Archaeological Journal/Volume 1/Proceedings of the Central Committee (Part 1)
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
OF THE
British Archaeological Association.
The earlier meetings of the Committee having been chiefly occupied with the formation and establishment of the Association, it has not been thought necessary at present to give a regular report of each meeting. The following are the principal matters of Antiquarian interest, which have hitherto been laid before it.
A Letter from the Rev. W. L. Girardot, curate of Godshill, in the Isle of Wight, respecting some paintings recently found on the walls of the church of Godshill.
The subject is that of the Saviour on the cross, which, Mr. Girardot imagines, is placed against a shrub or tree, as bright green colours surround it; the lowerparts being entirely defaced, the stem cannot be traced out. The crown of thorns, and the bloody arms extended, are tolerably clear, as well as some scrolls painted in red colour, one of which is legible, Ora pro nobis Dom.
Mr. Girardot questions the possibility of restoring the paintings, which have been covered with many coatings of whitewash, in attempting to remove which the colours came off with it: any hints are desired as to the best mode of cleansing such paintings from the whitewash.
A Letter from the Rev. W. Dyke, curate of Cradley, Herefordshire, concerning the site of St. Michael's chapel, Great Malvern, which appears marked in the map given by Dr. Thomas in his account of that priory published in 1725, and of which all memory had been lost. Some small remains of this chapel, which was probably the oratory of St. Werstan, who first made the settlement on the Malvern hills, adjoining the position subsequently occupied by the priory, were reported still to exist within a walled garden in the upper part of the village.
A Letter from the Rev. John L. Petit, on some peculiarities of Church Architecture in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.
Mr. W. H. Rolfe, of Sandwich, forwarded for inspection some minute pieces of worked gold, found on the sea shore, under the cliff opposite the Infirmary, at Margate.
The fragments exhibited appear to be portions of coins and ornaments. One is evidently part of a half-noble of one of the Edwards or Henrys, another resembles the loops attached to Roman and early French gold coins for the purpose of wearing them as decorations of the person.
Mr. C. Roach Smith informed the Committee that Mr. Joseph Clarke, of Saffron Walden, had recently visited Wootton in Northamptonshire, for the purpose of obtaining authentic information respecting a discovery of coins, reported to have been made at that village about a year since.
Mr. Clarke's visit proved successful, and although many of the coins had been dispersed since the discovery took place, he succeeded in obtaining the remainder, (615) for examination. They were deposited in an urn; the mouth protruded from the side of a bank in which it had been buried, and had been noticed for years by labourers in going to and from their work.
The coins, all of small brass, are as follows:
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Among these coins not a single new variety occurs, and but very few rare reverses. They afford, however, another example to those noted in many similar discoveries, of the usual occurrence of this and other series of coins in conformity with their accepted degrees of rarity.
A note from the Ven. Archdeacon Hill, giving an account of the discovery at Bonchurch, Isle of Wight, of some urns containing burnt bones and ashes. These remains were found by the Rev. James White, during excavations for building a cottage, at a distance of about 600 yards from the sea.
Mr. Thomas Charles, of Maidstone, communicated a notice of researches now under prosecution by himself and Mr. C. T. Smythe, which he hopes will be of interest to the antiquary, as they may furnish particulars respecting the discovery of a Roman building on the banks of the Medway, close to Maidstone. The excavations, as far as they have yet proceeded, have disclosed walls, pavements of a coarse kind, fresco paintings, &c.
Mr. Fitch, of Ipswich, forwarded for exhibition an aureus of Vespasian, found at Helmingham, county of Suffolk. The reverse exhibits the Emperor, crowned by Victory; in the exergue, COS VIII.
Mr. C. R. Smith exhibited drawings, executed by Mr. Kennett Martin, of Ramsgate, shewing the positions of two human skeletons, and also of some urns, which, a few years since, were discovered during excavations for the foundations of a house on the Western Cliff, near Ramsgate.
The skeletons were deposited in a horizontal position, at a considerable distance from each other, in a basin-shaped grave, dug out of the solid chalk, and filled in with chalk rubble. This grave appears to have been of more extensive dimensions than would have been absolutely necessary for two corpses. In a recent discovery of skeletons at Stowting, in the same county, it was noticed that in a grave scooped out of the chalk soil, which was capacious enough for seven or eight bodies, only one skeleton was discovered.
The urns were found arranged in groups on either side of, and a few feet from, the grave. Some of them contained burnt bones, and with them was found a bronze fibula and a patera of the well-known red Roman pottery, with the ivy-leaf pattern on the rim.
These sepulchral interments, although so contiguous to each other, would appear to belong to different times. The urns are unquestionably Roman, and their contents warrant their being referred to the Romano-British epoch, but the skeletons would appear to indicate a burial of a later period.
Mr. Martin also contributed a sketch of the excavations which uncovered part of the remains of the ancient pier of Ramsgate, with the depth in feet, the nature of the soil, the specimens of coins, and other objects found.
At the depth of from seven to eight feet, coins of the Henrys and Edwards were met with; three or four feet lower, large flints and bricks (presumed to be Roman); at the depth of from sixteen to twenty feet, piles of wood sunk in the solid chalk were discovered, and among them Roman coins, in small brass, of the Constantine family.
Mr. C. R. Smith informed the Committee that in consequence of a communication from Mr. W. Bland, of Hartlip, in Kent, he (Mr. S.) had visited the village of Stowting, in the same county, and inspected some ancient remains recently discovered in cutting a new road up the hill leading towards the common.
They consist of long swords, spears, and javelin-heads, knives, and bosses of shields, of iron; circular gilt brooches, set with coloured glass and vitrified pastes; buckles of bronze, silvered; beads of glass, amber, and coloured clay; a thin copper basin, and three coins, of Pius, Plautilla, and Valens. These objects were found deposited by the sides of about thirty skeletons, at from two to four feet deep, in the chalk of which the hill is composed. The graves in which the skeletons were found were filled in with mould. One of the bosses, like a specimen noticed in Douglas's Nenia Britannica, is ornamented on the top with a thin plate of silver, and the tops of the nails or rivets, which fastened the boss to the shield, are also silvered.
Since Mr. Smith's visit, an urn has been found and some other objects, of the whole of which careful drawings will be made by the Rev. Frederick Wrench, who has promised to forward them, as soon as the excavations are completed, for the inspection of the Committee.
The village of Stowting is situated in a secluded nook in the chalk hills called the Back-Bone of Kent, about two miles from Lyminge, and seven from Folkstone.
In a field below the hill where the antiquities before mentioned were discovered, two skeletons were dug up, many years since, together with iron weapons; and in a field called Ten-acre Field, some hundreds of large brass Roman coins were ploughed up. Five of these, now in the possession of Mr. Andrews, the proprietor of the field, are of Hadrianus, Aurelius, Faustina Junior, Commodus, and Severus. Coins are often found in the adjacent fields, and in the village. Two small brass coins of Carausius and Licinius, picked up in a locality termed the Market-place, are in the possession of the Rev. F. Wrench. On the hills are barrows, some of which seem to have been partially excavated.
Mr. John G. Waller made three communications. The first related to the state of the monument of Brian Rocliff, in Cowthorpe church, twelve miles distant from York. Mr. Waller observes, "The monument to which I allude is one of peculiar interest. It records the founder and builder of the church, as the inscription states, fundator et constructor hujus ecclesiæ tocius operis usque ad consummacionem. It is fortunate that this curious portion of the legend yet remains, or did at the time I visited the church, nearly four years since. The founder is represented with his lady holding a model of the church between them; over their heads are canopies and heraldic decorations. I found this interesting memorial in a most disgraceful state of neglect; the canopies much mutilated, many fragments with escocheons of arms, and the whole of the inscription, in the parish chest, liable to constant spoliation: added to this, a large stone was placed upon the figures. Surely a monument like this, a record of a benefaction and an event (for so we may call the erection of the church), deserves to be rescued from a lot but too common to such remains. The history of Brian Rocliff is found in the very interesting volume published by the Camden Society, The Plumpton Correspondence."
The second communication of Mr. Waller was a notice respecting some effigies of wood, at Little Horkesley, in Essex, which when Mr. Waller visited the church about six years ago were placed near the porch. They represent two knights and a lady, apparently of the early part of the fourteenth century. Mr. Waller states that he was informed they had been recently displaced from their proper position in the church, and were then, with unbecoming neglect, put out of sight in a corner near the porch.
The third communication described not the destruction of a monument only, but that of a church and its monuments. Mr. Waller states, "About five years ago I visited the ruins of Quarendon Chapel, in the immediate neighbourhood of Aylesbury, county of Bucks: I found the walls in good condition as far as regards stability, and only suffering from neglect and wanton injury. The interior presented all the pillars and arches supporting them in good condition, save the injury caused by the visitors cutting their names thereon, and everything shewing how little share time had had in the work of demolition. To shew that the destruction is comparatively recent, even at my visit most of the oaken rafters of the chancel remained, and I believe within memory portions of the roof of the nave were in existence. In the chancel, among a heap of rubbish, lay the fragments of the alabaster effigies of Sir Henry Lee, of Ditchley, and his lady; of this tomb fragments are dispersed in the neighbourhood, indeed the cottages adjoining prove the manner of the demolition."
Mr. Way reported that the monumental brass of Sir John Felbrigg, the founder of Playford church, Suffolk, had been torn up, and, at the time when he visited the church, not many years since, was in the church chest. By a subsequent communication from Mr. D. Davy, of Ufford, it appears that this interesting memorial has been affixed to a stone in the chancel, but many portions are now defective.
Dr. J. Jacob, of Uxbridge, announced that he proposes to publish a new series of the Monumental Brasses of England.
Mr. William Sidney Gibson, of Newcastle, communicated to the Committee, that the corporation of that city propose to demolish an interesting example of ecclesiastical architecture, the ancient church of the Hospital of the Blessed Virgin, on the wreck of which a grammar school was founded by Queen Elizabeth. Mr. Gibson promises a detailed description of this curious structure, the preservation of which for the purposes of public worship in a populous city, where increased church accommodation must be highly desirable, could not fail, at a period when much attention has been given in Newcastle to architectural decoration, to benefit and gratify the public. It also appears that this venerable monument interferes with no local convenience, and that persons who take an interest in its preservation would gladly contribute.
At the late meetings of the Incorporated Church Building Society, money was voted towards rebuilding the church at Bawdeswell, Norfolk, and for enlarging the churches of
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Paulerspury, Northamptonshire
Berron, Somerset Upton cum Chalvey, Buckinghamshire Emanuel church, at Bolton-le-Moors, Lancashire Monksilver, Somerset St. Mary, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire Kentish Town church in the parish of St. Pancras, near London
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Westmeon, Hampshire
Bathwell, (Bulwell,) Notts Honley, near Huddersfield, Yorkshire Wicken, Ely, Cambridgeshire Fawley, Hants Kirkdale, Liverpool, Lancashire Tottington, parish of Bury, Lancashire Austrey, Warwickshire Uzmaston, Pembrokeshire Full Sutton, Yorkshire
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Correspondents in the vicinity of these places are therefore requested to keep watch upon the work, and to furnish information of any paintings on the walls, or other matters of archæological interest.