges 
which they have since lost of attendance at vestry meetings, and 
at the election of wardens, but they have also been relieved of 
the duty of acting as counsellors to the rector or wardens. At 
least, if we are so to understand the clause which inflicts a fine 
of two shilUngs on any parishioner who shall refuse to attend 
when summoned by the parson and wardens for any communica- 
tion, and one shilling additional if he shall feign himself sick or 
shall go away from Bristol. 

However, as the rules seem to contemplate the possibility that 
people might wish to avoid these " communications," it may be 
that they were sometimes of an unpleasant nature relating to 
moral or spiritual delinquencies, and resulting in the infliction of 
fines. 

In such cases it is much to be hoped that the pai'son and 
wardens did not keep those whom they summoned long ** tarry- 
ing," while they deliberated on the nature of the offence, and the 
measure of its punishment. 

There are among the St. Thomas papers two bonds to keep the 
peace, dated 1453 and 1478, in which persons are bound to the 
churchwardens in a certain sum of money to keep the peace 
towards their neighbours. It is too often forgotten that church- 
wardens are still spiritual officers, bound to present offenders to 
the bishop or archdeacon at his visitation. 

Finally, these constitutions are said to have been made '' with 
all the whole assent and consent of the whole parishioners of the 
said parish of St. Stephen," and sealed with their common seal ; 
which seal is still in existence. Inasmuch, however, as a Vestry 
is not a corporation with a right to the possession of a seal, the 
use of the seal would have added nothing to the binding nature 
of the document, though it might be thought to add to its 
appearance. 

But besides the general assembly of parishioners corresponding 
to our open Vestry, there was also a smaller body consisting of 
the rector, wardens, and twelve principal parishioners, in which 
we may detect the germ of our City Select Vestries. 

To this body was committed the care of the possessions of the 
church, no lease of any property either for years or for lives was 



Ancient Bristol Documents, 205 

to be granted by the wardens without the consent of this assembly 
of notables, and the same rule was to hold with regard to the 
property of the Chantries. They also imposed a church rate, as 
we should say, whenever it became necessary to cess or tax the 
parishioners for the clerk's wages, or Easter offerings, as they are 
now called, or for any other purpose. But, inasmuch as it was 
thought possible that some people might refuse to pay the church 
rate, or to contribute to Easter offerings, it was determined that 
anyone who should so despise the warden as to refuse his reason- 
able requirement of the church duties, should, for his hardihood, 
be fined twelve pence. No doubt after a ** communication " from 
the rector and wardens. 

With regard to the composition of this inner body, it does not 
appear what qualifications were requisite for membership, or how 
new members were admitted to its number, so that it would be 
going too far to say that it consisted, like the modern Vestries, of 
all those who have served the office of warden ; but no doubt the 
cases would at any rate be very few in which a man would be 
admitted to membership of so influential a body who had not 
already served as churchwarden. 

Concerning the custody of the Vestry funds, we might suppose 
that the rector and principal warden represented the small inner 
. body, while the ancient man of the parish guarded the interests 
of the general body of parishioners. 

Comparing these constitutions with the constitutions set forth 
in St. Thomas' parish about forty years afterwards, we see at 
once how much less power was possessed by the parishioners in 
general at the later than at the earlier period. So far from being 
summoned to Vestry meetings, or their presence being in any way 
considered necessary, or even desirable, their existence is only 
slightly noticed when it is said that after the body of past 
wardens have examined and passed the year's accounts the 
balance shall be transferred to the chest "with the assistance of 
the parish.*' 

So also with regard to the election of the new warden ; in 
St. Stephen's parish, in 1524, he is elected in open Vestry at a 
general assembly of parishioners ; in St. Thomas', in 1563, he is 
chosen by the select Vestry, and the parishioners have to be 
content with hearing who has been set over them during divine 
service on the Sunday after the election. It seems strange that 



2o6 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

the custom by which the junior warden of one year became the 
senior in the next, which is now the rule in all the City parishes, 
should have been observed in St. Stephen's in 1524, and yet 
should not have been introduced at St. Thomas' till 1598. 

It would seem probable that there would be among the 
documents in the possession of other City churches, copies of 
regulations similar to those of St. Stephen and St. Thomas which 
we have been considering, and which might throw much light on 
the manner in which the general body of the parishioners lost 
the rights which formerly belonged to them. There is indeed no 
difficulty in imagining a process by which this deprivation might 
have been effected ; neglect in the maintenance of their right to 
attend the vestry meetings, or backwardness in asserting it, on 
the part of the less wealthy parishioners, and a grasping at 
power on the side of the more influential men who had served 
the office of warden or who hoped to do so in the future, would in 
the course of a comparatively short time be sufficient to change 
the old open Vestry into the close Vestry with which we are now 
familiar. In some of the modern Bristol parishes attempts have 
been made to conduct the church business by means of a close 
Vestry, instead of the open Vestry of all ratepayers. But it 
would at any rate have been interesting to know whether there were 
no parochial Hampdens who resented and resisted this absorption 
of the powers of the whole parish into the hands of a few, or 
whether interest in the affairs of the parish church became so 
languid that people in general were quite content to be legislated 
for, instead of taking their own proper share in the management 
of the business of that church which belonged to poor and rich 
alike. 

However that may be there can now be no upsetting of the 
customary right of the select Vestries to manage the affairs of 
the City churches. If people are too careless and apathetic to 
manage their own business, they must be content to leave others 
to manage it for them. 



Peculiarities of Ancient Painted Glass. 207 



^n ^ome Optical ^tcultanttes; of indent 

^aintetr <(lla$8. 



By FRANCIS FOX TUCKETT, F.R.Ct.S. 



{Read December 20ih, 1887.) 

'* The silver light, so pale and faint 
Shew'd many a prophet, and many a saint 

Whose image on the glass was dyed : 
Full in the midst, his Gross of Red 
Triumphant I^Iichael brandished, 

And trampled the Apostate's pride. 
The moonbeam kissed the holy pane, 
A fid threw on tJie pavement a bloody stain.** 

T)m ''Lay of the last Minstrel," Canto 2, xi. 

The moonlight may have done so when Walter of Deloraine visited 
the Monk of St. Mary's aisle at Melrose nearly three and a half 
centuries ago, if the glass of the **east oriel" was then com- 
paratively new and unusually free from inequalities of texture, 
and if, too, the light of the moon is ever sufficiently powerful to 
throw colour in this way, which, so far as my own observation 
goes, I more than doubt. ^ Be this, however, as it may, I have 

' Compare too, the beautiful description of Keats. 

** A casement high and triple-arch'd there was. 
All garlanded with carven imageries 
Of fruits, ajid flowers, and bunches of knot-grass, 
And diamonded with panes of quaint device. 
Innumerable of stains and splendid dyes. 
As are the tiger-moths deep-damask'd wings ; 
And in the mid'st, *mong thousand heraldries, 
And twilight saints, and dim emblazonings, 
A shielded scutcheon blush' d with blood of queens and kings. 

FuU on this casement shone the wintry moon, 
And threw wann gulss on Madeline's fair breast. 
As down she knelt for heaven's grace and boon ; 
Bose-blooin fell on Jier Jiajuls, together prestj 
And on lier silver cross soft aniethyst. 
And on her hair a glory, like a saint : 
She seem'd a splendid angel, newly drest. 
Save wings, for heaven : — Porphyrio grew faint : 
She knelt, so pure a thing, so free from mortal taint." 

Tlie Eve of St. Agnes, xxiv-v. 



2o8 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

no hesitation in asserting that, in the case of ancient glass, 
however rich its tints may still appear to the eye, no 
appreciable trace of them can be detected on the walls, floor, or 
columns of a building, even when its painted windows are most 
powerfully illuminated by the sun itself. 

I may own that it has cost me some time and trouble finally 
to convince myself of the fact, and I am therefore the less 
surprised at the general hesitation, or actual disbelief, with 
which I have found that such a statement is generally received, 
even by many of those whose constant opportunities of proving 
its accuracy might, one would think, have already famiharized 
them with it. Clergymen, vergers, parish clerks, chapel keepers 
at Oxford and Cambridge, students of, and writers on coloured 
glass, no less than most other sorts and conditions of men, seem 
never to have noticed this striking distinction between ancient 
and modern painted windows, and, when I alluded to it at a 
dinner party during the meeting of the British Association at 
Birmingham in 1886, I was laughed at and chaffed by some 
distinguished lights in science. In the presence of these Nestor s 
I felt the truth of the well-known remark of the late 
Master of Trinity, Dr. Thompson, to the youthful but positive 
undergraduate, ''We are none of us infallible, not even 
the youngest," and having at that time only a small array of 
facts at my command, I might have modestly collapsed had not 
my friend. Dr. Sebastian Evans, who happened to be present, 
after allowing the sceptics to commit themselves fully, come to 
my rescue in the most effectual manner. Justifying his own right 
to speak on such a question with some authority on the ground 
of having been for seven years the manager of Messrs. Chance's 
glass works, he pronounced my statement to be absolutely correct, 
and added that he had, on behalf of the firm, devoted several 
months to studying and drawing the famous windows (mostly 
13th Century) of Chartres Cathedral, and that the one in- 
fallible method of distinguishing between the ancient glass and 
more modern insertions was to allow the sunlight to stream 
through the windows upon a sheet of paper fastened on a board, 
when any resultant spots of colour corresponded exclusively 
with the more recent additions. 

Amongst the various places where I have tested, or obtained 
confirmation of, the truth of my proposition I may name the 



Peculiarities of Ancient Fainted Glass. 209 

Chapel of Merton College, Oxford (1276-1307), Fairford Church 
(late 15th or early 16th Century), Christ Church Cathedral, 
Oxford, Lichfield Cathedral (1580-40), and the Mayor's Chapel, 
Bristol. Fairford, unfortunately, affords a specially good test. 
I say unfortunately, because it depends on the fact that, when 
the old glass of the upper portion of the grand W. window was sent 
away for ** restoration," it literally never was restored at all, but 
an entirely new production took its place, whilst the ancient 
glass still remains in the lower and larger division. 

Wishing to avoid giving any clue to the drift of my questions, I 
asked the clerk at Fairford whether the church was not rather dark 
with so many coloured windows. His reply was "No, sir; you 
see they are ancient, and so they don't cast a shadow," and he 
added " Well, I mean all except the upper part of the W. window ; 
that do cast shadows when the sun gets round to the West" 
" But," I said, still wishing him to speak quite spontaneously, 
" that upper part is new glass and it surely ought not to cast 
80 dark a shadow as the old." " Ah ! " he replied, " when I said 
shadow, 'twas colour I meant. Now, when the sun shines there, 
you see bright colours thrown on the North clerestory wall from 
the upper, but none whatever from the old and lower, part." 

Again, in the chapel of Merton College, the sunshine being 
unusually brilliant, I called the chapel keeper's attention to the 
absence of coloured patches on the floor or opposite wall, and he 
at once admitted that such was the fact, but that he had never 
before noticed it ! He entered into the question with a good 
deal of interest, and helped me to test it thoroughly by 
converting his apron into a screen for the reception of any 
colour that might be projected upon it. 

Lastly, on talking to our able local artist on glass, Mr. Bell, 
of College Green, I learned that, though the fact in question was 
now known to him, it had not long been so, and he had had con- 
siderable difficulty in convincing his foreman of it until he 
proved it experimentally with pieces of ancient and modern 
glass. 

I was asked by my critics at Birmingham to explain the cause 
of the phenomenon in dispute, but naturally hesitated to attempt 
to assign reasons for a fact which they did not accept, and, not 
unnaturally, met by the question how the impression of rich and 
brilliant colour from, say, a piece of old ruby glass, could be made 



2IO Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

directly on the retina, whilst the eye fails to distinguish it on 
such surfaces as marble, paper, wood, &;c. When Dr. Evans' 
confirmation of my accuracy put a new complexion on the 
matter, I ventured to assign as one reason the change which the 
action of atmospheric and other agents works on the surface of 
most ancient glass, whether we call it oxidation or a more or less 
complete devitrification, resulting in a breaking up, often to a 
considerable depth, of the molecular arrangement of the 
material, thus increasing the originally greater opacity which 
characterizes ancient glass. Further reflection, and certain 
simple experiments, to which I will presently refer, have con- 
vinced me that this is, in fact, a correct, though probably not the 
only, explanation. First, however, let me quote some authorities 
on the subject of painted glass, beginning with Winston.^ 
''AH ancient window glass was originally clear and trans- 
parent. ^ It perhaps was not, at least until the 16th century, 
so perfectly transparent as modern glass, being, in general, 
less homogeneous than it, owing to the imperfect state 
of the manufacture formerly ; but it was, when new, sufficiently 
clear to admit of distant objects being easily seen through it. The 
film^ which usually subdues the brilliancy of old glass, and 
imparts to it a fine harmonious tone, is but the effect of the 
surface of the glass having become decomposed by the action of 
the weather, or of extraneous substances, such as lichens, or the 
rust from the saddle-bars, &c., adhering to it. Decomposition 
takes place in glass in different ways and degrees, according to its 
texture, the manner in which it is painted, and its position. 
The glass on the south side of a building is in England always 
more corroded than that on the north side ; that containing the 
least portion of alkaline matter seems most effectually to resist 
the action of the atmosphere ; and the painting upon it, or even 
the staining, sometimes preserves it from injury, or hastens its 
decay. In some cases the corrosion on the back of the glass is 
confined to those parts which are opposite to the shadows and 
painted outlines, or at least is most active in these parts ; in 
other cases, especially in early English and early Decorated 

'See "An inquiry into the difference of style observable in ancient glass 
paintings, especially in England ; with Hints on Glass Painting,*' by the late 
Charles Winston, 2nd edition, pp. 23-24. 

3 But see the quotation from Mr. Fowler on this point. 



Peculiarities of Ancient Painted Glass. 211 

examples, the original thickness of the glass is preserved only in 
those parts which are opposite the painted outlines, the coarse of 
which may therefore be traced on the back of the sheet by corres- 
ponding lines a little raised above the general surface. In some 
cases the surface of the glass has been eaten away without 
reference to the painting on the other side, leaving the course of 
the streaks formed in the manufacture of the glass marked by small 
corresponding ridges which have escaped corrosion. Some glass 
is perforated to some little depth with small round holes ; other 
glass has its whole surface eaten away, all old glass is more or less 
covered with a slight film on both sides, but, upon breaking it, 
the interior of the sheet is always found to be clear and trans- 
parent, the obscurity being confined to its surface." 

Referring to early English glass, the most ancient — and 
therefore, presumably, the most affected by the atmosphere — 
existing in this country, with the exception of a few scattered 
relics of late Norman date, Mr. Winston remarks (p. 86,) " The 
coloured windows are perfect mosaics, of the most vivid, intense, 
and gem-Uke tints. Their tone of colouring is deep, harmonious, 
and rich, but not gay : they exclude more light than perhaps any 
other painted windows, and their general effect is extremely 
solemn and impressive." Again (p. 50,) he says of the same 
style, "The glass of this period (early English), though 
sufficiently transparent, when unobscured by decomposition, to 
enable objects to be easily seen through it, is yet less homo- 
geneous than modern glass, and consequently not so perfectly 
transparent. This peculiarity in the texture of the material 
imparts to the lightest coloured pot-metals, and even to the 
white glass itself, a remarkable degree of richness and strength, 
admirably adapted to harmonize with the stiff and hard execution 
of the paintings. It also causes the colours to preserve their 
distinctive tints, when wrought in minute pieces into mosaics." 

So much for Winston who, as far as an examination of the 
work from which I have quoted enables me to judge, seems to 
have been unaware of the optical results in the transmission of 
colour due to the decomposition to which he refers. 

I next cite the authority of a long and very interesting and 
learned article "On the process of decay in glass, and, in- 
cidentally, on the composition and texture of glass at different 
periods, and the history of its manufacture," by James Fowler, 



212 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Esq., F.S.A., Local Secretary for the County of York, in 
** Archeeologia," vol. 46, part 1 (1880), kindly lent me by our 
Secretary, who first called my attention to it. 

After referring to a statement by Bernard Palissy, in 1563, 
that the glaziers in Poitou and Bretagne attributed the decay of 
their church windows to the moon, he states (p. 67) that " Decaj- 
takes place in several modes, which differ widely in appearance 
according to the circumstances under which they are produced. 
The primary modes of decay in glass are two — filmy and 
granular : but of the latter there are four secondary forms which 
I propose to call respectively — superficial creeping, deep 
creeping, spotty or pitting, and splitting or crackling granular." 
The first (** filmy ** decay) is that which produces the iridescence, 
often so exquisite, with which we are all familiar in specimens of 
Egyptian, Assyrian, Cypriote, Greek, and Roman glass. The 
second ("granular" decay), which is that principally affecting 
mediaeval Gothic glass up to the 12th century, is, as we have 
seen, divided by Mr. Fowler into four classes. As respects 
English painted glass he remarks that '' Little is known of the 
progress or development of the art in England during the middle 
ages. We know, however, that glass makers were introduced 
from Gaul by Benedict Biscop, to make glass for his monasteries 
at Wearmouth and Jarrow, about A.D. 678. Robert le Verrer, 
in 1295, and Matthew le Verrer, in 1300, were principal in- 
habitants of the city of Colchester, and taxed for their 
stock-in-trade ; the neighbouring coast in all probability 
supplied them with sand, the plants which grew upon the 
adjacent salt marshes with ashes, and the forest with wood. 
And that window glass was afterwards made is clear from the 
contract between the executors of Richard Earl of Warwick, and 
John Prudde, of Westminster, 23rd June, 25 Hen. VI, for the 
glazing of the Beauchamp Chapel at Warwick, in which it is 
provided that " glasse from beyond the seas " shall alone be 
used, and " no glasse of England."* 

4 Mr. Hudd kindly supplies the following, and it is satisfactory to believe that 
glass manufactured by a Bristolian was in sufficiently high estimation to be used 
at Westminster, whatever prejudice against " glass of England " may have subse- 
quently existed at Warwick. 

** Bristol seems to have been in very early times connected with the manu- 
fo^ture of window glass. In a paper ' on the death of Queen Eleanor of Castile,* 



Peculiarities of Ancient Painted Glass. 2 1 3 

Summarizing the conclusions scattered through Mr. Fowler's . 
paper which bear upon my special subject, it appears to be well 
ascertained that glass does not decay spontaneously through age 
alone. The Abbe Suger's glass, for instance, at St. Denis, of the 
middle of the 12th century " is scarcely decayed at all," whilst a 
panel at York, 50 years later in date, ''is throughout in an 
advanced state of pitting decay." (p. 100). It may be stated 
(p. 102), (1,) That "different kinds of glass differ from one 
another not only in chemical composition but in mechanical 
texture. (2,) That these differences of composition and texture 
determine the different forms of decay and disintegration, which 
are partly chemical, partly mechanical processes. (3.) That 
these changes are due partly to chemical, partly to mechanical 
causes." Of the chemical causes the chief were impurity in the 
materials employed — potash, sand, lime, etc., — and in the 
colouring matters used for staining — crude oxides of cobalt, 
copper, antimony, manganese, &c. Moreover, the metals were 
imperfectly fused and incorporated, and thus were produced 
unevenness of surface, inequalities of thickness, texture, and 
density, striae, knots, air bubbles, waves, threads, crystals, &c. 
** Hence," says Mr. Fowler (p. 112), ** Gothic glass is so 
frequently said to resemble horn. In both a want of transparency 
arises from interference to (sic) the direct passages of the 
rays of light, caused by multiplicity of layers and irregularity 
in their superposition." 

And yet, the very causes which led to ultimate decay con- 
tributed to the artistic effect, or, as Mr. Fowler puts it (p. 114), 
** The rudeness and imperfection alike of composition and 
texture in Gothic glass, far more than any fancied secret of * lost 
pigments,* are the clue to its surpassing beauty." Irregularity 
produced variety, and **no two pieces are alike." So, too, with 
regard to the colours used in staining, the absence of 
uniformity constituted a special charm, and *' thus was it that 
those * flushed and melting spaces of colour, were ever brilliant 

published in the 29th volume of Arclucologia^ the Rev. Jos. Hunter, F.S.A., 
quotes from certain accounts of Hugh de Kendal of monies paid and received by 
him at Westminster in the year 1290 (19 Edw. I.), as follows : — * Kendal paid £64 
and one mark to John de Bristol, the King's glazier, for making glass windows in 
the church of Westminster.* Some fragments of very ancient glass still remain 
in the Abbey, which may possibly have been the work of this worthy 
Bristolian." 



214 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

and yet quiet ; decided and yet tender ; gay as the plumage of a 
tropical bird, and yet serious, if not solemn ; the tints imparted 
by accidental admixtures qualifying that of the substance which 
produced the dominant colour, even as the lighter shades of 
emotion in a man diversify and soften his intellectual nature." 
(p. 117.) As Yasari, whom Mr. Fowler quotes, says of the 
subject of the calling of St. Matthew in one of the glorious 
windows of the cathedral of Arezzo (by Guillaume de Marcillat 
1530), ' It scarcely can be considered glass, but rather something 
rained down from heaven for the consolation of men ! " 

In one passage Mr. Fowler, though missing the peculiarity of 
the non-transmission of colour except directly to the retina, 
comes near to assigning its true cause when he says (p. 118), 
** The numerous planes of different density which we have 
noticed, instead of passively transmitting, break up and scatter 
the transmitted beams of light, unequally refracting and 
dispersing them as the layers of the atmosphere of different 
density do the quivering light of a star, &c." If this be so, 
then such action must be still more evident when decay of 
structure has also taken place. 

Having thus referred to the qualities in the character of 
ancient painted glass which predispose it to decay, I must add a 
few remarks on the active agents of that decay. Amongst 
these we must reckon the dissolving power of water, especially 
in the case of substances rich in alkalies. It corrodes the outer, 
and sometimes even the inner, surface of windows, especially 
those with an easterly or southerly exposure. Carbonic acid 
and oxygen by their action, the one on the alkalies, and the other 
in the conversion of protoxides into peroxides, are also efficient 
causes of decay, and when to these we add gas, coke stoves, and 
condensed breath, can we wonder that windows become affected, 
especially when we remember that the external cold contracts 
the outer, whilst the internal heat expands the inner, surface 
of the glass, thus greatly aiding the process of corrosion? 
On the other hand, dark brown painted outlines and yellow 
stain, as a rule protect glass from decay. 

My own experiments to produce a similar obscuration of 
colour, in the case of new glass, to that observed in old specimens, 
on the theory that the result is due to diminished transparency, 
whether through decay alone or irregularities of original 



Peculiarities of Ancient Painted Glass. 2 1 5 

structure also, have been of three descriptions, {a) I applied 
a piece of ordinary ground glass to the outside of the coloured 
specimen and between it and the sun. {b) I substituted for 
the ground glass a circular pane of 15th or 16th century Ve- 
netian glass from a window in Titian's house at Cadore, the 
external surface of which has become slightly decayed and horny 
in character, (c.) Lastly, I ground with sand a portion of the 
surface of the modern coloured specimen, so as to render it more 
opaque and break up the rays of sunlight In each case, but 
most markedly in the first and last, because the Venetian pane 
acts somewhat like a lens, I found that the ruby colour was no 
longer transmitted to a screen, though it still retained its tone 
to the eye. 

It remains to endeavour to account for this last fact of the 
colour being visible when received on the retina, but no longer 
perceptible when the light is thrown upon a screen, an 
apparent anomaly which seemed to perplex my critics. 
I confess I was at first rather puzzled to assign a reason, 
but the matter now seems to me simple enough and to depend 
merely on the far higher sensitiveness of the retina to direct 
impressions of colour, if, indeed, it be the retina, and not rather 
the interpreting brain (as Professor Bamsay has suggested in 
reference to colour blindness)^ which possesses the sense in 
question. The simple proof that there is such a difference 
is afforded by the fact that, on a sunless and even dull day, 
when no colour whatever is thrown on a screen even by a piece 
of modern painted glass, its tint is yet ^yerfectly distinguish- 
able to the eye. Now, in the case of ancient glass, the 
extent of diminution of light, even on a sunny day, by 
dispersion or scattering due to its structure and decay and 
consequent increased opacity, is equivalent to that caused by a 
gloomy day in the case of a specimen of modern glass, and the 
result is, in both instances, the same, — ^non-transmission of 
colour to a screen, but perception of it by the eye. 

But it may be asked what, even if all this be granted, is the 
practical outcome of it? Without claiming originality or 
discovery, I may reply that it seemed to me at least a curious 
and interesting circumstance that so apparently obvious a point 
should have generally escaped writers on, and students of 

s *' Procoedings of the Bristol Naturalists* Society," New Series, v. 119. 



2i6 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

stained glass, not to mention those daily familiar Avith the effects 
of sunlight on ancient and modern painted windows in our 
churches, college chapels, halls, etc. Besides, the method seems 
to afford a valuable and easy test of the age of glass, especially 
when this is not easily accessible, at any rate as far as regards 
the broad question of its being ancient or modern. Indeed, the 
fact cited, on Dr. Evans' authority, in connection with the 
Chartres windows, proves that it has already been practically 
and successfully applied in the way suggested. 

Of course specimens of ancient glass may occur free from 
decay, like those at St. Denis, for instance, and then I should 
not expect to meet with the effects described in this paper, 
unless the irregular texture of the glass, apart from 
devitrification, suffices to produce them. Such instances, 
however, must be very rare if, as so careful an observer as 
Mr. Fowler states (p. 187,) *'It is true that much old glass 
does not appear to the naked eye to be decayed, but I have never 
examined any (exposed to the weather) under the microscope 
that has not been more or less so.'* 

In conclusion, I fear that I may have been somewhat tedious 
and technical, but I desired to do justice to the various con- 
siderations involved in the thorough discussion of my subject, 
and any blame for the infliction you have suffered should fairly 
lie, at any rate in part, at the door of our valued Secretary, 
Mr. Hudd, since it was solely at his bidding that I have 
prepared this paper which I should otherwise never have 
thought of imposing on your patience. 

Note. — Having visited Chartres Cathedral on May 11th, ISSS, a day of 
exceptionally brilliant sunshine, I can confirm Dr. Evans' statement referred to 
in the text. With the exception of a few isolated patches, all of which I was able 
distinctly to connect with pieces of more recent glass employed in restoration, 
not a ray of coloured light was projected on any part of the interior, and, whilst 
the superb windows glowed with the 'richest tints, the walls, pillars, and 
pavement were entirely unaffected. 



Notes on the Commerce of Bristol. 217 



^ote« oil tje Commerce of 3Bn«toI \\\ 
tj)e IdtJ antr letj Centuries, 



By JOHN LATIMER. 



{JRead December 20M, 1887.) 

The curious and interesting documents illustrative of local 
commerce and civic affairs of which it is proposed to give a 
summary were brought to light about sixty years ago by Mr. 
Henry Bush, one of the leading Bristolians of his day, during a 
legal struggle with the old Corporation on the subject of Town 
Dues. Diligent search having been made amongst the records 
tKen preserved in the Tower of London, and in the account books 
of the corporation, Mr. Bush embodied the results in a pamphlet 
entitled " Bristol Town Dues : a collection of original and inter- 
esting Documents intended to explain and elucidate the above 
important Subject." Owing to the ephemeral form of the work, 
however, it has long been extremely scarce, and, as it never 
received the attention it deserved from local historians, some of 
its more salient features seem well deserving of republication. 

At the outset of his work, Mr. Bush states that the town of 
Bristol, which formed part of the royal demesne in the time of 
William I., but was afterwards alienated, was reseized by the 
crown during the reign of John, and was subsequently demised, by 
successive monarchs, for terms of years or for life, sometimes to 
the consort of the reigning sovereign, sometimes to favoured 
courtiers, and sometimes to " the men of Bristol " — in other 
words, the corporation. It is remarkable, by the way, that the 
fee-farm rent reserved in many of these leases declined from 
£245 in 1227, to £100, the sum fixed by Eichard II. in 1395, 
when he granted the town, with the fairs, tolls on goods arriving 

by land or water, court fines and fees, &c., to the mayor and 

4 



2 1 8 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

commonalty for a term of twelve years. In 1403, this rent, with 
de20 additional arising from the " flesh shambles " in the town, 
was granted by Henry IV. to his consort, Joanna, for life. On 
her decease, in 1487, the estate (the lease to the corporation having 
long expired) fell into the hands of Henry VI., and Clement 
Bagot, the major, as Escheator, accounted to the Exchequer for 
the moneys he had collected during the year ending Michaelmas, 
1438. The full details are given by Mr. Bush from the accounts 
still preserved in the Record OfiBce, but the following summary 
must here suffice : — 

From the fish and flesh staUs. (The rents vary from 4/- to 24/-, Simon 

Ganynges held a staU at 10/-.) . . . . . . . . 14 

" Bents called Langable " in various localities. The highest is 16/- 

for the King's Garden upon St. Michael's mount ' . . 6 

Langable for Trinity ward (28 small rents) . . . . . . 14 3^ 

Ditto division of St. Mary of the Market-place (Le Port), 26 

rents . . . . . . . . . . 14 2) 

Ditto division of All Saints, 29 rents . . 15 4 

Ditto division of **St. Anthony" (Mr. Bush's copyist was 
misled by an abbreviation of St. Andoen or (Ewen.) In ano- 
ther place he converts it into St. Andrew), 28 rents . . 14 8} 
Ditto Without the walls. Brod meade and Le Redlond are the 
only places mentioned, 50 rents 
Customs arising from merchandise imported in ships or boats 
Customs on goods entering in or going out of the town gates 
Fines and amercements in the Tolzey Court 
For the King's mills in the town (half a year) 



The item arising from imports is accompanied by a detailed 
account of the sum received from every vessel entering the port 

' There is reason to believe that this plot of ground can be identified, and its 
history summarised for a period of more than 600 years. Li the Patent Bolls of 6th 
Edward I. (m. 6 ; 82), is the ratification of a grant by Eleanor, Queen Consort, to 
the marshal of her household, of aU the lands and houses, late of Isolda, 
daughter and heir of Peter le Clerk, of Bristol, and also of those of Christiana, 
Peter's wife, except a ** garden under Mount St. Brandon," which the Queen 
reserved for her own use. How her majesty had got possession of the property is 
indicated by another patent on the same roll (m. 26 ; 16) — a " significamus " to 
the abbot and convent of St. Augustine's that ** their house wiU not be burdened 
in any other case with any payments for support like that made, by request of 
the King and Queen, to Christiana le Clerc during her life." There can be little 
doubt that the *' King's Garden " of 1438 was the plot of ground reserved in 1278, 
and that it came into the hands of the corporation in 1462 with the rest of the 
crown estate. In 1838 the corporation sold, for £3,120, the " King's Orchard " in 
St. Michael's ; and the buildings known as the Volunteer Club and the Blind 
Asylum now stand upon the site. 



..2 1 


6 


. . 21 16 10 


8 17 10 


.. 15 6 


8 


9 14 





£80 15 


4i 



Notes on the Commerce of Bristol, 219 

during the twelvemonth, including the names of those free from 
customs, and this account is unquestionably the most impor- 
tant in the collection, for it gives us definite and trustworthy 
information as to the industry and commerce of the town in 
the first half of the fifteenth century. The number of vessels 
was 130, and all of them appear to have been very small. 
Sixty-six are classed as " ships," and sixty- four as " boats ; " 
many of the latter being doubtless fishing boats. The bulk 
of the local trade was then with Ireland, the ports in the Bristol 
channel, and Cornwall. Only seven ships appear to have 
come from abroad, and as the number is so small it may be 
as well to describe their cargoes. The Mary, of Bayonne, 
brought two tons of iron and five "ton" [ten pipes] of wine; 
and in a second voyage two pipes of honey. The Nicholas, of 
Tours, had three tons and a pipe of iron. The John, of 
Bayonne, a pipe of resin and " 100 of frankincense." The 
Trinity, of Bre, from Gascony, four casks wine. The St. 
John, of Bayonne, a cask of resin, and on a second voyage 
a pipe of resin. The Christopher, of Bre, three pipes, four 
casks, and twelve pieces of fruit. The Sous Sprus, of Bayonne, 
three pipes, a hogshead, and eight casks wine. The cargoes 
are so remarkably small that one cannot help surmising that 
the vessels may have also transported troops or King's stores 
for the English army which at that time occupied a large 
portion of France. But, on the other hand, some of the Irish 
trading ships were not more heavily laden, one having sailed 
with a single ton of iron, another with " eight dozen of 
cloth," which meant ninety-six yards, and a third with ten 
barrels of salt. Upon arranging the whole of the cargoes 
under heads, a more complete idea may be obtained of the 
infant commerce of Bristol. The entire entries of wine, in- 
wards and outwards, consisted of only sixteen pipes, one 
hogshead and ten casks — a quantity which would have scarcely 
sufiBced for the yearly consumption of the aldermanic body in 
the convivial days of the eighteenth century. Sugar, of course, 
there is none, but honey figures for seven pipes. Spirits and 
ale are absent from the record, but it embraces two or three 
pipes of mead. In addition to the fruit mentioned above, 
there is a record of one barrel of grapes. Of animals we have 
only six pigs; of materials for bread only five barrels of 



220 Clifton A^itiquarian Club. 

'^ flower." But the quantity of fish shows that Bristolians 
were punctilious in observing the fasting regulations of the 
church. Nearly 50,000 hake, haddock, stockfish, &c., besides 
an immense quantity entered by measure, forty-three pipes of 
salmon, and an enormous contingent of herrings formed the 
cargoes of a large majority of the craft entering the port. 
Much of this supply was probably salted, which would account 
for the supply of salt recorded — about 180 casks. With refer- 
ence to the leading industries of Bristol, which are well 
known to have been weaving, soap making, and tanning, it is 
strange to find no imports of wool, and only a few hundred- 
weight of oil and tallow. On the other hand, we have over 
1,000 hides, about 17,000 sheep skms, 11,000 lamb skins, 800 
calf skins, 5,800 goat skins, 1,500 hare skins, 2,200 rabbit skins, 
700 squirrel and fox skins, and about 150 deer skins. Of the 
manufactured material the exports included 445J " dozen " 
of cloths, a dozen being explained in a tariff of duties to be 
twelve yards, and forty " dickers " of leather. Soap is not 
mentioned at all. The early development of Irish linen 
manufactures is remarkably proved by the accounts, no less 
than 161 " hundreds " (hundreds of yards) being mentioned. 
Of iron, as well inwards as outwards, the total is only eighteen 
tons and four pipes. The list is completed with " 400 glasses " 
— of which one would like to know more — sixteen cloths of 
"frize,** fifteen gross of cutlery, about three-and-half tons of 
tin, and a few dozen barrels of **saime" (lard). It will be 
seen from this summary that the whole of one year's car- 
goes into and out of the port could be stowed in one 
moderate sized steamer of the present day. 

To return to the Mayor's account. As the total was greatly 
below the rent of £120 received from the corporation and the 
butchers forty years before, the Escheator was surcharged about 
£S4 by the Exchequer oflBcials, whereupon he produced a lengthy 
explanation, declaring that the estate produced nothing beyond 
the amount paid in, and that, as regarded £4 of the deficiency, 
the money was " now " paid directly into the Treasury by the 
tenants. One of the plots over which he had thus lost control 
had been leased by Anne, Queen of Eichard II., for a term of 
sixty years, at the annual rent of 68. 8d., and, if Mr. Bush's 
copyist may be trusted, it is described in the following strange 



Notes on the Commerce of Bristol. 221 

manner in the mayor's appeal. It was " a place in St. Mary's 
Street, opposite the church of the Blessed Peter, between the 
street which leads towards Wynchester, called Winchester street, 
and extending itself towards the house of William Poynty, late 
lessee of Simon Oliver, of Bristol." After five years consideration 
of the case, the King's servants found that they could not justly 
demand more from the Mayor, and Henry VI.. by a writ of privy 
seal, ordered that he should be fully acquitted and discharged. 
In the meantime, on the 29th May, 1439, the Crown had granted 
the corporation a new lease of the estate for a term of twenty 
years at a rent of i>160. Out of this sum ±14 10s. were to be 
paid to the abbey of Tewkesbury for the tithes of the town, under 
the grant of William, Earl of Gloucester ; i*3 to the priory of St. 
James for the annual rent of a mill, and £89 14s. 6d. to the 
constable, porter, and watchman of the Castle and to the 
Forester of Kingswood. 

It may seem strange that the corporation should have offered 
a rent of £160 for an estate which produced much less than two 
thirds of that amount. But Bristolians have never been charged 
with being bad hands at a bargain, and the civic rulers probably 
foresaw that the value of the property would largely increase 
with the growth of local trade and population. So anxious were 
they to retain what they had got that, before one third of the 
time named in the lease had expired, they sought for and obtained 
another demise for an additional term of sixty years, and, after a 
few years' further experience, in February, 1462, they were 
successful in securing from Edward IV. a grant of the estate " for 
ever " at the old rent, the King reserving, as usual, only the 
Castle and its moat. 

In consequence of this arrangement, the sheriff of the town, 
whose duties in mediceval times were much more financial than 
judicial, became charged with the collection of the rents, customs 
and court fees, on behalf of the civic body. But instead of the 
revenue being paid over to the chamberlain, and administered by 
the Common Council, it was dealt with by the sheriff himself, who 
became a sort of supplementary treasurer, and who ultimately 
found to his cost that such a position had its inconveniences, 
especially when the corporate treasury had run dry. The pay- 
ment of the king's rent must have long absorbed the sheriff's 
ordinary receipts ; but commerce, and consequently the customs 



222 Clifton A7itiqnarian Club. 

dues, developed after the discovery of America, and it became 
usual to draw upon the unfortunate official for a variety of 
objects. He was required to pay the mayor's salary, to rig out 
the chief magistrate and the staff of corporate officers with their 
robes and "furs," and to provide the outlay for numerous 
drinking feasts and merry makings. One abuse was the stepping 
stone to another, as is usual in such cases, and the burden at 
last became too intolerable for endurance, for in 1520 or there- 
abouts^ William Dale, who had just borne the costly office, 
brought matters to a crisis by producing a detailed account of 
his grievances which is reproduced below. The sheriffs, in fact, 
had come to be regarded as milch cows, at which the whole 
corporate body could suck with impunity. They paid the wages 
of the guardians of the town gates, of the quay wardens, and of 
the ** midsummer watch." The recorder, town clerk, steward, 
town attorney and swordbearer came to them for their yearly 
fees, and for their annual new fur robes, some being decked out 
twice in the twelvemonth. The chamberlain, the ** waterbaylley," 
even the town clerk's clerk, the ** wayts of the towne " and the 
clerk of the market expected " gownes " at their hands. The 
cost of the paper and parchment used in the city offices came out 
of their pockets. The chapel of St. George in the Guildhall 
was served by a priest, and the Common Council, arranging 
matters with the liberality for which the human race is remark- 
able when it disposes of the property of others, sent him to the 
sheriffs to receive a handsome salary and a yearly fitting attire. 
The clock of St. Nicholas was kept in order, and "Spencer's obit" 
was duly observed with the help of twenty priests and numberless 
friars, at the cost of the sheriffs, although the Common Council 
held property specifically charged with both expenditures. Then 
the corporate body had several " drinkings " at stated festivals, 
and a tun of wine was given yearly to the crafts of the town, all 
at the expense of the sheriffs. After providing for minstrels, 
town waits, bellmen, and other ornamental appendages, the 
sheriffs were expected to furnish the public with entertainments 
in the shape of two exhibitions of wrestling (with more wine), a 

» Mr. Bush states that Dale was elected a sheriff in ** 1518, 9th of Henty Yin." 
But the election of 1518 was in the 10th year of the King. Price makes Dale's 
appointment occur in 1519, so that his complaint could not have been made until 
the 12th of Henry VIII. 



Notes on the Commerce of Bristol. 223 

bear baiting, and a concert by the King and Queen's minstrels ; 
and finally, there were charges to bear for the " four orders of 
friars/' the prisoners in Newgate, and the " knights of the 
shire " for Bristol, who pocketed d610 each session. The entire 
outlay of the well fleeced victims was about d£380, towards which 
there was no provision, complains Sheriff Dale, but the income 
arising from the old estate of the Crown, averaging about d£173, 
and a grant from the civic purse of £60. "And so the said 
shrives be charged," he adds, with a balance of nearly i^l50, to 
say nothing of the expenses of ** the household and appayrell of 
theym and their wives," which was, '* by estimacion," de240, a 
sum equivalent to about £3,000 in modem currency. 

This weighty complaint, says Mr. Bush, " was enquired into 
in October 1519 (? 1520), when it was resolved that the revenues 
of the sheriffs should be increased ; " and the " obits " previously 
received by the Mayor, together with the profits of the quay and 
back, were added to their former income. The " profits " 
referred to consisted of a toll on ships and merchandise, granted 
by Henry VI., for the specific purpose of "repairing and 
mending as well the walls of the key as of the other walls 
and pavements of the same town." Mr. Bush contended that 
this appropriation of dues imposed for special purposes — which 
continued until his time with certain modifications — was utterly 
illegal, but he need not be followed into a controversy of which 
the interest has passed away. A few brief extracts may, how- 
ever, be made from the " table of rates due unto the sheriffs for 
their custom and murage, keelage and keyage," which was agreed 
to shortly after the action of Sheriff Dale. The charge was 
generally about twopence in the pound on the value of the goods, 
the names of some of which show the advance that commerce 
had made within the previous hundred years. The mere men- 
tion of " Brazelwood " marks a revolution ; and equally eloquent 
are " silk and raw silk," " permiceta," " Flander's nails," 
" knives of Almond " [Germany] , " lignum vitaB," " nutmegs," 
" mace," " ivory," " cordewan skins," " currants," "muscadyne 
malasses " [a wine] , " pomgarnatts," and " cloth of gold." Not 
the least suggestive items, however, are " Primmers, the gross or 
dozen," and " Manchester cottons, the piece," items which could 
have added little to the income of the sheriffs, but which presaged 
improvements in the intellectual and social condition of the 



224 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

nation which even the contemporary author of " Utopia " could 
never have foreseen. 

The new arrangement made for the benefit of the sheriffs had 
lasted only about a quarter of a century when the discontent of 
the inhabitants became too serious to be ignored. Biots took 
place in consequence of the tolls demanded on the quays and at 
the city gates, and after a remonstrance addressed to the corpora- 
tion by the vestries, the Common Council appointed a committee 
to negotiate with the ratepayers, and investigate the returns of 
the tolls. In the result a corporate " ordinance " was proclaimed 
at the High Cross on the 15th June, 1546, announcing to the 
citizens that the Council had ordered the entire abolition of the 
tolls on goods and Uve stock demanded at the gates, and also of 
the dues paid on cattle, grain, fresh fish, butter, poultry, flannel, 
yarn and wool, brought to the quays. It had been found that the 
average receipts from those sources during the previous ten years 
had been about i£45, and the Council stated that it would pay 
<£44 yearly to the sheriffs, and make some other slight changes 
by which the compensation would be raised to £50. The pro- 
clamation was totally silent respecting the remarkable transaction 
which had brought about this pretended hberality. The fact is 
that the parochial vestries had proffered, if the tolls were dealt 
with in the manner just described, to make the Corporation a 
present of the plate of their respective churches, a gift producing, 
as the Council admitted in another proclamation thirteen years 
later, the then enormous sum of £'523 10s. 8d. At the current 
high rate of interest, the Corporation could in no case have lost 
anything by an arrangement upon which it set up a claim to public 
gratitude. It really profited to an extent which it is diflScult to 
exaggerate. By selling the plate and adding about £470 from 
the city chest it was enabled to buy from Henry VIIL the '* late 
hospitall or house of St. Mark, otherwise called the Gaunts,*' 
together with the Church, nearly all the wide lands belonging to 
the institution, and a great deal of property previously held by 
the monastery of Athelney, the priory of St. Mary Magdalen, 
and the black, grey, and white friaries of Bristol. The king's 
deed of gift transferring this magnificent estate^ is given by Mr. 

3 Two rural manors and valuable estates in Bristol were alienated at an early 
period. About fifty years ago further portions wore sold for upwards of £70,000. 
The remainder still produces a considerable rental. 



r9m 



IVOTHHip^ 



nr 



tmm 



■v^ 



Notes on the Commerce of Bristol, 225 

Bash, as well as one of the bonds of indemnity received by the 
vestries from the Corporation, and they are amongst the most 
curious and instructive features of his collection. Many other 
interesting documents must be passed over without remark. All 
that need be added at present is that the sheriffs continued to 
collect the duties on general merchandise until 1640, when, says 
our informant, a receiver was appointed by the Council, which 
granted a fixed yearly sum to the former collectors. In 1770 
the income from the Town Dues was still only i*500 18s. 8d., 
but the gross receipts of 1810, according to Mr. Bush's 
calculation, were upwards of iJ5,000. The annual income had 
risen to about j£5,500 in 1825, when a reduction took place 
under an Act obtained for the purpose. 

The only alteration made in the following account is the 
substitution of Arabic for Boman numerals, which would have 
puzzled ordinary readers and considerably increased the length 
of the letter press. As is customary in old documents, there are 
some errors in the additions — a venial fault considering the 
difficulties of the Boman numeration. 



Vic. Bristol 



The Charges borne by the Shreves of BristoU to the King's 

-, Grce for his fee feme [farm] and discharge of their Account 

[in theschequer : — 

First for the fee feme in the Eling's Exchequer . . 

Item to thabbot of Tewkesbury 

Item to the Priour of Saynt Jamys 

Item to the Constable, Porter & Waccheman of the Castell 
Item to the ffossters of Kingeswood 

Soma £160 Os. lid. 
Item for the Pfres at Michelmas in thexchequer 
Item for wrytyng of the same . . 
Item for wax and wyne 
Item for a box and sendyng up the same 

Soma £3 Gs. 6d. 
Item for the Pfres at Ester 
Item for a vewe of accompte . . 
Item for wryting of the same . . 
Item for waxe to seale the same and wyne 
Item for a box and sendyng up of the same 
Item for making of their yeres accompte 

Soma £10 10s. Id. 



102 15 


6 


14 10 





3 





28 7 


34 


11 8 


li 


3 3 





2 





1 


2 





4 


a 1 


8 


5 





2 





1 


2 





4 


8 






Soma total of the said fee ferme wt the charges above wryten 

Th Expences of the Shreves, and charges of them, their 

housholds, apparell and officers : — 
Imprimis of the Shrcvcs 4 wayting men at 40s. a pese 



173 16 6 



8 



2 








2 








10 








8 









44 12 6 



226 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Item for the Wages of the 5 porters at the 6 gats that is to say — 

Newgate, 40b., Bedcllf gate 26e. 8d. Tempill gate d3s. 4d. ^ 7 
Frome gate 208. Pety gate 20s. 

Item to the keper of the Key for his wages 

Item to the keper of the backe for his wages 

Item for the wynter livery of the sayd officers 

Item for the somer lyvery for the same officers 

Soma £88 Os. Od. 

* Item for the bothe Shreves expensis and costs of houshold and i 

thapparell of theyme and their Wyves by estymacion at the lest ( 
The Costs payd by the Shreves to the Mayer and his Officers :— 
Imprimis to the Mayr yerly for his pension £20. for 12 yards so€ur- 
lett £8. the furre £6 ISs 4d, for wyne £3 6s 8d. for mynstrells ) 
£3 6s 8d. for two torches 13s 4d. for the Comission of the ( 
Staple Gourte 228 6d. for i Scabards {^v^ SOs. Som. . . ^ 

Whiche in oonscien& ought to be discharged [by the Chamber ? ] 

* Item the Mayer hath more for certayne obits in the Towne, 6s 8d . 

at ev'y obite and for making of burgeses in the Staple Courte / 

and certayne fisshe of ev*y bote of fiishe whiche by estima- 1 

cion may yerely be worthe besides his sedile (salary ?) ) 

Item the Sword berer for his pension £8. his furre 6s 8d. his somer \ 

gowne 18s 4d two hatt 408 for a wynter gowne of 6 broad > 7 16 
yards at 6s the yard. Som 36s . . . . . . ) 

And besides this the Swordberer hath to his advantage all 
wepon that is drawen in afErays and pfits at obite and ' 
otherways 
Item to the Meyer is 4 Sejaunts 4 gowns conteying 18 yards at 5s. 
the yard amounting to £4. 10s. Whiche Swordberer and 4 
Sejaunts been the Mair is daylly Sevaunts, and he ought in con- 
science to here the charges of their wages and livery . . 



13 6 8 



4 10 



Soma totalis to the Meyre and his housholds Sevaunts . . . . 56 18 6 

Item to the Kecorder for his fee £10. for 10 yards soarlett £6. 13s 4d ) ig 13 4 
for his fure £3. Som. . . . . ( 

Which of good conscience ought to be borne and payed by 

the Chambre of the sayd Towne. 
Item to the Town Clarke for his fee £4. his fur 6s 8d. for parch- \ 

ment wax and wyne 208. for two lawe days 68 8d. a gowne of V 7 9 4 
6 brode yards at 6s. the yard amount to 36s. Som . . ) 

It for 10 querys of paper for hym at Michael mas, ft 2 forells 

and a bagge .. 038 

It for 4 brode yards of clothe for his Clarke at 48. the yard . . 16 
Which charges so payd to the Towne Clarke and his Clarke. 
Which Towne Clarke hath besides the said fee and other 
p'mysses the p'fits of the Meyers Court and other p*fit8 
worthe £40 a yere or ther abouts 
Item to the Steward for his fee £3. for his furre 6s 8d. for parche- \ 

ment, paper and wyne 9b 4d and a gowne of 5 brode yeurds at > 5 6 
68 the yard 308. . . . . . . . . ) 

* A pen has been drawn throngh these two items in the original document, obviously because 
they are not included in the total shown at the foot. 



Notes on the Commerce of Bristol, 227 



S 16 8 



8 



It for 10 queyres of paper for him at Michaelmas wt two forells 

and a bagge .. .. .. ... .. >. 083 

It for 4 brode yards of clothe for his Clarke at 4s. the yard . . 16 

Which Steward hath besids his sayd fee and other the 
p^mysses the p'fits of the Shreves Court beying yerly 
worthe £80 or therabouts 
Item to the Towne is Attorney for his fee £8. his fur 66 8d. a ) 
gowne of 5 brode yards at 68 the yard 808. Som . . ( 

Whiche of conscience the Chambre ought to here for as 
moche as he is the Towne is Attorney and dothe no sevioe 
unto the Shreves 
Item he hathe besids that of the Shreves for under Shreveship for . 
his fee iOs. besids the p'fits for brekjmg of the Kings writts r 
directed to the Shreves, which is by estimacion worthe £6 i 
k/Om •. .• .« .• .. •• ' 

It to the Chamberlayne a gowne of 5 brode yards at 6s the yard 

Som •• .• .. >• .• >. •• 1 10 

Which the Chambre ought to bere for so moche as he is the 
officer thereof 
Item to the Prest of Seynt George for his wages £6. 6s 8d. and a | 7 16 8 
gowne of 5 brode yards at 6s the yard SOs. Som . . . . i 

Whiche the Chambre ought to bere and pay for so moche 
as they have the land that was geven for mayntennce of the 
same. 
Item to the Waterbaylley a gowne of 4 brode yards and a half at 58 

the yard .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 126 

Whiche Waterbaylley doth imto the Shrieves no manner of 
Be vice 
Item to the 8 Wayts of the Towne at Seynt Greorge is tide 6s 8d. at 
Midsomer for their wayt3nig upon the Meyer 208. at Mighel- 
mas 3s. and 8 gownys conteyning 12 yards at 4s. the yard 488. 
Whiche the Chambre ought to pay 
Item to the Clerke of the Market a gowne of 4 brode yards at 4s. of 

the yard . . . . 16 

Which the Mayer ought to pay 
Item for Spiceis obite to the Mayer 6s. 8d. to the Shreves 4s. to ^ 
the Towne Clarke 8s 4d. to the Meyres 4 Serjaimts 16d. to 20 
Prests 6s. 8d. to the 4 orders of freres ISs. 4d. to the vicar of 
Seynt Nycolas for light 8s for ryngyng the bells 48. to the 
belman 4s. (? 4d.) for bred to be delt to pore peple 80s 4d. 

jjvm •• ••' •• •• ■• •• •• 

Whiche the Chambre ought to pay for so moche as they 

have the lond that was given for mayntennce thereof. 
Item for keepyng of Seynt Nycolas Olocke . . . . . . 16 8 

Which the Chambre ought to pay for they have lends 

therefor. 
Item for ryngyng of the common bell on Seynt Michaells is day 4 

Which the Mayor ought to pay 
Item for 6 torches at Seynt Qeorges 208. and drynkyng at the same 

f est £5.. .. .. .. .. .. •• 600 

For the whiche the Chambre ought to pay 



8 17 8 



8 18 



228 



Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



Itemfordrynkyngat Gristmas to bothe Shreves i&13. 6e. 8d. Which ) 
was not kepte this yere . . . . . . . . . . ) 

Whiche may be fordone for ever. 
Item for diynk3mg at Trynetie Chapell . . 
Item for the Costs at Sessions of Gaole . . 

Whiche may be lefte 
Item for the Meyer is drynkyng at the Tolzey on Seynt Nicolas day 

Which the Meyre ought to pay 
Item for the Wrestlying at Seynt laurence afore the Mayor 6s 8d. ) 
and for perys and wyne there 13s 4d Som . . . . / 

Which may be lefte or else the Mayor ought to pay therefor 
Item for Wrestlyng at Seynt Jamys tyde before the Mayer 
Item for Bere betyngs before the Mayer. . .... 

Which may be lefte 
Item to the Kyngs and Quenes Mynstrells 
Item to the Messengers of the Kyngs Eschequer 
Item for a Sermon at Seynt Augustynes the Wednesday in Ester 
Weke 

■ « ^^^ •• •• •• ■■ ■• ■• «« 

Which the Ghambre ought to pay for they have the land 
given therefor. 
Item to the 4 Orders of fireres . . 

Which the Ghambre ought to pay 
Item for the Gharges of Midsomer wacche of both the Shreves by 

estimacon . . 

Item for a Ton of Wyne that tyme to the Grafts of the Town 
Itom for bryngyng up of prysoners from Newgate comonly ev*y yere 
Itom to the Knyghts of the Shire of Bristol! for going to the Fila- 
ment when tyme requyreth for their expenses 

Som total of the payments £878 4s. 5d. | 

p lib". Major i 

And the said Shreves have none other certayne for the said fee ^ 
ferme and costos of the scmie but only the Kyngs toll and 
st3nding in the Stretes at Seynt James feyre wt fyncs and 
forfeytures and other like casualties which dothe comonly 
amount to the yerely value of £160 10s 8d. that is to say 
from Michaelmas to Gristmsbs £25 4s. from Gristmas to 
Ester £66 from Ester to Midsomer £18 6s. 8d. and from 
Midsomer to Michaelmas £56. Item more that the Shreves 
resceyve yerly for the KyngesGoeJe or Prison £12. Som 
totales of the recepts 

Item more they do yerely resceyve out of the Ghambre . . 
Som of the total receipts £232 10s 8d 

And so the said Shreves be charged above the foresaid recepts with i 
the payment of Som of £145. 12s. 9d. Besids their houshold / 
and appayrell of theym and their wives as is above wryten . . ' 



13 6 


8 


2 





6 





5 





1 





6 


8 


10 





10 





18 


4 



6 8 



1 12 



20 





4 18 


4 


6 





10 






347 h\ 



172 10 8 

p. lib™. Major 

296 17 8 



60 



145 12 9 



Catalogue of some Remarkable Copes. 229 



% Sesmpttbe Catalogue of some 

iiemarlkaible Copes* 



By the Hon. and Rev. WALTER I. CLIFFORD, S.J. 



{Read December 20M, 1887.) 

Coloured drawings, photographs, engravings, and other illus- 
trations of the Copes described below were exhibited by the 
author at the meeting of the Club. 

Cope, Lat. cappa, pluviale, Sax. cwppey a mantle of semi- 
circular form, enveloping the wearer from the neck to the feet, or 
nearly down to the ankles. The radius varies by some inches 
in different specimens, over or under five feet. 

No. 1. — German Work. Engraved and described by Gerbert, 
in his work Vetus lAturgia Alemannica^ where it is called a 
"casula" {chasuble,) The Orphrey, Hood and Morse are want- 
ing. Bordtire broad ; has in it thirty-five circles, each containing 
a bust figure. Prophets, Apostles, Emperors, &c., name attached 
to each. Body, divided into squares by ornamented bands, 
containing scriptural subjects and figures of Saints. 

No. 2. — Engraved and described in the same book as No. 1. 
German work. This also Gerbert calls a " casula.*' No Hood, 
nor Morse, nor Bordure. Orphrey, only down the middle of the 
back, with figures in nine circles. Body, in squares, containing 
subjects from the life of our Lord, and of St. Nicholas. Figures 
of four Prophets and four Evangelists. Thirty-six Latin couplets, 
or verses, descriptive of the subjects : several inscriptions, 
quotations, &c. 

' Vetua Liturgia AUmannica. Author, Dr. Martin Gerbert, Abbot of the 
Monastery of St. Blaize, in the Black Forest. Part I, Dlsq. Ill, •* De Vestibu^ 
Bacris, cap. iii. — 1776. 



230 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

No. 8. — From the same book as Nos. 1 and 2. German work. 
Gerbert calls it '' magna haec cappa, seu, ut vocant, plaviale." 
Kood, moveable, quadrangular, embroidered with figures of 
St. Blaise and St. Nicholas; a lion and a dragon. Morse, 
embroidered with a bust figure of our Lord, and a half-length 
figure of St. Nicholas. Orphrey, only down the middle of the 
back, bearing patterns in the North German style. Bordure, very 
narrow. Body, in circles, with various foliated ornaments 
occupying the intervals between the circles. The circles contain 
subjects from the lives of St. Blaise and St. Vincent. Forty-six 
Latin couplets, or verses, are inscribed in Roman capitals on the 
frames of the circles The original Cope, according to Dr. Bock, 
is, or not long ago was, preserved in the Monastery of St. Paul, 
in Garinthia. 

No. 4. — German work, 14th century. Now in the textile 
collection at the South Kensington Museum, S.W. Em- 
broidered throughout in various coloured silks and some gold, 
on coarse linen or canvas. Hood, extremely small, triangular, 
with intricate North German pattern. Orphrey, both along the 
straight edge and down the middle of the back, bearing the 
North German patterns. Rather deep fringe of various coloured 
silks, instead of Bordure, Body, groups representing martyrdoms 
of various saints are worked on grounds alternately red and 
green, m irregular shaped compartments, divided from each other 
by shuttle-shaped spaces, each bearing a blue-and-red dragon, 
and united to one another by a rose of gold thread. In the 
drawing of the original design these compartments and 
borders were probably formed by intersecting circles — the 
present effect being produced by distortion in the working, and 
material. 

No. 5. — German work. Now kept at the Cathedral of Anagni, 
Italy. Belonged to Pope Boniface VIII., (Benedetto Gaetani), a 
native of Anagni. Date of his Pontificate 1294-1808. It has 
been cut up ; some portions made up into a chasuble ; others 
combined with parts of another Cope (No. 10, below) to form two 
Dalmatics ; other fragments remaining detached. The Body was 
divided into circles, containing subjects from the life of St. 
Nicholas. Graceful conventional foliations occupy the intervals 
— some remaining portions of Orphrey show North German 
patterns. 



Catalogue of some Remarkable Copes. 231 

No. 6. — German work (?) Late 13th century. Kept at the 
same place as No. 6. Also belonged to Pope Boniface VIII. 
No Orphreyy nor Morse. Narrow fringe instead of Bordure. 
Body, unmutilated ; circles, containing subjects from the life 
of our Blessed Lord and of His Blessed Mother. Figures, 
very numerous. In the intervals between the circles are Angels, 
kneeling on one knee, bearing thuribles and other objects. 

No. 7. — French work (?) Late 13th century. Called " the 
Cope of St. Louis, Bishop of Toulouse.'* Kept at the church of 
St. Maximin, Yar. St. Louis was born 1274, consecrated Bishop 
at the age of 22 by Pope Boniface VIII., died 1297. This Cope 
has been mutilated by having a width of some inches cut out 
down the middle of the back. The divided halves have been 
stitched together again down the middle. No Hood, Orphrey, 
Bordure, nor Morse. Body, quasi-circles, irregularly formed, 
containing subjects from the life of Christ, and of the Blessed 
Virgin. Figures, very numerous. Some angelic and cherubic 
figures occur in the intervals outside the circles. This Cope has 
been described at much length in a folio pamphlet by M. L. 
Rostan, illustrated with very finely executed line engravings 
drawn by his brother, M. Ph. Rostan.* " Le fond en est tiss^ 
d*or sur toile, et les sujets brod^s en soie de diverses couleurs." 

No. 8. — English work. Now in the possession of the Rev. F. H. 
Van Doorne, Corpus Christi House, Brixton Rise. Has been cut to 
pieces, and some, parts made up into a chasiible. A few years 
ago it was kept, stowed away in its mutilated condition, at 
the CathoUc Church of Havant, Hampshire. No Hood, nor 
Morse, nor Bordure. A narrow green velvet (or plush?) 
Orphrey, with half-length figures of angels in barbed quatrefoils, 
does not seem to have been part of the original Cope. Body, 
crimson silk ; a vine, embroidered in green silk, some of the 
leaves being of various colours, rises from the recumbent sleeping 
figure of Jesse. Two stems spring from the stock, and, inter- 
twining, form three compartments of a '^ vesica " shape, one 
above the other, up the middle of the back. In these are seated 
figures of DAVIT, SALAMON, and the Blessed Virgin bearing a 
sceptre, and having the Divine Child standing on her left knee. 
From these two stems lateral branches spread out on both sides 
in graceful convolutions, among which stand several figures of 

' GhaloQ-sur-Soane, Imprimerie de J. Dejussieu, Rue du Ghatelet, 14, 1885. 



232 Clifton Antiquarian Clnb. 

kings and prophets, wrought in gold thread and various coloured 
silks, each figure bearing a scroll, with name. 

No. 9. — English work. 14th Century. Now kept at the Eectory, 
Steeple Aston, near Heyford, Oxfordshire. This Cope has been cut 
up ; one large, rectangular piece remains entire ; other portions 
have been patched together, to make up an antependium, the 
only two remaining parts of the Orphrey being put at the ends of 
the mitependium as borderings. These two large rectangular 
pieces of work used to hang high up under the roof of the Chancel 
of Steeple Aston Church. Some time since some members of an 
Archaeological Society obtained permission to have them taken 
down for inspection. The work has got very much faded and 
discoloured and is become very fragile. No Hood, nor Morse, 
unless a fragment which has been stitched on, quite out of 
place, may have been part of one or the other. It bears a sexfoil 
inscribed within a circle, enclosing the Lamb and Flag. Outside 
the circle, as if in the four corners of a square, are the four 
evangelistic symbols. The subjects on the portions of the 
Orphrey which remain are curious, angels mounted astride on 
horseback, playing, one a violin, another on a guitar. Barbed 
quatrefoils, containing various beasts, birds, fishes, &c. The 
Bordure is wide, and divided into minute compartments with 
various kinds of beasts alternating with a conventional leaf scroll. 
Body, rich ribbed silk, at present of a much obscured creamy- 
white colour. Dr. Rock suggests that it may have faded from a 
rosy tint. Branches, alternately of oak and ivy, in gold, are 
arranged so as to form compartments of a kind of quatrefoil 
shape, containing groups — The carrying of the cross, Crucifixion, 
our Lord enthroned with the Blessed Virgin on the same throne 
on His right, Martyrdoms of Apostles and others. The figures 
are wrought in gold thread and various coloured silks. Li the 
intervals, quasi-heraldic lions, in gold. Very quaint faces at 
certain points. 

No. 10. — English work. 13th century (?) [Illustrated by Lady 
Alford, plate 60].* Kept at Anagni. Belonged to Boniface VIII. 
Has been cut up. Some parts combined with parts of No. 5 (which 
see), to make two Dalmatics. No Hood, nor Morse, nor Bordure, 
Body, barbed quatrefoil compartments, with rather broad borders 
in gold, containing groups representing martyrdoms, and, in 

3 Needlework as Art, London, 1886. 



Catalogue of some Remarkable Copes. 233 

some cases^ single figures of saints. Amongst them occur 
the Martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canterbury, and that of St. 
Edmund, King and martyr, decapitated at the foot of the tree to 
which he had been bound to be pierced with arrows. The wolf 
guarding the severed head according to the tradition. St. 
(George, being sawn in two ; and others. Ground, some kind of 
cloth of gold ; most of the gold worn away, leaving a coarse 
canvas. Embroidery in various coloured silks. 

No. 11. — ^English work. 18th and 14th Centuries. [Lady 
Alford, plate 59] • Had been kept at Daroca College, in Spain. 
Was exhibited at the " Iberian " Loan Exhibition, at South 
Kensington, in 1881. Whilst there it was photographed. Since 
its return to Spain it has been, according to Lady Marion Alford, 
entirely destroyed by fire. No Hood, nor Morse, nor Bordure. A 
series of Gothic canopies in coloured silks, with twists instead of 
pillars, in which stand, against a diapered gold ground. Episcopal 
and regal figures. Body, the ground is silver tissue, with a 
curious wavy pattern, like conventional clouds, in gold. The 
subjects are in barbed quatrefoils, with broad borders in gold. 
Each of the curved extremities of the quatrefoil is bound to one of 
those of the neighbouring quatrefoil by a knot of four serpents, 
each serpent having a projecting, dragon-like head. The three 
subjects up the centre of the back are — The Annunciation, the 
Crucifixion, and Christ Enthroned, receiving the homage of 
Angels. The other groups are mostly from the works of Creation, 
the Fall, Expulsion, &c., and a fine half-length ''Majesty." In the 
intervals between the compartments are standing figures of 
^angels, and six- winged cherubim or seraphs. All the figures are 
in gold or coloured silks. 

No. 12.—" The Sion Cope." English work. 18th Century. 
Now shown at the South Kensington Museum.^ Once belonged 
to the convent of Bridgettine Nuns, founded by Henry Y., in 1414, 
on the banks of the Thames, at Isleworth, near London. A long 
dissertation, with minute description of this Cope, is given by 
Dr. Bock, in his Textile Fabrics. Hood, missing, but the loops 
remain by which it was attached. Morse, embroidered in the 
same style as the Orphrey. Bordure, small heraldic shields in 

4 This Cope is figured by Lady AUord, plate 67, and a part of the Orphrey, on 
a larger scale, in the South Kensington Museum Handbook, Industrial Arts, 
p. 268. 

6 



234 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

the same style. Orphrey^ large heraldic shields in more recent 
style than the hody of the Cope. Dr. Eock mentions the 
different families to whom the armorial bearings belonged. 
Body^ mutilated at edges, both straight and curved. Compart- 
ments of barbed-quatrefoil form, the four curved extremities 
of each interlaced with those of adjoining quatrefoils. Back 
ground embroidered throughout on coarse linen or canvas; 
inside the quatrefoils red, the intervals green. Some of the 
compartments contain groups, others single figures; in the 
intervals are angels and six- winged seraphs, the latter standing 
on wheels. Two donors (?) are represented kneeling, one a 
cleric, the other a layman. Life of Christ, Death of Blessed 
Virgin, figures of apostles and others. In varied silks and gold. 
No. 18.—" Of St. Sylvester." EngUsh. Late 13th Century. 
Kept at the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, Borne. 
Hood very small, triangular, two sides curved ; embroidered with 
two wyvems. Morses embroidered. No Bordure. Orphrey, 
Christ seated in majesty, in the centre. Six very graceful 
Gothic canopies, under which three bishops and three queens 
(or kings *). Li the four intervals, single figures of angels, each 
accompanied by a small representation of the evangelistic 
symbols. Body, three rows of very elaborate Gothic canopies — 
thirteen in the lowest, eight in the middle, four single and one 
double central one in the top row. In the centre of the middle 
row is a compartment with ornamental framing specially shaped 
to accommodate the group of the Crucifixion. In the canopied 
compartments are groups from the life of Christ, and that of the 
Blessed Virgin, and some martyrdoms of saints. In the 
spandrels of the canopy arches are angels, enthroned, playing 
musical instruments, &c. The arches of the canopies are sup- 
ported on twists instead of pillars, and in place of capitals are 
eight pointed shields, each bearing a different kind of bird. In 
the two spandrels of the top centre subject (Christ enthroned, 
with His mother at His side) are the Pelican " in its piety " and 

5 This Cope is described by Mr. J. T. Mioklelhwaite, F.S.A., in the Proceedings 
of the Society of Antiquaries^ N, Ser, xi. 399, as of undoubted English work, 
among the subjects represented on it being the martyrdoms of the English 
Saints, " St. Edmund the King," and ** St. Thomas the Martjrr." He describes 
the Orphrey as having in the middle a small figure of our Lord, seated, the side 
niches containing figures of bishops and kings. See also plates 56 and 67 in 
Lady Alford's Needlework as Art, — Ed. 



Catalogue of some Remarkable Copes. 235 

the Phoenix, rising from the flames. The back-ground through- 
out is minutely diapered (in gold ?) and the figures, which are 
very numerous, are worked in various coloured silks and gold (?) 

No. 14. — ^English work. A.D. 1424. Photographed from a large 
coloured drawing said to have been executed about two centuries 
ago, when it is supposed that the original Cope was preserved in 
the sacristy of St. Peter's, Rome. Within the last few years, how- 
ever, diligent enquiries have been made in Rome, and no tidings of 
it have been obtained. The large coloured drawing of it was 
purchased in 1878 (?) from a Canterbury (bookseller?) by Mr. Joseph 
Meyer, of Pennant House, Bebington, Cheshire, Hood, very 
small, triangular, worked with patterns. No Morse, nor Bordure, 
Orphrey, Italian renaissance style, quite different from the rest of 
the Cope. Seven circles ; in the central one half-length of the 
Madonna with Holy Child ; in each of the other six a half-length 
figure of St. Peter, St. John the Evangelist, &c. In the 
intervening spaces some elaborate rococo scroll-work, conventional 
foliations, &c. Body, three rows of very peculiarly constructed 
Gothic canopies, thirteen in the lowest row, nine in the middle 
one, four and a central double one in the top row, groups 
illustrating the life of Our Lord and of Our Lady. In the 
spandrels over the lowest row, single figures and groups relating 
to the Creation, Fall, Expulsion, Cain and Abel, Noah con- 
structing the Ark, &c. In those above the middle row. Angels, 
Seraphs, &c. 

No. 15. English Work (?) 13th Century. [Lady Alford, plate 
58] . Kept in the Museo Civico, Bologna, Italy. Hood, very small 
(if any ?). No Morse, nor Bordnire, nor Orphrey. Body, two 
rows of Gothic canopies, twelve in lower, seven in upper row, 
containing groups of subjects from the New Testament. One 
compartment has the martyrdom of St. Thomas, of Canterbury. 
In the spandrels, half-length figures of angels rising from 
the clouds. Above the lower row of canopies a broad band 
containing a series of small eight-pointed compartments, in each 
of which (twenty-one complete, two half) is a head of some 
sacred personage. Above the upper row is a similar band, with 
eight complete and two half compartments of same form with 
heads. 

No. 16. — English Work (?) 15th Century. Recently destroyed. 
"Of Pius II." (Bartolomeo Piccolomini, "-3Bneas Silvius," 



236 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Pontificate 1458-1464). Now kept in the Palazzo Piccolomini, 
at the native town of Pius II., Pienza, near Siena. A short 
paragraph in the St. James's Gazette^ of Friday, April 18th, 1884, 
contains the following :....'' The material was gold brocade, 
covered with wonderful designs carried out in needlework .... 
The whole was adorned with pearls and precious stones, the 
value of which alone was estimated at about £80,000. At his 
death the Pope bequeathed this vestment to his native town. 
One night last month the Cope was stolen from the treasury of 
Pienza ; and a few days ago it was discovered in the shop of 
a dealer in antiquities in Florence, but completely stripped of its 
pearls and precious stones, and some of its more valuable 

embroidery '* A very clear and distinct photograph of the 

whole Cope has been taken since the robbery, by Cavaliere 
Lombardi, of Siena, in which there are no traces of damage, 
except in one place where the work seems to have got worn 
through, and a rather small patch of quite different material has 
been put in. Hood, very small, triangular, two sides curved, 
embroidered with two six-winged seraphs. Morse, embroidered, 
with foliations. Bordure, a series of alternate interlaced 
quatrefoils and eight-pointed figures ; the former, about seventy- 
nine in number, each containing a bird or beast; the latter 
enclosing various devicea Orphrey, a series of quatrefoils and 
semi-quatrefoils interlaced, and enclosing a multitude of con- 
ventional animals and beautifully executed natural birds of 
immense variety. Body, three rows of elaborate Gothic canopies 
— ^thirteen in the lowest row, nine in the middle row, four and a 
central double one in the top row. Two intertwined serpents 
take the place of columns, their heads forming a kind of base — 
no capitals — ^in the lowest row. In the two other rows the twists 
spring from grotesque heads. In the lowest row of compartments 
are subjects from the lives of St. Margaret and St. Catherine, of 
Alexandria. In the other rows from the lives of Our Lord and of 
the Blessed Virgin. In each of the spandrels over the lowest 
row of arches is an apostle with a scroll inscribed with an article 
from the Apostles' Creed. In those above the second row are 
kings and prophets, ancestors of Our Lord, David, Solomon, and 
others. In the half spandrel at each end of each row is a bird. 

No. 17. — ^English Work. Late 14th or early 15th Century. 
Cut to pieces. Parts made up into Chasvhle, Stole, and 



Catalogue of some Remarkable Copes. 237 

ManvpU^ which, with some detached scraps, were formerly kept 
at Mount St. Mary's College, Eckington, near Chesterfield. 
Other portions, combined with scraps of which the material and 
work were quite of a different sort, were made up into an 
antependium, which was kept at Southgate House, near Barlbro 
(a few miles from the above named College), the residence of the 
Bowden family. All the parts, except some which are missing, 
have been arranged more or less in their original positions, and 
stitched upon a strong cotton sheeting, the design having been 
carried out through the vacant spaces in water colour, painted 
on the sheeting. The whole is now in the possession of the 
Bowden family at Pleasington, near Blackburn, Lancashire. 
Hood, missing, except perhaps two small fragments on which are 
worked half figures of angels issuing horizontally from the clouds, 
and swinging thuribles ; back-ground gold, with diaper pattern. 
No MoTBe. Bordure, gold ground, wrought with two alternating 
scroll patterns of conventional flowering sprigs, divided by sexfoil 
rosettes in seed-pearls. Orphrey, gold ground, variously diapered 
with leopards, spread eagles, fleurs-deJys, trefoils, &c. Eight 
Gothic canopies or tabernacles of beautiful design, a standing 
figure. Archbishop, Bishop, Queen, &c., under each canopy. All 
wrought in various coloured silks with some gold. Body, rich ruby 
velvet. In his " Textile Fabrics " Dr. Rock has the following — 
*' Velvet is a silken textile, the history of which has still to 
be written. Of the country whence it first came, of the people 
who were the earliest to hit upon the happy way of weaving it, 
we know nothing. The oldest piece we remember to have ever 
seen was in the beautiful crimson Cope, embroidered by English 
hands in the fourteenth century, now kept at the College of Mount 

St. Mary, Chesterfield " Three rows ofgraceful and elaborate 

Gothic canopies, with crockets, finials and numerous cusps, the 
most prominent of which are tipped with two oak-leaves and an 
acorn. Twists with oak-leaves, and acorns take the place of 
pillars. A golden lion recumbent on a flowery green bank, 
at base, in lowest row. Instead of a capital, a head of a kind of 
monster, "homed" and " langued." In each compartment is 
a single standing figure, apostles, male and female saints, but 
the three double compartments up the centre of the back 
have the Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, and Christ with 
the Blessed Virgin Mary seated on the same throne. In the 



238 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

spandrels over the arches in the two lowest rows, angels seated 
on fald-stool thrones in form of green beasts with golden heads* 
Each angel bears a seed-pearl star on his lap. Over the double 
canopy in the top row are two birds which, according to 
Dr. Bock, are popinjays, and have a mystic meaning. The 
tracery- work is in gold, the drapery of the figures in gold with 
some various coloured silks in certain portions. The '' monster " 
heads, acorns, and some other details are in seed-pearls. The 
design is very ingeniously planned to fit into the semi-circular 
space, to allow all the details to stand out distinctly, without 
crowding, from the crimson back-ground, and to secure, as nearly 
as may be, that each figure shall appear in an upright position 
when the vestment is worn. A. W. Pugin, the well-known 
architect, wrote on April 22nd, 1849, after seeing some parts of 
this Cope — '' I have no hesitation in pronouncing it to be the 
most interesting and beautiful specimen of church embroidery I 
have ever seen." 



APPENDIX. — Notes on the Stitches emplotbd in the 

EMBEOIDBBY OF THE GoPES DESOBIBED IN THE LAST PAFBB. 



By MARY ELLEN BAGNALL-OAKELEY. 



As early as the 18th century the various stitches used in 
embroidery were described by technical names, and in an in* 
ventory of the vestments of the Church of St. Paul, London, 
made in A.D. 1295, we read of Oj^u% plwnarium, or feather stitch, 
which included all fiat stitches ; Opus pulvinarium, or cushion 
work, which was like the cross stitch of modem times ; Opus 
consutum, or cut work, which is really an appliqu^ of one material 
on another; and Opv^s pectineum, which is not true embroidery at 
all, but a woven imitation of it. Beside these there was the 
celebrated Opus Anglicum, or Broderie Anglaise, which became 
the glory of English embroiderers. This was done in a kind of 
chain stitch,^ while in the representation of the human face 

' Lady Marian Alford in her ezoellcnt book " Needle- work as Art/' caUi it 
split stitch. 



Notes Oil Stitches, 239 

and many other places, was worked, in circular lines, which 
gradually fell off into straight, or curved ones, where the outlines 
of the design required it : when finished the worker took a 
heated iron knob, which was placed under certain parts of the 
figure, and by this means they became permanently raised. 

Some very fine examples of this kind of embroidery are 
described by Father Clifford ; the first of which is the celebrated 
Steeple Aston Cope, No. 9. 

No. 9. — This is of richly ribbed faded silk ; and the figures 
and foliage are all worked in fine chain stitch. 

No. 10. — Cope of Boniface VIII This is considered as English 
work by Father CUfford, but described by Lady Marian Alford as 
coarse Italian work. Probably it has been so mixed up with other 
work, as described under No. 5, that some portions are of each 
style, while the remainder is German. 

No. 11. — The Daroca Cope is of fine Opus Anglicum, and has 
the peculiar shrine-work, and twisted columns on the Orphreys, 
which were used only in our own land. The shape of the panels 
is also considered to be distinctly English. 

No. 12 — The Sion Cope is a perfect example of this style of 
embroidery, and the grounding of the quatrefoils is done in a long 
zig-zag pattern in different colours. The stitch in which the 
Orphrey is worked is the same we now use under the name of 
cross stitch (Opus pulvinarium), and of more recent date than 
the body of the Cope. It contains the arms of Warwick, Castile 
and Leon, Ferrars, Geneville, Everard, the badge of the Knights 
Templars, CUfford, Spencer, Lemisi or Lindsey, Le Botiler, 
Sheldon, Monteney of Essex, Champernoun, England, Tyddeswall, 
Grandeson, Fitz Alan, Hampden, Percy, Chambowe, Ribbesford, 
Bygod, Eoger de Mortimer, Golbare or Grove, De Bassingbum, 
and many others not recognised. These coats of arms, being 
mostly blazoned on lozenge-shaped shields, suggest that possibly 
they record those of the noble ladies who worked the Orphreys ^ 

No. 13.— The Cope of St. Sylvester. This is also worked in fiuie 
chain stitch, the gold grounding and design are distinctly 
English, as also are the two Cherubims clothed in peacocks' 
feathers, which was a way of representing them not usual in 
other countries. 

= Hock's " ToxtUos," p. 276. 



240 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

No. 14. — As only a coloured drawing exists of this Cope, it is 
impossible to say in what stitch it was worked, but it has the 
appearance of being English. 

No. 15. — ^The Bologna Cope is very similar in design to the 
cope of St. Sylvester (No. 18), and is evidently English, as the 
figures of our Blessed Lord and His apostles, with all the other 
men, are represented as shaven round the mouth, whereas in 
Continental work the beard is allowed to surround the mouth, 
and join the moustache. 

No. 16. — The Piccolomini Cope is a master-piece of Italian 
embroidery of the early Benaissance, the material being gold 
brocade covered with designs in needle- work. 

No. 17. — The Bowden embroidery. This is a singularly beauti- 
ful exajnple of English Opus plumarium, and flat stitches, and 
has the twisted oak leaves and acorns, which were not used in 
other countries. 

No. 4. — German Cope in South Kensington Museum. The 
stitch in which this is worked is more of the nature of Opus 
pulvinarium, or cushion work, than of true embroidery ; it is not 
a crossed stitch, but more Uke a long tent stitch. The whole 
Cope is worked in the same way. The coarse linen, on which it 
is done, shows plainly the original black outline drawn for the 
embroiderer, in places where the silk is worn off; the figures 
and their robes are entirely unshaded, and there is no dark out- 
line round the figures, which gives it a very poor and flat 
appearance. The only gold used on this work is in the small 
roses at the junction of the shuttle-shaped spaces, and these were 
done separately, and then sewn on. The Orphrey at the back is 
sewn in and not on the Cope. I am not aware if the other 
German examples, 1, 2, 3, are in this stitch, but certainly No. 6 
is not, and is referred to in the description of No. 10. 

No. 7. — The St. Louis Cope looks as though it was worked in 
Opus plumarium, but it is impossible to be sure of this from a 
drawing. 



PlateXK 




The Misereres in Bristol Cathedral. 241 



%%t %i%txtxt% in 3SriiStol CatfietiraL 



By ROBERT HALL WARREN. 



[Read January 18M, 1888). 

In May 1861, at a Meeting of the ArchsBological Institute in 
London, I exhibited a series of photographs of the Misereres in 
Bristol Cathedral, and some notes thereon are to be found in the 
Archaeological Journal.^ I availed myself of the opportunity 
offered by the re-adjustment of the Stalls, in 1861, to obtain photo- 
graphs of these objects, usually hidden from view and difficult of 
inspection, and I then classed them roughly as representing 
mediaBval games, rural and domestic occupations, and one or two 
Scripture subjects. Since that time, I have discovered that 
eight or possibly nine of the thirty-three Misereres are illustra- 
tions of the History of Beynard the Fox, one of the most popular 
romances of the Middle Ages; and it is from the **Mo»t 
Delectable History " published in London, 1694, that I extract 
the following in support of this view. 

No. 1 (Plate XIX.) will be seen to be a representation of an 
animal caught in a trap and belaboured by his captors, and I 
have no doubt is explained by the tale of '* How Bruin the Bear 
sped with Beynard the Fox." Sir Bruin the Bear is sent by the 
Lion (the King) to bring Beynard to court, to answer certain grave 
charges brought against him by Isegrim the Wolf, Gurtise the 
Hound, Panther, and Chanticleer the Cock. Bruin finds Beynard 
at his castle of Malepardus, and Beynard readily agrees to 
accompany him to the court, but fears that he is hardly strong 
enough to bear the journey ; having religiously practised abstinence 
from flesh, and having eaten strange meats, his body is distempered. 
Bruin enquires what meat is it that has made him so ill, 
Beynard replies, "Honeycombs." " Ah! " quoth Bruin^ " Honey- 

«Vol. xviU., pp 273-6. 



242 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

combs ! Do you make such light respect of them, Nephew ? Why 
it is meat for the greatest Emperor in the World. Fair Nephew, 
help me but to some of that honey, and command me whilst I 
live ; for one little part thereof I will be your servant everlast- 
ingly." " Sure,'* said the Fox, " Uncle, you but jest with me." 
" But jest with you !" replied Bruin, " beshrew my heart then, for 
I am in that serious earnest that for one lick thereof you shall 
make me the faithfullest of all your kindred." Reynard then 
promises to bring hiTn where so much honey is,' that ten of them 
shall not be able to devour it at a meal; for one Lanfert, a 
husbandman, lives near at hand, and is master of so much honey 
that the Bear could not consume it in seven years. So away 
they went to Lanfert's house. This Lanfert was a stout and 
lusty Carpenter, who the other day had brought into his yard a 
great oak, which, (as their manner is,) he began to cleave, and had 
struck into it two wedges in such wise that the cleft stood a great 
way open ; at which the Fox rejoyced much, for it was answerable 
to his wish, so that with a smiling countenance he said to the 
Bear, " Behold now. Dear Uncle, and be careful of yourself, for 
within this tree is as much honey that it is unmeasurable. Try 
if you can get into it ; yet, good Uncle, eat moderately, for albeit 
the combs be sweet and good, yet a surfeit is dangerous and may 
be troublesome to your body, which I would not for a world, since 
no harm can come to you but must be to my dishonour." " Sorrow 
not for me. Nephew B;eynard," (said the Bear) " nor think me such 
a fool that I cannot temper mine appetite." The Bear with all 
haste entered the tree with his two feet forward and thrust his 
head into the cleft quite over the ears, which when the Fox 
perceived, he instantly ran and pulled the wedges out of the tree, 
so that he locked the Bear fast therein, and then neither flattery 
nor anger availed the Bear, for the Nephew had by his deceipt 
brought the Uncle into so fast a prison that it was impossible by 
any art to free himself of the same. His cries and howUng 
bring Lanfert and his neighbours, armed with sharp hooks, 
goads, rakes, broomstaves and other weapons, who belabour him 
well. Reynard, afar oflf, calls out to him, " Is the honey good, 
Uncle, which you eat? Eat not too much, I beseech you, 
pleasant things are apt to surfeit, and you may hinder your 
journey to the court." At last Bruin wrestled and pulled so 
extremely that he got out his head, but left behind him all the 



The Misereres in Bristol Cathedral. 243 

skin and his ears also, insomuch that never creature beheld a 
fouler or more deformed beast, for the blood covered all his 
face and his hands, leaving the claws and skin behind him, 
nothing remaining but ugliness. The Bear at last escaped to 
the court and made dire complaint against Beynard. The 
illustration represents Sir Bruin in the cleft oak, being beaten by 
Lanfert and his companions, while Beynard is seen in the back- 
ground looking on. (Plate XIX. Fig.l). 

No. 2. — Sir Tibert the Cat is then sent on the same errand 
to Beynard. He excuses himself to the King as being '' little 
and feeble, and if noble Sir Bruin that is so strong and mighty 
could not enforce him, what will my weakness avail? '* The King 
replied, " It is your wisdom. Sir Tibert, I employ, and not your 
strength, and many prevail with art, when violence returns 
with lost labour." So the Gat goes and finds Beynard standing 
before the castle gate of Malepardus. Beynard readily agrees to 
go with his dear Cousin Tibert to the court, but proposes that they 
should rest at Malepardus the night, and start early on the 
following morning for the court. Beynard for refreshment offers 
the Cat some honeycomb. Tibert replyeth, '' It is meat I little 
respect and seldom eat. I had rather have one mouse than all 
the honey in Europe." "A mouse," said Beynard, " why my dear 
Cousin, here dwelleth a priest hard by, who hath a bam by his 
house so full of mice that I think half the wains in the parish are 
not able to bear them." " Oh ! dear Beynard," (quoth the Cat) " do 
but lead me thither ^d make me your servant for ever." " Why," 
(said the Fox) " but love you mice so exceedingly ? " " Beyond 
expression," (quoth the Cat) " why a mouse is beyond venison or 
the delicatest cates on Princes' tables ; therefore conduct me and 
command my friendship in any matter; had you slain my 
father, my mother and all my kin, I would clearly forgive you." 
Now the Fox had but the night before broken through the mud 
wall of the bam and stolen an exceeding fat hen, at which the 
priest was so angry that he had set a '' grin " or snare before the 
hole to catch him at his next coming, which the fox knew 
perfectly. Beynard persuades Tibert to get in through the hole, 
which he no sooner does than he is caught by the neck in the 
trap, which as soon as the Cat felt and perceived, he quickly 
leapt back again, so that the snare running close together he was 
half strangled, so that he began to struggle and cry out and 



244 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

exclaim most piteonsly. Hearing the noise, Martinet leapt out 
of his bed and cried to his people, '' Arise ! for the thief is taken 
that hath stolen our hen." With these words the Priest un- 
fortunately rose up, and awaked all his house, crying '' The Fox 
is taken, the fox is taken ! " and arising stark-naked he gave to 
Jullock his wife an o£fering-candle to light, and then coming first 
to Tibert he smote him with a great Staff, and after him many 
others. The cat perceiving his death so near, in a desperate 
mood leapt upon the naked priest, and with his claws and teeth 
fastened upon him maiming him for life. The priest swoons 
and requires the attention of his wife and Martinet, during which 
the Gat gnaws the cord that held him and escapes in a pitiable 
condition, making the best of his way to the court to add to the 
list of complaints against the Fox. Figure 2 represents the cat 
flying at the priest, while Martinet pulls him back by the cord 
of the trap, and Jullock beats him with a broom. 

Chapters 8 and 9 relate how Grimbard the Brock (the badger) 
is then sent, and persuades Beynard to accompany him to the 
court. On the way Beynard shrives himself to Grimbard, and 
amongst other crimes confesses to having betrayed Isegrim the 
Wolf. " I made him a Monk of Esinane," he says, " where I 
became also one of the Order only to do him mischief. I made 
him bind his foot to the bell rope to teach him to ring, but the 
peal had like to have cost him his hfe, the men of the parish beat 
and wounded him so sore." This subject is not represented in 
the carvings. 

No. 8. — The Fox comes to the court and is adjudged to death 
by the King. Isegrim and Bruin conduct him to the gallows, 
Tibert going before with the halter fastened to the Fox's neck. 
Standing on the ladder of the gallows, Beynard makes his 
confession before the King and Queen and all the Court, and 
informs the King of a plot formed by his late father, Grimbard 
and Isegrim, to take away the King's life and make Bruin King. 
Beynard frustrated the design by stealing the treasure which the 
traitors had secreted for bribing the people : the Queen believes 
Beynard, and on his telling the King where the treasure is hid, in 
a wood called Husterloe in Flanders, the King pardons him, and 
he is honoured of all beasts by the King's commandments. This 
scene is represented in Figure 8, where the crowned Lion and 
Lioness superintend the preparations for the execution. 



Plate XX 



The Misereres in Bristol Cathedral. 245 

The remainder of the group illustrate the " Shifts of Reynar- 
dine, the son of Reynard the Pox."^ 

No. 4.— In one of Reynardines " shifts," Zani the Ape recom- 
mends him to turn Doctor, and promises to supply him with the 
necessary articles. " Leave that to me, quoth the Ape, for I have 
all things necessary for the purpose. It is not long since I, (with 
my companions) going out upon a frolic, found a Pedlar asleep 
with his pack lying by him. This pack we took away and equally 
as we could divided all the wares amongst us. By this means 
I am stored with razors, lancets, scissors, combs, &c.*' Figure 
4 shews this scene of the Apes robbing the Pedlar's pack. 

No. 5. — Reynardine enters a convent and assumes the religious 
habit. He steals a carp from the kitchen, and as penance, is 
enjoined fasting for two days and nights ; being " extremely 
pinched with hunger," he escapes, and 6ees many geese, &c., 
sporting themselves in a large pond near the Monastery. Before 
the Fox would go near them, he sought out a retiring place for 
himself, which being there ready, and therefore by him quickly 
found, he walked softly towards the pond, seeming devoutly to 
read all the way he went, but when he was come near, he read 
louder that they might hear him. The geese seeing his religious 
habit, and hearing him read so devoutly, fearing nothing, came 
all out of the pond, and became his auditors ; among whom, two 
of the eldest (though not the wisest) would needs thrust their 
heads even into his mouth, to look upon his book. The Fox 
seeing this immediately kills them both, and then all the others 
in great fear fled into the water again, sounding an alarm all the 
way they went. This tale is doubtless alluded to in figure 5, 
though more highly developed, for the Fox is seen fully robed, 
preaching from a pulpit, while an assistant is behind with a stick 
to knock down the geese, and another is seen lurking for them 
in a hole hard by. 

No. 6. — The freaks of Reynardine, like those of his father, 
became at last so irritating that the King promises preferment to 
him that should apprehend the Fox, and many beasts go in 
pursuit of him ; but all come to an untimely end through the 
artifices of Brocket the Badger, Reynardine's friend. Grunt the 
Swine is killed in a wood by Careless, the prodigal (in whose 

'The edition from which I quote was printed at the Crane in St. Paul's 
Churchyard, and at the 3 Bibles on London Bridge, in 1684. 



246 Clifton Antiquarian C/nb. 

service Reynard had entered), and " his dead body, the Fox to his 
great content saw it carried into his master's kitchen." Illustra- 
tion No. 6 shews two men occupied in cutting up Grunt the 
swine, though as the pig certainly seems alive, we may presume 
that they are also killing him in this very unusual manner. The 
usual way is either by decapitation as at St. Margarets' Church, 
York, and in painted glass at Dewsbury, Yorkshire, or by 
sticking in the throat, as the animal stands on the ground, as on 
the font at Bumham Deepdale, in Norfolk. 
So Chaucer in the Pardoner's tale — 

"Thou faJleBt as it were a stikyd swyn." 

I was told in a letter from Mr. Fowler (Local Secretary of the 
Society of Antiquaries for Yorkshire) that the cutting up of a 
pig is represented at Parma, Lucca, Cremona, Piacenza and 
elsewhere, but always suspended by the hind feet, with the 
head downwards, and as illustrating the month of November, the 
Blodmonath of the Saxons. 

** Next was Koyember ; he full grosse, and fat 

As fed with lard, and that right well might seeme ; 

For he had been a-fatting hogs of late, 

That yet his browes with sweat did reek and steem, 

And yet the season was full sharp and breem.*' 

Fasbie Qubbn, Canto. VII. 

No. 7. — Perhaps No. 7, besides representing generally the Chase 
and the month of September, may refer to Corniger the Hart, 
being hunted in the Park. 

No. 8 — may refer to Sir Witless the Ass having caught the 
Fox, who had cut off his tail and ears, but who in turn is caught 
by a woodman, soundly cudgelled, and made his slave. 

No. 9. — " Last scene of all " seems an appropriate conclusion 
of the series (though it does not occur in the legendary Etccount), 
for the geese are here shewn hanging the Fox, as at Malvern 
Priory, Rats perform this last ofl&ce for the Cat. 

Of the remaining Misereres, seven illustrate the athletic games 
of the period, six or seven appear to perpetuate local jokes or 
domestic incidents, three are too indecent to be exposed to view, 
or even mentioned, two are simply foliage, and four or five only 
by the greatest stretch of imagination have any scriptural or 
religious teaching. 

No. 10. — ^A very grotesque carving of a Mermaid being un- 



PlateJffl, 



J mt t ^ '. «• 



TAe Misereres in Bristol Cathedral, 247 

scaled by monsters, was considered by the late Mr. Albert Way 
to have allegorical reference to the tale of Susannah and the 
Elders ; or it may have been suggested by the Mermaids being 
supporters of the Berkeley Shield which are carved on the Stalls. 
Lithographs of this, and of several of the subjects which follow, 
were published some years ago by Mr. Lavars, and copies were 
exhibited in illustration of the paper, but they are not here 
reproduced. 

No. 11. — The Temptation. The Serpent, with human head, 
coiled round the tree, regards Eve, who has just plucked the 
forbidden fruit. 

No. 12. — Samson slaying the lion ; the jaw-bone of the ass in 
his girdle. 

There is very little to remark in the way of costume, but one 
or two peculiarities in the games call for passing notice. 

In No. 18, a wrestUng scene, prominence is given to a scarf or 
girdle round the neck, which the men, otherwise nude, are holding 
on by. Strutt in his Sports and Pastimes, quoting Carew, says 
that one of the laws of wrestling was " wearing a girdle to hold 
by." In an illustration which he gives from the Royal Collection 
of MSS., this girdle is represented round the neck, as shewn 
here, and an almost identical illustration is to be seen in one of 
the buttresses of the cloisters of Magdalen College, Oxford. 

No. 14 is evidently a burlesque of the game of Quintain, 
which, as Stow tells us, consisted of hitting at a board at the end 
of a horizontal pole balanced by a pivot on a stake in the ground ; 
at the opposite end of the pole hung a sack of sand. " Hee that 
hit not the board end of the quintain was laughed to scorn, and 
he that hit it full if he rode not the faster had a sound blow 
upon his neck with a bag full of sand hanged on the other end.'* 

In Strutt's Sports and Pastimes is a representation of two men 
seated on the ground in the same manner as shewn on photo- 
graph No. 15, with an upright stick between them, which they 
both hold, and it is there suggested that the contest depends 
upon the breaking of the stick, and in a struggle to overthrow each 
other. This Miserere carving is mutilated, so that the stick 
cannot be determined with safety, though indications of parts of 
it may be traced where they might be expected, and the position 
of the men looks like a trial of strength, which a fall from the 
table would decide. 



248 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

No. 16. — ^A man and woman tilting with brooms, thus described 
by the late Mr. R. J. King in Murray's Cathedrals, Western 
Division. '^ The man is mounted on a pig, the woman on what 
seems to be intended for a turkey-cock, although the turkey is 
usually said to have been introduced at a much later date 
(Henry VIII.) than that of the Miserere." 

No. 17. — A man and woman quarrelling over a cauldron on 
the fire ; a domestic squabble in which apparently the lady wins 
the day. 

No. 18. — Blind-man's-buflf. 

No. 19. — Dancing bears ; an ape in the background beats 
a drum. 

No. 20. — Two dancing bears and their keepers ; the latter with 
wheel-barrows. 

No. 21. — ^Men captured and bound by a demon and ape-like 
monsters, who drag them into the '* jaws of Hell." 

No. 22. — Men and women flying from a double headed dragon. 

No. 28. — ^A man with a long two-handed sword parts two 
fighting bears (?) armed with swords and small round shields. 

No. 24. — ^A curious nondescript monster, somewhat like a huge 
slug, under a tree, between two men — one in armour, the other 
with a double thonged whip, with which he is about to strike 
the animal. 

No. 26. — ^A small chapel or hermitage, with pointed door and 
triple lancet window, outside which a woman (?) reads from a 
book placed on a lectern.^ 

No. 26. — A man and woman with a tame squirrel. Another 
squirrel watches them from the branch of tree on one side. 

No. 27. — Two men, one of whom is riding backward on a 
horse (?) and holding its tail as a bridle. 

No. 28. — A man on horse-back taking a sack of com to a 
windmill. 

Noa 29 and 80. — Foliage only, one being of much later date 
than the rest, probably 17th century. 

Nos. 80 to 88. — No longer in the Cathedral ; fortunately. 

So much has been said as to the use for which these moveable 
seats were intended, that no end would be gained by re-opening 

31 fancy this is intended for an anchorite's cell, the reader being probably an 
Augustinian hermit. A chimney appears over the roof of the building, and there 
is a small round tower with a twisted spirelet, at the angle. — ^Ed. 



The Misereres in Bristol Cathedral. 249 

the subject. The Very Eev. Canon Kock seems to have solved 
the difficulty of their being so universal in large churches by 
reminding us that each stall was allotted to a particular benefice, 
and that thus the occupant of each might, in course of years, need 
the support which it gives. The same high authority says that 
in some churches, in early times, the monks were permitted to use 
staves or short crutches, whereon to rest during long services in 
the choir. The use of these Misereres is one thing, but the 
purpose of the carvings beneath them is quite another, and more 
difficult to explain. I wish that I could accept the defence of 
these grotesques with the usual admixture of indelicate and even 
indecent subjects, on the ground of their being held up to 
reprobation, but the attendant figures on the side lobes bear the 
expression of mirth rather than disgust, and seem to revel in the 
ecclesiastical saturnalia. The constant recurrence of ludicrous 
and grotesque carvings, both outside and inside our churches, in 
positions where they would attract attention, as in the spandrels 
of the arcade of the 13th century Lady Chapel in Bristol 
Cathedral, as well as in the case under notice where they would 
comparatively seldom be seen, is an undoubted proof that they 
were permitted and even sanctioned by the Church of the middle 
ages, which, in her conciUatory policy towards the instincts of 
human nature, collected within her walls all that would attract 
and captivate every sense.* 

The stalls to which these Misereres belong, were erected by 
Abbot Elyot, who ruled at St. Augustine's from 1616 to 1626, 
and his initials frequently occur upon them. He was a benefactor 
to the church in other ways, as he built the upper part of the 
Abbey Gateway, and rebuilt the Cloisters, intending to complete 
the Nave. We can hardly imagine that so zealous a restorer 

4 In Archaologia^ vol. xil., pp. 22, 28, are some interesting remarks on this 
subject by the Bev. Samuel Denne, F.A.S., in which attention is called to the 
fact that these carvings are to be found in other countries as well as in England, 
as at Gorbeil, and Strasburgh. In our own country, notorious specimens were at 
Westminster Abbey, and Canterbury Cathedral. Dr. Moore in his " Yieno of 
Society in France** vol. i. pp. 370, mentions that on the pillars and cornices at 
Strasburgh, the vices of the monks are exposed under the allegorical figures of 
hogs, asses, monkeys, and foxes, in monkish habits, who perform the most sacred 
functions of religion. In Dawson Turner's '* Tour in Normandy" vol. i. plate 18, 
a miserere from Beverley Minster is figured, on which are carvings representing 
** the Feast of Fools," a subject which the author says was frequently represented 
in such sculptures, both in England and on the Continent. — Ed. 

G 



250 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

would have allowed these carvings to have been placed without his 
cognisance. 

Note. — ^It is much to be regretted that the interesting Organ 
Screen which was erected at the Dissolution, and remained in its 
original position until the year 1861, should be allowed to lie 
rottmg in the burial ground. At the time of its removal, it was, 
I believe, intended to re-erect this in some other part of the 
church, and it is a pity that some such place is not found for it. 
The initials H. B. with the tudor arms, and E. P. with the badge 
of the Prince of Wales, decide the date of the screen as between the 
years 1537 and 1547, the birth and accession of Edward VI., in 
addition to which is the mark of Thomas Wright, Receiver 
General of the Chapter in 1541. This last is figured in Bristol 
Past and Present, vol. ii. p. 67. I shall be very glad if any 
representation on the part of this Club, or of the Bristol and 
Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, would lead to the preserva- 
tion of these interesting remains. 



PlateSCn 




prisTol i^oTheclral. 

'-'-^nltrlo^of^.Ale)leorVew^fave»te«aQO^clIVo^mJaa"Wfci(l. 

; J ''^ pom, a Pll.af»<.x»>».. 



».• 



The Lady Chanel of Bristol Cathedral. 25 1 



j^otes on tfte CJirteentj) Century 
il^ati^ Cliapel of Brtieitol Cati)eXrral 



By THOMAS S. POPE, Abchitect. 



DuBiNa the visit of the members of the Gab on March 6th last 
to Bristol Cathedral, the Very Reveorend the Archdeacon (Dr. 
J. P. Norris) asked the opinion of the members as to the possi- 
bility of the thirteenth century Lady Chapel, " the Elder Lady 
Chapel/' as it is called, having been originally detached from the 
North Aisle of the Norman Church. The question gave rise to 
an interesting discussion, and our Secretary readily accepted an 
invitation from Dr. Norris to meet him, with a small number of 
those of our members who were interested in the subject, for the 
purpose of making a minute examination of the building with a 
view to settling the matter. Accordingly, on March 28th last, the 
following members of the Club, Sir John Maclean, F.S.A., Col. 
Bramble, P.S.A., Mr. John Eeynolds, Mr. Alfred E. Hudd, 
P.S.A., and myself, met the Archdeacon in the Cathedral and 
spent some considerable time in an examination of the masonry 
and construction of the Elder Lady Chapel, both of its exterior 
and interior walls. I was then requested by Dr. Norris to give a 
summary of the information we had collected as to the original 
plan of the building, which I now proceed to do. 

1. By the assistance of a photograph taken for Mr. Geo. 
Street, the architect, showing the west end of the South Aisle of 
the Choir before the building of the New Nave, we were enabled 
to prove that the Aisles of the Nave ii^ Norman times were much 
narrower than the Aisles of the present fourteenth century 
Choir, being something like a third less in width. (See Plate 
XXII.) These Norman Aisles appear to have been vaulted, and 
to have had wide Triforium galleries over, which seem to have 



252 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

been open to the roof timbers of the side aisles of the original 
church. Probably the double Norman Capitals, of which one 
remains in the churchyard, belonged to this Triforium. 

2. A view of " the north-eastern portion of the Cloisters of 
the Cathedral, and back of the Minster House," by Skelton, in 
his " Antiquities of Bristol" Plate V., seems to show that the 
Minster House (since destroyed) was built upon the walls of the 
Norman South Aisle, the width of which is thus indicated in the 
engraving. 

8. The window recesses on the South side of the Chapel appear 
to have straight joints, having apparently been filled in with later 
masonry. This was ascertained during our visit, by Mr. John 
Reynolds, with the aid of a mason armed with hammer and 
chisel, and seems to indicate that these south lancets, like those 
on the north side of the Chapel, were originaUy open to the Ught. 
The 13th century lancet windows on the south side were evidently 
reduced in height when the 14th century recesses, afterwards used 
as tombs, were pierced. These recesses were probably used 
originally for votive offerings, as we now see on the Continent. 
From the similarity of the mouldings and details of these recesses 
to some of those in the South side it would appear that both were 
the work of the same designer. The smaller 14th century niches 
in the Elder Lady Chapel were probably filled with votive figures. 
The difference of character in the carving of the arcading, and in 
the bosses of the groining, must mark a^difference of date, and 
the way the bosses, or rather corbels, of the groining are carried 
down into the label-moulding of the tomb recesses, almost marks 
a reconstruction of the wall in parts. (See Britton, Plate V.) 

4. In the present North aisle of the Chancel a narrow line 
running east and west for several yards appears on the floor 
between the tombstones, which it was suggested by Mr. Hudd, 
may cover the foundation of the North wall of the Norman 
Church. This could easily be tested by raising one or two of the 
paving stones of the aisle, and might possibly settle the question 
of the width of the Norman Church, by revealing the remains of 
the Norman wall itself. This line is six feet four inches from the 
present inside line of the aisle wall. 

5. The groove still visible from the roof of the Lady Chapel 
upon he Norman buttress at the north-east angle of the North 
Transept, and also upon the base of the Early English pinnacle 



The Lady Chapel of Bristol Cathedral. 253 

of the Elder Lady Chapel, measures an angle of 58 degrees, and 
possibly when covered with lead an equilateral angle of 60 degrees, 
a very usual pitch of 13th century roofs. 

Taking the roof at an angle of 60 degrees fits into the centre 
line of the Chapel as shewn in Britton's plan of the Cathedral, 
and leaves about an equal thickness of wall on either side, but 
the apex of the arch in the Lady Chapel does not correspond 
with the centre of the window over. 

Another fact that we ascertained was that one of the arches, 
the most eastern on the south side, was used as a piscina, 
as the drain still remains, and this would account for the unequal 
width of the arches at that point ; so that I think we may assume, 
with every probability, that the Chapel as originally built, had a 
high pitched robf, and was isolated from the north wall of the 
Church. Probably it had insufficient buttresses, accounting for 
new buttresses and a new wall built against it. A very similar 
arrangement is shewn in the plan of Thornton Abbey, 
Lincolnshire, but with a porch or entrance from the north aisle. 
(See reports and papers of Associated Architectural Societies, York 
and Lincoln, 1852, page 157.) 

Thornton was, like Bristol Cathedral, a house of Austin Canons. 
Li order to study our ancient monasteries, we should examine 
the buildings of the Order to which the house belonged, each 
Order having the same architect, who was generally a member 
of one of their houses. It seems to me quite Ukely that the east 
window of Bristol Cathedral was designed, and very possibly 
worked, by the same man who did the east window of Carlisle, 
also an Austin house, and possessing the finest traceried window 
in the world, which was erected shortly after 1292. 

At Ely also the Lady Chapel is on the North side of the 
Church and completely detached, and in the long article on 
Augustinian Houses pubUshed in the Archaological Journal^ 
Volumes 42 and 48, by the Rev. J. F. Hodgson, several churches 
are mentioned having chapels upon the North side. 

Most unfortunately William Wyrcestre's account of St. 
Augustine's breaks off just when he is about to give the size 
of this chapel, ** Capella decens edificata in boriaU parte elsB 
chori continet in longitudine .... virgas." 

This chapel is called in a foot note of Dallaway's edition of 
WiUiam Wyrcestrey p. 130, Bradstones Chantry. When making 



254 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

the Deanery Boad, we discovered a fine fragment of a tomb carved 
on both Bides which might well have belonged to a chapel of this 
date. The tomb was probably somewhat like tombs now existing 
in Lincoln and Salisbury with arched canopies over figures. 

The Altar platform in the Lady Chapel extends 9 feet 6 inches 
from inside the east wall ; in the first bay of the arcade is a 
piscina, and in the third bay an aumbry. 

The fact that Norman corbels exist in the roof of the stairs 
leading to the Triforium proves little, but that they were old 
materials re-used ; in rebuilding Leigh Church I found a corbel 
similar in design built up in the centre of the wall. Mr. Hodgson 
in his paper mentions that some of the Transepts in the 
North were called Porches, and that they were used as mortuary 
chapels by the great Families in the neighbourhood; he also 
mentions the curious fact that when one Transept had been 
erected in the Norman style originally, the other one was erected 
afterwards in the same style, although perhaps in the Early 
English period ; this may possibly have occurred in our Church, 
but the want of filling in of the chapel at the north-west comer 
rather militates against the theory. Still, we have the holy water 
stoup remaining at the west-end pier, which seems to have been 
used both for the northern entrance and for the Lady Chapel. 
And the Early English jambs of the North Transept window all 
point to a rebuilding, or great alterations, at the same period. 

We have now to notice the difference of masonry in the buttresses 
to the Elder Lady Chapel, and that to the eastern buttress sup- 
porting the Early English pinnacle, which very nearly corresponds 
with the Norman pilaster buttress to the Transept, with courses ten 
inches deep. The masonry of the other buttresses is very similar 
to Abbot Enowle's work, Dundry stone and old red sandstone. 
Now what is the reason of this ? My theory is this, that the 
Lady Chapel was first built with an open timbered roof, and that 
in the very early part of the 14th century, it was vaulted in stone, 
there being a considerable difference in thei carving of the bosses 
and that of the arcading and spandrels. Probably this happened 
at the same time as the building of the east window of the 
Chapel, which, by the way, appears to me to be somewhat 
of the same date as the eastern windows of the aisles, which 
are certainly earlier than the other decorated windows of the 
Church. We know that often the mediaeval churches were not 



The Lady Chapel of Bristol Cathedral. 255 

vaulted until some years after the building of the side walls, 
presumably to allow the walls time to harden ; but in this case 
the builders were not satisfied with this, but either cased the old 
buttresses, or perhaps entirely rebuilt them. The upper part, 
with buttresses and pinnacles, is of 15th century work, perhaps 
built when the high pitched roof was lowered to the present 
level, and the battlements placed to the choir and the new Lady 
Chapel. This was probably to save expense. Abbot Enowle 
having lost his chance of obtaining money in not receiving the 
body of King Edward II., and the church having become isolated 
from the old city by the digging of the " great trench." In fact 
S. Mary Bedclifif had become the pride of the citizens, instead of 
the Austin Abbey. About the same time, the high pitched roof 
was removed, the present perpendicular window containing some 
beautiful 15th century glass was inserted in the space formed 
by the old roof, and curiously enough the centre of its arch does 
not accord with the centre of the arch of the Lady Chapel from 
the North Transept. Some few early tiles formerly remained, 
which may well have been a portion of the ancient floor of chapel. 

The recesses for tombs at the sides seem, from the carving of the 
bosses, to have been formed at much the same date as the lower 
part of the eastern reredos of the choir, and I think it net at all 
unlikely the old shafts and capitals were then re-used in the south- 
eastern bays as pedestals for figures, perhaps of the '' Annuncia- 
tion " — The Blessed Virgin and Two Angels. There appears to 
be a great similarity of work between the Elder Lady Chapel 
and remaining portions of Almondsbury Church of the same 
date ; we know the Abbey possessed a manor house there, and 
have records of one of the Abbey officials having been killed on 
his way there in 1299. 

I have only now to call attention to the beautiful coloured 
decorations upon the arcades of this chapel of which I give 
a sketch. 

Upon observing the Cathedral plan in Britton's book it seems 
as if the external wall of the new aisles had been built up against 
the old walls of the Lady Chapel as buttresses, or rather to save 
building new ones on that side, and this accounts for the great 
depth of the recess for the Berkeley tomb. The doorway over 
which are the arms of Abbot Somerset, 1526, is stated by 
Britton to have been made in consequence of the unfinished and 



256 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

impassable state of the North Transept, perhaps on account of 
the erection of the groining. This doorway seems to me most 
beaatifol, on account of the light and shade of its mouldings, 
and the architect seems to be repeating in the 15th century 
work the beauty of the 18th century. I ought still to account 
for the rough eastern wall, but at present I confess I cannot. 

There must have been a reason for placing the floor of the 
Elder Lady Chapel about 15 inches above the floor of the Aisles 
and Transepts. Perhaps it was built on the old level of the Green ; 
or perhaps the builders discovered, after building the Elder Lady 
Chapel, that, the foundations — thin beds of stone, with layers of 
clay between — were not very reliable, and in building the Choir, 
sank down the piers to the thicker beds of clay, which accounts 
for the peculiarly constructed piers and transverse arches, so as to 
save expense ; and for the same reason the high pitched roofs were 
never carried out, and that to the Lady Chapel removed. 

I can scarcely understand the little niche between the Transept 
and the Lady Chapel, but probably this chapel was built upon the 
old level of College Green, and to save expense of excavating a 
gradual incline, steps were made from the Green. (See marks 
of three steps in cloisters by Chapter Boom, the steps to cloister 
door, a step in South Transept, and two steps to Elder Lady 
Chapel). The truth was money was necessary. First, the Lady 
Chapel was built as being the popular cult of the time, as we 
have no records of any particular relics of saints in the church. 
In central France I have always found the raison d'etre 
of most of the big churches was the acquisition of some popular 
relics, such as a bone of S. Denis, or the head of S. Martin. 
The early Normans, who were by-the-bye, adventurers of all the 
European nations, were not quite easy in their minds after 
the .many ^murders and robberies they had committed, and 
therefore founded churches out of their ill-gotten gain ; but that 
time had passed. Li the 13th century, relics brought home from 
the East served the same purpose. The age of apses and early 
Norman churches, the fashion set by the Abbaye aux hammes and 
Abbaye aux Dames at Caen, had passed ; the English ideas were 
again asserting themselves ; Early English architecture, certainly 
one of the most perfect styles the world has ever seen, became 
the fashion, with the Saxon square ends to the churches. 



mteim 



TheGu<-i-"-- 




S-KaVherine's HospiRi. 
Bright-boWjBedminsler 

sketch -pi aa. 



ftoborril«' 
Hwbitat- 



10*Cs»fcryCap. 



Ntrtfa 



The Hospital of St. Katherine. 257 



Bngl^tlioh), near 3$mtoL 



By ALFRED E. HUDD, F.S.A., Hon. Secbetabt. 



TowABDS the end of February, 1887, with a few of the members 
of the Club, I visited the site of this Hospital, and examined the 
scanty remains of the buildings, then in process of demolition. 
Our attention had been called to their approaching fate by a 
letter written to the Bristol newspapers by the Eev. Ign. Grant, 
M.A., and by the exhibition in the window of a shop in Park 
street of some interesting drawings of the '' Guest House " of 
the ancient Hospital, from sketches taken in the previous month, 
before its demolition had been commenced ; one, of the North 
side of the building, by the Bev. Eric Leslie ; another, of the 
South side, by the Bev. I. Grant. By the kindness of these 
gentlemen we are enabled to reproduce these views on Plate 
XXin. The work of destruction — which had been commenced 
a few days only before we visited the site — had proceeded so 
rapidly that little of the structure was to be seen above ground 
except a few fragments of walls. At the present time not a stone 
remains upon the spot. It has been thought that some account 
of the Hospital and its history might be of interest to the Club, 
and Mr. John Taylor having kindly furnished me with some 
notes on the allusions to St. Katherine's to be found in Smyth's 
hivez of the Berkeleys — one of the most valuable records of our 
local antiquities — I purpose to supplement these with a few 
gleanings from other sources. 

The original document from which John Smyth, of Nybley, 
gathered most of his information relating to Bristol history — 
Abbot Newland'a Chronicle — although preserved at Berkeley 
Castle in Smyth's time, seems to have since disappeared. In the 



258 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

year 1874 Mr. Gordon Hills, F.S.A., visited Berkeley Castle, and, 
by permission of Lord Fitzharding, examined the ancient manu- 
scripts he found there. The same year Mr. Hills gave an address 
to the members of the British Archffiological Association at their 
Bristol Congress, in which he stated, " Newland's Chronicle is 
said to be in existence in Berkeley Castle, but though this state- 
ment has been often repeated, it is not correct. It is to be feared 
that in the Civil Wars the Chronicle was lost, and that Smyth's 
valuable manuscript compilation now at Berkeley is the only 
existing representative of the Chronicle."^ Fortunately the 
other important and interesting MSS. which are now at Berkeley 
are well cared for, and even should the originals disappear in 
course of time, the contents of some of the most valuable of 
them have been preserved for future generations in the three 
handsome volumes printed by the Bristol and Gloucestershire 
ArchflBological Society under the careful supervision of Sir John 
Maclean, and for which the antiquarian world is greatly indebted 
both to Lord Fitzharding and to that Society. 

The history of the foundation of St. Katherine's in the 
thirteenth century, of its benefactors up to the time of its 
suppression, with some notices of the Masters, are to be found in 
Smyth's MS., in the Wells Kegisters, and in various local 
Histories, but little is known of the Hospital itself, or of the 
architecture of its buildings. These consisted probably of a 
Chapel of considerable size, a Guest House or Befectory, a Gtite 
House, several small dwelling-houses, or chambers, probably 
arranged in one or more quadrangles ; and an Infirmary. 

The length of the nave of the Chapel according to William 
Wyrcestre,* was 16 yards by 7J yards in width ; the chancel 9 
yards by 5 J yards. This was probably pulled down at the end 
of the 16th century, although some trace of it seems to have been 
left so late as A.D. 1829. When Barrett wrote his History 
of Bristol^ (c. 1789) he described the site of the Hospital 
as then occupied by a Glass-house, though, he continues, 
"some arch windows there still point out its site, and the 
fields behind it are called Catherine Meads to this day." 
Two years later (1791) CoUinson* states that the glass- 
house had been converted into small tenements, and that 

' Journal of the British Archl. Association^ zzzi. 241. 
« WyroeBtre'B Itinera/ry, f. 294. 3 Barrett, 597. < Oollinson's Somerset 11. 282. 



The Hospital of St. Katherine. 259 

nothing remained of the original buildings of the Hospital 
except '* the east end of the Chapel, where there is a Gothic 
window now blocked up." John Evans, writing in 1824, says^ 
that the site '' where latterly stood a glass-house " was then 
partly occupied by a tan-yard ; and five years later (1829) Butter 
states® that '* There still exist considerable portions of St. 
Catherine's Hospital. • • It stood on the west side of the street 
near Brightbow bridge, and part of the eastern end of the Chapel, 
with a Ipointed window now filled up, is still existing." In the 
first number of Sealey's Archceological Magazine^ published in 
Bristol, May, 1843, is a paper " on ancient Hospitals, with a 
notice of that of St. Catherine, Brightbow," by J. Eussell 
Woodford (at that time Hon. Sec. of the " Bristol and West of 
England Architectural Society," afterwards Bishop of Ely), in 
which an interesting account is given of this Hospital. The 
writer says,^ of the remains of St. Katherine's existing in 1843, 
" The ruins of this house are very insignificant, nor have we any 
data on which to form a conception of what the original building 
was. . . The building now remaining has been broken up into 
cottages of the most wretched description. But a few ancient 
windows are still visible, though blocked up, and a doorway on 
the south side, under a very depressed arch, the mouldings round 
which are boldly cut." (See Plate XXHI.) As the " pointed 
window " and remains of the east end of the Chapel are not 
mentioned by Mr. Woodford, they had probably been pulled down 
some time between the years 1829 and 1843. It seems strange 
that after such a chequered existence any remains should have 
been left of the buildings, and that after escaping the attacks of 
glass manufacturers, tanners, and others, the walls should have 
at last, if not exactly, ^' ended in smoke," yet entirely dis- 
appeared to make way for a 19th century tobacco warehouse. 
" All is absorbed by an immense fabric of Bristol * Bird's Eye ' 
tobacco, and by the great firm of Wills and Company. No other 
record of them exists but the sketch of the remains by Father 
Leslie and my own," writes Father Grant, in his interesting 
paper, *' Frcym Oxford to Douay.**^ The following extracts from 
this pamphlet are here given by kind permission of the author : — 
** Pass over Bedminster Bridge, leaving the fair tower and spire 

5 Evans, Bristol^ p. 50. ^ Batter, Somerset^ p. 219. 7 Archl. Mag,y p. 25. 

^ Reprinted from The Month, Maroh, 1887. 



26o Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

of St. Mary, Bedcliff, the most beautifol Parish Gharch in all 
England, behind you, and walk straight on until you see some 
almost deserted and now tumble-down cottages, with the word 
' Brightbow ' on the angle of the group. No need of your put- 
ting your ear to the ground at night ; when all is still you will 
hear the rush of a rivulet making its way underground to St. 
Eatherine's Mead ; and you will see the brook of Bishops worth 
coming forth to the river if you follow it up to the right of East 
Street. Formerly it watered the Abbey Gardens and Little 
Paradise ; then it turned the Abbey Mill, which existed a year 
ago, and of which I beUeve my own rude sketch is the only re- 
cord extant ; it passed under the bridge or how^ and rejoiced the 
hearts of the Priest Warden and his twelve poor men — ^the 
inmates of St. Eatherine's Hospital, looking south, with its mead 
of St. Eatherine opening out to the shipping in the Avon ; to the 
old Augustinian Abbey and to Brandon Hill, crowned with its 
coronet of flowering white thorns, and surmounted by the hermi- 
tage of the saint whose name it still bears. . . This house 
was on a great road of pilgrims ; pilgrims to St. Anne's-in-the- 
Wood, and even pilgrims to Glastonbury, or pilgrims from the 
country to Bristol itself, and to the famous shrine of St. Mary 
Bellhouse in Old St. Peter's Church, passed along from Bed- 
minster Down, and rested here, footsore, wallet laden, intent on 
a pious work of faith. . . For pilgrims then was St. 
Eatherine's Hospital built Like that of St. Gross at Win- 
chester it was sufficiently endowed to a£ford a dole to everyone 
on his way — a piece of bread, some good Cheddar cheese, and a 
good draught of cider. Of all this only a few vestiges remain. 
A stone building looking south, with the tracery of a Tudor door- 
way now blocked up, is all that exists of the Guest House, where 
once the wayfarers were received. . . Alas, while I write these 
words (Feb. 12th, 1887), they are pulling down the remains of 
the hostelry. By Tuesday next not a * wrack ' will be left behind." 
The Tudor doorway, shown in the view of the North side of 
the Guest House on Plate XXHI., has been preserved by one of 
our members, Mr. Alfred G. Pass, who intends to re-erect it in 
the neighbourhood. All else has gone. The view of the South 
side of the Guest House shows more clearly its division into 
stages, with some windows which Father Grant supposed to have 
belonged to the dormitories, above the large square-headed win- 



The Hospital of St. Katherine. 261 

dow and door on the ground floor of the Refectory. Under the 
lower string course in this view a series of markings appear, 
^rhich probably show the line of the lean-to roof of the cloister. 
Possibly there was another cloister on the North side. A sketch 
plan of the Hospital is given in Mr. Alfred Ellis's map of 
" Bristol in 1480," compiled chiefly from notes then made by 
Wm. Wyrcestre, and published in Bristol Past and Present.^ 
Although the details of this plan are not very trustworthy, it 
shows the position of the monastic remains of the neigh- 
bourhood, and we have therefore reproduced a part of it on Plate 
KXIII. with slight alterations. The Chapel, no trace of which 
was to be seen at the time the late destruction of the buildings 
was commenced, probably stood at right angles to the Guest 
House at its eastern end. Old people in the neighbourhood 
remember some ancient buildings here, which were pulled down 
many years ago, and here probably stood the gable of the Chapel, 
with the pomted window, mentioned by Butter and others in the 
early part of this century. Near here was found the 15th century 
Capital, probably from the Chapel, a figure of which from a 
drawing by Mr. T. 8. Pope, is given on Plate XXIH. Near 
here also was found a stone with some Gothic letters, which 
Father Grant believes to be part of the name *' Katherine," 
and which may have belonged to '' the image of holy St. 
Katherine," mentioned later in this paper as being '* fixed up 
in the front house " of the Hospital about the year 1628. 

The following notes from the Berkeley MSS. relating to St. 
Katherine's have been compiled by Mr. John Taylor : — 

** The earliest mention of this foundation is contained in 
Smyth's Lives of the Berkeleys, where,^^ under the life of Eobert, 
the second of that name, A.D. 1189 — 1220, it is said that 
'^ This lord also founded the faire hospitall of St. Katherines 
a litle without Bristowe, within his manor of Bedminster, 
which to this day (c. 1640) keepeth the name, though the 
founders pious intention bee changed, as after foUoweth in 
theis relations, whereto his brother and heire, the lorde Thomas, 
was a singular benefactor, as the words in Abbot Newland arc.'' 
Subsequently Smyth states that Lord Thomas the first (1220- 
1248) was a '' singular benefactor to the Hospitr.U of St. 
Kathenns by BristoU," and that he " gave certain lands in 

9 Vol. I. p. 216. '«» Berkeley MSS. (MacleavCs EdnJ I. 89. 



262 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Slimbridge to Ellas Butler, to pay for ever out of the same 
to the Chantry priest there for the better service of our lady 
and of St. Katherine, fower gallons of oyle and six pound of 
wax to bume before them, for the good of his owne Soule, his 
fathers, mothers, and of Jone his wife." ^^ 

The second Thomas, Lord Berkeley (1281—1821), born 1245, 
spent much of his early life at Bedminster, " which Manor his 
Father for support of his youthes expenses, and for his first 
initiations in husbandry conferred upon him ; in which course, 
and untill the tyme of his marriage, he contynnued : having the 
Abbot and Prior of St. Augustine's Monastery by Bristoll, 
and the Master of St. Eatherine's hospitall (confyning upon 
this Manor of Bedminster), creatures begot by his Ancestors 
Almes and devotions, his guides and instructors." He died 
1321, and was buried " in the Arch betweene the Vestry and the 
South lie " at St. Augustine's.^* 

In the 16th year of Eichard II. ** arose another Exchequer 
business more full of trouble, about the Hospitall of St. Ejith- 
erines, in Bedminster," . . . '^ wherein the maine question was, 
whether the said Hospitall, and the Chantry founded in the 
Chappie there, were one and the same or not ; which was by 
Jury found soe to bee, and so avoided the charge of the record ; 
which tooke begininge from an injurious Inquisicon found before 
the Escheator of that County of Somerset." ^ This Chantry was 
instituted by Thomas " the third," lord Berkeley (1826—1861), 
in the 21st year of King Edward the third ; '' the same year hee 
gave to the Custos of St. Eatherine's of Bedminstre a parcell of 
land near to his said hospitall, for which he bound himself and 
his successors to pour out their prayers for the souls of his father 
and mother, and of Margaret his late wife." ^^ The same lord, 
Thomas the third, founded (A.D. 1847) the hermitage that still 
exists in the red rock on the bank of the Avon opposite the west 
end of the church of St. Mary Bedcliff. He also founded several 
other Chantries in Bristol and the neighbourhood, and '* gave to 
the prior and fryars heremites of BristoU, divers lands in the 
suburbs of Bristoll." 

The last reference made by Smyth to the Hospital of St, 
Eatherine is to be found in his " Description of the Hundred of 
Berkeley" in the account of the Parish of Alkington.^^ Smyth 

" Id. p. 110. '■ Id. 220. «J Id. II. 17. '< Id. I. 887. 'S id. HI. 60. 



The Hospital of St. Katherine. 263 

states of '^ The Hospitall of Bedminstre lands, late Nevills^ — ^in 
the hamblet of Wike and in other places within this tithinge of 
Alkington, and in Wanswell, are certain lands and tenements 
late parcell of the possessions of the hospitall of St. Katherine 
in Bedminstre by Bristoll, founded by Eobert Lord Berkeley, the 
second of that name, in the beginning of the raigne of Einge 
Henry the third, as in his life I have elsewhere written. To 
which lands, supposed to bee concealed. Queen Elizabeth was 
entitled by Inquisic5n, and granted the same away in fee : which 
afterwards by attainder againe returned to her : who again first 
granted the same to hold of her by Knight's service in Gapite ; 
And after again to hold in comon Soccage : Theis lands whereof I 
heere write, (whereof John Knight of Wike holds 25 acres in Wike 
for his life. And Thomas Hody, of Bristoll 100 acres in Wanswell 
in fee,) came to Thomas Sackvile created lord Buckhurst, and 
after Earl of Dorset, and his Go-feofifees, who aliened a great 
part of the possessions of that hospitall, and after conveyed the 
residue to fiErancis Nevill, Esq., who by his further sales hath 
much also dispersed the same : and these are now the inheritance 
of the said Thomas Hody, cozen and heire of Thomas Hody, who 
purchased the same of the said ffrancis Nevill as aforesaid." 
This Thomas Sackville, Earl of Dorset (1527—1608), was 
the author of " The Mirror f(yr Magistrates^* and according 
to Warton, in his ^^ History of English Poetry^'* furnished 
the model upon which Spenser formed the style of his 
'^ Faerie Queene," the first three volumes of which appeared 
in 1590." 

According to Collinson's History of Somerset ^^ the last of the 
Berkeley family who possessed the manor of Bedminster and the 
patronage of St. Katherine's was Thomas, the fourth lord of that 
name, by the marriage of whose only daughter and heiress it 
passed in 1416, with many other estates, to Bichard Beauchamp, 
Earl of Warwick; and on his death in 1439, the manor of 
Bedminster came to Eleanor, the second co-heiress, whose 
daughter Margaret was married to Humphrey, Earl of Stafford, 
father to Henry Duke of Buckingham, and grandfather to 
Edward, Duke of Buckingham, who all successively possessed 
the manor. By the attainder of the latter in 18 Henry YIH. 
it was confiscated to the crown, and was the same year granted 

'* Somerset, Vol. II., p. 282. 



264 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

to Henry Bouchier, Earl of Essex, by whose death in 1589, it 
again reverted to the Crown. In 1553 it was given by Philip 
and Mary to Edward Nevil and his heirs, and in 1605 was sold 
by his grandson, Henry Nevil, to Sir Hugh Smyth, of Long 
Ashton, whose descendants have held the site of the Hospital, 
with the rest of the Manor till last year. 

The name of the saint to whom the Hospital was dedicated 
(Saint Eatherine of Alexandria) is spelt in many different ways. 
In the 13th century St. Eatherine was perhaps more popular 
in Western Europe than any other female saint, her fame having 
been brought from the East by the Crusaders. We have adopted 
for the Bedminster Institution the old spelling of the name as it 
appears on the seal of the Hospital, although in ancient MSS. 
it is more frequently given as Eaterine. Impressions of the seal 
still remain, and are thus described by Mr. Walter de Gray 
Birch, in his recently published Catalogue.^^ — "Pointed oval, 
2^ in. by \\ in.. Saint, with crown, standing in a canopied niche, 
with tabernacle work at the sides ; in the right hand a sword, 
in the left hand a wheel. Legend very indistinct. SIGILL 
HOSPITALIS SCE EATHERINE VILLE BEISTO ..." 

The above description seems to agree with a sulphur cast in 
my possession of an impression of the seal which I understand 
is appended to a deed preserved at Oxford, the date of which is 
not stated, but is probably late 15th century. St. Eatherine holds 
in her right hand a long cross-hilted sword, point upward, the 
blade resting on her right shoulder. With her left hand she 
holds the upper part of a large plain wheel, which rests on the 
ground to her left. The inscription is much longer than that 
given by Mr. Birch, but is so indistinct in my cast that I will 
not attempt to correct the reading. In the second number of 
the Archaological Magazine of Bristoly tfc, p. 44, the late Mr. 
Wm. Tyson, P.S.A., engraved an earlier seal of the Hospital, of 
which Mr. Birch makes no mention in his Catalogue, and which 
Mr. Beady of the British Museum informs me is quite unknown 
to him. Mr. Tyson ^ thus describes this earlier seal : " I am in 
possession of two mutilated impressions of the seal of the 
Hospital of St. Eatherine, appended to deeds dated 1348 and 
1434; and herewith I send you a drawing taken from these 
impressions which you are at liberty, if you think proper, to 

'7 Catalogue of Seals in the British Museum, 1887, I. 461. '^ Arch. Mag., p. 44. 



The Hospital of St. Catherine. 265 

engrave for your publication." This 14th century seal, as 
represented in the engraving, differs considerably from the later 
one. The saint is represented uncrowned, with long flowing 
hair, holding in her right hand a short sword, the point of which 
rests on the ground. In her left hand she holds, resting against 
her left shoulder, a small spiked wheel. She stands under a 
large trefoil headed niche, the ground of which is sem^e with 
small six-leaved flowers, one of which appears also on her breast. 
Her vestments are stiffer and much less flowing than in the later 
seal, and below the canopy, at the feet of the saint, is a large 
heater-shaped shield charged with the arms of the Founder, 
Eobert (the second) Lord Berkeley, who died A.D. 1220, viz., 
gvLe%i a chevron argent between ten crosses, patties. This Lord 
Thomas was " the first Lord that assumed into his coate, the 
ten crosses, which all his posterity doe beare till this day,'' 
these crosses being added in memory of a vow taken to a 
^' Christian warfare in the Holy Land against the Infidels," 
which vow, Smyth states,^® was taken at this time by no less 
than sixty thousand men in England alone. 

After Mr. Tyson's death in 1851, his collections of antiquities, 
manuscripts, &c., were sold by auction in Bristol, and my efforts 
to trace these deeds and seals have hitherto been unsuccessful. 
I am not, however, without hope they may eventually turn up. 

THE MASTEES OF THE HOSPITAL. 

We know nothing of the first Masters of St. Katherine's from 
its foundation about the year 1220 till the beginning of the year 
1824-5, when the Wells Eegisters begin to give some little infor- 
mation on the subject. In the Register of John de Drokensford, 
Bishop of Bath and Wells (1309-1329), recently published under 
the editorship of Bishop Hobhouse, by the Somerset Becord 
Society, it is recorded that, 

(1) January 18th, 1324-25, the Bishop issued from Banwell a 
commission to an official, to visit, among other places, " St. 
Katherine's House, Bristol, to audit accounts of the late 
Master, and finally remove him, appointing as guardian ^' pro 
tem." a Brother of the neighbouring Hospital of St. John, 
and to correct all excesses."^ The editor throws no light on 

'9 Berkeley MSS., I., 219. ^^ Drokaisford's Register, 234b. 

7 



266 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

this somewhat obscure bit of history, beyond stating that the 
Hospital having been founded by the Berkeley family within 
their manor of Bedminster, was then within the Somersetshire 
diocese.^^ We know neither the name nor the ofitence of the 
disgraced Master. A few months later, however, another entry 
in the same Register^ informs us that, 

(2) " 7 Kal. May, 1826," the Bishop of Bath and Wells sent 
to the Master of St. John's, Bristol, and the Vicar of Bed- 
clyvd, reciting the King's Warrant to the Bishop, to admit 
John of Babcary , Chaplain, to the Wardenship of St. Eatherine's 
Hospital, Bristol, and authorizing the two Commissaries to 
induct. The Patronage of the Hospital is stated to have 
belonged to Sir Maurice de Berkeley (the third of that name), 
but ''in the custody of the King" (Edward H.), who therefore 
exercised the Patron's office of confirming the election " quoad 
temporalia."^ Lord Maurice having espoused the popular side 
against the King and the Despensers, was at this time a prisoner 
in Wallingford Castle, where he died in the following year.^* The 
name of this John of Babcary, is elsewhere mentioned in the 
same Begister, the earliest date being November, 1316. On 
accepting the Mastership of St. Katherine's he seems to have 
resigned the Rectory of Fordington, Somerset, a Chapel in Bab- 
cary, endowed according to the Valuation of Hen. YIH. with 40« 
tithe, which Uving was presented by the patron, (Sir) W. de 
Beigni, 4 Nones September, 1825, to John Dunkyn (or Dukyn) 
Priest.2« 

(3) Robert (atte Pondefolde) of Burfords Cote, Wick, seems 
to have succeeded John of Babcary in the Mastership of St. 
Katherine's, the date of his induction, according to the list of 
Masters compiled from the Wells Registers by Dr. Archer and 
copied by Collinson and others, being Sept. 30th, 1827. The 
entry as printed from Drokensford's Register in the volume of 
the Somerset Record Society, p. 275, reads : 

" Bp. to Prior of St. John's Hospl. Bristol, to induct Rob. de 
Boreford's Wyke, Pr., inst. by Bp. to Wardenship of St. 
Katherine's Hospl. Bristol. Patron, Sir Thos. de Berkeley, 
8 Kal. Oct. 1827." 

As given in the transcript of the Wells Registers made by 

" Somerset Record Soe., I. i239. "" Drok. Beg. 238b. '3 Somerset Beoord Soo., I. 244. 
^ Berkeley ^ISS. I. 272. •s Drokensford's BegiiUr, 240b. 



The Hospital of St. Katherine. 267 

Matthew Hutton in 1686, now in the British Museum {JBLarl. 
MSS. 6964) the entry reads : 

" 2 Eal. Oct. (1S27), Mandat ad inducm. Bic. de Borefordescote 
Wyk, presb., ad custm. hosp. see. Johs. de Bristol, ad. pres. Thos. 
de Berkle. mil./* from which it would appear the said Bobert was 
master of the neighbouring Priory of St. John ; but as later he 
is named as Master of St. Katherine's it is probable a mistake 
was made in the Hutton transcript, or that he was first ap- 
pointed to St. John's and afterwards was removed to St. 
Katherine's. Tlie following appears in the Begister of Bishop 
Eadulph, or Balph of Shrewsbury, A.D. 1829—1868 : 

"7 Kal. Apl. 1882, apud London. Gommiss facto Decani 
Sarm. in negocio (permutus ?) inter Dom. Bic. atte Pondefolde 
de Borewardeskote Wyke, custode perpetm domus see Eaterine 
Bristol ad pres nobilis Dm. Thom. de Berkelee, et Dm. Bandolfe 
de Coleshall perpetum vicar, eccl. de Shipton in Eath. Sarum."^ 
[March 26th, 1882, Commission given at London to the Dean of 
Salisbury to enquire into the affairs between Dom. Bichard atte 
Pondefolde of Burford's Cote Wick, the perpetual Master of the 
house of St. Eatherine, Bristol, on the presentation of the noble 
lord Thomas de Berkeley, and Dom . . Bandolph of Goleshill, 
perpetual vicar of the Church of Shipton, &c.] 

(4) The name of John Bandolph appears several times in the 
Wells Begisters, and there seem to have been at least two 
individuals of that name about this period. In 1806 John 
Bandolf was appointed one of the arbitrators to enquire into a 
dispute between the Dean and Chapter of Wells, and the 
Berkeleys, respecting rights in Winscombe. Li 1818, J. Bandolf 
is named as one of the lords of the manor of Cheddar, or 
rather of '* Ceddre Moor." John Bandolph, of Coleshill, became 
master of St. Eatherine's according to Dr. Archer, April 11th, 
1382,«7 and 

(5) John, of Malmesbury, succeeded, October 22nd, 1888.^ 
The names and dates of the Master's of St. Eatherine's given 
by Barrett, CoUinson, and other later writers, are mostly 
taken from the ^* Account of the Religious Houses of the 
Diocese of Bath and WeUs, by Dr. Archer, Archdeacon of Wells, 
which was published as an Appendix to Hemingford's Historia, 

^ Hutton transcript, foL 64. 
f " Badtdph, fol. 66 *' (Dr. Archer). •« Reg. BadvXj^h, fol. 182. 



268 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Hearne's edition,* having been compiled by Dr. Archer from the 
Wells Registers, in February, 1729. In cases where I have been 
unable to give other authority I have quoted Dr. Archer's list, 
not having been able to consult the original Registers at WeUs. 

(6) John Eggesworth, or Eggelesworth, priest, was admitted 
Master of '' St Eaterines," December 10th, 1848. This name is 
variously spelt, but he was probably from Wales, perhaps from 
Eglwyswrw, in Pembrokeshire A certain Boger Eggeworth, 
possibly a member of the same family, was Prior of the Bristol 
Fraternity of Kalendaries, in the year 1526.*^ 

From a document of the year 1848, formerly in the possession 
of the late Mr. Wm. Tyson, F.S.A., with the seal of the Hospital 
attached,'^ it appeared that " John Eggelesworth " was Master 
in that year. It is recorded in the Register of Bp. Randulph^ 
that '' 4 Ides, Dec. 1848, he made his profession before the 
Bishop in the following terms : — " I, John Eggeworth, promise 
perpetual observance of good morals, chastity, and denial of 
property, which I will keep from my soul from this time, accord- 
ing to the rule of the Hospital of St. Katherine, near Bristol, in 
the diocese of Bath and Wells, which I henceforth profess as 
ordained by the holy fathers, as much as is consistent with the 
said rule, or hereafter shall be consistent for me to observe, and 
I will lead my life according to regular discipline." At the same 
time he swore obedience to his diocesan, Ralph of Shrewsbury. 
Barrett, who quotes the above in his History of Bristol, in- 
correctly gives the date of the " profession " as made December 
4th, 1857, instead of December 10th, 1848, or as it is dated in 
the Register, " 4 Ides, Dec. 1348." 

(7) William, of Foston, priest, admitted April 14th, 1349, on 
the presentation of Thomas de Berkeley.** This priest is not 
named as Master of the Hospital, and may have been appointed 
only to the Chantry founded in the Chapel there. 

(8) Walter, of East Ham (" de Estham "), priest, appointed to 
the house or hospital of St. Katherine, near Bristol, by Ralph, 
Bishop of Bath and Wells, on the presentation of Lord Thomas 
de Berkeley (" de Berkelygh ") patron. 2 Kal. May, 1349.»* For 
some cause unknown Walter does not seem to have been a success, 

^9 Historia II. 686-642. ^ Evan*s Chronological Outlines Bristol, 131. 
i' Bristol ArchcBological Magazine, 44. ^ Reg. Randulph, fol. 328. 

3' Rog. Radulph, f. 340. '* Id. 800. 



The Hospital of St. Katherine. 269 

as we learn from the same Begister that, '* 9 Eal., Nov., 1353, 
Walterus Estham, Master of the house of religious (domus 
religiosus) of St. Eatherine, was removed by the Lord Bishop of 
Bath and Wells.''^^ 

(9) John de Kynemerton (Kilmersden ?) was presented, Octo- 
ber 29th, 1353, on the presentation of Lord Berkeley.^ Barrett 
gives the date 1343, but this is a mistake. ' 

(10) John Dififord (Dyflford or Disford) given by Collinson on 
the authority of Dr. Archer. He was Master of St. Katherine's 
in 1373, as appears by the following extract from a Patent of 46 
Edward III., quoted by Tanner^ "... Bex dedit loannes 
Disford custodiam hospitalis S. Eatherinse de Bedminster, ratione 
custodisB terrar et hseredis Mauritii de Berkele Mil. defuncti." 

(11) [Dom] Nicholas de Barnstaple. This master is not named 
by Dr. Archer, and we do not know how long he ruled the Hospital, 
but he resigned the Mastership in A.D. 1414, as recorded below. 
He was probably a son of John Barstaple, and Isabel his wife, the 
founders of Trinity Almshouses, Bristol, where their monumental 
brasses still remain. " Nicholas Barstaple " is named in the 
foundation Charter, granted by Eing Henry V., and is said to 
have been the first Master of Trinity HospitaL In the will of 
John Gaywode, of Bristol, May 1471, mention is made of " Sir 
Nicholas Barstaple, clerk, "^ but if he was the ex-master of St. 
Eatherine's he must have been a very aged man at that date. In 
his Antiquities of Bristol, p. 91, Dallaway gives the Arms and 
" descent of Barstaple, from Wills," and the Arms also appear 
on the monumental brasses above named. 

(12) John Worthy, instituted April 21st, 1414.*® This Master 
who only seems to have presided over the Hospital for a few 
months, was appointed on the resignation of Nicholas de Barn- 
staple, or Barstaple, as appears from the following extract from 
the Wells Begister of Bishop Bubwith, (1407— 1424). *i 

"loannes Worthy presb. institutus in magistrum sive cus- 
todem hospitalis S. EatherinsB de Bedminster juxta Bristol, ad 
presentat dom. Thomse de Berkeley, per resignationem dom. 
Nicolai de Barnstaple (" Bamastapill "). Dictum hospitale 
non est locus Beligiosus a primseva fundatione ; et olim magister 

35 Hutton transoript, I. 259. ^ Reg. Bandulph, f. 424. 37 Notitia Montutica. 

3B Manohee's Bristol Charities, vol. I. ^ Bristol Wills, p. 146. 
♦<» Dr. Archer's Account, p. 605. ♦' WeiUs Beg,, BubuMh, 83. 



270 Clifton Antiquarian Cliib, 

dicti loci habuit secnm aliquando iv. ant ill ant ii. presbjrteros 
socios sea confratres, qui omnibas temporibns suis habitom 
gestaront sacerdotum saecularium, prseterqaam quod pro veste 
exteriori, capa sive mantello di nigro vel bumeto« cum rota 
S. EaterinsB de panno alterius coloris lq sinistro pectore consuto 
utebantur. Bedditus ejusdem hospitalis valorem amiuum 24d£. 
non excedunt, et dictum hospitale tenetur singulis annis ecclesiae 
de Bedminstre ad amiuam pensionem 6s. 8d. solvendam rectori, 
et, in festo S. loannis Baptistse, ecclesiae de Bedmynstre in 
duabus cereis duarum Ubrarum cerse." 

[Translation. John Worthy, Priest, instituted Master or 
Warden of the Hospital of St. Eatherine, of Bedminster, near 
Bristol, at the presentation of the Lord Thomas de Berkeley, 
through the resignation of (Dom) Nicholas de Barnstaple. The 
said Hospital was not a reUgious house from its origmal founda- 
tion, and in time past the Master of the said place had with him 
sometimes four, or three, or two Priests, Fellows or Brothers, who 
always wore the habit of secular priests, except that, instead of 
the outer vestment they used a Cope or Mantle of black or 
burnet, with the wheel of St. Eatherine from cloth of another 
colour sewed on the left breast. The revenue of this Hospital 
does not exceed £24 per annum, and the said Hospital is held by 
the year of the Church of Bedminster at the annual payment of 
6s. 8d., to be paid to the Bector on the Feast of St. John the 
Baptist, to the church of Bedminster in two wax candles of two 
pounds each.] 

Nicholas Bubwith, Bishop of Bath and Wells, from 1407 to 
1424, from whose Register the above interesting information is 
obtained, was a man of some note. He founded the Hospital at 
Wells, still called by his name. He was one of the English 
envoys at the Council of Constance, which condemned the 
writings of WycUf, and sent John Huss to the stake. In con- 
sequence of the spread of Lollardism in Bristol, Bishop Bubwith 

43 This word bumeto seems to have puzzled writers on St. Katherine's; 
Dr. Woodford does not attempt to translate it, (Archl. Mag, i. 24) saying, only 
*' they used a cope or mantle of black, with a St. Catherines wheel, &o." I am 
informed by Sir John Maclean, F.S.A., that bumetaiss, cloth made of dyed wool, 
and that the burnet colour is distinct from brunua or brunet (See Crabb's 
ArchcBologieal Dictionary,) Perhaps the colour resembled that of the burnet flower 
{Sanguisorba officinalis) a curious purple brown, or brownish purple. 



The Hospital of St, Katherine. ttj i 

sent an order to the Dean of Bedcliff, in 1405, forbidding 
preaching, or disputing on doctrine, to all unlicensed persons.^ 

(18) John Dyer, priest, admitted November 19th, 1414, on the 
resignation of John Worthy.^ 

(14) John Coriscomb. No date given by Dr. Archer, but Col- 
linson *^ says A.D. 1420. 

(15) John Fulford, S.T.P., a preaching Friar. " Presented 
June 1st, 1425, on the resignation of John Coriscomb, on the 
presentation of Eichard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick.** He 
was probably a relative of Sir Baldewyn Fulford, of Fulford in 
the County of Devon, Knight, who was executed at the High 
Cross, Bristol, in the presence of King Edward IV., in September, 
1461, and whose memory under the name of "Syr Charles 
Bawdin " is perpetuated in Chatterton's pathetic ballad, " TKe 
Bristowe Tragedie" The forfeited estates of Sir Baldwin were 
afterwards restored to his son. Sir Thomas Fulford, Knight, by 
an Act passed by Edward IV.*^ CoUinson gives the name of this 
Master incorrectly as " Thomas Fulford, D.D." 

(16) James Blakedon, D.D., of Blagdon, Somerset, Bishop of 
Achonry, in Ireland, described in the Begister as " Jacobus 
Akadensis Episcopus,'' became Master at St. Katherines, 
October 11th, 1482.*^ During a recent visit to London, I 
endeavoured to find out something of this Master's history, 
but could not even discover his surname. Since my return, 
I fortunately applied to my friend the Eev. B. H. Blacker, who 
sends me the following from Cotton's Fasti Ecclesia Hibemicce : *• 

" 1442, Jas. Blakedon, D.D., a Dominican friar, succeeded (to 
the Bishopric of Achonry) by the Pope's provision, dated Oct. 15th. 
(Hibernia Dominicana.) In 1452-8, he was translated to Bangor. 
He was born at Blackdon (Blagdon) in Somersetshire, and in 
1448, became a suffragan of Bishop Beckington, of Bath and 
Wells. He was likewise Master of St. Katherine's Hospital, at 
Bedminster. ... He held this last appointment till his death 
on October 24th, 1464." Probably he was buried at St Kathe- 
rine's. Bishop Blakedon was instituted, in 1447, to the rectory of 
Stockton, Wilts, as recorded in Phillipp's Wiltshire Institutions. 

43 866 Hunt's Somerset Diocese, p. 142. London S.P.K., 1885. 
**Buhw. Beg., £. 87. « CoUinson, II. 288. 

4« WeU$ Reg., Stafford, 1. 12. (Dr. Arch6r, 605). *7 Evans, Bristol, p. 107. 
^ WeUs Beg., Stafford, f. 168. -» Vol. iv. p. 101. 



272 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

(17) Henry Abyngdon, musician of the Kings Chapel, who was 
Master when William Wyrcestre wrote, is thus mentioned in the 
Itinerary : " Hospitalis domus in ecclesia Sancta KaterinsB ubi 
Magister Henricus Abyndon musicus de Gapella regis est 
Magister."*^ The said Abyndon, or Abyngdon, was Master 
according to Barrett, in 1465, to Collinson, in 1478, and to 
William Wyrcestrer, about the year 1484 ; a long period. The 
date of his institution is not given by Dr. Archer. He died 1497. 

(18) Thomas Cosyn, S.T.P., was " admitted Master of the 
house or hospital of St. Katerine of Bedminster, September 1st, 
1497, on the death of Master Henry Abyndon, at the presenta- 
tion of Elizabeth, Duchess of Norfolk, and with the consent of 
Margaret, Countess of Eichmond and Derby." ^^ Collinson** in 
his list gives the name " Thomas Cofyn, B.D.," and the date of 
his institution " September 1st, 1491," which is a mistake. 

(19) John Lloyd, instituted April 21st, 1513, on the resigna- 
tion of Thomas Cosyn, 8.T.P., " at the presentation of Edward, 
Duke of Buckingham, Earl of Herford, Stafford and Norfolk."^ 

(20) Bichard Waldegrave, gentleman ; a layman. May 12th, 
1523.*^ Barrett^ says, " Bichard Waldegrave being Master or 
Custos of this Hospital, an agreement was made that the image 
of the holy St. Katherine, fixed up in the front house, between 
the causey and the barton of the said Hospital, should be kept 
clean and in good repair." Barrett gives 1558 as the date of this 
** agreement," but this is doubtless an error. 

(21) William Clarke, also a layman, appointed April 14th, 
1543, by the King's letters patent.^^ 

'' 14 April, 1543, Will. Clerke, literatus, ad liberam capellam 
sive hospitale see. Katerine propr. Bedminstre p. mort ad prs. 
Anton. Denny arm. hac vice r (?) Concess. regem." During the 
time Clerke was Master, the Surveys of 2 Edw. VI. (1548) took 
place, the first treating of the possessions in the lump, the 
second of the property in detail as shewn in the Bental. By the 
kindness of my friend Mr. E. A. Green, F.S.A., I am enabled to 
give the Survey and Valuation of St. Katherine's, from the 
quarto work on The Somerset Chantries, which he is editing for 
the Somerset Record Society. 

soDallaway'8 edn., p. 149. s^ Reg. King, f. 10. Hutton transcript, 11. 152. 

53 Collinson, 11. 2S8. s4RegiBter Hadrian de Gastello, f. 107. Hutton transcript, f. 18. 

55 Id, Clark, f. 3. sc Barrett, 598. ?? Wells Reg. King. 10. (Dr. Archer.) 



The Hospital of St. Katherine, 273 

117. Belrmpjften {The. Survey). 

3rf)e ffree Ctj^pell or l)Oji({ittall oC gamete |latertne tl)er. 

Landes teiite and hereditamte in the tenure of sondery i^ setels 
psones as maye appere ticulerly more at large by the xoortlje in 
Bental of the same xxjZi. xys. iiijc2. 

Whereof in 

Eente resolute paid yerly v«. iiijd. 

And so 

Bemayneth clere xxjZi. xs, 

»Ute ano ^ chalice of silv waying — ^viij oz. do (i) . 

Bell metall C lb. 

Omamentes praysed at — iiij«. vjd. 

JAemorb. William Gierke gent (as yt is saide) Maister of the 

same hospitall by the Kinge Ires patente, not yit 

shewed. 

Ther be no poore people mayteyned or releved w* the premisses, 
saving that the saide Mr. Gierke assigneth iij cotages pcell of the 
same hospitall wo'the yerely — xxs. not charged in this value, for 
the poore men to dwell in, and other relief, they have non but as 
God sendeth. 

The priest alwayes incubent before hym was bounde to saye 
masse there thryse euy weke. 

No fundac5n shewed. 

BetrmpsEter* {The Rental Detailed.) 

tli\)t fxn (!ri)apel or Hojitpital of jiU |&atl)eriiu tl)ere. 

Bichard Hall holds the scite and demesne lands of the said 
Hospital, and renders per ann. — vijK. 

Alice Sparrer holds two acres of meadow in Lookemoor, and 
renders per ann. — ^iij«. iiijd. 

John Goke holds one acre of meadow in Wademore, one acre 
of meadow in Boenmede, and one acre of meadow in Bodmede, 
and renders per ann. — yjs. iiijd. 

Divers persons hold as well according to custom as at will, 



274 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

divers lands and tenements in Bedmjster and Aisheton in the 
county of Somerset, and in Barkeley in the county of Gloucester, 
to the said Hospital belonging, and render per ann. — xiijZi. xvij«. 
viijd. 

holds a certain tenement in the city of 

Bristol!, and renders per ann. — viij«. 

holds iij Uttle cottages called Almoshouses in 

the parish of Bedclyff in the suburbs of BristoU, and renders per 
ann. — mly because they are inhabited by paupers. 

Total — xxjZt. xv«. iiijd. 

• 

Deduct in. — ^Money paid to the Lord the King as for the price 
of a lb. of pepper, per ann., for chief rent — ^iiij«. iiijd. Money 
paid to the said Lord the King for suit of Court to be annually 
performed — xijd. 

Total — v«. iiijd. 

And remains over, per annum — xxjZt. x«. 

The priest before Gierke was bound to say mass thrice a week, 
but in his time probably no masses were said, and there was no 
priest ; shortly after both were restored for a brief space, for we 
learn that on the death of Gierke, in 1557, 

(22) " John Angell, or Aungel, one of the Chaplains of the 
Chapel Boyal, was instituted Master or Warden, by injunction 
of the King and Queen, Philip and Mary." ^ Whether Angell 
continued to act as Master after the accession of Queen Eliza- 
beth in the following year, we do not know. 

(23) James Bonde, 8.T.B., (B.D.) was appointed in August, 
1568,®^ but on the death of John Angell, on the presentation of 
Hugo Brooke and John Hill, 

(24) John Bridgwater, M.A., late Canon residentiary of Wells^ 
was appointed November 28th, 1570, on the presentation of the 
same two gentlemen.®^ Of this "chief among the converts gained 
by the Romanists during the reign of Elizabeth," as he is called 
in Mr. Hunt's recently published Diocesan History,^ Father 
Grant, S.J., has written an interesting memoir under the title of 
" From Oxford to Douay,** from which he kindly allows me to 
quote the following extracts : 

5« Barrett, 599. » Rymer'a Foedcra, xv., 479. *• Dr. Archer, Barkley, fl, 26. 

*' Id. fl. 31. ^ Somerset Diocese', 138. 



The Hospital of St. KatJierine. 275 

" John Canon Bridgwater . . . sent in to Bishop Berkeley 
. . . a written resignation of his canonry of Wells, of his 
living at Porlock, and that of Stanton Drew. ** He desired to 
devote himself to study and retirement, and would be well 
contented with the Mastership of the little Hospice of St. 
Eatherine, Brightbow, at £25 per annum, for he had private 
means of his own. " He had ahready resigned his rectorate of 
Lincoln College, Oxford, and his perpetual curacy of Wotton 
Courtney, near Taunton. He now gave into the Bishop's hands 
Compton Bishop, near Axbridge. This altogether meant the 
renunciation of a net income of about £2,800. The renunciation 
was accepted very willingly by Berkeley (a descendant of the 
Lord who built St. Katherine's) leaving only one injunction and 
sign of feudal tenure, viz.^ that the Hospital should pay 6s. 8d. 
— a groat of that day — to supply wax candles at Candlemas to 
the Church of Bedminster. So behold him empty handed and 
installed at Brightbow. He is supposed to have chosen Bristol 
on account of its proximity to the famous John Fowler, printer 
and publisher, of Small Street in that City, whose ripe scholar- 
ship and CathoUc tendencies were well known." After a few 
years at St. Eatherine's, in 1577, Bridgwater, a^ccompanied by a 
former chorister from Wells, named Rasing, and John Fowler, 
fled to the Jesuit College at Douay, where they were joyfully 
received by Cardinal Allen. Father Bridgwater, after his 
ordination as priest by the Cardinal, spent much of his time at 
Douay, where he wrote several works in defence of the old 
religion, and the Papal supremacy. He died in 1594, and was 
buried at Treves.** " Who but John Bridgwater himself can tell 
the tryals of his mind ? " But ..." as Aquapontanus " he has left 
us the result of his life-thoughts, contained in two rare treatises, 
one called the Calmno-Papistce of Elizabeth's reign, the other A 
Concertation an the Papal Supremacy, in an answer to John of 
Heidelberg." «* 

According to the Rev. William Hunt, M.A, when Father John 
Bridgwater joined the Church of Rome several of his fellow 
students of Lincoln College, Oxford, followed his example.®^ 

(25) Edward Mowcroft. Date not given by Dr. Archer, but 
stated by Collinson to be 1572.^ 

*3 " From Oxford to Douay ^'^ reprinted from T/te Month, for April, 1887. 
** Id., pp. 5, 6. ^ Som&raetshire Diocese, p. 188. ^ Somerset, II., 283. 



276 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

(26) Francis Nevil, the last Master on record, was appointed 
during the reign of Elizabeth, May 26th, 1573.*^ The Chapel had 
been sold some years before (2nd Edw. VI.) when William Clark 
was Master, as stated above. The house appears to have gone 
gradually to decay. In 1634 (26th Hen. VIII.) the revenue of 
the hospital was valued at £21 15s. lOd., the tenths £2 3s. 7d.^ 

The site was granted, June 16th, 1587, to Edward Heme and 
John Nicholas, by whom it was sold, in 1588, to Henry Nevil, 
Esq. His grandson sold it, in 1605, to Sir Hugh Smyth, Knight, 
of Ashton, from whom it descended to Sir Greville Smyth, Bart. 
Recently the property has been purchased by the Firm of Wills 
and Company, who have, as before stated, pulled down the few 
remains of the ancient buildings, and have erected upon a 
portion of the site a huge tobacco factory. In 1730, a portion of 
the site was occupied by a glasshouse,^ afterwards converted 
into small tenements ; and, untU recently, another portion of 
the site was occupied by a tan-yard. There is nothing on the 
spot to preserve the memory of the hospital except the name of 
a modern thoroughfare called '^ Catherine Mead Street." 

^ Dr. Archer's AccovinJt^ Barkley^ 26. ** Dr. Archer, fol. 606. 

^ Mr. Strachey's " IAaI of Religioua Houses," Ac,, in Hemingford's " HisU 
oria," II., 664. 



Proceedings, 1886-7. 277 



1887—1888. 



MEETINGS AND EXCURSIONS. 

The third Annual Meetin^^ was held on Thursday, January 27th, 1887, 
the President (Bishop Clifford) in the chair. In the absence, through 
indisposition, of the Treasurer (Colonel Bramble), the financial statement 
for the past year was read by the Secretary, showing a small balance in 
hand. 

Some slight alterations in the Rules, of which notice had been given, 
were then proposed to the meeting and carried, the chief of these being 
to increase the number of Ordinary Members of the Club from 40 to 50, 
and to raise the annual subscription to half-a-guinea, which would 
include a copy of the '* Journal of Proceedings.'' 

It was annoimced that at the last meeting of the Committee, Mr. John 
Reynolds had been elected an honorary Member. The ballot for new 
members resulted in the election of Dr. John Beddoe, F.R.S., Rev. J. W. 
Hardman, LL.D., Mr. John Latimer, Professor C. Lloyd Morgan, 
Mr. C. H. Spence, M.A., Mr. W. N. Tribe, and Mr. Stephen Tryon. 

The following Members were then elected to serve as Officers and 
Committee for the year 1887: — President, the Hon. and Right Rev. 
Bishop Clifford; Vice-Presidents, Dr. Beddoe, F.R.S., and Lieut.-Col. 
J. R. Bramble ; Treasurer, Mr. John Williams ; Secretary, Mr. Alfred 
Hudd, F.S.A. ; Committee, Messrs. Thomas S. Pope, John Taylor, 
A. T. Martin, M.A., and Robert Hall Warren. 

The President then gave a short Address on some of the proceedings and 
work of the Club during the previous year. Bishop Clifford expressed 
great regret at not having been able to accompany the members in their 
visit to Stonehenge, a monument in which he felt much interest. Several 
of the theories as to the origin and use of Stonehenge having been alluded 
to, Bishop Clifford said, that the mortice-and-tenon arrangement in 
which the trilithons of Stonehenge differed from all other British 
megalithic remains, reminded him of some of the early buildings of 
Rome and other parts of Italy, in which a somewhat similar plan was 
adopted to fasten together the great stones of which the buildings were 
constructed. He thought this seemed to indicate a later date, for the 
erection of the trilithons at any rate, that most recent writers had 



27S Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

attributed to the monument. Some discussion followed, in which 
several members took part, and it seemed to be the opinion of most of 
those present that the theory suggested by the late Dr. Guest, and 
supported by sereral of our best nodem antiquaries, by which the 
erection of Stonehenge was attributed to a period of about fire hundred 
years before the commencement of the Christian era, was probably as 
near the true date as we shall ever ascertain. 

Mr. Thomas 8. Pope exhibited a drawing of, and read some notes upon, 
a fifteenth structure of timber, which he had recently observed in a 
cellar in High Street, Bristol. Mr. Pope presented a tracing from this 
drawing for insertion in the Club Album, to which he had made several 
valuable presents on previous occasions. The Secretary invited similar 
contributions of drawings, tracings, engravings, and photographs of local 
antiquities, from other members of the Club. (See Plate XVIII., fig. 1.) 



MEETING IN BRISTOL— NOEMAN REMAINS. 

On Friday, March 18th, 1887, a meeting of the Club took place in 
Bristol, for the purpose of inspecting the remains of Norman architec- 
ture that exist in the city. At 2 p.m. the members assembled in 
St. Peter's Church, where they were met by the Vicar, the Rev. W. T . 
HoUius, M.A. The western tower of this church has been generally 
described by Bristol historians as part of the original Norman church 
which was given by Robert Fitz Hamon to the Abbey of Tewkesbury, 
about A.D. 1100, but much doubt was expressed by tnose members of 
the Club who had paid attention to the subject, whether even a 
fragment of this Norman building remains visible. Mr. John Reynolds 
thought no portion of the present building was of earlier date than the 
13th century, in which view Mr. Pope and Mr. W. E. Jones, coincided. 
The Secretary called attention to the fact that the late Mr. E. W. 
Godwin, F.S.A., who had studied and made careful drawings of the 
tower many years ago, also regarded it as a building of the 13th 
century.^ Its claim, therefore, to rank as a ^' portion of the original 
Norman structure " < cannot well be sustained. Doubtless there was once 
a Saxon or early Norman church on or near the site occupied by the 
present biulding, but this was probably quite destroyed when the church 
was rebuilt in the 15th century, or about the year 1657, when, the parish 
books inform us, much mending of the church and tower took place. 
The statement as to the Norman date of the tower has been frequently 
made by local writers, and was repeated in print shortly before the visit 
of the Club to the church. In Plate XVII. of Picturesqiie Old Bristol^ 
published by Messrs. Frost and Reed, in February, 1887, a view is 
given of St. Mary-le-Port Street, with the west side of St. Peter's 
tower, and in the letter press accompanying the etching it is stated — 
" The church tower in the view is that of St. Peter's, the mother church 
of Bristol. The lower stages are Norman, and the oldest EccleeiasttccU 
work in Bristol" During the afternoon the members had the oppor- 
tunity of examining architectural remains in several of the Bristol 

' Archaological Journal, six. 91. * Bristol Past and Present, ii. 127. 



» Proceedings, iSS^-S. 279 

churches of much older date than any portion of the work now to be 
seen at St Peter's, though it is possible that the cores of the massive 
piers, like those which support the central tower of the Cathedral, may 
be of Norman date. 

The present visit being exclusively devoted to an inspection of the 
Norman remains, the interesting features in St. Peter*s church of post- 
Norman date were deferred for a future occasion, and the members pro- 
ceeded by way of the still picturesque though sadly modernized street 
of St. Mary-le-Port to 

The Chubch of All-Hallowen, or All Saints, 

where some imdoubted relics of Norman date are to be seen. These 
consist of four stunted circular piers with plain cushion capitals of the 
12th century, at the west end of the nave, which support the houses 
that still extend over the western terminations of the north and south 
aisles. Mr. John Taylor explained this curious arrangement by pointing 
out that the piers on the south side supported the floor of the Vicarage 
House, which still remains, while those on the north formed part of the 
house once occupied by the Guild or Fraternity of the Kalendars, who 
were removed here in early Norman times from Christ Church opposite, 
and whose library, *' the oldest public library in England,'' was placed 
in a chamber over the north aisle, long since destroyed, with most of its 
contents, by fire. Mr. William Thomas said that on an old plan in his 
possession of a portion of the city of Bristol, made about A.D. 1830, 
the chancel of All Saint'a Church was given as extending to the comer 
of High Street. The next visit was to 

Bkistol Cathedral, 

where the Venerable Archdeacon Norris received the members in the 
grand old Romanesque Chapter House, and in the adjoining vestry he 
ravoured them with a most interesting address on the early history and 
remains of the Norman Abbey, on the conclusion of which, the buildings 
themselves were inspected. 

The Norman work of St. Augustine's is of two periods; portions 
of the walls of the north and south transepts, the cores of the tower 
piers, and the gateway to the Abbot's lodgings belong to the original 
church, commenced A.D. 1142 ; while the Chapter Room and the lower 
part of the great gateway in College Green belong to the later period 
(about A.D. 1160), after the Founder, Robert Fitzharding, had been 
presented by the king with the Berkeley estates. See Berkeley MSS, 

The idea that the Chapter house had at any time been continued one 
bay further east, to which the Archdeacon alluded, seemed conclusively 
decided in the negative by the existence in the present eastern wall of a 
couple of 12th century pilaster-buttresses, which it is hardly likely 
would have been rebuilt. The beautiful designs of the interior of the 
Chapter Room, its plainer but even more elegant vestibule, with its 
circular and very early pointed arches, the plain Norman doorways in 
the north cloister, and in the south wall of the south transept, and some 
very curious Norman fragments in the staircase of the north wall of the 
north aisle, were carefully examined. The Archdeacon having invited 



28o Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

remarks upon the subject of this staircase, which had long been a 
puzzle to ontiquarieff, and did not seem to have been satisfactorily 
explained by either Mr. George Godwin or Mr. Street, it was suggested 
by Mr. John Reynolds that it was probably a lean-to avenue leading 
from the north aisle of the Norman church to the clerestory above, 
similar to one in Malvern Abbey. The Rev. Ign. Grant thought it 
might have been connected with the Anchorite or Hermit whose duties 
in Augustinian Churches to watch the lights and keep guard during the 
hours of darkness, required some such cell, from which the High Altar 
and interior of the church would be visible. Another member expressed 
an opinion that the stair was not of Norman date, the 12th century 
corbels and fragments having simply been made use of when the 
entrance was made to the clerestory in the 14th century, and it is quite 
possible that this last named view may be the true solution of the 
difficulty. The Norman entrance to the Abbot's lodging, and the small 
fragment remaining visible of the great Abbey gateway, at that time in 
the hands of the *' restorers," were looked at, but in consequence of the 
snow it was found impracticable to visit the Norman remains of the 
Abbot's House, in the ground to the south of the Cathedral, which had 
therefore to be deferred for another occasion. After thanking the 
Archdeacon for his kind reception, and for his invitation to visit the 
Cathedral again to inspect the beautiful remains of its 13th and 14th 
century architecture, the Secretary said he hoped to avail himself of this 
invitation next year, when he proposed that the members should inspect 
the Transition and Early English architecture of the City. On leaving 
St. Augustine's, a brief visit was paid to some 

NoBMAN Remains in Small Stbeet, 

consisting of a portion of a 12th century house, described by Mr. Taylor 
as " some clustered piers with cushioned capitals, of a wealthy citizen's 
house, now incorporated in the Law Library, in Small Street," ' permis- 
sion for the members to inspect which was granted. Remains of 
domestic architecture of the Norman period are nowhere common, and 
as this is, with one exception to be presently mentioned, the only 
remaining example in Bristol, it is fortunate that it escaped destruction 
during the reconstruction of the Law Courts some few years since, 
lliough but a small fragment of the original Norman Hall, it is of much 
interest, and seems to date from about the same period as the remains 
in All Saints' Church, a short distance to the north of the house. 
Little is known of the early history of the building, but in 1677 it was 
the residence of Sir Henry Creswicke, who here entertained Queen 
Catherine on her visit to Bristol, the city paying the expense.^ At the 

Peiobt Chuboh of St. James 

the Members were received by the Vicar, the Rev. J. Hart-Davis, M.A., 
who gave a brief account of the church, and of the destroyed Abbey 
buildings, which he illustrated by a plan. Mr. T. S. Pope added some 
remai'ks, especially referring to the ^^ restoration " of the building, some 
years since, and then, imder the guidance of the Vicar, an inspection 

' Briatol : Past and Present ^ ii. 27. * Evans, 227. 



Proceedings, 1887-8. 281 

was made of the few fragments of the old buildings that are still left, 
built into or supporting modern or mediseval houses in the neighbour- 
hood. The Norman arches of the Priory Church itself seem to belong 
to an earlier period than some of the Romanesque work vi'^ited during 
the day, but the most interesting portion of the architecture at St. 
James*s is the well known beautiful little wheel-window, and the series 
of intersectino: Norman arches in the west front, which have been 
frequently illustrated in works on English architecture, and fortunately 
still remain in fairly good condition. 

Norman Remains in Nelson Street. 

These had been included upon the programme of objects to be visited, 
but could not be seen, owing to the absence from home of the owner ; 
they were afterwards inspected by some of the members, when Mr. 
Pope made a sketch of which he has given a copy for the Club Album. 
'J hey consist of a couple of circular piers with fluted capitals now 
supporting the ceiling of a cellar, but it is doubtful whether they 
occupy their original position. The bases being underground it was 
impossible to decide this point without excavatin<2:. With the exception 
of these pillars and the Norman Font in St. Philip's Church, all the 
known remains of Norman Bristol had been visited during the day. 



EXCURSION TO 
CARDIFF, LLANDAFP, AND CAERPHILLY. 

On Wednesday, May 11th, 1887, an excursion took place to South 
Wales, which was well attended by the members and their friends, who, 
with the President (Bishop Clifford) left Clifton Down by the 9.10 a.m. 
train, and proceeded by way of the recently opened Severn Tunnel to 
Cardiff, where carriages were waiting to take them to the Castle, which, 
by kind permission of the noble owner, the Marquis of Bute, was 
thrown open to their inspection, llie ruins of the ancient Castle, 
including the entrance Tower, the Keep, said to have been built by 
Robert Earl of Gloucester, the builder of Bristol Castle, and the 
foundations of the drawbridge and walls excavated recently by the 
present Marquis, were examined and described by Mr. Corbett and 
the Secretary. A full account of the remains having been published 
by our distinguished fellow-citizen, Mr. George T. Clark, no more need 
here be said. 

Robebt Cubthose at Cabdiff Castle. 

The story of the imprisonment and cruel treatment of Robert, Duke 
of Normandy, in Cardiff Castle, having been mentioned, the Secretary 
read a note from Professor J. Rowley, a member of the Club, who 
wrote in reply to a letter on the subject, as follows : — " Not having 
yet rejoined my books I can gratify your wish only from memory, 
but I believe there is not even the shadow of a fact in the stories 
of Duke Robert's ill-treatment by King Henry, or his jailors. The 

8 



282 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

entire weight of contemporary authority, so far as I remember, goes 
to show that at all his places of captivity — Devizes, Bristol, Cardiff — 
he was but too weU treated ; I do not think that there is a single hint 
given to the contrary by a writer of his own time. If he became 
blind — ^which is, perhaps, probable — he had mainly his excessive delight 
in good living, aided perhaps by natural causes, to thank for it. It is, I 
believe, as certain as anything merely historical can be, that no violence, 
whether of his brother's prompting or not, was answerable for the 
calamity — if it really befel him. The story of his being blinded is first 
foimd, I think, some generations after his death. It doubtless was 
the offspring of the usual parent of this kind of falsehood, popular 
imagination stimulated by the appetite for horrors, and the tendency to 
believe the worst of men in high places, who have dangerous persons in 
their power, screened from the public eye by stone walls. The same 
creative power was at work as has been the author of so many tales of 
poisoned kings, queens, princesses and statesmen. There is a note on 
the subject in Vol. v. of Freeman's Norman Conquest.^ I am bound to 
say that Sir Francis Palgrave accepts the story of Robert's being 
blmded. ' Did he think,' he says, somewhere in his Normandy and 
Englatid, ' of the day when the glowing brass would wither his own 
agonized eye-balls ? ' " 

Mr. John Taylor stated that on a previous visit to the castle he had 
been shewn not only the place where the blinding was accomplished, but 
also the instrument with which it was done, the '* historic doubt *' on 
the subject not having at that time reached Cardiff. 

After a brief visit to the interior of the modem Castle, to see the 
magnificent decorations and contents, including the wall paintings of 
scenes from the history of Cardiff, by the late Mr. Burgess, R.A., and 
other modern artists, the carriages were rejoined, and a drive of about 
half an hour brought the party to 

LLA.NDAFF CiLTHEDBAI.. 

In the absence of the Dean (Dr. Vaughan) who wrote to express hia 
regret that his duties in London prevented his meeting the Club, the 
members were received by Canon Hawkins, who gave a brief account of 
the Cathedral, from its traditional foundation by St. Tewdric (or Myric) 
king and martyr, in the 5th century, to the late very successful 
restoration, from a partially roofless ruin to a grand old church. The 
Norman arches, doors, and other architectural features, sculptures in 
wood and stone, etc., were inspected, and special attention was called 
by Col. Bramble and by Mrs. Bagnall-Oakeley to some peculiarities 
in the costumes of the early ecclesiastical effigies. 

Time did not permit of more than a brief glance at the ruins of the 

s (• For 28 years he was a prisoner, moved from castle to castle at his brother's 
will, but still treated, so at least his brother professed, with all the deference and 
courtesy which his rank and his misfortunes might claim." (Norman Conqtusi, 
V. 175.) ....*• All the contemporary English writers who speak of the matter, 

describe Robert as being as well treated as a prisoner could be The story 

seems to be simply one of the large class of exaggerations due to the mere love of 

horrors A good many people were blinded in Henry's time 

Neither Henry of Huntingdon nor Wace seem to have heard of the alleged 
blinding." (Id. v. 849, 850.) 



Proceedings, 1887-8. 283 

Bishop's Palace, the gateway of which, built by Bishop Urban, adjoining 
the church, was destroyed by Owain Glyndwr. After thanking Canon 
Hawkins for his kind reception, the driye was continued up the valleys 
of the Taff and the Ebbw, with beautiful views, at intervals, of moun- 
tains, rivers, and lichly wooded vales, and 

Caekphilly Castle 

was reached about 3.15 p.m , where bv kind permission of the Marquis of 
Bute, free admission was granted to toe party. On reaching the interior 
of the castle, a most interesting account of the ancient and present state 
of the fortress was given by Col. J. R. Bramble, F.S.A., which he 
illustrated by large ground plans prepared for the occasion ; after which 
the members walked round the ruins, and examined the remains of the 
outer walls, with the buttresses and towers ; the gateway to the inner- 
bailey; the great hall 70 feet by 80 feet; the celebrated '* leaning 
tower ; " and other features ; under the guidance of Col. Bramble. 
Though the castle is unrivalled in the extent and magnificence of its 
ruins by any other in Wales, little is known of its history. A most 
interesting account of the buildings and what is known of their history 
was published in Bristol 1835-36, in the Wtit of England Journal of 
Science and Literature^ by the editor, Mr. G. T. Clark, and has since 
been reprinted in his work on Mediteval Military Architecture, This 
contained a restored drawinjj of " Caerphilly Castle as it formerly stood," 
which has been frequently reproduced as an example of a typical 
Edwardian Castle. 

Returning to Cardiff by the 5.22 p.m. train from Caerphilly station, 
dinner was served at the Park Hotel, after which the members returned 
home by the 7.15 train, reaching Clifton Down soon after 9.0 from a 
pleasant and successful excursion amongst some of the most interesting 
of the Medieoval Antiquities of South Wales. 



EXCURSION TO AXBRIDGE, COMPTON BISHOP, 
WEDMORE, AND CHEDDAR. 

Ok Monday, October 3rd, 1887, the second excursion of the year 
was made, when twenty-six members and friends accompanied the 
President to the Cheddar Valley. Leaving Bristol in a saloon carriage 
by the 9.30 a.m. train, Axbridge was reached about 10.20. 

The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, has recently been 
restored. It is a handsome cruciform structure, chiefly of Perpendicular 
date, consisting of nave, with north and south aisles, chancel, with north 
and sputh chapels, central tower, and south porch. In the absence of the 
Vicar, the Club was received by the Rev. G. D. W. Ommaney, who gave 
some account of the building, and of the *^ restoration," which had only 
just been completed. Col. Bramble followed with some remarks on the 
internal architectural features, and especially noticed the curious remains 
of chambers on the north side of the chancel, and at the west end 
of the church, which he thought might have been used in former 
times as Anchorholds. Col. Bramble promised some notes on this 



284 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

subject for the Proct^dingz which we shall hope to print in anr next 
volume. 

In reply to Mr. Algernon Warren, it was stated by Mr. Salisbury, 
one of the Churchwardens, that the ancient painting described by 
Rutter {Somerset, p. 180), as formerly in the church — "a very curious 
old painting on a piece of oak panelling, of the age of Edward III., 
representing the Saviour, with a pointed beard " — was still preserved in 
the town, though it had been removed from the church. Mr. Salisbury 
promised to show this painting to any members who might wish to see 
it, if they would pay another visit to the town, when also the interesting 
and very ancient charters and manuscripts preserved in the town chest 
might be examined. The Secretary promised to give due notice to the 
local authorities should their kind invitation be accepted, and several 
members present expressed a wish to take part in the proposed inspec- 
tion. On leaving the church, the interior of the Town Hall was looked 
at ; it contains some old paintings, a curious piece of painted glass with 
the quaint legend (Suit X\\t^.'% %t^xt of ^11, j^ane tl)e Council of t^ijif 
Hall. In the basement, Mr. Robert H. Warren pointed out an ancient 
metal table, or '* nail,'' similar to those in front of the Bristol Exchange, 
which had probably been removed from the market place when the 
Town Hall was rebuilt, about A.D. 1829. The Secretary showed an old 
engraving of Axbridge Market Place, from a painting of the middle 
of the last century, with the High Cross and some old houses since 
destroyed, from which it appeared that the town was formerly much more 
picturesque than it is at present. After thanking the local gentlemen 
and others who had honoured the Club by their presence, and expressiog 
a hope that another visit to Axbridge might soon take place, the 
members mounted the carriages which were in waiting and drove to the 
little village and Church of 

CoMPTON Bishop, 

picturesquely situated close under the miniature mountain known, from 
the shape of its summit, as "Crook Peak," Mendip, frequently mis- 
called " Crook's Peak.^* Here the church, dedicated to St. Andrew, was 
seen, and the Secretary pointed out the leading architectural features, 
the fine transition south doorway, probably of late 12th century date ; 
the 12th century Font, the Early English work in the chancel, including 
a double piscina beneath two tref oiled arches ; the carved stone pulpit 
of early 15th century date, etc. The Churchyard Cross, figured by 
Pooley (p. 47), was glanced at, and then, rejoining the carriages, the 
drive was continued through the village of Weare, the church of which 
ancient village some few of the members visited, and to 

Wedmore. 

The Rev. Sydenham Hervey received the party at the Vicarage, and 
after showing them his interesting collection of antiquities from the 
neighbourhood, including many fragments of pottery, etc., from 
excavations on the site of what was at one time supposed to have been 
King Alfred's palace, those present were most hospitably entertained at 
luncheon Bishop Clifford having thanked the Vicar for his very kind 



Proceedings, 1887-8. 285 

reception of the Club, a yisit was then paid to the very interesting 
church of St. Mary, where the details both of the exterior and interior 
of the building, its monuments, curious fresco painting, handsome iron- 
work on the south door, churchyard cross, etc., were examined under 
the guidance of the Vicar, and of Bishop Clifford and Col. Bramble. 
The latter has since extended his remai*ks into a monograph of the 
church, which is printed at pp. 178-192. 

The yery fine Village Cross, one of the most beautiful and perfect of 
those remaining in Somersetshire, was then visited, and was much 
admired. It is well illustrated by Mr. Pooley, Crosses of Somerset, 
pp. 114, 115, where it is fully described as a nearly perfect Cross of late 
14th century date. Historically (or traditionally) the Cross is inte- 
resting, as upon it Judge Jeffreys is said to have hanged a local doctor, 
because he had helped to dress the wounds of a d3ring Puritan The 
Cross then stood in another part of the village, near the Shambles. 

Cheddab. 

On reaching the picturesquely situated village of Cheddar, the first 
object of antiquarian interest noticed was the fine old Market Cross, 
which is well known from the accoimts and illustrations of it published 
by Britton, Pooley,^ and others. It is curiously constructed, '* the central 
column and the socket being octagonal on plan, while the roof, arches 
and steps are hexagonal, and of a much later date." 7 It was partly 
rebuilt m 1834, and having since been somewhat neglected is again 
getting out of repair. It was understood that the Cross was shortly to 
be restored by a local landowner. 

The next place visited was the parish Church of St. Andrew, where 
the party was met by the Vicar, the Kev. John Coleman, M.A., who, 
after conducting them round the outside of the building, and calling 
their attention to the chief interesting features of the exterior, led the 
way to the west end, where the beautiful Tower was much admired. Mr. 
Freeman has described this tower as a noble one of its kind, *' where 
the turret stands out very prominently, and its pinnacle soars above all 
the rest, but a buttress and pinnacle, like those of the other angles, 
creeps up by the side of it." It much resembles the western tower of 
Banwell Church, and like it has on its western face sculptures repre- 
senting the ** Annunciation." On reaching the interior of the church 
an interesting account of the building and its history was given by the 
Vicar, which has been printed at pp. 175-179. Some discussion took 
place on the heraldic bearings in the painted glass from various windows 
m the nave, now preserved in the south chapel. Col. Bramble, Bishop 
Clifford and others taking part. Fragments of a representation of the 
Annimciation remain in the east window of this chapel, and among the 
saints in the south window pointed out by Bishop Clifford were St. 
Barbara and St. Catherine. The stone monument, described by Col- 
linson, as formerly in this chapel, with the inscription, " Here lyeth the 
body of Edmund Rooe, esq. ; who departed this life the 27th of March, 
A.D., 1595," has since been destroyed, but a portion of it is preserved, 
on which are sculptured the Rooe arms and other bearings, on shields 
within quatrefoils. 

^ Pooley, Crosses of Somerset, 169. ' Proc, Somerset Archl, Soc., II. ii. 58. 



^86 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

The monumental brass of Sir Thomas de Cheddar, knight and 
burgess of Bristol, in which city he was born A.D. 1380, has been 
figured in this volume (p. 39), as a good example of the armour of the 
period. 

The fine stone pulpit painted in colours, and some remains of carved 
woodwork were examined, after which, the necessary permission having 
been obtained by the Vicar, the members visited and inspected the 
remains of the old Manor House, near the railway station, which is said 
by Rutter to have been *' the Hall of the Manor House of John de 
Cheddar now used," (A.D. 1829), '*as a stable and granary." It still 
remains "tolerably entire," and might be easily restored; but it is 
supposed by some recent authorities to have been the chapel rather 
than the hall of the Manor. Circumstances did not permit of a settle- 
ment of the question on the present occasion. 

After passing a hearty vote of thanks to the Vicar for his kind 
reception and interesting remarks, the members made their way to 
the railway station, where dinner was partaken of, after which they 
returned home by the train leaving Cheddar at 6.6 p.m., and reaching 
Bristol at 7.30, the autumn excursion, though rather later in the year 
than usual, having been much enjoyed by those present. 



MEETING, NOVEMBER 24th, 1887. 

Bishop Clifford, Pbesident, in thb Chaib. 

Mr. F. F. Tuckett exhibited a bronze medal which has been in the 
possession of his family for a Ions period, and is described as follows, 
by Lord Stanhope in his Life of Pxtty iv. 216 : — 

" Napoleon also directed M. Denon, then at the head of the French 
Mint, to prepare a medal in commemoration of his expected conquest 
The die being made accordingly, was ready to be used in London, but 
owing to the course of events it was subsequently broken. Only three 
medals struck from it now, as I have heard, remain, — ^two in France, and 
one in England. There has been, however, an imitation cast, and of 
these copies I have two in bronze. The medal bears on one side the 
usual head of the Emperor, crowned with laurel. On the reverse 
Hercules appears, lifting up and crushing in his arms the monster 
Anteus : the motto being *' Descente en Angleterre^ and below, in 
smaller letters, Frappi {sic) a Londre en 1804." Of this ihedal Lanfrey 
remarks — '' La devise porte : ' Descente en Ant^leterrCy et au dessous en 
petits caracteres *f rappee d Londres in 1804.' Cette legende raenteuse, 
6temal monument de la presomption de celui qui la fit frapper, fut tout 
ce qui resta de la grande expedition." {Histoire de Napoleon I, iii. 301.) 

Professor James Rowley said the medal had been eng^ved, and an 
illustration of it appeared at the head of Chapter XXIX. of the 
Students History of France, where the inscription is given as Frappi d 
Londre (sic) on the obverse, Jeuferoy fedty Denon Direxit on the other 
side. Mr. Tuckett's specimen has on the obverse : — 



I 



DROZ FECIT 
DENON DEEUBXI (tio). 



Proceedings, 1887-8. 287 

Mr. Tuckett also showed a curiously carved ivory tobacco-stopper, with 
secret profile portrait of Louis XVI., a relic of the French Revolution. 

The Secretary exhibited a brass signet ring of the latter part of the 
15th century, with the sacred monogram thrice repeated, and the initials 
J.R. It had recently been ploughed up in a field at Southrop, 
Gloucestershire, on a farm occupied by Mr. W. J. Edmonds. 

The Secretary also exhibited, by permission of the authorities of the 
Bristol Museum, a large carved wooden bracket from ^* The Fourteen 
Stars" an ancient hostelry formerly standing at the Counterslip. It 
somewhat resembles those figured m Skelton's Antiquities of Bristol 
\Plate 21], from St. Peter's Hospital. It was shewn — with several 
engravings and books on Old Bristol, also lent from the Museum and 
Library — in illustration of the first paper of the evening, **0n Ancient 
Woodwork in Bristol and the West of England," by Mr. Thomas S. 
Pope, which was also further illustrated by a number of drawings taken 
by the author from the remains themselves. Mr. Pope's paper will be 
pHnted in our next volume. 

The Rev. Charles S. Taylor followed with a paper on The Rules of 
St. Thomas Vestry in 1562," from an ancient docimient remaining in 
the church. These were *' constitutions made and ordained by the 
proctors and major sort of the parishioners of St. Thomas within 
Bristowe, and foreproctors of the same parish church, concluded at a 
vestry there, holden within the same parish church the xxth day of 
January, anno domini 1562, to be observed and obeyed as a law of all 
those that from henceforth shall be chosen proctors of the said parish 
church hereafter for ever, by the ordinance of these men whose names be 
hereunder written." These names extended back through the whole 
period of the Reformation. The accounts of 1544, the oldest which 
they possessed, contained entries relating to the old unreformed service 
of the Church of England, receipts for cross and bells, and payments for 
the sepulchre light, for bearing up the copes in procession, for holy 
water, springalls, etc. No doubt the ordinances were not a new set of 
constitutions framed at the time, but rather a declaration of customs 
which had been long observed, but which it seemed well to place on 
record at a time when the old order in things ecclesiastical was changing 
and giving place to a new one. It was a very remarkable thins that 
these ordinances were strictly followed so far as the altered circum- 
stances of the times would permit, and yet their observance was entirely 
owing to the traditions of successive generations of vestrymen. In 
1566, on the occasion of the sealing of the lease of the new waterpipe, 
the vestry provided for the parishioners " wine, fruit, biscuits, caraways, 
and other things at a cost of v.s. ix^. ; " but any excuse was good 
enough for a drinking, from the presenting of a dead chantry priest to 
a bishop's visitation. In 1746 Mr. Thomas Brent spent l7s. 6d. in 
'' washing down the oath " of admission. The chief points of interest 
in these 15th century rules were that they showed that the customs of 
the vestry of St. Thomas were now exactly what they were 325 years 
ago, and that they suggested the question whether the customary 
powers which even then belonged to the vestry had not grown out of a 
previous state of things when the parishes had possessed a greater 
interest in the management of the afEairs of the church than they did in 
1562 or now. There must be in some of the old city churches other 
papers which would throw light on the condition of vestries before the 



288 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Keformation. The Secretary said he had one such paper in his 
possession, a transcript from a document dated 1524, formerly in 
St. Stephen s Church, Bristol, which had kindly been contributed by 
Alderman Francis F. Fox, a member of the Club, who regretted he was 
not able to attend the meeting. The Secretary then read this interesting 
document, on the conclusion of which the Eev. C. S. Taylor pointed 
out that the paper bore out what he had said, that the parishioners 
had more power in the .management of the affairs of the parish, and 
showed how the restry gradually encroached on the rights of the 
people. Both these papers are printed in this volume (see Ancient 
Bristol Documents^ Nos. VI. and VII.), with some supplementary notes 
by Mr. Taylor. 

Mr. Pope haying called attention to the condition of the fine old 
wooden screen, formerly in the Hall of Clapton Court, Somerset, now 
exposed to the weather in the garden, and covered with ivy, the 
Secretary was requested to call the attention of the owner to the 
matter, and to ask him whether it could not be removed, under cover, as 
under present circumstances this most interesting screen will soon be 
utterly destroyed. The late Mr. Parker in his Domestic Architecture 
(Part 2, p. 338) says: — ''It is probably the most remarkable piece of 
early wooden domestic screen work in existence." A good engraying 
of the screen from a drawing taken in 1859, by the uite Mr. £. W. 
Godwin, F.S.A., was published in the Archteological Journal^ vol. xvii. 
p. 129. At that date it occupied its original site at the end of the 
hall in Clapton Court. 



MEETING, DECEMBER 20th, 1887. 

Bishop Cliffobd, Pbesident, in the Chaib. 

The 20th General meeting of the Club was held at the Museimi and 
Library, on the afternoon of Tuesday, December 20th, and was well 
attended. 

The Hon. and Rev. Walter I. Clifford, S.J., exhibited a large and 
valuable collection of drawings and other illustrations of Ancient 
Church Needlework, consisting chiefly of embroidered Copes, of the 13th, 
14lh, and 15th centuries, many of which were of English make; and 
gave an account of the chief peculiarities of the most interesting 
specimens. Mrs. Bagnall-Oakeley, Bishop Clifford. Col. Bramble, and 
the Secretary added some remarks, and asked some questions, which 
were responded to by Father Clifford. The paper with some Notes on 
Stitches by Mrs. Bagnall-Oakeley wiU be found at pp. 229 — 240. 

In the Middle Ages the celebrated Opus Ajiglicum was in great 
request on the Continent, as well as in our own country, and therefore 
at the Reformation many of the finest Copes and other vestments which 
had been in use in our churches and monasteries, found their way to 
Kome, Spain, and other coimtriss, where some of them are still in use, 
having been cut up and made into Chasubles and other vestments. 
Father Clifford's restorations, in their original colotirs, of some of these 
transformed Copes were much admired. 



Proceedings, 1887-8. 289 

Colonel Bramble, F.S.A., V.P., exhibited, and made some remarks 
upon a curious stirrup of hammered iron, one of a pair lent him by 
Mr. Pritchard, of Gotham. It was supposed to be of 16th century date, 
and from the smallness of the aperture for the foot, it was suggested 
that the stirrups had belonged either to a child, or to a lady. 

Mr. Francis F. Tuckett, read a paper, which is printed at pp. 207- 
216, on '' Somt Optical Peculiarities of Ancient Stained Glass, and Mr. 
S. Cashmore, Mr. Bell (visitor), and others took part in. the discussion 
which followed. Some specimens of old glass were shown in illus- 
tration, including a piece &om Titian s House, at Cadore, Italy. 

Mr. Tuckett abo made some further remarks on the copy of a French 
war medal, which he had exhibited at the last meeting. The original 
impressions of the medal with the inscription Frappi d Londres^ which 
had been prepared for Napoleon in readiness for his conquest of 
England, have since disappeared. Fortunately a bronze copy was struck 
at Birmingham, by Droz, about A.D. 1810, of which Mr. Tuckett's was 
an impression. It differs from the original in some respects, but is 
interesting as a memorial of Napoleonic presumption. 

A paper by Mr. John Latimer on Bristol Commerce in the 14M and 
15/A centuries was, on account of the lateness of the hour *' taken as 
read/' and is printed at pp. 217—228. 



FOUETH ANNUAL MEETING. 

LiBUT.-CoL. James R. Bbakble, F.S.A., V.P., in the Chaib. 

The Fourth Annual Meeting was held at the Museimi and Library, 
on Wednesday, January 18th, 1888, the chair being taken, in the 
absence of the President on the Continent, by Col. Bramble, V.P. 

The Secretary stated that three members, Mr. William Adlam, F.S.A., 
Dr. Langley, and Mr. H. M. Herapath, had sent in their resignations, 
not being able to attend the meetings. There being five yacancies the 
following gentlemen were then hallo tted for and elected, viz., Sir John 
Maclean, F.S.A., Clifton; Mr. R. A. Charleton, Clifton; Mr. C. J. 
Cruddas, Stoke Bishop; Mr. £. J. Swann, Leigh Woods; and Mr. 
J. F. Eberle, Clifton. 

llie Treasurer, Mr. John Williams, read a statement of receipts and 
expenditure during the year, showing a small balance in favour of the 
Club ; very few subscriptions were in arrear. 

The election of Officers for the year then took place, the President, 
Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, and Secretary being re-elected, and the 
Rev. B. H. Blacker, M.A., Mr. A. T. Martin, M.A., Mr. A. C. Pass, and 
Mr. R. Hall Warren being elected on the Committee. 

A paper on The Misereres in Bristol Cathedral was then read by 
Mr. R. H. Warren, in which he showed that several of the carvings 
represent scenes from the story of "Reynard the Fox," a popular 
romance of the Middle Ages. The paper, which is printed at pp. 241- 
260, was illustrated by drawings and photographs. In the discussion 
which followed, the Chairman, the Treasurer, Mr. Pope, and the Secretary 
took part, and the last named showed some illustrations of somewhat 



290 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

similar carvings from Gloucester, Hereford, and Wells Cathedrals, 
Malvern Abbey and other churches. Also lithographs of some of the 
Bristol misereres kindly lent him by Mr. John lAvars, who had 
published them several years ago, in a work on Bristol Cathedral, now 
become scarce. 

It was proposed and carried unanimously that the Secretary be 
requested to write to the Very Rev. the Dean of Bristol, to call his 
attention to the remains of the (h-gan screen now lying in the church- 
yard at the back of the Cathedral, where they have been since their 
removal from the church in 1861 ; and to express a hope that the 
screen, which dates ftom about the year 1541, having on it the initials 
of Edward, Prince of Wales, and also the monument to Sir John and 
Lady Young, which was removed from the Chancel at the same time, 
may be re -erected in some part of the precincts of the Cathedral. 

[Copies of this resolution were forwarded to the Dean and to Arch- 
deacon Norris, and a reply was received from the latter, saying that the 
matter should receive consideration.] 



MEETING IN BRISTOL— EARLY ENGLISH REMAINS. 

On Tuesday, March 6th, 1888, the second meeting of the Club in 
Bristol took place, for the purpose of inspecting the architectural 
remains of the 12th and 13th centuries, and was attended by nearly 
thirty members and friends. 

At 11.30 a.m. the Venerable the Archdeacon (Dr. Norris) met the 

Sarty in the Chapter Room of the Cathedral, and after some intro- 
uctory remarks, in which he alluded to the interesting nature of the 
architecture of that beautiful chamber and its adjoining vestibule, 
showing the transition from the late Romanesque or Norman style of 
the 12th century to the 1st Pointed Gothic, or Early English, Dr. Norris 
enumerated the remains of the 1 3th century architecture now to be seen 
in the Cathedral, which were afterwards inspected by the members under 
his guidance. The beautiful Early English doorway to the Monastic 
Refectory in the south wall of the Cloister (of which Mr. Pope has 
presented a drawing, taken by himself some years ago, for the Club 
album), some fragments of the 13th century work in the north Transept, 
the earliest of the Berkeley effigies, and last, and most beautiful of all, 
the Elder Chapel of Our Lady, on the north-east side of the Cathedral, 
were visited and examined. An interesting point in connection with 
this building was alluded to by the Archdeacon, upon which he said he 
should be glad of the opinion of those present, viz. : — whether at its 
first erection the south wall of the Chapel had been detached from 
the north wall of the Norman Church, leaving the beautiful lancet 
windows on the south side, now walled up, free and open to the 
light. If so the effect of these lancets on three sides of the chapel, 
aU filled with richly coloured 13th century glass, must have been 
magnificent. Mr. Pope, Sir John Maclean, F.S.A., Mr. A. E. Hudd, 
F.8.A., and other members having made some remarks on the subject, it 
was decided, with the Archdeacon's consent, to go more fully into the 
nialter^ and to make a more minute examination of the masonry on 



Proceedings, 1887-8. 291 

some future occasion, with a view to settling the qu estion which bears 
also upon another disputed point, the original width of the Norman 
Church. (See Mr. Pope's paper on the subject, pp. 251-256.) 

St. Mabk's Chubch. 

The Archdeacon then accompanied the members across the Green to 
the Church of St. Mark, where he favoured them with some account of 
the proposed alterations shortly to be undertaken in that building. 
In reply to Sir John Maclean, it was stated that the old floor level was 
not to be retained, and that considerable alterations were to be made in 
the ancient ground plan, under which circumstances Sir John main- 
tained that the term '* restoration '* was a misnomer. 

Mr. W. E. Jones gave a brief account of the 13th century remains of 
the building, and was followed by Mr. John Taylor on the history of the 
foundation. The Hospital of St. Mark, of Billeswick, was founded before 
the year 1229, by Maurice de Gaunt, a grandson of the founder of 
St. Augustine's, for the relief of the poor, and was placed under the 
rule of the Abbot and Canons of that Abbey. Mr. Alfred Hudd, F.S.A., 
also made a few remarks, chiefly on the statement, so often repeated in 
the accounts of the hospital, that it was a house of the Bonhommes. 
Leland is the only authority for this statement, which is probably a 
mistake, aa also is his statement that the house was *' founded by Henry 
de Gaunt, priest, brother of Maurice de Gaunt, Kt." {Collectanea^ i. 85.) 
In his Church History (Book vi., Chops. 24, 25,) Fuller says the only 
houses known to him belonging to this Order were amongst the richest 
in the land, the one at Ashridge, in Buckinghamshire, the other at 
Edington, in Wilts. The brothers of St. Mark's, although they may have 
been good men were probably not connected with the Bonhommes. It 
would almost appear from the account given of the costume of the brethren 
(see paper by Mr. John Taylor in the Transactions of the Bristol and Glou- 
cester Archl, Soc^, \ol, iii., p. 241), that in some particulars they differed 
from any known branch of the Augustinians. In a paper published in 
the Journal of the British Archaeological Association, in 1874, Mr. 
T. Blashill sugi^ests that the reformed rule of St. Augustine as followed 
by the Bonhommes might have been adopted at St. Mark's, while the 
Hospital retained its independence of the Order. 

Col. Bramble, F.S.A., gave a short account of the heraldic tiles found 
a few years ago on the site of the north transept of the Church, which 
tiles are to be replaced when the Church is "restored." We hope to 
publish Col. Bramble's notes on this subject in a future part, and also a 
paper by Mr. W. E. Jones on the architecture of the building. 

After looking at the exterior of the Church, and admiring the Early 
English Corbel-table and windows remaining on both sides of the 
building, the members proceeded to the Royal Hotel, College Green, 
where luncheon was partaken of. The remains of 

St. Babtholomew's Hospital 

were next visited, where some notes were read by the Secretary. The 
Hospital was founded as a Prioryof Canons Regular, by an ancestor of 
Lord de la Warr, according to Wm. Wyrcestre, but was, in his time, 
(c. 1470) an hospital for the poor. The most interesting portion of the 



292 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Hospital which remains is the well-known doorway, with defaced 
effigies of the Virgin and Child, and an Early English arcade inside, 
leading to a second round-headed doorway. The ciiapel, which was 
about 54 feet long, has entirely disappeared, and so have the other 
buildings of the hospital, they having been destroyed in the 16th century 
for Thome's '' free school of grammar,'' which was originally founded 
on this site, in Christmas Street. 

St. Maby Redcliff. 

On leaving St. Bartholomew's the members proceeded by way of the 
Idth century City Portal, known as *'the Blind Gate," which is so 
nearly covered with modern buildings that only a fragment of the gato 
itself is visible, and through St. John Street, High Street, and RedclifE 
Street, to the North Porch of St. Mary Redcliff, where the Vicar, the 
Rev. C. £. Cornish, was waiting to receive them. Here the beautiful 
Early English work of the Inner North Porch, and some few remains of 
the same date in the tower and elsewhere were examined. Also the late 
Idth century effigy now in the north transept, respecting which 
Col. Bramble made a few remarks. 

Bbistol Castle. 

After thanking the Vicar for his kind reception, the members next 
made their way to Tower Street, where the remains of Bristol Castle 
were inspected — including some vaults formerly overlooking the Frome, 
now in the occupation of Messrs. Phillips & Co., which few of those 
present had previously visited. 

Dr. Beddoe, F.R.S., said they were supposed to have been used by 
the soldiers of the garrison. Much regret was expressed that the ISUi 
century fragment of the Royal Palace, among the most interesting of 
the ancient historical monuments of Bristol, was not taken more care of 
by the City authorities. Partially occupied as a stable and partly as 
miserable lodging houses — sad is the fate that has befallen the last 
relics of this ancient residence of kings and princes, of many noble 
knights and fair dames, whose names are written, not only in our local 
histories, but who took an active part in ** the making of England," at 
the time when Bristol was the chief city of the land after the great 
metropolis itself. 

St. Philip's Chukch. 

At the Church of St. Philip and Jacob, the Rector, the Rev. G. B. 
James, received the party, and after looking at the Norman font 
(an engraving of which will be found in the work on Baptismal Fonts^ 
edited by Paley,) and the Norman tombstone now in the north aisle of 
the chancel, the remains of the 13th century architecture in the lower 
stages of the tower and at the east end of the nave, were examined. 
The church appears to have originally been cruciform, a portion of the 
Early English north transept remaining on the north side of the 
tower. 



Proceedings, 1887-8. 293 

DOMIKICAX FbIARY. 

The last visit of the somewhat long programme was the Dominican 
Friary, Merchant Street, the remains of which were examined, under 
the guidance of Mr. John Taylor. The huildings being unoccupied at 
the time, a favourable opportimity was given the members to examine 
this interesting foundation of Maurice de Gaunt, one of the earliest 
homes of the Dominicans in this country, it having been established 
about the year 1 230, a few years only after the death of St. Dominic. 
A paper on the Priory and its History, by Mr. John Taylor, will be foimd 
in the third volume of the Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucester 
Archeeological Society. A very interesting account of this foundation 
has been published by the Rev. C. F. R. Palmer, under the title of 
the Friar 'Preacher 8^ or Blackfriars of Bristol, in the April number of 
the Reliquary, 



MEETING AT BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. 

On Wednesday, March 28th, 1888, the Venerable the Archdeacon, 
Dr. J. P. Norris, met the following members of the Club, in the Elder 
Chapel of Our Lady. Sir John Maclean, F.S.A., Mr. Thomas S. Pope, 
architect, Mr. John Reynolds, Col Bramble, F.S.A., V.P., and Alfred 
E. Hudd, F.S.A., Secretary. 

After spending a considerable time in examining the building both 
inside and out, several indications of the Chapel having been originally 
detached from the Norman north aisle, as suggested by Dr. Norris at 
the recent meeting of the Club, were noticed, and Mr. Pope promised to 
prepare a short paper on the subject for publication in the Proceedings^ 
which is printed at pp. 251-256. 



EXCURSION TO 
BACKWELL, NAILSEA COURT, AND CHELVEY. 

On Saturday, May 26th, the first excursion for the year 1888 took 
place, when about twenty members and friends started from Clifton at 
1 p.m., and drove across the Suspension Bridge into the neighbouring 
county of Somerset. By kind permission of Sir Greville Smyth, Bart., 
the little known earthworks in Ashton Park were first visited, imder 
the guidance of the Secretary. 

AsHTON Camp. 

Mr. Hudd stated that though these earthworks were not marked on the 
Ordnance Maps, and seemed when he first enquired about them to have 
been quite unknown to the modem residents at Ashton, they had long 
since been described under the name of "Ashton Camp," both by 
Seyer and Rutter. The groimd is thickly overgrown with trees and 
underwood, which makes it difficult to ascertain the exact form and 
plan of the earthworks, but it seems to consist of a considerable space of 



294 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

imeyen ground enclosed by a bank and ditch, and may have been 
occupied, as suggested by Seyer, by the same race as the much stronger 
fortress " Burgh walls," a little farther to the north, and with which 
it seemed to have been connected by a raised bank still yisible. 

Backwell. 

The next visit, after a pleasant drive of half an hour, was to the fine 
church of St. Andrew, Back well, where, in the unavoidable absence of 
the Rector, the Rev. Prebendary Burbidge, the members were received 
by Mr. T. W. Jacques, who pointed out some of the most interesting 
features of the church. A paper on the Architecture of the Building^ 
written by the Rector, was read by Mr. Jacques, in which the writer 
caUed attention to the examples of the four styles of English architec- 
ture to be seen in the church ; to the monuments ; the carved oak 
screen ; the mutilated Norman font, and other details ; and also to the 
curious inscription on the Western face of the Tower. This inscription 
has long been a puzzle to antiquaries, and has been variously trans- 
lated. The Rector had taken some trouble to get the puzzle solved, and 
had sent a rubbing of the inscription to some experts in London, who 
have suggested tbe following reading : — *J\^%' j&p^^ I ®' ICit., t.e., 
John Sped (Speed) Jesus Christ, (15)52. This differs considerably 
from the reading given by Rutter {Delineations, p. 20) and other writers, 
but may be correct. John Speed may possibly have been the architect 
of the upper portion of the tower, which was built about the middle of 
the 16th century. In the churchyard the fine old Cross was looked at« 
and after a passing glance at the few remaining fragments of Backwell 
Court, still standing near the east end of the Church, the carriages were 
remounted. A visit was then paid to 

Nailsea Court, 

the very picturesque old mansion familiar to passengers on the Great 
Western Railway, from its situation a few yards north of the line just 
beyond the Nailsea station. It was probably built by George Perceval, 
about 1550, who sold it in 1582, to Richard Cole, mayor of Bristol in 
1585, who resided here with his wife Alice (Carr), sister of John Carr, 
the founder of Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, Bristol. The initials R. C. 
and A. C. are still on one of the stone mantel-pieces in the house. 
From the Coles the Court passed to the Wades, one of whom ** Major*' 
Wade, is well known in Bristol history in connection with *' Traitor's 
Bridge," and " Wade Street." The story of his han^^ing himself in one 
of the upper rooms at Nailsea Court is untrue. There is a very fine old 
door in one of the rooms, and other bits of carved woodwork were 
noticed on the premises. The late Rector of Nailsea, the Rev. F. Brown, 
published a good account of the History and Antiquities of Nailsea 
Court, with genealogical notes, in the 32nd volume of the Journal of the 
Bristol ArchiBological Association, from which some extracts were read 
by the Secretary. A short walk across the meadows brought the party to 

Chelvey Chubgh, 

an interesting old building dedicated to St. Bridget, where the 
members were received by the Rector the Rev. J. W. Leach, and by 



Proceedings, 1887-8. 295 

Col. Bramble, F.S.A., who had been unable to take part in the 
proceedings earlier in the day. An account was given by Col. Bramble 
of the architectural features of the church, to which the Rector added a 
few remarks, and expressed his satisfaction that the recent extensive 
repairs to the building were approved by the Club ; he said that great 
care had been taken not to destroy any of the old work that it was 
possible to retain. We hope to publish an account of the church in 
our next volume. The B^ctor and Mrs. Leach then most hospitably 
entertained the members at tea on the Rectory lawn, and, after thanking 
them for their kind reception, a brief visit was made to the fine old 
Tithe Barn of the 15th century, and to the remains of the fine old 
mansion of the Tyntes, " Chelvey Court," where the members were 
received by Mr. and Mrs. Williams, who threw the whole of the 
buildings open to their inspection. Much of the old woodwork and 
other fittings remain, but more has perished. 

On the road home a brief halt was made at Flax Bourton to see the 
curious Norman doorway in the little church, dedicated to St. Michael (?), 
and returning thence by way of Ashton Park, Clifton was reached about 
8 p.m., after a very pleasant excursion. 



EXCURSION TO 
WITHINGTON, CHEDWORTH ROMAN VILLA, Etc. 

On Friday, July 6th, 1888, the second carriage excursion for the year 
was taken, when a party of members and friends accompanied the 
President (Bishop Clifford) to the Cotswold Hills. Leaving Clifton 
Down in a saloon carriage by the morning express, Cheltenham was 
reached soon after 10, and the members at once proceeded in carriages 
to Dowdeswell, where the exterior of the fine cruciform Perpendicxuar 
church and of the old manor farm were looked at in passing; the 
remains of Dowdeswell Camp, supposed to have been connected with the 
Roman station of Wycomb, about a mile distant, were also noticed. 
Several leaden coffins have been found in this parish, placed north and 
south, a little beneath the surface of the ground, and probably of Roman 
date. Proceeding along the Roman road for a few miles in a south- 
easterly direction, the very picturesque village of 

WiTHINGTON 

was reached. Here was discovered, in 1811, an extensive Roman villa, 
from which some fine fragments of Mosaic pavements are now preserved 
in the British Museum. The handsome cruciform Norman church of 
St. Michael was examined under the guidance of the Rector, the Hon. 
and Rev. G. G. C. Talbot. A curious niche in the north waU of the 
chancel which the late Mr. Lysons thought might have been for '* the 
heart *' of some person unknown, was removed to the chancel when the 
church was restored, and was then found to cover some small bones, 
apparently of a human hand. It was suggested that this might have 
been a relic of some local saint, or possibly the *' sword hand " of some 



296 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Crusader, whose other remains were left in the Holy Land. An effigy 
outside the south wall of the chancel Bishop Clifford thought might 
he that of a 14th century priest. The church is a fine cruciform 
structure of Norman date, with beautiful north and south doorways 
with chevron mouldings, a couple of Early English lancet wiudo'vrs 
in the chancel (one of which is curious, being much wider at the 
bottom than the top), a Decorated recess for a tomb in the^south wall, a 
good central tower and clerestory in the Perpendicular style, and some 
interesting monuments. The Rev. Charles Taylor, who was unable to 
attend the meeting, had written to call attention to the fact that the 
ground occupied by Withington Church had been devoted to religious 
uses for a longer period than almost any other site in the county, the 
manor having been g^ven for the foundation of a Saxon nunnery, about 
1200 years ago, by Ethelred, son of Penda, King of Mercia, with 
reversion to Worcester Cathedral, and being still held by the Dean and 
Chapter of Worcester. The last Saxon abbess of the nunnery is said to 
have been Saint Ethelburga, A.D. 774. The Rector pointed out the 
supposed site of the monastery, of which few traces are now visible, 
and also called the attention of the members to an old house in the 
village, now used as the police station, containing a good open timber 
roof of the 16th century and other ancient features. 

The President having thanked the Rector for his kind reception, 
and congratulated him on the successful and conservative '* restora- 
tion" which the church had undergone some few years since, the 
carriages were remounted and the drive continued to the splendid 
Roman villa belonging to and so carefully preserved by Lord Eldon, in 
Chedworth Wood. Here is a most interesting account of the 

Chedwobxh Roman Villa 

was given by Mr. Alfred Martin, M.A., illustrated with plans, and a map 
of the Roman roads and remains in the surroimding district prepared for 
the purpose, copies of which were given to all present. Mr. Martin referred 
to the theory recently advanced by Mr. Fox, F.S.A., that the extensive 
buildings on the north side had been used as a " fulling and dyeing 
establishment '' in late Roman times, which he considered to be the most 
probable explanation yet offered of these buildings. Limcheon having 
been partaken of at the villa, the beautiful pavements, baths, and the 
contents of the museum, with the early Christian inscriptions and other 
interesting objects found during the excavation of the remains, were 
examined. We hope to print Mr. Martin's paper in our next volume. 

Returning by another road, from which beautiful views were obtained 
of the surrounding country, a brief halt was made at the " Seven 
springs,'' one of the sources of the River Thames, and on reaching Chel- 
tenham, high tea was served at the Plough hotel, after which the party 
returned to Clifton by the 6.36 express, and arrived at Clifton Down 
about 8. The weather, though not exactly such as might be expected in 
July, was fairly good, and though heavy rain fell in some parts of the 
neighbourhood, the archajologists had no need to make use of the water- 
proofs and umbrellas with which most of them came provided. 



-v 



Index. 



297 



INDEX. 



4»»4»3«»34- 



Amesbury Pxioiy Church viflited, 162. 

Anglo-Norman Church Doorways, paper 
by John Taylor, 4 ; discussion on, 67. 

Ancient Bristol Documents, I. Bristol 
Local Act of Parliament passed during 
the Protectorate, for levying Rates for 
maintenance of Ministers, and grant- 
ing St. Ewen's Church for a Public 
Library ; with Notes by Col. Bramble, 
61 ; 77. 

II. A Curious Deed belonging to the 
Parish of St. Mary-le-Port ; with 
notes by Col. Bramble, 77 ; 186. 

III. From the Becords of St. 
Nicholas Parish ; with notes by 
Col. Bramble, 142. 

IV. On some Old Deeds belonging 
to the Church of St. Thomas ; with 
notes by the Rev. C. S. Taylor, 
Vicar, 161 ; 167. 

V. From the Records of St. Mary-le- 
Port; with notes by Col. Bramble, 169. 

VI. Regulations of the Vestry of 
St. Thomas in 1668 ; with notes by 

. Rev. 0. S. Taylor, 198. 

VII. Regulations of the Vestry of 
St. Stephen in 1624, communicated 
by Alderman F. F. Fox; with notes 
by the Rev. 0. S. Taylor, 198; 198. 

Armour, paper on, by Col. Bramble, 
illustrated, 89 ; 79. 

Ashton Court and Church visited, 68; 
Church and Bam illustrated, Plate 
VIII. 

Ashton Camp and Park visited, 298. 

Avebuiy , Megalithio Remains and Church 
visited, 80. 

Azbridge visited, 288 ; the Church, the 
Town Hall, &c., 284. 

Backwell visited, 294 ; Mr. Jacques at, 
294; the Inscription on the Church 
Tower, 294. 

Barrow Qumey Court and Church visited, 
69 ; Heraldic Tiles found at, 70. 

Blacker, Rev. B. H., elected on Com- 
mittee, 289. 

Bonhommes, the, 291. 

Bowood Park visited, 80. 

Bramble, Lieut.-Col. James R., elected 
Treasurer, 8 ; re-elected, 79 ; 166 ; on 
the Wansdyke, 80; exhibits ancient 
Cope from Yatton, 82 ; paper on the 
Cope printed, 92 ; Paper on Medissval 
Armour, 89 ; 79 ; Ancient Bristol 
Documents, No. I., 61 ; No. II., 136 ; 



No. ni., 142 ; 166 ; at Yatton Church, 
167 ; exhibits a seal of Bruton 
Grammar School, 166 ; Ancient Bristol 
Documents, No. V., 169; on the 
Church of St. Mary the Virgin, 
Wedmore, 178; elected Vice-Presi- 
dent, 277; re-elected, 289; reads 
paper on Caerphilly Castle, 288; 
exhibits old Iron Stirrup, 289 ; on 
Heraldic Tiles from St. Mark's Hos- 
pital, 291 ; at Chelvey Church, 269. 

Beddoe, Dr. John, F.R.S., elected Hon. 
Member, 8 ; paper on the Constructors 
of Stanton Drew Circles, Maes Knoll 
Camp, and the Wansdyke, 12; at 
Stanton Drew, 74 ; paper on the 
Human Remains from Stonoy Little- 
ton Barrow, 104 ; the said Remains 
exhibited, from the Bristol ^luseum, 
166; elected Vice-President, 277; 
re-elected, 289. 

Bristol, paper on the Elder Lady 
Chapel of Bristol Cathedral, by Mr. 
T. S. Pope, 261. 

Bristol, Meetings in, 278—281; 290— 
293; St. Peter's Church, 278; All 
Saints' Church, 279 ; the Cathedral, 
279 ; 290 ; Norman Remains in Small 
Street, 280; St. James's Priory 
Church, 280; Norman Remains 
in Nelson Street, 281; St. Mark's 
Church, 291; St. Bartholomew's 
Hospital, 291 ; St. Mary Redcliff, 292 ; 
Remains of the Castle, 292 ; St. 
Philip's Church, 292 ; the Dominican 
Friary, 298 ; the Elder Lady Chapel, 
298. (See iJso Ancient Bristol Docu- 
ments, Old Iron Work, Old Carved 
Chests, &c.), 

Browne, Rev. G. F., his tracing of the 
Saxon Font at Deerhurst, exhibited, 82. 

Burder, Dr. G. F., elected on Com- 
mittee, 8 ; Audits Accounts, 77. 

Butterworth, Rev. Geo. Notes on the 
early history of Deerhurst, 22 ; receives 
the Club at Deerhurst Church, 76. 

Cserphilly Castle visited, 283; Col. 
Bramble on, 283. 

Calne Church visited, 81. 

Cardiff Castle visited, 281 ; Robert Duke 
of Normandy at, 281. 

Cashmore, Mr. and Mrs., receive the 
Club at Norton Malreward, 74 ; 166. 

Chedworth Roman Villa visited, 296; 
Mr. A. T. Martin on, 296. 

9 



298 



Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



Cheddar Waited, 285; the Rev. J. 
Coleman receives the Club at, 
285 ; his remarks on the Church, 285 ; 
paper printed, 175 ; Old House at, 285. 

Cheltenham visited, 295. 

Chelvey Church and Court visited, 295. 

Cherhill Church visited, 81. 

Chests, Old Carved, paper on, 38. 

Chew Magna visited, 71 ; Mr. Wm. 
Adlam on, 72 ; the family of John 
Locke at, 72. 

Clapton Court, Old Carved Wooden 
Screen at, 288. 

Clifford, Hon. and Rt. Rev. Bishop, 
Presides at Inaugural Meeting, 1 ; 
elected President of Club, 3; re- 
elected, 79 ; 156 ; 277; 289; PresidenVs 
Address 1885, 77; remarks on Col. 
Bramble*s Paper on Armour, 79; 
presents Testimonial to Mr. John 
Reynolds, 80 ; note on Saint Wilgefort, 
189 ; President's Address 1887 (abstract), 
277 ; remarks on the Ancient Glass in 
Cheddar Church, 285 ; at Withington, 
296. 

Clifford, the Hon. and Rev. Walter, 
exhibits Drawings of, and describes 
some Ancient Copes, 288 ; his paper 
printed, 229. 

Coleman, Rev. J., on Cheddar Church, 
175 ; 285. 

Collins, Mr., of Tewkesbury, Plans of 
Saxon Buildings at Deerhurst, 82. 

Compton Bishop visited, 284. 

Cope from Yatton e^diibited, 82 ; paper 
on, by Col. Bramble, 92. 

Deerhurst, on some Architectural 
Remains of the Priory Church, by 
T. S. Pope, illustrated^ 18 ; notes on 
the early History of, by the Rev. G. 
Butterworth, 22; on the Saxon 
Chapel at, by Alfred E. Hudd, 
illustrated, 27 ; visited, 75 ; views 
and plans of exhibited, 82. 

Dowdoswell Church and Camp visited, 
295. 

Duke, Rev. Edw., his collection of 
Antiquities visited, 164. 

Dundry Church visited, 70 ; note on the 
Tower, 71. 

Edkins, William, elected Honorary 
Member, 156. 

Edwards, Job, his collection of Anti- 
quities visited, 163. 

Flax Bourton visited, 295. 

Fox, Aldermcm F. F., elected Vice- 
President, 3; re-elected, 79; 156; 
Communicates paper on the Rules of 
St. Stephen's Vestry, 1524, 288. (See 
Ancient Bristol Documents, No. VII.). 

Fry, Francis J., elected on Committee, 
3 ; re-elected, 79. 

Farley, Hungerford Castle visited, 158 ; 
the Chapel of St. Julian, 159. 



Farmboroogh, Somerset, Roman Bemaini 
at, 109. 

Gloucester Cathedral visited, 74. 

Hinton Charterhouse visited, 158 r 
Remains of the Priory, 158. 

Hudd, Alfred E., elected Hon. Secretary, 
3; re-elected, 79; 156; 277; 289; 
note on Illustrations of Korman 
Doorways, 11 ; note on Stanton Drew, 
13 ; note on the Architecture of Deer- 
hurst Church, 21 ; paper on the Saxon 
Chapel at Deerhurst, 27, illustrated ; 
plans of Roman Station at Sea MUls, 
Plate VII. ; notes on Sea Mills, 60, 63; 
on the Tower of Dundry Church, 71 ; 
on Parclose-soreens, 74 ; on the Wans- 
dyke, 80 ; exhibits plans and illustra- 
tions of, and reads notes on, the Saxon 
Chapel and Font at Deerhurst, 82; 
note on the Stoney Littleton Long 
BaiTow, 104 ; on a Romano-British 
Interment at Farmborough, 109 ; 167 ; 
on the Carthusian Priory at Hinton, 
Somerset, 158; note on St. Julian, 
159; on Old Sarum, 162; on the 
Condition of the Megalithio Remains 
at Stonehenge, 164 ; on the Wansdyke, 
166 ; exhibits Roman Coins found near 
Whitchurch, 166; paper on the Hos- 
pital of St. Katherine, Bedminster, 257 ; 
exhibits an Ancient Ring from South- 
rop, 287 ; on the Bonhommes, 291 ; on 
St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Bristol, 
291 ; on Ashton Camp, 293. 

Iron-work, in the West of England, 
paper on.byThos.S. Pope,i{Zu5^ra^,85. 

Jacques, Thos. W., on Ancient Camps near 
Bristol, 167 ; at Backwell Church, 294. 

Jones, W. E., on early Architecture in 
England, 67; elected on Committee, 
79; re-elected, 156; on St. Mark's 
Church, Bristol, 291. 

Kerslake, Thomas, elected Honorary 
Member, 156. 

King, Rev. Brian, on Avebury Church, 
80,81. 

Lake House, near Salisbury, visited, 164. 

Latimer, John, paper on Bristol Com- 
merce in the 14th and 15th Centuries, 
217. 

Llandaff Cathedral visited, 282 ; the Club 
received by Canon Hawkins at, 282. 

Maclean, Sir John, at Bristol Cathedral, 
290 ; 292 ; at St. Mark's Church, 291. 

Maes Knoll Camp, 12, 13 ; visited, 74 ; 165. 

Martin, Alfred T., on the Roman road 
from Bath to Cserwent, 58 ; 83 ; on the 
Roman Villa at Wemberham, 157; 
elected on Committee, 157 ; re-elected, 
289 ; on the Roman Villa at Ched- 
worth, 296. 

Nailsea Court visited, 294. 

Norris, The Ven. Archdeacon, receives 
the Club at Bristol Cathedral, 279; 



^t: 



Index. 



299 



290; on the Nonnan RemainB of St. 
Augustine's Abbey, 279; on the 13th 
Century Remains there, 290; 298 ; at 
St. Mark's Church, 291. 

Norton Mabreward visited, 74 ; 165. 

Norton St. Philip visited, 160. 

Norwegian Wooden Churches, paper on, 
illtistratedf 114. 

Oakeley, Mrs. Bagnall, at Llandai! 
Cathedral, 282; on the Stitches of 
Ancient Church Embroidery, 238 ; 288. 

Old Sarum visited, 162. 

Parish Kegisters, Curiosities of, paper 
on, by John Taylor, 96. 

Pass, Alfred C, elected on Committee, 
8; re-elected, 79; 166; 289; paper 
on Becent Excavations at Silbury 
Hill, with plans, 130. 

Perfect, Rev. H. T., on the Megalithic 
Remains at Stanton Drew, 14. 

Pope, Thos. S., on the Architectural 
Remains of Deerhurst Priory Church, 
18 ; on Old Carved Chests, Ulustrated, 
33 ; on esurly Schools of Architecture 
in England, 67; at Deerhurst, 75; 
on Calne Church, &c., 81; on Old 
Iron-work near Bristol, illtistrated, 
85; elected on Committee, 156; re- 
elected, 277; paper on Old Bristol 
Houses, 172 ; paper on the 13th Cen- 
tury Lady Chapel of Bristol Cathe- 
dral, 251 ; presents Drawings, 278 ; 
reads Paper on Ancient Wood-work in 
Bristol and the West of England, 
with Ulustrationat 287. 

Portbury Church, Camp, and Priory 
visited, 82. 

Reynolds, John, elected Vice-President, 
8 ; re-elected, 79 ; 156 ; his " Archaeo- 
logical Picnics," 77; Testimonial 
presented to, 77 ; on the date of the 
Tower of St. Peter's Church, Bristol, 
278 ; at Bristol Cathedral, 280 ; 293. 

Roman Road between Bath and Caarwent, 
58 ; near Avebury, 80 ; at Withington, 
295. 

Roman Remains at Sea Mills, 58; at 
Farmborough, Somerset, 109 ; at Cam- 
erton, 113 ; Wemberham, near Yatton, 
157; at Whitchurch, 165; 166; at 
Dowdeswell, 295 ; at Withington, 296 ; 
at Chedworth, 296. 

Rowley, Prof. Jas., on Robert, Duke of 
Normandy, in Cardiff Castle, 281 ; on 
a French War Medal, exhibited by Mr. 
Tuckett, 286. 

Rules, 2 ; Alteration of, 277 ; 303. 

Salisbury visited, 161 ; the Cathedral, 161. 

Silbury Hill visited, 81 ; paper on recent 
Excavations at, with plans, fto., 130 ; 
168 ; Plates XVI. and XVII. 

Stanton Drew, Dr. Beddoe on, 12 ; Rev. 
H. T. Perfect on, 14 ; visited by Club, 
78 ; Uhis^ated, Plates IX. and X. 



Stoney Littleton Barrow, Human Re- 
mains from, paper by Dr. Beddoe, 
F.R.S,, 104. 

Stonehenge visited, 163; a **New 
Theory'* respecting the Stones, by 
Mr. Algernon Warren, 163; Bishop 
Clifford's Remarks on, 277. 

Taylor, John, reads paper on Anglo- 
Norman Doorways, 3; the same 
printed, 4 ; discussion on the same, 
67; elected on Committee, 79; re- 
elected, 156; 277; paper on Parish 
Registers, 96 ; at All Saints' Church, 
Bristol, 279; at Cardiff Castle, 282; 
at the Dominican Priory, Bristol, 293. 

Taylor, Rev. C. S., on some Old Deeds 
belonging to the Church of St. Thomas, 
Bristol (Ancient Bristol Documents, 
No. 4,) 151 ; Ancient Bristol Docu- 
ments, Nos. 6 and 7, 193; Remarks 
on, 287; on Withington Priory, 
296. 

Thames, the ** Seven Springs" source 
of the, visited, 296. 

Tewkesbury Abbey visited, 75 ; Rev. 
Hemming Robeson at, 75. 

Trusted, C. J., exhibits Models of Irish 
Antiquities, 166. 

Tuckett, F. F., Notes on Ancient 
Norwegian Wooden Churches, with 
some Notices of similar early structures 
in Great Britain and Ireland, illus- 
tratedy 114; note on St. Julian, 
Hospitator, 159 ; exhibits Swedish and 
Norwegian Antiquities, 167; exhibits 
a curious French Medal, 286; 289; 
exhibits an Old French Carved Ivory, 
287 ; exhibits some fragments of 
Ancient Stained Glass, 289 ; paper on 
Optical Peculiarities of, 207 ; 289. 

Wansdyke, the, 12, 13 ; 74 ; 80 ; 165 ; 
166. 

Warren, Algernon, on Stonehenge, 16 L; 
at Axbridge Church, 284. 

Warren, Robert Hall, exhibits 17th 
Century Portraits of French Priests, 
166 ; paper on the Misereres in Bristol 
Cathedral, 241 ; 289 ; elected on Com- 
mittee, 277 ; re-elected, 289. 

Wedmore visited, 284 ; the Club received 
by the Rev. A. S. Hervey at, 284; 
Col. Bramble on the Church of St. 
Mary at, 178 ; 284. 

Wellow visited, 160; the Chambered 
Tumulus at, 104. 

Whitchurch visited, 165. 

Williams, John, appointed to audit 
Treasurer's Accounts, 156; elected 
Treasurer, 277 ; re-elected, 289. 

Wilton Church and House visited, 161. 

Withington visited, 295. 

Wooden Churches in Norway and Eng- 
land, paper on, 114. 

Yatton visited, 157. 



3CX) Clifton Antiquarian Club. 



^ocuttes(« $:t.t m Corre£(ponTieme* 



-r-vo^Ovflw-v^V'v- 



1. The Society of Antiquaries of London. 

2. The Royal Archscological Institute. 

3. The Bristol and Gloucestershire ArchoDological Society. 

4. The Somersetshire Archaeological and N. Hist. Society. 

6. The Monmouthshire and Caerleon Antiquarian Association. 

6. The Wiltshire Archaeological and N. Hist. Society. 

7. The Bath N. Hist, and Antiquarian Field Club. 

8. The Cotteswold Field Club. 

9. The Cambridgeshire Antiquarian Society. 

10. The Clifton College Scientific Society. 

1 1 . The Bristol Museum and Library. 

12. The Bristol Free Library. 

13. The Plymouth Free Library. 

14. The Editor of *' The Western Antiquary." 

15. The Exeter Free Library and Museum. 



list of ilUml)e«, !l8$4-88* 

Adlam, William, F.S.A., The Manor House, Chew Magna. Retired, 

1887. 
Almond, Joseph, Wharncliffe House, Wbiteladies Road, Bristol. 

Baker, Arthur, Henbury Hill House, near Bristol. 

Beddoe, John, M.D., F.R.S., Clifton. Vice-President, 1887, 8. 

Blacker, Rev. B. H., M.A., 26, Meridian Place, Clifton. Comtniiiee, 

1888. 
Bramble, Lieut. -Col., J. R., Cleeve House, Yatton. Treasurer, 1884-6; 

Vice- President, 1887, 8. 
Burder, G. F., M.D., F. Met. Soc, 7, South Parade, Clifton. Committee, 

1884. 
Bush, John, 9, Pembroke Road, Clifton. 

Cashmore, Samuel, Woodside, Portishead. 

Charleton, R. A., 3, Beaufort Road, Clifton. 

Clifford, The Hon. and Rt. Rev. Bishop, Clifton. President, 1884-8. 

Cruddas, C. J., Oakfield, Stoke Bishop., 



-V -V «r 



V /^^ 



List of Members, 1884-88. 301 

Dallas, James, F.L.S., Exeter. Retired, 1884. 

Derham, Walter, M.A., Henleaze Park, Westbury-on-Trym. Retired, 

1886. 
Dix, J. W. S., Hampton Lodge, Durdbam Down, Bristol. 

Eberle, J. Fuller, 96, Pembroke Road, Clifton. 

Edkins, William, 12, Charlotte Street, Park Street, Bristol. Hon, 

Member, 1886. 
Edwards, Sir George W., Sneyd Park, Bristol. 

Fox, Alderman Francis F., Yate House, Chipping Sodbury. Vice- 

President, 1884-6. 
Fry, Francis J., Eversleigb, Leigb Woods. Committee, 1884, 5. 
Fuller, John, 131, Pembroke Road, Clifton. 

Gough, W. v., Compton Lodge, Hampton Road, Bristol. 

Hardman, Rev. J. W., LL.D., Cadbury House, Yatton. 

Havilland, General John de, York Herald^ London. Hon, Member. 

Deceased, 1886. 
Herapath, Howard M., Penleigh, Canynges Road, Clifton. Retired, 

1887. 
Hudd, Alfred E., F.S.A., Clinton House, 94, Pembroke Road, Clifton. 

Hon. Secretary, 1884-8. 
Hudden, W. Paul, Brockley Hall, near Bristol. 

Jacques, Thomas W., The Grange, Backwell. 
James, Christopher, C. E., 4, Alexandra Road, Clifton. 
Jones, W. E., West View House, Westbury-on-Trym. Committee^ 
1884-6. 

Kerslake, Thomas, Wynfrid, Clevedon. Hon, Member^ 1886-8. 

Langley, J. N., LL.D., 9, Clyde Park, Redland. Retired, 1888. 
Latimer, John, Trelawney Place, Cotham. 
Llewellin, John, Redland Green, Bristol. 
Lewis, Harold, B.A., Mercury Office^ Bristol. 

Maclean, Sir John, F.S.A., Glasbury House, Richmond Hill,. Clifton. 
Macliver, Lieut. Col. David, 67, Pembroke Road, Clifton. Deceased, 

1888. 
Martin, A. T., M.A., Clifton College ; 10^ Upper Belgrave Road. 

Committee, 1887, 8. 
Morgan, Professor C. Lloyd, 16, Canynge Road, Clifton. 

Pass, Alfred C, Rushmere House, Upper Belgrave Road, Clifton. 

Committee, 1884-6 and 1888. 
Pope, Thomas S., 3, Unity Street, Bristol. Committee, 1885-7. 
Prankerd, P. D., The Knoll, Sneyd Park, Bristol. 

Reynolds, John, The Manor House, Redland. Vice- President ^ 1884-6. 

Hon, Member, 1887, 8. 
Rowley, Professor J., Ardmore, Leigh Woods. 



302 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

Shaw, J. E., M-B., 11, Lansdown Place, Victoria Square, Clifton. 

Spence, C. H., M.A., Clifton College. 

Steven, Alexander, M.D., 6, West Mall, Clifton. Retired, 1884. 

Swann, E. J., The Gables, Leigh Woods. 

Swajrne, S. H., 119, Pembroke Road, Clifton. 

Taylor, Rev. C. S,. 1, Guinea Street, RedclifP. 

Taylor John, City Library, King Street, Bristol. Committee^ 1885-7. 

Thomas, William, 7, Charlotte Street, Queen's Square, Bristol. 

Tribe, W. N., Ivythorpe, Durdham Down. 

Trusted, C. J. Sussex House, 127, Pembroke Road, Clifton. 

Try on, Stephen, 5 Beaufort Road, Clifton. 

Tuckett, Francis F.. F.R.G.S., Frenchay. 

Warren, Algernon, Clifton Down Hotel, Clifton. 

Warren, Robert Hall, 13 Apsley Road, Clifton. Committee^ 1887, 8. 

Williams, John, 16, Alma Road, Clifton. Treasurer , 1887, 8. 



4 



Rules 303 



%nlrs( of tl)e CItfton ^nttquartan Clui). 



1. — The Society shall be called the " Clifton Antiqua.eian Club." 

2. — The chief object of the Club shall be the investigation of 
antiquities, especially of those in the surrounding country. 

3. — ^The Club shall consist of not more than Fifty Ordinary and Ten 
Honorary Members. 

4. — The Officers of the Club shall be — a President, two Vice-Presi- 
dents, a Treasurer, and a Secretary, all of whom shall be elected 
annually from amongst the Ordinary Members. 

5. — The affairs of the Club shall be managed by a Committee, 
consistiDg of the Officers and four Members to be elected annually ; 
three to form a quorum. 

6. — Ordinary Members shall be elected at the Annual Meeting, by 
ballot. Candidates must be previously nominated in writing by two 
Members, and approved by the Committee : the names of all candidates 
must be sent to every Member at least seven days before the Annual 
Meeting. One adverse vote in ten shall be sufficient to exclude. 

7. — Honorary Members shall be elected by the unanimous vote of the 
Committee. 

8. — ^The Committee shall have the power of inviting not more than 
five gentlemen to attend any meeting of the Club. 

9. — ^There shall each year be at least two excursions and two meetings 
for general purposes, one of which — to be held in January — shall be the 
Annual Meeting for the election of new Members and the appointment 
of Officers. At least seven days' notice of all meetings shall be given 
to every Member by the Secretary. 



304 Clifton Antiquarian Club. 

10. — Special Meetings may be called by the Committee. The Secre- 
tary shall call a Special meeting within ten days of receiving a written 
request to that effect, specifying the object of the meeting and signed 
by not less than ten members. 

1 1 . — Each Member shall give three days' notice to the Secretary of 
his intention to join the excursion meetings, and he shall be at liberty 
to introduce a lady, subject to the same rule as regards the notice. 
The expenses of each excursion shall be defrayed by those who attend 
it, or who have signified their intention to do so to the Secretary. 

12. — Each Ordinary Member shaU pay an Annual Subscription of 
Ten Shillings and Sixpence, which shall become due on the first day of 
January in each year, and shall be paid in advance. 

13. — Members whose subscriptions are in arrear for one year shall be 
considered as having withdrawn from the Club, if, after application, the 
same be not paid. 

14. — Any Member being absent from four consecutive meetings 
without explaining the cause of his absence to the satisfaction of the 
Committee, shall be considered to have retired from the Club. 

15. — All matters not included in the foregoing Rules shall be settled 
by a majority of two -thirds of the Committee, provided that any 
Member may appeal from their decision to a General Meeting of the 
Club, at which votes shall be taken by the ballot. 



85.88 



4. WRIGHT A 00., MMTOL. 



13