Archaeological Journal/Volume 2/Proceedings of the Central Committee (Part 2)
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
of the
British Archaeological Association.
March 26.
Mr. John Parkinson communicated for exhibition, by Dr. Bromet, a rubbing taken on black paper from a sepulchral brass in memory of a goldsmith of York, who died A.D. 1614; it illustrated the ancient practice of quartering family arms with those of municipal guilds or companies.
A letter was read addressed by the Rev. Dr. Lyon, of Sherborne, to Dr. Bromet, expressing his willingness to furnish the Committee with an exact representation of the mosaic pavement, now preserved in Lord Digby's dairy at Sherborne castle. Dr. Bromet also communicated a letter from Mr. Alfred S. Taylor, Professor of Chemistry at St. Thomas's Hospital, pointing out the injury done to brasses, which have become detached from sepulchral slabs, by re-fixing them in the matrices with iron nails. "It has been found experimentally," Mr. Taylor observed, "that the contact of two metals, such as brass and iron, or copper and iron, or even zinc and iron, (brass being formed of copper and zinc.) leads to the rapid oxidation of one, and to the slow oxidation and corrosion of the other metal, owing to a galvanic circuit being formed under the influence of air and moisture. The iron is oxidized, the oxides and carbonates of copper and zinc are slowly formed, and a blueish white crust spreads over the brass."
Mr. Frederick Ouvry exhibited a small perfumed ball composed of earthy or metallic matter, enclosed in a highly-wrought silver filigree case, mounted on a tripod-stand, which he conceived to have been an appendage to a toilette table of the sixteenth century. The character of the ornament appeared to shew that it was of oriental workmanship.
Mr. John Wright, of the Temple, exhibited an impression from the seal of John Pecham, found at St. Augustine's monastery, Canterbury; the subject of the device was the Holy Lamb, carrying a bannerol ensigned with the cross.
Mr. Albert Way communicated a letter from Mr. W. H. Clarke, of York, enclosing impressions of Roman coins, found in the gardens within the ancient walls of York, extending from Skeldergate to Micklcgate Bar, in 1811 and 1845. Mr. Clarke stated that coins were frequently found in these gardens on the surface of the ground, particularly after rain, and at the depth of two or three feet, in trenching. The pieces to which his present communication related are third brass coins of Constantine the Great, Maxentius, Maxirainus and Carausius (?)
Offley Font.
Mr. Poynter communicated a drawing which represents the font in Offley church, Hertfordshire. It is of Decorated character (date about A.D. 1350), and presents an example of unusual and beautiful design.
Sections of Font, &c..
Mr. W. Hylton Longstaff, of Thirsk, forwarded the following notes on Darlington and Kirby-Wisk churches.
Darlingtonchurch,in the county of Durham, is an extremely handsome edifice of the Early English style, consisting of nave and aisles, transepts, chancel, and central tower with a good spire: it was formerly collegiate.
Interior.—The east end has been renovated in a barbarous style, and an ugly vestry has been added on the south of the chancel. The side windows are well moulded, one has a singular lozenge-shaped panelling running round it. In the chancel there are an Easter sepulchre of very plain late Tudor work, a double Decorated piscina in the east wall, and three good Early Decorated sedilia. Beneath tlie chancel-arch is a stone rood-screen, plain, and supported by a simple pointed arch, now sustaining a huge organ gallery. The chancel is fitted with stalls, and the miserere seats exhibit grotesque designs, amongst which is a representation of the Scripture history of David and Goliath[1]. All the ceilings are flat inside, but as the transepts and nave retain their ancient pitch on the exterior, it is possible that the original roofs may still remain. The central tower is sustained by four exquisite arches, the piers of which have been much cut to admit of the construction of galleries. The nave appears to be of Transition work, but approaches to pure Early English. Many of the pointed arches of this church are untrue, one side of the arch being struck from a different centre to the other. The whole church is furnished with a clerestory, and in the nave beautiful pillars and corbels remain, as if to sustain a stone roof. The pews are of a most unsightly character, as are the galleries. The arcade-work in the transepts is very fine; the font is surmounted by a handsome Perpendicular cover.
Exterior.—The nave is entered by three doorways, that on the west is very elaborate, but the shafts are gone; above each doorway is an empty niche; the south door had formerly a porch, which has long been demolished, leaving the flagging exposed in the church-yard; on one side of this door is a small trefoiled recess, which has apparently been a benatura, but the basin has been entirely destroyed. A mutilated stone coffin lies near the chancel door.
The church of St. John, Kirby Wisk, in the county of York, is built in the Decorated style, but the architecture of the chancel is much more florid than that of the nave. It consists of a western tower, nave and aisles, chancel and north aisle, and a modern south porch. Most of the nave windows have been modernized, but there are one or two in the north aisle with flowing tracery, and a square debased one with round lights without foliations, inserted in beautiful Decorated mouldings. The windows of the chancel are very good, but of the east window nothing remains excepting the five principal lights, the whole of the gable having been cut away to admit of the construction of a flat roof. On the north side of the nave there is a very good Norman doorway, and the priest's door is an excellent example of the Decorated style. All the corbel-heads are in good preservation and very beautifully executed. The nave is divided from the aisles by octagonal piers; there is nothing remarkable in the interior of this part of the church; the chancel is ornamented by three fine sedilia of equal height, terminating in finials, a trefoiled piscina, the bason of which is eight-foiled, having the form of a carved head, and two beautiful canopied niches at the sides of the east windows. One of the brackets of these niches has been represented in the Glossary of Architecture; the other is much defaced. The east part of the north chancel-aisle is separated from the rest by a stone wall; it is approached by a small door in the chancel, and in the wall separating it from this part, north of the altar, is an altar-tomb, robbed of its effigy, and placed under a trefoiled recessed arch which has a crocketed pediment terminating in a finial; a little to the right is a bracket for a lamp. The chapel itself now serves as a vestry, and in it are a bracket high up in the south-east corner, supported by a frog, and an ambry in the west wall. Probably the recess behind the tomb was open to this room, as founders' tombs frequently are. Near it stands the font, which is octagonal.
In the east window are two shields of stained glass, one of which exhibits the Mowbray arms; also three designs in the shape of shields, made up of fragments. It is said that a great portion of the glass of this church served to decorate a library near Wakefield. The window was, within memory, nearly filled with painted glass before it was cut down. In the churchyard is a stone pedestal, very plain, now surmounted by a modern dial; this appears to have formed part of a monumental cross.
Mr. Samuel Birch communicated a notice of some ancient objects discovered in Ireland, accompanied by representations designed by Mr. J. Fitzgerald, of the British Museum. They form part of a large collection of Celtic antiquities, consisting of stone celts, arrow-heads, and knives of pyromachous silex, with some stone beads, and metallic celt-heads, found chiefly in the counties of Tyrone and Antrim. These remains were collected by Mr. Flanaghan, a gentleman attached to the Irish survey, and were acquired, in the year 1844, by the British Museum. The hook-shaped bronze implement, of which a representation is here given, appears to be a kind of falx, or pruning-hook. It measures four inches and three quarters from the extremity of the blade to the back of the socket, into which the handle was inserted, and fixed by a rivet. This object was found, at the depth of six feet, in a bog, in the vicinity of the mountain-range, two miles east from Ballygawley in the county of Tyrone. In the Dublin Penny Journal, vol. i, p. 108, Mr. John O'Donovan has given, as an illustration of his remarks on the antiquity of corn in Ireland, a woodcut which represents "one of the ancient bronze reaping-hooks so frequently found in Ireland, and which, from its material, must be of the most remote antiquity." This implement measures about six inches in length, the curved blade appears to be double-edged, and bears a general resemblance to the hook preserved at the British Museum, but the socket for receiving the haft is somewhat different, not being formed with a shoulder as in that specimen.
In the same collection is to be noticed a singular object formed of bronze, the use and intention of which it would be difficult to characterize; it is in the form of a crescent, and measures five inches in diameter; it is perfectly flat, the edge being slightly rounded off on one side; one extremity of the crescent is broken off, and it is furnished with a small projecting piece, apparently intended to he fitted to a handle. This relic was found in arable land, at Aughnaclay, county Tyrone.
Isle of Man
Worcester
Representations of two bronze spear-heads, of remarkable form, have subsequently been communicated to the Committee. and are here given. The first was discovered at Peel, in the Isle of Man; it measures five inches in length; the drawing from which the woodcut has been executed is preserved amongst the curious collections illustrative of the antiquities of that island, formed in 1834, by Michael Jones, Esq., F.S.A., and designed by Major Edward Jones. The second is of singular fashion, the blade being flat, and of greater breadth than usual; it terminates at the lower extremity in a shape more resembling the barbed head of an arrow, than the head of a long-handled weapon. It was found in the year 1844, by some workmen who were employed in dredging, in the bed of the Severn, about a mile and a half below Worcester. This curious specimen has been communicated by Mr. Jabez Allies, F. S. A., of Worcester. It is formed of bronze, weighing eight ounces, and measures in length ten inches and a half, the breadth of the blade being two inches and three quarters.
April 9.
Dr. Bromet exhibited impressions of three ancient seals. The first was from a silver matrix of circular form, in the possession of Mr. E. G. Wriglite, of Hereford; it is charged with an escutcheon of arms (three lions passant, gaidant) surrounded by the legend ✠ S' Balliuorvm : Ciuitatis : Herefordie. The design seems to indicate that this matrix was cut in the time of Edward III., or Richard II. The second was a circular seal of very elegant design, bearing on two scrolls the name Gorge Rygmayden. The matrix is preserved in the museum at York, and appears to have been cut about the time of Henry V. In the centre appears a maiden seated on a flowery bank or ridge, which is enclosed by a wattled fence (making the canting device ryg-mayden?); her left hand rests on an escutcheon of arms, (quarterly, three stags' faces, and a chevron between three mullets pierced,) and in her right she holds, upon a truncheon, a grand heaume surmounted by a unicorn's head, as a crest. The third was an oval seal, inscribed Sigillvm. Roberti. Tinley. Archidiac : Eliensis : with an escutcheon of arms, (a lion's head erased, between three crescents,) and above it this device,—issuing from clouds a dexter arm grasping an olive branch, motto,—Vt in die nouissimo. Robert Tinley, according to Willis, was collated Archdeacon of Ely in 1600, and died 1616.
Mr. Charles Winston, of the Temple, communicated the following remarks on the stained glass in the three north windows of Kingsdown church, Kent. In the course of September, 1844, the lead-work of the glass in the tracery lights of the three north windows of Kingsdown church, Kent, was renewed, and the glass protected from further injury by wire guards, at the expense of Mrs. Ann Colyer, of Farningham. The principal subject in the eastern window of the chancel is a white fish or luce, on a red ground, bordered with yellow quatrefoils; the glass itself being adapted to a trefoiled opening. That in the next window (the first in the nave) is a figure of Christ sitting enthroned, on a ground of ornamented white quarries, surrounded by a yellow border of quatrefoils, separated from each other by small cross-hatched spaces. This glass occupies a quatrefoiled opening. That in the next window consists of a figure of the Virgin Mary, crowned, standing, with a flower in her right hand, and supporting the infant Jesus on her left arm. It is surrounded with quarries and a border exactly the same as in the last example, and occupies a similar quatrefoiled opening. In the lower lights of these windows are some trifling fragments of borders and quarries, which being useful evidences of the nature of the original design, have been carefully re-leaded. The glass first mentioned is in tolerable preservation. The figures are perfect, excepting the face of Christ, which is lost, and the figure of the infant Jesus, of which the nimbus and one arm only remain. A quarry may be defective in some places, but no attempt has been made to supply these deficiencies with new painted glass; it was deemed expedient to preserve what remained, without restoring any part of the designs. The date of the glass is the latter half of the 14th century.
A letter was read from the Rev. W. Drake, of Coventry, respecting a brass in the church of Laughton, near Gainsborough. It is the figure of a knight placed under a beautiful triple canopy, and lies on an altar-tomb at the east end of the south aisle. From the fashion of the armour Mr. Drake ascribed its date to the close of the fourteenth or the first twenty years of the fifteenth century; it presents scarcely any points of difference as compared with the brass of Thomas Beauchamp, at St. Mary's, Warwick, date 1401, and that of Sir William Bagot, at Baginton, Warwickshire, date 1407. The only variation worth notice is this, that in addition to a highly ornamented horizontal baldric, the sword is also attached to a narrow belt crossing transversely from the right hip. The inscription however gives a date which does not coincide with that suggested by the character of the armour. It is in raised letters, and runs thus: Hic jacent Willielmus Dalison Armig' quonda' vicecomes et Eschaetor comitate's Lincoln' ac un' Justiciar' pacis et quorum in eodem com' Et Georgius Dalison filius et heres ejusde' Will'mi' Qui quide' Wiel'ms obiit decimo octavo die me'sis Decembris Anno d'ni M°ccccc°. xliij°. et A°, regni nuper regis Henrici Octavi xxxvij°. et dictus Georgius obiit xx°. die mensis Junii Anno d'ni M°ccccc°.xlix°. et Anno regni nup'r regis Edwardi Sexti tertio. Quorum animabs p'picietur deus. Amen. From this inscription Mr. Drake considered it evident that the Dalisons had surreptitiously appropriated the tomb and effigy of some earlier knight to be their own memorial. Mr. Drake instanced, as a similar example of misappropriation, the brass in Howden church, Yorkshire, which purports to be an effigy of Peter Dolman, Esq., who died in 1621, but is manifestly to be referred to the earlier part of the preceding century; the plate on which the inscription is engraved has lines on the reverse which prove it to have been a portion of a female figure, probably the wife of the knight whose figure now represents Peter Dolman. Another example is supplied by the brass of Peter Rede, Knt., in the church of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, who is stated in the legend to have served the Emperor Charles V. in the conquest of Barbaria and at the siege of Tunis, and to have died in 1568, but the armour of the figure which purports to be Peter Rede is at least a hundred years earlier than this date. A representation of this figure may be seen in Cotman's Brasses.
It is probable that many similar examples are to be noticed, and some of these brasses, termed "Palimpsests," have been enumerated in the Archæologia, vol. XXX., p. 121.
Mr. Way read a letter from Mr. W. H. Clarke, of York, enclosing impressions of two coins recently found in excavating for the railway near St. Mary's Tower, at the end of the Manor Terrace walk; one of them appeared to be a third brass of Constantine the Great, the other was a penny of Edward I., struck at London.
A letter was then read, addressed bv Mr. Benjamin Ferrey to Mr. Way, detailing some recent discoveries at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, the seat of the duke of Buccleugh, chiefly erected by Peter Puget, in the time of Ralph, duke of Montague, ambassador at the court of Lewis XIV. The ceilings of the hall and state-apartments were painted by De Verrio. Mr. Ferrey observed, " My object in these remarks is to call attention to the more ancient part of the structure. The present great hall of the mansion is lofty and well proportioned, the ceiling is coved and elaborately painted. The hall is entirely lighted from the south side, and opens into a small quadrangle; there are evident traces in this court of a much earlier building, although the general design of the exterior parts has been accommodated to suit the more modern style; string-courses, eaves, mouldings, and window labels (skilfully as they have been incorporated with cornices and window dressings of Roman character), can clearly be defined. The only parts of the exterior of the former baronial residence which remain unaltered are the copings, summer-stones, and gable ornaments at each end of the great hall referred to. The spindles still remain on the gable turrets, but the vanes have long since been destroyed. My attention having been arrested by these remains I mentioned the circumstance to the duke, who encouraged me to prosecute my investigation further. Ladders were then procured, and perceiving small windows in each gable, which had been blocked up, I had one opened and entered the roof under which the ceiling had been painted by De Verrio. I thought it not improbable that the roof of this hall would be curious, and I was not disappointed in my anticipations. On procuring a light I found that the oak roof was of most beautiful design, and in good preservation, and a roof of no common interest. Owing to the obstructions offered by the modern timbers and iron ties which suspended the painted ceiling, I was unable to make out completely the design, and cannot speak confidently whether the roof consisted of hammer-beams at the feet of the principal rafters, but I am inclined to think it did not, but that the principal rafters were connected with elaborately moulded carved timbers' which formed an arch under the collar-beams like the roof of the archiepiscopal hall at Croydon and the hall at Abbey Milton, Dorset. I found no appearance of a louvre, and indeed many large halls of this date are without such features. The spandrels above the collar-beams are filled with varied tracery. The arched braces under the purlins are cusped, and the faces of the lower range ornamented completely with sunk quatrefoils, and other devices. At one end of the roof is a couplet window, now blocked up, and at the other end a trefoiled window of very pleasing design; the character of this latter window is evidently ecclesiastical, and both by its form and mouldings may be clearly assigned to an earlier date; it is a window of very good early Decorated form, probably taken from the chapel which once formed an adjunct to this ducal residence."
The Rev. B. Belcher, of West Tisted, Hants, communicated the following particulars regarding the church of Warnford, in the same county, and the interesting commemorative inscriptions which are there to be seen. The attention of the Committee had been directed to some peculiarities in this structure by the Rev. Arthur Hussey, as mentioned in the Proceeding's, Nov. 13, 1844. (Archæol. Journ., vol. i. p. 393.) Mr. Belcher stated that in the southern wall, within the porch, and just over the "consecration stone," mentioned by Mr. Hussey, is to be seen an inscribed stone with the following legend.
The last line of this legend evidently should be read thus—"Wilfrit fundavit, bonus Adam renovavit," but the two last syllables of the concluding word appear, for want of space, to have been inserted at the close of the fifth line—r' vavit, the letter r' serving as a reference. This mode of supplying a deficiency in space, technically termed "hooking up," is used in MSS., but very singular as occurring on an inscribed stone.
In the northern wall is to be seen a second inscribed stone, which has suffered from the injuries of time, and the letters appear to have been retouched. Mr. Belcher read the inscription thus,
✠ ĀDĀM : DE : PORTV : BENEDICĀT : SOLIS : AB : ORTV : GENS : CRVCE : SIGNĀTA : (Ā : QVO) SVM : SIC : RENOVĀTĀ :
The letters between brackets in the last line, which he supposed might be supplied by the words Ā QVO, are nearly effaced. These legends apparently record the rebuilding, by Adam de Portu, of a church founded at Warnford by Wilfrid, as Mr. Wyndham supposed, between the years 679 and 685. (Archæologia, vol. v. p. 363.) They have been given, but inaccurately, by Bishop Gibson in his additions to Camden, and by Pegge, in the Sylloge of the remaining authentic inscriptions, relative to the erection of our English churches, (Bibliotheca Topog. Britann., No. xli. pp. 11, 25.) The inscription ran thus, according to Bishop Gibson:
Ade hic de Portu solis benedicat ab ortu,
Gens cruce signata, per quern sic sum renovata.
Fratres orate, prece vestra sanctificate
Templi factores, seniores et juniores.
Wilfrid fundavit, bonus Adam sic renovavit[2].
Wilfrid, archbishop of York, driven from his see by Egfrid, the king of Northumbria, according to Bede's narration, visited these parts, and preached the doctrines of Christianity, about A.D. 676. Edilwach, king of Sudsex, had professed Christianity, A.D. 661, when this country, then called the land of the Meanviri, was given to him by Wulphere, king of Mercia. No part of the existing building can be attributed, as Mr. Belcher observed, to this early period: the tower appears to be the oldest portion, it is well built, the lower windows as well as the circular ones in the belfry, are splayed, and the intrados of the west window is supported on two slender shafts, with foliated capitals. The semicircular arch appears here, but the arch between the tower and nave is pointed, corresponding with the side windows, and may have been the work of Adam de Portu, who possessed the lordship of Warnford during the reigns of Henry II., Richard I., and John. (Dugd. Bar., i. 463.) The present nave, Mr. Belcher observed, is about four feet broader than that which was built at the same time as the tower, as may be seen by foundations at the south-east corner of the tower. The side walls have been raised about four feet, probably at the same time when the east window was inserted; and the original roof had, doubtless, a higher pitch than the present one, which is nearly flat, so that when it was lowered, it became necessary to raise the side walls. There is a Norman font, in bad condition ; a double ambry in the north wall of the chancel; and three stalls with miserere seats, now nailed down.
In the north wall of the nave there is an arched recess, which, as Mr. Belcher supposed, indicates the position of the staircase leading to the rood-loft. There is a flat sepulchral slab, of greater width at the head than at the lower extremity, ornamented near the top with bosses and circles in relief. There appears to have been a northern porch and doorway opposite to the southern door, and a basin for holy water at the west door externally. This doorway has a pointed arch, of inferior workmanship.
Mr. Belcher corrected the following trifling errors in the notice of this church, previously given in the Journal:—The tower-stairs are supported by a single post; and the recessed landing is in the south-western angle of the wall. The inscribed stones are not both in the northern wall, one of them being in the southern wall, within the porch. At a short distance eastward of the church are the curious ruins of a structure, vulgarly called King John's House, of which Mr. Henry Wyndham, in 1778, gave an account, illustrated by plates, and published in the Archæologia, vol. v. p. 357. He supposed that these were the remains of Wilfrid's church, but the architectural character indicates a much later date. It has subsequently- been allowed to go very much to ruin, and is surrounded by trees, which hasten its decay: two only of the four pillars represented by Mr. Wyndham are now standing.
Dr. Bromet read some further remarks on the ruins at Warnford, addressed to him by Mr. Hussey, who observed, that the notion of their being the remains of Wilfrid's church is perfectly futile, and that the building had evidently been a domestic structure. The late Mr. Petrie made several drawings of these ruins some years since, and from these Mr. William Twopeny formed the conjectures regarding the original form of the roof, given in the letter-press which accompanies his Etchings of Capitals (privately printed).
April 23.
Mr. John Lean, of the Office of Ordnance, Tower, communicated a rubbing from a sepulchral brass which exists in the church of Blisland, near Bodmin, Cornwall. It is affixed to a large slab of granite, forming part of the pavement of the chancel, immediately in front of the holy table. This memorial consists of the figure of a priest, vested in the alb and chasuble; it measures nineteen inches and a quarter in length, and under the feet of the figure is the following inscription:—
Orate ꝑ aĩa Johĩs Balsam qondam Rectoris isti' Eccl'ie
qui obijt die Mẽsis Septẽbr' Anno dñi Mo CCCCo decimo.
It is singular that the date of the day of the month on which he died is not given, a blank space appearing on the brass plate, although the remainder of the legend is complete.
Mr. W. H. Clarke, of the Minster Yard, York, sent an impression in sealing-wax, from a coin recently found in Nunnery-lane in that city. It is a third brass coin of Constantine: reverse, VIRTUS EXERCIT—two captives under a trophy. Mr. Clarke stated that Roman coins have also been found near the Mount Hill, York, in the course of recent excavations which have been made for the North Midland Railway.
The Rev. Henry Hodges, rector of Alphamstone, Essex, communicated impressions in sealing-wax from two brass jetons, discovered during the recent removal of an old building, which appeared to have formed a side of a quadrangle, portion of Clees Hall, the chief manor-house in the parish. The more ancient of the two is a Rechen-Pfennig, or Nuremburgh counter, which exhibits on one side the Reichsapfel or mound of sovereignty within a trefoil interlaced with a triangle, and on the other three fleurs-de-lis and three crowns placed circularly around a rose. Several similar types are given by Snelling, in his View of the origin of jetons. See pl. 3, fig. 31, p. 10. The second is a large counter, one of those made by Wolfgang Laufer, at Nuremburgh. which relate, according to Snelling, to France. On one side is seen a dolphin crowned, with the inscription INCOLUMITAS A DELPHINO, allusive, prohably, to the birth of the Dauphin, in 1601. On the other side is a figure of Peace, holding a cornucopia, and burning implements of war, EX PACE LIBERT AS; in the exergue the maker's name, WOLF ⋅ LAVF ⋅
Dr. Bromet exhibited drawings of the distemper painting lately dis- covered in Croydon church, Surrey. It represents St. Christopher, and is painted on the south wall, opposite to the north door. On the left of the saint are seen figures of a king and queen, intended, as Mr. Lindsay, the vicar of Croydon, suggested, to represent Edward III. and Philippa. The drawings exhibited were made by Mr. G. Noble and Dr. Bromet.
Mr. Thomas Charles, of Maidstone, exhibited, by Dr. Bromet, a fragment of an embossed tile found at Boxley abbey, Kent.
The Rev. W. Grey, of Allington, Wiltshire, communicated a representation of two memorial escutcheons, which are to be seen at Amesbury church, accompanied by some conjectures in regard to their import. The east end of the chancel was rebuilt about the time of King Henry VII., and the east window has a label-moulding supported on either side by corbels, in the form of angels bearing escutcheons. The angel which is seen on the northern side is shewn in the woodcut. Both escutcheons are charged with a monogram, which is formed of red and black tile inlaid in the stone. This monogram appears to be composed of the initials I. D. and K. D. On the shield, placed on the north side, the letters are formed of red tile, and the I. D. is tied to the K. D. by a black band, as if to imply that the nearest of earthly ties are but mortal. On the other shield the initials are black, as if to shew the death of the parties, the band being loosed ; but it is represented as red, to intimate that their love had not been entirely quenched by the hand of death. These escutcheons measure 10 in. by 6, and present a singular example of the use of baked clay in external decorations. The form of the escutcheons and of the letters correspond with the period of the erection of (he building. There can be little doubt that these ornaments are the memorials of a benefactor and of his wife, who contributed to the rebuilding of the chancel.
Mr. Birch, of the British Museum, communicated to the Committee a drawing of a peculiar barrel-shaped vase of pale red ware, measuring in height about 8 in., presented to the British Museum, in 1839, by the Right Hon. C. Shaw Lefevre, Speaker of the House of Commons. Mr. Birch stated that the engineer of the South Western Railway, Mr. Albinus Martin, informed Mr. Lefevre that this vase was found in the winter of 1839 in the chalk-cutting, about 400 yards east of the Reading-road bridge, in the parish of Basingstoke, at a depth of from three to four feet from the surface. With the barrel were discovered also parts of four other vessels, a scull, and some human bones, apparently the remains of a female. An ineffectual search was made for coins. Mr. Birch observed that Mr. Long, of Farnham, has conjectured, in a pamphlet privately printed, that the Vindonium of the Romans was not at Silchester, but at a point nearly identical with that where these remains were found.
Mr. Evelyn P. Shirley, M.P., exhibited a remarkably perfect mazer bowl of the time of Richard II. The bowl is formed of some light and mottled wood highly polished, probably maple, with a broad rim of silver gilt, round the exterior of which, on a hatched ground, is the following legend in characters slightly raised—
En the name of the trinite
fille the kup and drink to me.
Mr. Hodgkinson, of East Acton, submitted to the inspection of the Committee a fine Psalter of the latter part of the 13th century; on the first folio are emblazoned the arms of Clare and England. The initial letters are large, and of a design uncommon in English MSS. Mr. Hodgkinson stated that from the occurrence of the autograph of "Robert Hare, 1561," on the first folio, he had been led to conjecture that the volume may have once belonged to the cathedral of Lincoln, as the Hares of Derbyshire were connected with the family of Bishop Watson, the last Roman Catholic prelate of that see, who gave several relics appertaining to his Cathedral to the same Robert Hare, and amongst them the ring of St. Cuthbert. In the calendar is a memorandum of the obit of Sir John Giffard, in 1348. Mr. Hodgkinson exhibited also a walking staff carved with a calendar in runic characters, the date of which is probably about the end of the sixteenth century, and a bronze tankard embossed with the representation of a boar hunt, of about the same date, and of German workmanship. A detailed account of a similar staff, with representations of the symbols, has been published by Jens Wolff, formerly Norwegian Consul at London, under the following title: Runakefli, le Runic Rim-Stock, ou Calendrier Runique. Paris, 1820.
Mr. Way laid before the Committee a sketch of a singular example of construction, technically termed "joggling," of which some remains are to be seen in the field on the south side of the nave of Tewksbury abbey church.
A letter was read, addressed by Mr. R. G. P. Minty, of Norwich, to Mr. Barnwell, in reference to the injury occasioned to St. Julian's church in that city, by the fall of the east end of the chancel. Mr. Minty stated that there appeared to have been a settlement in the chancel-arch, partly caused, perhaps, by the pressure of the steeple and church, which is built on the side of a hill, and partly from the custom prevailing in Norwich, of digging graves close to the foundation of the building. It appeared that, several years since, the east window fell out, when it was partly blocked up, and an unsightly one inserted in its place. Mr. Minty observed that in the event of the church being restored, it is proposed to re-open the Norman doorway on the south side, which is engraved in the Archæologia, vol. xii. p. 174. It is to be regretted, however, that little of the mouldings there delineated have escaped the destructive effects of time and the violence of man. The outer moulding is entirely gone; it is difficult to ascertain what the second has been; and only a small portion of the inner moulding is perfect. The door has been bricked up, and the earth has accumulated to within three feet of the abacus. As there is a possibility of the church being destroyed, Mr. Minty forwarded the dimensions of it, as nearly as he could ascertain them.
- Length of the church36 feet.
- Breadth17
- Thickness of the wall3
- Length of the chancel, about18
- Thickness of the east wall, about312
- Height of tower, to the buttress, about56
- Diam. interior of ground-floor of tower, about13
- Thickness of the wall4
The church, which is supposed to have been erected before or soon after the Conquest, is tiled, and the chancel thatched. It contains a neat Perpendicular font, of the style common in Norfolk, ornamented with panels filled alternately with the emblems of the four evangelists, and angels bearing shields.
Mr. Minty called the attention of the Committee to the contemplated destruction of a curious ancient building in Norwich, "containing," as he says, "the most perfect specimens of an old hall and staircase I have yet seen in this part of the county; it is situated not far from the site of the former palace of the dukes of Norfolk, but nothing I believe is known of its original history; it is only mentioned in the records of this place as the 'Strangers' Hall," and is supposed to have been occupied by such guests as could not be accommodated in the duke's palace. Formerly, and even within the recollection of some of the oldest inhabitants of the town, it was used as the Judges' lodgings. The property belongs to the Roman Catholics of Norwich, and the whole is to be taken down, for the purpose of erecting a church and convent." Mr. Minty stated that representations of parts of the building have been engraved by Mr. Ninham, an artist at Norwich, who will shortly publish an etching of the interior of the hall.
May 14.
Mr. John Lean, of the Ordnance Office, communicated a sketch of a font at Blisland, Cornwall, which is formed of granite. It is of Perpendicular character, of octagonal form, and each side is ornamented with a quatrefoiled panel enclosing an escutcheon.
Mr. Lean exhibited also rubbings taken from the sepulchral brasses which exist in the church of Minster, in the Island of Sheppy, which represent, according to tradition. Sir Roger de Northwode, possessor of a manor of that name in the adjoining parish of Eastchurch, and his wife Bona. He was at the siege of Acre with King Richard, Cœur de Lion. Representations of these interesting figures have been published by Stothard, in the series of monumental effigies, and Mr. Kempe, in his description of the plate, suggests that these memorials may represent Sir John de Northwode, grandson of Sir Roger; he was knighted by Edward I. at the siege of Carlaverock, was summoned to parliament from 6 to 12 Edward II. (1318), and died about that period. He married Joan de Badlesmere. The armour represented in this curious specimen is very singular; the general character of design, and the unusual fashion of wearing the shield appended to the belt or hilt of the sword, so as to cover the right thigh, appear to afford grounds for the conjecture that this brass was engraved in France. The shield thus worn appears to have been termed ecu en cantiel. The bearing should evidently be, ermines, a cross engrailed, but the plate is imperfect, a portion having been cut out, in order, as it would appear, to make the figure of the knight equal in length to that of his lady, the dimensions of which were somewhat more diminutive.
Mr. Hawkins exhibited a bronze figure, which was found by Mr. W. Locket, sergeant at mace, amongst a quantity of rubbish, when some workmen were pulling down an old wall belonging to the duke of Buckingham's palace or castle in Wallgate, Macclesfield. Mr. Locket stated that the figure, was covered over with dirt and rust so as to be scarcely perceptible, but he cleaned it with sulphuric acid. It had been fixed by two rivets through the feet to an iron bar secured in a piece of stone. The iron bar was corroded by rust, so that the rivets gave way, and the bar broke to pieces. It had been placed in a triangular niche about a foot high, the niche itself having been twelve or fourteen feet from the ground. The image could not even have been seen from below. It measures in length about 5 in.
Mr. Edward Hoare, of Cork, presented a lithographic representation of an "unique and hitherto unknown variety of the gold ring-money of Ireland, in the form of an ear-ornament, found in a turf bog in the neighbourhood of Macroom, co. Cork," and now in Mr. Hoare's collection. It weighs 2 dwts. 5 grs. A more detailed account of this ring is given in the Numismatic Chronicle for April, 1844. Mr. Hoare sent also a drawing of a silver ring, now in his possession, described as "a decade signet-ring," discovered near Cork, in 1844. The hoop is composed of nine knobs or bosses, which may have served instead of beads in numbering prayers, whilst the central portion which forms the signet supplied the place of the gaude. Some persons, as Mr. Hoare remarked, have considered this ring as very ancient; Mr. Lindsay supposed it to be of earlier date than the ninth century, regarding the device as representing an arm, issuing from the clouds, holding a cross, with a crown or an ecclesiastical cap beneath it. Sir William Betham expressed the following opinion respecting this relic: "There can be little doubt but your ring is a decade ring, as there are ten knobs or balls round it. The globe surmounted by a cross is a Christian emblem of sovereignty; the ring and cross, of a bishop; the cap looks like a crown, and only that the ring is too old, it might be considered the ciulid, or barred crown of a sovereign prince. It certainly is of considerable antiquity, and Mr. Lindsay is not far out in his estimation." Mr. Hoare is disposed to conclude from these statements that this relic had been the signet of an Irish ecclesiastic, at an early period: the device appears, however, to bear much resemblance to those which were used in England during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as marks, or personal devices, by merchants. In these marks the initial of the name is usually surmounted by a cross, with a sort of vane appended to it; and in this instance it might be conjectured that the letter B was intended to indicate the name of the individual, whilst the shamrocks evidently denoted his Irish extraction.
Mr. Hoare stated also, in reference to the notice of Irish ring-money communicated to the Committee by Mr. Sainthill (Archæological Journal, vol. i. p. 257), that of the silver rings, the rarity of which is very great, he possessed no specimen, but that his collection comprised four gold rings, and one of bronze. To these he had added one of the iron rings, brought from Sierra Leone, where they are used at the present time as current money, being precisely similar in shape to the Celtic ring-money which is discovered in Ireland. He reported that three fine specimens of gold ring-money, recently discovered, are now for sale at a jeweller's shop in Cork; one of them has the central portion engraved, or grooved, and large flat plates at the extremities; the others terminate in the cup-shaped fashion: they are of the purest gold, and of considerable weight, the intrinsic value of the three rings being about 18l. It is probable that these singular relics will shortly be condemned to the crucible, unless some purchaser should be found who would rescue them from destruction.
Evelyn P. Shirley, Esq., M.P., exhibited several Roman coins found in the parish of Eatington, co. Warwick; a fibula, part of a buckle, and fragments of "Samian" pottery, stamped with the potter's marks SATVRNINI . OF. (officinâ) and SENTIA.M. (Senti a manu). They were found in Eatington Park.
The Rev. H. T. Ellacombe, of Bitton, communicated a rubbing from an early incised slab at Carisbrook, in the Isle of Wight; the slab narrows towards the feet, the lower portion of the figure is defaced. A representation of it was engraved by Charles Tomkins, in 1794. This slab represents an ecclesiastic, his head tonsured and bare, and in his right hand he bears a pastoral staff with a plain curved head. Possibly it is the memorial of one of the abbots of Carisbrook, where William Fitz-Osborn, who subdued the island, founded an abbey, which subsequently became a cell to the house of St. Mary de Lyra, in Normandy.
Mr. Hodgkinson sent for the inspection of the Committee an elaborately carved reliquary, or coffer, such as were called forciers, of the early part of the fourteenth century. It was purchased at Eu, in Normandy, and is supposed to have belonged to the abbey of St. Laurence, in that town.
Mr. Hodgkinson exhibited also a small carving in ivory, apparently of the fourteenth century, discovered on the site of Kilburn priory, Middlesex.
Mr. Charles E. Lefroy communicated, through Mr. Ferrey, for the inspection of the Committee, the remarkable collection of Merovingian, and other gold coins, discovered by him in 1828 on a heath in the parish of Crondale, in Hampshire. It consisted of one hundred small gold coins, varying in weight from 1912 gr. to 23 gr., the value of each piece being about three shillings. With these were found two triangular gold ornaments set with rubies, attached to small chains, formed like those which are made at Trinchinopoly, and terminating with a hook and an eye. The discovery was made by Mr. Lefroy at a spot where some ridges, called the Rampings or Ramparts, apparently the traces of ancient tracks, are to be noticed on the old way leading from Blackwater to Crondale, in the vicinity of an earth-work, apparently Saxon, called "Cæsar's Camp," and of other ancient remains. A turf had been pared off for firing, in the usual manner, leaving a smooth "dished" surface, on which a little heap, apparently of brass buttons, was perceived by Mr. Lefroy, the bright edges having been washed bare by recent rains. The coins had probably been contained in a purse, of which the jewelled ornaments had formed the fastenings. Mr. John Yonge Akerman has given, in the Numism. Chron. No. xxiii., a detailed description and representations of the coins and ornaments, with remarks on the series to which several of the pieces belong, namely, the tiers de sol, or gold triens of the French kings of the first race. The most ancient of the coins exhibited were considered by Mr. Akerman to be imitations of the coins of Licinius (A.D. 308), struck at no very distant period from his time. One piece is evidently an imitation of the coins of Leo (A.D. 407.) Another bears the name of St. Eloi (ELEI. S. MONET.), who had the office of moneyer at Paris in the reigns of Dagobert and Clovis II. (A.D. 628-641). There are also pieces bearing the names MARSALLO, supposed to be Marsal, in Lorraine[3]; and WICCO, Quentovic or Quannage, near the mouth of the river Canche; one piece is marked LONDVNI, which was considered by Mr. Akerman as of English origin, but of uncertain date; he would assign to it a place in the Anglo-Saxon series, amongst coins struck by ecclesiastics. Three gold blanks, hammered at the edges, and prepared for the die, were also found. The workmanship of the ornaments appears to justify the conjecture that the purse, in which these singular coins had been contained, was dropped on the heath in the seventh, or early in the eighth century. Several evidences of ancient occupation occur in the vicinity; an old track, known as the "Maulth-way," is to be noticed to the eastward, leading from Farnham towards Bagshot, as also the great Roman road from Silchester to Staines, called "The Devil's high-way." This track forms for a considerable extent the boundary between the parishes of Frimley and Chobham; it is marked in the Ordnance survey, but the name is not given.
Mr. Hawkins observed that his opinion regarding these coins did not coincide with that which Mr. Akerman had expressed, that they certainly do not belong to the same period. The following remarks have subsequently been communicated by Mr. Hawkins, on this subject. "I believe that Roman coins continued in circulation long after the Romans quitted Britain, that they were succeeded by base imitations which are frequently found even now, and are almost universally rejected as valueless, and therefore appear scarce. The imitations became less and less like the originals with occasional glimpses of improvement. Among the Cuerdale coins contemporary with Alfred, are one or two with a very close resemblance on the reverse to Roman coins struck centuries before, and here in Mr. Lefroy's collection occur imitations of coins of Licinius found with coins struck 350 years later. Almost all these pieces are of workmanship inferior to the coins of which they appear to be imitations, and I believe them to be all the work of one person, and not improbably of the same hand. They may be divided into two classes, some thick, some thinner, of larger diameter, but about the same weight. Now the blanks found with them correspond in size and weight with the coins, and I consider it was only by some un- known accident that they were not converted into coins, when they would have borne two dissimilar types. The coins are, if I recollect right, in the same state of good preservation, a very improbable circumstance had they been of different and distant periods; I suspect that every little prince or chief occasionally struck money without much regard to any superior authority, and imitated the types of any pieces which happened to be circulating in his district at the time. This may account for the variation of types and inferiority of workmanship."
Mr. W. Higgin, of Lancaster, sent for inspection a large brass coin of Antoninus Pius, which was found in digging the foundations of the Penitentiary in Lancaster Castle, with some silver coins, now in his possession.
The Rev. B. Belcher, of West Tisted, Hants, communicated a sketch of the representation of St. Christopher, which was discovered on the walls of East-Meon church, but has been concealed by white-wash. The drawing was made by Mr. Richard Eames, of Petersfield, who stated that, according to tradition, the figure of a serpent or dragon had formerly been apparent at the feet of St. Christopher.
Mr. Way exhibited a silver ring, communicated to him by Mr. W. Whincopp, of Woodbridge, inscribed with the Anglo-Saxon word "dolᵹbot," the meaning of which is compensation made for giving a man a wound, either by a stab or a blow. Amongst the dooms which Æthelbirht, king of Kent, established in the days of Augustine, the amount of bot, or damages to be paid for every description of injury to the person, is fully detailed[4]. The laws of King Alfred comprise likewise numerous clauses respecting compensation for wounds inflicted, and the term "dolᵹ-bote" occurs in c. 23, relating to tearing by a dog[5]. This ring is ornamented with a simple waxy line and dots, as if to represent a branch; it weighs 45 grs., and was found in Essex.
Mr. Hawkins exhibited a brass matrix, recently purchased by him; it appears to have been the seal of a Scottish monk. It is of oval form, measuring 1 in. and two-tenths by nine-tenths of an inch; the central device is the figure of an archbishop, represented with the right hand raised in benediction, and bearing the cross-staff in the left: on either side is an angel kneeling, and holding a large flower. Beneath is seen part of the figure of a monk, tonsured and wearing the cowl, with the hands raised in supplication. The legend appears to read as follows—S' F' W. MATHA MONAC' DABERBROTIOT, probably Aberbrothick, or Arbroath, in the county of Angus, where a celebrated abbey was founded A.D. 1178. by William the Lion, king of Scotland, in honour of St. Thomas of Canterbury.
The Rev. W. Haslam, of St. Perran-zabuloe, communicated a sketch of a mutilated figure of St. Anthony, which was found buried in a field in the parish of Merthyr, near Truro, and has been placed in a niche in the east wall of the chancel of Merthyr church, on the north side of the Altar. The figure measures in height about one foot seven inches; it had been broken at the waist, and suffered other injuries; under the left arm appears to have passed a staff, and the pig, with a large bell attached to its neck, appears in front of the figure. This relic was disinterred in the immediate vicinity of an ancient well, known as the well of St. Cohan the martyr, a British saint, whose little church stood close beside it. There is a parish called St. Anthony, distant about eight miles from Merthyr; an interesting door of Norman date, and some portions of Early English character are to be noticed in the church at that place, from which, possibly, the figure of the saint had been removed. Mr. Haslam observed that he had found no other specimen of Early English construction in that part of Cornwall.
May 28.
Mr. Shirley exhibited a large stone hatchet, found on Stanton Moor, Derbyshire. It measured in length 8in., and the breadth of the sharp edge is 3in. Mr. Shirley exhibited also an earthen vessel shaped like a flask, which was discovered at Ipsley, Warwickshire, on the Icknield-street Road.
Mr. Charles Winston communicated an account of some painted glass in the north window of Mells church, Somerset, representing the following saints:—St. Sitha, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Agatha, St. Apollonia. St. Sitha is represented bearing in her left hand three loaves, and in her right two keys appended to a string, through which her finger passes. One of these keys appears to be a clyket, resembling precisely a modern latch-key. Her hair is long and dishevelled, as usual in the representation of virgin saints. Gough, in his description of the sepulchral brass at Tateshale, Lincolnshire, which represents Maud Willughby, who died 1497, says, that underneath one of the small figures of saints introduced in the tabernacle work at the sides of the figure, was inscribed the name S'ca Sytha; and that she was represented with a book and keys. (Sep. Mon., part ii. p. 330.)[6] St. Osith, daughter of Frewald, a Mercian prince, was born at Quarrendon, Bucks, and became the virgin consort of an East Anglian king, who bestowed on her the manor of Chick, in Essex, where she founded a monastery, and was beheaded by the Danes about the year 870. Her relics were preserved at that place, where a great abbey of regular canons was erected, called St. Osith's; and her life was written by Vere, a canon of that house, from which Leland extracted some particulars. (Itin., viii. f. 81.) The name of St. Apollonia is lost, but in the right hand of the figure is seen a pair of pincers, clipping a double tooth, and a book in her left hand. These four figures are placed under canopies, and are in good preservation; they occupy the upper or tracery-lights; in one of the lower lights is to be seen a canopy of very rich design. The date of this painted glass is about the time of Henry VI. Four other figures of saints are also to be seen at Mells; St. Margaret, St. Catherine, a female saint bearing a cross and book, and another bearing a book and palm-branch.
The Rev. William Staunton, of Longbridge, communicated the following notices of Fulbroke castle, accompanied by a drawing of a curious steel-yard weight, which was discovered about five years since, in the moat adjoining to a farm-house at Fulbroke, a small parish about three miles distant from Warwick. The moat encloses an oblong parallelogram of about half an acre, now used as an orchard to the farm-house, (which is a substantial modern building just without the moat,) and from the artificial banking of the ground within, it appears to have been the site of an ancient building. The moat was entire till within the last seven or eight years, when a small part was filled up to connect the house with the orchard; and in using some of the soil from the orchard for that purpose, a great many deer's bones were dug up, and broken portions of antlers of considerable size. The farm-house stands in a hollow, at the foot of a rising ground, on the summit of which, at about the distance of a quarter of a mile, the castle of Fulbroke formerly stood; it was therefore probably within the precincts of the old park, and still retains the name of Fulbroke Park Farm. A few yards distant from it is an artifical square mound, comprising about a quarter of an acre, surrounded by the trace of a fosse in which willows are at present growing. It is not therefore improbable that this may be the site of the building mentioned by Leland in his Itinerary, (vol. iv. p. 65.) He states that "there is a little lodge or piece of building in this park called Bargeiney, made, as I conjecture, by some Lord or Lady Bargeiney." In clearing the mud out of a portion or this moat, about five years ago, the weight was discovered in the bank. It is formed of a thin coat of brass externally, the inside being filled up with solid lead; this is shewn in consequence of a portion of the brass being worn through at the bottom. It measures in height, to the top of the handle, 234 inches; in circumference, round the broadest part. 814 inches, and weighs 2lb. lloz. Around the sides are four escutcheons, standing out in relief from the surface, each of which is charged with the same heraldic bearing, viz. a lion rampant, with the tail deeply forked, and on its head a crown. The date of this relic appears to be about the reign of Henry III.
The castle of Fulbroke was built by John, duke of Bedford, third son of Henry IV., and described by Rous[7] as "turrim nobilem castro æquipollentem:" Leland[8] calls it "a praty castle made of stone and bricke." It was bequeathed by the duke at his death to his nephew Henry VI., who "granted the custody thereof to John Talbot, Lord L'isle, to hold during life, and to make use of the buildings therein for his own proper habitation at all times except when himself should be there[9]." Leland states that this castle "was an eye-sore to the earls that lay in Warwick castle, and was cause of displeasure between each lord." It consequently did not last long. Rous describes it in his day as being in a ruinous condition; and it was taken down in the commencement of Henry VIII.'s reign by Sir William Compton, keeper of the park, and the materials employed in building his house at Compton Wynyates. Joan, Lady Bergavenny (whose husband William Lord Bergavenny, brother to Thomas Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, possessed the manor immediately before the duke of Bedford) built here a handsome gate-house, of which Rous says, "nunc hæc porta destruitur." Dugdale also attributes to her the building of the lodge, which has been already noticed as mentioned by Leland in his Itinerary. The manor having thus come to the crown by the bequest of the duke of Bedford, it was granted by Edward IV. to Richard Neville, the stout earl of Warwick, and accompanied the descent of the earldom of Warwick till the attainder of John Dudley, duke of Northumberland, (1st of May.) since which time it has been no longer attached to their possessions.
Fulbroke is in the list of depopulated places in this neighbourhood given by Rous, on which subject he breaks forth into so long a strain[10] of indignant and melancholy deprecation. He says, "via olim secura, modo per sepes et palos obtenebrata, fit latibulum . . . . . . et multis via est spoliationis, vulnerationis, et mortis . . . . ubi olim cunctis viantibus erat salubris et satis secura." It maybe added, that the church has been long destroyed. In the 18th Edward IV. it was certified to be in a ruinous state; and in the king's books it is entered as demolished. A field, however, opposite to the farm house, in the moat of which the weight was discovered, still retains the name of the Church Piece, and a grave-stone was ploughed up in it a few years since, with a cross upon it, which has been preserved.
The present aspect of the place is that of a quiet rural hamlet, containing only three farm-houses, and presenting no traces of the past. Its church, castle, gate-house, and lodge, are all gone, and no portions of these buildings remain. The brass weight seems the only relic or trace of ancient occupation which has been brought to light, connecting it with by-gone days of importance.
Two steel-yard weights, precisely similar in form to that which was found at Fulbroke, and formed likewise of lead cased with brass, discovered near Norwich, were exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries in 1832. One of these weights was identical in dimensions, and ornamented with three escutcheons in relief, charged with a lion rampant, a double-headed eagle, and a fleur-de-lis. The second weight was rather larger, and the escutcheons presented the bearing of England and the double-headed eagle. These arms were supposed to be for Cornwall and the king of the Romans[11].
The Rev. Augustus Tharp, vicar of Chippenham. Cambridgeshire, sent for the inspection of the Committee, a ciborium, or pyx formed of latten, or mixed yellow metal, (pixis cooperta pro hostiis,) recently discovered in the neighbourhood of Chippenham by a labourer engaged in trenching a plantation. Several altar-candlesticks, bells and other relics were found at the same time, and the deposit consisted, probably, of the furniture of some neighbouring church, which had been concealed in the times of Henry VIII. or Edward VI., on the promulgation of the statutes for putting away all ornaments, sacred vessels, and service books. The pyx, intended for the preservation of the Eucharist for the sick, is in the form of a covered cup, surmounted by a conical spire, on the summit of which is a crucifix; the height of the whole being eleven inches, and the diameter of the cup four inches and three quarters. Around the cover is engraved a legend in large characters of singular form, Magnificat alo (?) at the summit there is a ring, and a link of a chain, as if for the purpose of suspension, and there is also a small ring attached underneath the foot of the cup. It appears by Lyndwood's Annotations on the Constitution of Archbishop Peccham (A.D. 1279.) respecting the preservation of the Eucharist in a pyx lined with linen, and placed in a closed tabernacle, that it had been customary in England to preserve it "cupâ," in a cup, suspended over the altar "in conopeo," under a dais or canopy, which frequently appears in illuminations. This usage of suspension is considered by Lyndwood objectionable, as the sacred vessel might more easily be abstracted by a profane hand, than if it were deposited, as in Holland and Portugal, in an ambry or other secure place[12]. The pyx found at Chippenham appears to have been made in the earlier part of the fifteenth century. A representation of it will be given in a future number of the Journal.
Mr. Way exhibited drawings which represent the curious jewelled ornaments and remains of a precious mitre preserved at New College, having recently, by favour of the Warden, been permitted to examine the originals. They comprise nearly the whole of the rich decorations of the mitra preciosa of the founder, William of Wykeham, bishop of Winchester 1366—1405; the ground-work was of silken tissue, closely set with seed-pearls, and upon this were attached at intervals plates of silver gilt set with gems and pearls, as likewise bands formed of jewelled ornaments alternating with small enamelled plates of silver of beautiful colouring, representing animals and grotesques. These bands which measure in width six tenths of an inch, are formed in separate pieces of the same breadth, curiously hinged together in order to give perfect pliability to the whole. There are also considerable remains of the beautiful crocketed crest, chased in silver gilt, and the jewelled extremities of the pendants or infulæ are likewise preserved. The most interesting of these curious fragments is an M crowned, being the monogram of the blessed Virgin, set with gems and partially enamelled, with the subject of the Annunciation introduced in the open parts of the letter. This ornament, of which a representation is here given, appears to have occupied a central and principal position on the mitre; but it has been considered by some persons as having formed the decoration of a morse, or kind of brooch used as a fastening of the cope in front upon the breast.
Mr. Way exhibited also a rubbing from the sepulchral brass of Flemish workmanship, preserved in the north aisle of Topcliffe church, near Thirsk, communicated by Mr. G. S. Master, of Brasenose College. It measures 5ft. 9in., by 3ft. 1in., the figures not being cut out and inlaid on the slab, as is usual in the case of English brasses, but represented on a diapered background, similar in design to those of the rich brasses at Lynn and St. Alban's, which were probably engraved at Bruges. The close resemblance in their workmanship would lead to the conjecture that all these memorials had been the work of the same artist. The Topcliffe brass represents a man in secular attire, with his wife; the figures measure in length 4ft. 1in.; tabernacle work, with figures of angels playing upon musical instruments, appears on either side, supporting beautiful canopies and shrine work. The inscription, beginning in the middle of the plate, at the foot, runs as follows: + hic. jacet. benerabilis . . . . . . . . . . topclyff. qui. obijt. an. . . . mo. ccco. lxbo. quoru'. ani'e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . quondam bxor. eius. que. obit. anno. domini. mo. ccco. xcio. quoru' ani'e. propicietur. deus. On either side is introduced an escutcheon, charged with these arms, a chevron between three peg-tops, and the evangelistic symbols appear in the angles of the plate. This brass is mentioned by Gough, who gives the name Thomas de topclyff, now lost[16].
May 28.
The following books were presented:—By the author, The Worship of the Serpent, traced throughout the World, by the Rev. John Bathurst Deane, second edition, 1833, 8vo.—The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, anterior to the Anglo-Norman invasion, comprising an Essay on the Origin of the Round Towers, &c., by George Petrie, Dublin, 1845, 4to.—By John Murray, Esq., Practical Geology and Ancient Architecture of Ireland, by George Wilkinson, 1845, Royal 8vo.—By ]Mr. George Bell, The History and Art of Warming and Ventilating Rooms and Buildings, with notices of the progress of personal comfort in ancient times, by Walter Bernan. London, 1845, 2 vols. 12mo.
Mr. John Gough Nichols, in a letter to the Secretary, called the attention of the Committee to the following advertisement which appeared in the Times of May 22:—"Reigate, Surrey. Notice is hereby given, that unless the heirs or personal representatives of the following deceased persons, viz., Richard Elyott, who died in December, 1608, Richard Elyott, his son, who died in February, 1612, Katherine Elyott, who died in 1623—repair the monuments in the chancel of the parish church, such monuments will be taken down at the expiration of one month from the date hereof. Application to be made to Mr. Small, parish clerk." Mr. Nichols stated that a quarto plate was engraved some years since at the private expense of Mr. Bryant, which gives a representation of these monuments. The larger tomb exhibits recumbent effigies of Richard Elyott, Esq., justice of the peace, and his son Richard, one of the servants of Henry, Prince of Wales, both in armour; in front are kneeling figures of his wife, Rachael, daughter of Matthew Pointz, of Alderley, Gloucestershire, and her six daughters. The other monument consists of a kneeling effigy of Katherine, fifth daughter of Richard Elyott. The inscriptions may be found in the History of Surrey, by Manning and Bray. Mr. Nichols suggested the expediency of some endeavour to discourage the practice of destroying sepulchral monuments in the manner proposed in this instance. Mr. Way stated that, having recently visited the church of St. Peter's in the East, Oxford, his attention had been arrested by a notice of a similar description, which was affixed to a board near the outer door of the porch:—"The tomb of the family of Hirons having fallen into decay, notice is hereby given to the said family, that if none of their kindred repair the tomb within two months of this date, it must be removed by due authority. April 9, 1845. E. Hobhouse, vicar. Fras. Thos. Cooper, Chas. R. Hickman, churchwardens." The tomb in question is a stone table-monument of simple but not unsightly fashion: it stands in the church-yard, on the south side, not far from the entrance: a slab which formed part of the side of the tomb had fallen down, and might have been replaced at a trifling cost: the monument appeared, in other respects, to be in fair repair. The Committee considered it very desirable that the legality of such destruction of a monument should be ascertained, for although the freehold is undoubtedly in the parson, as stated by Blackstone, tomb-stones are regarded as descending in the nature of heir-looms, and cannot be removed or defaced without liability to an action of trespass from the heir.
June 11.
The following books were presented:—A Manual of Gothic Mouldings, illustrated by nearly 500 examples, by F. A. Paley, Hon. Sec. of the Cambridge Camden Society, London, 1845, 8vo.—By Mr. Albert Way. Memoirs of Gothic Churches, read before the Oxford Society for promoting the study of Gothic Architecture, No. 1, Great Haseley Church, Oxfordshire: No. 2, Fotheringhay Church, Northamptonshire, 8vo. Remarks upon Wayside Chapels, with Observations on the Architecture of the Chantry on Wakefield Bridge, by J. C. Buckler and C. Buckler, Oxford, 1843, 8vo. Promptorium Parvulorum, the Earliest English and Latin Dictionary, compiled about A.D. 1440; edited for the Camden Society, with various readings and notes by Albert Way, tom. i. A—L, London, 1843, 4to.—By Mr. Michael W. Boyle, the History of the Nevill Family, particularly of the house of Abergavenny, with some account of the Family of the Beauchamps: by Daniel Rowland, Esq.; illustrated by numerous engravings; printed for private circulation only, folio. Mr. Boyle also presented a volume containing a collection of sketches taken by himself, and comprising representations of Penshurst Place; the priory church of St. Botolph, Colchester; the gateway of Bayham abbey; Carisbrook castle; the halls at Sudeley castle, and the archiepiscopal palace at Mayfield, with other interesting subjects.
Mr. Way read the following note, communicated to him by Mr. Patrick Chalmers, of Auldbar, near Brechin:—"The cathedral of Brechin, of which a great part was pulled down about forty years ago, and the remainder converted into a parish church, is supposed to have been built in the twelfth century. The roof was of oak, said to have been cut from an ancient forest covering the base of the neighbouring hills, the Braes of Angus, or lower range of the Grampians. Tradition points out certain hollows or irregularities of the ground in a district formerly occupied by the forest, as the remains of 'the Pits' in which the timber for the kirk roof 'was salted,' a term which seems to imply that it was steeped in some chemical solution. The writer knows not to what degree of credence this tradition is entitled, whether it is supported by any similar tradition elsewhere, or by any record of a process of steeping timber in old times in order to its preservation, or its preparation for use in building. Larch timber is steeped in the Tyrol, the water (pure) being changed several times before the process is completed. The wood becomes very hard and brittle, and it may be doubted if its value as a building material be increased, at least in parts where it is subjected to a strain."
The Rev. Richard Gordon, of Elsfield, communicated a sketch of a bronze figure representing the Gaulish Mercury. It measures in height nine inches, and was discovered in ploughing land in the neighbourhood of Abingdon.
Francis H. Dickinson. Esq., M.P., communicated an account of a discovery of Roman coins recently made on his estate at King's Weston, Somersetshire, at a spot about a mile and a half from Somerton, on the London road, adjoining to the sites of two buildings supposed to have been Roman villas, in one of which a tesselated pavement exists. The recent discovery comprised about forty coins of the Lower Empire, as stated by Mr. Hassell of Littleton, who has carefully investigated the Roman remains in the neighbourhood of Somerton; he also observed that the name Willem (vallum) had previously led him to make excavations near the spot where the coins were found, and many traces of ancient occupation were brought to light. The coins forwarded by Mr. Dickinson for the inspection of the Committee comprised a small brass coin, apparently of Constantius II., one of Gratian, struck at Siscia, in Pannonia, and one of Theodosius (?). In the Comb under Snap Hill, near to the place where these pieces were found, three stone cists were recently found containing skeletons in perfect preservation. They were deposited without any regularity of position, and the bodies had been enclosed with thin and rough slabs of the lias stone of the neighbouring hill, placed around them in an irregular manner. One skeleton only lay east and west, and no coins or other remains were found.
Mr. Dickinson sent also, for the inspection of the Committee, the brass matrix of a singular personal seal. It is of the pointed-oval form, measuring two inches and seven-tenths by one inch and seven-tenths; it exhibits figures of the Virgin and Child, St. Thomas of Canterbury, and St. Edmund, who bears an arrow in his left hand. Beneath is seen an ecclesiastic kneeling in supplication. The following legend runs round the verge, presenting a singular example of the combined use of Latin and English words —EDMVNDI • THOME • PRECE • MATRIS • CHILD • LOKE TO ME. The date of this seal appears to be about the commencement of the fourteenth century.
The Rev. Thomas Mozley, rector of Cholderton, Wiltshire, exhibited, through the Rev. J. B. Deane, the brass matrix of a seal, found, five years since, in a field between the two parishes of Cholderton and Newton Toney, on the borders of Hampshire, forty or fifty miles from Chichester. The adjoining parish of Amport, Hants, is a living belonging to the Chapter of Chichester. The seal, which appears by the legend to have belonged to the sub-dean of Chichester, represents an ecclesiastic praying to St. Peter, the patron saint of Chichester cathedral. The most populous parish in Chichester, in which also the close is situated, is the parish of "St. Peter the Great, or the sub-deanery." It is a vicarage, of which the sub- dean is vicar. In the cathedrals of Lincoln, Exeter, and Salisbury, the sub-deans have estates held of them, as of other dignitaries. It is probable, from the evidence of the seal discovered in Wiltshire, that a similar privilege once belonged to the sub-deanery of Chichester, but no record of a sub-deanery seal is to be found. The matrix, now in Mr. Mozley's possession, measures one inch and a quarter by eight tenths.
Mr. Charles W. Goodwin, fellow of Catharine hall, Cambridge, communicated sketches of two coffin slabs, ornamented with highly decorated crosses flory, which were disinterred, a few years since, from beneath the flooring of the church of Llandudno, on the promontory of Ormshead near Conway. They are formed of blue stone, apparently a kind of slate, and the foliated ornaments, which cover the entire surface, are carved in low relief. The dimensions of the larger slab are 6ft. by 2ft. at the head, and 1 ft. 6 in. at the foot. The other slab measures 5ft. 6 in. by 1 ft. 8in. at the head, and 1 ft. at the foot. Mr. Goodwin stated that as far as he could ascertain no coffins were found with them, and that he was inclined to suppose they had been brought from Gogarth, where the bishops of Bangor had a palace, a few miles distant from Ormshead. At the time when the slabs were found, the church of Llandudno was dismantled, and a fine screen, which, according to tradition, had been brought from Gogarth, was, as well as the carved roof of the chancel, carried away to serve as fuel.
A letter from the Rev. W. H. Owen, vicar of Rhyddlan, was then read, inviting the attention of any members of the Committee or Association, who might visit Flintshire, and requesting them to examine the beautiful roof of carved oak brought from Basingwerk abbey, now to be seen in the church of Cilcain, about four miles from Mold. The trusses are supported by figures of angels bearing escutcheons charged with the emblems of the Passion, and grotesque figures ornament the corbels. The roof is in a very insecure state, and must shortly be taken down; Mr. Owen therefore expressed a desire that some person conversant with the peculiarities of mediæval timber-work should examine this highly ornamented specimen, previously to the repairs which have become indispensable.
Mouldings of the South Doorway, and Decorated Timber Porch. Long Wittenham, Berks See p 133.
1. Wooden String on the Porch.
2. Wall Plate in the Porch.
3. Mouldings of the South Doorway
- ↑ This subject, according; to vulgar tradition, has been supposed to represent Jack the Giant Killer.
- ↑ "Camden's Britannia, by Bishop Gibson, vol. ii. p. 146, where the following version of the lines is given.
"Good folks, in your devotions ev'ry day,
For Adam Port, who thus repair'd me, pray."
"All you that come here,
Bestow a kind prayer
On the Church builders,
Both youngers and elders.
What pious Wilfrid rais'd,
Good Adam increas'd." - ↑ Or possibly Marseille, Dept. de la Vilaine, a place situated near the French coast of the British Channel.
- ↑ Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, 8vo. vol. i. p. 13.
- ↑ Ibid., p. 79.
- ↑ Sise Lane, at the east end of Watling- street, was formerly known as "St. Sithe's lane, so called of St. Sithe's Church, which standeth against the north end of that lane."—Stow.
- ↑ Historia Regum Angliæ, p. 123.
- ↑ Itinerary, vol. iv. p. 65.
- ↑ Dugdale's Warwickshire, p. 509.
- ↑ Hist. Regum Angliæ, pp. 122, et seqq.
- ↑ Archæol. xxv. pl. lxiv.
- ↑ Lyndwood, Provinciale. lib. iii. tit. 26.
- ↑ Stothard has given representations of both these monumental effigies.
- ↑ Ancient Sculpture and Painting.
- ↑ A representation of this pax is given at page 149 of this Journal.
- ↑ Gough's Sep. Mon., i. 179.