Skip to main content

Full text of "St. Mark's, Or, the Mayor's Chapel, Bristol: Formerly Called the Church of the Gaunts"

See other formats


Google 



This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project 

to make the world's books discoverable online. 

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject 

to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books 

are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover. 

Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the 

publisher to a library and finally to you. 

Usage guidelines 

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the 
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing tliis resource, we liave taken steps to 
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. 
We also ask that you: 

+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for 
personal, non-commercial purposes. 

+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine 
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the 
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help. 

+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for in forming people about this project and helping them find 
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it. 

+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just 
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other 
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of 
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner 
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe. 

About Google Book Search 

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers 
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web 

at |http: //books .google .com/I 



r 



/ 




V:2jN-N^CbS^ 




> 



ST. MARK'S; 



OR, 



THE MAYOR'S CHAPEL, 



BRISTOL. 



This large paper edition consists 
of 200 copies^ of which this is 



No. 




I 



1 ' \ 



} 1 












RESTORED FRONT ELEVATION, 

THE MAYOR'S CHAPEL SRISTOI.. 



ST. MARK'S; 



OR, 



THE MAYOR'S CHAPEL, 

/ 
BRISTOL, /\ 



(Forffterly called the Church of the Gaunts.) 



BY 



W. R. l^ARKER 

Member of the Council of 
the CUy and County of Bristol, 



3Uu6trated. 



• ',. 



J J ^ s s ' t 



* , - 



£rf 0tol : 

W. C. HEMMONS, 

ST. STKPHZN STKKET. 
1892. 




• • • 



• • 






• • •< 



• •• • 

• • •• 

• • 



•• •< 

• •• 

• •• • 



• • »•• • • .•• 

• •• •• •!• 

• • ••• • • •• 

• • * • • • • 



• •••• 

• • • • 



• • 






• ••••••• 

•• . • • • • 



• • 



I • • •• 



THIS VOLUME IS 
WITH GREAT RESPECT INSCRIBED TO 

ALDERMAN SIR CHARLES WATHEN, 

WHO FOR SIX YEARS 
SUSTAINED 

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR OF BRISTOL; 

AND 
DURING WHOSE MAYORALTY 

THE RESTORATION OF ST. MARK'S CHAPEL 

WAS CARRIED OUT. 



* * ^ W ^ w « 



^ 






• 

: ..." 


• • 

• • 

• 


* • • • •• 
» • • • 

• • « • • 
• • • •• 


•• 
• 


••:: 


• 
• 


« • • ml • 
• •• • • •• 




...;- 


• 
• • 


• •• • • 

*•• • • 




•• ••• 


• 

•• 
• • 




» 


• • • 

• • • 1 


V •  


# # • • • <r 





In the recently-published volume of the Transactions .of the Bristol 
and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, illustrations appeared of 
all the Berkeley effigies existing in the City of Bristol and neighbour- 
hood. Mrs. Baonall-Oakeley, who made the drawings, and the 
Council of the Society, have now kindly consented to the reproduction 
in this work of the illustrations of such of the effigies as are found 
in St. Mark's Chapel. The courtesy thus manifested is very heartily 
acknowledged. The Town Clerk, Mr. D. TRAysRS Buroes, and 
the City Treasurer, Mr. J. Trsmayns Lane, have given every 
assistance in their power; also the City Librarian, Mb. John Tatlor. 
To these gentlemen and others, who in various ways have aided him, 
the writer wishes to return his sincere thanks. 

Redland, Bristol, 

February f 1892. 



ST. MARK'S; 



OH, 



THE MAYOR'S CHAPEL, 



BRISTOL. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PLATE PAGE 

FRONTISPIECB—Front Elevation, facing College Green 

I.— Conjectural Flan of the Hospital Buildings ... 43 

n. — Seal of the Gaunts' House, Anns of Founders, etc. 44 

in. — Copy of Seyer's Rough Plan of the Building ... 79 

iv.~ Ground Plan of the Restored Chapel ... ... 104 

V. — ^Restored Jamb of Nave Window, etc. ... ... 115 

vi. — Steps formerly leading from Cloister to Nave, etc. ... 119 

vii. — Uncovered Site of Destroyed North Transept ... 123 

VIII. — Remains of Piscina, Holy Water Stoup, etc. ... 125 

IX. — Exterior View of New North Transept ... ... 137 

x.--Effigy of Sir Richard Berkeley ... ... ... 146 

XI.— Effigy of Sir Henry de Gaunt ... ... ... 155 

XII. — Copy of Inscription on the Tower Wall ... ... 162 

XIII. — The Altar Screen and Chancel Tombs ... ... 164 

XIV. — Effigy of Sir Thomas Berkeley ... ... ... 166 

XV. — Interior of the South Aisle Chapel ... ... 176 

xvi.^Effigy of Maurice de Gaunt ... ... ... 178 

XVII.— Effigy of Robert de Goumey ... ... ... 179 

xviii. ^Interior of the Poyntz or Jesus Chapel ... ... 189 



part t. 



HISTORICAL. 



Note. — Confusion has frequently arisen from the fact that St. Mark's 
Chapel does not stand as usual^ East and West, but nearly 
North and South. In these pages the building is regarded as 
standing in the usual position. The Chancel is therefore called 
its East endy and other portions of the structure are indicated 
accordingly. 



St flDarfi'dt or. tbe nDai^or'e Cbapel, BridtoI« 



INTRODUCTORY. 

The ^^faire hospitall of St. Marke, of Billeswicke 
by Bristol!/' called also the Gaunts' Hospital, after the 
name assumed by its primary founder, was one of the 
numerous ecclesiastical institutions of mediasval times, 
which owed their origin to the zeal and munificence of 
different members of the historic Berkeley family. It 
was, doubtless, this passion for the erection and endow- 
ment of churches and convents which caused the family 
to assume the Abbot's mitre as their crest, the use of 
which has been preserved in connection with the carved 
effigies of different members of the family. 

On the South side of College Green, Robert Fitz- 
Harding, the first Lord Berkeley of that name, founded, 
in the year 1142, on part of the manor of Billeswicke, 
which he had purchased of Robert, Earl of Gloucester, 
the original monastery church of St. Augustine ; and 
nearly a hundred years afterwards his grandson Maurice 
Berkeley de Gaunt, as if to keep up the traditions of the 
family, founded on the opposite side of the Green, for 
benevolent rather than monastic purposes, the Hospital 
which bore his name. Of this benevolent and con- 
ventual establishment, which once covered a large area, 
and which was doubtless complete in all that was 
required for the help of suffering humanity, long before 

B 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 



the modem poor-house and infirmary came into existence 
— of all this the College Chapel alone remains. This 
ancient Chapel is a place where historic memories seem 
to fill the air, and where the worship of God has survived 
the changes of religious systems recognised within it, 
and the complete destruction of all its material sur- 
roundings. 

Peculiar interest attaches to the Chapel, on account 
of the manner in which it came into the possession of the 
Corporation, and the many ways in which the latter 
half of its history is interwoven with the history of the 
City itself. The one may fairly be considered as part of 
the other. 

The records of the Gaunts' House, as it flourished 
previously to its dissolution in the year 1539, and those of 
the Chapel which survived the dissolution, have hitherto 
existed only in fragments, these for the most part being 
found in local histories which have long been inaccessible 
to the general reader, and in the transactions of anti- 
quarian societies. With regard to the Chapel, this lack 
of an adequate connected narrative may in part account 
for the indiflerence and decay which for many years 
seemed to settle down upon it. But now, as will be 
more fully explained hereafter, that is all changed by the 
complete renovation of the structure, and the awaken- 
ing of much interest concerning it. The time therefore 
seems opportune for putting the fi'agments of history 
together, and for enlarging the story, and making it as 
complete as possible by the introduction of new matter. 
It may be that the existence of such a volume will 
help to prevent the recurrence of another period of 
indifference and decay, such as that which has now 
happily passed away. 



PART I.— HISTORICAL. 



Chapter I. 

Zbc founbere anb tbe Cbarters. 



THE FOUNDERS. A.D. 1220. 

Maurice de Gaunt, — Some confusion exists in the 
writings of our local historians with regard to the 
identity of the actual founder or founders of the Gaunts' 
Hospital. The distinction is always rightly ascribed to 
some member of the Berkeley family, but not always to 
the same individual. Probably the fact already referred 
to, that for generations they were great Church builders 
and benefactors, led to the confusion. But all question 
is set at rest by the following brief quotation from the 
Berkel^ MSS. "This Maurice de Gant founded the 
faire hospitall of St. Marke of Billeswyke by BristoU 
(now called St. Augustine's Greene] and neare to his 
grandfather's monastery, endowing it with ample 
possessions ; whose honorable memorialls are there yet 
preserved.*** 

This Maurice was a son of the second Robert 
Fitz-Harding called Robert " de Were." He took his 
mother's surname of Gaunt, and came into the possession 
of her immense inheritance, including the great Barony 
of Paynel, chiefly in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. He 
then became known as Sir Maurice Berkeley de Gaunt, 

* Smyth*s Lives ojthe Berkeleys, ed. Sir John Maclean^ Vol. I., p. 52. 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 



or Sir Maurice de Gaunt. In addition to this Hospital of 
St. Mark, he founded a Dominican Priory in Bristol, the 
interesting remains of which are still to be seen in con- 
nection with the Board School, in what is now called 
^' Quakers' Friars." He was one of the warlike barons of 
his time, and became *' a Peere of the Realme after the 
death of his father Robert." He died at Portsmouth in 
the year 1230, and being referred to as coming of age in 
1207, his death must have taken place at the early age of 
44, in the very prime of life. His effigy or " memoriall," 
which is in the South Aisle Chapel of St. Mark's, 
represents him as a man of splendid physique. 

Robert de Gournay. — Maurice de Gaunt dying 
without direct heirs, his possessions descended to the 
only son of his half-sister Eva, Robert de Groumay, 
whose father, Anselm de Gournay, was a younger son 
of Hugh de Gournay, a Norman, made Earl of Gournay 
by William Rufus, and so called from their castle and 
seignory in Normandy.* Robert de Gournay appears to 
have been one of the wealthiest men of his time, and the 
following particulars in the Berkeley MSS. will show 
how his wealth accumulated. 

" Robert de Gurnay was not onely sonne and heire 
of the said Eve, but also heir to Maurice de Gant his 
vncle, and also grandchilde and heire to the said William 
sonne of John de Harptre, possessinge all their lands 
before mentioned and many others, and had 2 1 Knightes 
ffees in the Counties of Somersett and Glouc. as the roll 
of 47.H.3. shewes. Hee maryed Hawisia de longo campo, 
by whom hee had issue Ansel me de Gurnay, And dyed 
in the Liij"* of Henry the third (1269) In which yeare 
also, after her husband, dyed the said Hawisia.*'t 



• Barrett's History of Bristol, p 355. 
t Smyth's BerkeUys^ YoL I, p. 53. 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 



One of his first acts on succeeding to his uncle^s 
estate was to confirm and supplement the foundation 
charter of the Gaunts' Hospital. This appears to have 
been in accordance with a wish expressed on the part 
of Maurice during his life-time or in his will. A new 
charter was granted by Robert de Grournay, the text of 
which is preserved in Dugdale's Monastican.* A trans- 
lation of this document is given under the head 
of Charters (see page 14). The effigy of Robert 
de Goumay is placed beside that of his uncle Maurice 
in the South Aisle Chapel, thus perpetuating their 
relationship to each other, and to the Hospital as its 
joint-founders. 

Pkdig&xe op thb Founde&s of St. Mark's Hospital, Billbswtkb, as 
GIVEN BY Mr. a. S. Ellis in the Berkeley AfSS. Vol. i., p. 20. 

Haxding, son of Alnod. Held in 1085-6 a manor in Meriet, co.=» 
Somst., which in King Edward's time was held by Earl Godwin. 



>bert 



Robert Fitz Harding, of Bristol, Provost of the town,«Eva. She founded a 



and a wealthy merchant there. Obtained from Robt. 
£. of Gloster, the manor of Billeswyck jnxta Bristol, 
upon part of which he founded St. Augustine's 
Abbey in 114a. Became a Canon and died in the 
Abbey 11 70. 



Priory on St. Michael's 
Hill, died there in 
II 70, and was buried 
at St. Augustine's 
Abbey. 



I. Hawise, dau. of Robert ^Robert " de Were," co. Somer-=2. Avicia d. 



de Goumay of Barrow, 
CO. Somst., dead 1168. 



set. Had his father's manors 
of Billeswick, &c. Dead 1195. 



of Robt. de 
(jaunt,d.ii92 



Goumay. 



de=B£ya de Goumay Maurice de Gaunt, died Henry de Gaunt, a 



sole heir of her at Portsmouth 1230. priest, the first Master 
mother. Dieddur- Founder of St. Mark's Almonerof St.Maric's 
ing the lifetime of Hospital and of the Do- Hospital. Resigned 
her half-brother, mimcan Priory, Bristol, through infirmity 

1268. Buried in the 
Chapel at St. Mark's. 



Rooert de Goumey, heir to his mother, 
vncie and grandfather Qohn de Haiptree) 
possessing their estates and many others. 



• Dngdale'8 ifM«u«KVM, VI, p. 687. 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 



THE CHARTERS. 

In the introduction to the Camden Society's reprint 
of the Mayor^s Kalendaty page 22, there is given " a 
trew and perfect note of all the bokes, registers, and old 
recordesy as are remayneing in the charge and keppinge 
of the Towne Clerck, at his studye in the Councell 
Chamber, taken the 24th day of Januarie, 1621, Anno 
Regni Domini Regis Jacobi nunc Anglise, etc. decimo 
nono, tempore maiorati Roberti Rogers ; and belonginge 
to the Cittye." Eight of these MS. volumes are enume- 
rated, the fifth on the list being as follows — '* Item, a 
parchment booke of the Gaunts' Charters.'* The 
introduction goes on to state, that at the time of the 
publication of this reprint in 1872, the existence of this 
book was not known at the Council House. Like one or 
two more of the volumes included in the list, it had then 
disappeared, nothing being known of how or when. 

A volume containing the Cartulary of the Gaunts' 
House is known to exist in the collection of the late Sir 
Thomas Phillips, but this is quite inaccessible. 

There appears to have been a copy of the account 
of the Gaunts' Charters in the possession of William 
Barrett, who wrote the History and Antiquities of the 
City of Bristol in 1789, and in referring therein to the 
Church of the Gaunts, he largely avails himself of this 
source of information. Under the circumstances it is 
fortunate that a reliable account of these early charters, 
so far as it goes, has thus been preserved. 

At page 358 of his History, Barrett g^ves the 
following account of his volume, in which there is no 
attempt to conceal the pardonable pride of the anti- 
quarian . " The original deeds relating to this house are so 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 



many that they fill a large book of a folio size, close written 
with abbreviations, a copy of which authentic curious 
manuscript I have in my possession. I shall abstract 
from it those only that more immediately concern the 
endowment of this religious house of charity, and give 
any light into its ancient foundation and original 
institution. I shall quote this also under the title of 
Gaunts* Book^ being a manuscript never seen by any 
of our writers of ecclesiastical history and antiquities, 
neither by Dugdale, Stevens, Leland, Tanner, nor 
Mr. Willis." The volume thus referred to was called 
Thesaurus Chartarum et Munimentorum Domus St Marci 
de Btlleswyck. After this quaint introduction, Barrett 
proceeds to quote from his book particulars of many 
charters and benefactions made for the support of the 
Hospital, by which it was from time to time greatly 
enriched. In the absence of the original volume, these 
particulars must of necessity form the basis of the 
following epitome of the charters. 

It has always, however, been understood that many 
origpinal documents relating to the Gaunts' foundation 
were included amongst the MSS. in Wells Cathedral, and 
the ofiicial report upon those papers, which was pub- 
lished in 1885, has been exceedingly useful. The 
Worcester Registers also contain many documents 
relating to the earlier history of the Gaunts' House. 
These deal more especially with the internal concerns 
of the convent, the Gaunts' House being in the 
diocese of Worcester, and subject to the visitation of the 
Bishop of that diocese. These MSS., with all other 
available documents, were exhaustively examined at the 
instance of the Corporation some fifty years since, when 
it became necessary to ascertain once for all what were 
the rights and responsibilities of the Corporation in 



8 The Hospital of St. Mark. 

connection with the Gaunts' Chapel and estates. The 
results of that investigation also are, as far as necessary, 
incorporated in the following pages. 

I. Charter OF Maurice de Gaunt.— In accordance 
with the statement of the old chroniclers, the Charter of 
Maurice de Gaunt is preserved in the Wells Registry. A 
general idea of its contents may be derived from Barrett, 
and abstracts of both the Charter and the Inspeximus 
of Robert de Goumey are given in the Report of the 
Commissioners on the Manuscripts in Wells Cathedral.^ 
The Dean and Chapter of Wells have now courteously 
allowed a verb, et lit. copy of each of these documents to 
be made, and as they form the foundation of the whole 
story, they are here printed in full, together with a 
translation. 

FUNDACIO CANTAXIO MAURiai DB GANt APUD SANCTUM 

AUGUSnNUM B&ISTOLL. 



Ex Regiiiro penes Decanum et CapUulum WeUense 3, /. a8o. 



Omnibiu Christi fidelibus presens scriptum inspectmis, Mauxidos de 
Gant Saltttem in domino . Noverit universitas vestra me pro salute 
animae mesB, patris mei matiis mese uxornm mearmn et omniom 
antecessomm et snccessorum meorum dedisse concessisse et hac pxesenti 
carta mea confirmasse Deo et ecdesise Sancti Augustiui de Briatoll et 
canonicis regnlaribos ibidem Deo servientibus totum maneriom memn de 
Pottlet cum omnibos pertinentiis sois in bosco et piano in pratiB et pascnis 
in viis et semitis in aquis et aqoanim cursibus in stagnis et molendinis et 
in omnibus libertatibus et libeiis consuetudinibus ad predictum manerium 
pertinentibus . Ita quod ego et heredes mei dictum manerium ab omni 
servitio legali et omni exactione seculari acquietemus . Dedi etiam dictis 
canonicis molendina mea de Were cum omnibus pertinentiis suis et sequdis 
in integritate in piscariis in aquis et aquarum cursibus sicut ea Willelmus 
de Sumiford de metenuit . Ita quod Idem Willelmus in vita sua molendinum 
quod parvum molendinum Tocaturde canonicis teneat supradictis Reddendo 
dsdem singulis annis . qradraginta solidos sterlingomm ad quatuor terminot 

* Report on the Wells Manuscripts, p. 192. 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 



anni videlioet ad natale domini decern solidos, ad paicha decern solidos, 
ad Nativitatem beati Johaxmis BapUste decern sdidos, et ad festun 
Saocti Michaelis decern solidos — Ipso Tero decedente molendinam 
pfedictnm ad predictos canonicos revertatur cum omni emendadone qaam 
ipie Wflldmus circa yind posnerit . Preterea dedi et concessi dictis 
cancmids molendiDa mea de Radewik cum omnibus libertatibus sequelis 
et consaetudinibos snis in aquis et aquanmi cursibns et omnibus 
aliis ad piedicta molendina pertinentibus . Ita tamen quod Alexander 
«t Johannes de StriguiU dicta molendina in vita sua teneant Reddendo 
inde annuatim predictis canonids quatuordecim marcaa argenti : licebit 
antedictis canonids post obitum dictorum WiUelmi de Sumiford 
Alexandii et Johannis de Stranguill onmememendadonem quam potuerit 
drca omnia predicta molendina facere vd ipsa infordando vel nova et 
phm construendo . Assignavi eciam supradictis canonids quatuor Maicas 
argenti singulis annis in Bristoll perdpiendas, videlicet de domo quae fuit 
Robert! Harding quam tenuit David Wan* duas marcas, de domo quae 
foit Petri Warr in Bradestrete unam marcam, et de domo quae fuit 
Ricardi Cordewenarii juzta pisam unam marcam . Volo autem quod 
snpradicti canonid omnia predicta babeant et teneant de me et heredibns 
meia imperpetuum cum omnibus pertinendis suis libere quiete integre et 
pacifice sicut liberam puram et peipetuam elemosynam in nullo alicui 
hominum inde respondentes nisi soU deo in oracionibus Et centum 
paupeiibus Christi et uni capeUano divina perpetuo pro fidelibus 
cdebraturo in demosynaria quam penes eosdem canonicos construzi 
singulis diebus imperpetuum redpiendis juzta formam que in eorum carta 
mihi super hoc confecta plenius continetur. Ego autem et heredes md 
onmia supradicta memoratis canonids contra omnes homines et feminas 
Warantizare debimus imperpetuum Et ut premissa perpetue stabilitatis 
xobus obtineant Ea presenti scripto sigiUi md appoddone roborato duzi 
confirmanda . His testibus dominis Willelmo filio Johannis de Haipetre 
Roberto de Gumay . Jordano Warr . Roberto de Beikelay Canonico 
Wdlensi . Gilleberto de Schipton . Adam de Budiford . Willdmo de 
Hida . Reginaldo de Camm . Giliberto de Camm . et multis aliis. 

InSPBZIMUS AlO) CONFISUATION BT ROBSBT DE GU&lffAT, 

FO& Himself and his Heiss. 

^•Zy /' 2^ ^ dors. Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad qnos presens carta 
pervenerit Robertus de Gumay salutem in domino . Inspezi cartam 
bone memorie Mauridi de Gant avunculi mei cujus tenorem de verbo ad 
verbnm presente scripto fed annecti . Ego vero donationem suam 
secundum quod in eodem scripto continetur ratam et gratam habens pro 
me et heredibus mds in perpetuum concesd et hac carta mea confinnavi. 



i 



lo The Hospital of St Mark. 

lU qaidem quod fenenbilis pater K. CicestiuB domini Regis Caaodlaiins 
I. Bathonhim et W. Wygoniiensis Epiacopi omnimodam prendeant 
tecuritatem quo modo unus capellaniu snstenteliir in peifectaum qui 
ministxet pro fideUbni Et centum panperes reficiantor singulis diebus 
de exitibus terramm et reddituum et molendinorum in predicte carta 
nominatorum in loco competenti ab ipsb Episcopis nominando . Et 
si predict! Episcopi proyiderint quod plures pauperes possint refid de 
predictis et plures capellani sustentari de eisdem inde prendeant 
securitatem fiidendam . His testibus venerabilibtts patribns R. Dundim, 
J. Bathon, et R. Cicestrise domini regis cancellario Episcopb, domino 
H. de Burgo oomite cauctae et Angliae justidario, Anaelmo Electo 
Meneven . domino Stephano de Segrave, domino Johanne Marescall, 
magistio Hugone filio Ricardi, Jordano la Ware, Gilberto de Sipton, 
Johanne de Campo florido, Henrico de Vein, Elya de Staford, Rad« 
Russell . Terire derico. et multis alils. 



ITranelatfon. 

Foundation of Crantrt op Mau&icb dk Gant at St. Auoustims's, 

Bristol. 

From the Register in the possession of the Dean and Chapter of Weils, 

III. f. 280. 

To all the faithful in Christ who may examine the present deed, 
Maurice de Gant, greeting in the Lord. 

Know all that for the benefit of my soul and of the souls of my father, 
my mother, my wives and of all my ancestors and successors, I haiw 
given, conceded, and by this present charter confirmed to God and to 
the Church of St. Augustine, Bristol, and to the Canons Regular there 
serving God, all my manor of Poulet with all its appurtenances in wood 
and plain, in meadow and pasture, in ways and paths, in waters and 
watercourses, in ponds and mills, and in all liberties and free customs 
bdonging to the said manor. So that I and my heirs release the 
said manor from all regal service and from all secular exaction. I have 
also given to the said Canons my mills at Were with all the appurtenances 
and men bdonging to them, with the fisheries, the waters, and the 
running streams, according as William de Sumiford hdd the same of me. 
So that the same William in his lifetime having rented the mill that is 
cdted the little miU from the above-said Canons by irndrring to Hkhi 
forty d d Pm g s Hei&ig at four seasons of the year, that b to say, at the 
Nativity of our Lord ten shillings, at Easter ten shillings, at the Nativity 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 1 1 



of the Uened John Baptist ten shillings, and at the Feast of St. Michael 
ten shillings. But by his death the said mill shall revert to the aforesaid 
Canons with all improvements which William had been able to effect. 
Besides, I have given and conceded to the said Canons my mills of 
Radewick with all liberties, with men belonging to them, and customs, 
waters and running streams, and all other things belonging to the afore- 
said mills. Yet so that Alexander and John de Striguill may hold the 
said mills during life by retutning annually to the aforesaid Canons 
fourteen marks of silver, but it will be permissible to the aforesaid Canons 
after the demise of the said William de Sumiford and of Alexander and 
John de Striguill to make all improvement that is possible, even by en- 
foicement, either by repaiis or by new or by additional construction. 

I have assigned also to the abovesaid Canons four marks of silver 
to be received every year in Bristol, that is to say, from the house that 
belonged to Robert Hardmg which David Warr held, two marks ; from 
the house' which Peter Warr had in Broad Street, one mark ; and from 
the house which Richard Cordwaner had juxta pisam^ one mark. I will 
that the abovesaid Canons have and hold all the aforesaid from me and 
my heirs in perpetuity with all appurtenances, quietly, whoUy and 
unmolested, as free, pure, and perpetual alms, in nothing responsible to 
any man but to God alone in invocations; and for one hundred poor 
of Christ who are to be recipients according to the form which is fully 
explained in their charter to me and executed with this^ and one Chaplain 
who shall celebrate the divine offices, for the faithful in the afanomy which 
I have built, everyday for ever. Furthermore, I and my hehrs engage to 
secure all the above to the Canons aforenamed against all men and 
women for ever. And that the conditions may obtain perpetual strength 
and stability, I have applied my seal in confirmation to the present 
deed. Witnesses — Sur William, son of John de Harptre, Robert de 
Gurnay, Jordan Wair, Robert de Berkeley Canon of Wells, Gilbert de 
Schipton, Adam de B«£ftN4« William de Hide, Reginald de Camm, 
Gilbert de Camm, and many others. 

lNSPlZIlfT78 AND CONFIKMATION BY ROBB&T DB GURNAT «Ut ^fM| ffiT,> 

AND HIS HXI&S. 

^* 3f /• 2^ ^ dors, 

Robert de Gurnay greets in the Lord all to whom the present deed 
shall appear. I have inspected the charter of my unde Maurice de Gant^ 
of blessed memory, the tenor of which I have caused to be word by word 
annexed to the present writing. His benefaction I have fully and finely 
ratified for myself and my heirs, and by this my charter have confirmed. 



12 The Hospital of St. Mark. 

On this condition, that the venerable father R(alph NevO), Bishop of 
Chichester, Lord Chancellor of the King, J(oceline) of Bath, and W(illiam 
de Blois), Bishop of Worcester, may take every security that one diaplain 
be maintained in perpetuity, who shall administer to the faithful ; and 
to the relief of one hundred poor every day from the proceeds of lands 
and rents and mills recited in the said charter, in the proper place 
appointed by the bishops themselves. And if the foresaid bishops 
discover that more poor may be relieved from the aforesaid, and more 
chaplains sustained from the same, then let them take security that it be 
done. Tested by the venerable father R(ichard Poore) of Durham, J. of 
Bath, and R. of Chichester the King's Chancellor, Inshop, the noUe 
Hubert de Burgh Earl of Kent, and justiciary of England (1230) ; Anselm, 
bishop elect of St. David's ; the noble Stephan de Segrave, the noble 
John Marescall, Hugo son of Richard, Jordan de Ware, Gilbert de 
Sipton, John de Campo Florida, Henry de Vein, EU de Staford, Ralph 
Russell, Terire, Clerk, and many others. 

The Charter of Maurice de Gaunt is here seen to be 
of a very general character. Although it is undated, its 
language shews clearly that the Hospital was originated 
during the lifetime of the grantor. His first wife Matilda 
died in 1219, and the deed was probably executed soon 
after his subsequent marriage with Margaret, widow of 
Ralph de Someri. The entire absence of details as to 
the mode in which the Foundation was to be administered 
is explained by the reference to a deed given by the 
Canons of St. Augustine's Monastery, in which the 
requisite particulars were set forth. To this Capitular 
body was deputed the unrestricted carrying out of the 
foimder*s intentions, and their agreement with him is 
the missing link in the series of documents. 

In the Inspeximus of Robert de Gourney it will be 
observed that while he concurs in the terms of his uncle's 
Charter, he raises the question whether some alteration 
may not be made in the constitution and arrangements of 
the charity so as to increase its usefulness. He refers 
this question to the three Bishops named, and the results 



I 



I 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 13 



are seen in the provisions of the new Charter which he 
subsequently granted. 

Taking the three documents together, a good deal 
of light is inferentially thrown upon the question of the 
date at which the Chapel, as distinguished from the 
Hospital, was erected. It will be observed that Maurice 
de Gaunt's Charter contains no reference whatever to the 
existence of the Chapel. As regards structure, he refers 
only to the elemosynaria (almonry) and provides that 
divine service shall be performed therein, by a single 
Chaplain ; a simple arrangement, which is hardly con- 
sistent with the existence of a College Chapel. More- 
over, there is no mention of a dedication, such as would 
be appropriate in the case of an ecclesiastical structure. 

By the Inspeximus the whole question of the recon- 
stitution of the Foundation is brought up for decision by 
Robert de Gourney, and, as will presently be seen, the 
result was that more elaborate services were provided 
for, an independent existence was conferred upon the 
Hospital, and a formal dedication of it was made to 
" God and the Blessed Mary, and the Blessed Mark." 
There still remains the absence of a definite statement as 
regards the erection of the Chapel, but there can be no 
doubt that it was erected when the second Charter was 
granted as *^ the proper place appointed by the bishops 
themselves." This would place its date at 1230, about 
ten years after the founding of the Hospital ; a conclusion 
which is not inconsistent with the architecture of what 
remains of the original structure. 

2. Charter of Robert de Gourney. — As already 
intimated, it seems to have been the wish of Maurice de 
Gaunt that the enlargement of the Gaunts' foundation 
should be provided for by his heir. Accordingly, Robert 
de Croumey not only confirmed his uncle's charter, but 



14 The Hospital of St. Mark. 

enlarged the constitution of the House, and gave it 
more of the character of a Priory ; as such, indeed, it is 
frequently designated in the Gaunts' charters and other 
documents. He also entirely freed it from the controul 
of the Canons of St. Augustine's. This first charter of 
Robert de Groumey is printed in the Monasticon 
AngluanuMf and is recited from the Gaunts' Book by 
Barrett.* 

The following is a literal translation of the deed, as 
printed in the Monasticon : — 

Cart. 6i. Henry HI, m. 15. 

Dugd. VI. 687. 

To all the faithful in Christ to whom the present writing shall come, 
Robert de Gumay saluting in the Lord. Know ye, that moved by 
divine instigation and for the sake of Maurice de Gaunt my unde of 
blessed memory, and for my own salvation and that of all my predecessors 
and successors, being in full seisin and possession under my lord the 
King; and in full power over all my lands and tenements, given and 
conceded to me by inheritance from the said Maurice, I have by this 
present charter confirmed in pure and perpetual alms to God and the 
Blessed Mary and to the Blessed Mark, and to our Hospital of Billeswicke, 
to the sustentation of the master and three chaplains there to offer 
perpetually for the faithful ; and to the refection of 100 poor every day 
for ever, the manor of Paulet, with all its appurtenances, without any 
reservation, whether in lordship, in villenage, in homage of freemen, or 
in services ; with the mill of Were and all its appurtenances, and with all 
other products of the same manor, in ponds and waters, and river courses; | 

in fisheries, and all other attachments to the same miU; and the mill of ^ 

Radewick, with all its appurtenances, with all the accompaniments 

(sequelft) of the same manor, in ponds and waters, and water courses, in I 

fisheries and all other accessories that belong to the same mill ; and 4 \ 

marks of rent in Bristol with all its appurtenances, that is to say, firom f 

the house which belonged to Rob^ son of Harding, which David ' 

Laware held, 2 marks ; from the house which Richard Corduarius held ^ 

next to Pisa fjuxta PisamJ one mark ; and from the bouse of Peter 
lAware in Brad Street one mark ; and my houses of Billeswicke, with 
all their appurtenances without any reservation ; yet retaining to myself 
and to my heirs the rights secured to our own hospital of being provided 
for when we come thither, without moroseness or hindrance of the said 
master or chaplains of the poor. 

^Barrett, p. 359. 



1 



J 



The Hospital of St Mark. 15 

I have also granted for myself and my heirs that if any agreement 
aforetime hat existed between the said Manrice and the Canons of St. 
Augustine as to first fruits, it be of no effect henceforth, and that the 
dispensation of our said alms, and the administration of alms, lands, 
miUs, rents, and of things and possessions in general, shall, until a master 
be appointed renudn in the hands of the said chaplains for the time being, 
who shall choose from among themselves or from others, a sufficient man 
as Master, presenting him to me and my heirs, who at my presentation 
and of my heirs shall be admitted by the diocesan of the place (loci 
diacesamtm admiUaturJ : to which election if I or my heirs at any time, 
without reasonable cause will the contrary, the lord Inshop of Worcester 
may nevertheless admit him on the presentation of the chaplains and of 
his own authority if duly exercised, to lands, goods, and possessions. But 
should he prove dishonourable in the management of afiairs he may upon 
conviction be removed and another, as aforesaid, appointed in his stead. 

I will also that each one of the said hundred poor shall each receive 
daily bread to the weight of 45 shillings, made of bread, barley and bean 
flour with sufficient pottage. 

And I and my heirs warrant and defend to the said Master and his 

successors the aforesaid manor, mills, rents and houses with all their 

appurtenances as stated, in free, pure, perpetual alms against all claimants. 

And lest I or my heirs should at any time contravene the aforesaid grants 

I have confirmed this present writing with the authority of my seal, the 

foUowing being witnesses :— 

Radolf, Bishop of Chichbstbr, thb Kino's 
Chancellor. 

HXTBERT DB BURO, EARL OF KEMT AND 

Justiciar of England. 
JocELTN, Bishop of Bath. 
William, Bishop of Winchbstbr. 
Gilbert db Gaunt. 
John Marbscallo. 
Jordan db la Wares. 
Gilbert db Shepta. 
Elia db Samford, Notary. 

Barrett refers to a discrepancy^ which undoubtedly 
exists, between the deed as it is given in his Gaunts' 
Booky and the version of it in Dugdale. According to 
the former the provision was for feeding twenty-seven 
poor persons ; while Dugdale says it was for the original 
number of one hundred. Later on, in treating of 
certain charges of mal-administration brought against 
the House, it will be found that the obligation to 
provide for the hundred poor people is always specified. 



^ 



i6 The Hospital of St. Mark. 

By a further deed which Barrett states is also 
contained in the Gaunts* Book^ pp. 3-4. *^ He adds one 
more chaplain, in all four, and eight clerks, all which 
was confirmed before the Justices of Eyre, at Ivelchester, 
the 2nd February, 1243." * 

In addition to these charters of the joint-founders of 
the Gaunts' House, many other interesting particulars 
are given with regard to subsequent endowments. 

On the 1 8th of November, in the 17 th year of his 

reign (1233), King Henry III., confirmed by his charter 

to the Master and Brethren of the hospital of Billeswick, 

" the manor of Paulet and its appurtenances, given by 

the aforesaid Robert de Goumey, as well as Were Mill, 

Radwick, and the four marks of rent in Bristol ; and of 

the gift of Andrew Loterel, the manor of Stockland and 

its appurtenances ; of the gift of Maurice de Gaunt, that 

part of Stockland next the hundred of Cannington, 

etc/'t 

William Cannell gave his possession, Deliameur 

and Linagan, with all its appurtenances and rights, in 

fishing, meadows, vineyards, messuages, mills, etc.^ etc., 

for 40s,— 1233, and John Bruin gave his land in Brewham, 

till the Gaunts were in full possession of Deliameur and 

Linagan, which was confirmed by Ric. de Muscegross.^ 

About the year 1269, (?) Andrew Luttrel gave the 

manor of Stockland, the executors of the said Maurice 

paying him 40 marks (the deed being witnessed by 

Robert de Gourney, Gilbert de Gaunt, etc.), with the 

advowson of the church of Stockland Gaunts, worth 

about 10 marks by the year; but, decreasing in value 

and being insufficient for the vicar to live upon it, it was 

endowed by Thomas, Bishop of Bath and Wells, with 

the consent of William (Wyne) Master, and the brothers 

* Bairett, p. 359. t /Mi., p. 364. X ^^-t P* 3^* 



The Hospital of SL Mark. 1 7 

of St. Mark's, with lands and tythes of hay, roses or 
reeds of the whole parish— of wool, milk, apples, flax, 
lambs, calves, chicken, pigs, pigeons, all oblations, 
tenths, etc., belonging to the said Church except of 
swans, which were reserved by the house of St. Mark's, 
who paid him also 28s. in money, — 1453.* 

Walter AUayn granted all the messuage with the 
Mill at Langford, as did Richard de Porteshened, his 

heir.t 

Sir Henry de Gaunt, the younger brother of 
Maurice, was, by deed of Robert de Qoumey, duly 
appointed first Master-Almoner of the Hospital. He 
occupied that position till 1268, when he resigned on 
account of infirmity, and died in the same year. This 
Sir Henry de Gaunt executed a deed by which he con- 
firmed all former grants, and further granted the Manor 
of Paulet, Stockland of Erdecot, and lands of Bruham, 
the Mills of Were and Langford, with all his rights in 
Delyamour and Lynagan in Cornwall, of the donation of 
William Cannel ; the burgage and rents in Bristol and 
the house of Billiswick, for the support of the Master of 
the House and twelve brothers clergymen, and five brothers 
laymen, and twenty-seven poor people, out of which 
number twelve are to be scholars to serve only in the 
choir, in black caps and surplices, as the same was 
ordained and confirmed formerly by Walter, Lord Bishop 
of Worcester (see page 25). This deed is in Gaunts* 
Book J p. I J 

Edward the ist gave the Manor of Winterboum 
Gunnore, in Wilts, to the Gaunts' Hospital, before he 
was King, in the 52nd year of his father's reign (1268), 
and confirmed it after he was King, the 13th May, i29o.§ 

* Barrett, p. 365. f Jbid.^ p. 368. % -^^^^m P« 3^. 

} Ibid.t p. 364. 



1 8 The Hospital of St. Mark. 



The following are the circumstances under which the 
gift was made. — ^The Manor was held by Henry de la 
Mere, who, dying without issue, it reverted to the King 
Henry III., who granted it to his eldest son Edward, 
and there is an ancient charter, dated 25th Oct. in the 
above-mentioned year, whereby Edward, described as 
Edward, eldest son of the King, for the good of his 
soul and the souls of his ancestors granted to God, and 
the Blessed Mary, and to the Church of St. Mark of 
Billeswick, juxta Bristol, and the Master and Brethren 
there serving God, and for the sustentation of the poor, 
the said Manor of Winterboum, in free and perpetual 
alms for ever. This charter was witnessed by Thomas 
de Clare, Robert Agillon, Roger de Libume, Robert de 
Waleraund, Robert Tibatot, Pagan de Chawras, Hugh, 
son of Otto, and John de la Lynde ; and was confirmed 
upon Inspexitmis on 30th May, 1290, the following being 
witnesses: — John, Bishop of Winchester; Reginald, 
Bp. of Bath and Wells, Chancellor ; Anthony de Beck, 
Bp. of Durham ; Edmund, the King's brother ; William 
de Valence, the King's uncle ; Gilbert de Clare, Earl of 
Gloster and Hereford ; Lace, Earl of Lincoln ; and 
Richard de Wood.* 

In the year 13 14, the Master and Brethren of St. 
Mark's adopted the not uncommon course of pleading 
poverty, in order to increase the resources of their 
House. They represented, " that owing to the smallness 
of their income, and various expences daily increasing 
upon them, also that, by reason of the floods and over- 
flowings of the sea, no small part of their lands situated 
in the diocese of the Bishop of Winchester were 
destroyed — he (the Bishop) confirmed upon them the 
impropriation of the church of Stock (Stokland), of 

* Sir John Maclean, Treats, Brist, and Gias, Arch, Soc., 1878-9, p. 247 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 19 



which they held the advowson, with its rights, posses • 
sions, and appurtenances, reserving only to himself and 
successors the appointment of a Vicar for the said parish 
to serve the Church, to be presented to him by the 
House of St. Mark, and an annual pension of two 
shillings to be paid to the Dean and Chapter of St. 
Andrew's, Wells, and one marc and an half to the 
Archdeacon."* 

The following documents relating to this are in the Wells collection :^* 

I. licence firom the King to the House of St. Mark, Bristol, to 
appropriate their Church of Stockland, February 7th, a.d. I3i4.t 

s. Appropriation of Stockland to St. Mark, by the Bishop, in con- 
sideration of the poverty of the House, and their losses by inundation on 
the coast, etc., given in London, February 1 1, 1314. 

3. The appropriation of Stockland Church confirmed, saving a payment 
of two shillings to the Church at Wells, "pro sequestris tempore 
vacationis."^ 

4. Ordinatio Vicarie de Stodande per Johannem £pm. The lands 
and tithes enumerated which are to belong to the Vicar, the rest to the 
House of St. Mark, of Bristol, of which William is the Master, 
A.D. i38o.§ 

In the same year 13 14, upon the payment of a fine, 
the Master and Brethren obtained a license to exchange 
one mill in Netherwere, with its watercourse, with John, 
Bishop of Bath and Wells, for forty acres of pasture 
and four-score acres of moor in Compton and Ceddre 
(Cheddar).|| 

At Wells there is the following :— " Conf. by the 
Dean and Chapter, of the exchange made by the Bishop 
and the House of St. Mark, Bristol, with the boundaries 
of the lands. Test, to the original deed — John de Erie ; 
John de Meriet ; Matthew de Clyveden ; John de Bello 
Campo de Norton ; John de Clyveden ; Knights, and 

V . .    . .. 

* Barrett, p. 370, also Sir John Maclean, Trans,^ 6'<r., see ante^ p. 18. 

t Reparian TVeOs AfSS., p. 85. 

it Ibid,, pp. 86.7. { /^m/., p. 169. 

I Sir John Maclean, Jronx., ^c, see anfe, p. 18. 



20 The Hospital of Si. Mark. 



John de Hampton; John de Northlade; Philip de 
Irrays ; William de Brutton ; Reginald de Hanam ; John 
de Ardenie, etc."* 

Another deed at Wells refers to the same trans- 
action :— " Confirmation by King Edward of an exchange 
made by the House of St. Mark, Bristol, with Bp. John, 
of a mill at Netherwere, with sluices and watercourses, 
for forty acres of pasture and eighty acres of moor in 
Compton and Ceddre, given at Westminster, February 
8th, Anno Regni 8^ {i3i4-i5)-"t 

Anselm de Goumey (son of Robert) gave Thomas 
de Lechlade, Master, and his Brothers of St. Mark's, 3s 
rent out of 3 burgages in the town of Were and all his 
right in the Hyndmore, Compton and Ceddre, 10 Edw. II. 

(1317)4 

In 1324 a dispute arose between the Master and 

Brethren, and one John de Poulet, relative to certain 

rights of common, claimed by the said John, in the 

demesne lands of the Master and Brethren in Poulet. 

The contention was submitted to arbitration, and it was 

finally agreed, that John de Poulet having acknowledged 

his services, should have common of pasture for so many 

animals as could subsist thereon, and estover for his own 

use growing in the demesne lands of Northam, in Poulet, 

which he then possessed, from Michaelmas day to the 

Feast of the Purification of the B.V.M. in all lands 

not sown in Southam ; and that if the said John should 

not find sufficient pasture in the cultivated lands at 

Southam for the said animals, the Master and Brethren 

grant to him, in augmentation, for the time being, 

sufficient pasture in Northam, they reserving a right 

of way for their wagons, in consideration of which 

 Report on IVeUs MSS., p. 86. t Ibid., p. 85. 

X Barrett, p. 366. 



The Hosfdtal of SL Mark. 2 1 

• 

John de Poulet granted to the Master and Brethren the 
whole land of Northam, without challenge, for ever .♦ 

Ten years after making their previous complaint, 
in the year 1326, the Master and Brethren made another 
complaint of poverty, and the Bishop bestowed on them 
the Church of Overstowey with all its rights, fhiits, &c., 
on their paying a pension of forty shillings to the Dean 
and Chapter of Wells towards the repairing of the 
fabric of that Church, reserving the sole appointment oi 
the Vicar to the Church of Overstowey.t 

The foUowing are the documents relating to this transaction in the Wells 
collection i-^ 

1. Inspez. and Conf. by the Dean and Chapter of the grant by Bp. 
John to St. Mark's House, Bristol, of the advowson of Over Stawey. 
Given at Banewell, Oct. i, A.D. 1326. Confirmed Nov. 11. 

2. Inspex. and Conf. of the appropriation of the last to St. Mark's by 
Bp. John : saving a pension of 40s. to the fabric of the Cathedral, in lieu 
of the Dean and Chapter's claim to their portion of the proceeds on 
vacancies. A. Vicar to be appointed as usual. Given at Blakeford, 
Oct. 23, A.D. 1326. Confirmed Nov. 104 

3. Payment of the above charge of 40s. is twice referred to in the 
Liber Alb. Ill, as briefly noted at page 175 of the **Report" and in the 
Fabric Rolls C. 1390, in the following terms: — ^Rents, 4O8. from the 

Master of the House of St. Mark, Bristol, for the Easter and Michaelmas 
tenr«s.§ 

By letters patent from King Edward A.R. 20, John 
Bishop of Bath and Wells granted these charters wholly 
to the Master and Friars of St. Mark's for their better 
support. II 

On the 8th Sept., 1326, the Bishop obtained another 
licence, authorising him to exchange the advowson of 
the Church of Overstowey, with the Master and Brethren, 
for four score acres of moor, the site of one mill and the 
watercourse thereto pertaining in Compton Ceddre and 
Netherwaye.lT 

* Sir John Maclean, Trans.^ &*€., see ante, p. 1 8. f Barrett, p. 370. 
X Report on Wells JfSS., p. 91. { Ibid,, p. 285. || Barrett, p. 372. 
H Sir John Maclean, Trans,, &*c,, see ante, p. 18, also Banetti p. 366. 



22 The Hospital of St. Mark. 



On the ist of May in the 6th year of his reign (1333} 
Edward III. confirmed all aforesaid grants, and that 
which Alexander D'Aundo, or De Anno made to the 
said Hospital, of all that land and bosk called Half- 
barrow, with all its appurtenances, in the manor of 
Aychton, and that g^rant which Idonea Gaunsel the wife 
of Richard the Huntsman made, of all that land and 
tenement which she had in Erdicote, and all the right 
she had in La Lee, Hanedon, and Hogestone ; and the 
land called Sturte in Crete and its appurtenances, with 
the advowsons of the Church of Lee and Erdicote, and 
all rents, villenages, custodies, liberties, etc., and all 
rights in the said land belonging to her or her heirs : 
he confirmed also the grant which Richard Curties of 
Bristol made, to the Master and Brethren of the said 
Hospital, of his rights to a meadow called Wambroke 
and the grant which William Gannel made of a 
Tenement which he had of John le Brun in de Lianour 
and Linagen, dated as above ist May, 1333.* 

The foregoing charters and deeds, extending over a 
period of more than a hundred years from the foundation 
of the Gaunts' House, comprise the principal bene- 
factions by which it was endowed. In addition, Barrett 
extracted from his Gaunts* Book particulars of a number 
of less important gifts, some of which related to tene- 
ments lying on the North side of the Hospital towards 
the Frome, by which the Hospital estate was extended 
in that direction. Amongst those who thus benefitted 
the House in a minor degree, are Jordan de Berkeley 
(1235) and Margery Somerey, widow of Maurice de 
Gaunt, who long survived her husband. Maurice de 
Gaunt having died without direct heirs, the surname he 
assumed does not after that event appear amongst the 
donors. 

• Barrett, p. 364. 



Chapter II. 



Zbe VeUgfoua IbouBc. 



A.D. I220 /o 1534. 

In the absence of documentary evidence, which in 
most cases no longer exists, the special purpose for 
which many of the mediaeval religious houses were 
established cannot now be clearly ascertained. In the 
case of the Gaunts' House however there is no such 
obscurity; the carefully arranged provisions of its 
foundation charters stamping it as primarily a benevolent 
institution. In this respect, its purpose went far beyond 
the range of mere hospitality, such as was habitually 
observed in monasteries. It existed for the purposes 
of charity, and instead of being a feasting place for the 
rich and noble, such as the monasteries sometimes 
became, it was a home for the homeless, a hospital for 
the sick, a house of plenty for the destitute. It can 
readily be imagined what a daily centre of benevolent 
activity the Gaunts' Hospital was in those far-off days, 
when the needy were dependent on the Church, when 
travelling was both difficult and dangerous, and when 
nursing and medical aid were so difficult to obtain. A 



24 The Hospital of St. Mark. 



hint as to that activity was afforded when, during the 
recent restoration, it was found that in the North wall of 
the Nave, on which side the domestic buildings were 
situated, no less than seven openings of various kinds 
were formerly in use, as means of communication on 
three floors, between the Hospital buildings and the 
Chapel. The positions of several of these, at different 
levels, still remain visible as witnesses of the intimate 
connection between the religious and benevolent work 
of the Chaplains and lay Brethren of ''St. Mark's of the 
Gaunts." 

Perhaps One of the most interesting and complete 
pictures extant, of the daily routine of a Thirteenth 
Century House of Charity is that which relates to St. 
Mark's Hospital. 

When, under the Charter of Robert de Gourney, 
the House was released from the control of the Canons 
of St. Augustine's Monastery, it became necessary to 
formulate the arrangements under which it should 
continue its independent existence. The Bishop of the 
diocese granted the requisite ordinance 'dated 1259, 
which being issued became the Rule of the House. 

The original document by which this interesting 
picture is furnished is in the Worcester Registry under 
the reference, Registrum Gothfredi Gifford 1268 to 1301 
No. I. It is there entitled ''an Ordination exhibited at 
Henbury in the Salt Marsh 1268," and proceeds: — "This 
Ordination is made with the assent and counsel of the 
Venerable Father Walter Bishop of Worcester with the 
assent of the Conventual House of Robert de Gumey of 
the aforesaid Elemosunaria of St. Mark's de Billeswick, 
and Henry de Gaunt Master of the same place, of the 
rents and lands of the said Henry purchased and to the 
said Elemosunaria belonging." 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 25 



Barrett has given in his account of the Gaunts' 
Church the following version of this Ordination : 

<* Walter Bishop of Worcester, with consent of Robert de Goumey and 
Henry de Gaont, joint founders of the lands rents &c., by them given to 
the said house yiz. that the lands &c., by them given, shonld for ever 
remain to that honse, for the support of a master and three chaplains, and 
that the alms to poor Christians agreeable to each of their deeds, should 
eveiy day be observed ; and that twelve scholars be admitted or removed 
at the will of the master, who are to officiate in the choir in black caps 
and surplices, according to the direction of the chaunter, master, and 
faculty of the house, out of whom one is to be chosen to direct and instruct 
the lest, for which his stipend shall be larger than the rest ; and it is 
ordained that three clerks in sacred orders and five lay friers do wear the 
same habit of those friers of the hospital of Lechlade, differing only in the 
badge of the said hospital, which is a cross argent, and the shield gules with 
three geese argent. And if it should happen that either of the said six 
clerks should by the said master be promoted to the sacerdotal order, 
nevertheless he may administer in the church according to the direction of 
the chaunter, provided the number of chaplains, clerks, and friers, so 
admitted by the said master not having the habit, exceed not thirteen, 
unless in process of time the revenues of the house increase, at which 
increase let as many be added to the charity as the master of the said 
house shall think fit. At the admittance of each person into the 
brotheriiood he shall have the shield only fixed on his habit, which shall 
be worn during the year of probation, at the end of which time if he is 
found a fit proficient then the shield with the cross shall be fixed to the 
same ; or within the time of his probation, if he desire or plead for this 
right, he may have the shield with the cross impressed on his upper habit, 
by vowing the substantials of the order, viz. continence, obedience, and 
abdication of property, and other regulations of the said house to be 
observed. 

Any person after admission and within the time of probation, if he 
should be found not fit, may depart or be removed by the master. In 
fasting and other things to be observed by the members of this house, 
let it be according to the custom of the friers of Lechlade ; but in divine 
offices according to the custom and order of Sarum. In burying the dead, 
whether prince or prelate be sent for burial, the said chaplains and derb 
are to wear the habit of the said hospital, or in their more solemn apparel, 
according to the custom of Sarum, may meet the same, provided the said 
haUt is not used elsewhere, but in the choir, or elsewhere when free from 
' eoderiastical office. 



26 The Hospital of St. Mark. 

As to mm and iU lolemnidct the said chapkins and deikt are to 
obienFe the following rules, viz. one mass shall be celebrated in the 
morning for the Blessed Virgtu liCary, the second for the dead, and the 
third for the day ; this to be continued every day : the other chaplains 
may celebrate mass for the living and the dead, and chiefly for the 
bene&ctors of the house, at the discretion of the master. Divine service 
being ended, two chaplains and the aforesaid six clerics wearing the 
badge of the house, with two lay-brothers each with a little knife in his 
hand shall cut the bread for the impotent and weak, who are to be served 
to their will, between one and three, before the chaplains and clerks shall 
dine : that receiving their prescribed portion there, they may nevertheleu 
get elsewhere what is necessary for them. 

The master, chaplains, and clerks, and the brethren bearing their habit 
may sleep in one house, and may eat and drink in the dining-room, but 
no secular person shall eat there or anywhere within the bounds of the 
hospital unless by special leave of the master, or detained there by 
sickness, when he must be refreshed in the infirmaiy. If any stranger 
shall make a visit to the master, he may be at liberty to dine in his 
diamber, or elsewhere at his choice ; but then he is to have one or two 
of the aforesaid chaplains at table with him. If the said master shall dine 
out of the refectory, or lie out of his bed chamber, or travel abroad 
whether within or out of the town of Bristol, one or two chaplains are to 
be with him, first appointing one of the chaplains or brethren of the 
order, to officiate in his stead. No chaplain, deric, or brother shall eat 
or drink out of his house in the same town, unless in the presence of his 
Bishop or patron, or in religious houses, nor without consent of the master 
or his vicegerent, and then some of the brethren in their habit shall be 
with him, least any of them should be seen wandering abroad alone in the 
town out of the precincts of the said house ; and at table the master and 
chaplains shall use only black mantles and black cowls, but elsewhere 
they shall have the arms of the house outermost, a f. gules three geese 
passant arg. If on horseback or afoot within the town, they shall wear 
black caps with the arms of the house worked thereon. The chaplains, 
derics, and brethren shall eat good bread of good com, and be served 
with good beer and good pottage &c., at the discretion of the master. 
They shall not purchase any wine for their own use, nor make feastings to 
the loss or detriment^of the said poor. 

At dinner and supper time, or at the entertainment of a legate, a 
lecture shall be spoken as usual at other religious houses, to be directed 
by the chaunter. 

If any of the chaplains or clerics know how to write or account, at the 
command of the master, he craght to write and note down those things 



The Hospital of St Mark. 2 7 

^hich turn out for the use of the house. If any of the lay-brethren have 
been versed in any of the mechanick arts, he may follow it for the 
advantage of the house, at the will of the master, whose business shall 
be assigned them by the master as well within as without the house, and 
the work committed to them be carefully attended to and not injured by 
their removal from the work. And in case that part of the land of Paulet 
belonging to the said house which lies near the sea, should at any time 
be flooded by the sea, and destroy the produce of the land, notice thereof 
being given to the Bishop of Worcester and to the patron by the master 
of the house, and an inquisition taken of the truth thereof, in this case 
the allowance for the poor, with all charges incident thereto, shall be 
lessened until the loss be made good. 

Finally the Bishop granted for himself and his successors that the house 
of St. Mark be quit and freed from procurations and visitations of the 
Archdeacon of the place or his official, and from obedience to the Arch- 
deacon to be observed as far as relates to religious matters for ever, and 
the house and said poor to receive visitation of the Bishop or his official 
according to law. 

Walter, by the grace of God Bishop of Worcester, having seen thi» 
ordinance above, confirmed it by the pontifical authority, sealed with the 
said Bishop's seal, with the seal of the house of St. Mark, and that of 
Robert de Goumey, patron, and of Henry de Gaunt, master, in the year of 
grace 1259, on the morrow of the Exaltation of the Cross." 

In this document one cannot fail to note the 
following points : — the arrangements, familiar in con- 
nection with many ecclesiastical foundations, under which 
the choir boys were to receive their education free ; the 
period of voluntary probation preceding full admission 
to the brotherhood ; the recognised position of the lay 
brethren; the distribution of food to the poor within 
certain prescribed hours, and before the brethren them- 
selves dined ; the observance of hospitality to visitors ; 
the care with which provision is made for the absence 
from the precincts of the House of all members of the 
brotherhood from the Master downwards ; the doubt 
which is expressed with regard to the literary and 
arithmetical attainments of the clergfy and others ; 
and the encouragement given to the practice of the 



28 The Hospital of St. Mark. 



** mechanick arts." These are all points of great interest 
to the student of conventual life, and they are presented 
here with all the conciseness and vividness of an 
authoritative document. 

The following curious bequest from the Gaunts' 
Book further illustrates the position and duties of the lay 
Brethren in the House. Robert Byleboste granted one 
virgat of land in Iron Acton, which he held of Osborn 
de Giffard, for his maintenance in food in the House of 
St. Mark, serving one of the ** priors " there as a steward 
or head clerk of the said House with an allowance of los- 
yearly as long as he stays and serves there ; or at his 
option to have six marks for the said land instead of the 
food and the los.* 

The important matter of the election of the head of 
the House, the Master- Almoner, is not referred to in the 
Bishop's Ordinance, because it was specially provided 
for in Robert de Gourney's Charter (see page 14). 

Notwithstanding these provisions of the Charter, in 
1298 a dispute arose between the Brethren of the 
Hospital and the descendants of Robert de Goumey as 
to the course of procedure on a vacancy arising. Both 
parties claimed to have the right of presentation ; but 
the Brethren, on the strength of their Charter, success- 
fully maintained their position. 

In the following year 1299 ^^^ King, Edward I. 
conceived that he had authority to intervene, and 
undertake the custody of the House during a vacancy 
in the Mastership. The question was submitted to a 
commission, and it was again laid down that the 
Brethren had the right of choice and presentation.t 

TTie Master, when in due form chosen, presented 
and accepted, appears to have been inducted into his 

* fiarrett, p. 367. t Sir John Maclean, Trans,^ &'c., see ante, p. 18. 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 29 



office with great solemnity. The ceremony is thus 
described by Barrett in another extract from his Gaunt^ 
Book : — In 1346 John de Stokeland, precentor, was with 
great form elected Master and Custos of the House, by 
compromise and agreement among the nine Brothers 
who then made up the Convent, who carried him so 
chosen to the Conventual Church from the Chapter 
House, and laid him down upon the High Altar 
according to the usual form, singing Te Deum aloud ; 
he was then declared Master and afterwards installed.* 

The numerous documents relating to the election of 
this Master, are thus set out : — 

The Decree 5th April 1346, 14th of the Pontificate 

of Lord Clement and 4th year of the Consecration 

of the Bishop. 

The Certificate of the Prior of St. James. 

The Certificate of the proclamation made by the 

Dean. 
The presentation by Maurice de Berkeley, dated 7 th 

April 1346. 
Instrumentum super profectione electionis. 
Requisition and protestation of consent with 

Notary's Certificate. 

Copy of official mandate from the Court of Chancery. 

Compromise between the Dean of Bristol and the 

House. 
Letter of protestation to elect and publish the 

election. 
Procuration to institute. 
Procuration to prosecute the election. 
Attestations upon the conclusion of the business. 
Contentia electionis.f 

 Barrett, p. 369. t Worcester Reg. 1339 to 1349, VoL I. 



30 The Hospital of St Mark. 



These documents probably indicate the proceedings 
in every similar case. 

Later on for some imexplained reason there seems 
to have been unwillingness or at least delay in filling a 
vacancy in tlie Mastership. This drew from the Patron 
a protest in ihe form of '' Quare impedit." The docu- 
ment is contained in RastelFs Entries^ a MS. extract 
from which gives the following particulars. The extract 
is interesting from the additional light it throws upon 
the inner life of the Convent : — 

(Quare impedit.) 

De Hospital. 

** The Bishop of Worcester and Master of the Honae of St. Mark ot 
Bristol were summoned to answer Maurice Berkeley, Knight, of a plea 
that they would permit him to present a fit person to the Church of the 
House of St. Mark, which was void and belonging to his advowson, and 
whence the said Maurice Berkeley by his attorney saith that the House 
aforesaid was a certain Hospital in the aforesaid City called by the name 
of the Hospital of St. Mark and consisted fh>m time beyond memory of a 
Master and Convent incorporate, and the said Maurice was the Patron oi 
that House and seized by himielf of the advowson of the same in gross, as 
of fee and right &c., and that as often as the aforesaid House happened to 
be void, the Brethren of the Convent aforesaid from all time aforesaid, 
ought and were used to intimate that vacancy to the Patron of the said 
House for the time being, by their letters signified under their common 
seal, by two of them for the whole Convent, as their messuage, to grant his 
licence to them to elect the fiiture Master of the House aforesaid, and the 
same Patron by his sealed letters, ought and was accustomed to grant to 
the said Brethren on their Prayer, so often as having Grod alone before 
their e3res, postponing every personal and private occupation or business, 
they studied to elect as Master of the House aforesaid, a person who 
would promote the utility and profit of the said House ; and the same 
Brethren ought and were accustomed when they made such election, to 
present to the said Patron for the time being by their Letters Patent, a 
religious and honest man, useful and faithful to the said Patron« the 
King, the Kingdom, and the said House elected by them, praying to often 
that he would vouchsafe to grant his Pastoral assent and favour, which 
Patron on the election so canonically made of the said man, he consenting 
and appiovmg him| ought and was accustomed, on presenting to the 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 31 



Bishop of Worcester the Ordmary, to pray his Fatherhood that he would 
iFOOchsafe so often to confirm him so elected and the aforesaid dection, and 
to bestow the gift of his benediction to the aforesaid Clerk, and after the 
solemnities in such cases accostomed, to do favoorably and benignly sach 
other acts as in this respect belonged to his Pastoral office ; and the said 
Bishop for the time being onght to confirm and bless him so elected, and 
install him and put him in corporal possession of the same." 

After referring to the circumstances of this particu- 
lar case, and shewing that the above formalities had 
been complied with, the document proceeds : — 

" Who (the elected) at his presentation was admitted and 



installed in the same in the time of peace, in the time of our Lord Richard 
late King of England the second after the Conquest (1377 — 1399)* And 
afterwards the aforesaid Maurice the Father &c., died, and from the said 
Maurice the Father &c., the right of advowaon descended to the aforesaid 
Maurice who now complains, as the son and heir of the aforesaid Maurice, 
the Father &c. And afterwards the aforesaid Church became vacant by 
the death of the aforesaid (Master*) and jret remains vacant, and by reason 
thereof it now belongs to the said Maurice the son of Maurice, to present 
to the said Church; and the aforesaid Bishop unjustly impedes him 
&c. Whence he saith that he is damaged &c.*' 

The following extract from the Worcester Registers 
shews what was done in the case of a Master who had 
grown too infirm for the performance of his duties : — 

'* Ordination for the sustentation of Brother Walter Browning late 
preceptor or Master of the House of St. Mark de BUleswick near Bristol 
reciting a grant by William of Worcester to the said Walter Browning 
whereby considering hb weakness of body, assiduity, and labor which 
impeded him in the administration of the spirituals and temporals of the 
said House, and which compelled him to vacate the same, whereupon he 
had appointed Thomas de Onere ; granted to him that he should have for 
his life a chamber in the west part of the Capital House of the Monastery 
aforesaid, with the chamber which the said Thomas de Onere lately built 
and repaired in the west part of the Dormitory of the said House '< Cum 
omnibus usia menteis" to the aforesaid chambers adjoining with free 
ingress and egress at convenient and opportune times whenever he should 
please without the contradiction or impediment of the Master or Brethren 
of the aforesaid Church or any of them, and besides, he granted that he 

* William Lane, who previously to his election was a Canon of the 
neighbouring St. Augustine's Monastery. 



32 The Hospital of St Mark. 

should bave every day the portions of two brethren <<in eating and 
drinking *' and also ** in every necessary," only what two brethren of the 
said Honse were then accostomed to receive, and every week four « panes 
crebaiios " of the weight of so many ounces " per sermente tuo '* to be taken 
for the whole time. Dated at Henboiy m Salt Marsh 7 Oct. 1390*' (? 1370).* 

It appears that the Brethren of St. Mark's were 
several times brought into conflict with their neighbours 
on the opposite side of College Green. In the first 
recorded instance, the quarrel was with the Canons of 
St. Augustine's Monastery, who appear not to have 
taken kindly to the withdrawal of their control over the 
Gaunts' Hospital. However that may have been, in 1 25 1 
during the abbacy of William Long, a dispute arose that 
embraced a variety of matters, the particulars of which 
are interesting on account of several local allusions. 
The dispute referred to " the site of the said House of 
St. Mark, and works carried on there, and their in- 
stituting a College there, and concerning the possessions 
given by will of Maurice de Gaunt the founder, for 
support of the poor, and some losses having been 
incurred, and concerning the right of sepulture there. 
It was at length thus settled : — that the said house of 
St. Mark should be free from all exactions and claims of 
that of St. Augustin, and have all tenths and oblations 
that may arise within its bounds ; that it should have a 
free monastery at their own disposal and management, 
a free burying ground, ornaments, bells, &c., that the 
bodies of any dead might be received and buried, but 
that the plain of St. Augustin was the common burial 
ground belonging to St. Augustin's Monastery, &c., &c., 
and to finish the matter, at length, Walter Bishop of 
Worcester to prevent any more contention and rancour 
between them, ordered that neither of them should have 



• Worcester Keg. 1375 to 1395, No. 15. 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 33 

common of pasture in the said plain as they both agreed 
in its being the cemetery of St. Augustin ; but if any 
animals should enter the said plain or green for pasture, 
and the owner not remove them, being thrice warned by 
the Vicar of St. Augustin the Less, or some other clerk of 
the said church, he might pound them till freed by 
discharge; the delinquents to pay half a mark as a 
mulct to the Bishop ; that the bodies lately buried before 
the gate of the house of St. Mark remain there, but that 
the earth rose above the level be removed and made 
plain, on account of the pleasantness of the place ; never- 
theless it should not be the less reckoned a cemetery by 
the removal of the earth. He ordered that on account 
of the pleasantness of the place the dead bodies should 
be buried in that part of the cemetery where they were 
used to be and nowhere else, unless the diocesan or his 
official should think that use required it, and that those 
of the House of St. Mark should have free ingress, and 
egress, in and out of the said plain, for the sake of 
going, walking, and wandering where they pleased, of 
driving carriages, drays, and carts through the roads 
useful and necessary for them, and accustomed. He 
ordered also that the Abbot of St. Augustin might mow 
the said plain without hindrance of anyone, and strew 
the grass in his churches of St. Augustin the Greater 
and the Less, with this proviso, that the Abbot make no 
defence called Hayinge in hindrance of the granted 
privileges to the house of St. Mark; but the mower 
while there must not be hindered, reserving all 
accustomed privileges and rights to the monasteiy of 
St. Augustin, and those that dwell there, except the 
right of pasture."* 



* Bannett, p. 346, also Trans, Bris, and Glauc. Arch* Soc., Vol. XV., p. 60. 



i 



34 The Hospital of SL Mark. 



A long time after this, in 1426, the rights of 
the Brethren of St. Mark were infringed by the Vicar 
of St. Augustin the Less, one William Chew. He 
was accused and found gxiilty of "withholding and 
receiving to his own use the oblations and customary 
dues and offerings for burying the dead, that lived and 
died within the bounds of the house of St. Mark, usually 
enjoyed by the Master and Brethren there : particularly 
that in 1420 on Palm Sunday he carried away the bodies 
of William Leach, and Christin the mother of John 
Hore, and Andrew Hutchins, from the cemetery of the 
said Hospital or House of St. Mark, though they lived 
and died there, and seized and kept dues, of the value of 
100 shillings." Other acts of violence and spoliation 
were laid to his charge, and eventually, " The said Vicar 
Chew confessed, and was therefore condemned in 
ecclesiastical excommunication for his obstinacy, but 
on his causing the bodies which he had rashly and 
injuriously buried in the churchyard of St. Augustin 
the Less, out of their proper burial place, to be carried 
back and interred with all customary forms observed in 
the said Hospital of St. Mark ; and on his returning the 
taper and chrysmar and the 100 shillings, the Master 
and Brethren then acknowledged themselves satisfied, 
and at the petition of the said Brethren and William the 
Vicar he was absolved from the sentence of excommuni- 
cation given against him, cum sancta ecclesia nullt claudat 
gremium.*** In this dispute the revenues as well as the 
rights of the House were involved, and it is no wonder 
the Brethren were keen in the defence of both. 

On the 15th March, 1485, there was a commission 
to admit the resignation of the Master, followed by the 



• Barrett, p. 345. 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 35 

confirmation of the election of Brother Thomas Tyler, 
one of the Brothers of the said House of St. Mark, by 
the President and Chapter of the said House on the 8th 
March aforesaid in the Chapter House of the said House 
or Hospital, and his induction.* He continued in office 
until his death in 15 15. 

In 1496, as recorded in the "Great White Book of 
Records," one of the ancient MSS. belonging to the 
Corporation, and in a note to the reprint of " the Mayor's 
Kalendar," p. 56, a great " variance " arose between the 
Abbot of St. Augustine's and the Mayor and SherifiEs of 
Bristol in which some of the principal matters in dispute 
concerned *^ the house of St. Marke, of Billeswyk, and 
the precincts of the same called the Gauntes adjoyning 
unto Seint Austyn's Greene," touching amongst other 
things the right to hold a leet or law-day within the 
precincts of the monastery of St. Augustine and also 
to whom suit was owing from the precincts of the 
Gauntes or "Gauntis-side." The "variance" was settled 
by mediation of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the 
Chief Justice of the King's Bench. 

In the days when the Brethren of St Mark were 
thus successfully defending their Charter privileges, the 
rights of hospitality, as intended to be dispensed in all 
monastic institutions, were carefully safeguarded in the 
interests of the poor. " Edward I. forbade any one to 
eat or lodge in a religious house unless the superior had 
formally invited him, or that he were the founder of the 
establishment (see Robert de Groiuney's charter), and 
even then his consumption should be moderate. The 
poor only, who more than any lost by the excesses of 
the great, might continue to be lodged g^ratuitously : 

• Worcester Reg. 1478 to i486. 



36 The Hospital of St. Mafk. 

** the King intendeth not that the grace of hospitality 
should be withdrawn from the destitute/' Statute 3 
£dw. /. Cap. I. Again, "the Commons in Parliament, 
mindful as they were in such matters of the fate of the 
poorest, were not less jealous than the wealthy of the 
benefits of monkish hospitality, and watched lest the 
custom should fall into disuetude." [Rolls 0/ Par It.)* 

If this jealousy existed with regard to such institu- 
tions in general, how much more strongly would it be 
felt in the case of such a purely eleemosynary estab- 
lishment as the Gaunts' Hospital; the proceedings of 
the Master and Brethren there did not escape adverse 
criticism, and on several occasions, the severest investi- 
gation. 

The first instance occurred a few years after the 
resignation and death of Sir Henry de Gaunt, the first 
Master-Almoner. He held that position for the long 
period of forty years, and then resigned it on account 
of increasing infirmity. His death appears to have 
taken place immediately after. It may be that towards 
the end of his long administration he lost control over 
the affairs of the House. Certainly during a few years 
subsequently to its close the whole establishment became 
demoralised. "In the year 1278 Godfrey Bishop of 
Worcester visited the House, and found amongst other 
things that it was founded originally for the support of 
a hundred poor in certain eatables and drinkables for 
ever, every day in the year, and that for four years 
before, it had been, it was to be feared not without God's 
vengeance, damnably omitted, wherefore he ordered this 
alms to be given as at first appointed. He found also 
that it was unknown how the House is governed as there 

* Wayfaring Life in the MiddU Ages, J. J. Jusseraat, translated by Lacy 
Tonlmin Smith, p. 121. 



The Hospital of SL Mark. 37 

were no receivers in the House, nor stewards in the 
manors, etc., belonging to it, who had rendered any 
account of what had been received and delivered ; where- 
fore he ordered receivers should be appointed to receive 
by tail all money arising from the said manors, corn, and 
other profits of the said House, and further administer by 
tail to the officers of the House for the use of the House ; 
and the said receivers abroad and servants, shall first 
before the Master, and three or four others of the said 
House, render a faithful account once at least in the year, 
and the officers at home do the like, that so it may appear 
what and how much the said House can expend, and how 
far its goods &c. will serve, and what remains in store, 
and the like." • 

It is further said that a similar complaint of with- 
drawing the alms from the poor by the House was made 
at the visitation of the Bishop in May, 1284. 

In 13 1 2 serious disorders existed, on which occasion 
one of the Brethren was subjected to discipline. He was 
kept in confinement until the Bishop ordered his release 
and his being restored again to his place in the House.f 

Sir John Maclean quoting RoL Clatis. 7 th Henry IV., 
m. II., gives the following account of another instance in 
which the charge of withholding was brought against 
the House, on which occasion it was evidently disproved — 
'' It is stated in an Inquisition returned into Chancery, 
that it had been discovered that a certain progenitor of 
the King had, conjointly with Maurice de Gaunt, Chr., 
g^ven to the Master of the Hospital of St. Mark at Bristol, 
and his successors, the Manor of Stokeland Gaunt, for 
the celebration of divine service in the said Hospital, 
and other works of piety ; viz. to distribute weekly on 



• Barrett, p. 367. f IJfid,^ p. 368. 



38 The Hospital of St. Mark. 

We(lnesda3rs and Fridays, loo breads and loo messes 
(? ferculis) of pottage to loo poor persons, and it was 
alleged that the said works of piety had been totally 
subtracted by William Lane, then Master of the said 
Hospital ; further that a certain progenitor of the King 
had founded the Hospital, and given lands and tenements 
in Gaunteshame, and CoUe, juxta Bruton, (Soms.) to the 
Master of the said Hospital, and his successors, to main- 
tain 13 chaplains to celebrate divine service for the soul 
of the said progenitor and his progenitors and their heirs 
for ever, and that the said William Lane, for the past 
twenty years, had subtracted the service of ten of the 
said chaplains ; and further that the annual value of the 
said Manor of Stokeland Gaunt, and the lands in 
Gaimtesham and CoUe was £^0 beyond reprises. We 
have seen from the foregoing records that this claim, and 
the charge against the Master based thereon, were 
without foundation. The matter was referred to the 
King's Justices and Serjeants-at-law, and this resulted 
in its being commanded by precept, tested at West- 
minster, 2 1 St June 1406, that the manors and lands, 
which had been seized into the King's hands, should be 
restored to the Master and Brethren."* 

Some additional references to the House of St. 
Mark, contained in the Wells collection of MSS. will 
further illustrate the position the House occupied 
ecclesiastically. Thus, there is noted, *'the establish- 
ment in 1272, of a chantry in memory of Hugh de 
Romenal by the Brethren of St. Mark's Bristol, with 
details. This Hugh de Romenal was formerly Treasurer 
of Wells.*'t In connection with this, there is a state- 
ment of the '' final concord between the D. and C. and 

* Sir John Maclean, Trans, &*c,, see anU, p. |g 
t Report on fVeOs AfSS,, pp. 53, 298. 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 39 

the House of St. Mark de Billeswike, about a pension of 
£^ 3s. 4d. on Pouleth and Stockland, A.D. 1272;" 
and under the same date there is an "Agree- 
ment between the Exors. of the will of Hugh de 
Romenal, Treasurer, I. de Hereford, Canon of Wells, 
and the House of St. Mark de Byleswyke. The latter 
are to pay to the Dean and Chapter the pension of 
£^ 3s. 4d. and the former will pay to them 120 marcs."* 
In the same year " Brother John de Trubrugg, Master 
of the House of St. Mark de Bylleswyk near Bristol and 
the brethren, acknowledge the receipt of 90 marks from 
the D. and C. of Wells. In return they establish a 
Chantry in the Cathedral of 63 shillings and 4 pence on 
behalf of the soul of Canon John de Hereford, deceased, 
from whose goods the said 90 marks was derived, with 
details of steps for enforcing pajrment &c. Sealed by 
the Bps. of B. and W. and Worcester, and by themselves 
given on Friday next after St. James Ap. A.D. 1272." 
This is referred to as a " letter of the Prior of 

Bileswyke."t 

The following refers to another Chantry at Wells 
Cathedral established by the brethren of St. 'Mark's — 
" Collation by Thomas Crumwell &c., the Dean, and the 
Chapter, of John Smith, junior, a Vicar Choral, to the 
Chantry in the Chapel of All Saints in the cemetery 
called "le palme churche-yard," with leave to absent 
himself from the night services, as a reward for his great 
merits, and for his diligence in instructing the choristers, 
and for his great labour in composing " nonnullos cantus 
ad divint cuUus augmentationem." 

He must provide himself with books ''Vulgariter 

nuncupat: square books, and pricke songe books" for 

» .  - 

 Report on Weils MSS., p. I75' t Ibid,, p. 72. 



40 The Hospital of St. Mark. 

the Choir, for the Chapel of the Blessed Mary, and for 
the Processions on the principal Feasts, and shall leave 
them to his successors. The grant is '' quoad vixeris et 
vicarius choralis . . . extiterisj^ but if the revenues 
of the said Chantry paid by the Hospital of S. Mark 
near Bristol should fail he is to receive no compensation 
from the Chapter, but " saltern proutfortuna duxerit in ea 
parte eris omnino contentus." 

Given in the Chapter House, Wells, May 13 
A.D. 1 538.* 

15th Dec, 1534 Letters dismissory issued to the 
Master of the Gaunts near Bristol **ut a quorum cumque 
Epo Cath^ &c." Brother Thomas Pynchyn one of the 
Brethren of the said House " licite facere valeat promoveri 
non obstante qiiod in dictd domo hdsn sumpsit regulare^ 

The following brief reference to what took place in 
1549-50, speaks volumes as to the entire revolution 
which was effected by the suppression of the House, and 
the transfer of its estates to the Corporation of Bristol,— 
" Rents which used to come direct from St. Mark's, 
Bristol, are now paid by the Communar, who receives 
them from the Mayor of Bristol, and other rents are paid 
in like manner by the holders of the ecclesiastical 
property which used to pay directly to the master of the 
fabrick."; 

It may here be mentioned incidentally, as an 
evidence of the important position occupied by the 
Master of the Gaunts' Hospital, that on the founding of 
Foster's Almshouses in 1504 it was ordained that the 
Master of the House of St. Mark for the time being, 

 Report an Wells AfSS,, p. 226. f Worcester Reg.^ 1516 to 1542. 

X Report on Wells AfSS., p. 2^2. 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 41 



should have the power of filling two of the vacancies on 
the foundation. 

In the light of the provisions of the foregoing 
charters and deeds, supplemented by scattered references 
to the inner life of the Gaunts' House, it is not difficult 
to form a somewhat definite idea of the kind of 
conventual life that prevailed there, and of the powers 
and privileges possessed by the brotherhood. 

1. Originally St. Mark's was constituted by Maurice de 

Gaunt as a chantry in connection with the neigh- 
bouring Monastery of St. Augustine, which 
Monastery was founded by his grandfather ; and 
where the latter was buried " between the stalls 
of the Abbot and Prior." 

2. Subsequently, Robert de Goumey liberated the 

House from the control of the authorities of the 
Monastery, andre-endowed it upon a broader basis. 

3. Beyond the acts of these founders, the House or 

Hospital commenced its existence with all the 
prestige of the most powerful and historic names 
of the day attaching to it. Royalty itself assisted 
in the work. 

4. It was richly and variously endowed, the "ample 

possessions " of Maurice de Gaunt being from time 
to time largely increased, to keep pace with 
growing demands upon its resources. 

5. The Brethren chose their own head, and were inde- 

pendent of external control, except as regards 
the visitation of the Bishop of the Diocese, and 
the institution of the Master by him. 

6. They formed a busy community, carrying on an 

extensive and daily round of work amongst the 
sick and poor. 



42 The Hospital of St. Mark. 



7. The House was regarded as having the dignity of a 

Priory, and had great influence with the ecclesias- 
tical authorities. 

8. It was strong enough to maintain its rights against 

powerful opposition. 

9. The Master and Brethren were considerable land- 

owners, they farmed their own lands, they bought 
sold and exchanged property. 

10. They were not unmindful of the education of the 

young. 

1 1. "Owing probably to the situation of the estates of the 

House, the Brethren maintained in various ways 
a close relationship with the Mother Church at 
Wells, although ecclesiastically connected with 
the Diocese of Worcester. 

12. Consequent upon the suppression of the House, and 

the transfer of its estates, the Corporation of Bristol 
incurred responsibilities to Wells that formerly 
devolved upon the Brethren of St. Mark. 

It has been stated by Barrett (p. 363) and others on 
the authority of Leland, that the occupants of the House 
were a fraternity called the Bonhommes or Good Men. 
This is now generally considered incorrect, on the ground 
that only two such Houses were known, one at Ash- 
ridge in Buckinghamshire, the other at Edington in 
Wilts. 

There is little to guide one in determining the 
arrangement of the domestic buildings appertaining to 
this charitable foundation, beyond the general know- 
ledge of what existed elsewhere under similar circum- 
stances. The only known vestige of the destroyed 



' t 



1 • ' 



1 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 43 

— — — _ 

hospital buildings of any architectural significance was 
uncovered during the construction of the foundations 
of the Merchant Venturers' Schools in 1883 or 1884. 
This consisted of a fragment of masonry, evidently in 
position and on a level with the floor of the Church. 
The Ven. Archdeacon Norris, who examined it with great 
interest, had no doubt that it formed a portion of a pier 
with adjoining window sill of the ancient Cloister Alley 
which opened into the fratry or refectory. This frag- 
ment being found 55 ft. 6 in. from the N. wall of the 
Nave, along which ran a corresponding Alley, fixes the 
exact width of the Cloister garth and forms the key to 
a conjectural arrangement of the remainder of the 
Hospital buildings. On the N.W. in line with the front 
elevation and facing College Green must have been the 
dormitories and guest chambers. Openings into these 
from the Church, existed at three different levels ; two 
of which openings are still visible, and are described in 
connection with the Restoration. On the N.E. were the 
Chapter Room and Mansion House of the Priory, and 
stretching beyond the group of buildings thus arranged 
around the quadrangle were the garden, orchard, and 
dove cots, with perhaps a fishpond, as the names Orchard 
Street, Culver Street and Frog Lane still indicate. 

The exact position of the fragment of masonry 
referred to above, is shown on the accompanying sketch- 
plan, and also, conjecturally, the arrangement of the 
Conventual buildings external to the Church. 

The arms or badge of the House has been already 
described in the ordinance of the Bishop of Worcester, 
— af. guleSj three geese passant arg.^ and there is still in 
the East window a shield with this device, the glass 
being of great age. 



44 The Hospital of St. Mark. 

Sir John Maclean, as the result of his researches at 
the British Museum, has been enabled to give the 
following description of the common seal of the House, — 

"It is of the vesica form 2 ins. by ijins. The 
device consists of two crocketed canopied niches, sup- 
ported by crocketed buttresses. In the sinister niche is a 
seated figure of the Evangelist represented as writing 
his Gospel on a desk or stand before him, holding in his 
right hand a stilus or pen. In the dexter niche before 
him is a lion sejant rampant. In the space above 
between the two canopies is a heater-shaped shield, 
which is now pressed quite flat, but which was probably 
charged with the arms of the House, and in a compart- 
ment below the figures are two other similar shields in a 
like condition. These probably contained the arms of 
the two founders. Between these shields is another 
niche much smaller than those above mentioned in which 
is a kneeling figure looking to the right, llie whole is 
circumscribed by the following legend in Lombardic 
capitals. 



S' COE • DOM . SCI • MARCI • DE • BILLESWYK • 
Sigillum Commune Domus Sancti Marcii de Billeswyk 

IVXTA • BRISTOLL " 
juxta BristoUiam. 

To conclude these particulars of the Community 
which flourished in connection with St. Mark's Hospital, 
the following list of its successive Masters is given. 
This was derived by Barrett fi-om his Gaunts^ Book, 
and appears in his History 0/ Bristol, P* 372. 



The Hospital of St. Mark. 45 

Patrons. 
Robert de Goumey Henry de Gaunt continued to 1268, and then resigned 

the year before his death through weakness of body, 

and was succeeded by 

Gilbert de Watham, who was Precentor of the Convent. 

Thomas de Lechlade succeeded about 1274, and 

governed to 1285. 

Ahnaricus French succeeded in the reign of Edward I. 

Robert de Redynge in 1286,— resigned 1299. 

William Belvere, alias Beaover 13 12, and resigned. 
Lord Tho, ap Adam. Ralph de Tetbury 1334, 4 Maij to I344,~depriyed. 
Maurice de Berkeley, Richard de Yate 1344 to 1346. 
ad nominationem John Stockeland 1346. 

conventus. 
The Convent. Walter Brunynge Oct. 12, 1360 (Regis. Wygom.) 

Thomas de Over 28 July, 1370. 

Wm. Lane,,Canon of St. Austin, 139 1 . 

John St. Paul occurs in 14 10. 

Nicholas Sterne died I437* 

John Hall succeeded 1437- 

John Moulton resigned 1442* 

The Bishop by way William Wyne elected 1442, 5 Feb. (Regis, 

of compromise with William Prowe 1467. Wyg.) 

the Convent. John Mede died 1494. 

Richard Collins succeeded 1494. 

Thomas Tylar died 15 15. 

Richard Bromfield occurs 1527* 

J. Coleman succeeded and 

resigned 1534. 




XI 



Chapter III. 

(Tbe Suppreeeion of tbe 1)ou0e« 
ZTbe transfer of tbe Cbapel and £0tate0 to 

tbe Corporation, 

BnD During llttc xtcnte after. 



A.D. 1534 fc 1585. 

In the year 1534, the first active step was taken 
towards the suppression of the Gaunts* House, after it 
had for more than three hundred years carried on 
its charitable work and maintained its corporate 
existence. For obvious reasons, the policy adopted 
by the ICing in suppressing the smaller monasteries 
seems to have been to obtain wherever possible an 
acknowledgment of his supremacy as a preliminary 
step. Accordingly on the nth Sept., 1534, (26th 
Henry VIII,) the Master and Brethren of the Gaunts, 
executed a deed in which this acknowledgment was 
made. This was really some months before the Act 
constituting the King Supreme Head of the Church 
of England came into operation. The terror which 
the King's actions inspired caused the obligation of 
the Statute to be anticipated. The deed in question 
is still preserved amongst the Chapter House Records 
in the Record Office, No. 18 of the deeds. It is 



SL Mark's of the Gaunts. 47 



described as being in excellent condition, signed by 
John Coleman, Master; John Helys (Ellis), Richard 
Fechatt, Robert Benet, and Thomas Pynchyn, his 
Brethren. The seal of the House, which has been 
already described, is appended to the deed, but the 
impression is almost entirely efifaced.* 

Barrett gives an abstract of this deed, which he 
wrongly regards as the deed of surrender, in the 
following terms: — ^'^This House or College of Gaunts 
was resigned by John Coleman the Master, and his 
brethren to commissioners appointed, for the said 
Kling^s use, in form as foUoweth: — *Know all men 
by these presents that wee John the Master or Prior 
of the hospital of the Gaunts, and the brethren of the 
same, in the diocese of Worcester, with one consent, 
(uno ore et voce^ &c.) — ^have subscribed our names, 
dated in our Chapter House the nth day of the 
month of September i534« — ^John Coleman, Master, 
John Helice (Ellis), Richard Fitchett, Robert Benet, 
Thomas Pynchen his brethren. Given under our com- 
mon seal with two labils of parchment sealed with 

red wax."'t 

Five years afterwards, on the 9th Dec, 1539, (31st 
Henry VIIT,) the very year in which the second and 
more sweeping of the Suppression Acts was passed, 
the formal deed of the surrender of the House into 
the King's hands was executed. 

This deed appears not now to be forthcoming. 

Under the same date in the Mayor^s Kalendar 
the event is referred to in the following terms, — 

" M** that this yere the Abbott and Conuent of Seynt 
Augustynes of Bristowe surrendred that monastry vnto 
the kynges moost noble graces handes. And so in 

 Sir John Maclean, Trans.^ 6*<r., ue ante, p.i3 t Banett, p. 373. 



48 St. Mark's of the Craunts. 



like wise the maister and his brothers of Gauntez with 
theire assentz made."* 

The only reference to this House in the ^* Letters 
concerning the Suppression of Monasteries!' occurs in 
one from Dr. Layton to Secretary Cromwell : — 

"Pleasit your mastershipe to understonde, that 
yestemyght late we came from Glassynburie to 
Bristowe to Saint Austins, wheras we begyn this 
mornyng, intendyng this day to dispache bothe this 
howse here beyng but xiiij chanons, and also the 
Gawntes, wheras be iiij. or v. Dated from Sainte 
Austines withoute Bristowe this Sainte Bartilmews day 
at iiij. of the cloke in the mornyng." t 

The Hospital and its estates having passed into 
the possession of the King, immediate steps were 
taken with a view to the disposal of them. In carrying 
out the whole transaction, three official documents were 
brought into existence, and as the process was probably 
the same in other instances, this record of the course 
of procedure is of more than local interest. 

The first of the documents in the order of time, 
was a Survey or Certificate of the possessions of the 
House and a description of the buildings, made in the 
3 1 St of Henry VIII. It is contained amongst the Records 
preserved in the Augmentation Office of Her Majesty's 
Court of Exchequer at Westminster, in a book indorsed 
"Certificates of Monasteries in Southampton, Wilts and 
Gloucester. Tempore, Henry VIII****" 

The preamble is as follows : — 
" Counties of Southampton, J The Certificate of Robert 

Wilts and Gloucester. ) Southwell, Esquire, 
William Peter Edward Came, and John London, Doctors 

* 7he Mayot^s KaUndar^ p. 55. 
t Suppression of Monasteries, Camdeo Soc., p. 58. 



St. Mark's of the Gaunts. 49 

at Law, John ap Rees, John Kmgesmilli Richard 
Poulett, and William Bemers, Esquires, Commissioners, 
— assigned by the Eang^s Majesty to take the surrenders 
of divers Monasteries within the same Counties by 
force of His Grace's commission to them, six, five, four 
or three of them in that behalf directed, bearing? date 
at His Highness's Palace of Westminster the seventh 
day of November in the thirty first year of the reign 
of our most dread Sovereign Lord, Henry VIII*^ by 
the grace of Grod, King of England and of France, 
Defender of the Faith, Lord of Ireland, and in earth 
immediately under Christ Supreme Head of the Church 
of England, of all and singular their proceedings, as 
well in and of those Monasteries by His Majesty 
appointed to be altered, as of others, to be dissolved 
according unto the tenor purport and effect of His 
Grace's said Commission with instructions to them 
likewise delivered, as hereafter ensueth." 

Sir John Maclean has given the details of this 
Certificate, preserving the exact arrangement of the 
original as to columns, spelling, etc., except that in 
some instances the words have been extended: — ^ 

(Snxiendied to Those of the Kinges Majesties 
and of his heyres for ener. by Dede thereof 
made, bcring bate voder tne Comient Seale 
of the same late Monasteiy, the izth Daye of 
Decembxe, in the xzxjth yere of the Rd^e 
of or most Dredde Soneraigne lord Kmg 
Henry the tiijth. And the same Daye and 
yere derdy I&sdlaed and Suppressed. 

As well spiritnall as tern-' 
b«C£ tl^tfTSd «muyte^ gaunted to IMu'.e )clxv.n Ij.. iiij.d ob, 

for Teme of lifFe. 
• Sir John Maclean^ Trans^ 6v., su anU^ p. 18 



50 



St, MarKs of the Gaunts. 



Whereof in 



Pencions 

assigned to 

the late 

Religions 

Dyspetched. 



/John Colman, \ 
clerke, late Master * zl.U 

there, by ycre. ) 

Richard ffletcher, ) ^i li 



\ 



That ) 
is to |To( 
say J 



late steward of 
household here.< 

John Elis, clerke 
asigned to be curate 
of the Parish of 
Seint Marke there, 
so lonee as he shall 
s've the same Cure. 

Thomas Pinchyn, 
^clerke. — — 



y].it xuj.i 
uij.d 

viij.,U 
which if 
he refuse 

thenne 
to have 
but yj.ii 



I^.U 



lx.U ziij.t tiij.d 



And Soo Remayneth dere 



ciiij.H iz.sob. 



Recordes \ Belonging \ 

and > to the seid > 

Euydences ) late House. ) 



/Remavn in the TVeasoury there, vnder the 
I custocly of Edward Came, Doctour of Law. 
j The Keyes whereof remayn in the custodie 
'of Richard Poulet, esquier, Receyuo.r 



Churches, 
Houses, & 
Buyldioge. 



IThechurche there appointed 
for the Parish Churdi. 
The Lodginge, called the 
Master's I^ginge, wt 
Halle, Buttre, Pantre, & 
Kitcbyn. 



Deemed to 
be 

8ttp*fluOUS. 



iDeuyded in to honest 
Tenanteryes wt convenient 
Rente yerely reserued. 



As heretofore 

hath bene 

vsed. 

C5mytted to 

the custodie 

of the seid 

Doctor Came. 

To thuse of 

the 

Kinge 

Magestie. 



Leades ) 
Remaynig. / 



To thuse of 

the Kin^e*s 

Magestie. 



None, but oonly vpon 
the seid church, which 
is the parish church, as ^n.I 
aboueseid estemed to 
vij. ffoders 



Belles 



I Remaynig. 



Juellet \ 
reserued./ 



I 



• In the steple there — ^yj., 
whereof assigned to the 
parish there — ^iij., and 
Kemayneth to the vse of 
the Kinge matic jjj poiz 

> by est. 



-MM weight. 



To Thuse of 

the Kinges 

Ma.Ue 



11 



None. 



Sf. Mark's of the Gaunts. 



51 



Plate of 

Siluer 

resenied 



'.!! 



To the 



(Sillier gilte-lzzvij oz. % 
SUoerp'cellgilte-clyj.oz. J 
Siluer, whitc-d^ vij. oz. ) 



cccczz. oz. 



Omamentes ) To those 



rraamentes 1 To thuse I , f^- 
ie«erued. f aforesdd. (^- (None. 



SmaoffaUe^ 
the Oma- 
mentes, 
Goodea,and 
Catalles. 



fUtdy be- 
longing to 
theseid 
late House. 



^Sold by the seid comyss-\ 

ioners, as p*ticalerly ap- 1 

perith in the booke of }>xix]]j.li v.t v.d 

sales thereof made ledyl 

,to be shewed. J 



Wheieof in 



To the Ute 

Religious & 

semantes 

Dispetched. 



f 



VIZ. 



Pafmentes; 



To-iij Religi-' 
ons Parsons, 
late Preestes 
of the seid late 
House of the 
Kinge Mages- 
ties Reward- 
To xyj. 
\ menne Sc chil- \ 
dem. seruantes 
and Queres- 
ters of the 
seid late 
house for 
their wagez 
\and lyueres- / 



>vj.» 






zyj.liix.iiiij4 



U* _ •••• • 
.. iz.>uij.d 



of Dettes 

owing by the 

seid late 

house. 






( To Diu'se p'sons forvictualles 
hadde of theym to the vse 
of the seid Mo»8tery wt zijU 
payd to the late Mr there, lor 
the payment & Discharge of 
alle the Residue of the Dettes 
owing by the seid kte house, 
by conuenante. 



» » 



xuij.li 



And Soo xtmayneth dere- 



-Ivjs* jd 



/By theseid I / 
Dettes Owing ^^^ ^"^ > ) none. 

\ To the same. \ 



Patronage of \ 

Churches 

belonging to 

the seid late 

Moaftery. 



( The AHcarage of Stokeland Gauntes, ) 

Com. Glouc. I by yere. ^-^_^ | 

( llie Vicarage of Ou'stowey. 



52 St Mark's of the Gaunts. 

In carrying out the purpose which had now been 
formed, of conveying to the Corporation of Bristol 
the Gaunts' chapel and estates, the ^'Certificate*' was 
followed by a further document, also preserved in the 
Augmentation Office of the Court of Exchequer, and 
included amongst the '' Particulars for Grants." In 
this "Particular" everything was comprised which 
it was proposed to grant to the Corporation, with 
the value of e^ch item, and the final result after all 
deductions made. The substance of this important 
document is as follows: — 



The County of the ) The Sdte of the late Hoose 
Town of Bristol. > aforesaid with Lands and 

Tenements within the^ County 
of the Town of Bristol, is 
worth (details omitted) ... 3' n S 

The County of I The Manor of Erdcote Gaunts 
Gloucester. ' with the Tithes of the Tenants 

there, is worth ... ... , si 4 6 

The Manor of Lee, with the 
Tithes of the Tenants there, 
is worth ... ... . . 989 

The County of | The Manor of Stokeland 

Somerset. > Gaunts, is worth ... ... 3a 6 6 

The Rectory of Stokeland 

Gaunts, is worth ... ...f 634 

* Struck through * The Manor of Poulett 

original. Gaunts, is worth ... ... 7^ 17 9| 



t In Cranidge*s Mirror of the City of Bristol (1818) the acreage 
of the Manor of Stockland is set down at toj acres, and the 
annual income derived from it at £^7*} : 2 : g. The acreage 
of the Manor of Gaunts Ercot and of Lea is computed at 
839a ar a6p and the annual income (much under value) at 
;(ii94: 10:0. 



St MarKs of the Gaunts. 53 

TheRectoxy of Over Stowcy, 

is worth .•• ••• ... 66 8 

Brewham, is worth ... 76 o 

The County of \ T^Hnterbonie Gunner other- 
Wilts. ' wise Cherborghy is worth ... 10 12 o 

«95 7 «J 

Reprizes, including pensions granted to the late 
Master and Co-Brethren of the said late House, 
by Letters Patent of the Lord the Kjng thereof 
made to them during their lives, that is to say, 
to John Coleman, Clerk, the late Master of the 
said House aforesaid ^^40 To Richard Fletcher 
;f6 : f 3 : 4 To John Ellis ffi and Thomas Pinchyn 
£fi ... ... ... ... ^^90 : 4 : 8 

And they are worth clear by the year 105 2 t\ 

Examined by Wn- Bemers, Auditor. 

Be it remembered that the late Master and Co< 
Brethren of the aforesaid late House were bound 
to give in alms to divers poor men in the several 

Hospitals * imprisoned yearly to the 

value uf ;^4 : 4 : 6 

The premises are worth yearly ;f 195 : 7 : 2} 
thereof for a tenth J^\^\ 11 :o and there remains 
clear ;^I75 : 16 : 3} which the King*s Highness 

* Decaved * given to the Mayor, Bailiffs and 

original, inhabitants of the Town of Bristol * 

for the sum of ;f 1000 the * and 

*...., only excepted to be * 

Richard Ryche. 

Memorandum, abate out of the said sum the 

Manor of * of Powlet Gaunts which 

b ;^76 and there remains dear ;f 119 : 8 : 2| thereof 
for a tenth ;^ii:i8:9 and there remains dear 

jf 107 : 8 : 5} add thereto for * by 

the King £11 . . and so the said Town must 
pay yearly to the King ;f 20 



54 



St. Mark's of the Gaunts. 



The late Monasteiy of Athelney in the Co. of Somerset. 

The Biasor of Hampe in 
the Connty of Somerset 
is worth ... ... ... ... 40 17 3} 

> d 

Thereof in Reprizes 26/8 

and there remains clear ... 39 10 7) 

Ezd by Mathew Coltehirste 

Auditor. 



The late possessions of the late 
Priory of Saint Mary Magda- 
lene in the said Town of 
Bristol in the County of the 
same 



A close called Aischen 
Close, parcel of the 
possessions of the said 
late Priory, is worth... 



10 o 



Exd by William Bemers, Auditor. 

Parcel of the possessions as well of the House of 
Friars Minors as of the House of Carmelites within 
the Town of Bristol in the County of the same 
Town: — 

The scite of the late House of Friars Minors 
aforesaid with the lands and possessions to the 
same late House appertaining, is worth clear 
by the year ... ... ... ... 53 4 

(including the site of the House, The Farm of 
Land called the Lime Kilns and the Farm of 
the Prisage of fish) 

Exd by William Burners, 

Auditor. 

The Scite of the late House of Friars Carmelites) 

aforesaid is worth by the year ... ...) '3 4 

Exd by William Bemers, 

Auditor. 

Lands to the yearly value of £1^ appointed to the Town of 
Bristol in recompense of the Manor of Pawlett Gaunts of the 
yearly value of ;^76— which said Manor the King's Highness 
had and sold to the said Town of Bristol for the sum of 
£1000 whereof received in hand jf6oo. 



Item, — ^The Manor of Hampe parcel of the possessions 
of Athebey is clear 



••• 



30 10 ^\ 



St Marks of the Gaunts. 55 



Itenii — A Close called Aischen Close parcel of the 
possessions of the late priory of St. liCaiy 
Magdalene beside Bristol ... ... ... lo o 

Item,— The White and Grey Friars in Bristol is 

Clear ••• ... ... ... ,,, oo o 

Sun,— jf 43 : 7 : 3| thereof for a Gift to the 
King in recompense ;f35— ^nd there remains 
clear ;f8 : 7 • 3 J 

Memorandum, — ^A recognizance for the Woods 

Memorandom,— The King must discharge the said Town of Bristol 

of all incumbrances except Leases and except 26/8 
for the Fee of the Bailiwick of Hampe. 

Richard Ryche.* 

The contents of this "Particular" were strictly 
incorporated in the Grant, which, under the Kling's 
Letters Patent, was afterwards made to the Corpora- 
tion, dated 6th May, 33rd Henry VIII (1541), and 
which formed the third of the series of documents. 

In connection with the execution of the Grant the 

following entries appear in the Corporation accounts 

in the year 1 542 : — 

Item, paid for a breakfast to Mr. Recorder 
and to Mr. £lliott because they took pains 
before the Court of Augmentations . • Qd. 

and immediately following the above, appears this 

further entry: — 

Item, to a pursuivant that brought the King's 
attes (? attestation or writ) the 7th day of 
May . . • • IS. cd. 

The preamble of the Grant opens thus,— "Know 
ye that We as well for the sincere affection towards 
our Ville of BristoU we bear, as for the sum of One 
Thousand Pounds Sterling, etc." 

* Sir Richard Rich was Chancellor of the Comt of Augmentations for 

managing the revennes of tnppressed honses. 



56 St. Marlins of the Gaunts. 

The whole of the before-mentioned property having 
been enumerated described and conveyed in legal 
form, the Corporation are to hold the same ''from 
us our Heirs and Successors in Fee for the service 
of one Knight's Fee, and to pay from thence yearly 
to us our heirs and successors Twenty Pounds Ster- 
ling/'* 

The official entry concerning the terms of purchase, 
made by the city authorities in the Mayof^s Kalendar 
is to the following effect: — 

''M'' that this yere the scite, and the demeanes 
of the Gauntes of Bristow, then dissolued, with all 
manors, londes, tenementes, and other the heridita- 
mentz belonging to the same, were purchased by the 
Maior and Cominaltie of Bristowe abouementioned of 
the Kynges highness, for the sum me of M> /i., whereof 
vj c li were paid in parte of payment this yere vnto 
Edward North, Esquyer, Treasorer of the Court of 

Augmentations."t 

The Manor of Poulet, which was the estate that 

Maurice de Gaunt granted originally for the foundation 

of the Hospital, and which was struck through in the 

* The Corporation purchased ihia real of ;f 20 per Ana. from the Crown 
in the year 1671, and the Manors and Lands were sold nnder the 
provisions of a local Act and nnder the direction of the Lords of the 
Treasury after the passing of the Municipal Corporations Reform Act 

A recent transaction of the Corporation in connection with a remnant of 
the old Graunts' Estate is one that does them infinite credit. In the 
year 1890 the Town Council converted a strip of land at Lawrence 
Hill which still goes by the name of Gannts' Ham into a recrea- 
tion ground for the inhabitants of one of the poorest and most 
densely populated districts of the City,~that of St. Fhilip. There 
is a fitness in thus dedicating to the recreation and well-being of the 
poor a part of the patrimony that was originally intended for the 
benefit of such, but in a way which is not now applicable. 

t Tk$ Mtg^s XaiMdar^ p. 56. 



I 

4 



St. Marias of the Gaunts. 57 

"Particular for Grant," was separately disposed of. 
It was valued after all deductions in the clear annual 
value of ;£75 : 17 : 9iy from which was made a deduction 
of ;£7 : 9 : 9^9 leaving clear ;^68 6s.y and by Letters 
Patent, dated 8th June, 32nd Henry VIII (1540), was 
granted to Richard Cupper for the sum of ;£i366, 
being at the rate of 20 years' purchase, and a reserve 
rent of ;g7 : 1 1 : 9 J. 

The Grant of the King to the Corporation, not- 
withstanding the lump-sum in pa3rment and the other 
obligations incurred by them, treats the transaction as 
a gift. "We give this," "We give that," is its lordly 
language throughout. But when all the attendant 
responsibilities are taken into account, it will be seen 
there was not a great margin to be covered by the 
King's "aflFection" for the City, while the poor, for 
whose benefit the institution was originally founded, 
received no consideration at all. 

The City authorities seem to have found some 
difficulty in raising the funds to carry out their 
bargain, and the payment on account referred to in 
the Mayor's Kaleftdar was the result of an appeal 
to the Vestries of the ancient city parishes which 
involved a very questionable proceeding on their part, 
to accommodate the Corporation. It no doubt, how- 
ever, resulted in a considerable benefit to the City. 

Great complaints had long been made by the 
citizens and others as to the oppressiveness of the 
tolls levied by the Sheriffs at the City Gates, the Key 
and Back ; and serious riots took place in consequence 
between the aggrieved parties and the collectors. The 
Mayor and Corporation were appealed to, with a view 
to the abolition of these tolls, and the following were 
appointed a Committee to examine the Sheriff' books 



4 



58 Si. Marias of the Gaunts. 

and determine what arrangements could be made: — 
William Chester, Nicholas Thorne, late Mayor; John 
Smithy David Harris,* Francis Cuddrington, and 
William Carr. The result was reported to the Vestries 
and the following agreement was made: — ^That the 
Vestries should dispose of their Church plate valued 
at £52%', 10:8 and that the proceeds should be paid 
over to the Corporation to assist them in the payment 
of the money for the Gaunts' estates, which were made 
subject to an annual payment of £/^\ — to the SheriflEs 
as compensation for the loss of their tolls. 

This agreement afterwards took the form of an 
ordinance which was on the 14th of June, 1546, pub- 
lished at the High Cross and at each of the City 
Gates, namely, Temple Gate, Redcliff Gate, Newgate, 
Froomgate and Pithay-gate. 

In 1548 this entry appears in the City accounts — 
Imprimis, — paid to Mr. Chamberlain towards 

the payment to Mr. Sherife for the 

" Yates " ;^30 : o : o 

and the full payment continued to be made yearly 
till 1775* 

The Audit Book for the year in which the trans- 
action concerning the Church plate was concluded (1546) 
contains an entry to the following effect: — "Paid for 
writing 14 obligations in which the Chamber stood 
bound to certain Churches for to save them harmless 
for the plate which was borrowed of them." 

Returning to the year 1540, the following curious 
entries are found in the Audit Book for that year, 
relating to the business with the King : — 
Paid, — ^for certain baskets to pack the Church 

plate that was carried to London • • os. 2d. 

- — 

• Bristol Town Duties , by Henry Bush, p. 57. 



St. Mark's of the Gaunts. 59 

Paid, — ^for making cord for the same . . os. 8d. 
Paid, — for bread and ale for the Carrier's 

men that packed os. 3d. 

Shortly after, there appears an entry which seems 
to relate to the removal of what are called in the 
Certificate the ** Recordes and euydences belonging to 
the seid late House " : — 
Paid, — ^for three ells of Canvass to wrap 

the Charters in to be carried to London os. is^d. 
String is also charged for sewing up the said canvass. 

During the negotiations, it appears to have been 
necessary to send in hot haste to the King's repre- 
sentativeSy hence the following, which throws light 
upon the method of express locomotion in those 
days : — 
Paid for 8 pairs of " botes '* to ride to 

Taunton to the King's auditors • • 8s. 4d. 

Out 5 days. 

In the year 1541 there is a charge for the expenses 
of Easter week "in St. Austin's Green "^-6s. 8d. 
This mention of the locality in which the Church was 
situated is frequently made, instead of giving the 
name of the Church itself, and the entry shews that 
^ what may be called the incidental expenses were at 

( the time defrayed by the Corporation. 

At the same time there is an entry which points 
to the introduction of pews or seats into St. Mark's, 
in accordance with what commonly took place in 
Churches at that period : — 
Item, — for setting of forms at St. Austin's 

\ Grreen (amount indistinct) 

The seats then introduced into Churches are frequently 
designated "forms,"* and there is a similar entry 

* Markland's English Chunhts^ p. 36. 



1 
\ 

\ 



6o SL Mark's of the Gaunts. 

with regard to St. George*s Chapel in the Guildhall. 
These entries appear at a time when the Monastery 
(St. Augustine's) is referred to as "still void." 

The Corporation seem to have lost no time in 
commencing alterations on the Gaunts' site, as soon 
after the execution of the Grant, — 1543, these entries 
are recorded: — 

Item, — paid to William Weekes 
Item, — paid to him (illegible) in the Gawnts' 

Close . . • . 3s. 3d. 

Item, — paid for hauling five pieces of timber 

out of that close, to the waterside by the 

Vicarage of St. Austyn's . . . . . os. 8d. 

The question of the ecclesiastical character of the 
Chapel which passed into the possession of the Cor- 
poration is one which, while it nowhere receives a 
strict definition, receives such incidental light from the 
legal documents already quoted as to leave no 
doubt on the subject. The use of the terms Parish, 
Parish Church, and Parish of St. Mark, in the " Cer- 
tificate " and " Particular," have led to the idea, that 
at one time the building had a strictly parochial 
standing ; or that, at the time of its assignment to 
the Corporation, there was an intention, never carried 
out, to constitute it a Parochial Church. In the face 
of the facts surrounding the question, especially the 
fact of its being situated in the parish of St. 
Augrustine the Less, it is hardly consistent to adopt 
either of these explanations. No doubt, the character 
of the Chapel thus transferred by Grant to the Cor- 
poration was peculiar, it being neither strictly 
parochial nor strictly private. It is clear that in 
addition to its Conventual use, it was regarded as a 
place of worship for the Gaunts' Precincts, a territorial 



St.' Mar if s of the Gaunts. 6i 

district which extended beyond the actual Convent, 
and which formed a considerable portion of the Manor 
of Billeswick. As such it was intended to be main- 
tained for all time, and as such was accepted, with 
all attendant responsibilities, when it was made 
over to the Corporation. Consistently with this inten- 
tion, arrangements were embodied in the ^' Certificate" 
and repeated in the "Particular,*' which provided for 
the continuation of the public services, first during 
the period of transition, and afterwards permanently, 
at the charge of the Corporation. As a matter of 
fact they were so carried on at the time, and have 
been maintained ever since, except during one or two 
brief intervals, which are accounted for by the dis- 
turbed condition of public affairs. 

It will be observed that in providing annuities for 
the dispossessed Master and Brethren of the Hospital, 
it is arranged that John Ellis, Clerk, one of the 
Brethren, is to be "Curate of the Parish of Seint 
Marke," and that he is to receive ^8 per annimi so 
long as he shall serve the same cure ; but that if he 
refuse, he is to have only £t for his annuity — the 
same sum as is granted to his Brother, Thomas 
Pynchyn. In 1547, there is an entry in the Audit 
Book of the Corporation of the payment to John Ellis 
of his full stipend of £^-^2 of which he received for 
acting as Curate of the Church. This he continued 
to receive till his death in 1558. A Mr. Copper suc- 
ceeded, but he retained the position only for one half 
year. He in turn was succeeded by another of the 
Brethren, Thomas Pynchyn, who, like Ellis, seems to 
have comfortably conformed to the new order of things. 
Pynchyn from that time received the £2 annually in 
addition to his annuity of ^6 for " serving the Church/' 



62 St. MarKs of the Gaunts. 

_ - - * - - 

aiid so continued till 1586. He is stated to have 
resided ** in St. Mark's Lane, in a tenement to which 
was attached a garden." This, which is now a naitow 
turning out of St. Augustine's Parade, was doubtless 
then within the "precincts of the Gaunts." It could 
only be that the public utility of this place of worship 
might be maintained after the Brotherhood was dis- 
solved and their possessions disposed of, that the 
Church was expressly appointed to remain "undefaced," 
with three of its bells undisturbed ; and with a Curate 
appointed at first temporarily, and then permanently 
under the Corporation. 

Incidentally, this view of the user of the Gaunts' 
Church be/are the Dissolution, for the public residing 
in the District, receives remarkable confirmation by 
means of a letter fi'om Lady Guildford addressed to 
Secretary Cromwell and dated 1535, that is between 
the acknowledgment of the King's supremacy and the 
surrender of the House. After an eventfiil life in 
connection with the Court of Henry VIIL, Lady 
Guildford appears to have retired to the precincts of 
the Gaunts' Hospital to spend her last days. She is 
described as " the confidential friend and adviser of 
Mary, sister of the King, who when she proceeded to 
France in 15 14 to become Queen of Louis XII. was 
attended by a long array of English nobles and 
servants, but on the morrow of her marriage her first 
grief and trouble arose, for the King her husband 
dismissed the whole of her English suite, whose loss, 
especially that of the Lady Guildford, the Queen very 
keenly felt. On Lady Guildford's return to England 
Henry VJIL, as some compensation for her disappoint- 
ment, granted her an annuity of ;^6o for life." 

The letter referred to is a request for Cromwell's 



St. Mark^s of the Gaunts. 63 



interposition in her favour in consequence as she says 
of '* certain injunctions which I understand are given 
to the master of the Gaunts in Bristol, that no women 
shall come within the precincts of the same, where I 
have a lodging most meetest, as I have chosen, for 
a poor widow to serve God now in my old days. And 
I trust both for myself and for my women, like as we 
have been hitherto, to be of such governance with 
your licence to the same, that no inconvenience shall 
ensue thereof. And when hereto before I have been 
used from my house to go the next way to the Church 
for my ease, through the cloister of the same house 
to a Chapel that I have within the quire of. the same, 
I shall be content from henceforth, if it shall so seem 
convenient unto you, to forbear that, and to resort to 
the common place^ like as others do^ of the same Church"* 

In 1546 the operation of the Act by which the 
revenues of " Chauntries " became vested in the Crown, 
seems to be indicated in the following entry, in which 
the hospitality which formerly belonged to the monas- 
teries received a new direction : — 
Item, — paid for Mr. Chester's dinner, Mr. 
Vowell (or Powell) and Mr. Town Clerk 
with others when they took pains about 
the purchasing the foundations of certain 

Chauntries 5s. od. 

Item, — given the Commissioners' Clerk that 

surveyed the Chauntries • • . . los. od. 

In 1548 there is entered the accoimt of Mr. John 
Wyllie, Chamberlain of the ** contrey " lands called the 
Gaunts' for the year ending Michs. 1547. 

Also there is given under the same date '^ the 

* Wood's Letters of lUustrious Ladies, 11., p. i6i ; quoted in 
BriOol Past and Present, n., p. 184. 



64 St. Marias of the Gaunts. 

accompte of Robert Tayllor, Bailiff of certain lands 
and tenements belonging to the Chambre of Bristowe 
lately called the Gaunts' Lands for one whole year 
ended in the feast of Saint Mychele th' Archangell in 
a? m* v*^ xlviij for the year of Mr. John Smythe then 
being Mayor of Bristowe." 

St. Austin's Greene. 
Imprimis, the soyle of the Manor 

my ladie Barkely • • 26s. 8d. 

The M' of the Gaunts 22s. 8d. 

The Vicar of St. Austin's, a garden . . . . 2d. 

Billeswicke. 
Griffith Jones for a house under Brandon Hill „ ,, 

These entries are not very explicit, but they serve 
to show how all the business connected with the 
Gaunts' estate, was thus early conducted by the 
Corporation. 

Further, under the same date the two following 
entries appear : — 

To the Lords of Clifton for a tenement 

under Brandon Hill, and a conduit of 

water there, coming to St. Austin's 

Green (see under date 1572) . . . . 3s. od. 

Item, — ^paid for mending the pipe in St. 

Austin's Greene in St. James's week . . 2S. lod. 
The earliest reference to the responsibilities of the 
Corporation as regards '^reparacyons" to the Gaunts' 
Church is one of very modest character : — 
A.D. 1548. Item, — ^paid to John Plomer for 

mending the Laver in 
the Gaunts and for 3 lb. 
of solder • • • • . • is. 2d. 
Item, — ^paid for hanging lock 

there •• •• •• jd. 



St. Mark's of the . Gaunts. 65 



There may have been previous payments of the kind, 
but some of the earlier Audit Books are not now 
extant. From this time down to the present day, the 
records of the Corporation shew that continual pay- 
ments, varying greatly in amount, have been made 
under the same head out of the Corporation funds. 
Such payments will only be hereafter referred to 
when they are peculiar in character, important in 
amount, or are associated with interesting historical 
circumstances. 

In the year 1552 the revised Book of Common 
Prayer was issued by Edward VI. and its use in 
every Cathedral and Church was made obligatory. 
Accordingly the following entry is made the same year : — 
Item, — For a book of the new order of the 

last setting forth, for the Gaunts 
The amount in this case cannot be given, but the book 
was ordered by the ecclesiastical authorities to be sold 
at a given price, — unbound 2s. 2d., bound 3s. 8d., 
and . was everywhere to be provided at the cost of 
the parishioners. 

I^ i555> in the days of Queen Mary, when the 
stone altars were restored, changes were made in the 
Chancel of St. Mark's to meet the requirements of 
the authorities of the time. A payment was then 
made for the repair of the Church and for '^ making 
of Altar in the Church," and in 1560, after the 
Accession of Queen Elizabeth, the following appears 
in obedience to a later requirement : — 
Paid, — ^Wm. Sowdeley for writing the ten 
commandments in the Church, com- 
manded by Mr. Mayor 4s. od. 

Also, paid for a Sawter (Psalter) Book of 

Big Vellum • 2s. od. 



66 St. Mark's of the Gaunts. 



Under the same date a glimpse is afforded of the 
way in which ecclesiastical buildings were treated in 
those days : — 
Paid, — ^for dressing the pulpit with two shades 

of lime . • • . . • . . . . OS. 8d. 

In 1557 damage appears to have been done to the 
church both by storms and mischievous or fanatical 
persons. Payment was made to the glazier "for 
mending the windows of Gaunts' Church they being 
beaten down by force of water, and also from gravel, 
being broken by divers evil persons. The space of 
22 days at i2d. the day." He is also paid for glass 
and lead. 

In the same year there is another interesting 
entry. A payment is made for ^'a processional for 
the Gaunts' Church at St. Mark's fair." This being 
in the last year of Queen Mary's reign it shews how the 
customs and service books of pre-reformation times 
had been restored. 

In 1560 payment was made "for a Coffer to put 
the Church money in, and for a register for the same." 

If this is understood to be an alms-box it helps to 
shew the miscellaneous character of the congregation 
resorting to the Church. 

In 1 56 1 The "Cloysters" were repaired. 

In 1563 (6th of Qu. Eliz.) there are payments for 
service books and a book of sermons. Also for making 
a Table Cloth of an Altar Cloth^ and for mending 
the Communion " borde." 

During the same year Edmond Baker was paid 
for mending the Condyte in the church-yard at the 
Gaunts. 

In 1564 the windows were again repaired. Also 
about the same time and on several later occasions 



St. Mark's of the Gaunts. 67 



the church-yard wall was repaired, "part of which 
had fallen down." 

In 1567, — there was paid for exhibiting the 
presentment of the Gaunts' Parish^ at 
the Bishop's visitation and for procura- 
tion to the Bishop*s officer . . • . is. 8d. 
This entry confirins the view of the ecclesiastical 
status of the Church as already explained. 

In 157 1, expenses were incurred in taking down 
the Rood-loft. 

The water used in the Gaunts' Precincts was 
conveyed in a pipe called the Gaunts' Pipe. In 1548 
as already stated there was a payment "to the Lords 
of Clifton " on this account. The pipe was repaired by 
the Corporation in 1572 "out of the Rents of Stockland, 
etc.," and in 1590 there was still "paid to the Lords of 
Clifton for lands and tenements under Brandon Hill 
and for the conduit water brought from thence into 
the Gaunts' Cloysters 3s." 

Numerous entries of the repair of this pipe appear, 
both before and after this latter payment. 

There are to this day two conduits, side by side, 
conveying water from this spring. One is the property 
of the Cathedral authorities and is controlled by them. 
The other belongs to the Corporation. Their obligation 
to the Lords of Clifton has long since ceased, but the 
water flows on and still supplies the houses on the 
North side of College Green and the Red Maids* 
School. 

In 1574 an attempt was made to transfer the 
payments to Mr. Pynchyn, for serving the church, to 
the "Parishioners." An order was made by the 
Corporation to that effect, but in the following year, 
under the direction of the auditors of the Court of 



68 St. Mark's of the Gaunts. 

Augmentations, this was reversed. The payment was 
again made by the Corporation, and so it continued 
to be made. 

The fifty years which succeeded the transfer of 
the Chapel and estates to the Corporation, and which 
are covered by this section of the history of St. Mark's, 
have hitherto been almost entirely unaccounted for, 
and although it may be said the information now 
afforded, chiefly by gleanings from the Corporation 
Records, is but meagre, it is sufficient to give con- 
tinuity to the narrative, and to establish some important 
points. Amongst these are the purpose which it was 
intended the building should continue to serve in the 
district in which it was placed, apart from the sub- 
sequent special use of it by the Corporation as their 
own official place of worship ; the frequency with which 
the internal arrangements and the services of the 
Church were altered to meet the changes imposed by 
successive governments during this eventful period; 
and amid all this, the regularity with which the 
Corporation fulfilled the duties of maintaining the 
fabric, and providing for the continuance within it of 
the services of religion. 




Chapter IV. 



^ucen fiU3abctb'0 1bo0pltal,— tbe 1?cb HDaibe' 
Scbool,— tbc f rcncb Protestant IRcUxqccb. 

A.D. 1586 fo 1720. 

QUEEN ELIZABETH'S HOSPITAL, OR THE CITY SCHOOL. 

In this new chapter the history of St. Mark's 
continues to reflect in various ways some of the 
religious, political, and even social changes by which 
the country was at the time so greatly affected. In 
addition to the various alterations in the character of 
its religious services already referred to, there can be 
no doubt that a complete transformation in the appear- 
ance of the Chapel itself took place about this time. 
Many of its ornamental features were abolished as evil 
in tendency or unsuited to the altered taste of the 
day. All evidences of the former monastic use of the 
building were either carefully concealed, mutilated, or 
destroyed. One of the leading features of its architec- 
ture was completely obliterated by filling up the bays 
under the Nave windows with false masonry, thus 
making the walls conventionally " playne." The lime- 
brush, which it has been already shown was used 
artistically on the pulpit, was no doubt freely employed 



70 St Mark's of the Gaunts, 

throughout the structure. All this was done either in 
sympathy with the wave of reaction against Romanism 
which followed the dissolution of the monasteries, or 
during the subsequent days of Elizabeth when the fear 
of the return of Romanism preyed upon the public 
mind in consequence of the attitude of Mary Stuart, 
or still later, when the issue of the Ordinances of 
1643-4 encouraged the further wholesale destruction of 
Church property. At the last-named period especially, 
the veneration with which the Churches of the land had 
formerly been regarded was openly outraged, and too 
often, as in the case of St. Mark's, when the principal 
structures were permitted to remain, essential parts were 
demolished to satisfy the whim of those in authority, or 
the demands of covetousness or destructiveness. 

The founding of Queen Elizabeth's Hospital in one 
of the buildings of the old Gaunts' Hospital represents 
another and more agreeable aspect of the times. The 
establishment of this and many similar institutions 
which were then brought into existence provided a new 
way of assisting the poor and defenceless, and was 
the response to a newly-awakened desire for the spread 
of education amongst the people generally. It also 
expressed the sense of freedom from ecclesiastical 
restraints which infused new life and hope into the 
nation. 

The youthful King Edward VI. founded, before his 
short reign came to an end, the School called Christ's 
Hospital in London, and from the first it was intended 
that this should be the model for the Bristol institution. 
The Corporation of Bristol warmly encouraged the new 
enterprise, and were duly constituted the governing 
body. The manner in which they from that time linked 
together the fortunes of the Church they owned and the 



St. Marks of the Gaunts. 71 

School they governed is explained in many official 
documents; but, for the purpose of this narrative, the 
School will only be referred to as far as may be 
necessary to illustrate the history of the Chapel. The 
relation of the two was a very close one. At first the 
School was located in the "Mansion House" of the 
Gaunts, a building adjacent to the Chapel. After- 
wards, as will be explained in the course of this 
chapter, the North Transept was pulled down and a 
new School was erected against the wall of the Chapel 
on that side, when the former became structurally an 
adjunct of the latter. For nearly two hundred years 
the boys in the school regularly attended service in 
the Chapel. 

Under the date 1586, Evans in his Chronological 
Outline records that " John Carr, by will, gave his 
Manor of Congresbury towards founding a hospital 
for maintaining and educating poor orphans and other 
children after the manner of Christ-church Hospital, 
London."* 

The official entry of Carr's munificent bequest 
appears in the Mayor^s Kalendar in the form of a note 
thus : — 

[John Carre, merchant of Bristol died and left lands 
for building "an Hospitall in the Cittie for bringing 
vp of poore fatherlesse children."] t 

The will of the founder appointed the following 
to be his Trustees : Thomas Aish of Bristol, gentle- 
man, Robert Dowe of London, merchant tailor, Thomas 
Aldworth of Bristol, merchant, and John Bythesea of 
Axbridge, tanner, and after numerous testamentary 
arrangements thus expresses his intentions with regard 

* Evans' Chtvn, OuUine^ p. 158. f Thg Maym^s Kalendar^ p. 62. 



72 St. Mark's of the Gaunts. 

to the School, — the Trustees are " to erect and found 
by due form of law in the City of Bristol, in some 
convenient house and place which the Mayor and 
Aldermen for the time being shall appoint and pre- 
pare, which I trust they will provide for conveniently, 
an Hospital or place for bringing up of poor children 
orphans, being men children, such as shall be bom 
in the City of Bristol, or in any part of my manor, 
lands, or tenements in Congresbury aforesaid and 
whose parents are deceased or dead or fallen into 
decay, and not able to relieve them : and for those 
chiefly to provide in such order manner and form, and 
with such foundation, ordinance, laws and government 
as the Hospital of Christ-church nigh St. Bartholomews 
in London is founded ordered and governed in every 
respect : and that to be the Patent and example for the 
foundation of this Hospital to be new founded by my 
Will, and to endow the said new founded Hospital 
in Bristol with the said lands, thereby to have 
such poor children and orphans as aforesaid brought 
up in such manner and form as the like be in the 
Hospital of St. Bartholomews aforesaid, as far forth 
as the profits and revenues thereof will amount unto : 
and for the more perpetual and better government 
thereof, to dispose and appoint as law will permit 
and suffer, the Mayor and Commonalty of the said 
City to be patrons, guiders, and governors of the 
same Hospital to be founded for ever, to the intent 
to have such poor children and orphans as aforesaid 
there brought up and maintained for ever." 

To this end the Queen's Letters Patent were 
granted on March 21st, 1590, and at the instance 
of the Corporation this was followed by an Act of 
Parliament in 1597, the 39th of Elizabeth. 



SL Mark's of the Gaunfs, 73 

Barrett thus speaks of the founding of the School 
as an accomplished fact, — " the great capital messuage 
or mansion house of the late old Hospital (which with 
the cloisters was taken down) called St. Mark's of 
Belliswyck, or the Gaunts, then inhabited by Gabriel 
Bleek Esq., and granted among other things to the 
Corporation by Henry VIII. was fitly appropriated to 
this use for its healthy situation. And that ' the 
Governors of the said Hospital might daily increase 
the number of the said poor orphans and children to 
be relieved and sustained there ' (the very words of 
the Act) the Queen granted them license to purchase 
manors lands &c. and several other benefactors, whose 
names should be recorded with honour for promoting 
so much the welfare of the City, contributed large 
sums and annual rents for this laudable undertaking."* 

The list of John Carr's contemporaries who were 
associated with him in this " charitable endeavour," or 
who during succeeding years carried on what he 
began, comprises names that are to this day reckoned 
among the worthiest in our city annals — ^William 
Birde, Thomas Aldworth, Lady Mary Ramsey, John 
and Andrew Barker, Thomas Farmer, Ann Colston, 
Edward Colston, James Gollop, Samuel Hartnell, 
Robert Dowe, Anthony Standbanck, and Richard 
Hughes. The Corporation of Bristol and the Society 
of Merchant Venturers were also contributors. In 
1620 the above were included amongst many others 
to whom honour was done according to the fashion 
of the time, by the carrying out of the following minute 
entered in the Common Council book — "Item, it is 
ordered that there shall be a table of all the benefactors 
to this City made and set up in the Council Chamber ;" 

 Barrett, p. 376. 



74 SL Mark's of the Gaunts. 

and in 1829, more than two centuries after the School 
commenced its career, the memorial window which is 
in the Nave of the Chapel was constructed. The sum 
of one hundred guineas was then paid out of the 
funds of the Charity **for painting the Arms of the 
various benefactors on glass, to be placed in the 
Mayor's Chapel." 

William Birde whose Arms are placed in this 
memorial window admirably seconded the benevolent 
designs of his friend and colleague John Carr. He 
purchased the lease of the Mansion House of the 
Gaunts, in which the School was first located, and 
gave the Corporation free possession. He also con- 
tributed £510 in cash, and obtained for the School 
the proceeds of a tax on lead and iron for a term 
of years, just as in the case of Christ's Hospital, 
London, the Corporation of that City established a 
permanent toll on all cloth sold at Blackwell Hall 
which was afterwards purchased up for a large 
consideration. William Birde's good deeds like those 
of John Carr are recorded in the Mayor* s Kalendar : — 

"This yeere (1590, the year of his Mayoralty) 
aboute iij. weekes in Lent, there was presented in the 
house a patente fi'om her ma^ie as concemeinge a 
hospitall to be erected by the name of Queene Eliz : 
Hospitall, yssueinge oute of John Carres landes. 
Which said Hospitall was the same yeer, by the 
great e dilligence and charitable endevour of the said 
William Birde, founded at the Gauntz, and xij. poore 
children placed therein for a beginninge of the sayd 
goode worke, to the which the sayd William Birde 
was a bountifiiU benefactor and gave therevnto 530 h\ 
in money for the advancement thereof." 

William Birde died the 8th Oct. in the same year, 



Sf. Mark^s of the Gaunts. 75 

 '>    p 

and his tomb stands on the left hand of the entrance 
of the Chapel. The supposed tomb of John Carr is 
in the South Aisle. (See description of Nave and South 
Aisle)/ Amongst the other names and arms emblazoned 
on the memorial window is that of John Whitson 
who took an active part in the affairs of Queen 
Elizabeth's Hospital, but who is better known as 
nimself the founder of the Red Maids' School. Of him 
it is recorded that during a time of great scarcity 
(1594-5) he purchased a cargo of grain at Dantzic 
and handed it over to the Mayor and Aldermen at 
cost price that it might be sold to the distressed in 
small quantities and at a low price. This episode in 
the life of John Whitson is introduced here because 
of the statement which has obtained currency, that 
"at the period alluded to, the Gaunts' Chapel being 
in possession of the Corporation was used by them as 
a warehouse for com in times of public scarcity."* This 
could hardly be correct as the Chapel was certainly 
used at the time for public worship, but the com 
may have been stored in one of the adjacent buildings 
of the old Gaunts' Hospital. 

The boys in the School continued to attend 
morning service in St. Mark's, and on several occasions 
the master of the School was elected to the office 
of Curate or Reader in the Chapel. On the 13th 
March 1656-7, the Common Council passed the 
following resolution : — " Whereas there hath been of 
late no preaching either in the College (Cathedral), 
St. Augustine's, or the Gaunts, upon the Lord's day 
in the afternoons, whereby the children in the Hospital 
of Queen Elizabeth, in the College Green, have very 
much wanted the public ministry of the Word near 

* Memoirs of John Whitson^ p. 44. 



76 SL Marks of the Gaunts. 

unto them ; and there being a very considerable 
revenue belonging to the s^- hospital; it is enacted 
and ordained, that the sum of twenty and four pounds 
per annum shall be paid for the maintenance of a 
lecture on every Lord's day, in the afternoon, to be 
preached in the Gaunts' Church, by such minister as 
shall be chosen thereunto by this House, at the 
preaching whereof the master and all the blue coats 
shall be present, and this to begin the next Lord's 
day after the 25th day of this instant month of March." 

The year 1685 began an interval during which the 
stipend of the Curate or Reader was not paid by the 
Corporation. The Mayor and Aldermen were ex officio 
the '* patrons guiders, and governors of the Hospital '* 
and having the control of both the Chapel and the 
School, they proposed that the Treasurer of Queen 
Elizabeth's Hospital should in future pay the stipend. 
This probably arose from the fact of the Chapel being so 
largely used for the benefit of the boys. The non- 
payment by the Corporation seems to have lasted till 
1 72 1-2, but it must here be remembered that during 
nearly the whole of that interval, the Chapel was 
occupied by the French Protestant Refugees, and its 
occupation by them may have rendered unnecessary the 
payment of the stipend by the Corporation, in which 
case the payment by the Treasurer of Qu. Eliz. Hosp. 
would refer only to the afternoon lecture, which was 
discontinued about the year 1698. At this time the 
accounts of the Corporation and Governors respectively, 
the same individuals acting in different capacities, were 
very much confused. During the whole period however 
the Corporation continued to pay for repairs. In 1 700-1 
there were " considerable repairs." 

The question now arises, when and under what 



j 

I 

I St Mark's of the Gaunts. 'j'j 

circumstances did the demolition of the Cloisters and 
North Transept take place? Under the date 1587 an 
entry appears in the Audit Book relating to the repair 
of the "Cloysters." At this time doubtless the cloisters 
were intact, with the various Hospital buildings still 
grouped around them, but the time had nearly arrived 
when it is certain the old buildings were removed, and a 
clearance of the ground efifected to prepare for new 
erections on the site. There appear to be no further 
entries of repair to the Cloisters ; instead of being again 
repaired, they were improved out of existence as was 
the North Transept with which the Cloister on that side 
communicated. This must have taken place between 
the above date 1587 and the erection of the new City 
School building against the walled-up archway and 
window. 

The following extract from the Corporation 
accounts shews this destruction to be a matter of 
deliberate preparation. 

"Paid, 6th March 1591 to Bird, Freemason, for 
removing the great tombs of the three Founders of the 
Gaunts which are set now at the upper end of the 
Chancil .. .. .• £0 los. od." * 

The three founders here referred to must be under- 
stood to be Maurice de Gaunt, Robert de Goumey, and 
Henry de Gaunt, although properly speaking the two 
former only were the founders. The North Transept 
would be an appropriate resting place for these 
memorials of the dead, and there no doubt they had 
remained undisturbed for three hundred years. Their 

* The above extract sets at rest another question with regard to these 
effigies. Dallaway writing in 1834 states that they formerly stood hi the 
Chancel, and the accuracy of that statement is borne out by the extract 
m question. Then: present position is therefore the thu^ they have 
occupied during the long histoiy of the Graunts' Church. 



78 



Sf. MarJt's of the Gaunts. 



removal now became a necessity arising from the 
intended destruction of their ancient resting place. 

The exact time when the demolition was effected 
was indicated by the silent witness of a carved date 
which the writer observed during the recent res- 
toration. In then taking down the walling of the arch, 
a blocked-up doorway that stood therein at the foot of 
the pulpit stairs was also removed. The casing of the 
doorway  - — . 1 have been 

which had 
a low or 
Tudor arch- 
head, re- 
mained in- 
tact, and in 
the hollow 
moiUdingof 
the Eastern 
jamb the 
date 1631 
was plainly 
carvedjwith 
the leiter B 
and some 
faint marks 

which may facsimile at caeted date. 

communication between the Chapel and the premises 
erected against it. The authorities therefore left 
posterity to conclude that they considered the 
North Transept only valuable as a building site, 
and that as three Nave windows were sufficient, the 
fourth might as well be dispensed with. No docu- 
mentary details of what was done at this time are 
available, but the books of the Corporation and the 




I 



Tl 




St. Mark^s of the Gaunts. 79 



Hospital shew that in 1627-8 some alterations were 
made in the Hospital buildings and that the charges 
were paid by the Chamberlain of the City and passed 
through his audit. Those charges were also mixed up 
with repairs or alterations to the Church, but as far as 
the entries are concerned they leave the whole matter in 
much confusion. There seems to have been some delay 
in completing the scheme, as Barrett notes that it was 
not till 1 702 that *' the Hospital (Queen Elizabeth's) began 
to be rebuilt in a large and more commodious manner."* 
The entire cost of the new structure was £2y^Ti 14s. 3d., 
of which £2jQO$ was raised by subscription and the 
remaining £^(>t 14s. 3d. was paid out of the Hospital 
funds. This is the building that was placed against the 
North wall of the Church. In that position it is shewn 
in Jean Rocque's map c. 1750, and so it remained 
through the subsequent exchange of buildings between 
Queen Elizabeth's Hospital and the Grammar School 
in 1769, and tmtil as the Grammar School it was 
demolished in 18S3 (see page 82). A rough plan was left 
amongst the MSS. of the late Mr. Seyer which shews 
how the wall of the building was carried up the centre 
of the blocked-up Nave window, and how a portion of 
the School structure occupied the site of the Transept. 

The minute particulars given in Manchee's Bristol 
Charities respecting the erection of the new School are 
extremely interesting because they shew how the site of 
the Gaunts* Hospital was at this time dealt with, not 
only as regards the position the School occupied, but in 
the laying out of a number of streets in the immediate 
neighbourhood. These particulars are therefore quoted 
at some length. 

'Barrett, p. 377. Also Evans, p. 251. 



8o St. Marks of the Guunts. 



<<The hospital site and what may be called the hospital estate, 
consisting of a certain range aboat it, were granted by the Corporation 
of Bristol, to the governors of the hospital by an indenture dated 
20th August 1717, made between the Mayor Burgesses and Commonalty 
of Bristol of the one part ; and the governors of the hospital, of the 
other part ; whereby .... it appeared that the number of poor boys 
or orphans was then increased to forty-five, and that the ancient 
house or hospital being ruinous, and not sufficiently convenient for 
the reception and entertainment of so great a number of poor children 
and orphans, the Mayor and Commonalty, and the governors of the 
said hospital, did in or about the year 1704 agree, that the said 
ancient house and hospital should be wholly pulled down, and 
demolished, which was accordingly done ; and with the materials 
arising therefrom, and with the charitable gifts of several well-disposed 
persons of Bristol, a stately and magnificent house or hospital, sufficient 
for the reception of two masters and their families, and above 100 
poor boys and orphans, was erected and finished in the room and 
stead thereof, in the year 1706; since which time the Mayor and 
Commonalty, taking into consideration, and having the example of 
their predecessors also in their view, that it was a duty owing to Crod, 
incumbent upon corporations and communities, as well as private 
persons, to extend their charities for the benefit of the poor; and 
considering that the maintenance and education, and putting apprentice 
boys bom within the City of Bristol, was a proper object for the said 
Mayor and Commonalty to extend their charity upon; and there 
being a place contiguous to the said hospital commonly called 
the hospital orchard, of a very large extent of ground, situate in the 
parish of St. Augustine in the said City ; which being built upon with 
good substantial houses and streets, might, by the rents and other 
profits arising from such buildings, yield a good annual revenue, 
besides other improvements ; and having appointed a committee of the 
Common Council- for allotting the said ground into proper methods, for 
building on the same in the most substantial, beneficial, and convenient 
manner, who had made their report to the Common Council aforesaid ; 
to which report the said Common Council had agreed, and had ordered, 
that all the said hospital orchard should be built upon pursuant to 
that report, to the intent, that the said new erected house or hospital 
might be, and for ever continue to be, called the Hospital of Queen 
Elizabeth, in Bristol, and remain and be a hospital house and habita- 
tion for the masters, their families and ser\ants, and for such poor 
children as then were, or should thereafter be, lawfully chosen, 
according to the constitution of the said hospital into the same ; and 



St. Marks of the Gaunts. 8i 

that the court adjoiiiiiig to the front of the said hospital house, and the 
yard or outlet backwards, lying behind the said hospital house, lately 
separated by a wall from the orchard before mentioned, might for 
ever be occupied and enjoyed together with the said hospital house; 
and to the intent that the said orchard, called the hospital orchard, 
and all buildings that should thereafter be erected thereon, might be 
enjoyed, and the rents and profits thereof be received and applied to 
and for the use and benefit of the said hospital, in such manner as 
the governors of the said hospital should, from time to time direct. 
Older, and appoint, according to the good intent of the said Queen 
Elizabeth, and the several founders thereof and donon and benefactors 
thereto ; it is witnessed that the said Mayor Burgesses and Commonalty, 
for the consideration aforesaid, and ahK> in consideration of the rent 
thereinafter reserved, to be paid yearly by the said governors or 
treasurer of the said hospital, to the Chamber of the said Corporation, 
granted, released, and confirmed, all the premises above mentioned to 
the governors of the said hospital; to hold to them and their 
succcsiors for ever, to the only uses and purposes aforesaid, yielding 
and payhig for ever, to the Chamber of the said City the rent or sum 
of 268. 8d. with a power to enter and distrain for the same. The 
same deed also contained a covenant, on the part of the governors, to 
keq> the premises in repair; and a proviso, that in case of alienating 
or diverting the rents and profits of the hospital premises ; or if the 
hoq>ital premises should be suffered by them to become ruinous or 
decayed, and to continue so after six months notice, that then the 
Mayor Burgesses and Commonalty, might re-enter upon, and keep 
possessbn of, the same premises to their own use."* 

This grant of land by the Corporation to the 
Governors of Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, points to 
the layinif out of those streets, which still bear names 
connecting them with the site of the ancient Gaunts' 
Hospital ; and which thus afford evidence of its large 
extent ; such are Orchard Street, Orchard Lane, Gaunts' 
Lane, Culver Street, and Frogmore Street. Other 
streets laid out at the same time received names derived 
from passing events, as Hanover Street, Denmark 
Street, Unity Street. 

[In continuation of the narrative it may here be 

M  » I  ,  .  . 

* Manchee's Bristol CharitUs^ p. 14. 



82 St. Marks of the Gaunls. 



added that about the year 1769 the School buildings 
were under the provisions of an Act passed for the 
purpose, transferred to the " Free Grammar School " 
up to that time located in St. Bartholomew's Hospital 
in Christmas Street, the boys attending the latter 
being transferred to the City School buildings. This 
Act which was of the 9th of George III. was intituled — 
"An Act to enable the Corporation of the City of 
Bristol to exchange the building of the hospital, called 
Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, for the building called 
St. Bartholomew's in the said City, etc." The reason 
assigned for this exchange was the insufficiency of 
the old premises for the Grammar School boys, some 
of whom took the place of their predecessors in 
attending service at St. Mark's Chapel. At the present 
time both the boys* Schools which were thus associated 
with the Chapel are located in splendid modem 
buildings : the one on the slope of Brandon Hill, the 
other on the elevated ground of Tyndall's Park. The 
succession of schools on this particular spot has 
however been maintained by the recent erection of 
the noble pile of buildings known as the "Merchant 
Venturers' Schools,*' which are destined to play an 
important part in the educational work of modem 
Bristol.] 

THE RED MAIDS' SCHOOL. 

The Red Maids' School probably had its origin in 
that noble spirit of emulation in charitable works, 
which so largely prevailed amongst the City Fathers 
three hundred years ago. Amongst his many schemes 
for the good of his fellow creatures, John Whitson 
conceived the desire to do for the poor orphan girls 
of his day what had just been done by John Carr and 
others for the boys. And thus it came to pass that 



SL Mark^s of the Gaunts. 83 

the old Chapel of the Gaunts was flanked by two 
benevolent and educational institutions, to both of 
which it became a spiritual home. 

The historical references to the Red Maids' School 
are not so numerous as are those relating to Queen 
Elizabeth's Hospital : nor has it been so intimately 
connected with the fabric of the Chapel. Like the 
boys' School it has occupied three different buildings ; 
but unlike it, the third still stands on the site of 
the Gaunts' estate : and while the City School boys, 
and their successors the Grrammar School boys, have 
long since ceased attendance at the Chapel, the Red 
Maids to the number of eighty still form part of the 
regular congregation, and, in their picturesque dress, 
are always regarded with great interest. 

The feoflftnent of the founder, John Whitson, was 
dated i6th day of March 1621, and under it the 
following trustees were appointed : — John Doughty, 
Abel Kitchen, George Harrington, John Barker, Chris- 
topher Whitson, John Tomlinson, Humphrey Brown, 
Alexander James, and Walter Stephens. 

The will of the founder was dated 27th March 
1627, and amongst its numerous provisions, it contained 
the following directions respecting the foundation of 
this School : — 

" He gave and devised unto the Mayor Burgesses and Commonalty of 
the City of Bristol^ their successors and assigns, for ever, an Annuity ol 
four score and ten pounds, to be issuing out of his manor of Burnett, in 
the County of Somerset to be by them received and taken, to the use and 
intent, that the Mayor and Aldermen of the said City of Bristol, for the 
time being, or the most part of them, should therewith provide, or cause to 
be provided, a fit and convenient dwelling house for the abode of one grave, 
painful and modest woman, of good life and conversation, whether married 
or unmarried, having a husband well qualified, and of like good life, and 
honest conversation^ and for forty poor women-children (whose parents 
freemen and burgesses of the City, should be deceased or decayed) 



84 St Mark's of the Gaunis. 

either in some convenient room in the new mansion house of the Gannts, 
or Hospital of Queen Elizabeth, in Bristol, or in such other necessary place 
within the liberties of the said city, as to them the said Mayor and Alder- 
men should be thought expedient, and should cause the said mansion or 
habitation to be furnished with convenient lodging, bedding, linen, and 
other necessaries for the commodity and use of the said woman and forty 
poor women-children; and that the said Mayor and Aldermen should 
therein admit the said woman and forty poor women-children, and cause 
them to be there kept and maintained, and also taught to read English, 
and to sew, and do some other laudable work, towards their maintenance, 
as the Mayor's wife of the same City for the time being, or the andentest 
Alderman's wife of the same City, in her absence, for the time being, and 
the said woman should approve of ; and should cause the said women^ 
children to be bound apprentices to the said woman, and to her successors 
in the said office, for the term of eight or ten years at the least, and none 
to be thereunto admitted that should be above the age of ten years, or 
under the age of eight years, &c., &c."* 

John Whitson died on Feb. 25th, 1628, before his 
purpose was completed. The School was opened in 
1634, and upon enquiry the Trustees declared to the 
Court of Chancery that ^'a matron and sixteen poor 
maidens with all convenient speed were settled in the 
said house until the provision which he (the founder) 
himself had made for the whole number should fall into 

hand."t 

In 1655, " it was proposed to erect an hospital for 
maids adjoining to the house hitherto used, according to 
Alderman Whitson's gift, and the City surveyors were 
consulted how the work should be fully carried into 
execution, according to the intent of the founder and for 
the honour of the City."+ 

[The following particulars are added to complete 
the outline story of this institution : — 

The Commissioners appointed to enquire concern- 
ing the charitable institutions of Bristol, reported (1828} 

* Manchee's Bristol Charities, p. 43. f Ibid,, p. 46. 
t Piyce's Bristol, p. 164, and Evans, pp. 178, 217. 



St. Marks of the Gaunts. 85 

that *' the premises of the Red Maids' Charity consist of 
a large building, partly brick and partly stone, nearly 
adjoining the Mayor's Chapel, on the College Green, 
distributed in various apartments, the largest of which 
is the School, which is an oblong room about 32 feet 
in length by about 16 feet in breadth. The dwelling 
house consists of two parlours on the ground-floor for 
the mistress, and a room used for teaching the children 
to write in. Over these are two dormitories for the 
children and a bed-room for the mistress. . The dormi- 
tories are large spacious rooms. There is a large paved 
yard for the children to play in about 90 feet in length 
by 38 feet in width. The mistress has a garden 80 feet 
by 34. There are two kitchens and a room where the 
children dine. On Sunday they attend the Mayor's 
Chapel in the morning and the Parish Church of St. 
Augustine in the evening. Sometimes Mrs. Mayoress 
but principally Mrs. Daniel who is the wife of the 
senior resident alderman, and treasurer, attends the 
School."* 

In 1836 an afternoon service was recommenced at 
the Mayor^s Chapel, and this, as well as the morning 
service, was attended by the Red Maids. After the 
recent restoration the afternoon service was discon- 
tinued and an evening service substituted, which the 
children now attend. 

The Red Maids continued in the occupation 
of the premises described until the year 1840, when 
the present extensive school premises, with a fine 
Elizabethan frontage to Denmark Street, and still 
on the site of the old Gaunts' Hospital, and on the 
same spot as the previous school, were erected. With 
increased resources, the number of girls for some time 

* Manchee's JSristol Chariiies^ pp. 59*to. 



86 Si. Mark's of the Gaunts. 

accommodated was one hundred and twenty, under the 
care of a head mistress and five assistants. Upon the 
passing of the Municipal Corporations Act in 1837, 
the management of the School estate passed from the 
hands of the Mayor and Aldermen, the Charity 
Trustees being then appointed to undertake the duties 
of the original "governors and guiders." 

In 1875 a new scheme for the management of the 
School was put forward by the Endowed Schools Com- 
missioners under which the present body of governors 
was appointed. The principle of competitive examina- 
tion was then introduced, the status of the School was 
improved, and the number of girls receiving education 
and maintenance was limited to eighty.] 

THE FRENCH PROTESIANT REFUGEES. 

To connect in any way St. Mark's Chapel with 
the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes and Black 
Bartholomew might seem at first sight a difficult 
matter, but as an historic fact there was a very close 
connection between the persecution of the French 
Protestants and the little sanctuary that had been so 
long in the hands of the Monastic Brethren of the 
Gaunts and then passed into those of the Bristol 
Corporation. It has been stated that as the result of 
the cruel action of Louis XIV. no less than 50,000 
families were for conscience sake compelled to quit 
France for ever in the year 1687. The refugees were 
scattered far and wide, seeking a new home wherever 
there was an open door to admit them, thus carrying 
into strange communities all the advantages of their 
peculiar knowledge of many arts, especially that of 
weaving. Amongst the places to which they came, 
and where they found a settled home was the City 
of Bristol. They appear to have arrived here in 



St. Marks of the Gaunts. 87 



considerable numbers, and as far as social position is 
concerned they seem from their registers to have been 
chiefly seafaring people, captains, masters and sailors 
from Nantes, Saumur, Saintonge, La Rochelle and the 
Isle of Rh6. One name that occurs in the history of the 
colony is specially familiar to Bristolians. Stephen 
Peloquin was a leading member of their Church in 
1704. The freedom of the City had been conferred 
upon him in 1695. David Peloquin was Sheriff in 
1735 and Mayor in 1751; and Mary Ann Peloquin 
gave benefactions to the City in 1779 amounting to 
;£i 9,400. Many of the Bristol families of to-day claim 
descent from the refugee Huguenots. 

It was generally known that at the coming of 
the refugees the Mayor and his colleagues, at the 
instance of the then Bishop of Bristol, Sir Jonathan 
Trelawney, granted them the use of St. Mark's Chapel 
as a place of worship, and that they continued to 
meet there for some forty years. Beyond that nothing 
was known. Recently however our knowledge has 
been enlarged by the industry of Mr. John Taylor, 
the results of his enquiries being communicated in a 
paper which he read to the Hug^uenot Society, on the 
occasion of their visit to this City during the year 1890.* 

Only those details which concern the history of 
St*. Mark's will be recorded here. 

The first service of the refugees was held in 
St. Mark's on the afternoon of 29th May, 1687. 
Prayers were said by Jeremie Tirel, formerly minister 
of the reformed church of Villeneuve, which was 
followed by a sermon from M. Alexander de Schirac, 
formerly minister of the English Reformed Church of 
Bargerac, Guyenne, who were both then resident in 

* Proceedings of the Huguenot Society^ 1890. 



88 St. Mark's of the Gaunts. 

Bristol, and who had great difficulty in escaping to 
this country. M. de Schirac continued to officiate until 
1703, in June of which year he died suddenly in the 
pulpit of St. Mark's. On August 7th, 1720, an im- 
pressive scene was witnessed within the walls of the 
Chapel. On that occasion Jean Vorsin, of Maintenon 
in the province of Beausse, publicly abjured the errors 
of Romanism. It is recorded that from the first the 
Chapel was crowded, both the Nave and the Chancel 
being fully occupied, and not a few of these worshippers 
afterwards found a final resting place within the walls 
of their refuge Church. There is still a link which 
connects the building with the time when it was used 
by those exiled French Protestants. On a flat stone 
in the South Aisle the following inscription may still 
be read : — 

** Maria Esther Martha Piguenit daughter of Isaac 
Piguenit Esq. died 9th of August 1771 aged 2 years 
and 8 months." 

Judging from the name this would appear to be 
a descendant of one of the Huguenot families, and 
it is the only record of the kind now in the Mayor's 
Chapel. It should be added that Isaac Piguenit was 
Sheriff of Bristol in 1757 and 1760. 

Under circumstances which will be more fully 
explained in the next chapter, the occupation of St. 
Mark's by the refugees came to an end in 1722, the 
Corporation then requiring possession of the building 
for their own use. The French Protestant community 
were granted on a lease renewable every 14 years, a 
piece of land in Orchard Street hard by, on what was 
formerly as the name indicates part of the Gaunts' 
Hospital estate. Upon this land they erected a new 
Chapel. In 1727 the Corporation granted to Mr. Lewis 



St. Mark's of the Gaunts. 89 



Casamajor, a leader of the congfregation, ;^5o towards 
the new Chapel, and in consideration of a pew being 
provided for any members of the Merchant Venturers 
who might attend the services ; and £y> was given 
by that Society towards furnishing the same Chapel. 
In 1 797 the lease seems to have lapsed, after which an 
annual rent of two guineas was paid till June 1825, at 
which time the once numerous congregation had become 
greatly diminished in numbers, and the remnant 
was finally scattered. The last of the congregation 
was Mrs. Marianne de Soyres, the widow of the 
Rev. Francis de Soyres who became pastor of the 
Church in 1790, and occupied that position for 11 years. 
Thus far it will be granted that the Corporation 
had not acted unworthily in utilising both the funds 
derived fi-om the Gaunts' estate and the College Chapel. 
The freeing of the City from burdensome and restric- 
tive tolls, the care and education of poor orphan 
children, and the providing a religious home for those 
who were exiled and cast upon the world for conscience 
sake, are all objects at least in harmony with the 
benevolent purposes for which the Gaunts' Hospital 
was originally founded. 



To this portion of the history of St. Mark's Chapel 
belongs an incident which cannot be omitted, although 
it stands outside the current of the narrative. In the 
year 1680 the famous, or rather infamous Captain 
Bedloe, a coadjutor of the wretched Titus Oates, was 
buried at the threshold of the Chapel. He died 
deeply in debt, and the charity of some who probably 
sympathised with his proceedings provided for him 
an unhonoured grave at the entrance of the consecrated 
building. 



Chapter V. 

^'Zbc flDai?or'9 (tbapeL" 

AJD. 1720 it? 1888. 

With the year 1720 commenced the period, 
continued to the present time, during which the 
Corporation have not only cared for, but have also 
occupied, St. Mark's Chapel as their own official place 
of worship. They did not actually occupy it until two 
years after this date, but the first of the steps which 
led to the change was then taken. It may here be 
remarked that with one exception — that of the small 
borough of Okehampton in Devonshire — Bristol is 
stated to be the only Corporation in the kingdom that 
owns a Church. The circumstances under which this 
peculiarity as regards Bristol arose, have been already 
explained in treating of the suppression of the Gaunts' 
House. 

Respecting the portion of the history of St. Mark's 
now under consideration, information continues to be 
afforded by entries in the ancient Audit Books, the 
acts and proceedings of the Common Council, and 
other records existing at the Council House. These 
entries are for the most part very brief, but they 
illustrate in various ways the continued fulfilment of 
the obligation on the part of the Corporation to 
maintain this place of worship, an obligation which is 
acknowledged to this day. 



St. MarKs^ or the Mayof^s Chapel. 91 

It is somewhat melancholy to observe that the 
determination on the part of the Corporation to occupy 
their own Church really arose out of a quarrel with 
the Cathedral authorities. Up to this time (1722), and 
from a remote date which is not recorded, the Cor- 
poration had attended Divine Service at the Cathedral, 
with the exception of a few years previously to 1606, 
during which interval, owing to another protracted 
dispute with the Cathedral authorities respecting the 
position of their seats, and the use of their Civic 
ceremonial, they attended the Church of St. Mary 
Redcliffe. This earlier dispute was brought to a close 
by the execution of a deed containing the following 
provisions:— "The Dean and Chapter granted and 
agreed that the Corporation should be permitted to erect 
on the North side of the Cathedral, from the Choir to the 
lower pillar, seats for the. Mayor, Aldermen, i^heriflFs 
and Council, their wives and chief officers, to sit in to 
hear a sermon or sermons or other Divine Service there, 
the seats to be kept locked, and the key to be kept by 
the officer to be appointed by the Dean for the purpose 
of keeping the same clean, such officer to be paid 
annually for such purpose los., and the Corporation to 
be allowed to take down the pulpit from the place where 
it then stood, and to place the same at one of the pillars 
in the South side of the said Church, provided that the 
Bishop of the Diocese and the Dean should take their 
seats by the said Mayor as it is fit for them." This 
curious deed was, and no doubt still is, in the possession 
of the Corporation. It is signed by 

The Dean, Simon Robson (under seal), 
Robert Temple, 
Robert Gullyford. 
We are not informed what was the exact cause of o£fence 



9 2 Sf, Mark's, or the Mayor* s Chapel. 



when the later dispute arose, and, as the Corporation 
realised the use they could make of their own Churchy 
there does not seem to have been any attempt at 
reconciliation. No doubt the City Fathers at the earlier 
date, as well as those who were in office a hundred years 
later, were somewhat inclined to stand upon their 
dignity, and could ill brook any apparent invasion of 
their privileges. As a matter of fact, the later rupture 
was the culmination of a series of misunderstandings, 
the blame for which was rightly or wrongly laid at the 
door of the Dean. 

With regard ^to the condition of St. Mark's at this 
time, it would appear that towards the end of its 
occupation by the French Protestants, it had lapsed 
into one of the periods of decay which have several 
times visited it, and had become very dilapidated. To 
remedy this the Corporation incurred considerable 
expense in executing repairs. 

Although the designation, " The Mayor's Chapel," 
has been employed above, it should be remarked that 
such designation did not at once come into use. It was 
not until the attendance of the Corporation at their 
Chapel became a familiar and established custom, that 
the official designation was employed. 

The chronology of the Chapel is resumed by the 
following entry : — 

On Sept. 5th, 1720, **The Mayor proposed to the 
Common Council, that the Gaunts* Church, might be 
repaired and beautified, which was agreed to, and the 
care of doing thereof is left to Mr. Mayor and the 
Aldermen or any three of them, Mr. Mayor or 
Mr. Mayor elect, being one, and Mr. Chamberlain is 
ordered to issue money for that purpose as the 
Committee shall direct." 



St. Mark's, or the Mayar^s Chapel. 93 

In this year the expenses thus incurred amounted 

to £S9 IS. 

On the 14th Oct., 1721, "The Mayor mentioned to 
the Council the affront which the City had lately 
received from the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral, 
and recommended to the House the repairing, new 
pewing, beautifying and adorning the Gaunts, otherwise 
St. Mark's Church, being a Chapel belonging to the 
Mayor, Burgesses and Commonalty, which was unani- 
mously ordered to be done ; and that the Chamberlain 
should issue monies for that purpose." 

In connection with the occupation of the Chapel 
by the Corporation, the payment of the Curate's stipend 
by them, was resumed, and additional payments were 
made to others who preached and read prayers on 
certain public days. Accordingly the following entry 
is made at this time, — "Paid, several persons who 
preached and read prayers at St. Mark's Church 
on 5 public days £^ 7s. od." 

In this year the repairs and renovations cost 
;£53i los. 9d. 

On the 1 8th April, 1722, "The Mayor acquainted 
the House that the Church of St. Mark's otherwise 
the Gaunts in this city having been lately beautified 
and adorned there were found four bells in the Tower 
there, which if they were new cast and two more were 
added to them it would be for the grandeur of the City. 
It was ordered that the same be accordingly forthwith 
done and that Mr. Chamberlain issue moneys for 
the purpose." In accordance with this entry an 
examination of the bells shews that each of them has 
upon it the date 1722, with the initials of the bell- 
founder, £.£. Five of the bells have the following 
sectional epigraphs cast upon their rims, in which 



94 *SV- Mark's^ or the Mayor's ChapeU 

_ 

the expression of loyalty takes the place of the devout 
inscriptions which were no doubt upon the ancient bells. 

1. In honour of King George 

2. These bells were put up 

3. In this Church then beautified 

4. At the expense of the Chamber 

5. (Tenor) John Becher, Mayor ; John Rich, Noblet 

Ruddock, Sheriffs; John Price, Esq., Evan 

Evans, bell-founder. 
The remaining bell has this separate inscription : — 

" In memory of King William." 
Evans was paid for his work £\^l- 

On reference to the schedule of Church property 
dealt with at the time of the suppression of the 
Gaunts' House, it will be observed, that it is there 
proposed to leave only three bells for the use of the 
Church, the other three of the original six being reserved 
for the use of the King. 

This proposed division of the bells appears to have 
afterwards been altered, and four were allowed to remain. 

In the same year (1722) the Mayor, Henry Swymmer, 
Esq., was repaid the sum of £^2^ for one year's preaching 
at St. Mark^s during his Mayoralty. This arose out 
of the resolution *^ that the Mayor for the time being 
shall appoint a person to read Divine Service and preach 
Sunday mornings at the Gaunts' Church as often as 
he shall think proper, and that the Chamberlain do 
pay such preacher los. every time he officiates." The 
Corporation further marked their sense of the importance 
of the change they had initiated by providing a new 
surplice for the preacher at a cost of £\ 8s. 6d., and 
new books for the Church at a ftirther cost of £2 1 8s. 

Part of the work accomplished in 1722 consisted 
of the erection of a gallery at the Western end of th0 



S/, Mark\ or the Mayar^s Chapel. 95 



Nave. This is referred to by Barrett in the following 
terms : — " At the entrance of the South (by courtesy 
the West) door behind the large window, there is a 
gallery with this inscription — * This gallery was erected 
and the Chapel beautified at the charge of the Chamber 
of this City. John Becher, Esq. Mayor; and Noblet 
Ruddock and John Rich, Esqrs., Sheriffs, in the year 

1722. ' 

The following entry in the Journals refers to an 
improvement in the Chancel : — 

On the 7th Feb., 1724, "The altar piece and com- 
munion table were ordered to be beautified and 
repaired," under the direction of the Mayor. 

This work appears to have been somewhat delayed 
or left incomplete, as in 1728 there was paid "for 
beautifying the altar piece ;^8o, marble for ditto £zo.'* 
This " beautifying " consisted partly in the erection of 
a wooden screen in front of the exquisite stone work, 
where it remained for just a century. 

In 1726 it is ordered that 20s. be henceforth paid 
by the Chamberlain to the person who shall preach 
the sermon at Mr. Mayor's Chapel on Sunday morning 
by his appointment. 

In 1729 the petition of A. S. Catcott, Clerk, was 
presented, praying that he might be appointed " Reader " 
in Mr. Mayor's Chapel. He was master of the " Free 
School," and was appointed at a salary of ;^2o per 
annum. [The salary of the " Reader " was increased 
to 25 guineas in the year 1754.] 

A few years later the windows of the Chapel appear 
to have received special attention : — 

In 1738, — 8th April, "Ihe windows of the Chapel 
were ordered to be newly glazed and beautified. Under 

 Barrett, p. 344. 



96 St. Mark*Sf or the Mayors Chapel. 

this date the entry appears, for repairing and adorning 
the Mayor's Chapel ^^96 i8s/' 

Later on, the Mayor appears to have received carte 
blanche^ in carrying out further improvements : — 

In 1743, — 6th August, "It was unanimously re 
solved that the Mayor should be at liberty to make 
such additions and alterations to the seats as he should 
think fit for the more convenient reception of the con- 
gregation resorting to the Chapel." 

It would seem fi*om the following curious extract 
from Old^Worlde Gleanings^ that ten years later, 
June 23rd, 1753, the first state visit of the Mayor and 
Corporation to St. Mark's was made : — " Our Mayor 
and Corporation yesterday celebrated with great cheer- 
fulness and solemnity the anniversary of his Majesty's 
inauguration : on which occasion for the first time 
John Clements Esq. our Mayor, rode to the City 
Chapel in a rich body coach of state, carv'd, gilt, and 
adom'd like that of the Lord Mayor of London, 
attended by a great number of other coaches well fill'd, 
and at night there were bonfires and illuminations 
throughout the City.*' 

At this time and down to the recent restoration 
of the Church the beautiful Poyntz, or Jesus Chapel, 
as it was named by the founder, was used as a Chaplain's 
Vestry, there being no other portion of the building 
convenient for the purpose. This use of the Chantry 
led to the alteration referred to in the following extract 
from the Journals of the Council : — 

In 1756, — 8th Dec, "Ordered that an apartment in 
the Vestry room (Poyntz Chapel) be fitted up for the 
reception of such records, books, &c., belonging to the 
City as the Mayor for the time being shall think proper 
to be lodged there." 



St Mark's^ or the Mayor's Chapel. 97 

Two stone cupboards with iron doors are accord- 
ingly found on the North side, but they have not in 
recent times contained anything in the shape of a 
book or record. This repository occupies a recess with 
two arches said to have formerly been used as a 
confessional. This is however a very doubtful explana- 
tion of the former use of the recess. 

It is not known what were the musical arrange- 
ments of this place of worship up to this time, but 
on June 23rd, 1764, it is recorded, that an organ was 
purchased of Mr. Robert Broderip for the sum of 
;^3i5. Edmund Broderip was at the same time ap- 
pointed organist at a salary of 25 guineas. This organ 
was placed on the gallery at the West end, which 
had been previously erected, and there it remained till 
the year 1830. It was then disposed of to a Mr. H. 
Smith, who supplied a new instrument. It is stated 
that the original organ was removed to Abergavenny 
Parish Church, and was in use there comparatively 
unaltered until about 1880, when it was replaced, most 
of the old pipes being still retained. 

Reverting to the date at which the original organ 
was erected (1764), it may be seen that Barrett has 
a note to the following effect : — "In the year 1772 a 
neat organ was placed in the gallery (which was erected 
in 1722} and the whole Chapel was again repaired and 
beautified."* This must be the organ that was pur- 
chased of Robert Broderip, the date of its erection 
given by Barrett being incorrect. It is probable 
however that at the time he mentions other improve- 
ments in the Church were made. 

The following entry under date 1777-8 indicates 
the time when the debased portico, which previously to 

* Banctti p. 344. 



98 St Mark's^ or the Mayo/s Chapel. 

the recent restoration stood at the Western entrance 
of the Church, was erected : — " Cost of Portico before 
the Mayor's Chapel ;^83 los. 6d." For many years 
the Corporation continued to pay the Dean and Chapter 
of the Cathedral a rent of 2s. lod. for the site of this 
Portico. This charge was afterwards commuted. 

On the 1 2th May, 1785 : — "On the motion of Mr. 
Mayor, it was unanimously agreed and ordered that a 
new gallery be erected over the present gallery near 
the organ in the Mayor's Chapel under the direction of 
the Mayor and Aldermen or any three of them, whereof 
the Mayor to be one, and that Mr. Chamberlain do 
issue monies accordingly.*' 

In the memoirs of the Rev. John Wesley it is 
stated that on the i6th March, 1788, he was invited by 
the then Mayor, Mr. Edger, to preach in St. Mark's 
Chapel, and afterwards to dine with him at the Mansion 
House. •• Most of the Aldermen were at Church, and 
a multitude of high and low, to whom the preacher 
explained and applied that awftil passage of Scripture, 
the history of Dives and Lazarus."* 

In 1812, an additional gallery was ordered to be 
built in the Chapel for the accommodation of the 
Grammar School boys. In the same year the stipend 
of the Chaplain was increased from £^2 to 52 guineas, 
and *' the clergyman who preaches to be paid £z 2s. 
instead of 21s. for every sermon, but this is not to 
be paid oftener than six times in the yeaV." 

In 1 8 19 the repair and beautifying of the Chapel, 
was referred to the Surveyors of City Lands, and 
forthwith the work was commenced under the Mayor, 
Mr. John Haythorne. The undertaking thus begun 
appears to have extended over a long period of time, 

• Bristol Past and PnsfiU. Vol. H., p. 185. ' 



St. Mark's^ or the Mayors Chapel. 99 

as exceptional expenses under this head continue to be 
charged until the year 1831. Mr. Garrard, the City 
Chamberlain, appears to have been the moving spirit 
in the matter, and though his zeal was commendable, 
his judgment according to more modem ideas was in 
many respects at fault. Large sums of money were 
expended on matters of questionable taste, and in 
erecting the incongruous additions that we have lately 
seen with so much satisfaction removed. For one 
thing at all events our gratitude is due to Mr. Garrard, 
namely, the discovery and preservation of the beautiful 
carved work of the altar screen. This, at the time 
when the Corporation took the Chapel in hand in 
1721-2, had been a good deal mutilated to allow of a 
heavy screen of Dutch oak being placed in front of 
it; and the unexpected discovery of the elaborately 
carved stone work behind, revealed one of the most 
interesting features of the Church. Mr. Garrard's so- 
called restoration included the erection of the screen 
or ante- chapel at the West end, and the insertion 
of stained glass for the windows, purchased at the 
Beckford sale and elsewhere. The great West window 
was needlessly removed and replaced by a larger but 
inferior production.' The remains of the former window 
still form part of a mock ruin near the village of 
Brentry. A new gallery was erected in the Chancel, 
and a new Communion Table of stained wood pro- 
vided. Stalls of painted plaster in imitation of oak- 
work and a state seat for the Ma3ror of the same 

• When the dear glass which filled the West window was recently re- 
moved in order that Cathedral glass might be sabstituted, the following 
inscription was found scratched on the glass of the qnatrefoil, which 
formed the centre of the wheel tracery : — 

<• W. Mitton glazed this window 1823.*' 
This Mitton was known as a Bristol citizen to manf who are still living. 



636383 



lOo St. MarKs^ or the Mayor's Chapel. 

material, were erected in the Nave. A new organ 
was placed over the " ante-chapel," where it effectually 
blocked out the newly-constructed West window. In 
every part the building appears to have been on this 
occasion, as it is called, " embellished," but there was 
no attempt to reconstruct destroyed portions, or to 
recover a single lost feature of the original design. 
Mr. Latimer has fully described these proceedings in 
his Annals of Bristol^ and has commented in no 
measured terms upon the extravagance and bad taste 
which was then so freely indulged in * This mere- 
tricious treatment of the building cost a larger sum 
of money, than did the real and thorough restoration 
recently accomplished. 

The appearance of the Chapel when the many 
alterations referred to were completed is presented in 
an engraving of the interior, which was published by 
Ackermann in 1832, the original drawing of which by 
John Willis is now in the possession of Sir Charles 
Wathen. The view is taken from the Chancel, and 
shews two highly-ornamented galleries thrown out from 
the Transept arches, the Mayor's state seat, and the 
stalls for the Corporation, with the screen at the West 
end carrying the organ. The picture is interesting 
as a representation of the costly '^ embellishments " 
which have now altogether passed away. 

In the year in which the engraving was published 
there is the following entry : — 
Paid John Willis, Artist, for 1 1 Engravings £\^ 6s. 6d. 

These were probably copies of the engravings 
coloured by the artist, such as are still in existence. 

In 1829 the picture which forms the present altar 



• Afmah of Bristol m tki NmeUtf$tk Ctntury^ p. loi, 



SL MarKsy or the Mayor* s Chapel. loi 

» piece was painted for the Corporation by Mr. John 
Eangy of Clifton. He was paid for the work £210. 

The year 1835 was important to Bristol and the 
country at large, as the year in which the Municipal 
Corporations' Reform Act was passed. This Act, which 
revolutionised so many things, made no difference in 
the relation of the Corporation to St. Mark's Chapel, 
and under it the Mayor for the time being continued as 
heretofore to nominate the Chaplain. 

As might be expected, the propriety of the Cor- 
poration, continuing to fulfil its ancient duties with 
regard to the Chapel, did not at this time pass un- 
challenged; but in the end it was clearly shewn that 
there rested upon them both a legal and moral 
obligation to do so. 

For a long period morning service only had 
been held at the Chapel, but on March 6th, 1836, 
in accordance with an announcement made by the 
Mayor, the Chapel was opened again for a Sunday 
afternoon service. The Chaplain was then the Rev. 
T. Hope. This afternoon service has now given place 
to one held regularly in the evening. 

In 1838 the manors of Stokeland Gaunts and 
Erdecote Gaunts, referred to in the ancient Charters 
as part of the endowment of the Gaunts' Hospital, 
and situated near Bridgwater, were advertised to be 
sold by auction (12th July), and the following para- 
graph, which appeared in Felix Parleys Journal^ has 
reference to the prospective sale : — " The sound-hearted 
portion of the citizens of Bristol will read with a 
burning cheek the humiliating announcement in our 
paper of to-day (May 19th, 1838) of the sale of 
estates comprising about 1,360 acres of land, which it 
is stated were purchased by the Corporation of Bristol 



I02 57. Mark's^ or the Mayor's Chapel. 

of Henry VIII. in the year 1542, which purchased at 
a cost of about ;^ 1,000 are now worth ;£ 100,000."* 
As explained in a note at page 56, the sale was 
carried out under the direction of the Lords of the 
Treasury, the proceeds being used for the reduction 
of debt. 

In Advent of the year 1840, the newly-appointed 
Mayor, Mr. Robert Phippen, revived the custom of 
attending the Mayor's Chapel in state, which had 
be6n discontinued since the passing of the Municipal 
Corporations' Act. In anticipation of this his Worship 
had been presented by his friends with a state robe 
and gauntlets, similar to those worn in the old 
Common Council, and their use was afterwards continued. 
Ten years after, as a complement to the foregoing 
resolution, the Aldermen and a large majority of 
the Councillors also revived the ancient custom of 
wearing scarlet robes when attending the Chapel on 
state occasions.f 

In ancient times the Mayor and Corporation 
observed many curious customs with regard to their 
official appearances at Church. They visited on set 
occasions most of the ancient Churches, and their 
movements were regulated by a complicated and rigidly 
observed etiquette. Advent season was then a great 
occasion, as the following extract from the Mayor's 
Kalendar will shew : — " Item, the Maire and Shiref 
of Bristowe shall by vsage this quarter and ceason 
byfore Christmas, kepe theire Aduent Sermondes ; that 
is to say the furst Sonday of Aduent, which fallith 
alweies the Sonday next after Seynt Lyues day the 
bisshop in Nouembre, at which ftirst Sonday the seide 

* Brutol Past and Present^ Vol. II., p. 185. 
t Latimer's Ann. of Brutol^ p. 252. 



St. Mark*Sy or the Mayot^s Chapel. 103 

Maire and Shiref, with theire brethren, shall walke to 
the firere Prechours, and there hyre theire sermonde. 
And the next Sonday thereupon, they shall hire ser- 
monde at the ffrere menors, and the thirde Sonday 
at the ffrere Prechours, and the fourthe and laste 
Sonday of Aduent at the frere menors. And there to 
make an end of Aduent sermondes."* 

The annual state visit of the Mayor and Cor- 
poration to St. Mark's Chapel, on Advent Sunday, 
which, as stated above, was revived in 1840, and is 
still continued, is all that survives of the elaborate 
Advent arrangements observed in ancient times. 

Further extensive alterations were made, chiefly 
in the Chancel, in the year 1870, respecting which 
the following entry was made in the "Preacher's 
Register," which is kept in the Vestry : — " The Chapel 
was closed from February 20th till July loth for 
extensive repair and alterations, the abolition of the 
side galleries, the removal and reconstruction of the 
organ in the niche on the South side, the alteration of 
the reading desk, the entire repaving of the floor of the 
Chancel, by which the sepulchral monuments apd 
sedilia were restored to view in their ancient beauty." 

From this date, to the time when the complete 
restoration of the Chapel was determined upon in 
August, 1888, only ordinary repairs to the structure 
were executed, and at last it came to have a very 
shabby and neglected appearance. 



* The A/ayof^s KaUndar, p. 85. 




Chapter VI. 

^be 'Reetoration of 1888^9* 

NoTB.— In substance, this chapter origtDaQy formed a paper read before 
the Clifton Antiquarian Club on Januaiy 3i8t, 1889. 

The Story of the Restoration of 1 888-9 will here- 
after remain an important and interesting chapter in 
the history of St. Mark's Chapel. In these pages it 
is given as the result of personal observation, almost 
day by day. The writer was anxious that whatever 
points of interest might arise should be carefully noted 
at the time, and that, for the advantage of those who 
come after, a complete record of the whole should be 
preserved. 

Before entering upon these particulars it seems 
desirable that the following short account of the move- 
ment which resulted in the Restoration should be 
given : — 

Ten years or more previously to anything definite 
being done, the manifest necessity for some action 
was unofficially discussed. The movement first began 
to take shape during the second year of the Mayoralty 
of Mr., now Sir Joseph D. Weston, about eight years 
before the commencement of the work. The Mayor 
at the time was impressed with the appearance of 
decay and disfigurement which had fastened itself 
on the structure, far beyond what could be met by any 



' v 



\ 



Si. Mark's, or the Mayor^s Chapel. 105 



ordinary process of repair, and he conferred on the 
subject with a few friends likely to be interested in 
the preservation of so important an example of 
Mediaeval architecture. The gentlemen thus brought 
together by Mr. Weston, were Mr. John Harvey, then 
High Sheriff; The Ven. Archdeacon Norris; Mr., now 
Sir Geo. W. Edwards ; Mr., now Sir Charles Wathen ; 
Mr. Killigrew Wait ; Mr. Wm. Smith ; Mr. W. E. 
Greorge ; Mr. John Lysaght ; Mr. Geo. Wills ; Mr. H. 
Matthews, and others. They formed themselves into 
a Committee, and as the result of their deliberations, 
Mr. John L. Pearson, R.A., was applied to for his 
opinion and recommendations. Mr. Pearson was at 
that time engaged upon the neighbouring Bristol 
Cathedra], and he took an early opportunity of making 
a thorough examination of the Mayor's Chapel and its 
surroundings. At the request of Mr. Weston he 
undertook to prepare a series of plans for his pro- 
posed alterations, which was accordingly done, and 
those plans became the basis of all subsequent pro- 
ceedings. The matter then continued to be the subject 
of occasional correspondence for some time. 

When it came up again for definite consideration 
it was evident that the whole question must be brought 
before the Town Council. This was first done on 
August nth, 1885, and the result was the passing of 
the following resolution, Mr. Charles Wathen being 
then Mayor: — "That the condition of St. Mark's 
Church requires immediate attention, and with a view 
of ascertaining what is expedient to be done a com- 
mittee be appointed to report to the Council." Ihe 
committee then appointed consisted of the following 
members of the Council : — Mr. Charles Wathen, 
Mayor ; Alderman George W. Edwards, Alderman 



io6' St. Mark\ or the Mayor^s Chapel. 

F. F. Fox, Alderman W. Proctor Baker, Messrs. J. D. 
Weston, C. B. Hare, W. R. Barker, and H. Matthews, 
and these gentlemen continued to act from that time, 
until the work was completed 

On July 30th, 1887, the matter was brought before 
the Council in connection with a full report from 
Mr. Pearson concerning the condition of the Chapel 
and the works which he proposed to carry out. The 
Committee recommended "that they be authorised to 
have the proposed works carried out by sections or 
otherwise as may be found most convenient in accord- 
ance with such plans and under Mr. Pearson's advice." 
The then Mayor, Alderman Sir George W. Edwards, 
moved the adoption of the report of the Committee, 
and strongly urged that the whole of the work should 
be undertaken. On that occasion, however, the Council 
were desirous of obtaining more information in regard 
to its own position in the matter, and the report was 
referred back to the Committee. 

On November 9th, 1887, when Mr. Charles Wathen 
was for the third time elected Mayor, a further report 
from the Committee was presented to the Council In 
this report the probable expense of the entire scheme 
was separated into two portions. The one comprised 
the necessary repairs to the existing structure, together 
with the re-arrangement of the seating accommodation ; 
the other included the remaining works of restoration 
and the reconstruction of destroyed features. The 
Committee then asked the Council for the funds neces- 
sary for carrying out the first portion of the scheme, 
and also for their authority to have the second portion 
executed in the event of funds being provided for the 
purpose by means of subscriptions. 

The recommendations of the Committee were on 



SL Mark's^ or the Mayar^s Chapel. 107 

this occasion agreed to, and the way was thus prepared 
for carrying out the entire scheme. 

During the year 1888 the Mayor, Mr. Charles 
Wathen, continued to take the lead in presiding over 
the meetings of the Committee, and undertook per- 
sonally the collection of the large sum required for 
the completion of the work under the above arrange- 
ment with the Council. 

The Committee, having adopted the plans already 
prepared by Mr. Pearson, felt that on all accounts it 
was desirable that the whole of the work should be 
done under one contract, and instructed the architect 
to complete his arrangements accordingly. The 
clearance of the Chapel was soon after commenced. 
After some unavoidable delay, the first stone of the 
new work was laid at the North -West angle of the 
new Transept on October 9th, 1888. 

Sir Charles Wathen was for the fourth time 
elected Mayor in November, 1888, and was thus 
enabled to continue without interruption his active 
interest in the progress of this undertaking. He 
collected the sum of ;^ 2, 168 17s., the amount required 
for the restoration part of the scheme. 

The whole of the work was completed in Sep- 
tember, 1889, and on Sunday, the 29th of that month, 
the Church was re-opened by the Lord Bishop of the 
Diocese. The Mayor and Corporation attended in 
state on the occasion, and much interest was mani- 
fested by all classes of the citizens. 

One recommendation of the report furnished by 
Mr. Pearson had, unfortunately, to be left out of the 
question by the Committee, namely, the re-opening 
of the three blocked-up windows that formerly 
gave light to the South Aisle. This improvement, 



io8 St. MarKs^ or the Mayot^s Chapel. 



although so desirable, could not be proceeded with, the 
adjoining business premises being so extended as to 
render the opening of these windows at the present 
time impossible. At some past period buildings were 
erected which covered the passage way, and rested 
against the Church, the supports being let into the 
wall itself; and a lease, of which about 40 years had 
to run, blocked the way to any alteration. This not 
only keeps the windows in question sealed up, but 
obstructs the complete view of the picturesque Tower 
which would otherwise be obtained from College 
Green. It must not be supposed that this condition 
of things is of modem creation. On Buck's map of 
"the N.W. prospect of the City of Bristol," dated 
1734, these premises are represented as having five 
gables, the end of the range being brought against 
the wall of the Aisle. The present arrangement must, 
therefore, have existed for centuries, probably nearly 
as long as the Gaunts' estate has been in the hands 
of the Corporation. 

While every one interested in the Restoration re- 
gretted that these windows could not be opened, all 
rejoiced that by the timely purchase of a strip of 
ground on the North side when the Merchant Ven- 
turers' Schools were projected, and the acquisition of 
another strip at the East end, it was possible to 
clear the ground of the stables, etc., that formerly 
encumbered it, to provide for the erection of which, 
the exterior of the Chapel itself was cut about in a 
most barbarous manner.* The purchase of the ground 
on the North side also rendered possible the erection 

* Referring to this, Pryce says 1861 — <' A great portion of this Church 
is so completely surrounded by other buildings that much of it is 
necessarily hidden from view."— i^r/fi/ai* History of Bristol^ p. 141. 



St. Mark's^ or the Mayor^s Chapel. 109 

of the new North Transept and Cloister or Corridor. 
There is now a clear space round the completed 
building except at the Western end. 

The one other point on which the Committee could 
not follow Mr. Pearson's recommendations was the 
removal of the building on the North side of the front 
elevation. After the work was commenced, however, 
an important step was taken by the Corporation with 
a view to the ultimate removal of this obstruction and 
the opening up of the North side of the Church from 
College Green. 

With these exceptions all that Mr. Pearson contem- 
plated as advisable was brought within the scheme of 
restoration, and the result has been such a complete 
and substantial renovation of the old College Chapel 
as will serve for many long years to come. 

The entire practicable scheme may be thus 
epitomised : — 

1. Reconstruction of the Western Entrance. 

2. Alterations and repairs to the Nave and Chancel. 

3. Erection of a new North Transept, and a Vestry 

communicating therewith on its Eastern side. 

4. Erection of a Cloister communicating with the new 

Transept on its Western side and with a door- 
way at the Western end of the Nave. 

5. Greneral repair of the interior and exterior. 

The above order will be observed in the following 
remarks. 

Reconstruction of the Western Entrance. — 
The former Portico which covered a flight of steps 
leading down to the Church door was erected in 
1777-8 (see page 97), and was, therefore, no part of the 
structure proper. It was debased and incongruous 
in style, and moreover was in a ruinous condition. 



no St. Marks^ or the Mayor^s Chapel. 

Although it had become familiar as an adjunct to 
the building, and figures in all the known represen- 
tations of the exterior, there can be no pang of regret 
at its having now disappeared. 

The new doorway and its accessories are designed 
in the Early Decorated style, similarly to the new 
North Transept window. It is constructed flush with 
the great West window above it, which is now seen 
to much greater advantage. The spaces on either 
side of the doorway are occupied by blank, pointed 
arches, carried to the height of the doorway, and 
enclosing sub-arches with foliated heads, surmounted 
by quatrefoil ornaments. The entire width of the 
frontage of the main building is thus occupied by the 
richly-moulded doorway and arcading. 

During the alterations to this part of the building, 
it was clearly seen that the new arrangement of the 
front elevation is a return to the original, or rather 
to what was probably erected when the East end of 
the Church was re-built about the year 1500. When 
the ashlar face of the wall on either side was re- 
moved, the remains of former blank tracery, consisting 
of five narrow panels or arches, right and left, were 
found. No remains of the heads were there, but 
only the hacked mullions, and portions of the side 
and base mouldings. The new doorway is, therefore, 
in the best sense **a restoration." 

The outer mouldings of the arches terminate in 
four corbels, representations of persons who were 
connected with the building in the time of the old 
Gaunts' Hospital. To the left of the doorway is the 
helmeted head of Maurice de Gaunt ; to the right the 
more peaceful representation of Henry de Gaunt, 
copied firom the e&gy attributed to him in the South 



St Mark^Sy or the Mayar^s Chapel. m 

Aisle. On the extreme left is the head of Lady 
Jane Guildford (see page 62), and on the extreme 
right that of Bishop Salley. 

Instead of the flight of mean outside steps which 
formerly led down to the Western doorway, there is 
now a broad flight of steps leading down from within 
the doorway to the floor of the Nave, with ancient 
monuments on either side. The entrance to the Church 
is, therefore, of a much more dignified character, and 
one calculated to bring into immediate prominence 
its chief architectural beauties. Upon this entrance 
platform, and harmonising with the West window 
above it, an elaborate internal lobby, a combination 
of wood and glass, has been erected. This is intended 
to secure the comfort of the congregation, and it also 
adds much to the appearance of the interior, when 
looked at from the Eastern end. 

But for the fear of entering upon too wide a 
field of renovation, there is little doubt that extensive 
alterations to the West window would have been 
proposed. Mr. Pearson's report intimated as much. 
But although the window remains as before, except as 
regards necessary repair, the gabled front has been 
greatly improved by the erection of a new parapet 
and ornamental crosses. By this means the unsightly 
and unfinished appearance which the fi-ontage so long 
presented has been completely changed. 

Alterations to the Nave and Chancel. — ^The 
plans of the architect as regards the Nave involved 
the lowering of its floor some six inches to what he 
considers to have been its original level, an entire 
clearance from its area of the heavy screen which 
once supported the organ, and latterly a gallery for 
the congregation; and the banishment of the no less 



112 St MarKs^ or the Mayar^s Chapel. 

ponderous stalls and canopies including the official seats 
of the Mayor and High Sheriff. The lath-and-plaster 
" Ante-Chapel " or Screen, which occupied the Western 
end of the Nave, and received more admiration than it 
deserved, no longer deceives the visitor's eye, and the 
painted plaster of the stalls and canopies will never 
again be described in our local guide books as ''rich 
fretwork stalls of dark oak." They were at the best 
but sorry modem shams, and as such have been justly 
discarded. The same remark applies to the painted 
deal boxes which served as pews, which have now 
been replaced by what is more worthy of the building 
and its uses, and more creditable to the city, both as 
regards material and design. 

llie removal of the screen and gallery and the 
lowering of the floor had, at once, a marvellous effect^ 
the full extent of which was realised when the works 
were completed. The change is seen in the enlargement 
of Nave space, the increased height of the building, the 
view of the rich Fifteenth Century ceiling which is now 
unbroken from end to end, the improved perspective, 
and the lighting-up of the South Aisle which before 
was hidden in gloom. 

The lowering of the floor to what was proved by the 
bases of destroyed tombs, to be its proper level, revealed 
the existence of vaults beneath the Nave. These were 
nothing more than a series of ordinary brick vaults 
which have now been filled up and covered by a thick 
layer of concrete. 

The removal of the * coverings of paint and plaster 
from the walls of the Nave and Chancel brought to light 
some interesting facts concerning the walls themselves, 
and afforded evidence of the many changes through 
which the building has passed since its foundation. 



Deernai UaJflg le ifu 

Page It3. /{a^aUdl)emifanjiiJW<^Jlae 
— i inch, aeale, — 



SL Mark's^ or the Mayor* s Chapel. 113 



There appears to be no doubt, as evidenced by the Early 
corbel tables on either side of the exterior, that the 
present Nave walls are the original walls of the 
Hospital Chapel dating back to about 1230. It was 
also made equally clear that the successive Masters of 
the Hospital in the exercise of their authority, made 
frequent changes in the arrangements of the structure ; 
and fiuther, that it suffered much in the great change 
which it underwent in common with all similar establish- 
ments throughout the country, in the i6th Century. 

As regards the Nave walls themselves, when the 
work of restoration was commenced, there seemed 
every reason to suppose that they consisted through- 
out of rubble stones thickly coated with plaster. 
This proved to be true only of the Western end of 
the Nave, and the wall space under the windows. 
The removal of the plaster covering showed that 
between and above the windows, and throughout the 
whole of the Chancel, the wall face was of freestone. 
Wherever it exists this had been ruthlessly hacked, the 
better to receive the coating of plaster which through- 
out this structure was made to "hide a multitude of 
sins." This ashlar wall facing has now been treated 
very differently. It has been carefully cleaned down 
and pointed, and thus, notwithstanding their former 
rough treatment, the walls so far present a much 
richer appearance. 

In the process of getting down to the bare walls, 
an interesting fact also came to light with regard to 
the whole of the Nave windows. This was that the 
mouldings of the Early English jambs did not termi- 
nate with the sills of the various windows as they 
appeared to do, but were continued down about seven 
feet below the sills, terminating in moulded bases 



114 St. MarKs^ or the Mayor^s Chapel. 

resting on a rounded string course. This projecting 
string course had been broken off on both sides 
of the Nave, and had to be renewed throughout. 
The spaces between the jambs had been filled in 
with false walls, behind which, when removed, the 
original plaster wall face was exposed to view. 
The hollows of the jambs and bases were filled in 
with rubble and mortar, and their existence was 
effectually concealed by a thick covering of the uni- 
versal plaster. The effect of the original design of 
thus lengthening the whole series of jambs and of 
introducing bays below the windows was to relieve 
and break up the wall space, which, owing to the 
height of the windows from the floor, is very great, 
and which would otherwise have presented a bare 
appearance. It was no doubt to obviate the bare- 
ness of the levelled walls that the canopies and 
stalls were latterly introduced, but '^a more ex- 
cellent way " is now found, in returning to the 
architectural breaking up of the wall face, which 
should never have been interfered with. One of 
the most interesting results of the recent restora- 
tion is seen in this recovery after the lapse of ages, 
of an important feature of the original design of 
the building. 

The interesting remains of two ancient monu- 
ments were found inserted in the walls, one on either 
side of the Nave, and opposite to each other. In the 
case of that on the South side only the moulded base, 
without mark or inscription of any kind, was left, and 
this had been a good deal cut about at various times 
to receive the supports of the stalls, which formerly 
stood over it. Upon this base there were sufficient 
remains of carved work to show that a niche or 



St. Mark^s^ or the Mayot^s Chapel. 115 

canopy was at one time carried up from it against 
the wall. When the monument was destroyed the 
wall was made good, and from the appearance of the 
wall when stripped, the monument must have been of 
massive proportions, standing some 15 ft. high. 

On removing the ground below this base a hollow 
space about 7 ft. x 3 ft. was found. This was partly 
taken, lengthwise, out of the main wall of the Nave. 
At the bottom of this space was the cover stone of 
the actual vault, in which, no doubt, the remains of 
the dignitary to whom the monument was erected still 
repose. When the foundations for the new Transept 
and Vestry were dug some carved fragments were 
found buried in the clay, which fitted the work on 
this base, and showed that the monument must 
have been of elaborate character, and of the Fifteenth 
Century. 

The later monument on the North side has a 
square front, with an obtuse arch-head. The open 
space of the tomb had been bricked up. What 
projections there were had been roughly knocked ofiF, 
and the hollows of the carving were filled up with 
chips and debris to prepare a surface for the plaster. 
The lower part of this tomb is formed of a range of 
panel work, partly destroyed; the spandrels of the 
arch are enriched with carving, and the line of the 
arch with Tudor ornamentation, only a few of the 
small foliage members of which remain entire. It 
was curious to observe how the place in which this 
monument was found had been adapted to its purpose. 
Above it was visible the arch and relieving arch oi 
a former wide doorway which at one time led from 
the Cloister to the Nave. (See Plate I.) When the 
doorway was done away with it was walled-up only 



ii6 St. Mark's^ or the Mayor's Chapel. 



on the Cloister side, leaving a recess in the Chapel. 
The lower part of this recess was built up to receive 
a carved recumbent figure and the front of the tomb 
inserted in the opening. This firont being too wide 
for the recess, one of the jambs of the old doorway 
was removed and the opening made sufficiently wide 
for its purpose. Part of the jamb on the right hand 
side is still visible. This interesting table-tomb has 
been as far as possible preserved and restored. 

From time to time in the progress of the works, 
the evidences of former doorways and other openings 
in the ancient walls, all of which were communications 
with the external Hospital buildings, were discovered. 
Thus the interesting remains of a disused doorway 
existed immediately under the first light of the first 
window on the North side. The whole circumstances 
surrounding this window and doorway require more 
than a passing reference. With regard to the window, 
it was always apparent that it differed from its com- 
panions not only in its Perpendicular character, but 
also in size and details. It was not, however, until 
the surrounding walls were laid bare that this was 
fiilly explained. It then became evident that the 
opening had been shortened and narrowed to accom- 
modate the smaller size of the later window. Either 
then or afterwards the angle spaces left on either 
side by the narrowing of the opening were dealt with 
in a manner characteristic of the reckless spirit that 
more than once appears to have governed the treat- 
ment of the building. The prominent mouldings were 
hacked off the original jambs from the sill upwards, 
and the splays were filled up with mock jambs of 
plaster with some resemblance to the prevalent Early 
English work. All irregularities were smoothed over. 



SL MarKs^ or the Mayor* s Chapel. 117 



and to the modem eye the paint brush completed the 
work of deception. 

The shortening of this window allowed the 
construction of a doorway immediately under its 
first light. This doorway opened into the adjoining 
premises of the Gaunts' Hospital, and was a means 
of communication between them and a gallery over- 
looking the Nave, or stairs leading down to it. The 
existence of this doorway was first discovered on 
laying bare the exterior surface of the wall in which 
the jambs and arch were left entire, and the opening 
roughly walled up. Over the doorway on that side 
the remains of a painted inscription were found. The 
lettering had adhered to the plaster covering, and 
portions came away with it, so that nothing could be 
made out of what remained. 

On exploring this opening from the ifiside it was 
found that the upper part of its wall surface was 
formed of squares of ashlar, with a hollow space 
behind. On removing these squares it was found that 
on the reverse side they were covered with paintings 
in oil colours. Two distinct subjects occupied the 
width of the doorway. The upper part of one of the 
sides of the opening was also painted in a similar 
manner. These must be the identical wall paintings 
which formerly came to light in the manner recorded 
in Felix Farle^s Bristol Journal of February 28th, 
1824, which narrative has since been repeated by our 
various local historians.* It would seem that after 



* '* AmoDgst Uie curious discoveries of ftntiquity in aad about the 
Mayor's Chapel one was made last week in an old stone closet in the north 
wall of the chapel. The closet belongs to a dressing room in the adjoining 
house occupied by Mr. Franklin ; he having some whitewashers employed in 
the same discovered in scraping off the scales of old plaster an ancient painting 
on stone supposed to have been covered up some hundreds of years. It 



ii8 St. Mark's, or the Mayor* s Chapel. 

this first discovery the paintings were left undisturbed, 
but the recess was walled-up when subsequent altera- 
tions were made in the exterior premises. Their 
coming thus to light a second time is therefore a 
case, not of history, but of archaeology repeating 
itself. So far the paintings have been considered 
only in connection with the recess in which they were 
found, but inasmuch as the recess itself really occupied 
a former doorway between the outer premises and the 
Chapel, both sides of which were for the first time 
explored during the restoration, the previous question 
arises : How came the recess to be formed ? The 
suggestion is that, supposing this doorway to have led 
to a gallery or flight of steps in the Chapel, when this 
was removed the opening was filled up on the Chapel 
side only, leaving a recess in the apartment with 
which it formerly communicated. This recess then 
came to be used for the devotional purposes indicated 
by the existence of these wall paintings, the square 
openings or sights which were cut in the stones 
affording to the occupant a view of the Nave and 
Chancel. 

The intimate connection between the ecclesiastical 

consists of two subjects : the one on the east side is the nativity of Christ, the 
stable at Bethlehem, the infant Savioor in the manger, with Joseph and Mary ; 
the other seems to represent Christ near Bethany, where he is met by the 
supplicating sister of Lazarus. The above closet is supposed to have been an 
old private confessional, for when taking down an old coat of arms lately 
in the chapel, two sights direct from the closet to the altar appeared.*'— ^ 
Felix Farley's Journal, Feb. 28th, 1824; quoted in Bristol Past and 
Present, Vol. II., p. 186. 

There is also a separate panel on which r% depicted the Resurrection. 
"On each side of the Saviour a crowned and mitred figure kneels in 
adoration, and between them the words Jesu, Maria, etc., are repeated." — 
Evans, p. 134. 

These curious relics have now been placed in the Poyntz Chapel. 



iliuk SaU 
Sectim, sht»rm^ stmt and. hsaJjm 




-Sfha.Ct' 






Page Iffl 



St. Martfs^ or the Mayof^s Chapel. 119 

and domestic buildings of the Gaunts* Hospital was 
further shown by several other disused openings in 
the North wall. The first of these to be noticed was 
a round - headed, walled -up doorway behind Wm. 
Birde's tomb at the West end. This was on a level 
with the Nave floor, and led to the ground floor 
apartments, below the dormitories. Another, still 
visible, was a narrow square-headed doorway 5 ft. 
high, close to the great West window, which formerly 
communicated with the apartments on the first floor, 
supposed to be the dormitories themselves. This 
doorway had five steps leading up to its sill, one of 
which is now occupied by brick work, and only a 
studded partition separated it from the adjoining 
premises. The position of the hinges of the door on 
the Chapel side, and the groove into which the door 
fitted, may still be seen. A third was a small opening 
with freestone casing about 2 ft. square, covered by 
a single slab, also still visible. This opening was 
situated at a much higher elevation, being on a 
level with the tops of the window jambs, and it 
evidently communicated with the top floor of the 
adjoining premises. The recess behind this opening 
was almost bell-shaped in plan, and the top and 
sides were carefully finished with plaster work. At 
the back of the recess there was seen the perfect 
fi^estone casing of a doorway with a Tudor arch- 
head, which probably opened into the infirmary. 
This door case was also filled in by a wooden 
partition to separate the recess from the adjoining 
premises. Yet another of these openings was of 
curious character. It was found under the first window 
on the North side and to the East of the doorway 
already described. It was formerly another means of 



I20 SL Mark's^ or the Mayor^s Chapel. 



communication between the Cloister and the Nave. 
A flight of five steps formed of square blocks of stone 
was carried up in the thickness pf the wall. The 
bottom step was nearly 2 ft. above the level of the 
Cloister, while the top step formed a landing about 
5 ft. above the Nave. A door had evidently been 
hung on the inner side. Only one other of these 
disused openings remains to be noticed. This was 
situated on the South side of the Nave, the string 
course in which was broken to admit of the construc- 
tion of its rounded head. This doorway, which was 
4 ft. wide and 8 fl. high, appears at one time to have 
given access from the Nave to the South Aisle Chapel. 
The supposed peculiarity, mentioned by Mr. Pearson, 
of this side Chapel having entrance only through 
the South Aisle did not therefore always exist. [See 
Ground Plan.~] From a reference in Barrett's Bristoly 
p. 344, this " door of communication " appears to 
have been in existence as late as his time, a.d. 1789. 
On the right hand of this former doorway stood a 
piscina of the same late character as the tomb on 
the opposite side of the Nave. This still remains in 
sttUf though in a very broken and defaced condition. 

It may here be mentioned, although not in refer- 
ence to an actual opening, that under the second 
window on the North side a deep recess, with the top 
hood-shaped and standing 12 ft. high and nearly 6 ft. 
wide, was found to have been cut out of the wall, 
nearly the whole thickness of which was removed in 
its construction. This recess was carefully finished 
with a plaster surface, and appears to have been 
intended to receive a large upright figure. 

It will be quite evident from all this that the 
many openings, notably those in the North wall, with 



St. Mark's^ or the Mayors Chapel. 121 

other structural disturbances, must have tended to 
greatly weaken the fabric (the foundations of which 
are not particularly good), especially in conjunction 
with the removal of the Cloister and North Transept 
and in the absence of buttresses. The crushed condition 
owing to settlement, of the Western pier of the North 
Transept arch, which rendered its entire rebuilding 
necessary, together with other signs of a similar 
character, showed how seriously this main wall had 
suffered, and an important part of the restoration 
work consisted in making this wall once more sound 
and substantial. The authorities of earlier times 
appear to have thought nothing of scooping out 
great spaces in this unfortunate wall, and then 
leaving them only imperfectly made good, and one is 
led to infer that the loving care of the fabric, which 
so often distingxiished the Chapels of conventual 
establishments, did not exist here, but that every- 
thing was made subservient to the requirements of 
the Gaunts' Hospital as a benevolent institution. 

The state of things which the recent restoration 
brought to light shows very clearly that had the 
building continued to be neglected, another fifty 
years or less would have seen a disaster ; and it is no 
small satisfaction to know that with the restoration 
now completed the building is really stronger than it 
was for centuries before. 

Before leaving the Nave it will be necessary to 
make some ftirther references to the windows in the 
North wall. It has been already explained that the 
first window fi"om the West was a late insertion of 
poor Perpendicular character constructed with four 
lights. It does not appear to have been made for 
the opening, but to have been crammed into it. To 



122 St. Mar If s^ or the Mayof^s Chapel. 

make matters worse it was found that to make room 
for the stained glass, the muUions and jambs had 
been cut away to such an extent as seriously to 
threaten its entire collapse. In the case of the second 
window, which was similarly constructed, the same 
consideration for the stained glass led to even more 
unceremonious treatment of the stonework, for, as 
frequenters of the Chapel must often have noticed, 
the side mullions from the capitals downwards had 
been removed altogether. In the case of both these 
windows, from want of proper supports and attention 
to the leading, the glass itself was in danger of 
destruction. 

With every desire to retain the stonework of 
these windows as portions of the history of the 
Chapel, they were deemed by Mr. Pearson to be in 
such a hopeless condition that the sacrifice of them 
was a necessity. The choice lay between replacing 
them by others of the same late style, or reverting 
to the Early English form, and utilising the lower 
portions of the original jambs which still remained 
in position. Under all the circumstances it was 
thought better to renew them according to the style 
of the Early windows, thus bringing all the Nave 
lights into harmony, in accordance with their original 
design. 

The floor of the Nave has been relaid partly with 
plain red tiles with a black bordering, and partly 
with wood blocks; and the Chancel floor was laid 
with ornamental encaustic tiles after a style common 
in the older Bristol Churches. 

The principal work carried out at the East end 
of the Church resulted in a striking improvement to 
the group of elaborate Fifteenth Century carvings 



\ 






TW 



. «4 f^^^' 



>* 



St. Mark's, or the Mayor^s Chapel. 123 

placed there, comprising the Monuments, Altar Screen , 
and Sedilia. These had all been thickly coated with 
paint, which degraded the beautiful work and con- 
cealed its true character. At first there was some 
natural hesitation on account of the extreme delicacy 
of much of the work and the danger of injury being 
done, but at Mr. Pearson's suggestion a powerful 
solvent was used, which rendered tool work un- 
necessary. This was most successfully applied, and 
the original appearance of the rich canopies, arches, 
and tabernacle work was perfectly restored. 

The North Transept, Cloister, and Vestry. — 
The accompanying sketch of the foundation walls of 
the School buildings erected against the North wall, 
and their relation to the Transept Arch, will explain 
much that came to light during the restoration 
of this part of the Church; and will also further 
illustrate that portion of Chapter IV. which treats of 
the destruction of the Transept and the erection of the 
Sch ool buildings against the walled-up arch. The sketch 
was taken at the time the ground was disturbed 
for the erection of the Merchant Venturers' Schools. 
It shows how the edges of the tiled floor of the Transept 
were destroyed when the foundation walls were laid, 
leaving the centre part comparatively undisturbed. 
The stone coffin was then removed, but the tiles were 
again covered up, amd so remained till the ground was 
again disturbed for the reconstruction of the Transept. 
When discovered in the first instance these remains 
of the floor were about four feet below the surface 
of the ground, which must have been raised so much 
when it was built over. The stone coffin was evidently 
not in its proper position, but it no doubt was placed 
originally in the Transept. One can only speculate 



124 St. MarkSy or the Mayo/s Chapel. 

as to who of the founders, benefactors^ or priors of 
the old Gaunts' Hospital was laid to rest within this 
coffin. Rude hands have perhaps more than once 
disturbed it. It was raised on two rough blocks of 
stone about nine inches high above the floor line. 
The lid was entirely gone, and the remains of the 
nameless dead heaped into it and mixed with earth 
consisted of two skulls and many of the larger bones, 
as it seemed, promiscuously gathered and placed here. 

Those who are familiar with the interior appear- 
ance of the Chapel previously to the alterations will 
remember the wall-space which filled up the archway, 
and the two doorways by which the blank surface of 
the wall was broken. One was a veritable doorway 
which led to the tumble-down offices outside. The 
other was the disused and walled-up doorway upon 
the jamb of which was carved the date 1631, as 
described at page 78. 

In taking down the wall of the arch above those 
doorways, the existence of two small apertures was 
disclosed. The one to the east consisted of freestone 
casing with a broad chamfer. This opening appeared 
at some period to have been cut off at the Eastern 
end to admit of a small plain doorway leading to a 
gallery in the Chapel being constructed against it. 
The aperture on the Western side near the pulpit was 
a window only of a much plainer, rougher description, 
having only a square wooden head with common inch 
stuff as the sill. 

When the whole of the walling was taken down 
the very fine proportions of the Transept arch were 
at once realised. The mouldings of the arch were 
happily uninjured, but the carved foliage capitals, 
which were partly imbedded, had suffered a good 



Piatt vm 



Si. Marlfs^ or the Mivyo/s Chapel. 125 



deal, and the mutilated condition of the outermost of 
them on each side shows the line to which the 
walling was brought. One of the curiosities of the 
place before the alterations was one half of a carved 
head on the East side of the arch. This was left 
exposed beyond the fiUing-in, which was brought up 
to the inner angle of the fillet of the central shaft. 
When this portion of the wall was removed it was 
found that the carving, which was the head of an 
ecclesiastic, and the finish to the moulded and filleted 
shaft, had suffered sadly. The mason found that it 
interfered with the arrangement of his stones, and 
struck off half the forehead. This wanton injury has 
been repaired, and it will be seen that the head was 
beautiftiUy designed. The remains of red colour were 
still upon the half that was imbedded. 

In the course of further investigation, other in- 
teresting discoveries connected with the site of the 
former North Transept and Cloister were made. On 
removing a portion of the walling attached to the 
archway the exact half of a piscina upon which the 
red pigment still remained was uncovered. The half 
which has thus been preserved stands in the archway, 
and the other half must have stood in the destroyed 
Transept itself, and there was probably an altar in the 
Transept connected with it. The trefoil head of the 
portion that remains accords with the Early English 
windows of the Nave. It is in excellent preservation, 
and tells its own story in a manner which makes it 
very interesting as a relic of former times. 

On the opposite side of the Transept arch another 
suggestive relic was found ; this was the base of a 
massive door jamb, with a broad chamfer terminating 
in a carved stop. This marked the entrance to the 



126 St. Mark's^ or the Mayar^s Chanel. 

old Cloister from the Transept. A chase in the wall 
adjoining showed the position of the door itself. 
Judgring from the level of the stop on the jamb there 
must have been a descent of one or two steps from 
the Transept to the Cloister, which brought the latter 
to the level of the Nave. The steps are now placed 
across the Transept archway, and the Transept itself 
is on a level with the Cloister. 

On removing the rough ground immediately out- 
side the line of the Transept arch a number of 
decorative tiles were found, which, doubtless, as 
already explained (see Plate VII.), formed part of the 
floor of the destroyed Transept. They were found 
near the surface, and consequently had suffered to 
the fiill extent from violence and exposure to the 
weather. Some of them were fortunately whole and 
their devices more or less preserved, though bearing 
the marks of great age. Many others were broken to 
fragments and past all identification. Amongst the 
fairly-preserved specimens are some of the greatest 
interest, inasmuch as from their armorial character 
they carry the mind back to the founders of the 
Gaunts' Hospital, the great, families with which they 
were connected, and even the reigning dynasty of 
those stormy times. 

In the first instance only the tiles that were 
found on the site of the destroyed Transept will be 
described. There are others that will have to be 
referred to afterwards. One of the former is a broken 
specimen with the Royal Arms, and may be referred 
to Henry III., in whose reign the Hospital was 
founded, and whose eldest son Edward was himself 
one of its benefactors. Smaller portions bearing the 
same Royal device were found amongst the debris. 



St. MatKsj or the Mayov^s Chapel. 127 

There are two whole specimens with the arms of the 
BerkeleySy besides many fragments on which their 
crosslets appear. On one of the Berkeley tiles the 
arms are enclosed in a shield, on the other they are 
square with the tile. Another specimen has the well 
known arms of de Clare, Earl of Gloster.* Another 
those of William the Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, the 
right hand man of Henry III., who married Isabel, 
daughter of Richard de Clare.f One or two others 
with the devices nearly gone are difficult of recognition. 
In addition to the tiles with armorial devices, there 
are others with representations of various animals, 
others with birds and trees, and others again with the 
geometrical patterns appertaining to an ecclesiastical 
building. In addition to the tiles, there was a large 
quantity of narrow tile bordering, the quantity being 
quite out of proportion to the number of tiles remaining, 
many tiles must, therefore, at some time have been 
removed. 

Turning from those which were found on the site 
of the Transept, there were others scattered about 
in the floor of the Nave, besides many fragments 
amongst the rubble beneath it. The Berkeley crosslet 
is prominent amongst these fragments, but the designs 
on most of the unbroken tiles in this group are quite 
obliterated by the tread of worshippers belonging to 
past generations. 

There was a third group which may also be 
referred to, although it had nothing to do with the 
recent alterations. The tiles belonging to it were 

* The deed of gift by Edward, eldest son of Henry III. (1268), referred 
to at page 17, was witnessed by Thomas de Clare, and the confirmation upon 
Inspeximus in 1290 by Gilbert de Clare. 

t Amtals of Bngland, VoL L, p. 295. 



128 St. Mark's^ or the Mayor^s Chapel. 



found in a stone cupboard in the Poyntz Chapel or 
vestry, but as to how or when they came to be so 
placed, there is no information.* Several of these 
tiles appear to have been forcibly broken on removal 
from the floor to which they belonged, the marks of 
the pick or chisel being very plain. 

Later on, in removing the rough-cast from the 
exterior of the North wall of the Nave, other interesting 
relics were found. About the middle of the wall, the 
outline of the large arched doorway with relieving 
arch, already referred to in treating of the interior, was 
found, and still remains visible (see page 115). Then 
about midway between this former doorway and the 
Transept, the workmen came upon the remains of a 
holy water stoup, with plain ogee head, which was 
inserted in the wall and stood within the old Cloister. 
When the Cloister was destroyed, the projecting 
mouldings of the base and the stoup were roughly 
broken oflf and the pieces used to fill up the cavity. 
The shaft and band were gone altogether. 

The Western end of the former Cloister was 
marked by portions of the freestone wall face, and a 
small carved bracket standing in an angle. These 
were seen on the removal of the kitchen wall of the 
adjacent premises. 

The reconstructed portions of the Church, con- 
sisting of the new Transept, Cloister or Corridor, and 
Vestry, now form a complete range of buildings on its 
Northern side. 

The New Transept, which is erected upon a very 
strong foundation, is in harmony with the adjoining 
Arch-way and the Early windows of the Nave, but 



* This stone cupboard or repository was constructed in 1756. Seepage 96. 



St. Marks J or the Mayot^s Chapel. 129 

later in style. It has an area of 17I feet by 14 feet. 
The original Transept was certainly of greater length. 
The doorway on its Eastern side gives access to the 
Vestry, and that on its Western side, to the Cloister. 
On either side of the Eastern doorway are carved heads, 
representing Henry III., and Queen Eleanor. The 
carved heads on the Western side are repetitions of 
two of those on the exterior of the principal entrance, 
representing Henry de Gaunt and Lady Jane Guildford. 
Within the Cloister the heads are those of St. Mark 
and St. John. The Transept is lighted by a noble 
window with geometrical tracery which almost fills the 
gable. The roof is formed of three divisions of square 
panels with moulded ribs. It is rounded in shape, and 
springs on either side from a range of narrow carved 
panels. The gable is carried up to the height of the 
main building. The exterior of the Transept as 
seen from the adjoining Merchant Venturers' School 
has a fine massive appearance. The window on the 
exterior is flanked with bold buttresses and carved 
pinnacles. 

The Cloister is Perpendicular in style and has 
seven single lights on its Northern side.- Two of these 
at the Western end are not at present available, the 
adjoining premises standing against them. They are 
however constructed with a view to being opened 
whenever those premises can be removed. The roof of 
the Cloister is pointed, and is formed of square oak 
panelling, with chamfered ribs, supported on rows of 
plain corbels. 

The Vestry is in the same style as the Cloister. 
Such an apartment did not form part of the original 
building, but the addition was regarded as a matter of 
necessity, as it will preserve the beautiful Poyntz Chapel 



I30 *SV. MarKsy or the Mayor^s Chapel. 



from further wear and tear. A vault for the heating 
apparatus is placed underneath the Vestry. 

General Repairs. — ^In addition to the constructive 
works that have been described, the stat^ of the Church 
was such that it needed the most thorough examination 
of its details to complete the rehabilitation of the 
structure. Much of the stone work, especially on the 
exterior of the principal windows, was so decayed that 
it crumbled to the touch. These decayed stones were 
carefully removed and their places accurately supplied. 
The East window especially required much attention, 
time having there committed gjeat ravages, and previous 
repairs having been very roughly carried out. At the 
Eastern end the buttresses, especially that at the North- 
East angle, had suiSered so much that the entire re- 
building of the upper part of each was necessary. At 
the Western end the gables of the Nave and South Aisle 
were finished with new copings, connecting parapet, 
and ornamental crosses. The gable at the Eastern 
end of the South Aisle, in which the Becket window 
is placed, was similarly treated. The roof of the main 
building was very defective, and freely admitted the 
rain to the detriment of the beautiful oak ceiling. It 
was made thoroughly sound, and the ceiling was then 
cleansed and oiled. For a long time the foundations 
and walls of the building had suffered owing to the 
rain water being imperfectly carried off. This was 
corrected by the provision of new pipes and improved 
drainage. Where necessary the old glass was taken 
out and re-arranged, the windows being provided with 
new uprights and saddle-bars for the preservation of 
the glass. The treatment of the walls has been 
already referred to. Where they consisted of rubble 
plastered, stucco of a soft stone colour has been used. 



St. Marias, or the Mayo/s Chapel. 131 

and where they are stone-faced the surface was cleansed 
without any attempt to remove the marks of violence, 
and the joints re-pointed. This cleansing of the stone 
work was a most difficult part of the work, as, in 
addition to several coats of paint, some material of the 
nature of enamel had been applied which no ordinary 
application could remove. It was however ultimately 
removed without the stone being re-dressed. All chisel- 
ing of the old stone work was from the first forbidden, 
and in no part was it attempted. Before the new 
organ was placed in its niche the archway under the 
Tower was cleansed and ventilated. The Tower itself, 
which was repaired in 1820, did not on this occasion 
require much attention, but several new doors were 
fixed in the Tower stair case, and other improvements 
made. In the South Aisle the floor was lowered to 
correspond with that of the Nave, and the walls therein 
were re-covered and the paint removed from the stone 
work. Only the necessary cleansing was done to the 
monuments and walls of the South Aisle Chapel ; and 
in the Poyntz Chapel nothing was done beyond the 
removal of the dust. 

In the course of the restoration and repair of the 
building, a large number of fragments of carved work 
with quatrefoil and other ornaments were met with, 
either buried in the ground or used up as walling 
stones in the building. One of such fragments is very 
striking. It consists of a massive hand grasping a 
portion of an equally massive staff! The red or 
vermilion colour which once ornamented the figure 
is still fresh upon this portion of it. Many of the 
fragments are interesting as illustrations of the archi- 
tecture of different periods, and as showing how the 
stones were re-worked to serve a second purpose. 



132 St. MarKSy or the Maya/s Chapel. 

Some were evidently portions of the Chapel, such as 
capitals, bases and mouldings, removed at the time of 
altering the windows and other parts, and corresponding 
with features that remain. Others in all probability 
belonged to the destroyed Hospital buildings. The 
fragments thus collected make up a great variety of 
such remains and testify to many acts of former 
violence. The existence of the red or vermilion pig- 
ment on several of them, besides the one referred to 
above, would indicate that at one time the interior of 
the Chapel was extensively and brilliantly decorated. 

In concluding these remarks on the restoration, 
a very curious discovery of the kind just referred to 
claims special notice. It was found necessary to 
repair a heavy cornice that runs above the exterior 
of the East window. Portions of it were therefore 
taken out bodily, when it was found that the backs 
of a number of such portions really consisted of 
corbel heads which had been removed from another 
part of the building. The square ends of the blocks 
had been worked up as parts of the cornice, and the 
carved heads having been first mutilated by all 
projecting chins and noses being knocked ofiF, they 
were then reversed and imbedded in the wall, where 
they must have remained for centuries. It was 
afterwards found in carrying up the new North 
Transept, that the cornice above the arch on that 
side was made up of similar materials. It is worthy 
of note with reference to the corbels thus unexpectedly 
recovered, that the mouldings and the style of the 
carving correspond exactly with those of the two rows 
of corbels which still stand on the North and South 
sides of the Chapel, and were evidently intended to 
range with them. They therefore, no doubt, belonged 



Sf. Mari'Sf or the Maya/s Chapel. 133 

to the destroyed Transept, and formed part of the 
corbel table which returned upon its Western side, 
and was thence continued round. The carving of 
these recovered heads is remarkably fresh and clean 
cut, still bearing the incisions of the finest tools, and 
without the marks of age. Although mutilated they 
are still very fine works of the kind, full of breadth 
and vigour in conception, and of variety in treatment. 
Some of them have now been restored to a place of 
honour, being used to fill up gaps in the corbel tables 
on either side, thus finding their place again amongst 
weather beaten companions that have never been 
disturbed. Probably some archaeologist of a future 
age will, when these particular stones are again 
disturbed, speculate afresh upon the strange mutations 
through which they have passed, just as many of the 
present day have been led to speculate upon these 
and other relics of past ages, which the recent 
restoration of the Chapel has brought to light. 

By means of this restoration much light has 
been thrown upon the early history of the Chapel 
and its connection with the Hospital Foundation. 
The testimony of the stones forms a commentary on 
the written history. 

The general conclusions that may be drawn from 
the two sources of information appear to be these: — 

1. That as indicated by structural alterations in and 

additions to the College Chapel, it was at the 
beginning of the i6th century that the 
foundation of the Gaunts reached its highest 
point of development and activity ; and 

2. That as a consequence of the dissolution of the 

priory in 1539, and other changes afterwards 
brought about, the Chapel became debased in 



134 -Sy. MarKs^ or the Mayot^s Chapel. 



appearance, and was shorn of many of the 
interesting features it once possessed. 

A third notable era in the history of the building 
has now commenced, when its disfigurements both 
within and without have as far as possible been 
removed : when the architectural ideas of its designer 
have been recovered as regards the ancient Nave, and 
re-expressed with the necessary variations incidental 
to nineteenth century work, as regards the recon 
structed features. 

In this "City of Churches" many of which are 
splendid specimens of ancient art, and all of which 
are bound up with the eventful history of the ancient 
City itself, it is a matter for heart-felt rejoicing that 
the decay of St. Mark's Chapel has been arrested; 
and that it has been made more complete in its 
arrangements and better adapted to its sacred 
purposes. Beyond this, there is the satisfaction of 
having added to the Chapel new features which for 
finish of design and solid workmanship will stand in 
the first rank as illustrations of the Church architecture 
of the present day. 



Part II. 



DESCRIPTIVE 




ZCbc fiytcrion 

The exterior of the Mayor's Chapel as now 
seen from College Green is an immense improvement 
on its former aspect, but it is still hemmed in 
by the business premises on either side. The 
spreading window above the Western entrance, with 
its eight lights and wheel tracery, fills the entire 
gable, and looks out of proportion to the comparatively 
dwarfed doorway and arcading beneath it. This 
appearance did not belong to the original elevation, 
the ground in front having been artificially raised. 
Whenever this may have been done, steps leading 
down to the floor of the Nave became a necessity. 
Until the alteration in the level of Deanery Road, 
on the other side of College Green, in the year 1865, 
the same remark applied to the Cathedral. The 
entrance to that structure, through a doorway in the 
North Transept, was gained by descending several 
steps, an arrangement which is still well remembered 
by many persons. During the recent alterations at 
the Mayor's Chapel a reminiscence of the time when 
the level was lower was found in disturbing the surface 
of the lower end of the passage at the side, when the 
former pitching was partly uncovered at a considerable 
distance below the present level. 

At the right hand side of the main frontage is 
the beautiful Decorated window which gives light to 
the South Aisle. This is highly prized as a pure 




V. 



THE NEW NORTH TRANSEPT, 

THE MAYOR'S CHAPEL, BRItTOL. 



St. MarKSy or the Mayor^s Chapel. 137 

specimen of that style. Its general design is most 
effective, the ball-flower ornament which is profusely 
introduced into all its hollow mouldings giving it a 
very rich appearance. 

The most interesting feature of the exterior of the 
main building is seldom seen on account of the confined 
position of the structure. This consists of the Early 
corbel tables along the North and South sides, which, 
looking from the front, are completely shut out from 
view. The corbels on the North side are however 
fully seen from the playground of the Merchant 
Venturers' School, from which point also a very fine 
view is obtained of the newly-erected North Transept. 
The corbels it will be seen are very much decayed, 
but their characteristics are still for the most part 
plainly marked, and they are easil}*' distinguished as 
representations of the dog, wolf, fox, bear, crowned 
heads, monks, nuns, and masks. At the College 
Green end they terminate abruptly where the house 
has been erected against the wall of the Church. 
Near the North Transept some of the mutilated corbels 
which were recovered during the restoration, as ex- 
plained at page 132, have been inserted in places from 
which the originals were removed for the erection of 
the School premises. As formerly remarked, the 
existence of these corbel tables places beyond doubt 
the fact that the present Nave walls are those of the 
Chapel of the old Gaunts' Hospital, and they thus 
serve to connect the present building with the 
charitable foundation of the Thirteenth Century.* 

* "The head-dress on Corbels is worth noticing because the date of a 
church may thus sometimes be ascertained. The wimple or handkerchief 
round the neck and chin appears amongst the earliest examples. The 
date assigned to this is about 1300." — Handbook of English BccUsioiogy^ 
p. 119. Several of the Corbels at the Mayor's Chapel conespond with 
this description. 



138 Si. Mark's^ or the Mayor's ChapeL 



The Tower, as will be seen from a glance at its 
style, is of later erection, and is built of a warm red 
stone which does not enter into any other part of the 
building. This Tower, with its crown of battlements 
and pinnacles, could it be properly seen, would be a 
very picturesque object. So little familiar is it, how- 
ever, that many who have caught sight of it from a 
distance, grouped with the towers of other Churches, 
must have wondered to what structure it belonged. 
Its very existence is unknown to most persons. 

Under the parapet of the South Aisle Chapel, 
adjoining the Tower, are some curious gurgoyles, 
representing the ape, pig, and other imclean animals, 
whose presence here may be supposed to have the 
usual allegorical meaning. 

The exterior of the East end, with massive 
buttresses enclosing its fine Perpendicular window, 
has a striking appearance. 

General features of tbe 3nterior* 

The charm of the Mayor's Chapel as an archi- 
tectural growth is best realised from the Western 
end of the Nave as the point of observation. 
Standing at the foot of the steps the eye takes in at 
a glance types of all the three forms of pointed archi- 
tecture. In the Nave windows, and the side view of 
the graceful arches of the North and South Transepts, 
there is presented the advanced Early English form. 
The stone work of the blocked-up windows of the 
South Aisle is so good in design that one longs all 
the more to see these windows re-opened. They are 
specially interesting as early Decorated specimens. 
The window at the Western end of the South Aisle, 
as already noticed from the exterior, is a beautifid 



•SV. Mar^s^ or the Mayar^s Chapel. 139 

 

example of pure Decorated work. In the archway at 
the entrance to the South Aisle Chapel, the windows 
within the archway of which a glimpse is afforded from 
this standpoint, and in the beautiful ornamentation 
of the Altar Screen and the window above it, the 
Perpendicular or third pointed style is amply illustrated. 
The Tower and the Poyntz or Jesus Chapel are of 
course not visible from this spot, but enough is 
seen to invest the Chapel with the peculiar interest 
of development which belongs to many of our ancient 
ecclesiastical structures. 

In continuing this description of the Chapel, its 
various distinct parts will be dealt with in their 
chronological order, of which the Nave will serve as 
the starting point. 

^bc Have:— H.2)^ 1230* 

The general impression on entering the building 
corresponds with what we know to be the original 
purpose of its erection, namely, that it might serve 
as the College Chapel of the Gaunts' Hospital. It is 
without columns, and is long and narrow. Originally 
it was also lofty, with an open timber roof. The 
windows, of which there were probably at first, while 
the Chapel retained its simple cross form, four on 
each side, are plain and dignified in character. The 
caps on the jambs of those nearest to the East 
are C£U^ed with conventional foliage ; the others 
consist in each case of a series of narrow mouldings 
either plain or beaded. The height of the windows 
from the ground, and the bareness of the walls, 
are corrected by the unique arrangement of bays 
underneath the several windows and the extension of 
the moulded jambs down to the string course. This 



14a St. Mar if s^ or the Mayar^s Chapel. 

arrangement allows of much play of light and shade 
upon what would otherwise be a monotonous space. 

The ceiling is nearly continuous from West to 
East. There is a break at the Western end, where it 
is carried up into the gable, to accommodate the 
lofty window inserted in 1822. This beautiful ceiling 
was constructed at the beginning of the Sixteenth 
Century, probably at the same time that the Eastern 
end of the Church was rebuilt, as will be described 
hereafter. Above it may still be seen by the explorer 
the framework of the original open roof, the oak 
timbers of which are still sound and serviceable. The 
present ceiling is nearly flat, and is formed of a series 
of square panels with deeply moulded ribs ; the panels 
are ornamented with suns, roses, and Tudor flowers, 
and at the alternate intersections of the ribs are 
placed large gilded bosses. The wall pieces are 
corbelled with demi-angels, and it will be observed 
that over the Sanctuary, for the distance of one bay, 
the ornamentation of the panels is even richer than 
in other parts. At the present time, owing to the 
new appearance of the restored interior, the ceiling, 
with the subdued tones of age upon it, lends a 
peculiar charm to the whole structure. 

The Old CoLOxmED Glass of the Mayor's Chapel 
was obtained by purchase from a variety of so\u*ces, 
as recorded at page 99, and has been "made up" 
in the various windows with more or less success. 
The first two windows on the North side of the Nave 
are of this mixed character. The first is chiefly com- 
posed of glass of late French manufacture with soft 
neutral tints. It contains the Arms of Heniy II. of 
France, and Diana of Poictiers, with monograms 
composed of the letters H. and D.; scrolls, with 



St. Mark's^ or the Mayor's Chapel. .141 

conventional mottoes, such as *^mentem sanam in corpore 
sano^" angels, cherubs, scrolls, festoons, and so forth. 
The lower panels depict the casting of Jonah into the 
sea, the beheading of John the Baptist, and other 
Scriptural and classical scenes. On a scroll below the 
hilt of the sword in the first light is the date 1543. 
The glass in this window has been rearranged with 
great advantage to its general effect. 

The second window consists chiefly of striking 
life-size groups, in deep rich colours, representing the 
Betrayal, St. Peter smiting the High Priest's servant, 
the Scourging, etc. In the latter group, the figure of 
our Lord is prominent, the laceration of His body being 
represented by the introduction of " sprinkled ruby " on 
the exposed parts. The figure in the foreground, which 
is that of one of the mocking phstrisees, is richly 
dressed in a ruby robe. On a small fragment at the 
right hand edge of the third light, the date 154(3) is 
repeated. (The last figure is cut off.) In the lower 
panels of this window are represented Moses with the 
tables of the law, the marriage at Cana of Galilee, etc. 

The third window on the North side, notwith- 
standing the glass is modem (see page 74), is 
especially interesting to Bristolians, inasmuch as it 
contains the names and armorial bearings of some 
of the notable men who served the office of Mayor, 
or otherwise distinguished themselves in civic life, 
in a long past age. Their names are inseparably 
associated with the importance and enterprise of the 
City in the early part of the 17th century, and those 
of a later day have done well to set up this record 
of them in the Church with which their good deeds 
were identified. The immediate purpose of the window 
was to commemorate the founders and benefactors of 



142 



•Si. MarKs^ or the Mayar^s Chapel. 



Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, or the City School, and 
the Red Maids' School, both of which were erected 
on the Gaunts' Hospital estate. The following is a 
plan of this memorial window; and some particulars 
of the individuals thus commemorated, relating chiefly 
to their civic position, are given in a series of 
biographical notes: — 





1. 






1590. 






'Rocal Brm0. 




2. 

Brm0 ot tbe 
Oovernore of (ftueen 


1 

\ 

3. 

5obn Catr. 


4. 

arm0 ot tbe Cfti? 

of ifirifltoL 


SIi3. Do0pftaL 




V^ JW%t9ftVM 


5. 

KoDert IH)we. 


6. 

Xabc Aarc 

1tam0e6. 


7. 

mtUiam asfroe. 

• 


s. 


0. 


10. 


tlboma0 farmer. 


5obn JSarher. 


5obn TRBbftMiu 


U. 


12. 

Hntbons 

Stanbbanft. 


t3. 


SOwatD aoldton. 


5ame0 aotton. 


14. 


15. 


16. 


Wcbard l)U0be0. 


Samuel Sa0t. 


Samuel DactnelL 



St. Mark's^ or the Mayofs Chapel. 143 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 

2. On the 3rd of April, 1591, the Corporation as Governors of Qa. 

Eliz. Hosp. obtained a grant of armorial bearings in which the 
Arms of tne City and of John Carr were blended. 

3. John Carr. Founder of Queen Elizabeth's Hospital. 

5. Robert Dowe. * * Merchant Taylor of London "; Exor. of John Carr's Will . 

6. Lady Mar^ Ramsey. Donor of ;f looo to Qu. Eliz. Hosp. She 

was a native of Bristol, and was the widow of Sir Thomas Ramsey, 
Alderman and Lord Mayor of London. She was also a munificent 
benefactress of Christ's Hospital, London. 

7. William Birde. Sheriff of BrLitol in 1573 and Mayor in 1589. 

8. Thomas Farmer. Sheri£f of Bristol in 1602 and Mayor in 1616. 

9. John Barker. Sheriff 1593, Mayor 1606. Second of same name, 

Sheriff in i6r2 and Mayor in it 25. Menber of Parliament for 
Bristol 1623— 162 >. Treasurer of the Whitson Charity. 

10. John Whitson. Sheriff of Bristol 1589 and Mayor 1603 — 1^'5« 

Member of Parliament for Bristol 1605 -1614— 1620— 1625. Founder 
of the Red Maids School. 

11. Edward Colston. Benefactor of Qu. Eliz. Hosp. alid founder of 

many Bristol charities, Member of Parliament for Bristol 1710. 

12. Anthony Standbank. Mayor of Bristol 1564. 

14. Richard Hughes, "of Ilfracombe." Benefactor of Qu. Eliz. Hosp. 
16. Samuel Hartnell. Benefactor of Qu. Eliz. Hosp. 

The fourth window, just above the pulpit, was 
until recently walled-up, and outer buildings stood 
against it (see pages 77-78). On being re-opened the 
stone work was found to be in excellent preservation. 
As a memorial of this re-opening, and to complete 
the series of coloured windows on the North side, 
it was filled with stained glass, representing the 
Ascension of Our Lord, by Sir George W. Edwards. 
Underneath is a brass tablet with the arms of the 
donor and the following inscription ; — 

" The above window^ which prevtotisly to the restoration 
of this Church in the year 1889, had been for a long 
period blocked uPy was filled with stained glass by 
Alderman Sir George William Edwards who was four 
times Mayor of Bristol, and who received the honour 
of Knighthood at the hands of Her Most Gracious 
Majesty Queen Victoria^ in the Jubilee Year of her reign'* 



144 



St. Mark's^ or the Mayor's Chapel. 



9ame0 Oeorae, 
t822«30. 



5ame0 9i\>\>Bt 

t842. 



TmaUam 
Goldnec, 

1846. 



E. 



Vofial Htntd. 



Sir 5obn fterle 
f)abertlel^ 

1837^8^45^48. 
1849-50. 



Mm. Xewton 
Clarke. 

1843. 



5obn S>ecfmu0 
pountnei^t 

1847. 



! 



I^obert 
pbfppeti, 

1840. 



Vtcbatb 
poole ftind» 

1844. 



Mm. f)enrs 

Oore-Xandton» 

1851. 



The two windows on the South side of the Nave 
do not correspond in height with those on the opposite 
side, owing to the roof of the South Aisle Chapel 
being carried over their lower portions. 

They are filled with the Arms of past Mayors of 
the City, whose names are given in their order, and 
the years in which they served the office. 



St, Afark's^ or the Mayor's Chapel. 



M5 



W. 



50aac 

ailan Coofte, 

1857. 



Vobett 0as 

1852. 



5obn Oeorge 
Sbaw, 
1853^4. 



5ame0 poole, 

1858. 



5obn J3ate0, 
1850. 



5obn f)are, 
1 61. 



Sbolto 

X^cxc Dare, 

1 62. 



5obn IPinin^, 
1855^6. 



9bfarbe 
Coate0 Xanct 

1860. 



^bomas 
porter 506e, 

1863. 



Monuments. — On either side of the Western 
entrance are interesting monuments ; that on the South 
side commemorating a descendant of the founders of 
the Gaunts' Hospital and Church, and that on the 
North side illustrating the connection of the Church 
with the Civic life of Bristol. In this diversity of 
character, they belong respectively to the two great 



146 Si. Mark*Sy or the Mayor* s Chapel. 



periods into which the history of the Church is 
divided. 

The effigy of Sir Richard Berkeley lies extended on 
the right hand side of the entrance. He died in 1604. 
The figure is clad in the plate armour of the period. 
The beard is pointed, -the hands are closed in prayer, 
the expression of the face is refined. There is no 
niche or canopy above the figure, which has been 
injured at some time to enable it to be placed against 
a wall. On the entablature at the back, which is 
surmounted by the arms of Berkeley of Stoke Giflford, 
the following inscription is recorded : — 

Domini : Rich : Berkelaei : Militis : in : svam : 
mortem : carmen : monitorium : 

Cum genus et nomen cupiunt cognoscere cuncti, 
mentem nemo : si quis qui sim, inquirere pergat, nescio 
responde : verum hunc se nosse moneto. 

Translation. 
'^ Though all men may desire to know my name and 
race, yet no man may desire to know my mind. If 
any one should take up the enquiry as to who I am, 
reply I know not, but let that man be advised to 
know himself." 

Epitaph. 
Whom yovth covld not corrvpt, nor change of dayes 
Add anything bvt years, he, f^^U of them 
As they of knowledge, what need this stone prayse 
Whose epitaph is writt in the heartes of men. 
That did this world and her child Fame despise, 
His sovle ^ God, loe here his coffin lyes. 

Obiit : 
Aprilis : xxvi : Ano. Domini : 1 604 

^tatis SV8& 

7J. 



'S. 



5P. 






I i^' iy LI w. J,\.H 



t; 



^ ^^ 

-r j\B, 



SL Mark'Sy or the Mayor's Chapel. 147 



The personality of this Knight, and the importance 
of his position, are vividly realised by means of the 
following extract from Smyth's Berkeley MSS. : — 

"The said S'- John (Berkeley) in the 37th of 
Henry 8th (Knighted the yeare before) dyed of an 
hurt received by the splinter of a ship (as I have 
been informed) at Portesmouth, which in the 24th of 
June in that yeare, Anno 1545, caused an addition 
to his Will, as therein appears, leaving the said 
Richard, his eldest sonne, to bee the King's ward, 
then of the age of fowerteen yeares : whereby this 
faire branch may perceive itself in the seaven last 
descents since it issued from the elder stock to have 
been five times in ward, and the profits of their lands 
for 72 years during those wardships taken by the 
Crown. 

The said Richard eldest sonne of the said Sir 
John Berkeley first maryed Elizabeth daughter to 
Willm. Read of Milton Esqr. by whom hee had issue 
Henry Berkeley, Elizabeth married to S*"- Thomas 
Throkmorton of Tortworth, Knight,* Mary, Ann, and 
Dorothy : and secondly married Ellenor daughter of 
S'* Robert Jermy Esq. and widowe of Robert Rowe 
Esq. sonne of S'- Thomas Rowe, Knight which 
EUinor is yet liveinge Anno 1628. 

This Sir Richard (whose invaluable worth and 
well deservings in his Country governments I many 
years observed) was Knighted about the nth yeare 
of Queen Elizabeth, and was in the 38th yeare of 
her raig^e made . Leivtenant of the Tower, to whose 
trust (before commitment to that prison) Robert 
Deverox, Earle of Essex was comitted, to be kept at 



* See account of Lady Margaret Throkmorton's tomb in South Aisle Chapel. 



148 St. Mark* 5 f or the Mayor's Chapel. 

• 

Essex house in the 42nd yeare of the said Queene, 
and was author of that excellent booke entituled, A 
discourse of the felicity of man, or his summum 
bonum, printed in Anno 1598 the fortieth year of 
Queen Elizabeth; from whose good counsels, in the 
first of Kinge James, what time hee was intreated 
by Henry then Lord Berkeley to keep the solempnity 
of the feast of Christmas with him and others of like 
rank at Berkeley Castle, I willingly acknowledge 
(as from his said booke) to have reaped profit and 
advantage : nothing therein amisse, save the printer's 
error in printing his name Barckley for Berkeley : he 
was one of the Knights of his County for the Parliaments 
in the first of Kinge James, whose associate was S'- 
Thomas Berkeley father of the now Lord George, 
and was High Serife of the County in the seaventh 
of Elizabeth, a deputy Leivtenant of his County, and 
dyed in the second of Kinge James leaving Henry 
his Sonne and heire, and others as aforesaid. The 
said Henry, eldest sonne of the said S'- Richard 
marryed Mirryell daughter of Thomas Throkmorton of 
Caughton in the County of Warrwick, Esqr." * 

Arms — GuleSy a chevron ermine between ten crosses 
pattie argent. 

The monument on the left ot the entrance is that 
of William Birde, who served the offices of Mayor 
and SherifiF, and whose name has been frequently 
mentioned in connection with the founding of Queen 
Elizabeth's Hospital. Before the recent alterations, 
this monument stood on the opposite side of the 
entrance. Barrett speaks of it thus : " In the chancel 
is a very superb monument for William Birde," so 
that its position must have been several times changed. 

• Smyth's BerkeUys^ Vol, I., pp. 263-4. 



.57 Mark^s^ or the Mayor^s Chapel. 149 



William Birde was Mayor of Bristol in 1589, and 
the state sword which was in use at the time, is 
represented underneath the epitaph. He died as the 
epitaph states, on Oct. Sth, 1590. 

This monument has been much mutilated, but it 
is a very fine specimen of Elizabethan work, and 
presents many interesting features of the classical 
style. On the frieze there is a series of carvings, 
representing Scripture subjects, — ^The Temptation of 
Eve, Abraham's Sacrifice, and the Resurrection of 
Our Lord ; also skulls and cross-bones and other 
accompaniments of the sepulchre, in accordance with 
the ghastly fashion of the day. The carving above 
the cornice is very rich, and exhibits Birde's shield 
of arms: — Arg, a cross botonnhe sa, between four Cornish 
choughs. 

The following inscription is at the back of the 
monument : — 

Gulielmus Birde obiit Octobris 8, anno 1590. 
" ClaruSj prcedivesy sapiens ^ et pro grege Christi 
Sollicifus, sedem et victum cultumque ministrans 
Dormit in hoc tumulOy sed spiritus ccthera scandit : 
Vix dedit hisce virum Bristollia nostra diebu^ 
Consimileniy ceu virtutem^ ceu ccetera spectes. 
Gratus erat patriae civis^ jucundus amicis 
Progeniemque suam multd cum laude reliquity 

Translation, — 
"William Bird died 
October 8 in the year 1590 
(He was) Illustrious, wealthy, wise, careful for the 
flock of Christ, administering his household with 
liberality and piety. He sleeps in this tomb, but his 
spirit has ascended to the skies. Bristol has hardly 
in these days produced his equal whether you consider 



150 St Mark^s^ or the Mayor^s ChapeL 

his intrepid virtue or his other qualities. He was 
chivalrous to his country, delightful to his friends, 
and of gracious memory to the kindred he left behind/' 
Affixed to the wall at the side of Birde's monument 
is the only brass tablet of ancient date now in the 
Chapel. It was found during the recent restoration, 
covered with whitewash, and thrown aside with some 
useless lumber. The lettering, which is of a very quaint 
description, runs thus : 

With in this place and 

nere hear vnto resteth the 

BODYS OF William Searchfeiid 

AND ANNE SeARCHFEILD SONNE 
AND DAVGHTER OF ROWLAND 

searchfeild of this citty 
Marchannt 



w. s. 

OBYT MARCH 1 64 7 



ARMS 




A. S. 

OBYT SEPTEMBER 1 666 



This Rowland Searchfeiid was doubtless the son ot 
the Bishop of Bristol of the same name, to whom a 
marble tablet is erected in the South Choir Aisle of the 
Cathedral. He was Bishop in 16 19, and died in 1622. 
His son, whose children were buried here, was brought 
up to mercantile life. He was the apprentice of Robert 
Aid worth, merchant, and took up his freedom 22nd 
Feby., 1639. The arms on the brass are the same as 
on the Bishop's tablet: Azure^ three cross bows stringed 
argenty a chief or. Crest^ a sheaf of arrows. 

Part of the City plate, consisting of four silver 
candlesticks, snuffers, and stand, were presented to the 
Corporation by Mrs. Catherine Searchfeiid in the year 
1709. 



St. Mark's^ or the Mayor's Chapel. 151 

A fine mural monument on the North side, records 
the death of Thomas Harris on the 28th Jany., 1797. 
He was SheriiFin 1753, and Mayor in 1769. 

There is also a tablet to the memory of James 
GibbSy who was Mayor in 1842, and died 24th Feby., 
1855, and another to George Adderley and his daughter 
Charlotte, the latter of whom died in 1775* and the 
former in 1786. 

On the right hand side of the steps is placed the 
beautiful marble bust and pedestal of Sir John Kerle 
Haberfield, who was six times Mayor of Bristol. In 
1 85 1 he was presented by his fellow citizens with a 
magnificent service of plate, of the value of ;^6oo. His 
widow, Lady Haberfield, afterwards bequeathed this 
service of plate to the City, and it now forms part of the 
valuable collection possessed by the Corporation. 

To the right and left of the lobby are the following 
tablets — to several members of the family of Alderman 
Green (1862), to John Bates, who was Mayor of the 
City in 1859, ^^^ ^^^ ^\&^ in 1869, and to the Rev. 
John Hawkesworth, LL.D., who for 20 years was 
head-master of Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, and who 
died in i866. This tablet was erected by ^a number 
of his old pupils. 

^be Soutb Bidte:— B.S). 1265* 

This was the earliest addition made to the original 
Gaunts' Church, and was erected about the year 1265. 

Two massive arches open into the Aisle from the 
Nave, with aa octagonal centre pillar from which the 
arches QMing direct. On the Eastern and Western 
sides tlie arches rest on large brackets with corbels 
below. The bracket and corbel on the Western side 
^e original, and the former exhibits a curious grouping 



152 St. Marks^ or the Mayor^s Chapel. 

of aniroals and foliage. Those on the Eastern side are 
modem, the originals having been destroyed during 
former alterations. Below the corbels on either side 
are affixed to the half-piers, very interesting panels, 
carved with pinnacles and crockets, and containing the 
arms of Sir Robert Poyntz and his wife Margaret, 
daughter of Earl Rivers. Sir John Maclean has recently 
made the following remarks on these panels : — 

^' These panels are, without doubt, the ends of an altar 
tomb erected to the memory of Sir Robert Poyntz, the 
munificent rebuilder of the Jesus (or Poyntzj Chapel 
in the Chapel of the Gaunts' Hospital. The arms on 
both are entirely personal. The achievement on the 
panel now affixed against the Western respond of the 
two bays between the Chapel and the South Aisle, 
relates to that branch of the Poyntz family of which Sir 
Robert was a distinguished member, and displays the 
arms of (i) Poyntz, quartering those of (2) Clanvowe, 
(3) Acton, and (4) Fitz Nichol. The other achievement 
against the Eastern respond contains the arms borne 
by Sir Robert after, his marriage with Margaret 
Wydville. They are, however, quartered instead of 
being iiflpaled, and follow the charges above cited. 
They are : (5) Wydville, (6) Scales, (7) St. Paul, (8) De 
Beaulx, (9) not identified, (10) Beauchamp. 

In his will, dated 19th October, 1520, Sir Robert 
directed his executors to provide * a fyne small marble 
stone to be laid over the mydds of the vawte which he 
had already prepared for his burial, with a scripture, 
making mention of all the bodies that lye buried in the 
same vawte, and of the dayes and years of their decease.' 
It would seem that the executors did not follow literally 
the instructions of the testator, but thought it proper 
to erect an altar tomb over the midst of the vault of 



Si. Mark's^ or the Mayof^s Chape L 153 

which the panels in question formed the ends, and 
probably the weight of this structure on the crown ot 
the arch, which was not built with a view to sustaining 
such a weight, led to the catastrophe which happened 
in 1730, when the arch fell in and the bodies of the 
dead were despoiled. It is probable that after this 
accident the fragments, including the panels of which 
we are writing, were removed into the Church."* 

To this it may be added that amongst the carved 
fragments now in the South Aisle Chapel are some of 
similar workmanship to these panels. 

The wagon - shaped roof ot the South Aisle is 
carried high up into the side gable. It is constructed 
of square oak panels w*ith moulded ribs, and with gilt 
bosses at the alternate points of intersection. 

The three blocked - up windows on the South 
side of the Aisle have been referred to in connection 
with the restoration. They are formed of two lights, 
with triangular - shaped, geometrical tracery in the 
heads. The hollow mouldings are without ornament. 
These windows are deeply splayed, the moulded jambs 
supporting inner arches. Even in their present con- 
dition these windows form an interesting point of 
comparison with the earlier Nave windows on the 
one hand, and on the other with the later window of 
the same style, but perfected, in the Western gable. 
The latter, which has three lights, was manifestly an 
addition to the original design of the Aisle, as the 
distinct appearance of the wall having been drawn 
for its insertion was apparent when the surrounding 
walls were recently laid bare. The remark applied 
to the exterior of this window applies also to the 
interior. In its general design, as well as in the 

 Trans, Brist. and Ghs, Archl, Society^ Vol. XV., p. 76. 



154 •S'/. Mark's^ or the Mayors Chapel. 

rich details of its ornamentation, it is a pure example 
of the Edwardian or Decorated window. The outer 
moulding terminates, as usual, in striking carved 
heads of a King and Queen. Eastward, the South 
Aisle must be regarded as originally ending where 
the iron railing is now placed, the inner Chapel 
having been erected at a "much later period. Near 
the railing there is a large niche with trefoiled head. 
The desigfn is of the same bold character as the 
windows above it. It appears to have undergone 
alteration, and may have been originally a piscina. 
Probably an altar once stood against the Eastern wall, 
before the arch of the inner Chapel was constructed. 
Between the arches communicating with the Nave, 
and on the inner side, there has been fixed the bust 
of a venerable Bishop, which was found amongst a 
mass of lumber a long time since, and which has thus 
been preserved. It is probably the only remaining 
portion of a tomb that was destroyed. The hands 
are folded in prayer, and upon his left arm rests the 
head of a pastoral sta£F, very richly carved. 

The Stained Glass in the Western window of 
the Aisle is of mixed character, the smaller panels 
containing very beautiful German work. The large 
side figures, which are those of Moses and Elias, 
evidently belonged to a Transfiguration scene ; but 
instead of the central figure of our Lord, we have here 
a modem St. Peter, who looks very much out of place. 
On one of the lower panels is an inscription in German, 
of which the following is a translation: — "Master 
Bemardus Scheiffer, carpenter, at the present time 
lay -brother of this Church, and Christina Fischnich 
his wife, gave these windows. 1702." Of course it is 
not known to what Church this refers. 



\ 



► r 






I 2 - 

,-i t- Pr 



St. Mark^Sf or the Mayar^s Chapel. 155 

Above the arch at the Eastern end of the Aisle 
is the striking figure of Thomas k Becket, Archbishop 
of Canterbury. It is a finely-enamelled representation 
of this inflexible ecclesiastic, full of the dramatic force 
which belonged to his character and career. It formerly 
had a place in Fonthill Abbey, and was purchased by 
the Corporation at the Beckford Sale. It is said to 
be the work of Pearson after a painting by Benjamin 
West, R.A. The exalted position which Becket occu- 
pied in Church and State is indicated by the jewelled 
Staff and Crucifix grasped in one hand, and the bag 
containing the Great Seal of the Kingdom held in the 
other. 

In the centre of the bag is a medallion with a 
representation of the Seal itself. The King is seated 
on his throne with a sword in his right hand, and in 
his left the orb and cross surmounted by a bird. 
Under the Seal is the name of the King with whom 
Becket so long and fiercely struggled — Henry I J. 
The grand artistic effect of this window has been 
enhanced by the introduction of new stained glass in 
the quatrefoiled border, in place of the staring red 
and blue glass which was formerly there. 

Monuments. — Historically speaking, the most in- 
teresting tomb in the South Aisle is that which carries 
an effigy, long supposed to represent Sir Henty de 
Gaunt, the first master-almoner of the Gaimts' Hospital, 
and who held that position for the long period of about 
37 years. He is referred to by Lei and as ''one Henry 
Gaunt, a Knight, sometyme dwellynge not far firom 
Brandon Hill, by Brightstow." The same authority 
in the following language wrongly ascribes to him 
what was accomplished under the Cheirter of Robert 
de Gourney. He is stated to have "erectyd a College 



156 St. Mark'Sj or the Mayor* s Chapel. 



of Priestes withe a Mastar, on the Grene by Seint 
Augfustines. And sone aftar he chaung^d the first 
Foundation into a certeyne kynde of Religion, and 
was Governour of the Howse hymselfe, and lyethe 
buried in the Vesturye undar a flate Stone." 

The observations of later years have, however, 
cast doubts upon the identity of this effigy with the 
priest, Henry de Gaunt, upon the grounds, that the 
head is not that of an ecclesiastic, while the dress 
belongs to a later period than that in which he lived. 

The error, supposing it to be an error, is of great 
antiquity, as on reference to page 77 it will be seen 
that as far back as 1591 the three tombs of the Founders 
are referred to, one of them being, no doubt, this which 
is ascribed to Henry de Gaunt. A reference to the 
Charters will shew the sense in which he was regarded 
as a Founder. 

In any case, the effigy is of great antiquity and 
interest. It is raised upon a panelled high-tomb of 
much later construction. The latter is manifestly a 
restoration, and the inscription along the front cannot 
be regarded as having any authority. This has every 
appearance of having been added at a comparatively 
recent date. The figure probably represents some 
member of the Berkeley family, and is remarkable on 
account of its peculiarities of dress — if, indeed, it be not 
unique. Attention is particularly directed to the high 
shoes fastened with straps, the jacket laced from top to 
bottom, and the fastenings of the outer cloak or mantle. 

The inscription on the tomb, which recognises 
none of the doubts that have more recently sprung 
up, runs thus : — 

S Denricud . de • (3aunt ^ ASa0f0ter « prlmud . bujue . domue . 
^anctf . Aarci . dc . JStUcaw^ecFi ^ obilt AccI^viU ^ 



St, Mark's^ or tlie Mayor^s Chapel. 157 



The following description has recently been given 
by Mrs. Bagnall-Oakeley : — *' The figure is dressed in 
a cote-hardie, or a sleeveless cote laced up in front, 
with another garment under it which has long sleeves. 
His legs are covered with tight hose, and on his feet 
are boots which fasten in front by straps. He wears 
a waist-belt, into which is stuck on the left side the 
^^ZS^^ o^ analace. Over his shoulders is a long cloak 
fastened in front by two straps or laces, which are 
secured by a long button. Over all he wears a hood, 
which is thrown back on either side of the neck. 
His hair is closely curled round his head, which rests 
on a pillow set diagonally, and his feet rest on a 
dog."  

In the North - East corner of the Aisle is the 
reputed tomb of John Carr. The evidence that it is 
John Carr's tomb is slender, and the fact has been 
disputed. It bears on the front the initials **J. C." 
and these alone identify it with the founder of Queen 
Elizabeth's Hospital. The front and ends are quatre- 
foiled, and relieved by a row of small plain shields. 
Barrett, who wrote more than a hundred years ago, 
speaks of it as the tomb of John Carr, and refers to 
it as **an arched lomb in the wall." Its form and 
position must therefore have been entirely changed 
since Barrett's time. There is no longer any arch 
belonging to it, and it stands as a plain high-tomb. 
It is evident, however, from the remains of masonry 
still attached to the exposed end, that some part 
formerly belonging to it has been destroyed, and that 
no doubt was the arch referred to by Barrett. Not- 
withstanding the doubt thrown on the identity of the 
tomb, it may well be that one who was instrumental 

* Trans. BriiL and Glos, Arch, Soc.^ Vol. XV., p. 91. 



158 St. Mark*s^ or the Mayor* s Chapel. 

in founding Queen Elizabeth's Hospital should, after 
death, be memorialised in the Chapel, where the 
children, for whose care and education he gave his 
manor of Cong^resbury, for a long period continued 
to attend service. 

Above John Carr's tomb is a tablet commemorating 
Robert Claxton, who was Sheriff in 1787, and who 
died 1812. 

A mural monument of great civic interest stands 
overhead in the North - West corner of the Aisle, 
Although unpretending in appearance, it is the 
memorial of men who had much to do with the 
honour and enterprise of the City in the early part 
of the 17th century. The figure, which is that of an 
alderman in robes, kneeling at a desk, upon which 
is an open Bible, represents one Thomas James the 
elder, who was Sheriff in 1591, Alderman in 1604, 
Mayor in 1605 and 16 14, and who represented the 
City in three Parliaments, namely, 1597, 1603, and 
1 614. On the last occasion John Whitson was his 
colleague. The inscription on the monument, which 
is now quite illegible, ran thus : — 

** This monument was erected for Thomas James^ 
Merchant^ twice Mayor of this City^ and Parliament-man 
for the same in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and King 
Janus First. He died in the year 1613 (1619).* And 
here lieth the body of Thomas JameSj Esq,^ of Bristol^ 
Batrister-at'Law^ and son of the said Thomas James. 
He died in the year 1665. Here also lieth the body 
of Alexander James ^ of Tydenham^ in the County of 
Gloucester^ son of the said Thomas JameSy junr.y Esq. 
He died in the year 17 13." 

Around the second Thomas James a very romantic 

* J. F. Nicholls' Bristol Biographies— Z^y^im. Thomas James. 



St. Mark*5y or the Mayor's Chapel. 159 

story gathers, which was told by himself in a volume 
he published in 1633. The substance of this book 
was given by the late Mr. J. F. NichoUs in pamphlet 
form, as one of his Bristol Biographies. This Thomas 
James was originally, as stated on the monument, a 
Barrister - at - Law, but he became smitten with the 
fever of adventure and discovery prevailing at the 
time, and forsaking his clients, he turned his attention 
to the search for the North - West Passage. The 
Society of Merchant Venturers projected an expedition 
and " adventured ;^8oo or thereaboutes. " Thomas 
James was appointed leader of the expedition, and 
was henceforth known as Captain James. He ''made 
choice of a well - conditioned, strong ship of the 
burden of seventy ton," and selected "a crew of 
nineteen choice, able men and two younkers," besides 
himself. They sailed from Bristol on their perilous 
voyage on May 2nd, 1631, and made Greenland the 
4th of June. After that they suflFered the most extreme 
hardships, being compelled to winter ashore. They 
sank the ship to save it from being crushed, and 
afterwards recovered it. In spite of all his privations, 
and after giving his name to the Bay at the Southern 
extremity of which he wintered, the heroic Captain 
brought his ship of seventy tons safely back, reaching 
King^oad the 22 nd October, 1632. 

A curious controversy has recently been revived 
in the AthefUBunij as to whether the story of his 
adventures thus told by Captain James suggested to 
Coleridge his poem. The Ancient Maritier. Certainly 
the story seems to have been thrilling enough for 
the purpose ; but whatever may be the merits of the 
controversy, there can be no question about the heroic 
conduct of the leader of the expedition, and Bristol 



i6o St, Mark's^ or the Mayor^s Chapel. 



may well be proud of that chapter in her history 
which records the deeds of such brave pioneers as 
this Captain Thomas James. 

On the South side of the South Aisle is a small 
but beautifully-designed mural monument, in alabaster, 
to John Cookin, of Highfield. He died at the early 
age of II years on the 12 th March, 1627. The figure 
represents him at that age, kneeling on one knee. His 
lace collar and cuffs and all the details are very finely 
carved. In his left hand he holds an open book, and 
his scholarly pursuits are further indicated by the pens, 
ink-hom, pencil case, and other devices, which form a 
border on either side. 

Above the last-mentioned monument is a tablet to 
the memory of Alderman Thomas Camplin, who was 
Mayor of Bristol in 1826-7, and who died Dec. 8th, 1856. 
His name is prominently mentioned on the occasion of 
the Bristol riots, when he seems to have done his best to 
restore the peace and order of the City. As recorded 
on the tablet, he gave to the City, for use in the Mayor's 
Chapel, a valuable service of Communion plate, which 
is still in use. 

To the right of this is a very lofty and richly-carved 
monument to William Halliard, of Sea House, Somerset. 
The date is not given on the monument, but according 
to an inscription on a flat stone in the South Aisle 
Chapel, he died 8th July, 1735. This monument stands 
in front of a recess which was formerly a doorway 
giving access to the Chapel from the peissage at the 
side. The arch of the now blocked-up doorway remains, 
and the hooks are there on which the door was hung. 

Arms — azurej a chevron argent^ between three 
etoileSy or. 

Underneath the West window is the fiiU-length 



SL MarKSy or the Mayar^s Chapel. i6i 



Thomas Moore, and | . - - - 1675 

Elizabeth Moore, his wife) - . - - 1673 



seated figure of Henry Bengough, in white marble 
relief. He was an Alderman of the City, and founded 
the almshouses for poor men and women of all religious 
denominations which bear his name. He died in 1818. 

There are other mural monuments, tablets, and 
flat stones which do not call for special notice. They 
refer to the following : 

Died. 

Dorothy Popham | - . . - 1642 

Sir Francis Popham j « - - - 1646 

ife) 

Edward Brown, of St. Swithin, Glos. - - 1 689 

Catharine Vaughan, of Caldicot - - . 1694 

Henry Blaake 1731 

Henry Walter, SheriflFin 1 704, and Mayor in 1 7 1 5 1742 

Henry Muggleworth, Sheriff in 1 741, and Mayor 

in 1758 - - 1782 

John Casberd, D.D., Preb. Bris. Cathed. - - 1803 

(Cbc ZTowcr:— H.2)* 1487* 

Evidence of the erection of the Tower of St. Mark's 
being an afterthought, and not contemplated in the 
plan of the original building, is seen in the manner 
in which the piers and Tower-arch have been carried 
up in the South Transept, completely destroying the 
internal proportions of that feature. It will be 
observed that against the Tower-piers the string-course 
has been cut on either side. The Transept-arch 
remains perfect, except that in the erection of galleries 
at different times the beautiful Early capitals have 
been sadly mutilated. The South Entrance door is 
under the Tower, also the doorway into the Poyntz 
Chapel. Between these two doors is a plain arched 
piscina, and to the left of the door of the Poyntz 



i62 St. Mark's^ or the Mayar^s ChapeL 

Chapel a bracket is inserted^ which probably served 
as a lamp-rest. 

The exact date of the erection of the Tower is 
afforded by a curious discovery itiade when the 
pinnacles were restored in the year i8i2. A small 
slate slab was then found let into the masonry of the 
upper part of the Tower, upon which the following 
record was rudely inscribed : — " In the yere off our 
Lorde God mcccclxxxvij the iij day off Novemb the 
masonry off thys Towr was fynyshyd/* This curious 
relic is now placed in the City Treasurer's office, and 
an exact copy of the inscription, from a rubbing of 
the original, is here presented. 

1 he Tower is 86 feet in height, and the summit is 
reached by a series of 113 st6ps. The landing at the 
top is 16 feet square, and is surrounded by a high 
battlemented parapet. There are four pinnacles ; one 
large and richly crocketed. Doors in the stairway give 
access to the ringing floor and roof of the Church, and 
there are some curious corbels both on the Tower stairs 
and on either side of the South door. 

(Lbc Cbanccl :— H,D. 1500* 

The Eastern end of the Church, with its profusion 
of late ornament, forms a striking contrast to the plain 
and even severe character of the Nave. It becomes 
at once evident, that this portion of the structure 
must have been re-built, towards the end of the period 
of its occupation as the Church of the Gaunts. So 
far, the building speaks for itself, and the hand that 
accomplished the work, is commemorated on the spot 
that it so greatly enriched. The importance attached 
to the Gaunts' Hospital is shewn by the fact that its 
College Chapel was thus selected for embellishment 



r— I 




\ 






\;-'- 



•S7. Mark's^ or the Mayofs Chape^. 163 

*■ - 

by one of the liberal Church benefactors of the day, 
for, in the absence of information as to any official 
connection of the rebuilder of the Chancel with the 
Gaunts' foundation, we must look to the renown of the 
Hospital itself for the motive of his generosity. 

This part of the Church was re-constructed about 
the year 1500, by Myles, or Milo Salley, Abbot of 
Eynsham, near Oxford, and afterwards Bishop of 
Llandaff in the reign of Henry Vllth, who died in 
15 16 and was buried in St. Mark's. His richly 
ornamented tomb is in the position usually assigned 
to the founders of sacred edifices, namely, the North 
East of the Chancel. His will provides for his burial 
in this position, in the following terms: — **Myles, by 
the grace of (rod Bishop of Llandaff, 29th Nov., 15 16. 
My body to be buried in the North end of our Lady 
Chapel, before the image of St. Andrew at the Gaunts 
of Bristol." He further directs that his heart be buried 
at the High Altar in the Church of Marthem, before 
St. Theodorick. The palace of the Bishops of Llandaff 
was then at Mathem in Monmouthshire.* This reference 
to St. Andrew may be explained by the close relation 
which existed between the Gaunts' House and the 
Cathedral Church at Wells, which was dedicated to 
St. Andrew. As the Gaunts' Church was originally 
dedicated to the ^^ Blessed Maxy and Blessed Mark,'* the 
other niches were most probably filled with their images. 
Not only did Bishop Salley in his life-time beautify 
the Sanctuary of the Church, but by his will he 
further provided for the maintenance of its ritual. 
''He bequeathed his best challice and missal to the 
High Altar in Gaunts' Chapel, with the suit of vestments 
which he had ordered for the Master, Richard Tyler, 

* Nicholas, Ttstamenta Vetusta, Vol. II., p. 538. 



1 64 St. Mark 5^ or the Mayors Chapel. 

bis executor in London, and the furniture of his best bed 
for the same purpose.'' On either side of the Chancel, 
an irregular line of joints in the ashlar facing may be 
observed. These probably mark the limits of the 
Bishop's work, and within those limits there is found an 
harmonious gproup of varied and exquisite architectural 
features with a perfect wealth of ornament. The Eastern 
window is a finely proportioned Perpendicular com- 
position of si^ principal lights, with panel lights above 
and tracery in the head. Beneath this is the delicately 
carved Altar Screen, occupying the entire width of the 
Chancel. This has three unusually fine niches with 
crocketed canopies. The minute details of the Screen 
include miniature niches, panelling, fruit and foliage 
cornices, and Tudor cresting. On either side are richly 
carved doorways, with blind doors of oak, also richly 
carved, with representations of those who were histori- 
cally connected with the Church :* and in the centre is a 
painting of the Entombment of Christ. 

Dallaway in his Notices gives a very fine engraving 
of this Altar Screen, and speaks of it thus : — " The 
dimensions are small but symmetrical, and of the most 
delicate tabernacle work, executed in freestone, which 
I have hitherto observed in England."t He adds, 
" Perhaps in point of style and aera the nearest com- 
parison may be drawn between this and the sepulchral 
Chapel of the Countess of Salisbury at Christchurch, 
Hants, where, as in this instance, the niches are very 
small and placed in a parallel line." These small 
niches, eighteen in number, are supposed to have once 
contained statuettes of silver or copper gilt. 

On the North and South sides of the Chancel are 
Perpendicular windows of four lights. These are 

* These doors are modem. t Notices of Anc, Ch, Arch,, p. 25. 









-»,» .r^ ' I 



'* •'"•k^ ■'•!; 



V : ,;ih1 « V xi'rWi^. ar-':u»^ tui\,; 



' >1r .  . L t 



-»♦ 



)*ri.i5:*i nt. J h'» L.*- 1 



M' 






• V 



. »r , 






!,•• ^- , i.:ii.-. . :.;;", iV.»-u airi f- 






r r • 



^ * »l ^'. \. ! • 



t ri  . 






1 < .14 

I'i \h ') v.'i. J .\ •- ' *.!> ''1- 
' . .. ' c' vl '\ *• .' ''. ^ > . 'i •* t, »"; I in tl. • •*" 'V i'l . 



• ^ 1 • \ ^ ^ ' 



o t 



* , .'. ?'u ^p• .'N- « J 1 



I ' . . 



,.! .'.».: >vi..ir"T- ;< .'.I, -^ I i;f til- . -^l 






»». .' 






?.. 



" Pr'r.jjvs i'l ;. >.■ I of .'.'..1.' ti ■*■! ;* t !.'!•• i' ,. fsl ( .' 



<:■! 



 • 



■l.n. , Vy'\ re a^ iii ImU I ' t !"» •». i!:'^ -i . '.'^'^ '^*' fry 
run- );r -il M.'.^-i-'.i^v f f s*' •• r r-r r..| pr-i- ^-;;' 



• 1 rM«.c 'loi»r.- ^'C !!»'».'. u. ■*" A \:es .•/ 



•■ 1 



'/'. L «'. 



'•  i' 



THE NEW Yt^RK 
?\JBLIC LI'uUARY 



AS'O'^ L •• ^X AND 
Tl. D N Fw -•> NATIONS. 



St. MarKSy or the Mayors Chapel. 165 

reserved for the insertion of the Arms of past Mayors 
of the City. (See page 175). 

Monuments. — Under the North window are placed 
the effigies of Bishop Salley and Sir Thomas Berkeley, 
of Uley, with his wife Catharine, the tomb of the 
Ejoight being under what is known as a Berkeley- 
arched canopy. 

The effigy of the Bishop is placed on a high-tomb 
with panelled front. The arch of this canopy is 
richly finished with Tudor ornaments, and in the 
spandrels roses are enclosed in bold quatrefoils. The 
cornice, panelling, and cresting are all elaborately 
carved. The latter projects and consists of alternate 
Tudor flowers and diminutive pinnacles. 

The following is a description of the effigy of the 
Bishop: — He is represented in his episcopal attire, with a 
richly-adorned mitre on his head, and a pastoral staff of 
singular elegance resting on his left side, with the fanon 
wrapped round the staff. Over the alb, which almost 
conceals his feet, he wears the tunic and dalmatic with 
its ample sleeves ; and these again are covered by the 
amice with its standing collar, and the maniple over the 
left arm. The stole is concealed by the chasuble. On 
the hands, which are in the attitude of prayer, he wears 
gloves, and on the middle finger of the right hand the 
episcopal ring. 

The adjoining tomb is that of Sir Thomas Berkeley, 
of Uley, and his lady, Catharine, daughter of John Lord 
Bottetourt. The effigies of the Knight and his Lady rest 
upon a high-tomb, the front of which is ornamented 
with crocketed niches and pinnacles, and under the 
soffit is a row of four-leaved flowers. The crocketed 
arch of the boldly- designed canopy is ogee in form 



1 66 *SY. Mark's^ or the Mayor* s Chapel. 

and is carried up above the lofty cresting, terminating 
there in a very handsome finial. The arch is doubly 
foliated, the wide curves of the cinquefoils containing 
sunk trefoils and flowers, and the cusps are finished 
with demi-angels. The vault of the canopy is groined, 
and in the centre of the back is a niche with bracket, 
in which a figure once stood above the effigies. In 
the spandrels are surcoats of arms, exhibiting those 
of Berkeley, Bottetourt, and Grourney, with lion 
supporters ; for Berkeley, Cru.^ a chevron ermine between 
ten crosses pattie^ argent; quartering or^ a cross engrailed 
sahle^ for Bottetourt. On the second shield, Paly of six 
or and azure for Gournay. (See plate II.) 

Sir Thomas Berkeley died in 1361, but the monu- 
ment is of much later date, and it has been objected 
that its design and the style of the Knight's armour 
make it impossible that the tomb can be that of Sir 
Thomas Berkeley. It is however not impossible that the 
memorial may have been erected long after his death, 
and in the style which then prevailed. Moreover, 
Sir Thomas Berkeley died early in life as will hereafter 
appear, and this is evidently the figure of a young man. 
That the male figure refers to a Berkeley is undoubted, 
as the head rests upon a tilting helmet which is sur- 
mounted by a mitre. The mitre was the crest of the 
Berkeleys, and was assumed by them in allusion to 
their extensive Church patronage. 

Mrs. Bagnall - Oakeley has recently given the 
following interesting description of the effigy of the 
Knight: — ^'It is an entire suit of plate armour without 
any chain whatever. The jupon is discarded, and his 
body is encased in a metal breast-plate and back-plate, 
to which are attached several rows of overlapping plates 
called a skirt of taces, to the lowest of which are 



Sf. Mark\ or the Afayor^s Chapel. 167 

buckled two short hinged plates called tuilles. He 
wears the peculiarly-formed helmet known as a salade, 
with a visor and mentoniere for covering the face, and a 
peak at the back to protect the neck ; his throat is 
covered by a gorget, and his shoulders by pauldrons, 
which meet and partly cover the epaulieres, the coudes 
are very large, and are rivetted to the brassarts. His 
hands are encased in gauntlets of plate, not divided at 
the fingers, and have pointed cufiFs. A diagonal belt 
carries a large sword on the left side. The genouilli^res 
or knee caps have rayed points. His head rests on a 
mitre with infulae, and his feet upon a dog of peculiar 
form. Round his neck is a collar of alternate suns and 
roses, two of the many badges of the House of York, 
of which Sir Thomas was a partizan. From this collar 
hangs a plain locket."* 

The dress of the female figure is remarkable for 
its plainness and simplicity. The head-dress bears 
some resemblance to that of a nun, as also does the 
close-bodied gown with tight sleeves terminating at 
the wrists. A cape or fichu falls over the shoulders, 
and reaching below the middle is confined by a broad 
belt round the waist. The gown, which is loose about 
the lower part of the person, falls in graceful folds 
over the feet, which rest upon the figures of two dogs. 
The only ornament upon this efiigy is a necklace of 
square open links, from the front of which a cross is 
suspended. The head of the Lady is supported by angels. 

The following particulars concerning this Sir 
Thomas Berkeley and his Lady are given in Smyth's 
Lives of the Berkeleys, and they serve to impart a 
personal interest to this elaborate tomb : — 

"Sir Thomas de Berkeley of Vley. — ^The 26th 

* Thins. Brist. and Glos. Archl. Sac., Vol. XV., p. 98. 



' 



1 68 St. Mark'Sy or the Mayor^s ChapeL 



May, in the 25th of his raigne, the kinge (Edward 
III.) recites. That whereas hee had the 28th March, 
in the 21st of his raigne, in consideration of the good 
service of S'- Maurice Berkeley, who dyed at the 
seidge of Callies, granted to Thomas, his sonne and 
heire, then within age, his father^s lands, togeather 
with his own marriage ; That now to doe him a further 
pleasure, being to goe with him in his warres beyond 
seas, and that he may decentius et poientius se parare^ 
more decently and powerfully provide himself, hee 
grants unto him the lands that Margery, his mother, 
lately deceased, held for her life; And at this time 
was this Thomas but seaventeen years old and three 
monthes. 

The 1 2th of June, in the twenty-eighth yeare of 
Edward the Third, this Thomas de Berkeley now 
called of Vley, sonne of S'- Maurice de Berkeley, for 
twenty marks, had a licence to purchase in fee the 
manor and Advowson of Rockhampton of the said 
S'- John Mautrevers, which was nowe re-granted to 
the said S'* John Mautrevers and to the heires males 
of his body, with a remainder to the heires of this 
Thomas in fee; In the Issue of which Thomas it 
continued till S'* Richard Berkeley in the 6th, 7th, 
8th, 9th, and loth years of Queen Elizabeth severally 
allyened the same to the particular farmers thereof; 

and this yeare alsoe was the said Thomas Berkeley of 
Vley knighted. 

In July in the 29th of this Kange this S'- 
Thomas de Berkeley goes beyond seas, with the 
Prince of Wales into France; and haveing a little 
before marryed Katharine sister and co-heire of John 
Buttetort Esquier, sonne and heire of S'- John (who 
as a peere of the realme and somoned to the Parlia- 



St. Mark's, or the Mayor^s Chapel. 169 



ments in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th yeares of 
Edward the Second), settles his estate in the manors 
of Kingrsweston, Aylberton, and others upon her for 
her life ; and nowe went alsoe in company togeather 
Maurice eldest sonne of Thomas lord Berkeley, his 
cozen germaine, S'* Nicholas Berkeley of Dursley, 
S'- Peter de Veell, sonne and heire of S'- Peter de 
Veel of Tortworth, and divers other of those parts, as 
after foUoweth. And before his return, was in the yeare 
foUowinge at the wonderfuU battle of Poitiers, soe 
incredibly celebrated in histories, wherein the English 
had twice soe many prisoners as they were themselves, 
whereof more is said hereafter in the life of the next 
lord Thomas. 

On the 8th of September, in the 33rd year 
of his raigne, licence is granted to the said 
S'- Thomas Berkeley of Vly to let his lands in 
Brugham, Mersinden, and Hershill, in Scotland, 
neere Berwike, which now lye waste and untilled, to 
what persons hee would. And the kinge at his 
request takes into his protection all such his tenants 
and farmers, the better to encourage them to take 
of him ; and this the rather because hee is nowe going 
with us into France, saith the kinge in this record. 

The 28th of October following, the kinge took 
ship, and with this S'- Thomas de Berkeley of 
Vley, went S'- Edward Berkeley, S'- Nich** Berkeley, 
S'- Simon Basset of Vley, Maurice sonne of Maurice 
Berkeley, grandchild of Thomas then Lord Berkeley, 
S'- Peter de Veel, and others of that family and 
neighbourhood; and the kinge returned the i8th of 
May next after. 

In the 35th of Edward the Third dyed the said 
S'- Thomas de Berkeley of Vley, the fryday before 



170 SL Mark* 5^ or the Maym^s Chapel. 



Michmas day, then twenty - seaven years old ; and 
held the manors of Kingesweston, Aylberton, Vley, 
and Kingston Seimor, Joyntly with the said Katharine 
his wife, who survived him, and the manors of Bright- 
merston and Mildeston in the County of Somerset to 
himself and his heires ; and the manors of Ruthnocke 
and Stratfeild in Hampshire, leaving Maurice his 
Sonne and heire, then three years old, whose wardship 
for body and lands was for fowerscore marks granted 
the 1 2th of November in the 37th of Edward the 
Third by the kinge, to S'« John de Thorpe to whom 
the said Katharine was re-marryed; and shee after 
dyed in the nth of Richard the Second,"* 

These brief particulars of Sir Thomas Berkeley 
have more than a personal interest. They afford a 
most striking picture of Mediaeval military life in the 
days of Edward III. In a few words are recorded 
the death of the Knight's father at the siege of 
Calais, the paternal oversight of the orphan by the 
King, the introduction of the young Knight to the 
toils of the battlefield, the coming and going between 
the home-land and the seat of war, the gathering 
of the heads of great families about the person of 
the King, the customary provision against the risks 
of strife, the presence of the young Knight at the 
ever memorable battle of Poitiers, his early death in 
the midst of a brilliant career, his child in turn left 
an orphan in infancy. These are the memories that 
gather round this tomb, and they cast a singular 
spell of reverence over the mind, as we realise the 
history and biography of five hundred years ago thus 
blended and commemorated. 

A memorial stone once in the Chancel, seems to 

* Smyth's Lives of the Berktieys^ Vol. I., pp. 256-7. 



Sf. AfarJk\ or the Mayof^s Chapel. 171 

have disappeared during the alterations of 1870, and 
that the record of its being there may be preserved, 
Barrett's account of it is here repeated. The inscription 
ran, — "Here lieth the body of Robert Gorges who 
departed this transitory life March i, 1619. Also Sir 
Robert Gorges, Knight, and Elena his wife who died 
5th November, 161 7." The historian adds, — "This is 
of the family of Grorges of Wraxal, near Bristol, 
where they had a seat and park. They bore anciently 
for arms, a whirlpool, in allusion to the name, after- 
wards cheeky or and azure. The present Lady Dowager 
Bamfylde is the last of this family whose son Sir 
Charles Bamfylde possesses the manor of Wraxal and 
there resides in 1788. Ralph de Gorges by Edward ist 
was summoned to parliament and was at the seige 
of Karlaverock Castle in Scotland of whom one says 
* There saw I Sir Ralph de Gorges, a new-dubbed 
knight, more than once beaten down to the earth with 
stones, but he was of so great a spirit as not easily to 
desist ; all his harness and attire was mascled with 
gold and azure.' "* 

On the South side of the Chancel there are four 
sedilia, with carved canopies. This arrangement appears 
to be unusual, the number generally being three. The 
number four in this case may have some reference to the 
original constitution of the Gaunts' House, which pro- 
vided for a Master and three Chaplains. To the left of 
the sedilia is a niche containing an octagonal piscina, 
with carved basin and a narrow stone shelf at the back. 
Corresponding with this and on the right of the sedilia 
is another niche, the lower part of which seems to have 
undergone alteration. 

The Coloured Glass in the East window appears 

«  ■» . 

* Barrett, p. 351. 



172 St. Mark's^ or the Mayor's ChapeL 



to have been arranged as at present, in conjunction with 
the extensive alterations to the Church made in 1820 
and following years. The window presents a curious 
medley of subjects, suggestive of the actual fact^ the 
purchase of the glass at a sale, and there is considerable 
difficulty in determining the meaning of some of the 
panels in their present disconnected condition.* 

Barrett has the following note with reference to the 
appearance of the window in his time (1789), from which 
it would seem that some of the glass which once orna- 
mented the window has altogether disappeared, other 
portions being removed to the second Nave window 
where they still remain. *^ Behind the Altar is a lofty 
window of painted glass^ which has been taken away 
and plain glass fixed in its room. It represented in the 
most beautiful colours Judas betraying our Saviour and 
delivering him to the soldiers, the Scourging, the 
Bearing of the Cross, Crucifixion, Taking down from the 
Cross, and Ascension from the tomb. The figures were 
large and in good drawing, above these in the upper 
part of the window still remain painted in glass, the 
arms or badge of the House, Robert de Goumey, and 

the Berkeleys."t 

Respecting the window as it now stands, Mr. 
Winstone states that the centre figures, as well as most 
of the specimens of Ctnque cento seem to be of Flemish 
workmanship.} 

First Light. — Under the cusping of the first 
light (left hand) is a shield with the arms of Robert 
de Goumey: Paly of six, or and azure. The lower 



* This glass was purchased at a sale of the effects of Sir Paul Bagot of 
Gloucestershire. Evans, p. 317. 
t Barrett, p. 344, J Proceedings Brit, Arch, Inst,, 185 1, pp. 157-8. 



St. MarKs^ or the Mayor's Chapel. 173 

part of this division oi the window contains a richly- 
robed, full-length figure of St. Thomas the Apostle, 
with his emblem, the square rule. 

Second Light. — In the upper part of the second 
light are the Royal Arms of England, and underneath 
is a panel by some supposed to represent the meeting 
of Jacob and Esau with their numerous attendants. 
It probably represents a secular historical scene. The 
lettering " striphon " is on the skirt of the right hand 
figure. At the bottom of this light is an interesting 
specimen of a merchant's mark, and above this are 
the arms of Hugh le Despencer the younger : — Per cross 
argent and gules ^ on the second and third a fret or^ over 
all, a bendlet sable* 

TmRD AND Fourth Lights. — In the third and 
fourth lights are companion figures of St. Katharine 
and St. Barbara. The former wears the crown of 
martyrdom, and her left hand holds a sword, the 
pommel of which is ornamented with the fleur-de-lis. 
At her feet is a broken wheel. The figure of St. 
Barbara is even more beautifully executed. She 
holds a palm branch in one hand, and an open book 
in the other; and behind is her emblem, a tower. 
Underneath the figure of St. Barbara is the shield 
which was formerly placed in the upper part of the 
window, containing the arms or badge of the Gaunts' 
Hospital : Gu. three geese passant argent. This latter 
is a very ancient piece of glass, it being quite honey- 
combed with age. It is a pity it is not placed in a 

* Hugh le Despencer, the younger, who was slaughtered with such shocking 
barbarity at Hereford, 1326, married Eleanor, the eldest of the three 
daughters of the last Gilbert de Clare, who was slain at Bannockbum in 
1314.— Tmnj. Bris, and Glos. Arch, Soe,, Vol. IV., p. 237. 



174 -S*/. Mark'Sy cr the Mayar^s Chapel. 



more prominent position. In the upper tracery of the 
third light the arms of de Goumey are repeated, and 
under the cusping of the fourth light are the arms ol 
Berkeley of Stoke. 

Fifth Light.— In the fifth light are two panels, 
the upper one representing St. Cuthbert of Durham 
with the head of St. Oswald in his hands. 

The lower panel of this light represents the 
Assumption of the Virgin Mary. 

Sixth Light. — ^The sixth light contains the oldest 
panel in the window. It is a curious piece of landscape 
with the figure of St. Anthony dressed as a monk in 
the foreground. In one hand is the crutch stafi^ and 
firom his girdle depends a chaplet of amber beads. 
Upon the exterior of this panel the names Newham 
and Parsons have been roughly incised, with the date 
1382. The upper panel in the same light represents 
Joseph receiving the angel's message respecting Mary 
(Mat. i., 20). Mary is in the foreground in the attitude 
of devotion. Joseph's is a somewhat indistinct figure 
on the right hand, reclining on a couch, under a kind 
of balcony. 

The tracery of this window is chiefly filled with 
odd pieces of old glass, containing all sorts of devices. 
From the character of some of these, it may be 
inferred that they are parts of early windows destroyed. 
In the principal lights are a few shields of arms that 
have not been identified. They may or may not have 
belonged originally to this window. 

The North window of the Chancel contains the 
Arms of the last series of Mayors of the City, 
continued to the present time. The series commences 
at the top of the right hand. 



St. Mark's, or the Mayor's Chapel. 



»75 



a 






A 






•k 






^ 
« 




1 
1 






1 


e 


o 

o 


2 


S 


1 


i 

» 


<£ 

o 


CO 




2 

a 

3 


S 


CO 


a 

g 

•-• 


CO 


i 


a 

3 

i 


s 


1 


^ 




1 


1 


• 


m 

E 


s 


•-• 

2 


•k 


• 


a 


s 




g 


1 


CO 


2 


CO 


1 


«8 


CO 


fc> 












• 






tb 




g 






s 
a 


1? 


• 






9 


e 


<ff 


i 


8 

s 


CO 


8 






3 

1 


CO 


6) S 


CO 
CO 


A 






















s 

1 


1 






• 
















CO 


CO 


8 

§ 


CO 




• 











s 



n 

o 



176 St. Mark's^ or the Mayar^s Chapel. 



Zbz Soutb H(»Ie Cbapcl:— a.®. 1510^ 

There is no specific date assignable as that of the 
erection of this addition to the Church, no record of the 
circumstance having been met with. The general style 
of the windows would shew that it must have been 
somewhat in advance of the Poyntz Chapel, but from 
the similarity of details it would appear that the three 
separate portions of the Church — ^the Chancel, the South 
Aisle Chapel, and the Poyntz Chapel — must have been 
nearly contemporaneous. As the intermediate addition, 
15 10 may be safely gfiven as about the date of this 
South Aisle Chapel, which was manifestly constructed 
to fill the vacant space between the South Aisle and the 
Tower. It is approached by a very fine Tudor arch. 
On either side the three faces of the archway are 
panelled, with slender shafts and caps between the 
divisions. The present iron railing and gateway are of 
modem erection. The roof is placed at a much lower 
level than that of the adjoining South Aisle. Notwith- 
standing it is so comparatively low, it is four feet above 
the sills of the windows on the South side of the Nave, 
and to that extent those windows had to be filled up to 
accommodate this roof. The panelled divisions of the 
roof are arranged lozengewise, and at the intersection 
of the mouldings are gilt bosses. These are unusually 
varied in character, and include the crown of thorns, 
instruments ot the Passion, the rose, portcullis, various 
monograms, shields, and other devices, all being 
repeated at intervals. The Chapel is lighted by three 
windows of four lights each, with tracery heads, but 
owing to the nearness of the adjacent buildings the 
light is generally dim, and the usual appearance of 
the Chapel is decidedly weird. It is only when the 



1 • 
I 



T'r^ 



k  • 



 ft 



'  ' . • r 



•» 1 I , 









'\ 



4 * * t • 






ll 



THE SOUTH AISLE CHAPEL, 

IN THE MAYOn'B CHAPEL BRIITOL- 



t" ' - * 



\ 



•Sy. Mar/fs^ &r the Mayofs Chapel. 177 

afternoon sun shines through the West window of the 
South Aisle, that it is seen to advantage. 

On the South side are two niches between the 
windows with handsome canopies. The canopies are 
formed of three crocketed arches running up to the 
cornice and crest. In the moulding of the cornice is 
the Tudor rose with other ornaments. In the South- 
East comer is a single sedile, rising from the ground 
to a height of twelve feet. The front of the seat and 
back of the niche are panelled. The interior of the 
canopy is richly groined, and in this and other respects 
the work is similar to that of the niches between the 
windows, but on a larger scale. It is a piece of very fine 
work deserving a place where it could be seen to more 
advantage. To the right of this sedile is a broken 
piscina. This is one of the rare instances in which 
the piscina is placed to the West of the sedile, 
instead of the usual position, to the East thereof. It 
is easy to see that in this case the architecture of 
the apartment required this departure fi^m custom. 
The Eastern wall, now occupied by the Baynton 
monument, was formerly the place of an altar. 

In the North-East angle is a remarkable example 
of the hagioscope or squint, the purpose of which in 
our ancient churches has been so much discussed. 
The explanation that it was to enable persons, for 
some reason excluded from the Church proper, to 
obtain a view of the High Altar, might in this case 
be considered appropriate.* Doubtless in connection 
with the benevolent activities of the Gaunts' Hospital 
people of all sorts would resort to the building ; and 
inasmuch as there was at one time an entrance to 
the South Aisle at the South- West comer, outsiders 
could enter there and pass into this inner Chapel 

N 



178 St. Marks J or the Muyar'^s Chapel. 

without going into the Nave at all. This hagfioscope 
is figured in Parker's Glossary of Architecture, p. 254. 
Such openings are not often ornamented or glazed, 
and this example is interesting on account of both 
those peculiarities. The leading of the quarry glass 
is certainly ancient, and in the centre is a medallion 
of early painted glass. It represents the head and 
shoulders of a knight protected by a cape of mail and 
helmet. This has been erroneously supposed by some 
persons to represent Maurice de Gaunt. 

There was formerly a doorway leading into the 
Nave on the North side of this Chapel. It was in 
existence in Barrett's time, and its position is shown 
by the recess in which the tablet to the memory of 
Thomas Clark is placed. 

Monuments. — ^Apart from its architecture, much 
interest attaches to this side Chapel on account of the 
many memorials of the dead which have been placed 
within it. Of these the most striking are the effigies 
of Maurice de Gaunt and Robert de Gourney, the 
joint-founders of the Gaunts' Hospital (see page 5), 
which are placed side by side on the floor of the 
Chapel. The following carved inscription was at 
a modern date added to the effigy of Maurice de 
Gaunt : — 

"Aauritlud . de . (3attnt . bujud . loci . fundator . 0Mft . 

The effigy of Robert de Gourney is without any 
similar inscription. On the inner side of each, however, 
there are the remains of painted inscriptions. That 
on the effigy of Maurice de Gaunt was the same as 
was afterwards carved on the opposite side. That 
on the companion effigy ran thus : — ROBERTUS D£ 
Gourney, etc. (remainder indistinct). These painted 



«> 



Sf. Mark's, of the Mayo/s Chapel. 179 

inscriptions existed ho doubt at the time when, 
according to Dallaway, the effigies occupied their 
.former positions in the Chancel.* (See page 77.) 

Colonel Bramble has given the following descrip- 
tion of these early and interesting effigies, which are 
figured in Skeltoris Antiquities, Plate 10 : — 

"Maurice de Gaunt is represented 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 cross-legged, and as holding the 
scabbard in his left hand while he sheathes his sword 
with his right. He does not carry a shield. On 
the heels are plain prick spurs, i>., spurs ending in 
a single point instead of a rowel. 

The effigy of Robert de Groumey is very similar 
to the former, but the sword and belts are much 
lighter, and the coif is noc 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 kite-shaped shield, but with the top 
straight. The hands are crossed, not folded, over the 
heart." f 

Against the North wall are two lofty monuments of 
classical design, with effigies in the armour of a late 

* Trans, Archl, Inst., 1851, p. 172. 
. r Frocadinp Clifton AntifuarioH CM, YoU I.» p. 42* 



i8o St Mark's^ or the Mayof^s Chapel. 

period. It is worthy of note that in this side Chapel 
there are illustrations of both the earliest, and almost 
the latest forms of defensive armour, and one cannot 
help contrasting the restful dignity of the 13th century 
effigies of Maurice de Gaunt and Robert de Groumey in 
their complete suits of mail, with the stiffness and 
cumbrousness of the two figures now referred to, nearly 
four hundred years later. 

The first of these, in the Jacobean style, is that 
of George Upton, Esquire, and is of the year 1608. 
The effigy is extended on the right side, the head 
resting on the right hand and the elbow on a 
cushion. The left hand is placed on the hip. 
The plate armour is in this case associated with a 
ruff collar, pleated skirt, and square-toed boots. The 
effigy and monument have been profusely coloured and 
gilded, only the faded remains of which are now seen. 
The following is the epitaph now also much faded : — 

" Memorice cet/erfue viri opttmi et ornattssimi Georgit 
Upton Armigeri qui cum 55 Annos bene vixisset^ placide 
ohdormivit Januarti 25 natali suo A,D. 1608. 

Quce lux prima tulit te^ te abstulit^ ergo superstes 
Cum nequeas vita vivere vive neci: 

Integra vitafuit^ pia mors^ mens dedita Christo^ 
Hcec facient tumulo te superesse tuo. 

Lugem posuit Edwardus Bisse." 

Translation. 

"To the undying memory of George Upton, Esquire, 
an excellent and cultivated man ; after a well-spent life 
of 55 years he quietly fell asleep January 25th (his own 
birthday), A.D. 1608. 

The day which first brought thee forth, the same 
also took thee away ; wherefore though thou art unable 
to live on earth, yet thou shalt survive in heaven. His 



•S7. Mark 5^ or the Mayot^s Chapel. i8i 

life was without blemish, his death was peaceful, his 
affections were fixed on Christ. These things will cause 
his memory to reach beyond his tomb. 
In sorrow Edward Bisse erected this." 
The second of these two monuments is of the year 
1635. It was erected to the memory of Margaret 
Throkmorton, wife of Sir Baynham Throkmorton. 
They are both represented in effigy, and also an 
infant child, who, from the epitaph, seems to have 
lo^t its mother in infancy. Sir Baynham presents a 
fine military appearance, with his head uncovered and 
with flowing hair. He wears a wide lace collar over 
his shoulders. The narrow taslets cover the front of 
the skirt and wide breeches, and reach down to the 
knee -plates. The boots are very wide -toed. The 
figure of the lady is resting on the right side, and 
is richly dressed in the costume of the period. With 
one hand she grasps the hand of Sir Baynham, and 
with the other holds the infant, who is most quaintly 
dressed. This was a most costly monument, being 
constructed entirely of coloured marbles. It has, 
however, been sadly mutilated and neglected, and the 
following curious epitaph is now scarcely legible : — 

" Dedicated to the never dying memory of the Lady 
Margaret Throkmorton^ the late wife of Sir Baytiham 
Throkmorton^ of Clawerwall^ in the County of GUmc.y 
Baronety and youngest daughter of Mr. Robert Hopton^ 
of that ancient and roorihie family of the Hoptons of 
Witham^ in the County of Somerset, Esquire^ who lifted 
up her soule to God upon the i8th day of August in 
the year of our Lord 1635 and of her age above 25. 

A predons Femme, a Margarite, was lent 
To crowne Throkmorton with a rich content ; 
Contented he his Margarite did set 
In*s faithfoU breast his choisest cabanet. 



i82 St MarKs^ or the Mayor* s ChapeL 

She wished no better till her lustre drew 
The King of Heaven to like her gradons hoe. 
Who, deeming it unfit a snbject should 
Longer enjoy a femme of that rich mould, 
Tooke back his loane, and fixing her above, 
Left to Throkmorton thu sole pledge of love. 
Mors rapaXf uma capax^ sed spes Unax** 

On the floor of the Chapel, in front of the monu- 
ment is a flat stone, with the first part of the same 
inscription thereon. 

The family of this Sir Ba}mham Throkmorton 
was connected by marriage with that of Sir Richard 
Berkeley, whose monument at the West entrance has 
been already described (see page 146). 

The exact relationship is given in the following 
notes from Smyth: — 

^* The said Elizabeth daughter of Sir Richard 
Berkeley formerly mentioned to be maryed to Sir 
Thomas Throkmorton of Tortworth, Knight, have 
issue Sir William Throkmorton, created Baronet 
(161 1), Margaret, Mary, and Elizabeth. 

The said Sir William Throkmorton by Cicely his 
first wife, daughter and co-heire of Thomas Bainham 
of Clowerwall (now known as Clearwell), Esq., hath 
issue Baynham Throkmorton and many others."* 

That is, Sir Baynham llirokmorton's grandfather 
married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Sir Richard 
Berkeley. 

This Sir Baynham succeeded his father in 1628, 
when he was aged 22 years. He married, as is stated 
on the inscription, Margaret, daughter of Robert 
Hoplon, and sister and one of the co*heirs of the famous 
Sir Ralph Hopton, created Lord Hopton of Stratton 
in 1643, ob. s.p. Sir Baynham died at Westminster, 

* Smyth's Lives of thi BerkOtys^ Vol. II., p. 181. 



St. Marffsy or the Mayai^s Chapel. 183 

on 28th May, 1664, and was buried in St. Margaret's 
Church the following day. He survived his wife 
nearly 29 years, afid, probably, in his lifetime erected 
this superb monument to her memory and his own, 
intending to be buried here with her, but the fates 
disposed otherwise. There Is a monumental inscription 
to him in the Church of Newland.* 

In the North - East comer of the Chapel is a 
monument to the memory of several members of the 
Aldworth family, named respectively Thomas, John, 
and Francis. The Aldworths were famous in this 
City for their enterprising character and high station. 
In this monument the Gothic re-appears, but with its 
latest and poorest characteristics. It has octagonal 
columns, cusping in the panels, and Tudor ornaments 
above the cornice. There are two kneeling figures, 
father and son, the elder in alderman's robes, with 
the ample rufif collar, tight-fitting jacket with slashed 
sleeves, and trunk hose of the period ; the younger with 
a loose cape over similar garments. The monument 
has been robbed of its metal shields and other 
ornaments, and only partially repaired. Barrett statesf 
there was the following epitaph "on a table": — 
" Thomas Aldworth obiit Februarii 2sth, Anno 1598." 
This no longer appears, and with it have also gone 
the following lines, which no doubt disappeared when 
the monument was removed from the right hand of 
the Altar, where it formerly stood : — 

** Bristolim quondam qui mercatoris in urbe 
Munere functus eras^ bis quoque prtEtor eras^ 
H<BC cineris Aldworthi tuos tenet urna^ sed omnis 
Virtutis meritis arctior urna tuis, &c." 

* Trans. Bris. and Glas, ArcM. See., Vol. XV., p. 83. 
- t%n»U, PP..550, 351. . 



184 Sf. Mark's, or the Mayor^s Chapel. 

Under the kneeling figures the following inscription 
still remains : — 

^^Hicjacent Johannes Aldworth, civis, mercator, hujus 
civitatis vtcecomes, hujusque orphanotrophii quondam 
thesaurarius^ qui obiit 18 Decembris 161 5 mtaiis su(b 
51; et Franciscus filius ejus optinue spei juvenis qui 
5 Septem. 1623 obiii, cRtatis suce 24. Terram cum ccelo 
commutamt plactdi in Domino requiem. 



En pater et natus iumulo conduniur eodem 

Ille rei mulke, sic fuit ille spei : 
Ille probus prudens, pietatis cultor et aqui. 

Qui norit lector, crederet, iste foret, 
Ille vue medium cum vicerii, iste sed oram. 
Cum Christo regnant sauviter in patrice'* 

Translation : — 
"Here lie John Aldworth, burgess, merchant, 
Sheriff and formerly treasurer of the orphanage of 
this City, who died 18 Dec. 1615 in the 51st year of 
his age: and Francis his son, a youth of brightest 
promise, who died 5 Sept. 1623 in his 24th year. 
Quietly sleeping in the Lord earth is changed for heaven. 
So, father and son are hidden in the same tomb ; 
the one wise, honourable, of unobtrusive piety, of as 
much action as the other of hope: What the reader 
believes, let him know must be so; the one having 
reached the middle of life, the other the verge, both 
reign sweetly with Christ in Paradise." 

Thomas Aldworth was Mayor in 1582, and on the 
front of the pommel of one of the state swords, known 
as " the Lent sword," the following legend is engraved, 
with the date 1583 : — 

" This sworde we did repaier, 
Thomas Aldworth beinge maior." 



St. Mark's^ or the Mayors Chapel. 185 

This Thomas Aldworth is said to have taken the 
lead with the Bristol merchants in fitting out an 
expedition for the discovery of the coast of America 
S.W. of Cape Breton. It was proposed to raise for 
the purpose 1,000 marks, and furnish two ships, one 
of sixty and the other of forty tons, for the purpose.* 
With such modest resources were the great enterprises 
of former days accomplished ! 

John Aldworth was one of the benefactors of Queen 
Elizabeth's Hospital. He gave £10 in 1598. He is 
described as '' Merchant and Sheriff of this City, and 
sometime treasurer of the Orphan Asylum.** 

At the East end of the Chapel is a pretentious 
monument commemorating Maria Baynton, which 
fills the greater part of the wall-space there, in the 
position once occupied by the Altar of the Chapel. 
Seyer speaks of this monument, in some MS. notes, as 
"fiightfully fine." It is said to have been the work of 
the father of CoUey Cibber.f Under a heavy canopy it 
represents a lady kneeling on a cushion, and on either 
hand a man, probably the lady's sons, also kneeling, 
and drawing aside a curtain as if to reveal the centre 
figure. Barrett, who must be again referred to, des- 
cribes the monument as being ''in the West Aisle, 
next the pulpit ; " that is, as we should now say, '' in 
the Nave." It was probably removed when the plaster 
canopies and stalls were erected in 1820. On a tablet 
underneath is the following lengfthy epitaph, which is 
only interesting as illustrating the taste of the age, 
and as shewing how far fulsomeness and sentimentality 
can be carried : — 

*' Mem. sacra hu siia sunt ossa omatissimce FcsmifUB^ 
Damifue MaruB Dom. Edoardi Bdyntan^ nuper de Bramham 

* Barrett, p. 686. t fevans, p. 224. 



1 86 St. Mark\ or the Mayof^t Chapel. 

tn Comttatu WiUonuB Reltcta^ FiBmtna fuit ad' anti- 
quum morem Compasita^ Illibata Vita, pietate, Forma et 
amnt Laude maternali Virtuie MiUiebri amab Qua 
postquam vitam nimis eheu brevem nee a molestiis peniius 
liberam, piam tamen pudicam castam, generosam hospitali" 
tote charitate, aliisque quam plurimis tfirtutibus excultam 
amnibuSy etidm egenis, caram egisset; eam cum ingenti 
omnium utriusque ; sextis, quibus aut fama, aut facie 
nota fuity luctu ac dolor e reliquit, pro fmliciori commutaoit, 
et Chris to placide obdormivit cetatis sua, Anno quadra- 
gessimo secundo et Domini servatoris m.d.c.lxyii. Sordes 
Terra tenet, tenet Ingens spiritus aethrd. Huic ejus 
filii dom. Robertus et dom. Nicolaus, quos utero conjugali 
fructifero peperit hoc marentes posuere monumentum." 

Translation. 
^'Sacred to the memory of an illustrious woman 
(whose remains lie here). Lady Maria, relict of Lord 
Edward Baynton, lately of Bromham, in the County 
of Wiltshire. She was a lady of the olden style, 
of unblemished life, adorned with piety, beauty, and 
with every maternal grace and female excellence. 
In her mode of life (though, alas ! her stay here 
was too brief and by no means free from troubles) 
she was frank, religious, trusty, modest, chaste, 
eminent for hospitalities and affections and ennobled 
by well nigh every virtue; all men and especially the 
poor were the objects of her regard. Her removal from 
this life occasioned great grief and sadness to all of 
either sex to whom she was known, either by report 
or by sight. She changed this for a happier scene, 
and sweetly fell asleep in Jesus in the 42nd year of 
her age in the year 1667. The earth holds her dust, 
her spirit has passed to heaven. Her sons Robert and 
Nicholas have here sorrowfrilly placed this monument/' 



St. Mark% or the Mayor's Chapel. 



rt7 



There is a small mural monument to Elizabeth 
James, wife of "Fravncis James, doctor of the Civill 
Lawe," who died ist May, 1590, and another, much 
decayed, to William Swift, who died 1623. 

Painted Glass. — In the windows will be found 
a series of 24 German medallions noticeable for the 
extremely minute and finished character of the work. 
Some are executed in monochrome, and others are 
varied in the colouring. It is somewhat remarkable 
that Mr. Winstone, in speaking of the glass in the 
Mayor's Chapel, makes no mention of these rare 
medallions. The subjects are partly scriptural and 
partly monastic, and in some instances it is not easy 
to determine what is intended to be represented. 
The following numbered plan will be of assistance in 
identifying the subjects : — 



LEFT-HAND WINDOW. 



I. 


3. 


5. 


1 

7. 


St. John the 


St. Michael. 


St. Ma&gaeet. 


St. Mary 


EVANOSLIST. 


(hatid 




Magdalene. 




MDLXXXI.) 




. 


1 
1 

1 

2. 


4- 


6. 


8. 


Probably thr 


SS. Adrian 


St. Maurice. 


Jonah cast on 


Labobato&y of 


AND Natalia. 




SHORE. 


AN Alchtmist. 

1 ., — 


• i -■ V  








i88 



St. Mark's, or the Mayor's ChapeL 





MIDDLE 


WINDOW. 




9. 


II. 


13- 


IS- 


The 


SS. Patsjck 


<<Maeia, Jesus, 


St. John the 


C&UCIFIXION. 


AND GSETRUDS. 


JOSSFH, 
ANNO i66e." 


Baptist. 


10. 


12. 


14. 


16. 


Thb 


St. Anne, 


The BAPnsii 


The Maoi 


Ascension. 


ViEoiN Mary, 


OF Jesus. 


PKEPAEINO FOE 




AMD 




THBIE JOUBNET. 




Infant Jesus. 







RIGHT-HAND WINDOW. 



17. 


19. 


21. 


«3. 


Anna and 


St. Git.rs, 


A SYMBOLICAL 


Lot visited 


TOBIT. 


Patron Saint 


FIGURE. 


by Angels. 


TOBIT v., 16. 17. 


OF Cripples. 






18. 


20. 


22. 


24. 


Maettedom of 


Beheading of 


St. Anthony, 


Jesus in the 


St. John the 


St. John 


OF Eoypi'. 


Temple. 


Evangelist. 


THE Baptist. 







ihc ..iiWYORK 
PUBLIC LISflARY 



ASTOR, LFNOX AND 
TILD'.*| F0UN»ATI0N8. 



Plate XVIII. 



THE POYNTZ or JESUS CHAPEL, 
IN THE mayor's chapel, briitol. 



Sf. MarKSf or the Mayor's Chapel. 189 



TCbe poi^nt3, or 3e0Ud Cbapel :— 

aB. 1510^20. 

The approximate date of the erection of the Po3mtz 
Chapel is determined by the will of the founder, and 
by an inscription on the painted glass in the centre 
of the East window. This beautiful addition to the 
Gaunts' Church was erected as a chantry by Sir 
Robert Poyntz of Iron Acton, a famous man in the 
reigns of Henry VII. and VIII. " He is mentioned 
among the Knights Bachelors present at the tardy 
coronation of Elizabeth of York in 1487. He accom- 
panied the King in the expedition to Exeter against 
Perkin Warbeck. Henry VII. dined with him at his 
house at Iron Acton in i486. He was at a later date 
appointed to take part in the reception of Catharine 
of Arragon, and he was in attendance upon Henry 
VIII. at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. His eldest 
son Anthony succeeded to the Iron Acton estates, and 
John, his second son, became lord of the manor of 
Alderley in Gloucestershire."* 

As would naturally be expected, the monumental 
remains of the Poyntz family are chiefly found in Iron 
Acton Church; but as the great families of Berkeley 
and Po3mtz were connected by marriage in more ways 
than one, there is a fitness in both being commemorated 
under the roof of St. Mark's Chapel. 

A former Robert Poyntz married Katharine, 
daughter of Sir Thomas Fitz NichoU, who was a 
descendant of Nicholaus> second son of the first 
Robert Lord Berkeley. This Sir T. Fitz NichoU died 
(141 8) without direct heirs, and his estates passed to 
his two daughters, one of whom was the above-named 

* Key. H. L. Thompson, JVans, BrisU and Glos, Arch. Sac,, VoL IV., p. 77. 



igiO St. Mofk^s, or the Mayof^s Chapek 

Katharine^ wife of Robert Poyntz. They passed 
successively to Nicholas Poyntz their son, to Sir John 
Poyntz, and to the Sir Robert Poyntz who founded this 
Chantry in St. Mark's. His descendant, Sir Nicholas 
Poyntz, married Joan, daughter of the fifth Thomas 
Lord Berkeley.* 

Sir Robert Poyntz died in 152O1 and was buried 
in this Chantry, which he called the Chapel of Jesus. 
At his death it appears to have been left in an 
incomplete state, and in his will, dated Oct. 19, i520,t 
he left elaborate directions for its completion, and the 
maintenance of religious service within it. He directed 
that he ''be buried in the Church of the Gaimts, 
beside Bristol, in the Chapel of Jesus, which latter I 
have caused to be new edified and made, of my cost and 
charge, on the South side of the Chancel of the said 
Church, and the overpart thereof, behind the presbytery 

there The said new Chapel which I lately 

edified is not in all things perfected and furnished yet 
according to mine intent, that is to wit, in glazing of the 
windows thereof, and making of two pews within the 
said Chapel in the lower end of the same. Mine execu- 
tors shall finish and perform all the same things being 
yet undone, and also shall garnish the same Chapel 
with certain images, and the Altar of the same with 
Altar cloths, vestments, book and chalice, and with all 
other things thereunto necessary. (After mentioning 
certain manors] the Master of the House of the Gaunts 
to take the issues of the same, to provide. an honest 
and considerable priest, to sing mass at the Altar of the 
said Chapel of Jesus the said priest to have 

* Smyth's Lives of the Berkileys^ Vol. I., p. 49. 
t The will has been printed by Sir John Maclean in hb Memoirs of th$ 
Famify of PoynU* 



St. Marksy or the Mayo/s Chapel. 191 



for his salary six pounds. A solemn obiil for my soul 
to be kept in the said Church of the Gaunts on the day 
of my departing ; in the evening ^Placebo' and * Dirige* 
by note, and on the following day Mass of Requiem by 
note. And four tapers of wax, every of them a pound 
weight, be brenning upon my herse about the Crucifix 
at all times during the said Dirige and Mass. And six 
and eightpence Stirling to be distributed in alms to the 
}>oor. The said priest shall always be tabled and lodged 
within the same house of the Gaunts."* 

The Chantry, for the completion of which the above 
elaborate directions were given, seems from the terms 
of the will to have taken the place of a former structure 
on the same spot. This would be the obvious meaning 
of the reference to the Chapel of Jesus, as one " which 
I have caused to be new edified and made." 

The Chantry or Chapel thus erected and endowed, 
is a perfect gem of the late Perpendicular style. Its 
ornamentation is rich without being overloaded, and 
the most perfect symmetry is observable throughout the 
apartment. Mr. Pearson endorses the opinion of Rick- 
man, and speaks of it in his Report on the restoration 
of St. Mark's as one of the most beautiful examples of 
the work of the period that he ever remembers to have 
seen. It was extensively repaired during 1820-30, but 
nothing more than cleansing was attempted during the 
recent restoration of other parts of the structure. 

The Chapel is entered by a panelled doorway, the 
sides of which are splayed. The fan-traceried roof is 
arranged in two main divisions, and in the centre of 
each is a boss in the form of a carved shield of arms. 
That to the East contains the arms of Henry VIII. 

* Rev. H. L. Tliompson, Tram. Brist, and Gloue. Archl. Sac., VoL IV., p. 7^. 



192 Si. Mark'Sf or the Mayor^s Chapel. 

and Catharine of Arragon, and that to the West, 
those of Sir Robert Poyntz and his wife Margaret 
Woodville, daughter of Anthony, Earl Rivers. The 
latter exhibits exactly the same arms as are shewn 
on the painted panel, on the Eastern side of the 
South Aisle archway. Eight exquisitely - finished 
canopied niches are ranged around the walls, those 
at the Western end of the apartment being placed 
in pairs. On the North side are two stone cupboards 
or recesses, the construction of which was referred 
to at page 96. In the spandrels on both sides of 
the entrance doorway, and in various places in the 
apartment, will be observed the carved rebus of the 
founder — a clenched fist (Poing). The Altar floor is 
raised one step, and the cresting of the Altar-screen 
still remains. The fire-place is modern. In the South 
wall are the remains of a piscina. This, probably the 
latest constructed, makes the seventh piscina still to be 
found in various parts of the building, only one of which 
has been preserved from injury, that in the Chancel. 

The floor of the Poyntz Chapel is laid with a 
mosaic of Spanish enamelled tiles (azuleids), said to 
be similar to those in the Alcazar at Seville, and of 
the time of Charles V. They are supposed to have 
been imported by some Bristol merchant who at the 
time traded with Spain. Another suggestion is that 
as Sir Francis Poyntz, 3rd son of Sir Robert, was 
agent to Spain in 1527, perhaps the Spanish tiles 
were brought over by him to decorate the Chapel 
where his parents were buried. These tiles are inter- 
mixed with a few of armorial character, and others 
with conventional patterns. Among the devices of 
armorial character will be found those of the Berkeley 
and de Clare families. This flooring of tiles is regarded 



St. Mark's, or the Mayor^s Chapel. 193 

with great interest, and is thus referred to in Parker's 
Glossary: — "In the vestry of the Mayor's Chapel at 
Bristol, there are very splendid tiles, enamelled with 
patterns in various colours; these are of the latter 
part of the 15th Century."* 

The Poyntz Chapel was for a long period used 
as the Vestry of the Church, there being no other 
apartment available. This naturally led to the floor 
being much worn. The erection of the new Chaplain's 
Vestry, adjoining the North Transept, will obviate 
any further injury from this cause. 

In this Chapel are kept the wall paintings, and 
the collection of tiles which came to light during the 
restoration, as explained at pages 117 and 126. 

The Coloured Glass. — In the centre of the 
East window what appears to be the original glass 
remains. This consists of two panels with the 
most richly robed and jewelled figures. The upper 
panel contaiiis a male and female figure, the former, 
according to the lettering around the head, being 
'^Sanctus Castor." He holds a sword in the right 
hand and two arrows in the left. The other figure is 
named in the same way, " S. Castrina." The left hand 
of the latter figure rests upon the hilt of a sword, on 
the blade of which is the word ^'Enorma." In her 
right hand she holds a palm branch. 

The name Castor is common to several indi- 
viduals mentioned in Monastic Biographies ; for instance, 
in Smith and Wace's Dictionary of Christian Biographies 
five are named. One of these was a Bishop and 
Confessor. He is stated to have been bom at Nismes, 
and to have founded a monastery between the years 
419 and 426. Another of the same name is referred 

* Gloaary of Architicturi^ Part I., p. 21 2. 



194 ^f* MarKs^ or the Mayor^s Chapel. 

to by the above authorities, and is also noticed in 
Baring-Grould's Lives of the Saints. He was ordained 
first Deacon and then Priest by S. Maximinus, 
second Bishop of Treves. He was appointed to 
preach the Grospel at Caerden on the Moselle, where 
there is a Church founded by him. 

The former of these two is probably the Sanctus 
Castor commemorated in this window. 

With regard to the companion figure, S. Castrina, 
one is left entirely to conjecture. In the absence 
of definite information respecting her, it has been 
suggested that she was some erring one, who was 
rescued firom a sinful life by the above-mentioned 
Bishop and Confessor, and after taking his name in 
baptism, by her virtues and good works rendered 
herself fit company for the community of the Saints. 
The presence of the sword upon which she leans would 
intimate that she suffered martyrdom by decapitation. 
The inscription '^Enorma" would then refer to the 
burden of sin ft'om which she had been delivered. 

The lower panel contains two figures, also richly 
robed and jewelled. That on the left is named ^'S. 
Nicolaus Episcopus." That on the right is an unnamed 
Bishop, with his head uncovered, kneeling before the 
Saint. His hands are closed in supplication. An 
open book is before him. St. Nicholas was the patron 
saint of the Berkeley family, and his name was 
firequently assumed by members thereof. At the 
bottom of this panel is an inscription which seems 
to refer to the dedication of the Chapel in 1537, 
when, probably, the structtu'e was completed in 
accordance with the terms of the will of Sir Robert 
Poyntz. This date, supposing it to indicate the com- 
pletion of the Chantry, invests it with additional 



St. Afark'Sf or the Mayor's Chapel. 195 

interest, showing what an exceedingly late specimen 
of Gothic architecture it is, and how near to the date 
of its completion came the dissolution of the Gaunts' 
House. 

The painted glass in the other lights, consisting 
of figures of St. Mark and St. Peter, is modem, 
and from its inferiority forms a striking contrast to 
the panels described above 

ZTlK Dew flortb ^Transept, IDestn?, anb 

Cloi0ter« 

The reconstruction of these portions of the now 
completed building has been fully referred to in 
connection with the restoration of the Chapel at pages 
128-9. Fo^ more than two hundred and fifty years 
the Church remained in its incomplete condition, with 
part of its actual site occupied by school buildings, 
and the work that has now been carried out is one of 
the many illustrations of the reverent spirit in which 
the men of the present day have sought to rectify 
the mistakes of their predecessors. The mutilated 
piscina, the half-destroyed capitals, and the broken 
string-course will always remain evidences of the 
violence that was wrought when the ancient Transept 
was destroyed and the beautiful arch built up. It 
only remains to add some particulars of the stained 
glass window which has been inserted in the newly 
erected Transept. This was the gift of Alderman 
Sir Charles Wathen, to commemorate the Restoration 
during his Mayoralty. A brass tablet with the 
following inscription, which has been fixed beneath 
it, epitomises in a permanent form the different works 
then accomplished, and is intended to be an historic 
record of the event. 



196 St. Marks^ or the Mayor^s Chapel. 

"to commemorate the restoration of this 
Church commenced in August, 1888, and 
FINISHED IN September, 1889, the above 
window was given by alderman sir 
Charles Wathen, in his fifth tear of 
OFFICE AS Mayor of Bristol. The new 
Western Doorway was then inserted, 
the North Transept and Cloister were 
rebuilt with the addition of a Vestry, 
AND THE Nave and Chancel were re- 
instated. The Church was also entirely 
refitted, and a new Organ erected." 
On account of the special reference of the window 

to the Evangelist to whom the Church was dedicated 

at its founding, the following particulars of the design 

of the window will not be out of place. 

It is seen by the Charter of Robert de Goumey 
that the building was originally dedicated to St. Mark, 
and that relationship is now illustrated by the subject 
of the stained glass as '' a St. Mark window.'' In this 
way the earliest and latest stages in the long and 
eventful history of this Church are brought into close 
accord, and in a sense it may be said that the story 
of the Chapel ends where it began, at least it is so 
as regards the honour done to the Patron Saint of 
the Church ; first in its original dedication, and now 
in the erection of this window. A glance will shew 
that in every part the window has some bearing upon 
the life, work, and associations of St. Mark. In the 
upper tracery is the descending Dove of inspiration 
surrounded by adoring angels, and in the adjoining 
spandrels are the emblems of the Cross and Crown. 
The quatrefoils of the sub-arches contain large 
medallions with half-length figures of the four prophets 



St. Mark's^ or the Mayar^s Chapel. 197 

who immediately preceded the gospel dispensation. 
On the one side are Isaiah and Jeremiah, and on the 
other Ezekiel and Daniel, each with his name on a 
broad scroll. Tn the four lights below are full-length 
figures of the four evangelists, with the symbols 
appropriated to each worked in the trefoil heads, the 
angel for St. Matthew, the lion for St. Mark, the ox 
for St. Luke, and the eagle for St. John. The spaces 
between the symbols and figures are filled with 
beautifully designed canopies. The figures are richly 
robed, and each holds in one hand the pen, and in 
the other the record which mark his evangelistic office. 
In the four panels beneath these figures, are four 
gfroups in which St. Mark is seen in association with 
the missionary apostles. The first represents him 
sitting at the feet of Peter, who is preaching to an 
attentive group of listeners ; and from whose lips the 
evangelist received orally the gospel incidents which 
afterwards assumed the narrative form bearing St. 
Mark's name. In the second panel, St. Mark is 
represented as acting upon the invitation of his uncle 
St. Barnabas, to accompany him in one of his journeys, 
as recorded in Acts xv., 39. The third scene shews 
St. Mark in his subsequent association with St. Paul, 
when the latter was imprisoned at Rome (Col. iv., 10, 1 1). 
The fourth and last scene is that of the traditional 
martyrdom of St. Mark at Alexandria as recorded in 
Butler's Lives of the Fathers and Martyrs^ Vol. I., 
p. 517. These four pictures really comprise all that 
is known of the evangelist to whom the Church of 
the Gaunts was dedicated in the first half of the 13th 
century. 

In the new Vestry are placed the shields of arms 
which formerly ornamented the stalls on the South 



198 St, Mark's^ or the Mayor* 5 Chapel. 



side of the Nave. They are the arms of the following 

Bristol worthies : — 

Simon 2)e J9utton» 

Mayor 1294, 1295, 1296, 1304, 1305. Founder of St. Maiy ReddiiF 

Charch 1294. 

XQItllfam Cancngeet 

Mayor 1373, 1374. I376, 1382, 1386, 1390. Said to have partly rebuilt 

St. Mary Reddiff Church. 

Tmalter f rampton, 

The first of the name died 1357. The second of the name was 
Mayor 1358, 1366, 1375. Rebuilt St. John's Church, Broad Street, 

about 1389. 

TRnaltet Darbec (S>erbs), 

Mayor 1364, 1368, 1377, 1381, 1385. 

5obn J9ar0taple, 

Mayor 1396, 1402, 1406. Founder of Trinity Hospital. 

5obn SbfpwarD, 

Mayor 1445, 1456, 1464, 1470, 1478. Founder of St. Stephen's Tower. 

Robert tTborne, 

Founder of the Grammar School 1552. 

5obn (Carr. 

For particulars, see page 143. 

5obn TIQlbitdOii, 

For particulars, see page 143. 

5obn Satlier. 

For particulars, see page 143. 

}S>c. TEbomae TRIlbite. 

Founder of Dr. White's Almshouses, &c., 1 6 13. 

5ame0 (Bollop. 



In the Cloister or Corridor are placed a number of 
hatchments with funereal mottoes, which were formerly 
suspended in difiFerent parts of the Chapel. They refer 
to some who in more recent times were interred within 
the building. 

Wat new furniture, fittfnoff, an^ ®rgan. 

As a supplement to the foregoing description ot 
the Chapel, a brief account of the new furniture, fittings, 
and organ i3 added. 



St. Mark^s^ or the Mayor* s Chapel. 199 



The whole of the wood-work introduced is of teak, 
and though different portions of it have been designed 
and executed by different men, care has been taken to 
produce an harmonious whole. There is variety of 
treatment, but the wood-work throughout is in the style 
of the late Gothic. 

The Stalls. — ^Before the recent alterations, the 
seats in the Nave were arranged on a plan which had 
no consistency. On the South side they were placed 
longitudinally, and on the North side they were put 
transversely. They are now all placed facing the East. 
The plain and substantial stalls suit the character of 
the building. They are placed in rows of four, on each 
side of the Nave floor. The Corporation consisting of 
sixty-four members, the full number of stalls is pro- 
vided, and in addition there are the special stalls for the 
Mayor and High Sheriff. These are distinguished by 
the introduction of rich carving in the panels, carved 
poppies at the ends, and heraldic supporters on either 
arm. The seats at the side of those for the Mayor 
and High Sheriff are occupied on state occasions 
by the City officials. 

The Altar Table, — ^The sides of the new Altar 
Table are divided into three open panels by miniature 
buttresses ornamented by sunk panels and terminating 
with crockets. In each panel is open tracery having 
ogee arched heads cinquefoiled and crocketed on 
the upper side, each cinquefoil is again trefoiled and 
the cusps terminated with carved foliage. In the 
spandrels of the centre tracery are quatrefoils with 
shields bearing the letters I.H.S. The spandrels of 
the side panel tracery are pierced in smaller panels 
divided by slender mullions. The two ends of the 
table have similar panels but with tracery of different 



200 St. Mark's^ or the Mayor's Chapel. 

design. Above and below the tracery running all 
round the table between the buttresses, is a band of 
small panels pierced with quatrefoils and having 
shields bearing symbolic emblems. The table-top is 
supported by a cornice running all round it, which 
is richly carved with the grape vine and foliage, and 
on the two sides and the four corners are heads of 
angels supporting the top on their wings. 

The Chanxel Stalls are richly carved, especially 
the front panels on either side. They are arranged in 
a manner suitable for the clergy and choir and are one 
step above the level of the Nave. Upon this step a 
low screen, or rather the lower part of a screen, 
has been erected, against the North end of which 
the new pulpit occupies the old position. The 
pulpit, also of teak, is elaborately carved, and is 
in perfect keeping with its surroundings. 

The Communion Rau. is of polished brass. It 
is supported by four ornamental standards, and has 
a telescopic opening in the centre. 

The New Lectern was presented by the High 
Sheriff of the year in which the Church was re-opened. 
It is a very fine work of art, rich in all the 
ornamentation peculiar to the Fifteenth Century. Its 
octagonal base is supported by four large claws. 
The pillar is very massive and is surmounted by a 
desk with very beautiful wrought open work with 
scrolls and quatrefoils. On the base is engraved the 
following inscription : — "PRESENTED BY James Henry 

LocKLEY, High Sheriff of Bristol, 1890." 

Gas was not introduced into the building until 
the recent restoration. The Nave and Chancel are 
now lighted by two rows of pendant coronse. The 
South Aisle and North Transept are lighted in a 



St. Marks^ or the Mayor^s Chapel. 



20I 



similar manner, and at the East end are two finely 
wrought brass standards with pyramidal groups of 
candle sockets. 

The New Organ occupies the same position as 
the former one, but the ugly gallery which formerly 
stood out, and interfered with the lines of the arch, 
has been dispensed with. A pedestal with key board 
has been brought down to the floor level, and the 
organist's seat is immediately behind the choir stalls. 
The fix>ntage is of teak wood with light tracery 
carving, and corresponds both in material and design 
with the other fittings of the Church. The front 
pipes are coloured a neutral tint, and lightly relieved 
with gold ornament in character. It is a most 
tasteful and suitable instrument, of which the follow- 
ing is a synopsis: — 



GXXAT Okoan. 

I. Doable Diaptaon i6 ft. 56 Pipes 
s. Open Diapason 8 „ 56 

3. Horn Diapason 8 „ 56 

4. Stopped Diapason 8 „ 56 

5. Duldana 8 „ 56 
6.Flnte 4 „ 56 

7. Principal 4 „ 56 

8. Twelfth >}>» 5^ 

9. Fifteenth % „ 56 
icTnimpet 8 ,, 56 „ 



SWXLL O&OAN. 



>» 



>f 



t> 



It 



f» 



ft 



»» 



»f 



Pbdalb CCC to F. 

It. Open Diapason 16 ft. 30 Pipes 
S3. Bourdon 16 „ 30 



14. ViolonceUo 



8 „ 30 



99 



II 



ii.LiebIichBoiu:doni6ft. 56 Pipes 


13. Open Diapason 


8.. 56 „ 


1 3. Stopped Diapason 8 „ 56 , , 


14. Saldonal 


8>, 44 II 


15. Voiz Celestes 


8>i 44 II 


16. Gehmshom 


4 If 56 ,1 


17. Flute 


4*1 56 M 


18. Fifteenth 


«» 56 „ 


19. Mixture (various) 


168 „ 


so. Cornopean 


8.» 56 ,1 


21. Oboe 


8.» 56 „ 


COUPLBXS AND ACCXSSOUBS. 


Swell to Great. 




SweU to Pedal. 




Great to Pedal 





A Pedal taking in and out Grreat to Pedal. 
Three Combination Pedals to Great. 
Three Combination Pedals to Swell. 



202 St, MarKSy or the Mayor^s Chapel. 

In old times the City Fathers used to carry out 
their public efforts, as they quaintly said, ''for the 
grandeur of the City/' It was in some such fine 
spirit of patriotism that the recent work of restoring 
and re-fitting St. Mark's Chapel was undertaken 
and carried through; but in this case, what is even 
more important, it has also been done ''for the 
honour and glory of God." 




INDEX. 



INDEX. 





• 

PAGE 


ABOLITION of City Tolls 


57 


Acreage of the Gmants' Estotes (Note) 


5* 


Adddley, George, TaUet of 


151 


Adveat Season, Ancient Observance of . . 


lOS 


„ Sunday, Modem Observance of . . 


103 


Afteraoon Lecture, Established . • 


75 


„ „ Disconthraed . • 


76 


„ Service Recommenced 


lOI 


Aldworth, Francis, Monument of 


183 


„ John, „ .. . 


183 




183 


Allayn, Walter, Deed of 


17 


Alms, IK^thdrawal of .. 


.. 36,37 


Altar-Piece, Pahited 


100 




95 


ft 11 Description of 


164 


„ „ Niches in . . . . 


163 


„ „ Style of • • 


139 


i» ft Uncovered 


99 


„ Table, New 


199 


Alterations Commenced on the Gaunts* Site 


60 


„ Made in 1870 


103 


Ancient Custom of Attending St. Mark's Revived . 


102 


Arches of the South Aisle 


151 


Architectural Growth of St. Maik's 


138 


Archway of North Thmsept, Re-opening of 


124 


„ South Aisle Chapel .. 


..I39»i76 


Arms of de Berkeley (Plate II.) 


45, 148, 166 


„ Sir Richard Berkeley „ 


146 


„ Sir Thomas Berkeley „ 


166 


„ de (journey „ 


45, 166, 171 


„ Hugh le Despenser the Younger .. 


«73 


„ or Badge of Gaunts' Hospital (Plate II.) 


45 



2o6 



INDEX. 



Arms of Mayors in Chancel Windows 
„ on South Side of Nave 
Shields o( in the New Vestry 
Augustine, St., Monastery of, founded 



>» 



If 



PAOS 

144 

197 
I 



Biide 



»> 



BATES, John, Tablet of 
Baynton, Maria, Monument of . . 
Becfcet, Archbishop, Enamelled Window . . 
Bedloe, Captain, Burial of 
Bells in St. Mark's Chapel 
Benefactors of Qu. Eliz. Hosp. . . 
„ Memorial VHndow of 
„ Tableof All, made .. 
Bengough, Henry, Monument of . . 
Bequest, Curious, of Robert Byleboste 
Berkeley FamUy 

Arms of (Plate II.) 
Crest of 
Jordan de 
Sir Richard, Account of 

„ Arms of (Plate n.) . . 

„ Monument of 

Sir Thomas, Account of • • 

Arms of (Plate II.).. 
Monument of 
Wm., Arms of . . 

Benefactor of Qu. Eliz. Hosp. 
Death of .. 
„ Monument of 
Bishop, Bust of a, in S. Aisle 
Bleek, Gabriel, Tenant of Gaunts' Mansion House 
Blocked-up Wmdows of S. Aisle.. . 
Bonhommes, Supposed Name of Fraternity 
Bruin, John, Deed of . . 
Buildmgs Erected Against N. Wall 
Burial Rights of the Brethren of St. Mark. . 

C AMPLIN, Thomas, Tablet of . . 

Cannell, William, Deed of 

Carr, John, Founder of Qu. Eliz. Hosp. . . 

"v^nnof 

Tomb of .. 



«» 



f* 



»> 



»♦ 



>) 



»> 



»} 



45i 



78 



»f 






185 
89 

93 

73 

74 

73 
160 

28 

I 

148, 166 

I, 166 

22 

147 

4S> 148 
146 

167 

45,166 

165 

149 

74 

74 
148 

154 

n 

I38t >53 

42 
16 

» 80, 123 
32»34 

160 
16 

71 
71 



INDEX. 






207 










PAOB 


Cartoluy of Gaimts* House 


• t 


• • 


• • 


6 


Canred Work, Old, Fragments of 


• • 


• • 


a • 


I3» 


Catcott, A. S., Appointed *« Reader " 


 • 


•  


a a 


95 


CeOing, Hie, Descnption of 


• • 


• a 


a a 


140 


Certificate or Snrvey of Commissioners 


. • 


• • 


a a 


48 


Chancd, Altar-Piece in . . 


• • 


• • 


a * 


100 


„ Altar Screen in 


• • 


a a 


. a 


164 


„ Alterations and Repairs to 


 • 


a a 


a • 


65 


„ Carred Work in Renoyated 


• • 


. • 


a • 


122 


„ Coloured Glass in 


• • 


a a 


a a 


171 


„ East Window of 


• • 


• a 


..] 


1381 171 


„ Monnments in 


• • 


a a 


a a 


165 


„ North and South Windows of 


• • 


• a 


a a 


164 


„ Rebuilt 


• • 


• a 


a a 


162 


„ Sediliain 


• • 


a a 


 a 


171 


„ Wooden Screen in, Erected 


• . 


a a 


a a 


95 


„ „ „ Removed 


• • 


a a 


a a 


99 


„ Stalls, New .. 


• • 


• a 


a a 


200 


Chantries Founded at Wells 


• . 


• a 


« a 


38.39 


„ Vested in the Crown 


• • 


• a 


« a 


63 


Chaplain, Appointed by the Mayor 


• • 


• a 


a a 


94 


„ Stipend of. Increased . . 


• . 


• a 


a a 


98 


„ Surplice Provided for . . 


• • 


• a 


a a 


94 


'< Chj^ter, President and," Referred to 


•  


a a 


a a 


35 


Charters, Barrett's Account of 


• • 


a a 


a a 


6 


„ Book of, at Council House 


• • 


a a 


a a 


6 


Charter of Edward I. 


• a 


a  


a • 


17 


„ Edward III. .. 


• • 


• • 


a • 


22 


„ Henry in. 


• • 


• • 


a • 


16 


„ Maurice de Gaunt 


• • 


a a 


a • 


8 


„ Robert de Goumey 


• • 


a • 


a • 


I3»i6 


Chew, William, Vicar of St. Augustine the Less 


a a 


a a 


34 


Christ's Hospital, London, Foundation of 


• • 


a a 


a a 


70 


Church Fittings, New . . 


•a • 


a a 


a a 


198 


Church Plate of Vestries Sold 




a a 


a • 


58 


Clazton, Robert, Tablet of 




a a 


a a 


158 


Clifton, Lords of 




a a 


 a 


64.67 


Cloister, Ancient, Demolition of . . 




a a 


. a • 


77 


„ „ Fragment of. Found 




a a 


a a 


43 


„ New Erected . . 




a a 


. . "9, 195 


„ „ Hatchments in 




a a 


a • 


198 


" aoysteis" Repaired .. 




a a 


a a 


66 



208 



INDEX. 



College Ludtated 

Commandments Written up 

Conmranion-Rail, New . . 

Contronl of St. Augustine's Mon. Removed 

Conventual Life at St. Mark's 

Cookin^ John, Monument of 

Corbels, Ancient, Recovered 

„ Eariy Engjlish, on Exterior 

Common Fftiyer, Revised Form of, Introduced 

Corporation Records 

Disputes with Dean and Chapter of Cathedral 

Grant of Chapel and Estates to 

Inquiry o( respecting their Responsibilities 

Occupy St. Mark's Chapel 

Payments by, to Wells Cathedral 

Resume Attendance at St. Mark's 

Curate Appointed to St. Marie's , . 

Curate's Stipend Paid by Corporation 



PAOS 

i6 

200 

41 
160 

«3« 

»37 

6,8,90 

9it93 

55 

7, lOI 

93 

42 
102 

61 

61, 67, 95 



DEAN and Chapter of Bristol Cathedral, Deed of . . 

„ „ „ „ Dispute with 

Decay of St. Mark's Chapel 
Deed of Walter AUayn . . 

John Bruin 

William CanneU 

Dean and Chapter 

Sir Henry de Gaunt 

Anselm de Goumey 

Andrew Luttrel 
Delay in Instituting a Master 
Demolition of North Transept and Cloisters 
Disorders in The Gaunts' House • • 
Dispute as to Presentation Rights 

„ with Abbot of St. Augustine's 

9f 






Canons of 
„ Dean and Chapter of Bristol Cathedral 
„ JohndePoulet '.. 
,y Vicar of St. Augustine the Less 



„ „ Wells Chapter Settled 
Dominican Priory, Bristol, Founded 
Doorway, New Western 

of Poyntz Chapel • • 



fi 



91 
9».93 

»7 
16 

16 

9i 
17 
20 
16 

30 

77 

37 
28 

35 

3« 

91,93 
20 

34 

38 

4 

136 

191 



INDEX. 



209 



Dormitories of Gannts' Hospital . . 



PAOB 

119 



»» 



99 



EAST Window of Chancel 

„ „ Painted Glass in. . 

Eastern End of Chapel, Exterior of 
Edward I., Charter of . . 

Intervention of 
in., Charter of 
Edwards, Sir G. W., Memorial Window Given 
Election of Master of Hospital 
Ellis, John, Appointed First Curate of St. Mark's 
Enquiry into Responsibilities of Corporation 
Erection of Hospital Chapel 

Poyntz Chapel 

South Aisle... 

South Aisle Chapel . . 

Tower . . • . 

(Re-«rection) of Chancel 
Estates, Sale of 
Evening Service Commenced 
Exchange of Gaunts' Property 
„ School Buildings 

Exhibiting Presentment of Gaunts' Parish ... 
Exterior of Eastern End, • 

West Front . , 

New Transept 



»> 



ff 



>i 



99 



99 



99 



1389 171 
17 

a8 
2a 

»43 

28 

50,61 
7f loi 

n 

189 

176 

162 

162 

56, 101 

8s 
19,21 

82 

67 
138 
136 
129 



99 
99 



FITTINGS of Chapel, New 198 

Fitz Harding, Rx>bert . . 1 

Foster's Almshouses, Master of the Gaunts' to Nominate . . 40 

Foundation of Graunts' Hospital . . . . . . 10 

Founders, the . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 

„ Tombs of. Removed • • 77 15^ 

„ Pedigree of . . 5 

Fragment of Old Cloister Found . . 43 

Fragments of Old Carved Work Found . . . • . . 131 
Freedom from Controulof the Canons of St. Augustine's Granted 15, 24 

French Protestant Refugees, Arrival of . . 86 

Congregation Scattered . . 89 

First Service of . . . . 87 

Removal of, from St. Mark's . . 88 



99 


99 


99 


99 


99 


99 


>» 


99 


»» 



210 



INDEX. 







PAGE 


French Ftotestant Refugees, Settlement of, in Orchard Street 


88 


yy y, „ Worshipping in St. Mark*s 


87 


Fumitue and Fittings, the New . . 


•  • 


198 


GALLERY Erected at Western End 




95.98 


„ for Grammar School Boys Erected 




98 


Grawit, Avida de 




5 


„ Maurice de Graont, Founder 




3 


„ 1, „ Charter of 




8 


„ „ „ Death of 




4 


„ f, •! Effigy of 




4,178 


„ Henry de, Burial Place of... 




156 


I, ,, x/eeci 01 • • 




17 


M „ Effigy of 




155 


Graunts' Estates, Acreage of 




52 


,, „ Income of 




52 


„ „ Sale of . . 




56, lOI 


„ House, Ordinance for Government of 




24 


„ „ Suppression of .. 




46 


„ „ Surrender of 




47 


„ Ham, made a Pleasure Ground (Note) 




56 


„ Hospital, Foundation of . • 




10 


„ „ Arms or Badge of (Plate U.) 




45» 173 


„ „ Seal of „ 




45 


Greneral Features of the Interior .. 




138 


„ Repairs Described 




130 


Gibbs, James, Tablet of 




«5« 


Glass, Coloured, in Chancel 




"7" 


„ „ in Nave 




140 


„ „ in North Transept 




»95 


„ f» in Poyntz Chapel 




193 


„ „ in South Aisle . . 




«54 


„ „ in South Aisle Chapel 


1 


78, 187 


Gorges, Sir Robert, Lost Tombstone of . . 




171 


„ „ Arms of . . 




171 


Goumey, Anselm de. Deed of . . 




20 


„ Robert de, Founder 




4 


„ „ Ancestry of.. 




4 


„ „ Arms of (Plate n.) .. 




45 


„ „ Charter of .. 




I3»i6 


Effigyof 




5»i78 


„ „ *Unfpexim9u** oi 




9 



INDEX. 



211 



Goniney, Robert de. Wealth of . . 

Crrammar School Ezchaage of Buildings 

Green, Alderman, Tablet of 

Crrant of Chapel and Estates to Corpoiation 
,, Farticiilara for, Text of 
„ ofLandtoQtt. Eliz. Hosp. 

Guildford, Lady Mary, Letter of . . 

Gnrgoyles on Soath Side 

HABERFIELD, Sir J. K., Bust of 
Hagioscope in S. Aisle Chi^ 
HalUard, William, Monnment of 

,y If Arms of 

Harris, Thomas, Tablet of 
Hatchments in Cloister . . 
Hawkesworth, Rev. J., Tablet of. 
Heniy HI., Confirmation of Charter by 
Historians of Bristol 
Hospital, Gamits', Arms of (Plate 11.) 

M „ List of Masters 

Hospital Buildings, Conjectural Plan of 
Hospitality, General Rights of 

„ of the Gaunts* House. . 
Hugh de Romenal, Chantry of 



INCAPACITATED Master, Provided for 

Income of the Gaunts' Estate (Note) 

Indemnity given to Vestries 

Induction of Master 

Inscription on the Tower 

** Irispeximus " of Robert de Goumey 

Interior of Chapel, Alterations to, in 1820-30 

Drawing of . . 

Engraving of . . 

General Features of, at Present 



f> 



t* 



f> 



fi 



f> 



}> 



Time 



JAMB of Former Cloister Doorway 
James, Thomas, Monument of 

„ Elizabeth „ 

John de Hereford, Chantiy of 



KING'S Commissioners, Certificate of 

Supremacy, Acknowledgment of. . 



»i 



PAOX 

4 
82 

55 

5a 
80 

62 
138 

151 

177 
160 

160 

15" 

198 

15" 
16 

2 

45 
45 
42 
35 
3«> 
38 

31 
52 

58 
28 

162 

9 
100 
100 
100 

138 

"5 

158 

187 
39 

48 
46 



212 INDEX. 






PAQB 


LEtTKRN,Ncw 


100 


Letter of Lady Maiy Guildford .. 


6a 


Loxig, William, Abbot of St. Augustine's . . 


3« 


Lords of Clifton 


..64.67 


Luttiel, Andrew, Deed of 


16 


MANCUKE'S Bristol Charities, Refeired to 


?i, ?4. 85 


Mansion House of Graunts Occupied as Qu. EHz. Hos 


p. .. 71,73 


Master of Craunts' Hospital, Delay in Instituting 


30 


„ Election of 


28 


„ Induction of 


28 


„ Presentation of . • 


28 


„ Ph>vision for, when Aged . . 


3« 


Masters of the Hospital, List of .. 


45 


" Mayor's Chi^H" The 


90 


„ „ Occi4)ied by Corporation 


90 


Mayor's Kalendar, The .. 


.6,47,56,71.103 


Medallions in South Aisle Chapel . . 


..178,187 


Memorial Windows in Nave 


..14', 143 


„ Window in North Tnmsept 


..129,195 


Merchant Venturers' Schoob 


82 


Monuments, Ancient, in Nave 


114,115,145 


„ inChancel ., 


165 


„ in South Aisle 


155 


„ in South Aisle Chapel 


116 


„ at Western Entrance 


145 


Municipal Corporations Act, Operation of . . 


lOI 


NAVE, Alterations to . . 


III 


„ Floor Relaid 


..112,122 


„ Description of .. 


139 


», Wmdows, Original Construction of 


113 


M „ Style of 


138 


„ „ South Side, Aims in . . 


144 


„ „ Hie First, Glass in 


140 


t» »i » Second, „ 


14K 


>t If M Third, „ 


141 


t> »f M Fourth, „ 


143 


Niche in South Aisle .. 


154 


Niches in Altar Screen . . 


163 


„ Poyntz Chapel 


I9t 


,y South Aisle Chapel ., 


«77 



INDEX. 



»f 



»f 



If 



•I 



i» 



»t 



North Transept, DemoUtion of Original .. 

DitcoTcriei Reipecting . . 

Stained Glass Window in . . 

Reoonstractlon of 
North Wall, Buildings Erected Againrt . . 
Impaired Condition of 



»f 



u 



OBSERVANCE, Andent, of Advent Season 
», Modem, of Advent Snnday 

Open Roof, Original 

Openings in Nave Walls 
Oidinanoe of Bishop of Worcester 
Ordinances of 1643-4 .. 
Organ* Original, Erected 

Second, Fftyvided 

New, Description of 
Organist, First, Appointed 






213 

PAGE 

195 
19s 

7», 80, 113 
121 

102 

. . 10*, 103 

. . 139, 140 

.24, 116, 119, 128 

24 
70 

97 
100 

201 

97 



f> 



" PARISHIONERS," Proposed Payment of Curate by 
« Particular for Grant," Text of .. 
Payment of Purchase Money for Chapel and Estates 
Pearson, Mr. J. L., Consulted 

„ Report of •• 
of Founders of the Gaunts 
Peloquin, David 

„ Stephen 

„ Mary Ann, Gifts of . . 
Piguenit, Maria Esther Martha, Tombstone of 
Pipe, Conveying Water to the Gaunts 
Piscma in Former North Transept 

„ South Aisle Chapel 
Plate, City, Gift of, by Alderman Camplin 
„ „ Lady Haberiield 



f> 



»» 



» 



»f 



»i 



Mrs. Catherine Searchfeild . . 



Portico, Former, at West Entrance Erected 

„ „ „ „ Removed 

Poulet, John de, Dispute with 

„ Manor of, Sold . . 
Poverty of Gaunts* House, Plea of 
Poyntz Chapel . . 

„ „ Carved Rebus in . . 

„ jt Coloured Glass in . . 



67 
5a 

57 

106 

5 

87 

87 

87 
88 

64,67 

"S 
177 
160 

ISO 

97 
109 

20 

56 
18, 21 

189 

192 

193 



214 



INDEX. 



ft 
ff 
f> 
»f 
t> 
fl 



BoynU Chapd, Doorway, Deso^tioii ol . . 
Eractkm of 
Falling in of Floor of 
inches in 
Tiled Floor in 
Used as a Vestiy . . 
Vaulted Roof of .. 
PoynU, Sir Robert, Arms of 
„ „ Acoonntof .. 

,» M Connection with the BeAeleys 

f , », Death of 

u u Willof 

Presentment of Gannts* Parish, Exhibiting of 
Presentation to Mastership, Rights of 
" President and Chapter*' referred to 
<« Prior of Bileswyke " lefened to 
Property of Gannts' Hoose, Exchange of . . 
Pulpit <«Diessed with Lim^ '' 

Purchase Money £ar Gannts' Estates, How Raised 
Pynchyn, Thomas, Pensioned 

„ „ Appointed Curate 

„ „ Residence of . . 

« QUARB IMPMDIT*' ExtracU ftom . . 

Qneen Elizabeth's Hospital 

Afternoon Lecture to Boys in 
Benefactors of . . 
Cost of New Building 



f> 
»• 
ff 
ft 



ff 
ff 



ff 
ff 
ff 



If 
ff 

ff 
ff 
ff 



Exchanee of Buildings with Gram 
mar School . . 

Foundation of . . 

Rebuilt 

To Pay Curate's Stipend 



« RASTALL'S ENTRIES," Quototion from 
«< Reader," A. S. Catcott Appointed 
Rebuilding of Chancel .. 

„ Queen Elizabeth's Hospital . 

Rebus In POyntz Chapel 
Records, Ancient, in Council House 
Reconstruction of Western Entrance 
Reconstruction of North Transept 



PAOB 

191 
189 

153 

19s 

19s 

96. «93 
191 

151, 192 

189 

189 

190 

i5», 190 

67 
38 

35 

39 
19,11 

66 

100 

57 
50,61 

61 

61 

30 
69 
75 
73 

79 

81 

71 
79 
76 

30 

95 
161 

79 
19a 

6, 8,90 

109 

195 



INDEX. 



315 



•f 


ft 


f» 


»f 


•» 


»ff 


tt 


l» 


It 


»f 



Had Maids' School Founded 

Will of the Founder . . 
Hew Balding Erected 
Modem Histoiy of 
Present Building Erected 
New Scheme of Management 
Honse, The 
•, »• Special Pnrpose of . . 

Re<«pening of Transept Arch 
Repaka to St. Mark's Chapel ..64,65, 

„ General, in 1888-9 
Repositoty in Poynta Chapel Constincted . . 
Responsibilities of Corporation Enquired into 
Reserted Rent on Estates, Porchase of 
Restoration, The So-called, of 1810-30 
Restoration of 1888-9 .. 

The Movement for . . 
Mr. PearMm, Consulted on 

„ Report on 

Scheme of . . 

Sanctioned by Town Council . . 
Committee Fonned for 
Re-opening Services after 
Results of .. 
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes 
Romanism, Reaction Against 

„ Fear of the Return of 
Rood-Loft Taken Down 
Roof, Original Open 
,, XTesent • • 
„ of Poyntz Chapel.. 
„ of South Aisle .. 
„ of South Aisle Chapel 
Rule of the Gaunts' House 

SALE of Gaunto' EsUtes 
Salley, Miles, Bp. of Llandaff, Rebuilder of Chancel 
„ „ „ „ Tomb of .. 

»> »• It » wniof 

School Buildings, Exchange of . . 
Screen at Western End Erected . . 

Removed 



93» 96. 97. 



f» 



>9 



It 



IIS. 



PAGE 

8a 

83 
84 

«5 

«S 
86 

«3 
«3 

"4 

98, 103 

130 

96 

7. loi 

56 

. <>8 
104 

104 

IDS 
106 
109 

107 

los 
107 
121, 134 
86 
70 
70 
67 
139. 140 
140 
191 

»S3 
176 

24 

56, lOI 

163 

16S 

163 
82 

99 

IIS 



2l6 


INDEX. 










PAGE 


S«a1ofGaimt8' Hospital (Plate U.) 




45 


Searchfeildy 


Rowland, Brass Tablet of . . 




ISO 


» 


„ Anns of . . 




ISO 


Seats Introdaced into the Chapel . . 




59 


Sedile in South Aisle Chapel 




177 


Sedilia in Chancel 




i7» 


Service Books Provided . . 


. 66 


>94 


Shields of Arms in New Vestry . . 




197 


Side Window of Western End .. 




136 


Somery, Margery, Widow of Maurice de Gaunt 




32 


South Aisle 


• • •! •• •! t« • 




151 


»i ft 


Arches of .. 




151 


tt 9t 


Becket Window in . . 




155 


»» l» 


Bengough, H., Monument in . . 




160 


tt it 


Blocked-up Windows of 107, 


'38, 


153 


tt tt 


Bust of a Bishop in . . 




154 


tt tt 


Camplin's Tablet in 




160 


tt tt 


CaiT, J., Tomb in . . 




157 


tt it 


Cookin, J., Monument in . . 




160 


tt tt 


Gaunt, Sir Henry de. Monument in . . 




«S5 


tt tt 


Halliard, W., Monument in . . 




160 


tt tt 


James, Thomas, Monument in 




158 


tt it 


Length of when Constructed . . 




154 


tt tt 


Niche in . . 




154 


tt tt 


Painted Glass in . . 




154 


it tt 


Roof of 




153 


it tt 


Various Monuments and Tablets in . . 




161 


tt tt 


West Window of .. 


.•38. 


153 


South Aisle 


Chapel 




176 


it tt 


„ Archway of . . 


.139. 


176 


it it 


„ Erection of . . 




176 


it tt 


„ Hagioscope in 




177 


tt tt 


„ Medallions in 


.178. 


187 


it it 


„ Monuments in 




178 


it It 


,, Niches in .. 




177 


tt tt 


,, Piscina in . . 




177 


a ti 


„ Roof of 




176 


it it 


jy Sedile in 




177 


tt tt 


„ Windows in 




176 


S. Castor, Figure of, in Poyntz Chapel 




193 


S. Castiina 


„ ,, 




194 


S. Nicolaus 


Episcopus „ 




194 



INDEX. 

St. Aagustine, Monastery of 

,y „ FVeedom from Controul of 

,, „ Dispute with Canons of 

St. Sdaik's Chapel, Architectural Growth of 

Bells in Tower of 
Decay of, Obseryed 

11 Arrested 
A District Church 
First Curate Appointed to 
First Occupied by Corporation . . 
First Organ Erected in 
First SUte Visit to . . 
General Repairs to, in 1888-9 • > 
Maintenance of 
Parochial Character of 
Repair of , . . .64, 65, 92, 96, 

Stained Glass Windows Purchased for 
Surplice Provided for Chaplain of 
Windows of, " Beautified " 
St. Maik's Window, New, Described 
St. Mary Reddiffe, Attendance of Corporation at 
Stalls for Mayor and Coiporation Erected . . 



ft 
t> 

>» 

>f 

»i 

»» 



If 

9» 
l> 
>> 
If 
ff 
If 
ff 
fl 
ff 
II 
ff 
ff 
ff 



ff 



New 



State ATisit to St. Mark's Chapel, The First 

Stokeland, John de, Induction of 

Stoup, Remains of, in Cloister 

Streets Erected on the Hospital Site 

Supremacy, the King's, Acknowledged 

Suppression of the Gaunts' House 

Surrender of the Gaunts' House . . 

Survey or Certificate of the King's Commissioners 

TEN Commandments Written up 
Throkmorton, Lady M., Monument of 
Tiled Floor in Poyntz Chapel 
Tiles on Site of North Transept . . 

„ in Floor of Nave . . 

„ found in Repository 
Tolls, City, Abolition of 
Tombs of Founders, Removal of . . 
Tower, Construction of . . 
Date of Erection of 



II 



1 1 



• t 



217 

PAGE 

I 

. . 15, 24 

3» 

138 

93 
103 

134 
61 

61 

93 
97 
96 

130 
61 
60 
97i 981 103 
99 
94 
95 

195 
91 
99 

199 
96 

«9 
128 

81 

46 

46 

47 

48 

65 
181 

192 

..126, 193 

127 

127 

57 

 . 77, 156 

161 

163 



2i8 INDEX. 



PAOB 

Tower, Dimensioiis of . . . . 162 

,, Eiterior Appeaxance of . . . . 138 

„ Incised Inscription on . . i6a 

Tnuisept Arch Walled-np 78 

„ y» R.e-opened 124 

y, Arches, Style of 138 

Transept, North, Demolished 77 

„ „ Re-constmcted . . 128 

„ „ Exterior of 129 

„ „ Window in . . . . 129, 195 

Transfer (Proposed) of Payment for Curate to "Parishioners ** 67 

UPTON, George, Monument of . . 180 

VESTRIES, Church Plate of. Sold 58 

„ „ Indemnity given to 58 

Vestry, New, Erected . . . . 129, 195 

„ „ Shields of Arms in . . 197 

ViaiUtion of St. ]iCark*s by the Bishop of Worcester 36 

WALL-PAINTINGS, Discovery of " 7> 193 

Walled-up Archway of N. Transept 124 

Wathen, Sir Charles, St. Mark's Window . . . . 195 

Wells Cathedral, Chantries founded at ••3^139 

Wells Chapter, Dispute with, settled .. 38 

Wells Registers ** 1%}!^ 

»» ,» Report on . . • • 7) 3^ 

Wesley, Rev. John, at St. Marie's Chapel . . 98 

West Front, Appearance of . . . . . • 136 

„ „ SideWmdowin .. ., 136 

West Window of Nave .. .. ., .. 99,111,136 

„ „ South Aisle .. .. .. U^i I53 

Western Doorway 110,136 

„ Entrance, Reconstruction of . . . , . , 109 

Whit8on,John ., .. .. .. ,. 75 

„ „ Anecdote of .. .. .. .. 75 

„ „ Trustees of . . . . . . . » 83 

„ „ Will of .. .. .. .. .. 83 

„ „ Death of .. .. .. .. 84 

Willis, John, Drawing of the Interior . . . . 100 

Window in North Transept .. .. .. 129 

„ at West End Replaced . . . . . . 99 



INDEX. 



219 



Windows of the Chapel Repaired. . 
„ M » "Beaatified** 

of Nave, Style of the . . 
y, Alterations to.. 
„ the First, Particulars of. . 

,, the Third „ 



ff 

ft 
>i 
f> 
11 
>f 
»i 



the Second 
the Third 
„ the Fourth „ 
on Soath Side of Nave . . 

of South Aisle 107, 

of South Aisle Clu^iel . . 
in the Chancel 
„ Fbyntz Chapel 
Withdrawal of Alms, Charge of, against the Master. . 
Wooden Screen in Chancel, Erected 

,9 ,9 „ Removed 

Worcester, Bishop ol^ Delay in Confirming Election of Master 
„ „ Ordinance of 

„ „ Visitation of Hospital by . . 

,1 Registers . . . • . . 



FAOX 

66 

95 

116, lai 
140 

i4« 
141 
»43 
«44 
138, 153 
176, 187 

164 

193 
36,37 
95 
99 
30 
«4 
36 
7 







r\ 



W 



AVR 1 4 1939