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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Bell's Cathedrals: Wimborne Minster and
+Christchurch Priory, by Thomas Perkins
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Bell's Cathedrals: Wimborne Minster and Christchurch Priory
+       A Short History of Their Foundation and a Description of Their Buildings
+
+
+Author: Thomas Perkins
+
+
+
+Release Date: October 9, 2006  [eBook #19511]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS: WIMBORNE
+MINSTER AND CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 19511-h.htm or 19511-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/5/1/19511/19511-h/19511-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/5/1/19511/19511-h.zip)
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Lower case o-with-tilde accent is indicated by [~o].
+
+      Superscripted abbreviations are indicated by a preceeding caret.
+
+      Bold characters are enclosed between # marks.
+
+
+
+
+
+WIMBORNE MINSTER AND CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+
+A Short History of Their Foundation and Description of Their Buildings
+
+by
+
+THE REV. THOMAS PERKINS
+M.A., F.R.A.S.
+Rector of Turnworth, Dorset
+
+With Illustrations from Photographs by the Author
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+London George Bell & Sons 1902
+First Edition 1899
+Second Edition, Revised, 1902
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S PREFACE
+
+
+When writing the chapters of the present volume which treat of Wimborne
+Minster, the author consulted the last edition of Hutchins' "History of
+Dorset," which contains a considerable amount of somewhat ill-arranged
+information on the subject, verifying all the descriptions by actual
+examination of the building; similarly, when preparing the part of
+this volume dealing with Christchurch Priory, he made some use of
+"The Memorials of Christchurch Twynham," written originally by the Rev.
+Mackenzie Walcott, F.S.A., and revised after his death in 1880 by Mr B.
+Edmund Ferrey, F.S.A. He also consulted papers on the subject that have
+appeared from time to time in various periodicals and MSS. that were
+kindly placed at his disposal by the Secretary of the Society for the
+Protection of Ancient Buildings.
+
+He desires to express his thanks to the Vicars of the two churches
+for permission to thoroughly examine every part of the buildings,
+and to photograph them without let or hindrance; he also wishes to bear
+testimony to the readiness shown by the clerks and vergers in imparting
+local information and in facilitating his photographic work.
+
+                                                                  T. P.
+
+_October_ 1899.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+WIMBORNE MINSTER
+
+                                                                PAGE
+
+CHAPTER I.--History of the Building                                3
+  Date of Foundation                                               5
+  The Norman Church                                             8, 9
+  Alterations in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries      10, 11
+  Alterations in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries        11, 12
+  Modern Restorations                                             14
+
+CHAPTER II.--The Exterior                                         16
+  The Central Tower                                               16
+  The North Porch                                                 22
+  The East Window                                                 24
+  The Sundial                                                     25
+  The South Porch                                                 25
+  The Western Tower                                               26
+
+CHAPTER III.--The Interior                                        29
+  The North Porch                                                 29
+  The Aisles                                                  29, 38
+  The Clerestory                                                  33
+  The Central Tower                                               34
+  The Transepts                                                   38
+  The East End, Choir and Presbytery                              42
+  Sedilia and Piscina                                             44
+  The Beaufort and Courtenay Tombs and Brass of Aethelred     42, 47
+  The South Choir Aisle and Etricke Tomb                          48
+  The North Choir Aisle and Uvedale Monument                  50, 51
+  The Crypt, Vestry, and Library                                  52
+  Deans of Wimborne                                               59
+
+CHAPTER IV.--St Margaret's Hospital                               60
+  Dimensions of Wimborne Minster                                  64
+
+
+CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+
+CHAPTER I.--History of the Building                               67
+  Foundation                                                      68
+  The Norman Church                                               70
+  Alterations in the Thirteenth-Fifteenth Centuries               71
+  Modern Alterations                                              72
+
+CHAPTER II.--The Exterior                                         76
+  The Western Tower                                               76
+  The North Porch                                                 80
+  The North Aisle                                                 80
+  The North Transept                                              82
+  The Choir, Presbytery, and Lady Chapel                          84
+  The South Transept                                              88
+  The Nave                                                        88
+  The Porter's Lodge, and Sites of the Domestic Buildings         89
+
+CHAPTER III.--The Interior                                        92
+  The Nave                                                     92-98
+  The Aisles                                                      98
+  The Transepts                                                  100
+  The Rood Screen                                                105
+  The Choir                                                      106
+  The Choir Stalls                                           108-110
+  The Reredos                                                    112
+  The Salisbury Chantry                                          116
+  The Draper Chantry                                             118
+  The Lady Chapel, and the "Miraculous Beam"                     120
+  St Michael's Loft                                              126
+  The Shelley Monument                                           126
+
+CHAPTER IV.--Deans, Priors, and Vicars of Christchurch           128
+  Stratford's Injunctions                                        129
+  Archbishop Arundel's Injunctions                               130
+  The Norman Castle                                              131
+  The Norman House                                               132
+  Dimensions of Christchurch Priory                              134
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+WIMBORNE MINSTER
+
+                                                                PAGE
+
+Arms of Wimborne and Christchurch                        _Title page_
+Wimborne Minster from the North-East                               2
+Wimborne Minster in 1840                                           3
+Wimborne Minster in 1707. (From a copperplate in the Library)     13
+The Minster from the South-East before 1891                       19
+The North Transept before 1891                                    21
+The East Window                                                   23
+The Western Tower                                                 27
+The Interior, looking East                                        30
+Pier and Arch-Spring, South Arcade                                31
+Decorated Arch in the Nave                                        32
+Clerestory Stage of the Central Tower                             35
+The Tower Arches                                                  36
+North Transept and Crossing                                       37
+Thirteenth-Century Piscina, South Transept                        39
+Choir Stalls                                                      40
+West View from the Choir                                          41
+The East Window                                                   43
+Sedilia                                                           44
+The Beaufort Tomb                                                 45
+Brass of Aethelred                                                46
+The Etricke Tomb                                                  49
+Ancient Chest                                                     50
+The Uvedale Monument                                              51
+Entrance to Crypt                                                 53
+The Library                                                       54
+The Crypt                                                         55
+The Font                                                          56
+The Clock in the West Tower                                       57
+St Margaret's Hospital                                            61
+
+
+CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+
+Christchurch Priory from the Bridge                               66
+Christchurch Priory from the North-East                           77
+Tower Door                                                        78
+The North Porch                                                   79
+The North Door                                                    81
+The North Transept in 1810                                        83
+The North Transept                                                85
+South Aisle of Nave                                               87
+The Nave in 1834                                                  93
+The Nave                                                          95
+North Arcade of the Nave                                          96
+From the North Triforium                                          97
+Bay of the Triforium, South Side                                  98
+South Aisle of the Nave                                           99
+The Montacute Chantry                                            101
+North Aisle of the Nave                                          103
+The Crypt                                                        105
+The Rood Screen                                                  107
+Stall Seats (3)                                                  108
+Choir Stalls                                                     109
+Miserere on Stall Seat (_circa_ 1300)                            110
+The Choir                                                        111
+The Reredos                                                      113
+The Salisbury Chantry                                            115
+Interior of the Salisbury Chantry                                117
+The Draper Chantry                                               119
+Piscina in the Draper Chantry                                    120
+The Sacristy                                                     121
+The Miraculous Beam                                              122
+Tomb of Thomas, Lord West                                        123
+The Lady Chapel                                                  124
+St Michael's Loft                                                125
+The Shelley Monument                                             127
+Remains of the Norman House                                      133
+
+PLANS                                                       136, 137
+
+
+
+[Illustration: WIMBORNE MINSTER FROM THE NORTH-EAST.]
+
+[Illustration: _By Rev. J. L. Petit._ WIMBORNE MINSTER IN 1840.]
+
+
+
+
+WIMBORNE MINSTER
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HISTORY OF THE BUILDING
+
+
+Of the churches connected with the religious houses which once existed
+in the county of Dorset, three only remain to the present day. Of some
+of the rest we have ruins, others have entirely disappeared. But the
+town of Sherborne, once the bishop-stool of the sainted Aldhelm, who
+overlooked a vast diocese comprising a great portion of the West Saxon
+kingdom, has its Abbey now used as its Parish Church. The great Abbey
+of Milton, founded by Æthelstan, has handed down to us its choir and
+transepts--rebuilt in the fourteenth century, after the former church
+had been destroyed by fire--and this, though private property, is still
+used for occasional services; and the minster church at Wimborne has
+became the church of the parish of Wimborne Minster.
+
+The town has been by many supposed to stand on the site of the Roman
+Vindogladia, though this station has by others been identified with
+Gussage Cowdown, or the circular encampment of Badbury Rings, about
+three miles to the north-west of Wimborne Minster. Be this as it may,
+the district was occupied by the Roman conquerors of our island; and
+Roman pottery and other remains have been found in the neighbourhood,
+including a small portion of pavement beneath the floor of the minster
+church.
+
+The derivation of the name Wimborne, or Winborne as we find it sometimes
+written, has been much disputed; but as we find the same word appearing
+as the name of several other places which lie on the course of the same
+stream, now generally called the Allen, though sometimes the Wim, it
+is highly probable that the name is derived from that of the river.
+Compound names for villages are very common in Dorset--the first word
+being the name of the river on which the village stands, the second
+being added to distinguish one village from another. Thus we find along
+the Tarrant, villages known as Tarrant Gunville, Tarrant Hinton, Tarrant
+Launceston, Tarrant Monkton, etc.; and along the Winterborne we find
+Winterborne Houghton, Winterborne Stickland, Winterborne Clenstone,
+etc.; and in like manner we meet with Monkton up Wimborne, Wimborne
+Saint Giles, and Wimborne Minster along the course of the Allen. The
+characteristic name of Winterborne for a brook that is such in winter
+only, but is a dried-up bed in a hot summer is borne by two streams in
+Dorset, each giving its name to a string of villages. May not the word
+Wimborne or Winborne be a contraction for this same word Winterborne,
+the "burn" of the rainy winter months, applied to the little stream of
+the Allen, though it cannot now be said to be dry in summer?
+
+The small town of Wimborne Minster stands not far from the junction of
+the Allen with the slow-running Dorset Stour, in the midst of pleasant
+fertile meadow-land, from which here and there some low hills rise. Its
+chief glory has been, and probably always will be, its splendid church,
+with its central Norman and its Western Perpendicular towers, its Norman
+and Decorated nave, its Early English choir, and its numerous tombs and
+monuments of those whose names are recorded in the history of the
+country.
+
+The exact year of the foundation of the original religious house is
+differently given in various ancient documents: the dates vary from
+705 A.D. to 723 A.D. At this time, Ine was king of the West Saxons;
+and one of his sisters, Cudburh--or Cuthberga, as her name appears in
+its Latinised form--was espoused or married to Egfred, or, as he is
+often called, Osric, the Northumbrian king, but the marriage was never
+consummated, and the lady as soon as possible separated from him and
+retired to the convent at Barking, and afterwards founded the convent at
+Wimborne. Some say that she objected to the intemperate habits of her
+espoused as soon as she met him; others, that having previously vowed
+herself to heaven, she persuaded him to release her from the engagement
+to him, which had been arranged without her wishes being consulted.
+Her sister Quinberga is stated to have been associated with her in the
+foundation of the religious house, and both were buried within its
+precincts, and both were afterwards canonised; Saint Cuthberga was
+commemorated on August 31st "as a virgin but not a martyr." A special
+service appointed for the day is to be found in a Missal kept in the
+Library of the Cathedral Church at Salisbury, in which the following
+prayer occurs:--
+
+"Deus qui eximie castitatis privilegio famulam tuam Cuthbergam
+multipliciter decorasti, da nobis famulis tuis ejus promerente
+intercessione utriusque vitae prosperitatem. Ut sicut ejus festivitas
+nobiscum agitur in terris, ita per ejus interventum nostri memoria apud
+te semper habeatur in coelis, per Dominum etc."
+
+There is reason to believe that the earliest date given above for the
+foundation (705 A.D.) is the most probable one, as Regner in his tracts
+mentions a letter bearing this date written by Saint Aldhelm, and taken
+from the register of Malmesbury, in which he includes in a list of
+congregations to which he grants liberty of election the monastery at
+Wimborne, presided over by the sister of the king. There is also some
+evidence for the existence of a community of monks at Wimborne, as well
+as of nuns. But of these original religious houses not a trace remains:
+the very position of St Cuthberga's Church is uncertain; we cannot
+be sure that the present building occupies the same site; the last
+resting-places of the two royal foundresses are not even pointed out
+by tradition. Probably the buildings were destroyed, the nuns slain or
+driven out, when the raiding Danes overran Wessex in the ninth century.
+
+The next historical event that we meet with in connection with Wimborne
+is the burial of King Æthelred, the brother and immediate predecessor
+on the throne of the great West Saxon king Ælfred. As there is doubt
+about the year of the foundation by Cuthberga, so again there is a
+conflict of testimony as to the date, place, and manner of the death of
+Æthelred--the inscription on the brass (about which more will be said
+when we come to describe the interior of the minster) not agreeing with
+the usually accepted date for the accession of Ælfred, 871; but as the
+brass is itself many centuries later than the burial of the king whose
+likeness it professes to bear, its authority may well be questioned.
+Anyhow, Æthelred died either of wounds received in some battle with the
+Danes, in some spot which different archæologists have placed in Surrey,
+Oxford, Berkshire, or Wilts, or worn out by his long and arduous
+exertions while struggling with the heathen invaders; and his body--this
+alone is certain--was brought to Wimborne for burial. It has been
+conjectured that Ælfred, after he had defeated the Danes and established
+himself firmly on the throne of Wessex, would naturally rebuild the
+ruined abbey. He founded, as we know, an abbey at Shaftesbury; he is
+recorded to have built at Winchester and London; he had undoubtedly a
+taste for architecture, and he was a devout son of Mother Church, so
+that it is by no means improbable that he would erect a church over the
+grave of his brother: but no record of such building remains, and there
+is no trace of any pre-Norman work in the existing minster.
+
+The original church and conventual buildings having been swept away by
+the Danes, whether Ælfred restored it or not is uncertain, but it is
+certain that a house of secular canons was established at Wimborne by a
+king of the name of Eadward; but again there is some uncertainty as to
+whether this king was the one who is sometimes called the Eadward the
+Elder, sometimes Eadward the Unconquered, son and successor of Ælfred,
+or Eadward the Confessor. Anyhow, it became a collegiate church and a
+royal free chapel, and as such it is mentioned in Domesday Book, and it
+is noticed as a Deanery in the charters of Henry III. Leland, writing in
+the reign of Henry VIII., says, "It is but of late time that a dean and
+prebendaries were inducted into it." The deanery was in the gift of the
+Crown, and we have a full list of the deans from 1224 up to 1547, when
+it was dissolved. The ecclesiastical establishment consisted of a dean,
+four prebendaries, three vicars, four deacons, and five singing men.
+It will not be needful to give any detailed account of these, as most
+of them, though in many cases they held other more dignified posts,[1]
+either together with the deanery or after resigning it, are not men
+who have made their mark in English history. A few only will here be
+mentioned, who on account of some circumstances connected with the
+fabric, or for other reasons, are more noteworthy.
+
+    [1] It is noteworthy that they all held some other preferment
+        during the time that they held the office of dean.
+
+#Thomas de Bembre#, 1350-1361, founded a chantry and an altar in the
+north part of the north transept, which was added at this time.
+
+#Reginald Pole#, so well known in the history of the reigns of Henry
+VIII. and Queen Mary, was Dean of Wimborne from 1517 till 1537. It is
+remarkable that he was only seventeen years of age at the time of his
+appointment.
+
+He was succeeded by #Nicholas Wilson#, who held the office of dean until
+the dissolution of the deanery in 1547. To him a curious letter still
+existing was addressed in 1538 by certain leading men of the parish,
+though nothing appears to have been done in consequence of it. These
+worthy men complain of the dilapidated state of the church, the want
+of funds to carry out needed repairs, and suggest the taking from the
+church "seynt Cuthborow's hed," and "the sylv' y^t ys about the same
+hed," which they claim as belonging to the parish on the ground that
+it was made by the charity of the parishioners in times past. "Our
+chyrche," they say, "ys in gret ruyn and decay and our toure ys
+foundered and lyke to fall and ther ys no money left in [~o] chyrche box
+and by reason of great infyrmyty and deth ther hath byn thys yere in
+oure parysh no chyrche aele, the whych hath hyndred [~o] chyrch of xx^ti
+nobles and above, and well it is knowen y^t we have no land but onely
+the charity of good people, wherfor nyed constraynyth us to sell the
+sylv' y^t is about the same hed. Besechynge yo^r mastership to sertefy
+us by y^r tre wher we may sell the said sylv' to repayr [~o]
+chyrche."[2]
+
+    [2] In an inventory made in the reign of Henry VIII. we find
+        mentioned an image of St Cuthberga, with a ring of gold, and
+        two little crosses of gold, with a book and staff in her hand.
+        The head of the image of silver with a crown on it of silver
+        and gilt. On her apron a St James shell with a buckle of silver
+        and gilt.
+
+The names of many of the other ecclesiastics connected with the church
+are known: among these, we need only mention William Lorynge canon, who
+in the time of Richard II. caused the great bell called the Cuthborow
+bell to be made; and Simon Beneson, sacrist, who left land, which is
+called Bell Acre, towards the maintenance and repair of the bells.
+
+Among other benefactors of the church was Margaret, Countess of
+Richmond, mother of Henry VII., so well known at Cambridge under the
+name of Lady Margaret, the foundress of Christ's and St John's Colleges.
+She founded at Wimborne the original seminary connected with the
+minster, which afterwards became by a charter of Elizabeth the Grammar
+School of the town, and presented splendid vestments to the church. July
+9th was until the Reformation kept at the minster as a festival to her
+memory, with a special office and High Mass.
+
+When the deanery was abolished, Wimborne Minster became a Royal
+Peculiar, under the administration of three priest-vicars elected by the
+Corporation. These served each for a week in turn. The Corporation had
+the power of appointing one of the three vicars--who was known as the
+"Official"--to hold courts and grant licences. The court was held in the
+western part of the north aisle, the Official presiding, seated at a
+desk, the two other vicars sitting one on each side of him, while at a
+long table sat the churchwardens, sidesmen, the vestry clerks, and the
+apparitors.
+
+The arrangement by which the vicars served the church each in turn
+continued in force until 1876. At that time one of the three vicars
+retired on a pension; another removed to the chapelry of Holt,
+three miles from Wimborne (which had previously been served in turn
+by the vicars of Wimborne), a parsonage having been built for his
+accommodation; and the third became sole vicar of the minster church
+and the parish attached to it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For the history of the fabric we have to trust almost entirely to the
+architectural features of the church itself, as documentary evidence is
+unusually scanty.
+
+Nothing of earlier date than the twelfth century can be seen in
+Wimborne Minster, but we know pretty accurately, the extent and form of
+the Norman Church; for, during the course of restoration undertaken in
+the present century, the foundations of some parts of this church were
+discovered beneath the floor of the existing building, and other pieces
+of Norman work formerly concealed, and now again concealed beneath
+plaster, were laid bare. There is one interesting feature about the
+church worthy of notice--namely, that the builders who succeeded one
+another at the various periods of its history did not, as a rule,
+destroy the work of their predecessors to such an extent as we
+frequently find to have been the case with the builders of other
+churches: possibly this may have been due to the fact that at no time
+was Wimborne Minster a rich foundation. There was no saintly shrine,
+there were no wonder-working relics to attract pilgrims and gather the
+offerings of the faithful and enrich the church in the way in which
+the shrine of Saint Cuthbert enriched Durham, that of the murdered
+archbishop enriched Canterbury, and that of the murdered king enriched
+Gloucester. But, whatever the reason may have been, we can but be
+thankful that the mediæval builders destroyed so little at Wimborne;
+while we regret that modern restorers have not been as scrupulous in
+preserving the work which they found existing, but have in some
+instances endeavoured to put the church back again into the state in
+which they imagined the fourteenth-century builders left it.
+
+We may regard the arches and lower stages of the central tower as the
+oldest part now remaining in its original condition. No doubt the Norman
+choir was the first to be built, as we find that it was almost the
+universal custom to begin churches at the eastern end, and gradually to
+extend the building westward, as funds and time allowed. Here, however,
+as in many other cases, the small Norman choir eastward of the central
+tower in course of time was considered too small, and the eastern
+termination had to be demolished to admit of the desired extension to
+the east. Norman choirs, as a rule, had an apsidal termination to the
+east, and it was not till Early English times that square east ends,
+which were characteristic of the English church in pre-Norman times,
+prevailed again over the Norman custom; and it is worthy of notice that
+this rectangular termination towards the east end remains a marked
+characteristic of the thirteenth-century work in England, Continental
+church-builders having retained the apsidal termination till the
+Renaissance. The side walls of the Norman choir extended two bays to the
+east of the central tower, and the nave four bays westward of the same.
+The transepts were shorter than at present, and the side aisles of the
+nave narrower. There appear to have been two side chapels to the choir,
+extending as far as the first bay eastward; beyond this to the east were
+two Norman windows on each side: these windows, parts of which remain,
+cut off by the Early English arches, were round-headed, and richly
+ornamented with chevron mouldings. They were uncovered at the time of
+the restoration, but are now again hidden by plaster. At the south end
+of the south transept a low building seems to have existed: the walls
+of this were raised when the south transept was lengthened in the
+fourteenth century. The Norman masonry may be seen under the south
+window of the transept, and a Norman string course runs round the sides
+and ends of the present transept. The aisles of the nave were not only
+narrower, but were also lower, than those now existing. It is also
+probable that these aisles did not originally extend as far westward
+as the nave. The windows of the Norman clerestory, which may still be
+seen from the interior, though all similar in design, are not alike in
+workmanship. The one over the narrow eastern bay on either side differs
+from those over the three bays farther to the west. Moreover, a
+continuous foundation has been discovered underneath the three western
+arches of the Norman nave. Possibly there was at one time a solid wall
+in this position, intended, however, from the first only to be
+temporary, and this was removed when the aisles, still in Norman times,
+were lengthened. The tower itself was not all built at the same time;
+the upper stages are ornamented with an arcading of intersecting arches
+indicating a somewhat later date.
+
+In the thirteenth century the east end of the choir seems to have been
+removed and the presbytery added: its date is pretty clearly determined
+by the east window, in which we notice some signs of the approaching
+change from the Early English simple lancet into the plate tracery of
+the Decorated period. Rickman gives its approximate date as 1220. During
+the fourteenth century the nave aisles were widened and extended farther
+west, and at the same time two bays were added to the nave itself. The
+Norman chapels on either side of the choir were lengthened into aisles,
+not, however, extending as far to the east as the thirteenth-century
+presbytery; arches were cut in the Norman choir walls to give access
+to these new aisles. The transepts were lengthened, the south one by
+raising the walls of the Norman chapel mentioned above, which, it has
+been conjectured, was used as the Lady Chapel, the north transept by
+the addition of Bembre's chantry.
+
+During the fifteenth century the western tower was built 1448-1464,
+and probably at the same time the walls of the nave were raised; and
+the roofs of the nave aisles, which had been much lower than now, so
+as not to block up the Norman clerestory windows, were raised on the
+sides joining the nave walls above the heads of these windows, and a new
+clerestory was formed in the raised wall. This contains five windows on
+each side, each window being placed over one of the piers of the nave
+arcading.
+
+During the Early English period, probably by John de Berwick, who was
+dean from 1286-1312, a spire was added to the central tower. This was
+for long in an unsafe condition, and at length, in 1600, it fell. The
+following is the description given by Coker, a contemporary writer:
+"Having discoursed this longe of this church, I will not overpasse a
+strange accident which in our dayes happened unto it, viz. Anno Domini
+1600 (the choire beeing then full of people at tenne of clock service,
+allsoe the streets by reason of the markett), a sudden mist ariseing,
+all the spire steeple, being of a very great height, was strangely cast
+downe, the stones battered all the lead and brake much timber of the
+roofe of the church, yet without anie hurt to the people; which ruin is
+sithence commendablie repaired with the church revenues, for sacriledge
+hath not yet swept awaye all, being assisted by Sir John Hannam, a
+neighbour gentleman, who if I mistake not enjoyeth revenues of the
+church, and hath done commendablie to convert part of it to its former
+use." Other accounts mention a tempest at the time of the fall. It is
+not unlikely that the tower was weakened by the alterations in the
+fourteenth century, when wider arches were cut in the west walls of the
+transepts, in consequence of the widening of the nave aisles. The fall
+of the spire, which fell towards the east, demolished the clerestory
+windows of the choir on the south side, and their place was supplied by
+a long, low Tudor window oblong in shape and quite plain. The windows,
+however, on both sides have been entirely altered, and those now
+existing in the clerestory are small lancets of modern date.
+
+The spire was not rebuilt, but the heavy looking battlement and solid
+pinnacles which still remain, and detract considerably from the beauty
+of the tower, were added as a finish to it in the year 1608. It is
+curious that the churchwardens' books, in which many entries occur
+detailing repairs and other work connected with the spire, make no
+mention of its fall.
+
+The western tower was also a source of trouble. It was built, as has
+been already mentioned, during the latter half of the fifteenth century,
+the glazing of the windows being completed in 1464; but as early as 1548
+it was thought necessary to brick up the west doorway, and notices of
+unsoundness of the tower occur frequently in the church books. In 1664
+we find the following entry made:--"Paid in beere to the Ringers for a
+peale to trye if the Tower shooke £0 1s 0d." As we read this entry, we
+cannot help wondering if the large amount of beer which a shilling would
+purchase in those days was given to the ringers so as to give them a
+fictitious courage and blind their eyes to the possible danger of
+bringing the tower down upon their heads. In 1739 the Perpendicular
+window in the western face of the tower was taken out and a smaller oval
+one put in its place, with a view to the strengthening of the wall by
+additional stonework. The modern restorer, however, has again put a
+window of Perpendicular character in place of the oval window inserted
+in the last century, using to aid him in his design, sundry fragments of
+the original tracery found embedded in the walls.
+
+[Illustration: WIMBORNE MINSTER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. From an old
+Print.]
+
+Before the nineteenth-century restorations, the pulpit, probably late
+sixteenth-century work, stood in the nave against the middle pillar on
+the north side, and the nave and choir were separated by a screen of
+three arches on which stood the organ. The central arch had doors.
+On either side of the choir were a set of canopied stalls: these
+canopies were removed in 1855 to make the chancel aisles available for
+a congregation. As the canopies interfered with both sight and sound,
+the floor of the choir was lowered to only three steps above the nave,
+and the stalls reduced to four on each side, with a view to make room
+for restoring the Norman steps indicated by traces on the wall under
+the floor, which led up to the high altar of the Norman church. The
+arrangement of steps was then three from the nave to the choir, four
+from the choir to the next level to the east, and seven from this to the
+presbytery, and one more to the altar platform. In 1866 further changes
+were made: the stalls were increased to the present number to provide
+sufficient accommodation for the choir, the additions being made out of
+old woodwork. The level of the floors was also rearranged; five steps
+now lead up from the nave to the choir, seven to the presbytery and one
+more to the altar platform, the altar itself being raised yet another
+step.
+
+During the restoration carried on from 1855 to 1857, great changes
+besides those already mentioned were made in the interior: the whitewash
+and plaster were removed from the walls, a west gallery was taken down,
+the nave re-seated, the organ transferred from its position upon the
+screen to the south transept, and much mischief was done from an
+archæological standpoint, a thing which seems almost inseparable from
+any nineteenth-century restoration.
+
+An examination of the masonry shows clearly that all the exterior walls
+east of the transepts save the east wall of the presbytery, which is
+somewhat out of the vertical, the top hanging forward, have been if not
+entirely rebuilt at anyrate completely refaced, and this work was no
+doubt done at the restoration at the middle of the nineteenth century.
+The doorway in the middle of the north choir aisle is entirely modern;
+the doorway which formally occupied this place was provided with a small
+porch.
+
+How far this rebuilding and refacing were rendered necessary by the
+condition of the walls at that time it is now impossible to say. The
+fact that the walls of the nave aisles were not similarly treated may
+have been due to want of funds, or it may be that the architects
+employed found them in a better condition than the walls of the choir
+aisles, and so preserved them, though they considered the latter beyond
+the possibility of preservation without the extensive renewing that
+evidently took place.
+
+The room containing the chained library was at the same time refitted.
+New shelves and rods were provided, but the old chains were used again.
+
+The restoration of 1855-1857 did not extend to the transept; but
+these were taken in hand in 1891, with the usual result--namely, the
+destruction of some existing features, such as the seventeenth-century
+tracery of the north window,[3] to make room for a nineteenth-century
+window in Decorated style, which, however, differs altogether from any
+window in the minster; the walls were raised about two feet and a roof
+of higher pitch put upon them, which necessitated alterations in the
+gables. A sundial which stood at the summit of the south gable was taken
+down, and this in 1894 was erected on a pillar built in the churchyard,
+a short distance from the south wall of the western tower. The transept
+previous to the restoration with the sun-dial on its gable is shown in
+the illustration on p. 19.
+
+    [3] This tracery is shown in the illustration on p. 21. The original
+        foliation seems to have been cut away, and the intermediate
+        mullions extended to the points of the two lights. This may
+        have been done with a view to economy in reglazing the window.
+        The modern window is shown on page 37.
+
+A small chamber to contain the hydraulic apparatus for the organ has
+recently been added to the east side of the south transept.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE EXTERIOR
+
+
+Wimborne Minster does not occupy a commanding position--it stands on
+level ground, its two towers are not lofty, the western only reaching
+the height of 95 feet and the central 84 feet--but it has the advantage
+of having an extensive churchyard both on the south side and also on the
+north, so that from either side a good general view of the building may
+be obtained. A street running from the east end of the church towards
+the north gives the spectator the advantage of a still more distant
+standpoint, from which the towers, transepts, choir, and porch group
+themselves into one harmonious whole, the long line of iron railings
+bounding the churchyard being the only drawback. The first impression is
+that there is something wrong with the central tower; the plain heavy
+battlement, with its four enormous corner pinnacles, seems to overweight
+the tower, and as each side of the parapet is longer than the side of
+the tower below, the feeling of top-heaviness is increased. The central
+tower has no buttresses, but the western has an octagonal buttress at
+each corner, and these decrease in cross section at each of four string
+courses; so that this tower seems to taper, and by contrast makes the
+central tower seem to bulge out at the top more than it really does.
+
+But Wimborne Minster does not stand alone in giving at first sight a
+feeling that something is wanting to perfect beauty. In nearly every
+old building which has gradually grown up, been altered and enlarged
+by various generations, as need arose, each generation working in
+its own style, and often with little regard to what already existed,
+incongruities are sure to be discernible. But what is lost in unity
+of design increases the interest in the building, historically and
+architecturally regarded. And it is worthy of notice that at Wimborne,
+more than at many places, the enlargers of the church have contented
+themselves with adding to the building without removing the work of
+their predecessors more than was absolutely necessary. A very cursory
+glance at the exterior of the building as one walks round it is
+sufficient to show that the church as it stands offers to the student of
+architecture examples of every style that has prevailed in this country
+from the twelfth century onward, and he will especially rejoice at
+seeing so much fourteenth-century work. He will, as he passes along the
+narrow footway beneath the east end of the choir, regret that more space
+is not available here to get a good view of the most interesting Early
+English window. If a small tree were felled, and the wall of a garden
+or yard on the side of the footpath opposite to the church pulled down,
+so as to throw open the east end of the choir, it would be a great
+improvement. But this regret can be endured, as, though the window
+cannot be well seen, it is there, and by changing one's position a
+pretty accurate idea of its interesting features can be formed; but
+far keener is the regret that any lover of antiquity must feel when
+he notices, as he examines the church more closely, how busy the
+nineteenth-century restorer has been, how he has raised walls, altered
+the pitch of roofs, and inserted modern imitations of thirteenth and
+fourteenth century work, removing features which existed at the
+beginning of this century to make room for his own work; how he has
+banished much of the old woodwork in the interior, altered the position
+of still more, and generally been far less conservative of the work of
+former generations than the mediæval enlargers of the minster were.
+However, his work is now done--nave, towers, and choir were thoroughly
+restored about fifty years ago, and the transepts in 1891. No further
+work is contemplated at present. In fact, there seems nothing more that
+could well be done.
+
+[Illustration: THE MINSTER FROM THE SOUTH-EAST BEFORE 1891.]
+
+The church is built partly of a warm brown sandstone, partly of stone of
+a pale yellow or drab colour, the two kinds being in many places mixed
+so as to give the walls a chequered appearance. This may be noticed both
+outside and inside the building. In some of the walls the stones are
+used irregularly, in others they are carefully squared. The red stone is
+to be met with in the neighbourhood: some of that used for raising the
+transept walls in 1891 was obtained from a bridge in the town that was
+being rebuilt; and from marks on some of those stones it appeared that
+before being in the bridge they had been used in some ecclesiastical
+building, so that they have now returned to their original use. There
+is little ornament to be seen outside, save on the upper stage of the
+tower; in fact, the whole building excepting the arches of the nave and
+the tower may be described as severely plain in character. The college
+was never wealthy, hence probably it could not employ a number of
+carvers; then again it was not a monastic establishment, so that there
+were no monks to occupy their time in the embellishment of the building,
+carving, as monks often did, their quaint fancies on bosses and
+capitals. We miss the crockets and finials, the ball-flower, and other
+ornaments that we meet with in so many fourteenth-century buildings; but
+the very simplicity of the work gives the church a dignity that is often
+wanting in more highly ornamented structures. The small number of the
+buttresses in the body of the church is noteworthy; save at the angles
+there are only five--namely, two on each nave aisle, and one on the
+north choir aisle. At each of the eastern corners of the choir aisles
+the buttresses are set diagonally, as also are those on the northern
+corners of the north porch. There is a buttress on each of the side
+walls of the north porch, and two set at right angles to each other
+at each of the two corners of the north transept, and also at the
+south-west corner of the south transept; beneath the east window of the
+choir there is a small one. The buttresses at the corner of the choir
+project but slightly. The central tower has none, but the west tower has
+an octagonal buttress at each corner. The central tower attracts notice
+first. From the outside at the angles a small portion of the plain wall
+of the triforium stage may be seen, against which the roofs of the choir
+and transepts abut; the nave roof, however, hides all of this stage at
+the western face: above this face is a band of red-brown sandstone, and
+above this the clerestory stage. In each face are two round-headed
+windows with a pointed blank arch between them. There are six slender
+shafts to support the outer order of moulding over the two windows and
+the blank arch, and two of a similar character to support the inner ring
+of moulding over each window. At each corner of the tower up to the top
+of this stage runs a slender banded shaft. This stage is finished by a
+string course, above which the tower walls recede slightly, the walls of
+the upper or belfry storey being a little thinner than those below. This
+stage, perfectly plain within, is the most richly-ornamented part of the
+tower outside: it is the latest Norman work to be found in the minster,
+and probably may be dated late in the twelfth century. An arcading of
+intersecting round-headed arches runs all round this storey. Seven
+pointed arches are thus formed in each face; between these arches stand
+slender pillars with well carved capitals which show a great variety of
+design. Five of the seven arches on each face were originally open, save
+possibly for louvre-boards placed to keep out the rain; now all but the
+central one on each face are walled up, and the centre one is glazed.
+This filling up was not all done at the same time, as the varying
+character of the stone shows. The work was no doubt begun in order to
+strengthen the walls when the spire was added, and was continued from
+time to time as the necessity for further strengthening arose. Above
+the stage was a bold corbel table, and this is the upper limit of the
+Norman work. There can be little doubt that the Norman builder, here as
+elsewhere, finished his tower with a low pyramidal roof with overhanging
+eaves to shoot off the rain. This covering may have been of lead, but
+possibly of stone tiles or wooden shingles. About a century later this
+Norman roof was removed to make place for a loftier roof or spire. Of
+its character and material and height we know nothing--there is no
+description of it; and though the minster is represented on an old seal
+with one spire-crowned tower, yet the representation of the rest of the
+church is so conventional that it cannot be regarded as an authentic
+record of the actual appearance of the steeple. It is curious that, as
+it stood for about three hundred years and fell only in the later years
+of Elizabeth's reign, no drawing remains to show us what this spire was
+like. But it passed away, doing some damage to the building in its fall,
+and that is the only record it has left behind; but we can well picture
+to ourselves how much importance must have been added to the minster by
+this spire, which must have been a conspicuous object for many miles
+round. The present heavy, ugly battlemented parapet spoils the general
+effect of the tower; and though we are adverse to the sweeping away of
+any features of an old building, even when the features are inharmonious
+and even ugly--because this is, as it were, tearing a page of stone from
+the book of the history of the building--yet we must confess we could
+have regarded the loss of the seventeenth-century parapet and pinnacles
+with much less regret than other features which the restorer has
+tampered with.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORTH TRANSEPT BEFORE 1891.]
+
+The #North Porch#, which was evidently always intended to be, as it
+is to this day, the chief entrance into the church, consists of two
+bays marked externally by buttresses on each side: the inner order of
+moulding to the arch giving access to this porch springs from two shafts
+of Purbeck marble; the outer orders are carried up from the base without
+any capitals or imposts. The height of the crown of the inner arch above
+the capitals from which it springs is somewhat less than half the width
+at the bottom, and the radius of the curvature of the arches is greater
+than the width. Over the arch is a square-headed two-light window,
+lighting the room over the entrance. The roof differs from all the other
+roofs of the church since it is covered with stone tiles, while the
+others are covered with lead. There are buttresses set diagonally at the
+two northern angles of the porch.
+
+Between the porch and the transept are three two-light Decorated
+windows. The tracery of all these is alike, but differs from that of
+the two windows to the west of the porch. The most picturesque feature
+of the north transept is the turret containing the staircase by which
+access is obtained to the tower. This, before the church was enlarged
+in the fourteenth century, formed the north-west angle of the Norman
+transept: projecting towards the north, its base is rectangular. This
+rectangular portion rises nearly to the level of the tops of the aisle
+windows, above this level the turret is circular, and rising above the
+transept roof is capped by a low conical roof of stone tiles. Two string
+courses run round it, one at the bottom of the circular part, and one a
+little higher up. This turret was once known as the "Ivy Tower," from
+the ivy that grew on it, but this was all removed at the time when the
+transept was altered in 1891. At that time the side walls were raised
+about two feet, and the roof was raised to the original pitch of the
+Norman transept, and at the same time the tracery of the north window,
+which was of a very plain and clumsy character, seventeenth-century
+work, was removed and the existing tracery inserted. Much
+picturesqueness has been sacrificed to make these changes. The portion
+of this transept to the north of the turret was added about the middle
+of the fourteenth century to form the chantry founded by Bembre, who
+was dean from 1350-1361. This part contains, besides the large window,
+two smaller two-light windows, which look out respectively to the east
+and west. The tracery in these is almost entirely modern. Beyond the
+transept is the wall of the north choir aisle. This stands farther to
+the north than the wall of the nave aisle; in fact, it is in a line with
+the original north end of the Norman transept. In this wall, close to
+the transept, is a small round-headed doorway. And, farther to the east,
+is another larger pointed doorway between the second and third windows
+of the choir aisle, counting from the transept eastward. This doorway is
+enclosed by a triangular moulding very plain in character, but none of
+it is original. The three windows are each of two lights. The tracery
+of these three is alike, but differs from that of the windows in the
+nave aisle. The east window of the north aisle is of five lights. The
+enclosing arch is not very pointed--much less so than in the narrower
+windows of the aisles--and each light runs up through the head of the
+window. These and the corresponding south choir aisle windows are late
+Decorated work.
+
+[Illustration: THE EAST WINDOW.
+(From Parker's "Introduction to Gothic Architecture.")]
+
+Unfortunately the churchyard does not extend to the east of the church.
+A narrow footway, bounded to the east by cottages and garden walls,
+renders it impossible to photograph the east window of the choir. This
+is a most interesting one; and has been figured in most books on
+architecture. It consists externally of three lancets enclosed in a
+peculiar way by weather moulding; this rises separately over the head of
+each lancet, and between the windows runs in a horizontal line and is
+continued to the square corner buttresses. Within this moulding, and
+over the heads of each lancet, there is an opening pierced: the central
+one is a quatrefoil, while the other two have six points. These openings
+are a very early example of plate tracery, which was fully developed in
+the Early Decorated style. This window belongs to the Early English
+period, and may be dated about 1220. There will be occasion to refer to
+this window again when speaking of the interior of the church. The south
+choir aisle has a five-light east window closely corresponding to the
+window of the north aisle, and on the south two three-light windows. In
+these, as in the east aisle windows, the lights are carried up through
+the heads. There is no doorway giving access to this aisle from the
+outside.
+
+The angle between the choir aisle and south transept is filled up with
+the vestry and the library above it. The south wall of this projects
+beyond the wall of the south transept. This vestry is of Decorated date,
+possibly rather later than the other Decorated work in the minster. The
+upper storey forms the library. Its walls are finished at the top by a
+plain parapet which conceals the flat roof. At the south-western angle
+is an octagonal turret staircase, capped by a pyramidal roof rising from
+within a battlemented parapet, and terminating in a carved finial. This
+is of Perpendicular character. From the sharpness of the stone at the
+coigns it would seem that very extensive restoration, if not absolute
+rebuilding, of the walls was carried on in this part of the church.
+The south transept is rather shorter than that on the north side; but,
+unlike it, all the walls up to the level of the window are of Norman
+date. The string courses on the western side are worthy of close
+attention. One which runs under the south window is continued round the
+Perpendicular buttresses at the south-west angle, and then again joins
+the original course on the western face and runs to within a few feet
+of the nave aisle, where it abruptly terminates. Above this for several
+feet the walls have the same character as below; then the character
+changes, and this change probably marks the junction of the Norman with
+the Decorated work, which was added when the Norman chapel, which
+occupied the lower part of what is now the south end of the transept,
+was incorporated in the transept. Vertically above the termination of
+the string course just mentioned, but at a considerably higher level,
+another string course abruptly begins and runs along the wall, until it
+passes within the roof of the nave aisle. The south end of this shows
+the length to which the original Norman transept extended before the
+walls of the chapel to the south were carried up in the fourteenth
+century to form the addition to the transept. In the southern wall of
+this new transept was placed a large five-light decorated window. In
+this, as in several of the other Decorated windows already described,
+the lights run up to the enclosing arch above. The tracery of this
+window, as it now exists, dates back only to the time when the church
+was restored in the middle of the nineteenth century. Up to 1891 the
+side walls were about two feet lower than at present, and the gable more
+obtuse. At the summit of the old gable stood a block of masonry carrying
+a sundial; this, when the transept was altered, was removed, the new
+gable being finished with a cross. A pillar was built in the churchyard
+to the south of the western tower in 1894, and on it the block from the
+transept bearing the sundial was placed. This sundial has two dates on
+it--1696 and 1752, marking, no doubt, the year of its original erection
+and of some subsequent repair. It is noteworthy that the figures used in
+these two dates differ in character,--the eighteenth-century carver who
+incised the later date not thinking it incumbent on him to make his
+figures match those of his predecessor. The three aisle windows between
+the south transept and the south porch are two-light Decorated windows
+with tracery, some of it original, corresponding to that of those on the
+opposite side in the north aisle.
+
+The #South Porch# is small, and the side walls do not project far
+from the aisle. Above the arch is a carving of a lamb much weathered,
+and on the gable stands a fragment of a cross. The gates beneath the
+outer arch are kept locked save on Sundays, as are frequently the gates
+in the railings surrounding the churchyard to the south of the minster,
+which is divided from the churchyard on the north side by the church
+itself and by railings at the east and west ends of it. To the west of
+the porch are two more two-light windows, corresponding in character
+with the windows opposite in the north aisle. The clerestory windows
+of the nave are of Perpendicular date, fifteenth-century work, and have
+not any beauty. Each has three foliated lights under a round-headed
+moulding. Above each of these three there are two lights, all enclosed
+within a rectangular label. The nave roof is higher than the choir roof.
+Its aisles have lean-to roofs, whereas the choir aisles are wider and
+have gable roofs: hence the clerestory windows of the choir, modern
+lancets, are not visible from the outside.
+
+The #Western Tower# is of four stages, with octagonal buttresses at
+each corner, decreasing in cross section at each course. Of these the
+north-eastern one contains the stairs leading to the top of the tower,
+the others are solid. These are crowned with sharp pyramidal turrets.
+In the lowest stage on the western face is a doorway which for some time
+was stopped up to strengthen the tower, but which was opened again at
+the general restoration. Above this is the west window of six lights,
+Perpendicular in character but of nineteenth-century date. The third
+stage--the ringing room within is lighted by four small windows: that in
+the west wall is a quatrefoil, those on the north and south have single
+lights foliated at the head; the original one in the east wall was
+covered when the nave roof was raised, and a plain opening was made in
+the wall farther to the south. Above this is the belfry, with two pairs
+of two-light windows on each face: these are divided by transoms, and
+the arches at the tops are four centred. These windows are, of course,
+not glazed, but are furnished with louvre-boards. The tower is finished
+with a battlemented parapet. Just outside the easternmost window on the
+north face, and below the transom, stands a figure now dressed in a coat
+of painted lead, representing a soldier in the uniform of the early part
+of the nineteenth century. He holds a hammer in each hand, with which he
+strikes the quarters on two bells beside him. He is known by the name of
+the "Jackman" or "Quarter Jack." There are no windows at the west ends
+of the nave aisles; but, as on the south side so on the north, there are
+between the tower and the porch two two-light Decorated windows in the
+wall of the aisle.
+
+[Illustration: THE WESTERN TOWER.]
+
+The level of the churchyards, as in the case with most old
+burying-grounds, is considerably above the level of the floor of the
+church. Hence steps have to be descended on entering the porches, and
+again in passing from the porches into the church. On the south side
+some levelling of the ground has been done, and the upright head-stones
+have been laid flat, but the altar tombs have been allowed to remain as
+they were. There are few trees in the churchyard to impede the view of
+the building; those there are, are as yet small, and serve only to
+pleasantly break the bareness of the ground without hiding the
+architectural features of the building.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE INTERIOR
+
+
+The North Porch, which no doubt from the days of its erection in the
+fourteenth century has formed the chief entrance into the church, is
+opposite to the westernmost Norman bay of the nave arcading. The porch
+itself is vaulted in two bays, the vaulting springing from slender
+shafts of Purbeck marble which rest on the stone seats on either side of
+the porch. The bosses in which the ribs meet are carved with foliage.
+Over the porch is a small room to which no staircase now leads; one
+which formerly led to it was removed in the seventeenth century. This
+room is lighted by a small two-light Decorated window facing north.
+
+[Illustration: THE INTERIOR, LOOKING EAST.]
+
+The two #Aisles# are of the same length as the nave, and are
+divided from it by an arcading on either side, each containing six
+pointed arches. The easternmost arches consist of two plain orders, and
+are much narrower than the rest. These arches spring on the east side
+from brackets on the western face of the tower piers: the bracket on the
+north side is plain, that on the south side is ornamented with a kind of
+scale carving. These bays were probably of the same date as the tower,
+and it is not unlikely that the arches were at first like those of the
+tower, of the usual round-headed form. If they were altered when the
+remainder of the nave was built, the wall above was not removed. The
+piers which support the western side of these arches consist each of a
+semi-cylindrical pillar set against a rectangular pier, on the other
+side of which another semi-cylindrical shaft is set to support the next
+arch; the next two pillars on each side are cylindrical, perfectly plain
+in the shafts with very simple bases and capitals. The latter may be
+seen in the illustrations, the former are concealed by the pews. It
+will be noticed as a peculiar feature that a little piece of the outer
+moulding, facing the nave, of the first large arch on the south side is
+differently carved from all the rest: first, counting from the bottom
+upwards, are three eight-leaved flowers--these are succeeded by three
+four-leaved flowers, all on a chamfered edge; above this the moulding
+is not chamfered, and the outer face is decorated with shallow zig-zag
+carving. The second member of the moulding consists of chevron work
+somewhat irregularly carved, the projecting tooth-like points not being
+all of the same size; in the centre is a roll moulding, from each side
+of which chevron ornamentation projects, the points directed outward
+perpendicular to the plane of the arch. These pillars and arches are
+noteworthy in that the piers are of considerable size, and above them
+are pointed arches. This would indicate a rather late date in the Norman
+period for this portion of the church; probably it was built at some
+time during the last quarter of the twelfth century. With the third wide
+bay the twelfth-century church terminated, the two arches to the west
+of these being characterised by ornamentation of the Decorated period.
+At this time, as has been already explained (p. 10), the aisles were
+widened and the inner edges of the roofs raised above the clerestory
+windows of the Norman church. Four such windows, round-headed, each
+placed over the point of an arch, may be seen on either side of the
+nave; but the eastern one on each side differs from the other three
+in being of heavier character and rougher workmanship. The external
+mouldings of these can be well seen from the aisles: towards the nave
+they are splayed and plain. The wall above the fourteenth-century arches
+does not contain any windows on the same level as those of the old
+Norman clerestory; but above them, stretching all along each side of
+the nave, may be seen the windows of the present clerestory. These are
+Perpendicular in style, and are five in number on each side, each window
+being placed over one of the piers of the nave arcading. These windows
+are square-headed, and have at the bottom three lights, each light being
+sub-divided into two at the top. It is believed that this clerestory
+was formed when the walls were raised, at the same time as the western
+tower was erected--namely, at the end of the fifteenth century. But
+to return to the Decorated arches at the west end of the nave. The
+pier at the eastern side of the easternmost of these consists of the
+semi-cylindrical respond of Norman date, a piece of masonry which was
+part of the west wall of the Norman church; and then on the western
+side of this an added semi-cylinder, on the capitals of which may be
+seen the ball-flower ornament. The pier on either side, between the two
+fourteenth-century arches, is octagonal, with a very plain capital (one
+of these is shown in the illustration on page 57); the arches themselves
+are also plain, consisting of two members with chamfered edges. The half
+pillars at the western side of the western arch have been imbedded in
+the octagonal buttresses of the west tower, which project into the
+church.
+
+[Illustration: PIER AND ARCH-SPRING IN THE SOUTH ARCADE.]
+
+[Illustration: DECORATED ARCH IN THE NAVE.]
+
+The height of the nave roof appears to have been altered on several
+occasions. There may be seen from the interior of the nave, on the
+west wall of the lantern tower, two lines running from the level of
+the tops of the Norman clerestory windows: these make an angle of about
+forty-five degrees with the horizontal, and, no doubt, are traces of the
+weather mouldings marking the position of the exterior of the roof of
+the nave in Norman times. Probably the roof visible from the interior
+was flat and formed of wood, and ran across in the line of the string
+course above the tower arch, at a level slightly above the heads of the
+clerestory windows. A round-headed opening above this string course
+probably gave admission to the space between the outer and inner roofs.
+At a somewhat higher level, we have a slight trace which probably marks
+the junction of the fifteenth-century roof with the tower. This roof
+was of oak and very plain--at the restoration the pitch of the roof was
+raised and carried up to such an extent as to cut off the bases of the
+clerestory windows of the lantern tower; the inner roof itself is of
+pitch-pine, with hammer-beams of the character which finds such favour
+with nineteenth-century architects.
+
+[Illustration: CLERESTORY STAGE OF THE CENTRAL TOWER.]
+
+The #Central Tower#, the oldest and probably most interesting part
+of the church, consists of four stages, of which the three lower ones
+are open to the church. The lowest of these was undoubtedly part of the
+original Norman church; the second or triforium was soon added. Above
+this comes the clerestory, the pointed arch between the round-headed
+windows indicating a somewhat later date; and above this there is a
+chamber perfectly plain within, and not open to the church below. The
+outside of this is decorated with an arcading of intersecting arches,
+which indicates a somewhat later date. These intersecting arches form
+seven pointed arches on each side--five of these were originally open to
+allow the sound of the bells, which were formerly hung in the tower, to
+pass out; but to add strength to the walls all but the middle ones on
+the east face were at various periods walled up. At one time the tower
+was surmounted by a spire, possibly of wood covered with lead; this is
+supposed to have been erected by John de Berwick, who was dean of the
+minster from 1286 to 1312. The squinches which supported this spire may
+still be seen in the upper stage just described. Descending from this
+stage by a spiral staircase in the north-west angle, we find ourselves
+in the clerestory already mentioned. In each face there are two
+round-headed windows widely splayed on the interior, with shafts in
+the jambs; between each pair of windows is a pointed arch, in each
+angle of the tower is a slender shaft encircled by three bands at about
+equidistant intervals: a passage cut in the thickness of the wall runs
+round this stage. Again descending, we reach the triforium level. Each
+of the walls of this stage has two pointed sustaining arches built into
+the wall to support the weight of the superincumbent masonry; each of
+these encloses four semi-circular headed arches with shafts of Purbeck
+marble. The capitals of these are rudely carved, and between the
+relieving pointed arches are carved heads, that on the north side being
+the most noteworthy. The passage behind the arches is very narrow, the
+total thickness of the walls being only 4 feet 6 inches. At the centre
+of each face are the openings which formerly led into the spaces between
+the roofs and ceilings of the nave, transepts, and choir of the Norman
+church. That on the north side now leads into a stone gallery, erected
+in 1891 in the place of a dilapidated wooden structure, which runs first
+westward to the angle between the tower and north transept, then along
+the west face of the transept until it reaches a door leading into the
+stair turret, which may be seen from the exterior. At the bottom of this
+is a door opening into the transept. This stair turret projects slightly
+into the transept. The lowest stage of the tower consists of four arches
+and four massive piers. The arches have two plain orders. The piers have
+double shafts supporting the central order, and single shafts supporting
+the outer orders. The four arches are not of the same width, those on
+the east and west being wider than those on the north and south. In
+order to get the arches to spring from the same level and also to reach
+the same height at their heads, the wider arches are of the shape known
+as "depressed," while the narrower ones are of the "horse-shoe" type.
+The choir being somewhat narrower than the nave, the walls on each side
+take the place of the shaft which would have supported the outer order
+of the eastern arch. The capitals and bases of these arches are very
+plain, in fact nowhere in this church can the elaborately-carved
+capitals so often met with in late Norman work be found. This central
+tower was undoubtedly gradually raised stage by stage, as the character
+of the architecture indicates: probably during each interval the part
+already finished was capped by a pyramidal roof.
+
+[Illustration: THE TOWER ARCHES.]
+
+[Illustration: NORTH TRANSEPT AND CROSSING.]
+
+The #Nave Aisles# were widened in the fourteenth century, the
+Norman walls being removed and their roofs raised; a single stone of the
+weather moulding, which may be seen on the west face of the north
+transept, shows the height and slope of the roof of the Norman aisle.
+The windows of the aisles on either side are two-light Decorated
+windows; the three on either side to the east of the north and south
+porches are of the same character, while the two on each side to the
+west of the porches are also alike but differ in their tracery from
+those to the east. The south porch is much smaller than the north, and
+is very plain; it is composed of two solid walls projecting six feet
+from the wall of the aisle.
+
+The #Transepts#, as has been described in the preceding chapter,
+were lengthened in the fourteenth century--the southern one by the
+incorporation of some low Norman building, thought by some to have been
+the Lady Chapel, the walls of which were raised; the northern one by the
+addition of Bembre's chantry. This has caused the north transept to be
+somewhat longer than the south. The original Norman transepts seem to
+have been of the same length on either side. Bembre, who died in 1361,
+is supposed to have been buried here. A stone slab lay until 1857 in the
+centre of the pavement,--on it was a representation of a full-length
+figure of a man dressed in a robe like a surplice; but when the pavement
+was renewed this stone was allowed to remain exposed to sun and rain in
+the churchyard until the surface was weathered to such an extent that it
+is now impossible to make out with any certainty what is upon it. But
+the description given by Hutchins of the arms on the shields which were
+sculptured on it does not agree with the Bembre arms, so that it could
+hardly have been the tombstone of this Dean who founded the chantry.
+The window at the end of the north transept is modern restoration work.
+Before 1891 the tracery was of a very plain character, as may be seen
+from the illustration (page 21). It is supposed that damage was done to
+this window at the time when the tower fell, and that the plain tracery
+was inserted after that event. During the restoration in 1891, the old
+plaster was removed from the walls, and in doing this a Norman altar
+recess was discovered in the east wall of this transept; the southern
+end of this had been cut away when the choir aisle was widened in the
+fourteenth century. In this recess traces of fresco may be seen. A
+piscina stands to the north of this altar recess, and is of Decorated
+character.
+
+[Illustration: THIRTEENTH-CENTURY PISCINA IN SOUTH TRANSEPT.]
+
+The #South Transept# has a five-light Decorated window at its southern
+end, with modern tracery in imitation of the old, each light running up
+through the head of the window. A very fine Early English piscina, with
+the characteristic dog-tooth moulding, stands in the south wall. An
+altar occupying a position similar to the one in the north transept used
+to stand in this transept also, but the pointed arch over the recess
+shows that it was of later date.
+
+[Illustration: CHOIR STALLS.]
+
+The most elaborate part of the church is that which lies to the east of
+the central tower. The great height to which the altar is raised above
+the level of the nave gives it a very impressive appearance from the
+west end; and, again, the view looking westward from the altar level is
+much enhanced by the height from which it is seen.
+
+[Illustration: WEST VIEW FROM THE CHOIR.]
+
+The #East End# is purely English work, and this shows that in the
+thirteenth century the church was extended about 30 feet towards the
+east. The junction of the Early English with the Norman wall is marked
+by a cluster of slender shafts rising from the ground. The alterations
+which were made in the Norman walls at the time of this eastward
+extension have been already described (p. 11).
+
+It now only remains to describe the #Choir# and #Presbytery# as they
+stand at the present time. Immediately to the east of the tower on
+either side are two pointed arches of two plain orders rising on their
+western sides from plain brackets in the tower piers, and supported on
+the east by engaged shafts with roughly-carved Norman capitals. Next
+to these come the Early English inserted arches, pierced as already
+described through the Norman wall and cutting away the lower part of two
+previously existing Norman windows on each side. The arches are of three
+plain orders, with chamfered edges, resting on clustered shafts; beyond
+these the new thirteenth-century work begins. Beyond the clustered
+shafts mentioned above, which mark the commencement of the Early English
+work, is a lofty arch on either side opening into the choir aisles; over
+each of them is a pair of small lancet windows widely splayed inside.
+Between the piers of these arches a wall is carried, its top being about
+midway between their bases and capitals. On the southern wall stands the
+Beaufort tomb, on the northern the Courtenay tomb; and below this the
+walls are pierced with arches, beneath which are flights of nine steps
+leading on to the crypt beneath the presbytery. It is not improbable
+that after the eastern extension the altar stood at the east end of the
+Norman part of the choir, and that under these two Early English arches
+was the ambulatory or processional passage which is so often found to
+the east of the high altar. Beyond the ends of the choir aisles on
+either side of the presbytery is a lancet window. The east window is
+worthy of the closest observation. Its exterior appearance has been
+already described (p. 24). Within, it consists of three openings widely
+splayed; the thin stone over the central lancet, beneath the surrounding
+moulding, is pierced with a quatrefoil opening; over the two side
+lancets the corresponding openings have six foliations; between the
+three lights and outside the outer ones, flush with the wall, are
+clusters of shafts of Purbeck marble, from which spring mouldings
+enclosing the lights in a most peculiar fashion: these follow the curves
+of the tops of the lancets, but before meeting they are returned in the
+form of cusps, and then are carried round the upper foliated openings.
+The upper part of each of these mouldings forms about three-quarters
+of the circumference of a circle. The characteristic Early English
+dog-tooth ornament is carved round the moulding of the central light,
+those round the other lights are not thus decorated. The whole group is
+surrounded by a label following the curves of moulding, with carved
+heads at its terminations and points of junction. The six cusps of the
+moulding are ornamented by bosses of carved foliage.
+
+[Illustration: THE EAST WINDOW.]
+
+[Illustration: SEDILIA.]
+
+To the south side of the presbytery, between the south window and the
+Beaufort tomb, the triple #Sedilia# and the #Piscina# are situated: each
+of these is covered by a canopy of fourteenth-century work. These were
+extensively repaired at the time of the restoration. The Beaufort altar
+tomb is the finest monument in the church. On it are two recumbent
+figures carved in alabaster, and although there is no inscription it is
+certain that they represent John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and his
+wife Margaret. John Beaufort was son of another John Beaufort, Earl of
+Somerset, who was brother of the celebrated Cardinal Beaufort, and son
+of John of Gaunt by his mistress Catherine Swynford, a family afterwards
+legitimatised by Parliament. This second John Beaufort distinguished
+himself in the French wars of Henry IV., who in 1443 gave him a step in
+the peerage, creating him Duke of Somerset. His wife Margaret was, when
+he married her, widow of Oliver St John, and it is thought that after
+the death of her second husband in 1444 she married again. This John and
+Margaret, Duke and Duchess of Somerset, are famous on account of their
+daughter the Lady Margaret, so well-known for her educational endowments
+and for the fact that after her marriage with Edmund Tudor, the Earl
+of Richmond, she became the mother of that Henry Tudor who overthrew
+Richard III. at Bosworth, and was crowned King as Henry VII. Here
+on this altar tomb their effigies remain in a wonderful state of
+preservation, their right hands clasped together, angels at their heads,
+his feet resting on a dog, hers on an antelope. He is completely clad
+in armour, the face and right hand only bare--the gauntleted left hand
+holds the right hand gauntlet, which he has taken off that he may hold
+the lady's hand. She is clad in a long close-fitting garment. Each of
+the two wears around the neck a collar marked with the letters SS. At
+the apex of the arch above their tomb hangs his tourney helm.
+
+[Illustration: THE BEAUFORT TOMB.]
+
+Under the corresponding arch on the opposite side is a similar tomb, but
+without any effigy. The fragment of an inscription tells us that it is
+the tomb of one who was once the wife of Henry Courtenay, Marquis of
+Exeter, and mother of Edward Courtenay. She was Gertrude, daughter of
+William Blount, Lord Mountjoy. Her husband was beheaded in 1538,
+together with the aged Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, whose chantry
+may be seen in the Priory at Christchurch, though she was laid to rest
+in what Macaulay describes as the saddest burying-ground in England, the
+cemetery of St Peter's, in the Tower. Gertrude, Lady Courtenay, was
+herself attainted at the time of her husband's execution, but was
+afterwards pardoned and died in 1557. The tomb was opened in the last
+century from idle curiosity, and some one attempted to raise the body to
+a sitting posture, with the result that the skeleton fell to pieces. The
+tomb was also damaged by this foolish opening.
+
+[Illustration: BRASS OF ÆTHELRED.]
+
+Three small carved figures at the bottom of the hood moulding of the
+arches over these monuments deserve attention. The one on the west
+side of the southern arch represents Moses with the tables of the law.
+Probably there was another such figure at the eastern end of the same
+moulding, but this would have been cut away when the sedilia were
+inserted. The opposite arch has a figure on each side.
+
+Just at the east end of the Courtenay tomb is a slab of Purbeck marble,
+reputed to have once covered the grave of Æthelred. In it is inserted a
+fifteenth-century brass, with a rectangular plate of copper bearing an
+inscription, represented in the illustration (p. 46). A brass plate with
+a similar inscription, though the date on it is given as 872, was found
+in the library. Possibly the original brass and inscription were taken
+up in the time of the civil wars and hidden for safety, and the
+inscription having been lost, the copper plate now on the tomb was made
+when the brass was replaced, and the original plate was afterwards found
+and was placed for safety in what is now the library. _Copper_ nails
+were used to fasten the brass to the floor, which perhaps serves to show
+that the engraved _copper_ plate was made at the time when the brass was
+replaced on the slab. A little piece of the left-hand bottom corner has
+been broken off, and the top of the sceptre is missing. There are no
+rails before the altar, but their place is supplied by three oak benches
+covered with white linen cloths (these may be seen in the illustration
+on p. 43). The use of the "houseling linen" dates back to very early
+times. The word "housel" for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper has gone
+out of use, though most of us are familiar with the line
+
+  "_Unhouseled_, unanointed, unanelled,"
+
+in which the ghost of Hamlet's father describes the circumstances of his
+death. The word "unhouseled" in this means that he died without
+receiving the sacred elements before his death.
+
+The benches are a relic of Puritan times: there is an entry dated 1656
+in the churchwardens' accounts respecting the payment of £1 "for making
+and setting up the benches about ye communion table in the quire." These
+were at first used as seats, on which the communicants sat to receive
+the bread and wine. In after times their use was modified. These
+benches, ten in number, were placed on the steps leading up to the
+altar, and it was customary for the clerk on "Sacrament Sundays" to go
+to the lectern after morning prayer, and, in a loud voice, give notice
+thus: "All ye who are prepared to receive the Holy Communion draw near."
+Those who wished to communicate then went into the chancel and sat on
+these benches or in the choir stalls, waiting their turns, and kneeling
+on mats until the clergy brought them the bread and wine. Up to 1852
+there was a rail on the top step, at the entrance of the presbytery,
+on which the houseling linen hung. The rail, which was of no great
+antiquity, was removed at that date, and three of the oak benches
+were retained to supply its place; these are now used as an ordinary
+communion rail, but are always covered with the "fair white cloths."
+
+The #South Choir Aisle#, known as the Trinity Aisle, has at its east
+end a five-light window, each light of which runs up through the
+head; the south wall is pierced by two three-light windows of similar
+character. The wall opposite in the western bay, against which the organ
+now stands, is blank, as on the outside of this the vestry stands with
+the library above it. At the east end of this aisle was the chantry
+founded by the Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond, whose father and
+mother lie in the tomb already described beneath the nearest arch on the
+north side of this aisle. The altar of this chantry, as well as all the
+other altars in the church, numbering ten in all, have been swept away,
+no doubt at the time of the Reformation. But recently the east end of
+this aisle has been fitted up with a communion table for use at early
+services.
+
+In this aisle is to be seen, under the second window from the east,
+the marble or slate painted sarcophagus known as the Etricke tomb.
+Anthony Etricke of Holt Lodge, Recorder of Poole, was the magistrate
+who committed for trial the ill-fated Duke of Monmouth, who, after
+his flight from Sedgemoor, was captured in the north of Dorset near
+Critchell. It is said that in his old age he became very eccentric, and
+desired to be buried neither in the church nor out of it, neither above
+ground nor under; and to carry out his wish he got permission to cut a
+niche in the church wall, partly below the level of the ground outside,
+and then firmly fixed in it the slate receptacle which is now to be
+seen. Into this he ordered that his coffin should be put when he died.
+Moreover, he had a presentiment that he should die in 1691, and so
+placed that date upon the side of the sarcophagus. He, however, lived
+twelve years longer than he expected, so that when his death really
+occurred the date had to be altered to 1703. The two dates, the later
+written over the earlier, are still to be seen. On the outside of the
+sarcophagus are painted the arms of his family. The whole is kept in
+good repair, for so determined was the good man that his memory should
+be kept alive, and his last resting-place well cared for, that he gave
+to the church in perpetuity the sum of 20s. per annum, to be expended in
+keeping the niche and coffin in good order. When the church was restored
+in 1857 the outer coffin was opened, and it was found that the inner one
+had decayed, but that the dust and bones were still to be seen, these
+were placed in a new chest and once more deposited in the outer coffin.
+
+[Illustration: THE ETRICKE TOMB.]
+
+In this aisle is also to be seen an ancient chest, not formed as chests
+usually are, of wooden planks or slabs fastened together, but hewn out
+of a solid trunk of oak. The chest is over 6 feet long, but the cavity
+inside is not more than 22 inches in length, 9 inches in width, and 6
+inches in depth, hence it will be seen how thick and massive the walls
+are. Originally it may have contained some small relics, and probably is
+much older than the present minster itself. It was afterwards used as a
+safe for deeds. In 1735 some deeds were taken from it bearing the date
+1200.
+
+Formerly, there stood on this aisle the tomb of John de Berwick, dean of
+the college, who died in 1312. At his tomb once a year the parishioners
+met to receive the accounts of the outgoing churchwardens and to elect
+new ones. The altar tomb was removed about 1790, the slab at the top of
+it being let into the floor.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT CHEST.]
+
+The #North Choir Aisle# is a foot narrower than the corresponding south
+aisle: it has three windows each with two lights instead of two of three
+lights. This is known as St George's aisle. In the east wall is a
+piscina of Perpendicular date. Two doors lead into this aisle--one at
+the corner, where the walls of the aisle and transept meet, and one
+between the two easternmost windows. The principal objects in this aisle
+are two bulky chests, one containing the title-deeds of some charity
+lands in the parish of Corfe Castle. This is fastened by six locks, each
+of different pattern,--each trustee of the charity has a key, of his own
+special lock,--so that the chest can only be opened by the consent of
+the whole body. The other chest contains the parochial accounts; this
+once had six locks, but now has only two.
+
+In the south-eastern corner of this aisle lies a mutilated effigy of a
+mail-clad knight with crossed legs. This is said to have been removed to
+the minster from another church when it was destroyed. Whom it represents
+is uncertain, but traditionally it is known as the Fitz Piers monument.
+
+[Illustration: UVEDALE MONUMENT.]
+
+In this aisle is the monument of Sir Edmund Uvedale, who died in 1606.
+The monument was erected by his widow in "dolefull duety." It is in the
+Renaissance style, and was carved by an Italian sculptor. The old knight
+is represented clad in a complete suit of plate armour, though without a
+helmet. He lies on his right side, his head is raised a little from his
+right hand, on which it has been resting, as though he were just awaking
+from his long sleep, his left hand holds his gauntlet. Above the tomb
+hangs an iron helmet, such as was worn in Elizabethan times, and which
+very probably was once worn by Sir Edmund himself.
+
+Between the eastern ends of the choir aisles, and beneath the eastern
+end of the presbytery, is the #Crypt#. This is a vaulted chamber, the
+vaulting being supported on two pairs of pillars, thus forming three
+aisles, as it were, running east and west, each containing three bays.
+The western bay is of somewhat later date than the central and eastern;
+the wall against which the westernmost of the pillars once stood was
+removed, but the piers were allowed to remain, backed up by a new piece
+of masonry built against them to support the new vaulting. The crypt
+is lighted by four windows, equal-sided spherical triangles in shape;
+two look out eastward, one northward beyond the chancel arch, one,
+correspondingly placed, to the southward. The centre of the east end is
+a blank wall. Against this the altar stood--a niche, probably a piscina,
+still may be seen. On each side of the place where the altar stood there
+are two openings into the choir aisles. The exteriors of these are of
+the same form and size as the crypt windows, but they are deeply splayed
+inside, and probably were used as hagioscopes or squints, to allow those
+kneeling in the choir aisles to see the priest celebrating mass at the
+crypt altar.
+
+[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO CRYPT.]
+
+[Illustration: THE LIBRARY.]
+
+The #Vestry# stands in the south-east angle between the transept
+and choir aisle; it is a vaulted building dating from the fourteenth
+century, and is lighted by two windows, one looking to the east, the
+other to the south. A small door at the south-west corner opens upon the
+staircase leading to the #Library#--a chamber situated above the vestry.
+The collection consists chiefly of books left to the minster by will
+of the Rev. William Stone, Principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford, a native
+of Wimborne. They were brought from Oxford in 1686, under the care of
+the Rev. Richard Lloyd, at that time Master of the Grammar School at
+Wimborne. The books are chiefly works on divinity; some additions were
+subsequently and at various times made to the original collection. The
+books were attached to the shelves for safety's sake by iron chains, the
+upper end carrying rings which slid on rods fastened to the shelf above,
+the other end to the edge of the binding of the books. Hence the volumes
+had to be placed on the shelves with their backs to the walls. The room
+in which the books were placed was formerly known as the Treasury; it
+was refitted in 1857, but the old chains are still used. It would occupy
+too much space were any attempt made to give a list of the books. The
+oldest volume is a manuscript of 1343, "Regimen Animarum," written on
+vellum, and containing a few illuminated initials. A "Breeches,"
+Black-Letter Bible, dated 1595, is another book worth mentioning; also
+a volume of Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World. A hole was burnt
+through 104 of its pages. It is said that Matthew Prior, the poet, was
+reading it by candle light and fell asleep, and when he woke was much
+distressed to find that the snuff from his candle had done the mischief.
+He did his best to repair the damage, by placing a tiny piece of paper
+over the hole in each page, and inserting the missing letters with pen
+and ink. The book has since been rebound, leaves taken from another copy
+having been bound in between the damaged pages.
+
+[Illustration: THE CRYPT.]
+
+[Illustration: THE FONT.]
+
+The lower part of the west tower is used as a baptistery; this is
+separated from the nave by a screen, formed of fragments of the old rood
+screen. In the centre stands the octagonal late Norman #Font#, supported
+by eight slender shafts of Purbeck marble, and a modern spirally-carved
+central pillar of white stone, through which runs the drain to carry off
+the water.
+
+[Illustration: THE CLOCK IN THE WEST TOWER.]
+
+In the inner southern wall of this tower, rather low down, is fixed a
+curious old #Clock# made by Peter Lightfoot, a Glastonbury monk, in the
+early part of the fourteenth century. The earth is represented by a
+globe in the centre, the sun by a disc which travels round it once in
+twenty-four hours, showing the time of day; the moon by a globe so
+fastened to a blue disc that it revolves once during a lunar month; half
+of this is painted black, the other half is gilt, and the age of the
+moon is indicated by the amount of the gilded portion visible--when the
+moon is full the whole of the gilt hemisphere is shown, when new the
+whole of the black. This clock still goes, the works being in a room in
+the tower above. It requires winding once a day. The same clock also
+causes the Jack outside the tower to strike the quarters.
+
+In the #Belfry# is a peal of eight bells. The tenor weighs about 36
+cwts., the treble 7 cwts.
+
+The tenor bears this inscription:
+
+    MR WILHEMUS LORINGE ME PRIMO FECIT,
+        IN HONOREM  STÆ CUTBERGÆ.
+    RENOVABAR SUMPTU PAROCHALI PER AB,
+            ANNO DOMINI 1629.
+
+The seventh bell is dated 1798.
+
+The sixth bell 1600, and is thus inscribed: "SOUND OUT THE BELLS, IN GOD
+REGOYCE."
+
+The fifth 1698, "PRAISE THE LORD."
+
+The fourth 1686, "PULSATA ROSAMUNDI MARIA VOCATA. SMV."
+
+The third was originally the smallest bell of the peal, and bears the
+Latin hexameter: "SUM MINIMA HIC CAMPANA, AT INEST, SUA GRATIA PARVIS,"
+and the words, "THIS BELL WAS ADDED TO YE FIVE IN 1686, Samuel Knight."
+The two smaller bells are of recent date.
+
+The #Lectern# bears date 1623. The stone pulpit is modern (1868).
+The old wooden pulpit, whose place it has taken, has been removed to the
+church at Holt.
+
+The earliest mention of an #Organ# is in 1405, but the earliest
+authentic record is of one set up by John Vaucks, Organ Master,
+in 1533. A memorandum in the churchwardens' accounts speak of him
+setting up a pair of organs on the rood loft. In the year 1643, we have
+records of the sale of organ-pipes and old tin. After the Restoration
+in 1664, we have a record of the purchase of a new organ for £180.
+This was repaired, enlarged, and rebuilt at various times, and at the
+restoration, when the rood screen was unfortunately destroyed, the organ
+was placed in the south choir aisle.
+
+All the lower windows are now filled with painted glass; all of which,
+with the exception of a few fragments, is nineteenth-century work.
+
+
+DEANS OF WIMBORNE
+
+  Martin Pattislee or Pattishull            appointed 1224
+  Ralph Brito                                   "     1229
+  John Mansell                                  "     1247
+  John de Kirkby                                "     1265
+  John de Berwick                               "     1286
+  Stephen de Mawley                             "     1312
+  Richard de Clare                              "     1312
+  Richard de Swinnerton                         "     1334
+  Richard de Merimouth                          "     1338
+  Richard de Kingston                           "     1342
+  Thomas de Clopton                             "     1349
+  Reginald de Bryan                             "     1349
+  Thomas de Bembre (founder of the chantry)     "     1350
+  Henry de Buckingham                           "     1361
+  Richard de Beverley                           "     1367
+  John de Carp                                  "     1398
+  Roger Tortington                              "     1408
+  Peter de Altebello                            "     1412
+  Walter Medford                                "     1416
+  Gilbert Kymer                                 "     1427
+  Walter Herte                                  "     1467
+  Hugh Oldham                                   "     1485
+  Thomas Rowthel                                "     1508
+  Henry Hornby                                  "     1509
+  Reginald Pole                                 "     1517
+  Nicholas Wilson                               "     1537
+
+  COLLEGE DISSOLVED                             "     1547
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+ST MARGARET'S HOSPITAL
+
+
+About a quarter of a mile to the north-west of Wimborne stands the
+chapel of #St Margaret's Hospital#. The date of the foundation of
+this hospital is uncertain; tradition has it that it was founded by
+John of Gaunt, son of Edward III., but this is without doubt wrong,
+as documents--the character of which seem to indicate an early
+thirteenth-century date--have been found, from which it appears that
+this hospital existed at that time, and was set apart for the relief and
+support of poor persons afflicted with leprosy. This disease was at one
+time so common in England that a great number of lazar-houses were
+erected in the country, and many were well endowed; but when, after a
+time, the disease became less violent, many abuses crept in, persons not
+really suffering from the disease pretended to be lepers in order to get
+pecuniary benefits, and hence in many cases the leper hospitals were
+suppressed, or converted to other purposes. At the present day we find
+in many places, as here at Wimborne, that they are used as almshouses.
+
+[Illustration: ST MARGARET'S HOSPITAL.]
+
+This hospital, however, was not one of the well-endowed. It appears from
+a deed, dated in the sixteenth year of Henry VIII., that the hospital
+was chiefly maintained, not by endowments, but by the gifts of the
+charitable who were willing to contribute to its support; and to
+encourage the benevolent to give, the deed recites that "Pope Innocent
+IV, in the year 1245, by an indulgans or bulle did assoyl them of all
+syns forgotten, and offences done against fader and moder, and all
+swerynges neglygently made. This indulgans, grantyd of Petyr and Powle,
+and of the said pope, was to hold good for 51 yeres and 260 days,
+provided they repeated a certain specified number of Paternosters and
+Ave Marias daily." The date of this indulgence proves the antiquity of
+the hospital, as it shows that it was in existence before the middle
+of the thirteenth century. A chantry was also founded in the chapel
+here by John Redcoddes of one priest to say masses for his soul. To this
+chantry, according to a deed dated in the sixteenth year of Henry VI.,
+many tenements in Wimborne belonged. In later times the Rev. William
+Stone, who has been mentioned before as the founder of the Minster
+Library, by his will left his lands and tenements in the parish of
+Wimborne Minster to be applied to the benefit of almsmen only who should
+live in St Margaret's Hospital.
+
+There is a further endowment, but how it came to this hospital has not
+been discovered. The advowson and tithes of the Rectory of Poole were,
+in the reign of James I., granted to the Mayor and Corporation of Poole
+for forty years, on the corporation undertaking to find a curate to
+discharge the duties lately discharged by the vicar, and to pay a rent
+to the crown of £12, 16s. per annum. In the reign of Charles I., the
+advowson and tithes were granted to two men, Thomas Ashton and Henry
+Harryman, and their heirs for ever, on the same conditions; but they are
+now again held by the Corporation, who pay out of the revenues--to St
+Margaret's hospital £9, 16s.; to the churchwardens of Wimborne Minster,
+for the maintenance of the Etricke tomb, £1; and to the fellows of
+Queen's College, Oxford, to be spent in wine and tobacco on November
+5th, yearly £2.
+
+The Redcotte chantry possessed sundry vestments, the gift of Margaret
+Rempstone, in the thirty-fifth year of Henry VI., and plate, an
+inventory of which exists. This plate, on the dissolution of chantries,
+was given by the parishioners to the king, Edward VI. The hospital or
+almshouses stands on the high road from Wimborne to Blandford; the
+chapel joins one of the tenements occupied by the almsmen. These
+tenements are nine in number; three are inhabited by married couples,
+three by men, and three by women. Some of these cottages are of half
+timber, and thatched, others of modern brick. The chapel, at which there
+is now a service every Thursday afternoon, conducted by one of the
+minster clergy, is a plain building, which has been recently refitted,
+but remains, as far as windows and walls are concerned, in its original
+state. There are three doors in the north wall; the heads are pointed,
+and it is noteworthy that in the central door, that generally used
+for access to the chapel, the two sides of the arch are of different
+curvatures, so that the point of the arch is nearer to the right-hand
+side. The edge of the wall is chamfered round the doorways. The east
+window has a semicircular head, and plain wooden tracery dividing it
+into two lancet-headed lights with an opening above them. There is a
+window in both the south and north walls, near the east end, each of
+two lights; the south window is widely splayed inside; the head of each
+light has one cusp on each side. The head of each light of the north
+window has two cusps on each side. Farther to the west, on the south
+side, is a single narrow lancet, widely splayed, and still farther to
+the west is a semicircular opening with wooden tracery. The general
+character of the masonry would indicate that local workmen were employed
+in building this chapel, and that little was spent in ornamenting it at
+the time of the erection. There are, however, some traces of frescoes
+on the inside of the walls, both geometrical patterns and figures. The
+pointed doorways and the lancet window on the south side would indicate
+the thirteenth century as the date of the original building, and this
+agrees with the documentary evidence mentioned above for the foundation
+of the hospital. The roof is an open one of massive wooden rafters, with
+the beams running across at the level of the wall plates.
+
+
+DIMENSIONS OF WIMBORNE MINSTER
+
+  Extreme length, exterior, E. to W.                     198 feet
+  Extreme width, exterior, N. to S.                      102   "
+  Length of Nave, interior                                67   "
+  Width of Nave, interior                                 23   "
+  Height of Walls                                         40   "
+  Length of Nave Aisles, interior                         70   "
+  Width of Nave Aisles, interior                          13   "
+  Length of North Transept, interior                      42   "
+  Width of North Transept, interior                       18   "
+  Height of Walls, interior                               30   "
+  Length of South Transept, interior                      33   "
+  Width of South Transept, interior                       18   "
+  Height of Walls                                         30   "
+  Length of Choir, interior                               32   "
+  Width of Choir, interior                                21   "
+  Height of Choir Walls                                   28   "
+  Length of Presbytery                                    30   "
+  Width of Presbytery                                     21   "
+  Length of North Choir Aisle                             53   "
+  Width of North Choir Aisle                              21   "
+  Length of South Choir Aisle                             53   "
+  Width of South Choir Aisle                              20   "
+  Length of Side of Central Tower (square), interior      31   "
+  Height of Central Tower                                 84   "
+  Length of Side of Western Tower (square), exterior      31   "
+  Height of Western Tower                                 95   "
+  Length of North Porch, N. and S., interior              15   "
+  Width of North Porch, E. and W., interior               14   "
+  Length of South Porch, N. and E., interior               6   "
+  Width of South Porch, E. and W., interior                7   "
+  Length of Vestry, N. and S., interior                   15   "
+  Width of Vestry, E. and W., interior                    14   "
+  Length of Baptistery, E. to W., interior                18   "
+  Width of Baptistery, N. to S., interior                 19   "
+
+  AREA                                                10,725 sq. feet.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+
+
+[Illustration: CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY, FROM THE BRIDGE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HISTORY OF THE BUILDING
+
+
+On the promontory washed on the one side by the slow stream of the
+Dorset Stour, and on the other by the no less sluggish flow of the
+Wiltshire Avon, not far from the place where they mingle their waters
+before making their way amid mudflats and sandbanks into the English
+Channel, stands, and has stood for more than eight hundred years, the
+stately Priory Church which gives the name of Christchurch to a small
+town in the county of Hants. The massive walls of its Norman nave, its
+fifteenth-century tower, and its great length--for, from the east wall
+of its Lady Chapel to the west wall of its tower, it measures no less
+than 311 feet--make it a conspicuous object from the Channel, especially
+after sundown, when its form, rising above the low shore of Christchurch
+Bay, is silhouetted against the sky. It is one of the finest churches
+below cathedral rank that is to be found in England. It is a perfect
+mine of wealth to the student of architecture, containing examples of
+every style from its early, possibly Saxon, crypt to the Renaissance of
+its chantries. Here we may see the solid grandeur of Norman masonry in
+the nave, with its massive arcading and richly-wrought triforium; the
+graceful beauty of the Early English in its north porch and in the
+windows of the north aisle of the nave; the more fully developed
+Decorated in the windows of the south aisle of the same; and
+Perpendicular in the tower and Lady Chapel.
+
+The crypts beneath the north transept and the presbytery may have
+belonged to the original church, but of that which is visible above
+ground the oldest part was due to Flambard, of whom more hereafter.
+When the first church was founded we cannot tell. Here, as in many other
+places, the origin is lost in the haze of antiquity and legend. Here,
+as at many other places, we find the original builders choosing one
+site, and the stones that they had laid during the day being removed by
+night by unseen, and therefore angelic, hands to another. It was on the
+heights of St Catharine, about a mile and a half away from the present
+site, that the human builders strove to raise their church. It may be
+that this hill, still marked by the ramparts of an ancient encampment,
+was not holy ground on account of its former occupation by heathens,
+though in after time, a chapel, built in the early part of the
+fourteenth century, existed there; but, anyhow, not on this hill, but on
+the flat lands of Saxon Tweoxneham, a name which passed into the forms
+of Thuinam and Twynham, that the great Priory Church was destined to
+stand. But not even when the human builders began to erect the church
+on the miraculously chosen ground did supernatural interposition cease.
+A stranger workman came and laboured at the building: never was he seen
+to eat as the other workmen did, never did he come with his fellows to
+receive his wages. Once, when a beam had been cut too short for the
+place it was to occupy, he lengthened it by drawing it out with his
+hand; and when the day for consecration came, and the other workmen
+gathered together to see their work hallowed by due ceremonial, this
+stranger workman was nowhere to be seen. The ecclesiastics came to
+the conclusion that this was none other than the carpenter's son of
+Nazareth, and the church which had in part been builded by the hands
+of the Christ Himself in later days became known as Christchurch.
+
+But, if we disregard these legends, we do not at once find ourselves
+on sure and certain ground. The foundation has been attributed to
+Æthelstan, but this is hardly likely, as, in a charter dated 939, he
+gives one of the weirs on the Avon at Twynham to the Abbey Church of
+Middleton, now Milton Abbey in North Dorset, which he would be hardly
+likely to do if he had founded, or were thinking of founding, a
+religious house at Twynham; and as he died in 940, not much time was
+left for any foundation after this grant. Again, we find King Eadred
+granting land and fishing near Twineham to Dunstan. However, in the
+time of the Confessor, mention is made of the canons of Holy Trinity
+possessing lands in Thuinam. It must be remembered that it had been
+intended, according to the legend, to dedicate the church to the Holy
+Trinity, and no doubt this was done, although it was afterwards
+identified especially with the second Person.
+
+In Domesday it is stated that the canons of the Church of the Holy
+Trinity hold lands in the village, and also in the Isle of Wight
+opposite. Certain it is that in the days of Eadward the Confessor there
+was a church at Twynham dedicated to the Holy Trinity, held by a
+collegiate society of secular canons. This church was swept away by
+Ranulf Flambard, the notorious justiciar and chaplain of William II.,
+whose evil deeds, contrary to the oft-quoted passage from Mark Antony's
+speech in Julius Cæsar, are now generally forgotten; while the good
+deeds that he wrought,--the nave of this church, and the still grander
+nave of Durham Cathedral Church, Durham Castle, "Norham's castled
+steep," and Kepier Hospital, built while he held the most important
+diocese in the North of England,--live after him, and have shed a glory
+on his name. Evil he was in moral character without doubt, but a
+glorious builder nevertheless. Though he oppressed the clergy, though it
+was through his instrumentality and by his advice that sees were kept
+vacant for years, and when filled, only given to those who were able and
+willing to pay large sums to the king, yet it is rather as a great
+architect than as an ecclesiastic that we, who gaze with delight and
+admiration on his work that has come down to us, will regard him. It is
+said that, as his end drew nigh, he realised the amount of evil he had
+done, and strove to make his peace with heaven and restitution to some,
+at least, of those whom he had wronged. He died in 1128, and his body
+rests in the great Cathedral Church of St Cuthbert that he had done so
+much to raise. But it was in the earlier part of his career, before
+he received the bishopric of Durham in 1099, that he probably began
+the work at Christchurch with which we are at present concerned.[4]
+He was succeeded there by Godric, who is called Senior and Patron
+and afterwards Dean; but Flambard seems still to have exercised some
+authority over him, illegal probably, but none the less real. We find
+him granting to Godric, for the work of building, all the offerings
+made by strangers and pilgrims, and when a canon died his share of the
+revenues of the college was devoted to the same object, the vacancy not
+being filled up by the appointment of any new canon.
+
+    [4] Sir Gilbert Scott, however, thought that the Norman nave of
+        the Cathedral Church at Durham was commenced before Flambard
+        became bishop, and that the new church at Christchurch was
+        begun after that date, so that the work at Christchurch was
+        copied by him from what he found already commenced at Durham
+        when he went there.
+
+The length of Godric's tenure of office is uncertain. On his death Henry
+I. appointed Gilbert de Dousgunels dean, having appropriated to himself
+the accumulated fabric fund. Henry I. granted the patronage of the
+church to Richard de Redvers, Earl of Devon, who appointed his chaplain,
+Peter, a Norman of Caen, dean. This dean seems to have diverted the
+funds from the work of completing the church, but his successor,
+Randulphus, carried on the work again, so that in his time the church
+and the conventual buildings were roofed in. In the time of Hilary, in
+the year 1150, the secular college of canons was converted into a Priory
+of Augustinian Canons. This change was made with the consent of Baldwin
+de Redvers, in accordance with the wishes of Henry of Blois, brother of
+King Stephen, and at that time Bishop of Winchester, who is well known
+from the fact of his founding the Hospital of St Cross, near Winchester.
+Hilary, two years before this change was made, had been consecrated
+Bishop of Chichester, and subsequently became one of the episcopal
+opponents of Thomas Becket. Henceforth, until the dissolution in the
+reign of Henry VIII., the head of the religious community at
+Christchurch was a prior, who was, according to a charter granted by
+Richard de Redvers in 1160, elected by the canons. There were, in all,
+twenty-six priors, and their names have come down to us, but with only
+the most meagre notices of the architectural work which was carried on
+by each of them. Extensive, however, it must have been; and from what we
+see of the church itself, it would seem as if building operations must
+have been almost constantly in progress.
+
+In all probability there was, according to the usual plan of Norman
+churches, a tower at the junction of the nave and transepts, and beyond
+this an apsidal choir. But there is no documentary record of such a
+tower ever having been built or fallen, although its existence is
+rendered probable by a carving of a church with tower and spire on
+Draper's chantry, and by a similar representation on a seal, and in
+two other parts of the building. It is probable that the original
+choir extended westward beyond the transept, as at Westminster to the
+present day.
+
+As has been stated above, the Norman church was commenced by Flambard
+towards the end of the eleventh century; and of the work so begun, the
+earliest existing remains are the arcading of the nave, the triforium,
+and the transepts with the eastern apsidal chapel attached to the south
+transept. Next to this in order came the walls of the aisles of the
+nave, and the cloisters and chapter-house, which, however, have
+disappeared; cloisters would come to be considered a necessity as soon
+as the secular canons were superseded by regulars. The early English
+clerestory of the nave seems to have been built in the time of the third
+prior, Peter, about the beginning of the thirteenth century. To the end
+of same century may be approximately assigned the vaulting of the nave
+aisles, the north porch, and a chapel attached to the north transept.
+Alterations of an extensive nature seem to have been begun in the
+fourteenth century; for to this date belong the rood screen, placed
+farther to the east than the old division between the ritual choir of
+the canons and the western part of the nave, which was probably given up
+to the lay dwellers in the parish,--and the splendid reredos. The Lady
+Chapel also was completed certainly before 1406, probably eleven years
+earlier. The fifteenth century saw the western tower built and the choir
+commenced and a great part of it finished, though the vaulting seems not
+to have been completed until the early part of the sixteenth century, as
+W. E. the initials of William Eyre, who was prior from 1502 to 1520, are
+to be seen on the bosses and the arch of the south choir aisle. Somewhat
+later still is the chantry at the east end of the south choir aisle,
+built by the last prior and dated 1529, and the chantry built by the
+last of the Plantagenets, Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, daughter of
+the Earl of Clarence and mother of Cardinal Pole, who at the age of
+seventy was executed by Henry VIII. in 1541.
+
+Shortly before the dissolution in 1536 Prior Draper addressed a
+petition to Henry VIII. which is still in existence in the Record
+Office, praying that he would spare the Priory church, basing his
+request upon the desolate character of the district, the poverty of
+the house, and the fact that the church was not only a place for poor
+religious men, but also a parish church to the town and hamlets round
+about, whose inhabitants numbered from fifteen to sixteen hundred, that
+there was no place where any honest man on horseback or on foot might
+have succour or repose for the space of eight or nine miles, "but only
+this poor place of Christchurch, to which both rich and poor doth repair
+and repose." He goes on to say how it was of late years a place of
+secular canons, until the king's antecessors made it a place of canons
+regular, that "the poor, not only of the parish and town, but also of
+the country, were daily relieved and sustained with bread and ale,
+purposely baked and brewed for them weekly to no small quantities
+according to their foundation, and a house ordained purposely for
+them, and officers according duly given attendance to serve them
+to their great comfort and relief." But all the pleading was in vain.
+Commissioners were appointed, who presented their report to Lord
+Cromwell December 2, 1539. They say that "we found the Prior a very
+honest and conformable person, and the house well furnished with jewels
+and plate, whereof some be meet for the king's majesty's use." Then
+follows a list of the treasures of the abbey, of the yearly value of
+the several endowments, and of the officers of the Priory, thirteen in
+number besides the Prior. Prior Draper retired on a pension, and the
+site of the domestic buildings was conveyed to Stephen and Margaret
+Kirton. The domestic buildings themselves gradually disappeared, but the
+whole of the church was handed over to the parish as a church, the grant
+to the churchwardens being made by letters patent 23 October 32 Henry
+VIII. It conveyed to them "the choir body, bell-tower with seven bells,
+stones, timber, lead of roofing and gutters of the church and the
+cemetery on the north side." Since then the church has been served by
+vicars, the patronage being in the hands of the dean and chapter of
+Winchester until the nineteenth century, when the advowson was purchased
+by Lord Malmesbury. The living is now in the gift of the Bishop of
+Winchester.
+
+During the present century much restoration has been done. The nave was
+vaulted in stucco in 1819; the west window was taken in hand in 1828;
+the pinnacles of the tower and the upper part of the turret containing
+the stairs were renewed in 1871; and constant repairs have been going on
+up to the present time; and the principle that has guided the restorer
+has been, when any stonework has been removed to put in its place as
+exact a copy of the old as possible,--a principle that cannot be
+approved of, as it will lead, when the newness of the modern work has
+been toned down by time, to confusion between the genuine old work and
+the modern imitation of it. It is far better, when there is no question
+of stability but only of appearance, to leave the old stonework, even
+though much decayed, as it is, unscraped, untouched by the chisel, and
+where strength is needed to put in frankly nineteenth-century work,
+which could never by any possibility be mistaken for part of the
+original building.
+
+One of the most glaring instances of injudicious restoration is to be
+met with in the apsidal chapel attached to the eastern side of the south
+transept. This work was carried out by the Hon. C. Harris, late Bishop
+of Gibraltar. The arcading is a nineteenth-century imitation of Norman
+work; the pavement is glaringly modern. Of what interest, it may well be
+asked, is such work? Who would care to visit Christchurch to see it? The
+nineteenth-century carver cannot possibly produce work similar to that
+of the carver who lived in the twelfth century,--the conditions of his
+life are altogether different, his training bears no resemblance to that
+of the old artist, his work is a forgery, and a most clumsy one too. In
+this chapel we see this reprehensible practice carried to its fullest
+extent, but there are many other parts of the building which have
+suffered. Most of the arcading on the exterior of the transept is modern
+imitation, and the tracery of the windows of the south choir aisle has
+been entirely renewed; no old stones, though many might have been used,
+have been reset in their original position. The arcading of the south
+aisle of the nave has been terribly tampered with. Possibly under the
+influence of time many of the shafts had partially crumbled, and the
+surface of the carved capitals had perished, so that the original design
+could not be made out; but that was no reason for cutting away the
+ornamental work to make way for modern decoration which may or may not
+bear some slight resemblance to what was there before. Some of the piers
+of the nave arcading have also been partially renewed. By an act of
+much-to-be-condemned vandalism the sub-arches of the two eastern bays
+of the south triforium of the nave were cut away to make room for
+faculty pews; recently a glaring white pillar has been introduced into
+the westernmost of these two bays, and two sub-arches built. If the
+same kind of work is carried out in the other, we shall see in all
+probability an attempt to copy the unique scale decoration which still
+exists on the tympanum under the corresponding principal arch on the
+north side, cut with modern tools with all the lifeless rigidity of
+modern work. Another mistake which has been made, is the scraping off of
+the plaster from the interior walls of the chamber known as St Michael's
+Loft, over the Lady Chapel, and the re-pointing of the stonework. Old
+builders invariably covered their rubble walls with plaster, but the
+modern restorer for some reason seems to hate plaster and prefers, to
+show the coarse stonework which the builder never intended should be
+seen, and to emphasise the roughness by filling up the joints with
+conspicuous pointing. This, however, is not so destructive as much of
+the work which has been condemned above, because at any time the walls
+could be recovered with a thin coat of smooth plaster laid on with a
+trowel, but not "floated,"--that is, not brought to a smooth surface
+by a long straightedge.
+
+A large and old building such as this Priory Church will need almost
+constant repairs to keep it sound and safe, and the income from
+visitors' fees is quite sufficient for this purpose. It is, however,
+much to be feared that restoration and reconstruction will form far too
+large a part of the work done in this building. Every new ornamental
+stone, to make room for which some original stone is displaced, detracts
+from the value of the building from an archæological point of view; and
+though there may be some, or even many, who prefer the trim and smug
+appearance of modern work to that of the old, instinct with life, full
+of the thoughts of the builders and workers in wood and stone, whose
+bones have mouldered into dust in the garth of the vanished cloisters,
+and whose very names have in many cases been forgotten, yet we hope that
+those who have this priceless treasure in their keeping may recognise
+ere it is too late, that the result of a continuance of the process of
+restoration commenced about the middle of the nineteenth century will
+be the gradual conversion of a splendid memorial of bygone ages into a
+modern sham, and they themselves will be regarded, when true love of art
+becomes general, with the same indignation as that which they themselves
+feel with regard to those who pulled down the roof of the south transept
+and cut out the columns and sub-arches of the triforium in days before
+the Gothic revival set in. And the modern restorer has less excuse than
+the destroyer of a hundred years ago. If, like the vandals of the
+Georgian period, they had been blind to the beauties of architectural
+art, they would have had no sin, yet since they profess to see,
+therefore their sin will remain and their names will be held in
+perpetual reproach and everlasting contempt.
+
+The foregoing historical sketch of the building has perforce been
+somewhat vague in dates, for, in the absence of documentary evidence, it
+is not easy to fix from architectural considerations alone the date of
+any particular piece of work within a limit of some twenty years or so.
+The out-of-the-way position of the Priory of Christchurch--for no great
+road ran through the town, and though it is near the sea there is no
+convenient harbour near it--has brought it to pass that it is scarcely
+mentioned in any mediæval chronicles. Its own fabric rolls and annals
+have been lost. Here and there, however, the date of a will or the
+inscription on a monument has enabled a more definite date to be arrived
+at. The dates also of the dedications of some of the many altars are
+known--viz. that of the Holy Saviour, used by the canons as their high
+altar, and that of St Stephen, dedicated by the Bishop of Ross in 1199;
+that of the altar of the Holy Trinity, which stood in the nave, and was
+the high altar of the parish; and those of the altars of SS. Peter and
+Paul, SS. Augustine and Gregory and all the Prophets, dedicated by
+Walter, Bishop of Whitherne, on November 7, 1214; that of the altar of
+St John the Baptist and St Edmund, dedicated on December 7, 1214, by the
+same bishop; and that of the altar of SS. Michael and Martin, dedicated
+by the Bishop of the Isles in 1221.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE EXTERIOR
+
+
+The exterior of the church of Christchurch Priory may be well seen from
+several points of view. The churchyard lies to the north of the
+building, extending beyond it both to the east and west. On the south
+side, where all the domestic buildings of the Priory once stood, there
+is a modern house and private grounds. All that belongs to the church is
+a path running under the walls as far as the east corner of the
+transept, where a garden door stops farther progress. Several glimpses
+of the building, however, may be obtained on the way down to the Stour,
+and seen from the south side of this river, the church rises above its
+surroundings, and forms a conspicuous object. A good general view on the
+north-east may also be obtained from a bridge over the Avon. From this
+point of view the great length of the church is apparent; on the
+right-hand side may be seen the ruins of the Norman keep of the castle
+on its artificial mound, and nearer to the bridge the remains of a
+twelfth-century Norman house. From the churchyard, also, the whole north
+side of the church may be seen at once, and many striking features will
+be noticed. Among these, the circular staircase attached to the
+transept, with its rich diaper work; Norman arcading of interlacing
+arches running round the transept; the large windows of the choir
+clerestory, so wide and closely set together that the whole wall seems
+as though composed of glass--through which, and the windows of the
+opposite wall, the light of the sky can be seen; and lastly, the upper
+storey of the Lady Chapel with its row of windows of a domestic type.
+
+[Illustration: CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY, FROM THE NORTH-EAST.]
+
+[Illustration: TOWER DOOR.]
+
+A systematic examination of the exterior may best be begun with
+the #Western Tower#. This is of fifteenth-century date, and is set
+partially within the church--that is to say, its builder did not add
+it to the west of the church, making an archway through the previously
+existing west front, but pulled down the whole west wall of the nave,
+leaving, however, the west walls of the aisles, and carried the north
+and south walls of the new tower as far back into the church as the
+space occupied by the western bay, thus leaving two spaces at the
+west end of the aisles, one now used as a vestry, the other as a kind
+of lumber-room. In the west face of the tower is a doorway under a
+rectangular label; in the spandrels are two shields, bearing the arms of
+the Priory, and of the Montacutes and Monthermers, Earls of Salisbury.
+The doors are modern. Immediately above the doorway is a large window
+with three tiers, each containing six lights. The head of the window
+above these is of an ordinary Perpendicular character. The tracery was
+restored in 1828. Above this window is a niche containing a figure of
+Christ. The upper stage, which contains the bells, has two two-light
+windows in each face, each light being divided by a transom. These
+windows are not glazed, but are furnished with louvre-boards. The tower
+is crowned with a pierced battlemented parapet having pinnacles at
+the corners and at the middles of each side; within this rises a low
+pyramidal roof. The stair turret runs up at the north-east angle of the
+tower; this is octagonal, and is crowned with a parapet and crocketed
+pinnacles; the upper part of this turret and the pinnacles were renewed
+in 1871. The tower is strengthened by two buttresses at right angles
+to each other at each of the two western angles. On either side of
+the tower, as already explained, may be seen the west end of the nave
+aisles; these have windows with Perpendicular tracery, and on the north
+wall of the north aisle is a plain, round-headed doorway cut through the
+wall in modern time, with a Perpendicular window over it.
+
+[Illustration: NORTH PORCH.]
+
+Next comes the #North Porch#, with a chamber above it--here, as in
+many other churches, the chief entrance into the building. Its great
+dimensions, both in length and height, however, are remarkable; it
+projects 40 feet beyond the aisle wall, and its own side walls rise
+nearly to the height of the clerestory of the church. Its south end
+does not extend beyond the wall of the aisle, so that there is a space
+between the upper part of the porch and the clerestory. The upper part
+above the porch proper contains, as mentioned above, a lofty chamber,
+probably originally the muniment-room. This is lighted by two pairs
+of narrow single-light windows on either side, and by a similar pair
+in the north face beneath the obtuse-angled gable. This room is, no
+doubt, a later addition. The entrance into the porch is a beautiful,
+deeply-recessed archway of thirteenth-century date, with numerous shafts
+of Purbeck marble on either side. Within the porch the side walls are
+divided into two compartments, each of which is composed of two pointed
+arches beneath another larger pointed arch, with a cinquefoil in the
+head. On the west side, near the outer archway, is a cinquefoiled
+recess, with shafts of Purbeck marble and foliated cusps. This is
+said originally to have contained a desk, at which the prior met the
+parishioners and signed deeds. A stone seat runs along each side of
+the porch walls. The double doorway which leads into the church is very
+beautiful and rich Early English work. From six Purbeck marble shafts on
+either side spring the orders of the enclosing archway; the heads of the
+double doorways themselves are cinquefoiled arches with foliated cusps.
+At the jambs, and dividing the two doors, are clusters of Purbeck marble
+shafts, with moulded capitals. In the tympanum is a quatrefoil, the
+upper part of which projects so as to form a canopy. This was, no doubt,
+intended to contain some carved subject, possibly the Doom. Very
+extensive restoration was carried out in the groining and porch
+generally, in 1862.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORTH DOOR.]
+
+The wall of the #North Aisle# between the porch and the transept is
+divided into six compartments by Early English buttresses with gabled
+heads. This wall was built in Norman times, as may be seen from the
+small round-headed windows which light the clerestory, but was in
+Early English times faced with fresh ashlar, which conceals the Norman
+arcading of intersecting arches which ran along this wall. The triforium
+windows on this side are not, though they are on the south side,
+regularly arranged; there are none in the two western divisions, while
+between the easternmost buttress and the transept there are two. Six
+late thirteenth-century windows were cut through this wall--these are
+all of similar design; they consist of two lights under a comprising
+arch, with a circle in the head. The clerestory windows are of plainer
+character. Each window consists of two simple lancets set under a
+recessed arch without any hood moulding; the tympana also above the
+lancet heads are not pierced or decorated in any way; in fact, the whole
+clerestory is remarkably plain. Between the windows are flat buttresses.
+The aisles are covered with lean-to roofs of lead, the nave itself with
+a tiled roof of medium pitch. The gable at the east end of the nave, and
+indications on the east face of the tower, show that the pitch of the
+roof was once higher, and that it must have been lowered at some time
+after the tower was built in the fifteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORTH TRANSEPT IN 1810.
+(From Britton's "Architectural Antiquities.")]
+
+The #North Transept# is most interesting. Its west wall contains
+two round-headed windows with billet moulding, the northern one blocked
+up; and at the north-west corner is a cluster of cylindrical shafts
+running up to about the same height as the walls of the aisle. Why they
+terminated here it is hard to say; they may mark the termination of the
+original Norman wall. This wall may not have risen above this height,
+or the upper part may have been taken down and rebuilt when the large
+Perpendicular window was inserted in the north end of the transept. At
+the north-east corner of the transept stands a richly-ornamented turret
+of Norman date. Round the lower part of this the arcade of intersecting
+arches which runs round the whole transept is carried; above this, round
+the turret, runs an arcading of semicircular-headed arches springing
+from pairs of shafts; above this the wall is decorated with diaper work;
+and finally, another arcading, this time of round-headed arches rising
+from single shafts, encircles the turret. The turret is capped by a
+sloping roof of stone attached to the transept wall. This turret is
+worthy of close attention, because it shows how the Norman builders
+hated monotony; each stage has its own decoration unlike that of
+any other; and, moreover, there are variations in the shafts of the
+arcading--some are plain, some decorated in one way, some in another.
+The same love of variety may be seen here that lends so great a charm
+on a larger scale to Flambard's glorious nave at Durham. No doubt this
+north transept had attached to its east wall an apsidal Norman chapel
+similar to that which still exists on the eastern side of the south
+transept, but this had to make way for an addition of two chapels, which
+we may assign, from the character of their architecture, to the latter
+end of the thirteenth century. The northern chapel is lighted by a
+three-light window with three foliated circles in the head, which is
+rather sharp pointed, and the southern one by a two-light window with
+one foliated arch. These are beautiful examples of plate tracery. Above
+these chapels is a small chamber lighted by a window of similar
+character. This is supposed to have been the tracing room, where the
+various architectural designs for the building were drawn.
+
+To the east of the transept may be seen the #Choir# and #Presbytery#,
+with its four clerestory windows; the #Choir Aisle#, also with four
+windows; the #Lady Chapel#, with the octagonal turret-staircase leading
+into Saint Michael's Loft above it. It will be noticed that there is no
+window in the aisle under the western clerestory window of the choir,
+as the space where this would have been found is occupied by the two
+chapels to the east of the transept, and also that the aisle extends
+beyond the choir and flanks the western part of the Lady Chapel. The
+whole of this part of the church is of Perpendicular character. The
+windows of the choir aisles are low, the arches are depressed, and the
+curvature of each side of the arch is so slight that they appear almost
+straight lines. The body of these windows contains four lights; in the
+head, each of these is subdivided into two. Between the aisle windows
+are buttresses, which, with the exception of the one opposite the east
+wall of the choir, which terminates in a gable, have pinnacled cappings;
+and from each of these, save the gabled one, a flying buttress is
+carried over the roof of the aisle and rests against the choir wall.
+The aisle roof is flat, and at the top of the outer wall runs a plain
+parapet pierced with quatrefoil openings. The clerestory windows are of
+great size and are set close together. The choir roof is flat and is
+quite invisible from the exterior. There can be little doubt that a
+parapet at one time ran along the tops of the clerestory walls, but
+this has disappeared. The Lady Chapel has on either side three large
+Perpendicular windows; the arches of these as well as those of the
+clerestory have pointed heads. The western half of the central window
+of the Lady Chapel is blocked up by the later-built octagonal turret
+containing the staircase to Saint Michael's Loft. The staircase
+commences in an octagonal turret at the north-east corner of the choir
+aisle,--this rises above the aisle roof,--the stairs are then carried
+above the east wall of the choir aisle and then into the octagonal
+turret, which runs up the wall of the Lady Chapel and the loft above,
+and rises to some height above the parapet. There is a similar staircase
+on the south side, but the turret does not rise quite so high above the
+roof. There are five square-headed two-light windows on either side of
+St Michael's Loft, the lights being divided by transoms, the upper parts
+foliated. At the east end is a three-light window without any transom,
+with an obtuse arch under a dripstone. The loft has a parapet all round
+it pierced with quatrefoil openings. Some of this parapet, at any rate,
+is modern, as, in a photograph of the north side taken in 1884, the
+parapet is only shown to the east of the turret. As restoration work
+is constantly going on at the church, the money paid by visitors for
+viewing the interior (sixpence a head, which produces over £500 a year)
+being devoted to this object, the parapet will doubtless in course of
+time be extended along the walls of the choir, and will certainly add to
+the beauty of the church; and as nothing will be destroyed to make room
+for it, such an addition will not be open to the same objection as much
+of the work done by restoration committees.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORTH TRANSEPT.]
+
+The buttresses at the east angles of the Lady Chapel are set diagonally,
+and rise in five stages; the upper stage of each is square, in section,
+with the faces parallel to the walls of the church, and reaches a higher
+level than the parapet, and is finished with a flat cap. The large east
+window is a Perpendicular one of five lights. From the base of the
+south-east buttress runs a wall dividing the burying-ground from the
+gardens of the house, to the south of the church, which stands on the
+site of the domestic buildings of the priory. The portion of the wall of
+the Lady Chapel beneath the eastern-most window on the north side is
+modern. Here Mr Ferrey, the architect, by whom much of the restoration
+was carried out, discovered traces of an external chantry and the marks
+of an arcading corresponding to that still remaining on the inside.
+
+[Illustration: THE SOUTH AISLE OF NAVE.]
+
+The object of the chamber above the Lady Chapel is uncertain,--in
+1617 it is described as "St Michael's Loft," in 1666 the parishioners
+described it as "heretofore a chapter-house," when petitioning the
+bishop to allow it to be used as a school. But if it was ever used as
+a chapter-house, it could only have been for a short time, as there is
+evidence that there was a chapter-house to the south side of the choir
+in the twelfth century, and that this remained as late as 1498. The
+south side of the Lady Chapel and choir correspond very closely with the
+north side, but there are several differences to be noticed between the
+south and north transepts. On the eastern side of the #South Transept#
+the Norman apsidal chapel still remains. This has a semi-conical roof
+with chevron table moulding under it, and two windows--one of original
+Norman work, the other a three-light Early English window. A sacristy
+of Early English date stands to the east of the apsidal chapel, and
+occupies the space between the apse and the south choir wall. At the
+south-east corner of the transept there is a circular stair turret
+corresponding to some extent with the turret at the north-east angle
+of the north transept; this, in the second stage, becomes octagonal in
+section, and rises above the parapet of the transept. In the south face
+is a depressed segmental window, much smaller than the corresponding
+window on the north side, under a gabled parapet. The pitch of the roof
+of the south transept is much higher than that of the north transept,
+and the upper part of the transept does not abut against the walls of
+the church. Two tiers of corbel brackets on the south wall, and traces
+of two Norman windows seem to indicate that here, as elsewhere, a slype,
+with a room above it, intervened between the south end of the transept
+and the chapter-house. This slype was generally a passage connecting the
+cloister garth with the smaller garth to the south of the choir which
+was often used as a burying-place for the abbots or priors, as the case
+may be, and was the place where the monks or canons interviewed visitors
+and chapmen. The room above was often used as the library. The south of
+the #Nave# is decidedly inferior in interest to the north. The cloisters
+have entirely disappeared, but a series of round-headed arches, formed
+of stucco, may conceal a stone arcading similar to that hidden by the
+Early English facing of the north wall. The small round-headed windows
+giving light to the triforium are more regularly arranged than on the
+north side; there is one, and only one, in each division between the
+buttresses. There were, as usual, two doors in this wall: one for the
+canons, in the wall opposite to the west of the cloister, one close to
+the transept for the prior; both are now blocked up. The prior's door,
+in the injunction of Langton, 1498, is directed to be kept locked, save
+when on festivals a procession passed through it. This doorway is of
+early thirteenth-century work; it is round-headed, and is French in
+character. There is a legend that a party of French monks, terrified
+by a dragon which rose out of the sea, possibly an ancestor of the
+sea-serpent of more modern days, put in to Christchurch haven, and were
+entertained by the canons, with whom they abode for many years; possibly
+this door may be of their workmanship or design. In the south wall a
+large aumbry or cupboard, in the thickness of the walls, may be seen;
+in this possibly the canons kept the books that they had brought from
+the library for study. What the windows in this aisle were we cannot
+say--originally, no doubt, Norman, for the westernmost window is still
+of this style; but the others, which were widened either in Early
+English or Decorated times, are now all filled with nineteenth-century
+tracery of Decorated type. The buttresses between the windows, unlike
+those on the north side, are flat Norman ones. Towards the west end of
+the aisle a passage has in modern times been cut through the wall, and
+when this was done remains of a staircase which, no doubt, led to the
+dormitory, were discovered. The clerestory, on this side, is of the same
+plain character as on the north side.
+
+In a line with the south wall, but some little distance to the west,
+still stands a house which was once the porter's lodge, close to the
+site of the gatehouse. The porter's lodge was built by Prior Draper
+II. in the sixteenth century. The remains of the domestic buildings are
+very scanty--some old walls near the modern mill, occupying, no doubt,
+the site of the mill where the canons' corn was ground; some vestiges
+of the fish ponds; some few traces of walls and foundations, are all
+that have come down to modern days. From the similarity of arrangement
+in the buildings of religious houses, however, we can, with great
+certainty, assign the sites for the various parts--the dormitory over
+the cellarage, to the west of the cloister garth; the refectory to south
+of it; the calefactory, chapter-house, slype, to the east; and the
+prior's lodgings to the south of the choir, forming the lesser garth;
+the barns, bakery, and brew-house to the south-west of the church,
+near the porter's lodge and gatehouse. The prior had a country house
+at Heron Court, a grange at Somerford, and another at St Austin's, near
+Lymington. It must be understood that the choir was the church of the
+canons, and, as was common in churches served by Augustinian canons, the
+nave was used for the services which the laity of the district attended.
+
+It is noteworthy that whether owing to the purity of the air, so
+different from that which exists in the large cities where so many of
+the cathedral churches stand, or from the goodness of the stone, most of
+the Priory Church is in most excellent preservation. Carving which, we
+are assured, has never been retouched with a chisel since it was first
+cut, remains as sharp and clearly cut as though it were the work of
+the nineteenth century; possibly some of its excellence is due to the
+preservative effect of the whitewash with which it was once covered, and
+which has been cleaned off with water and a stiff bristled brush.
+
+The stone of which the north side of the nave is built came from
+Binstead; the limestone columns from Henden Hill; the Norman round
+turret and the choir is built of Portland stone; while Purbeck marble
+shafts are used in the north porch, and of the fine white stone from
+Caen in Normandy, the Salisbury and Draper chantries in the interior
+are constructed. These, though now about four hundred years old, are
+absolutely sharp in all the carving. There is a tombstone to the north
+of the porch which bears a curious inscription as follows:--"We were
+not slayne but raysd, raysd not to life but to be byried twice by men
+of strife. What rest could the living have when dead had none agree
+amongst you heere we ten are one. Hen. Rogers died Aprill 17 1641."
+This inscription has been variously explained. It is said by some that
+Cromwell, afterwards Protector, was at Christchurch, and dug up some
+lead coffins to make bullets for his soldiers, and flung the bodies out
+of ten such coffins into one grave; but this is manifestly incorrect.
+Oliver Cromwell was never at Christchurch, though Thomas Cromwell
+probably was, and here, as elsewhere, the two have been confounded.
+In many cases poor Oliver has had to bear the blame for destruction
+caused to churches by his less well-known namesake, the great destroyer
+of religious houses in the days of the eighth Henry. But neither of
+them had anything to do with this tomb, nor were the Parliamentary
+forces guilty of tampering with the coffins of the dead in the parish
+burying-ground at Christchurch. The very date precludes the idea, for
+the civil war did not begin till more than fifteen months after the
+date carved on this stone; and we may give the Roundheads credit for
+more sense than to be digging up coffins to make their bullets with,
+when there was abundance of lead to be had for the stripping on the roof
+of the Priory Church. A far more probable explanation is that which
+states that the ten bodies here interred were those of ten shipwrecked
+sailors, who were first buried on the cliffs near the spot where they
+were washed ashore; but the lord of the manor, when he heard thereof,
+waxed exceeding wroth, and a strife ensued between him and one Henry
+Rogers, Mayor of Christchurch, the former insisting on their removal to
+consecrated ground, the latter objecting to the removal, probably on the
+ground of expense; but in the end the lord of the manor had his way. But
+the mayor, to save the cost of ten separate graves, had them all buried
+in one, and placed this inscription over their remains as a protest
+against the conduct of the lord of the manor in moving their remains
+from their first resting-place.
+
+The graveyard at the present time is neatly kept and well cared
+for. The headstones have not, as they have been in many other
+places, tampered with; and though many of the alterations made in the
+restoration will not gain the approval of archæologists, yet some have
+been judiciously done, and some that are in contemplation will certainly
+have the result of rendering once more visible beautiful mediæval work,
+long concealed by ugly modern additions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE INTERIOR
+
+
+A rapid walk round the interior of the Priory Church shows that it
+practically consists of three main portions, almost entirely divided
+from each other--the #Nave#, the #Choir#, and the #Lady Chapel#. The
+solid rood screen, pierced by one narrow doorway, forms an effectual
+division between the nave and choir, while the stone reredos and the
+wall above it, running right up to the vaulting, entirely separates the
+latter from the Lady Chapel. In mediæval times the choir was reserved
+for the use of the canons; the nave was the parish church with its own
+high altar; the rood loft was an excellent point of vantage from which
+a preacher could address a large congregation. In those times pews had
+not been introduced; open benches may have existed. At present the nave
+is occupied by pews; these with their cast-iron poppies were erected in
+1840, and were then higher than at present. Still, even in their present
+form, they hide the bases of the pillars, and might with much advantage
+be swept away, and their places taken by open benches or movable chairs.
+The pews in the transepts are of older date; these, together with
+the galleries above them--that in the south transept supporting the
+organ--are a sad disfigurement to the church, and it is to be hoped that
+they will be soon removed; they hide some splendid Norman work. The case
+of the north gallery is worse than the south, as a staircase leading to
+it disfigures the beautiful Early English chapel attached to the east
+side of the transept. This gallery, however, contains some faculty pews.
+All the owners of these, save one, consented to its removal; but one
+stood out against it, and, having the legal right to prevent any
+alteration, has up to the present time kept the gallery intact. But as
+he has recently died there can be little doubt that no long time will
+now elapse before this disfigurement to the church will be a thing of
+the past. There seems little need for the gallery, as there is ample
+accommodation on the floor of the church for any congregation that is
+likely to assemble within the walls. Many alterations, some of which are
+certainly improvements, have already been made. In an engraving, dated
+1834, the organ is represented standing on the rood screen, probably the
+best place for it; and the four eastern bays of the nave are seen to be
+partitioned off by a wooden screen with a rod for curtains. On a level
+with the capitals of the pillars, to the west of this partition, stands
+the font. At this time also the triforium was boarded off in order to
+shut out draughts and cold; but this boarding has happily been swept
+away, the partition across the nave has been removed, and an oaken
+screen with glazed panels runs across the church, cutting off the
+western bay from the remainder of the nave. The font, a modern one,
+now stands under the tower; a modern pulpit on the south side, under the
+crossing, where also desks for the clergy and choir have been placed. It
+is now the custom on Sunday mornings to read the whole of the service up
+to the end of the Nicene Creed, in the nave; after the sermon is over,
+the communicants alone enter the choir to receive the sacrament. The
+choir is also used for week-day services. The Lady Chapel is not used.
+The nave is Early Norman work, and was chiefly built during the reign
+of William II.; the clerestory, however, was added at the beginning of
+the thirteenth century by Peter, who was prior from 1195 to 1225. The
+original nave was probably covered by a flat wooden ceiling, the Early
+Norman builders rarely venturing to span any wide space by a stone
+vaulting. The present vaulting is of stucco, and was added by Garbett
+in 1819. The roof was altered in Perpendicular times more than once, as
+indications of a higher pitched roof than the present one exists on the
+east face of the fifteenth-century tower. As springing stones for a
+vaulted roof exist, it is probable that a stone roof was at one time
+contemplated; but possibly the idea was abandoned on account of the fear
+that the walls, unsupported by any exterior flying buttress to resist
+the thrust, would not have borne the weight. It will be remembered that
+such buttresses are to be met with along the walls of the choir, which
+is covered with a stone vaulting. The nave consists of seven bays. The
+pillars of this arcading, unlike those of Flambard's nave at Durham,
+are not cylindrical, but consist of half columns set against piers
+rectangular in section. The capitals are of the early cushion shape;
+some of them seem to have been subsequently carved with ornamentation
+which bears some resemblance to classical forms. The wall spaces above
+the semicircular arches, and below the chevron string-course which runs
+beneath the triforium, are decorated with hatchet-work carving, as will
+be seen from the illustrations. The triforium on either side consists,
+in each bay, of two coupled arches supported by a central pillar,
+enclosed by a comprising arch with bold mouldings and double columns,
+separated by square members. The most beautiful bay is the easternmost,
+on the north side, where the wall surface above the smaller arches,
+and beneath the enclosing arch, is carved with a kind of scale-work.
+Possibly the opposite bay, on the south side, was as richly ornamented,
+but the lower arches and the central column no longer exist, as they
+were cut away to make room for a faculty pew in 1820. These two bays
+were included within the original Norman choir. The central shaft, on
+the north side, is twisted. Two of the central shafts, on the south
+side, are richly ornamented--one with twisted decoration, the other with
+a projecting reticulated pattern. The shaft and sub-arches of the second
+bay from the east on this side is a modern renewal, as here also the old
+work was destroyed in 1820 to make room for a pew. The north triforium
+can be reached by a staircase continued up into the tower, entered from
+the western part of the aisle; access to the south triforium can only be
+gained by the use of a ladder. The north triforium deserves examination.
+It will be found that pointed arches have been added at the back, and
+buttresses have been built against the back of the wall behind the
+arches; the floor is rendered uneven by humps necessitated by the Early
+English vaulting of the aisle below--probably the aisles were originally
+covered with a barrel roof. At the east end of the north triforium an
+arch may be seen, which once opened out into the transept; this is now
+walled up, and traces of painting may still be seen on it. There is
+a passage under the clerestory, to which access may be obtained by a
+passage across the transept; this was, no doubt, made in order that
+the shutters of the windows might be opened or closed, according to the
+state of the weather. From the staircase which leads up to the north
+triforium a passage leads into the chamber over the north porch. This is
+a large room, about 40 feet in length from north to south, and is now
+used as a practising room for the choir; it is fitted with benches and
+a grand piano, and has a modern wooden gallery running along its south
+end.
+
+[Illustration: THE NAVE IN 1834.]
+
+[Illustration: THE NAVE.]
+
+[Illustration: NORTH ARCADE OF NAVE.]
+
+[Illustration: FROM THE NORTH TRIFORIUM.]
+
+[Illustration: BAY OF THE TRIFORIUM, SOUTH SIDE.]
+
+The #South Aisle# is much more elaborately decorated than the north.
+Along the south wall runs a fine Norman arcade, the arches ornamented
+with billet and cable moulding. The window in the western bay is the
+original Norman one; the others were altered either in Early English or
+Decorated times, and are now filled with modern tracery in the Decorated
+style designed by Mr Ferrey. In the third bay is a holy water stoop, and
+in the fifth a large aumbry or recess, entered by a door; in this used
+to be kept the bier and lights used at funerals. Along the walls of each
+aisle runs a stone bench. There is no arcading on the wall of the north
+aisle. The vaulting of both aisles is Early English, dating from the
+time of Peter, the third prior, who, as previously stated, built the
+clerestory. The tracery of the north aisle windows is transitional in
+character between Early English and Decorated.
+
+[Illustration: THE SOUTH AISLE OF NAVE.]
+
+[Illustration: THE MONTACUTE CHANTRY.]
+
+The #Transepts# are much encumbered by modern pews and galleries,
+and it is only by careful examination that much of the beautiful work
+that they contain can be seen. The arch opening from the south aisle
+into the transept is Early English, and the skilful junction of Early
+English and Norman work at this point is deserving of attention.
+This transept was at one time covered by a stone vaulting, which was
+destroyed at the latter end of the eighteenth century and in the
+beginning of the nineteenth. Some of the bosses taken from this may be
+seen, piled up with the old font and other fragments, at the west end of
+the north choir aisle. The west wall of the transept contains a Norman
+window. A doorway into the slype remains in the wall, and communicates
+with a wall passage. At the eastern side of the transept an arch opens
+out into an apsidal chapel, but pews block up the entrance. This chapel
+has been so completely restored that it has a thoroughly neat and modern
+appearance, and has lost all its archæological value; round it runs a
+Norman arcade, and on the north side an aumbry may be seen. The north
+transept retains its Norman arcading, which, fortunately, has not been
+touched by the restorer's hand; how long it may escape is doubtful,
+as it is much mutilated. Still, as it is simply decorative, and not
+necessary for the stability of the wall, it would be well to leave it
+untouched, as genuine old work, even though it may have suffered at the
+hand of time or of former generations, is, from a decorative point of
+view, infinitely preferable to any modern reproduction. There are
+two small windows in the west wall to light the wall passage to the
+clerestory, which is reached by a gallery running across the base of
+the north window. In the north wall, behind the back of the pews, is a
+thirteenth-century recess. From this transept access is gained to the
+circular staircase leading downward to the crypt and upward to the small
+chamber above the eastern chapels. This is popularly known as Oliver
+Cromwell's harness room, and marks are shown on the wall supposed to
+have been holes for the insertion of pegs whereon he hung his harness;
+but as the Protector never came to Christchurch, all this is purely
+mythical. On one of the walls Mr Ferrey, the architect, found a design
+for a window; this he copied, and used when designing the tracery of the
+window he inserted over the prior's door at the east end of the south
+aisle of the nave. This tracing chamber is lighted by a two-light window
+with a quatrefoil in the head in the eastern wall. The two chapels below
+are beautiful examples of transition work from the Early English to the
+Decorated style; they were built by the De Redvers, Earls of Devon, the
+last of whom died in 1263. The eagles of the Montacute and Monthermer
+families appear in this chantry. There are two windows in the eastern
+wall. The larger, on the north, consists of three lights, with three
+circles in the head; the foliation of these outside the glass forms
+cinquefoil openings; the smaller window is of a similar character, but
+consists of two lights only, with a single foliated arch above them. An
+archway, widely splayed, on the western side, opens into the transept,
+and another archway opens into the choir aisle; this has a panelled
+pier, standing a little apart from the eastern side, designed to support
+the arch, which probably was found to be giving way. The shafts along
+the eastern wall, the capitals of one of which is carved with a number
+of heads said to represent the twelve apostles, should be noticed; the
+vaulting ribs are also interesting, especially the joggled ribs seen
+over the window. A stone altar stood in one of these chantries until
+1780. These chapels are sadly disfigured by a mean staircase which leads
+into the transept gallery; it is devoutly to be hoped that before long
+this may be removed, and the exquisite beauty of the chapels seen
+without any inharmonious and irritating feature such as this staircase
+undoubtedly is. Below the transept is an Early Norman crypt; it is
+thought by some, from the rudeness of the work, that it may be of
+earlier date than the existing church, and that it belonged to the
+original church which Flambard destroyed to make room for his more
+splendid edifice. In it were discovered a number of human bones, which
+were reinterred in the churchyard. It has a plain barrel roof, divided
+by broad flat arches rising from pilasters.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORTH AISLE OF NAVE.]
+
+It has often been debated whether or not the church ever possessed a
+central tower. There is no documentary evidence bearing on the question.
+It may be said that if a tower existed and fell, or was pulled down for
+any reason, some record would have remained; but the records connected
+with the building are fragmentary, and it by no means follows that the
+absence of record proves the non-existence of such a tower. In the case
+of Wimborne Minster the churchwarden's accounts contain no record of the
+building or of the fall of the spire, yet we know from outside testimony
+that such a spire did fall in 1600, and that a representation of it
+occurs on a seal. So here at Christchurch a seal is in existence on
+which the church is represented with a central tower of two storeys, the
+lower plain, the upper lighted by two round-headed windows and capped by
+a low pyramidal spire or roof with a tall cross on the summit. This is
+exactly what one would expect to find: a central tower is almost always
+found in Norman churches, especially collegiate churches; and the
+pyramidal roof was almost certainly the usual form in which these early
+towers were finished. The battlemented parapets which we so often meet
+with in Norman towers are in all cases more recent additions. Moreover,
+the massive arches and piers at the corners indicate that a tower was
+contemplated, even if it were never built. In the east gable of the nave
+as it at present exists, two round-headed windows may be seen. It is
+highly probable that this gable once formed part of the east wall of the
+tower, and when the tower was removed this wall was converted into a
+gable. Everything to the east of the crossing being of late fourteenth
+or early fifteenth century date, indicates that extensive alterations
+were made at that time; and if a tower and spire had previously existed,
+it must have been removed before this date. In the centre of the carving
+over the doorway leading into the Draper chantry, dated 1529, there is a
+representation of a church with a central tower and spire. Of course, no
+such steeple existed at the time this chantry was built, but it may have
+been a copy of some then existing representation of the building as it
+had appeared in former times. There are also two other carvings of
+angels carrying a model of a church with a central tower--one near the
+Salisbury chantry, one on the choir roof.
+
+[Illustration: THE CRYPT.]
+
+The nave is divided from the choir by a splendid rood screen 16 feet 6
+inches high, 33 feet long, and 9 feet thick. The western face of this
+projects beyond the line joining the east walls of the two transepts;
+its eastern face rests against the eastern piers intended to support the
+central tower. It was extensively restored by Mr Ferrey in 1848, who
+considered that it may have been removed from some conventual church
+after the dissolution of the monasteries in the time of Henry VIII. and
+re-erected here. But there does not seem to be any real grounds for
+supposing that it was not expressly built for this church. Its character
+indicates a date somewhat late in the fourteenth century. In the centre
+is a narrow doorway and a passage into the choir; from the north side
+of this passage a flight of steps leads to the top of the loft. The
+base of the screen is plain; above this is a row of thirteen panelled
+quatrefoils on each side of the doorway--each containing a plain shield,
+over these a string course, then two rows of canopied niches, the upper
+row consisting of twelve, the lower, owing to the doorway occupying the
+central space, of only ten. The lower niches have pedestals, each formed
+of four short columns with detached bases but with large capitals, which
+meet one another above; these capitals are richly carved with foliage.
+No doubt, on the level space thus formed statues at one time stood.
+Woodwork screens with glazed doors and panels, made from an oak screen
+which formerly was placed across the south transept, run across the
+western ends of the choir aisles, so that when the doors of these and of
+the rood screen are locked, the eastern arm of the cross is entirely
+shut off from the rest of the church.
+
+[Illustration: THE ROOD SCREEN.]
+
+[Illustration: STALL SEAT. South Side.]
+
+[Illustration: STALL SEAT. North Side.]
+
+[Illustration: STALL SEAT. North Side.]
+
+The #Choir# is entirely Perpendicular in character, and it seems to
+have been begun in the time of Henry VI. but not to have been completed
+until the time of Henry VII., and some of the carving of the stalls
+is of still later date. Leland says of it, "Baldwin, Earl of Devon,
+was the first founder, and his successors to the time of Isabella de
+Fortibus,[5] and at present the Earls of Salisbury are regarded as
+founders." Four large clerestory windows on either side light the choir.
+The wall beneath these is continued downwards to the floor, but under
+each window a low obtusely-pointed depressed archway is cut leading
+into the aisles. Between the bottom of each clerestory window and the
+heads of these arches the wall is panelled as with window mullions
+and tracery, so that the appearance from the inner side may be best
+understood by imagining that each window extended from floor to roof,
+but that the upper part alone is glazed, the lower cut away for the arch
+leading into the aisle, and the lower lights beneath the transom blocked
+up with masonry. These lower arches are more or less blocked up.
+The Salisbury chapel blocks up the north-eastern one completely; the
+sedilia, no doubt, occupied the opposite one, where now a modern altar
+tomb may be seen. The next on each side to the west is open, and flights
+of steps under them lead down to the aisles; the woodwork at the back
+of the choir stalls close the remaining two on the inside, and on the
+outside chantry chapels, opening one into the north one into the south
+aisle, stand under the second arch on each side counting from the rood
+screen. The upper stalls number in all thirty-six, fifteen on either
+side, and six with their backs to the rood screen. There is, also,
+a lower range of stalls on the north and south. The prior's and
+sub-prior's stalls on either side the doorway in the screen looking
+east are canopied, as also is the precentor's at the east end of the
+south side. The arms of the stalls are quaintly carved with various
+grotesque figures, as are also the misereres; the upper parts of the
+panels behind the upper stalls are also carved in low relief; above
+these is a projecting cornice decorated with pinnacles. The stalls are
+late Perpendicular work, the wainscoting behind the stalls being later
+still, as we can see from the subjects carved on the upper part of each
+panel. Some of the misereres are, however, very old--one dates back to
+about 1200, another to 1300, others are of later date, and most of them
+belong to the same period as the stalls. The older ones were found lying
+about in the lumber of the church, and have been placed in recent years
+in some of the stalls the seats of which had been lost or stolen.
+The older seats may have belonged to the original Norman choir. As the
+term "miserere" may not be understood by all our readers, it may be
+well to quote from Parker's "Glossary of Architecture" the following
+description:--"Miserere, Misericorde, Patience, or Pretella, is the
+projecting bracket on the under-side of the seats of stalls in churches:
+these, where perfect, are fixed with hinges so that they may be turned
+up, and when this is done the projection of the miserere is sufficient,
+without actually forming a seat, to afford very considerable rest to any
+one leaning upon it. They were allowed as a relief to the infirm during
+the long services that were required to be performed by ecclesiastics
+in a standing posture. They are always more or less ornamented with
+carvings of leaves, small figures, animals, etc., which are generally
+very boldly cut. Examples are to be found in almost all ancient churches
+which retain any of the ancient stalls--one of the oldest remaining
+specimens is in Henry VII.'s Chapel at Westminster; it is in the style
+of the thirteenth century." When Parker wrote the last sentence the
+still older miserere now to be seen at Christchurch had not been
+discovered.
+
+    [5] She lived in the latter half of the thirteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: CHOIR STALLS.]
+
+[Illustration: MISERERE ON STALL SEAT. (_Circa_ 1300.) NORTH SIDE.]
+
+It is curious to notice the absence of reverence on the part of the
+mediæval canons, according to our modern notions, that these quaint
+carvings indicate. One might have expected that inside the church the
+subjects would have always been of a sacred nature, rude perhaps, and
+grotesque from their rudeness. Such carvings are found in many places,
+but here at Christchurch we have satirical subjects, caricatures of
+contemporaries, some indeed of so objectionable a character that they
+have been removed of late years. A few examples of these carvings will
+be given. On the arm of one of the stalls a fox is represented preaching
+to a flock of geese, a cock acting as clerk. On one of the misereres we
+have a pair of devils somewhat resembling monkeys tempting an angel, a
+goose bringing an offering on a plate to a quaint figure, a man with
+a hatchet employed in carving, a man with a hole in the back of his
+garments fastened with a pin, besides various animals, fishes, mermaids,
+and monsters. On the wainscoting we have the heads of Henry VII., Henry
+VIII., Catharine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Cardinal Campeggio, the King of
+Scots, and the Duchess of Burgundy, who assisted Perkin Warbeck in his
+attempt to gain the crown of England, and two canons disputing over a
+cup, which is placed between their faces. This last carving probably has
+some reference to the granting of the cup to the laity in time of Henry
+VIII.
+
+[Illustration: THE CHOIR.]
+
+The vaulting of the choir is of a somewhat unusual character: the
+pendants are especially worthy of notice. It is difficult to describe
+the manner in which they are placed, but the illustration shows their
+character and position. The short connecting ribs of the vaulting form
+a stellated cross over the presbytery. Some colour may still be seen on
+the carved work of this portion of the church, and the initials of
+William Eyre, prior 1502-1520, appear on the bosses.
+
+[Illustration: THE REREDOS.]
+
+The east wall of the presbytery contains no window, but is occupied by
+a beautiful stone reredos carved with a representation of the tree of
+Jesse. It is divided into three tiers with five compartments in each,
+the central one wider than the two on either side; the space above it
+and beneath the vaulting is occupied by a wall, in which a doorway now
+blocked up may be seen. The outer compartments of the lowest tier
+contain doors leading to a platform behind the reredos; between them
+stands an oak altar, the gift of A. N. Welby Pugin in 1831. Above the
+altar in the central compartment Jesse lies asleep, on the left hand
+David plays upon his harp, on the right sits Solomon deeply meditating.
+Above Jesse we have in one carving an amalgamated representation of the
+birth of Christ and the visit of the Wise Men. On the left hand sits the
+Virgin Mary with her Child, fully clothed in a long garment, not wrapped
+in swaddling clothes, standing in her lap; behind her stands a man,
+probably Joseph; and before her kneels one of the Wise Men offering
+his gift of gold in the form of a plain tankard; on the right behind
+him stand his two fellows, one carrying a pot of myrrh, the other
+a boat-shaped vessel, probably intended for a censer containing
+frankincense. On a bracket above the head of the kneeling Wise Man,
+the shepherds kneel in adoration; nor are the flocks that they were
+tending forgotten, for several sheep may be seen on a hill-top above
+their heads. Thirty-two small figures may be counted in niches in the
+buttresses dividing the compartments; crockets, finials, and pinnacles
+decorate the various canopies over the carvings. This reredos is
+apparently of late Decorated date, and therefore earlier than the
+fifteenth-century choir. Possibly it was an addition to the Norman choir
+before this was removed to make room for the existing one. Mr Ferrey
+was of opinion that it may have once stood across the nave between the
+second piers from the east, thus forming a reredos for the western part
+of the nave, which was used as the church of the parish. Below the
+presbytery is a Norman crypt, now converted into a vault for the
+Malmesbury family. It has already been mentioned that there are doors
+on either side of the altar, leading to a kind of gallery or platform
+behind the reredos; these were designed to allow certain ceremonial
+compassings of the altar, and it is possible that steps led down from
+the platform to the ambulatory. On the east side of these doorways
+there are corbel heads under the arches, and the walls of the platform
+are panelled. Within the altar rails is a slab bearing the name of
+Baldwin IV., the seventh Earl of Devon. On the south side is the
+monument of Lady Fitzharris, who died in 1815; it is a statue by Flaxman
+representing the Lady teaching her two sons from the Bible. Farther to
+the east is the altar tomb of the Countess of Malmesbury, who died in
+1877, occupying the place of the sedilia; and on the north the exquisite
+chantry of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, the last bearer of the royal
+name of Plantagenet, whose tragic fate and horrible execution is one
+of the foulest stains on the memory of Henry VIII. She was the daughter
+of "false, fleeting, perjured Clarence" and of the kingmaker's eldest
+daughter Isabella, and was mother of the celebrated Reginald Pole who,
+being ordained deacon at the age of sixteen, was appointed Dean of
+Wimborne a year later, and rose in time to the high rank of
+Cardinal-Archbishop of Canterbury, and played an important part in
+history in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Mary. She erected this lovely
+chantry as her last resting-place, wishing to lie after her troublous
+life in this quiet spot, but it was not so to be. Her son, by the
+publication on the Continent of a violent attack on Henry VIII.,
+incensed the king to such an extent that he laid his hands on all the
+kindred of the Poles he could find in England; some were tried and
+executed, others attainted without trial, among them the Countess of
+Salisbury, who was at the time over seventy years of age. She refused to
+lay her head upon the block, and the headsman hacked at her neck as she
+stood erect; her body was not allowed to be buried in the chantry which
+she had erected for herself,--so far did the spite of Henry go,--but she
+lies among the ambitious and unfortunate, the aspiring, and unsuccessful
+of many a sect and party in the cemetery of St Peter's Chapel in the
+Tower. Hers was an ill-starred race. Her grandfather was slain at
+Barnet, 1471; her father murdered by his brother Edward IV., 1478; her
+own brother, the Earl of Warwick, imprisoned by Henry VII., and
+subsequently beheaded on Tower Hill, 1499; her eldest son, Lord Montagu,
+was executed for high treason; and Margaret herself met a like fate on
+May 27, 1541.
+
+[Illustration: THE SALISBURY CHANTRY.]
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE SALISBURY CHANTRY.]
+
+Her chantry is built of Caen stone, and the decoration is of Renaissance
+character. It is conjectured to be the work of the Florentine sculptor
+Pietro Torrigiano, who died in the prison of the Inquisition in Spain in
+1522. He was engaged on Henry VII.'s tomb in Westminster, and other
+works ordered by Henry VIII. at Westminster and Windsor, from 1509 till
+1517; and if this chantry at Christchurch is his design the date must
+lie between these two years. Two four-light windows with battlemented
+transoms look out on either side; to the west of these two doorways
+lead, one to the presbytery the other to the north aisle; on the east
+wall are three canopied niches, beneath which an altar stood or was
+intended to stand; the ceiling is richly carved with fan traceries and
+bosses; the latter have been mutilated--by order, it is said, of Henry
+VIII. A letter from the King's Commissioner thus describes the work
+done:--"In thys churche we founde a chaple and a monumet curiosly made
+of cane stone p^rpared by the late mother of Raynolde Pole for herre
+buriall, which we have causyd to be defaced and all the Armis and Badgis
+to be delete." On the north side are twelve tabernacles. This chapel
+stands on a richly carved panelled basement, and all the walls are
+covered with minute carving; but here, as elsewhere, in late work we
+find the same forms repeated again and again, and we miss that wealth
+of fancy which gives each boss or capital carved by the earlier workers
+such a life and individuality. The side of this chapel that faces the
+north aisle is more elaborate than that facing the choir, and is
+necessarily more lofty, as its base rests on the floor of the aisle,
+which is lower than the floor of the presbytery. On the west face is
+one of several memorial tablets to members of the Rose family, who are
+buried in this aisle.
+
+In the north choir aisle, at the western end, may be seen a kind of
+small museum of fragments from various parts of the church, collected at
+the time of the restoration, among them some bosses from the vaulting of
+the south transept, destroyed about a hundred years ago, and fragments
+of a Norman font. The vaulting of this and the corresponding aisle on
+the south side is of the same character as that of the choir, but is
+somewhat plainer, and is not decorated with crosses or pendants.
+On the south side of this aisle is a late Perpendicular chantry, built
+in accordance with the will of Sir William Berkeley, dated 1486, to
+commemorate himself and his wife. Part of the inscription ... ARMIGERI
+MARGARETE QUE CONSOR ... can still be read on the frieze; on its flat
+ceiling are painted two large roses, one white, one red; it contains two
+brackets for cruets; over the entrance to it is placed an oval memorial
+tablet to one John Cook, who died in 1787. Eastward of this is the
+Salisbury chapel already described. On the north wall of the aisle is a
+monument, consisting of an altar-tomb with a front of carved quatrefoils
+and a purbeck slab, dating about 1550. The canopy over it is later, and
+the coat of arms beneath it is that of Robert White of Hadlow, Kent, who
+is commemorated on a board at the west end of the church as a benefactor
+who left £100 in land for the poor in 1619, thus fixing the date of this
+portion of the tomb. The scroll beneath the arms has the initials R. W.,
+and the motto "Suffer in Tym." A chantry is formed at the eastern end of
+the aisle by the western end of the north wall of the Lady Chapel. It
+contains an altar tomb with the recumbent figures of Sir John Chidioke,
+a Dorset knight, slain in 1449 in the Wars of the Roses, and his wife.
+This monument has occupied its present position only from 1791,--it
+previously stood in the north transept.
+
+[Illustration: THE DRAPER CHANTRY.]
+
+The east end of the south choir aisle is occupied by the chantry chapel
+of John Draper II., the last of the priors and titular bishop of
+Neapolis in Palestine, near the ancient Shechem in Samaria; it is dated
+1529, and is formed by a screen of Caen stone stretching across the
+aisle. There is a central doorway with a depressed arch at the top, and
+canopied niches over it, and on either side are two transomed four-light
+unglazed windows under arches of the same character as that over the
+doorway; along the top of the screen runs a battlemented parapet. Within
+the chantry, on the south wall, is a very beautiful piscina, the finest
+in the church. Just outside the screen is a square-headed doorway.
+Along the south wall of this aisle, as along the north wall of the
+corresponding north aisle, a stone bench-table runs. On the north side
+the panelled wall on which the Countess of Malmesbury's altar tomb
+stands is decorated with carvings of angels; the largest of these holds
+a shield with a death's-head. Farther to the west, beyond the steps
+leading down from the choir, is a Perpendicular chantry, known as the
+Harys chantry; it has open tracery above cusped panels, canopied niches,
+and a panelled bench table. Robert Harys was rector of Shrowston, and
+died in 1525; his rebus, a hare under the letter R, may be seen on the
+panels. On the opposite side of the aisle is the doorway leading into
+what is known as the #sacristy#. This is a thirteenth-century addition
+to the church, and is of irregular shape, as it is wedged in, as it
+were, between the apsidal chapel on the east side of the transept and
+the south wall of the choir aisle. In the south wall are triple sedilia
+with Purbeck shafts and foliated heads; in the north wall is a square
+opening or squint.
+
+[Illustration: PISCINA IN THE DRAPER CHANTRY.]
+
+[Illustration: THE SACRISTY.]
+
+Behind the reredos is an ambulatory or processional path; from this may
+be seen, over the archway leading into the south aisle, the end of the
+"miraculous beam," lengthened, according to the legend, by Christ, when
+He appeared as a workman and took part in the building of the original
+church. How this came to be preserved, and how it came to occupy a
+position amidst the latest work in the church, is not recorded. The Lady
+Chapel is very beautiful Perpendicular work; it had its own altar and
+reredos under the east window. The reredos is much mutilated, but
+besides the part that is still attached to the wall, there are many
+loose fragments now set up on the altar. This is a slab of Purbeck
+stone, 11 ft. in length and 3 ft. 10 ins in breadth. On the north and
+south sides of the altar are the tombs of Thomas, Lord West, and Lady
+Alice West, his mother. These tombs are of Purbeck marble and of a form
+by no means uncommon in the churches of Wessex. The ten shafts
+supporting the canopy of the tomb on the north still remain; from the
+other tomb such shafts as it had have disappeared. Thomas, Lord West,
+died in 1406, his mother in 1395: these dates fix within reasonable
+limits the date of the building of the Lady Chapel. Thomas West, in his
+will, directs that his body should be buried in the "_New_ Chapel of Our
+Lady in the Mynster of Christchurch." It is noteworthy to remark that
+the original arcading is cut away to make room for this monument, so
+that the chapel had been finished before he died. Both Sir Thomas West
+and his mother were benefactors to the church. Besides other bequests of
+money towards the building fund and for perpetual masses, each of them
+gave about £18 for the singing of 4500 masses within six months of the
+day of their deaths. On the south side of the chapel is the original
+doorway leading into the canons' burial-ground; a corresponding door is
+to be seen on the north side. The splays of the arches of the windows
+are elaborately ornamented with panelling. The arcading under the
+window, a series of ogee arches, is worthy of notice. The tattered
+colours of the "Loyal Christchurch Volunteers," one of the earliest
+regiments of volunteers, which was enrolled in 1793, hang at the
+entrance to the Lady Chapel. The vaulting is of the same character as
+that of the choir, with curious pendants in the form of church lanterns.
+
+[Illustration: THE MIRACULOUS BEAM.]
+
+[Illustration: THE TOMB OF THOMAS, LORD WEST.]
+
+[Illustration: THE LADY CHAPEL.]
+
+[Illustration: ST MICHAEL'S LOFT.]
+
+#St Michael's Loft# is reached by long flights of steps running up the
+turrets described in the last chapter. It is a plain, low room with a
+low-pitched tie-beam roof of oak. It was once a chapel, as the piscina
+in the east wall clearly shows. The site of the altar is now occupied by
+a disused desk of the character familiar to us in our own school days
+some half-a-century ago; it is a sort of pew with doors, within which
+the master sat enthroned and ramparted. This room was used as a public
+grammar school from 1662 till 1828, and subsequently as a private
+school, which was finally closed in 1869. The boys went to this school
+and returned from it by the staircase on the north side which has an
+entrance from the churchyard; the stairs on the south side were used
+when anyone had occasion to go into the church or to go from it to the
+room above.
+
+An upper chamber or chapel is an uncommon feature in England. Remains of
+staircases give rise to the conjecture that there was a similar chapel
+over the Lady Chapel at Chester, and somewhat similar erections are to
+be met with on the Continent; but Christchurch Priory is unique in
+possessing such a perfect specimen. The dedication of the upper storey
+to St Michael, the conductor of souls to Paradise, is appropriate.
+Churches built in elevated positions were frequently dedicated to him,
+and few if any mediæval churches dedicated to this archangel are to be
+met with on low-lying ground.
+
+Under the western tower stands a modern font. The fragments of a
+Norman font, with carvings representing various incidents in the
+life of Christ, may be seen, preserved in the north choir aisle. The
+fifteenth-century successor has been removed to Bransgore Church, four
+miles off.
+
+Against the north wall of the tower stands the monument of the poet
+Shelley, the work of the sculptor Weekes. Needless to say, it is but
+a cenotaph. The "heart of hearts," "Cor Cordium," and the ashes of the
+poet cremated on the Tuscan shore, lie far away, hard by the pyramid
+of Caius Cestius, in the grave where the loving hands of Trelawney laid
+them in 1823. Here we have an ideal representation of the finding of the
+drowned body--not a pleasing one, but less ghastly than the reality; and
+below the inscription which tells his name and the number of his years
+and the manner of his death, the following stanza from his own "Adonais"
+may be read:--
+
+   "He hath out-soared the shadow of our night:
+    Envy and calumny and hate and pain,
+    And that unrest which men miscall delight,
+    Can touch him not and torture not again;
+    From the contagion of the world's slow stain
+    He is secure, and now can never mourn
+    A heart grown cold, a head grown grey in vain,
+    Nor, when the spirit's self has ceased to burn
+    With sparkless ashes load an unlamented urn."
+
+The choice of Christchurch Priory as the site for this monument was due
+to the fact that the poet's son, Sir Percy Florence Shelley, who erected
+it, lived at Boscombe Manor, between Christchurch and Bournemouth.
+
+The tower contains a peal of eight bells. These are all old; the fifth
+and sixth bells have fourteenth-century inscriptions round their crowns,
+the others appear to have been cast early in the fifteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: THE SHELLEY MONUMENT.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+DEANS OF THE SECULAR COLLEGE
+
+   1. Ralf Flambard, afterwards Bishop of Durham.
+   2. Godric.
+   3. Gilbert de Dousgunels.
+   4. Peter de Oglander.
+   5. Randulphus.
+   6. Hilary, afterwards Bishop of Chichester.
+
+
+PRIORS OF THE AUGUSTINIAN COLLEGE
+
+   1. Reginald, 1150.
+   2. Ralph.
+   3. Peter, 1195. He built the clerestory and carried out other Early
+      English work.
+   4. Roger, 1225.
+   5. Richard.
+   6. Nicholas de Wareham.
+   7. Nicholas de Sturminster.
+   8. John de Abingdon, 1272.
+   9. William de Netheravon, 1278.
+  10. Richard Maury, 1286.
+  11. William Quenton, 1302.
+  12. Walter Tholveshide, 1317.
+  13. Edmund de Ramsbury, 1323. During his time Bishop Stratford's
+      Injunctions were issued, 1325. See page 129.
+  14. Richard de Queteshorne, 1337.
+  15. Robert de Leyghe, 1340.
+  16. William Tyrewache, 1345.
+  17. Henry Eyre, 1357. He became blind in 1367 and was allowed a
+      coadjutor.
+  18. John Wodenham, 1376.
+  19. John Borard, 1398. During his time Archbishop Arundel issued
+      Injunctions, 1404. See page 130.
+  20. Thomas Talbot, 1413.
+  21. John Wimborne, 1420.
+  22. William Norton.
+  23. John Dorchester.
+  24. John Draper I., 1477. Bishop Langton's Injunctions were issued
+      during his tenure of the priory.
+  25. William Eyre, 1502. During his time the choir was completed.
+  26. John Draper II. He surrendered the priory to Henry VIII.'s
+      commissioners, 1539, and was allowed to retain Somerford Grange
+      for life, and received a pension of £133, 6s. 8d. He died in
+      1552, and was buried in the nave near the entrance to the choir.
+
+
+VICARS OF CHRISTCHURCH
+
+By the council of Arles 1261, religious orders that held parish churches
+were bound to supply vicars to officiate. These were appointed by the
+canons, and were taken from their own body.
+
+The names of many of these are known. The 13th was Robert Harys, whose
+chantry stands in the south choir aisle; he died in 1325. In the time of
+the 15th, William Trapnell, the church was granted by Henry VIII. to the
+parishioners, 32nd year of Henry VIII. In the time of the 17th, Robert
+Newman, an inventory of the property was made by order of Edward VI.'s
+commissioner. John Imber, the 21st vicar, was expelled by the Parliament
+from 1647-1660, but was restored to his preferment in the same year as
+Charles II. gained the throne. The present vicar is the 32nd.
+
+
+STRATFORD'S INJUNCTIONS, 1325
+
+1. Every canon save the seneschal and cellarer must attend Matins, High
+Mass, and the Hours. The seneschal, if present in the priory for two
+nights together, must attend one Matins, and the cellarer must be
+present at service on alternate nights at least.
+
+2. Six canons must be enrolled for celebrating Our Lady's Mass; the
+prior must celebrate on all great feasts at High Mass, and on Saturdays
+at Our Lady's Mass, and must wear a surplice not a rochet.
+
+3. Canons in priests' orders must celebrate daily, those who are not
+must repeat eleven Psalms with a Litany or Psalter of Our Lady every
+day.
+
+4. Four confessors must be appointed to hear the confessions of the
+canons.
+
+5. Latin or French must be the languages spoken.
+
+6. No one save the prior or officers, without special leave, must ride
+or leave the Priory.
+
+7. Two-thirds of the canons must dine daily in the refectory; the door
+must be kept by a secular watchman whose duty it is to remove servants
+and idle people from the door during dinner; the almoner must prevent
+any canon carrying his commons to the laundry-people or people of the
+town.
+
+8. All the canons must sleep in the dormitory, each in his own bed.
+
+9. The infirmary must be visited daily by the prior or sub-prior.
+
+10. Two canons must act as treasurers, and a yearly account must be
+presented.
+
+11. The common seal must be kept under four locks, and documents sealed
+in full chapter, not as heretofore during Mass.
+
+12. Canons must not play at chess or draughts, nor keep hounds or arms
+(save in the custody of the prior), nor have a servant (save when on a
+journey), nor write nor receive letters without leave. The prior may
+keep hounds outside the priory buildings.
+
+
+ARCHBISHOP ARUNDEL'S INJUNCTIONS, 1404
+
+No. 1. Ordered the destruction of an old hall and an adjoining chamber
+known as the sub-prior's hall after the departure of Sir Thomas West its
+then occupier, as noblemen were in the habit of occupying it to the
+great disturbance of the order and the keeping open of gates which ought
+to be closed.
+
+No. 2. Enjoined the building of a house for the proecentor, and a new
+chamber for the sick.
+
+No. 3. Ordered the setting apart of a chamber for recreation apart from
+the infirmary (it may be supposed that the canons during recreation
+hours were noisy, thereby disturbing the sick).
+
+No. 4. Directed the provision of separate studies for the canons. It
+would appear that nobles, such as the Montacutes and Wests, put the
+priory to such great expense by taking up their abode, together with
+their retainers, in the domestic part of the buildings.
+
+
+THE NORMAN CASTLE
+
+Very little of the castle erected by Richard de Redvers, who died in
+1137, remains; but on an artificial mound at no great distance to the
+north of the Priory Church stand fragments of the east and west walls of
+the square Norman keep, about 20 feet high and 10 feet thick. The castle
+belonged to the De Redvers, Earls of Devon, till they were alienated to
+the crown in the 9th year of Edward I. (1280), the last earl having died
+in 1263, though the last female descendant lived till 1293. In 1331,
+Edward III. granted the castle and land to William de Montacute, Earl of
+Salisbury; after the execution of John de Montacute in 1400 for the part
+he took in the plots against the new king, Henry IV., Sir Thomas West,
+who lies buried in the Lady Chapel, was appointed constable. He died in
+1405, then Thomas, Earl of Salisbury, held the castle till 1428. After
+this it was held by various persons, and we find a constable of the
+Lordship of Christchurch as late as 1656. The manor held by the De
+Redvers, and then by the Montacutes, passed through various hands. Among
+the holders we may notice the Nevilles, hence the connection with the
+Priory of the ill-fated Margaret, the kingmaker's granddaughter, who was
+Countess of Salisbury in her own right, the Earl of Clarendon, Sir
+George Rose, and the present owner, the Earl of Malmesbury, who obtained
+it in 1862.
+
+In early days the bailiff of the de Redvers regulated all markets,
+fairs, tolls, and fines, and had the right of preemption and sat as
+judge in the tenants' court. Edward I. relieved the burgesses of
+Christchurch from all arbitrary exactions, and established a fixed
+fee-farm rent instead. The castle was taken for the Parliament by Sir
+William Waller with 300 men on April 7, 1644.
+
+A little to the north-east of the castle stand the remains of one of
+the few Norman houses that have come down to the present time. It is
+thus described in the first volume of "The Domestic Architecture of the
+Middle Ages" by Turner and Parker, pp. 38, 39. This volume was published
+in 1851. "At Christchurch, in Hampshire, is the ruin of a Norman house,
+rather late in the style, with good windows of two lights and a round
+chimney shaft.[6] The plan, as before, is a simple oblong; the principal
+room appears to have been on the first floor. It is situated on the bank
+of the river near to the church, and still more close to the mound,
+which is said to have been the keep of the castle; being between that
+and the river, it could not well have been placed in a situation of
+greater security. Whether it formed part of another series of buildings
+or not, it was a perfect house in itself, and its character is strictly
+domestic. It is about seventy feet long, and twenty-four broad, its
+walls, like those of the keep, being exceedingly thick. On the ground
+floor are a number of loop-holes: the ascent to the upper storey was by
+a stone staircase, part of which remains; the ground floor was divided
+by a wall, but the upper storey seems to have been a long room, lighted
+by three double windows on each side; near the centre of the east wall,
+next the river, is a large fireplace, to which the round chimney before
+mentioned belongs. At the north end, there appears to have been a large
+and handsome window of which part of the arch and shafts remain, and
+there is a small circular window in the south gable. From what remains
+of the ornamental part of this building, it appears to have been
+elegantly finished and cased with squared stones, most of which are,
+however, now taken away. There is a small projecting tower, calculated
+for a flank, under which the water runs; it has loopholes both on the
+north and east fronts, these walls are extremely thick. By the ruins of
+several walls, there were some ancient buildings at right angles to this
+hall, stretching away towards the keep. This was probably part of the
+residence of Baldwin de Redvers, Earl of Devon, to whom the manor of
+Christchurch belonged about the middle of the twelfth century."[7]
+
+    [6] Since rebuilt.
+
+    [7] Grove's "Antiquities," vol. ii. p. 178.
+
+[Illustration: REMAINS OF THE NORMAN HOUSE.]
+
+This building is much overgrown with ivy, which by a comparison of the
+illustration given in the work just quoted with its present condition,
+as represented in the photograph here reproduced, has increased
+considerably during the last fifty years. It is due to the memory of the
+Rev. William Jackson, who was vicar of Christchurch from 1778 to 1802,
+that it should be recorded that he saved this valuable relic of Norman
+domestic architecture from destruction. He was evidently imbued with a
+spirit of love for antiquity by no means common a hundred years ago, and
+far too rare even at the present day.
+
+
+DIMENSIONS OF CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+
+  Extreme length                       311 feet.
+  Length of Nave                       118  "    9 inches.
+  Width of Nave                         58  "    5    "
+  Height of Nave                        58  "
+  Length of Transept                   101  "    2    "
+  Width of Transept                     24  "    4    "
+  Length of Choir                       70  "
+  Width of Choir with Aisles            60  "    6    "
+  Height of Choir                       63  "
+  Length of side of Tower, E. to W.     27  "    9    "
+    "        "        "    N. to S.     22  "    4    "
+  Height of Tower                      120  "
+  Length of Lady Chapel                 36  "    4    "
+  Width of Lady Chapel                  21  "    1    "
+  Length of St Michael's Loft           58  "    3    "
+  Width of St Michael's Loft            19  "    7    "
+
+  AREA                              18,300 sq. feet.
+
+
+
+
+PLANS
+
+
+[Illustration: PLAN OF WIMBORNE MINSTER]
+
+[Illustration: PLAN OF CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY]
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+  Page  5: "commemerated" corrected to "commemorated."
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS: WIMBORNE MINSTER
+AND CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY***
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+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" />
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Bell's Cathedrals: Wimborne Minster and Christchurch Priory, by Thomas Perkins</title>
+<style type="text/css">
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Bell's Cathedrals: Wimborne Minster and
+Christchurch Priory, by Thomas Perkins</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: Bell's Cathedrals: Wimborne Minster and Christchurch Priory</p>
+<p>       A Short History of Their Foundation and a Description of Their Buildings</p>
+<p>Author: Thomas Perkins</p>
+<p>Release Date: October 9, 2006  [eBook #19511]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS: WIMBORNE MINSTER AND CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia,<br />
+    and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
+    (http://www.pgdp.net/)</h4>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pagei" name="pagei"></a>[i]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 6em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h1>
+    WIMBORNE MINSTER
+<br />
+<span style="font-size: 65%;">AND</span>
+<br />
+CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+</h1>
+
+<h2>
+A SHORT HISTORY OF THEIR<br />
+FOUNDATION AND DESCRIPTION<br />
+OF THEIR BUILDINGS
+</h2>
+
+<p class="center">BY THE </p>
+
+<h3>  REV. THOMAS PERKINS </h3>
+
+<p class="center">
+M.A., F.R.A.S. <br />
+RECTOR OF TURNWORTH, DORSET
+</p>
+
+<p class="center">
+ WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM <br />
+ PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE  <br />
+ AUTHOR
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0001"><!--IMG--></a>
+<img src="images/image01.png" width="300" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="center">
+LONDON GEORGE BELL &amp; SONS 1902
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pageii" name="pageii"></a>[ii]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<p class="center">
+<i>First Edition 1899</i>
+<br />
+<i>Second Edition, Revised, 1902</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pageiii" name="pageiii"></a>[iii]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2H_4_0001" id="h2H_4_0001" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    AUTHOR'S PREFACE
+</h2>
+<p>
+When writing the chapters of the present volume which treat of Wimborne
+Minster, the author consulted the last edition of Hutchins' "History of
+Dorset," which contains a considerable amount of somewhat ill-arranged
+information on the subject, verifying all the descriptions by actual
+examination of the building; similarly, when preparing the part of
+this volume dealing with Christchurch Priory, he made some use of
+"The Memorials of Christchurch Twynham," written originally by the Rev.
+Mackenzie Walcott, F.S.A., and revised after his death in 1880 by Mr B.
+Edmund Ferrey, F.S.A. He also consulted papers on the subject that have
+appeared from time to time in various periodicals and MSS. that were
+kindly placed at his disposal by the Secretary of the Society for the
+Protection of Ancient Buildings.
+</p>
+<p>
+He desires to express his thanks to the Vicars of the two churches
+for permission to thoroughly examine every part of the buildings,
+and to photograph them without let or hindrance; he also wishes to bear
+testimony to the readiness shown by the clerks and vergers in imparting
+local information and in facilitating his photographic work.
+</p>
+
+<p class="right">T. P. </p>
+
+<p>
+<i>October</i> 1899.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pageiv" name="pageiv"></a>[iv]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<!-- [Blank Page] -->
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pagev" name="pagev"></a>[v]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2H_TOC" id="h2H_TOC" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CONTENTS
+</h2>
+
+<table width="90%" summary="Table of Contents">
+<tr><td colspan="2"><h3>WIMBORNE MINSTER</h3></td></tr>
+<tr><td></td><td class="tocr">PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#page3"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span> I.&mdash;History of the Building</a></td><td class="tocr">3</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page5">Date of Foundation</a></td><td class="tocr"> 5 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page8">The Norman Church</a></td><td class="tocr"> 8, 9 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page10">Alterations in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries</a></td><td class="tocr">10, 11 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page11">Alterations in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries</a></td><td class="tocr">11, 12 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page14">Modern Restorations</a></td><td class="tocr"> 14 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#page16"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span> II.&mdash;The Exterior</a></td><td class="tocr">16 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page16">The Central Tower</a></td><td class="tocr">16 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page22">The North Porch</a></td><td class="tocr">22 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page24">The East Window</a></td><td class="tocr">24 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page25">The Sundial</a></td><td class="tocr">25 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page25">The South Porch</a></td><td class="tocr">25 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page26">The Western Tower</a></td><td class="tocr">26 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#page29"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span> III.&mdash;The Interior</a></td><td class="tocr">29 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page29">The North Porch</a></td><td class="tocr">29 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page29">The Aisles</a></td><td class="tocr">29, 38 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page33">The Clerestory</a></td><td class="tocr">33 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page34">The Central Tower</a></td><td class="tocr">34 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page38">The Transepts</a></td><td class="tocr">38 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page42">The East End, Choir and Presbytery</a></td><td class="tocr">42 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page44">Sedilia and Piscina</a></td><td class="tocr">44 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page42">The Beaufort and Courtenay Tombs and Brass of Aethelred</a></td><td class="tocr">42, 47 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page48">The South Choir Aisle and Etricke Tomb</a></td><td class="tocr">48 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page52">The North Choir Aisle and Uvedale Monument</a></td><td class="tocr">50, 51 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page52">The Crypt, Vestry, and Library</a></td><td class="tocr">52 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page59">Deans of Wimborne</a></td><td class="tocr">59 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#page60"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span> IV.&mdash;St Margaret's Hospital</a></td><td class="tocr">60 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page64">Dimensions of Wimborne Minster</a></td><td class="tocr">64 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2"><h3>CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY</h3></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#page67"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span> I.&mdash;History of the Building</a></td><td class="tocr">67 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page68">Foundation</a></td><td class="tocr">68 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page70">The Norman Church</a></td><td class="tocr">70 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page71">Alterations in the Thirteenth Fifteenth Centuries</a></td><td class="tocr">71 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page72">Modern Alterations</a></td><td class="tocr">72 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pagevi" name="pagevi"></a>[vi]</span>
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#page76"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span> II.&mdash;The Exterior</a></td><td class="tocr">76 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page76">The Western Tower</a> </td><td class="tocr">76 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page80">The North Porch</a> </td><td class="tocr">80 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page80">The North Aisle</a> </td><td class="tocr">80 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page82">The North Transept</a> </td><td class="tocr">82 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page84">The Choir, Presbytery, and Lady Chapel</a> </td><td class="tocr">84 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page88">The South Transept</a> </td><td class="tocr">88 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page88">The Nave</a> </td><td class="tocr">88 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page89">The Porter's Lodge, and Sites of the Domestic Buildings</a> </td><td class="tocr">89 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#page92"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span> III.&mdash;The Interior</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 92 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page92">The Nave</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 92-98 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page98">The Aisles</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 98 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page100">The Transepts</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 100 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page102">The Rood Screen</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 105 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page106">The Choir</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 106 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page108">The Choir Stalls</a> </td><td class="tocr">108-110 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page112">The Reredos</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 112 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page116">The Salisbury Chantry</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 116 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page118">The Draper Chantry</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 118 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page120">The Lady Chapel, and the "Miraculous Beam"</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 120 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page126">St Michael's Loft</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 126 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page126">The Shelley Monument</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 126 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#page128"><span class="smcap">Chapter</span> IV.&mdash;Deans, Priors, and Vicars of Christchurch</a> </td><td class="tocr">128 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page129">Stratford's Injunctions</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 129 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page130">Archbishop Arundel's Injunctions</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 130 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page131">The Norman Castle</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 131 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page132">The Norman House</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 132 </td></tr>
+<tr><td class="toci"><a href="#page134">Dimensions of Christchurch Priory</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 134 </td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="pagevii" name="pagevii"></a>[vii]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2H_LIST" id="h2H_LIST" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+</h2>
+
+<h3>
+WIMBORNE MINSTER
+</h3>
+
+<table width="90%" summary="List of Illustrations">
+<tr><td> </td><td class="tocr">PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0001">Arms of Wimborne and Christchurch</a> </td><td class="tocr"><i>Title page</i> </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0002">Wimborne Minster from the North-East</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 2 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0003">Wimborne Minster in 1840</a> </td><td class="tocr"> 3 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0004">Wimborne Minster in 1707. (From a copperplate in the Library)</a> </td><td class="tocr">13 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0005">The Minster from the South-East before 1891</a> </td><td class="tocr">19 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0006">The North Transept before 1891</a> </td><td class="tocr">21 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0006a">The East Window</a> </td><td class="tocr">23 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0007">The Western Tower</a> </td><td class="tocr">27 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0008">The Interior, looking East</a> </td><td class="tocr">30 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0008a">Pier and Arch-Spring, South Arcade</a> </td><td class="tocr">31 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0008b">Decorated Arch in the Nave</a> </td><td class="tocr">32 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0008c">Clerestory Stage of the Central Tower</a> </td><td class="tocr">35 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0008d">The Tower Arches</a> </td><td class="tocr">36 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0009">North Transept and Crossing</a> </td><td class="tocr">37 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0010">Thirteenth-Century Piscina, South Transept</a> </td><td class="tocr">39 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0011">Choir Stalls</a> </td><td class="tocr">40 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0012">West View from the Choir</a> </td><td class="tocr">41 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0012a">The East Window</a> </td><td class="tocr">43 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0013">Sedilia</a> </td><td class="tocr">44 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0013a">The Beaufort Tomb</a> </td><td class="tocr">45 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0014">Brass of Aethelred</a> </td><td class="tocr">46 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0015">The Etricke Tomb</a> </td><td class="tocr">49 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0016">Ancient Chest</a> </td><td class="tocr">50 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0017">The Uvedale Monument</a> </td><td class="tocr">51 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0018">Entrance to Crypt</a> </td><td class="tocr">53 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0018a">The Library</a> </td><td class="tocr">54 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0019">The Crypt</a> </td><td class="tocr">55 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0020">The Font</a> </td><td class="tocr">56 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0021">The Clock in the West Tower</a> </td><td class="tocr">57 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0022">St Margaret's Hospital</a> </td><td class="tocr">61 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="2"><h3>CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY</h3></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0023">Christchurch Priory from the Bridge</a> </td><td class="tocr">66 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0024">Christchurch Priory from the North-East</a> </td><td class="tocr">77 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0024a">Tower Door</a> </td><td class="tocr">78 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0025">The North Porch</a> </td><td class="tocr">79 </td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><span class="pagenum"><a id="pageviii" name="pageviii"></a>[viii]</span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0026">The North Door</a> </td><td class="tocr">81 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0026a">The North Transept in 1810</a> </td><td class="tocr">83 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0026b">The North Transept</a> </td><td class="tocr">85 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0027">South Aisle of Nave</a> </td><td class="tocr">87 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0027b">The Nave in 1834</a> </td><td class="tocr">93 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0028">The Nave</a> </td><td class="tocr">95 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0028a">North Arcade of the Nave</a> </td><td class="tocr">96 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#page97">From the North Triforium</a> </td><td class="tocr">97 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#page98">Bay of the Triforium, South Side</a> </td><td class="tocr">98 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0031">South Aisle of the Nave</a> </td><td class="tocr">99 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0032">The Montacute Chantry</a> </td><td class="tocr">101 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0033">North Aisle of the Nave</a> </td><td class="tocr">103 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0034">The Crypt</a> </td><td class="tocr">105 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0035">The Rood Screen</a> </td><td class="tocr">107 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0035a">Stall Seats (3)</a> </td><td class="tocr">108 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0036">Choir Stalls</a> </td><td class="tocr">109 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0037">Miserere on Stall Seat (<i>circa</i> 1300)</a> </td><td class="tocr">110 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0038">The Choir</a> </td><td class="tocr">111 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0039">The Reredos</a> </td><td class="tocr">113 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0040">The Salisbury Chantry</a> </td><td class="tocr">115 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0040a">Interior of the Salisbury Chantry</a> </td><td class="tocr">117 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0041">The Draper Chantry</a> </td><td class="tocr">119 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0042">Piscina in the Draper Chantry</a> </td><td class="tocr">120 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0043">The Sacristy</a> </td><td class="tocr">121 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0043a">The Miraculous Beam</a> </td><td class="tocr">122 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0044">Tomb of Thomas, Lord West</a> </td><td class="tocr">123 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0043b">The Lady Chapel</a> </td><td class="tocr">124 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0045">St Michael's Loft</a> </td><td class="tocr">125 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0046">The Shelley Monument</a> </td><td class="tocr">127 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0047">Remains of the Norman House</a> </td><td class="tocr">133 </td></tr>
+<tr><td><a href="#image-0048"><span class="smcap">Plans</span></a> </td><td class="tocr">136, 137 </td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page1" name="page1"></a>[1]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<!-- [Blank Page] -->
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page2" name="page2"></a>[2]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0002"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image02.jpg"><img src="images/image02_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="WIMBORNE MINSTER FROM THE NORTH-EAST." /></a>
+<br />
+WIMBORNE MINSTER FROM THE NORTH-EAST.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page3" name="page3"></a>[3]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0003"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image03.jpg"><img src="images/image03_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="By Rev. J. L. Petit.] Wimborne Minster in 1840." /></a>
+<br />
+<i>By Rev. J. L. Petit.</i>] <span class="smcap">Wimborne Minster in</span> 1840.
+</div>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2H_4_0004" id="h2H_4_0004" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h1>
+    WIMBORNE MINSTER
+</h1>
+
+<h2>
+    <a name="h2HCH0001" id="h2HCH0001" ></a>
+    CHAPTER I
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    HISTORY OF THE BUILDING
+</h3>
+<p>
+Of the churches connected with the religious houses which once existed
+in the county of Dorset, three only remain to the present day. Of some
+of the rest we have ruins, others have entirely disappeared. But the
+town of Sherborne, once the bishop-stool of the sainted Aldhelm, who
+overlooked a vast diocese comprising a great portion of the West Saxon
+kingdom, has its Abbey now used as its Parish Church. The great Abbey
+of Milton, founded by &AElig;thelstan, has handed down to us its choir and
+transepts&mdash;rebuilt in the fourteenth century, after the former church
+had been destroyed by fire&mdash;and this, though private property, is still
+used for occasional services; and the minster church at Wimborne has
+became the church of the parish of Wimborne Minster.
+</p>
+<p>
+The town has been by many supposed to stand on the site of the Roman
+Vindogladia, though this station has by others been identified with
+Gussage Cowdown, or the circular encampment of Badbury Rings, about
+three miles to the north-west of Wimborne Minster. Be this as it may,
+the district was
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page4" name="page4"></a>[4]</span>
+
+ occupied by the Roman conquerors of our island; and Roman pottery and
+other remains have been found in the neighbourhood, including a small
+portion of pavement beneath the floor of the minster church.
+</p>
+<p>
+The derivation of the name Wimborne, or Winborne as we find it sometimes
+written, has been much disputed; but as we find the same word appearing
+as the name of several other places which lie on the course of the same
+stream, now generally called the Allen, though sometimes the Wim, it is
+highly probable that the name is derived from that of the river.
+Compound names for villages are very common in Dorset&mdash;the first word
+being the name of the river on which the village stands, the second
+being added to distinguish one village from another. Thus we find along
+the Tarrant, villages known as Tarrant Gunville, Tarrant Hinton, Tarrant
+Launceston, Tarrant Monkton, etc.; and along the Winterborne we find
+Winterborne Houghton, Winterborne Stickland, Winterborne Clenstone,
+etc.; and in like manner we meet with Monkton up Wimborne, Wimborne
+Saint Giles, and Wimborne Minster along the course of the Allen. The
+characteristic name of Winterborne for a brook that is such in winter
+only, but is a dried-up bed in a hot summer is borne by two streams in
+Dorset, each giving its name to a string of villages. May not the word
+Wimborne or Winborne be a contraction for this same word Winterborne,
+the "burn" of the rainy winter months, applied to the little stream of
+the Allen, though it cannot now be said to be dry in summer?
+</p>
+<p>
+The small town of Wimborne Minster stands not far from the junction of
+the Allen with the slow-running Dorset Stour, in the midst of pleasant
+fertile meadow-land, from which here and there some low hills rise. Its
+chief glory has been, and probably always will be, its splendid church,
+with its central Norman and its Western Perpendicular towers, its Norman
+and Decorated nave, its Early English choir, and its numerous tombs and
+monuments of those whose names are recorded in the history of the
+country.
+</p>
+<p>
+The exact year of the foundation of the original religious house is
+differently given in various ancient documents: the dates vary from 705
+A.D. to 723 A.D. At this time, Ine was king of the West Saxons; and one
+of his sisters, Cudburh&mdash;or Cuthberga, as her name appears in its
+Latinised form&mdash;was
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page5" name="page5"></a>[5]</span>
+
+ espoused or married to Egfred, or, as he is often called, Osric, the
+Northumbrian king, but the marriage was never consummated, and the lady
+as soon as possible separated from him and retired to the convent at
+Barking, and afterwards founded the convent at Wimborne. Some say that
+she objected to the intemperate habits of her espoused as soon as she
+met him; others, that having previously vowed herself to heaven, she
+persuaded him to release her from the engagement to him, which had been
+arranged without her wishes being consulted. Her sister Quinberga is
+stated to have been associated with her in the foundation of the
+religious house, and both were buried within its precincts, and both
+were afterwards canonised; Saint Cuthberga was commemorated on August
+31st "as a virgin but not a martyr." A special service appointed for the
+day is to be found in a Missal kept in the Library of the Cathedral
+Church at Salisbury, in which the following prayer occurs:&mdash;
+</p>
+<p>
+"Deus qui eximie castitatis privilegio famulam tuam Cuthbergam
+multipliciter decorasti, da nobis famulis tuis ejus promerente
+intercessione utriusque vitae prosperitatem. Ut sicut ejus festivitas
+nobiscum agitur in terris, ita per ejus interventum nostri memoria apud
+te semper habeatur in coelis, per Dominum etc."
+</p>
+<p>
+There is reason to believe that the earliest date given above for the
+foundation (705 A.D.) is the most probable one, as Regner in his tracts
+mentions a letter bearing this date written by Saint Aldhelm, and taken
+from the register of Malmesbury, in which he includes in a list of
+congregations to which he grants liberty of election the monastery at
+Wimborne, presided over by the sister of the king. There is also some
+evidence for the existence of a community of monks at Wimborne, as well
+as of nuns. But of these original religious houses not a trace remains:
+the very position of St Cuthberga's Church is uncertain; we cannot be
+sure that the present building occupies the same site; the last
+resting-places of the two royal foundresses are not even pointed out by
+tradition. Probably the buildings were destroyed, the nuns slain or
+driven out, when the raiding Danes overran Wessex in the ninth century.
+</p>
+<p>
+The next historical event that we meet with in connection with Wimborne
+is the burial of King &AElig;thelred, the brother and immediate predecessor on
+the throne of the great West
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page6" name="page6"></a>[6]</span>
+
+ Saxon king &AElig;lfred. As there is doubt about the year of the foundation by
+Cuthberga, so again there is a conflict of testimony as to the date,
+place, and manner of the death of &AElig;thelred&mdash;the inscription on the brass
+(about which more will be said when we come to describe the interior of
+the minster) not agreeing with the usually accepted date for the
+accession of &AElig;lfred, 871; but as the brass is itself many centuries
+later than the burial of the king whose likeness it professes to bear,
+its authority may well be questioned. Anyhow, &AElig;thelred died either of
+wounds received in some battle with the Danes, in some spot which
+different arch&aelig;ologists have placed in Surrey, Oxford, Berkshire, or
+Wilts, or worn out by his long and arduous exertions while struggling
+with the heathen invaders; and his body&mdash;this alone is certain&mdash;was
+brought to Wimborne for burial. It has been conjectured that &AElig;lfred,
+after he had defeated the Danes and established himself firmly on the
+throne of Wessex, would naturally rebuild the ruined abbey. He founded,
+as we know, an abbey at Shaftesbury; he is recorded to have built at
+Winchester and London; he had undoubtedly a taste for architecture, and
+he was a devout son of Mother Church, so that it is by no means
+improbable that he would erect a church over the grave of his brother:
+but no record of such building remains, and there is no trace of any
+pre-Norman work in the existing minster.
+</p>
+<p>
+The original church and conventual buildings having been swept away by
+the Danes, whether &AElig;lfred restored it or not is uncertain, but it is
+certain that a house of secular canons was established at Wimborne by a
+king of the name of Eadward; but again there is some uncertainty as to
+whether this king was the one who is sometimes called the Eadward the
+Elder, sometimes Eadward the Unconquered, son and successor of &AElig;lfred,
+or Eadward the Confessor. Anyhow, it became a collegiate church and a
+royal free chapel, and as such it is mentioned in Domesday Book, and it
+is noticed as a Deanery in the charters of Henry III. Leland, writing in
+the reign of Henry VIII., says, "It is but of late time that a dean and
+prebendaries were inducted into it." The deanery was in the gift of the
+Crown, and we have a full list of the deans from 1224 up to 1547, when
+it was dissolved. The ecclesiastical establishment consisted of a dean,
+four prebendaries, three
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page7" name="page7"></a>[7]</span>
+
+ vicars, four deacons, and five singing men. It will not be needful to
+give any detailed account of these, as most of them, though in many
+cases they held other more dignified posts,<a href="#note-1" name="noteref-1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> either together with the
+deanery or after resigning it, are not men who have made their mark in
+English history. A few only will here be mentioned, who on account of
+some circumstances connected with the fabric, or for other reasons, are
+more noteworthy.
+</p>
+<p>
+<b>Thomas de Bembre</b>, 1350-1361, founded a chantry and an altar in
+the north part of the north transept, which was added at this time.
+</p>
+<p>
+<b>Reginald Pole</b>, so well known in the history of the reigns of
+Henry VIII. and Queen Mary, was Dean of Wimborne from 1517 till 1537. It
+is remarkable that he was only seventeen years of age at the time of his
+appointment.
+</p>
+<p>
+He was succeeded by <b>Nicholas Wilson</b>, who held the office of dean
+until the dissolution of the deanery in 1547. To him a curious letter
+still existing was addressed in 1538 by certain leading men of the
+parish, though nothing appears to have been done in consequence of it.
+These worthy men complain of the dilapidated state of the church, the
+want of funds to carry out needed repairs, and suggest the taking from
+the church "seynt Cuthborow's hed," and "the sylv' y<sup>t</sup> ys about the same
+hed," which they claim as belonging to the parish on the ground that it
+was made by the charity of the parishioners in times past. "Our
+chyrche," they say, "ys in gret ruyn and decay and our toure ys
+foundered and lyke to fall and ther ys no money left in &otilde; chyrche box
+and by reason of great infyrmyty and deth ther hath byn thys yere in
+oure parysh no chyrche aele, the whych hath hyndred &otilde; chyrch of xx<sup>ti</sup>
+nobles and above, and well it is knowen y<sup>t</sup> we have no land but onely
+the charity of good people, wherfor nyed constraynyth us to sell the
+sylv' y<sup>t</sup> is about the same hed. Besechynge yo<sup>r</sup> mastership to sertefy
+us by y<sup>r</sup> tre wher we may sell the said sylv' to repayr &otilde; chyrche."<a href="#note-2" name="noteref-2"><sup>[2]</sup></a>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page8" name="page8"></a>[8]</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+The names of many of the other ecclesiastics connected with the church
+are known: among these, we need only mention William Lorynge canon, who
+in the time of Richard II. caused the great bell called the Cuthborow
+bell to be made; and Simon Beneson, sacrist, who left land, which is
+called Bell Acre, towards the maintenance and repair of the bells.
+</p>
+<p>
+Among other benefactors of the church was Margaret, Countess of
+Richmond, mother of Henry VII., so well known at Cambridge under the
+name of Lady Margaret, the foundress of Christ's and St John's Colleges.
+She founded at Wimborne the original seminary connected with the
+minster, which afterwards became by a charter of Elizabeth the Grammar
+School of the town, and presented splendid vestments to the church. July
+9th was until the Reformation kept at the minster as a festival to her
+memory, with a special office and High Mass.
+</p>
+<p>
+When the deanery was abolished, Wimborne Minster became a Royal
+Peculiar, under the administration of three priest-vicars elected by the
+Corporation. These served each for a week in turn. The Corporation had
+the power of appointing one of the three vicars&mdash;who was known as the
+"Official"&mdash;to hold courts and grant licences. The court was held in the
+western part of the north aisle, the Official presiding, seated at a
+desk, the two other vicars sitting one on each side of him, while at a
+long table sat the churchwardens, sidesmen, the vestry clerks, and the
+apparitors.
+</p>
+<p>
+The arrangement by which the vicars served the church each in turn
+continued in force until 1876. At that time one of the three vicars
+retired on a pension; another removed to the chapelry of Holt, three
+miles from Wimborne (which had previously been served in turn by the
+vicars of Wimborne), a parsonage having been built for his
+accommodation; and the third became sole vicar of the minster church and
+the parish attached to it.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p>
+For the history of the fabric we have to trust almost entirely to the
+architectural features of the church itself, as documentary evidence is
+unusually scanty.
+</p>
+<p>
+Nothing of earlier date than the twelfth century can be seen in Wimborne
+Minster, but we know pretty accurately, the extent and form of the
+Norman Church; for, during the course
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page9" name="page9"></a>[9]</span>
+
+ of restoration undertaken in the present century, the foundations of
+some parts of this church were discovered beneath the floor of the
+existing building, and other pieces of Norman work formerly concealed,
+and now again concealed beneath plaster, were laid bare. There is one
+interesting feature about the church worthy of notice&mdash;namely, that the
+builders who succeeded one another at the various periods of its history
+did not, as a rule, destroy the work of their predecessors to such an
+extent as we frequently find to have been the case with the builders of
+other churches: possibly this may have been due to the fact that at no
+time was Wimborne Minster a rich foundation. There was no saintly
+shrine, there were no wonder-working relics to attract pilgrims and
+gather the offerings of the faithful and enrich the church in the way in
+which the shrine of Saint Cuthbert enriched Durham, that of the murdered
+archbishop enriched Canterbury, and that of the murdered king enriched
+Gloucester. But, whatever the reason may have been, we can but be
+thankful that the medi&aelig;val builders destroyed so little at Wimborne;
+while we regret that modern restorers have not been as scrupulous in
+preserving the work which they found existing, but have in some
+instances endeavoured to put the church back again into the state in
+which they imagined the fourteenth-century builders left it.
+</p>
+<p>
+We may regard the arches and lower stages of the central tower as the
+oldest part now remaining in its original condition. No doubt the Norman
+choir was the first to be built, as we find that it was almost the
+universal custom to begin churches at the eastern end, and gradually to
+extend the building westward, as funds and time allowed. Here, however,
+as in many other cases, the small Norman choir eastward of the central
+tower in course of time was considered too small, and the eastern
+termination had to be demolished to admit of the desired extension to
+the east. Norman choirs, as a rule, had an apsidal termination to the
+east, and it was not till Early English times that square east ends,
+which were characteristic of the English church in pre-Norman times,
+prevailed again over the Norman custom; and it is worthy of notice that
+this rectangular termination towards the east end remains a marked
+characteristic of the thirteenth-century work in England, Continental
+church-builders having retained
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page10" name="page10"></a>[10]</span>
+
+ the apsidal termination till the Renaissance. The side walls of the
+Norman choir extended two bays to the east of the central tower, and the
+nave four bays westward of the same. The transepts were shorter than at
+present, and the side aisles of the nave narrower. There appear to have
+been two side chapels to the choir, extending as far as the first bay
+eastward; beyond this to the east were two Norman windows on each side:
+these windows, parts of which remain, cut off by the Early English
+arches, were round-headed, and richly ornamented with chevron mouldings.
+They were uncovered at the time of the restoration, but are now again
+hidden by plaster. At the south end of the south transept a low building
+seems to have existed: the walls of this were raised when the south
+transept was lengthened in the fourteenth century. The Norman masonry
+may be seen under the south window of the transept, and a Norman string
+course runs round the sides and ends of the present transept. The aisles
+of the nave were not only narrower, but were also lower, than those now
+existing. It is also probable that these aisles did not originally
+extend as far westward as the nave. The windows of the Norman
+clerestory, which may still be seen from the interior, though all
+similar in design, are not alike in workmanship. The one over the narrow
+eastern bay on either side differs from those over the three bays
+farther to the west. Moreover, a continuous foundation has been
+discovered underneath the three western arches of the Norman nave.
+Possibly there was at one time a solid wall in this position, intended,
+however, from the first only to be temporary, and this was removed when
+the aisles, still in Norman times, were lengthened. The tower itself was
+not all built at the same time; the upper stages are ornamented with an
+arcading of intersecting arches indicating a somewhat later date.
+</p>
+<p>
+In the thirteenth century the east end of the choir seems to have been
+removed and the presbytery added: its date is pretty clearly determined
+by the east window, in which we notice some signs of the approaching
+change from the Early English simple lancet into the plate tracery of
+the Decorated period. Rickman gives its approximate date as 1220. During
+the fourteenth century the nave aisles were widened and extended farther
+west, and at the same time two bays were added to the nave itself. The
+Norman chapels on either
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page11" name="page11"></a>[11]</span>
+
+ side of the choir were lengthened into aisles, not, however, extending
+as far to the east as the thirteenth-century presbytery; arches were cut
+in the Norman choir walls to give access to these new aisles. The
+transepts were lengthened, the south one by raising the walls of the
+Norman chapel mentioned above, which, it has been conjectured, was used
+as the Lady Chapel, the north transept by the addition of Bembre's
+chantry.
+</p>
+<p>
+During the fifteenth century the western tower was built 1448-1464,
+and probably at the same time the walls of the nave were raised; and
+the roofs of the nave aisles, which had been much lower than now, so
+as not to block up the Norman clerestory windows, were raised on the
+sides joining the nave walls above the heads of these windows, and a new
+clerestory was formed in the raised wall. This contains five windows on
+each side, each window being placed over one of the piers of the nave
+arcading.
+</p>
+<p>
+During the Early English period, probably by John de Berwick, who was
+dean from 1286-1312, a spire was added to the central tower. This was
+for long in an unsafe condition, and at length, in 1600, it fell. The
+following is the description given by Coker, a contemporary writer:
+"Having discoursed this longe of this church, I will not overpasse a
+strange accident which in our dayes happened unto it, viz. Anno Domini
+1600 (the choire beeing then full of people at tenne of clock service,
+allsoe the streets by reason of the markett), a sudden mist ariseing,
+all the spire steeple, being of a very great height, was strangely cast
+downe, the stones battered all the lead and brake much timber of the
+roofe of the church, yet without anie hurt to the people; which ruin is
+sithence commendablie repaired with the church revenues, for sacriledge
+hath not yet swept awaye all, being assisted by Sir John Hannam, a
+neighbour gentleman, who if I mistake not enjoyeth revenues of the
+church, and hath done commendablie to convert part of it to its former
+use." Other accounts mention a tempest at the time of the fall. It is
+not unlikely that the tower was weakened by the alterations in the
+fourteenth century, when wider arches were cut in the west walls of the
+transepts, in consequence of the widening of the nave aisles. The fall
+of the spire, which fell towards the east, demolished the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page12" name="page12"></a>[12]</span>
+
+ clerestory windows of the choir on the south side, and their place was
+supplied by a long, low Tudor window oblong in shape and quite plain.
+The windows, however, on both sides have been entirely altered, and
+those now existing in the clerestory are small lancets of modern date.
+</p>
+<p>
+The spire was not rebuilt, but the heavy looking battlement and solid
+pinnacles which still remain, and detract considerably from the beauty
+of the tower, were added as a finish to it in the year 1608. It is
+curious that the churchwardens' books, in which many entries occur
+detailing repairs and other work connected with the spire, make no
+mention of its fall.
+</p>
+<p>
+The western tower was also a source of trouble. It was built, as has
+been already mentioned, during the latter half of the fifteenth century,
+the glazing of the windows being completed in 1464; but as early as 1548
+it was thought necessary to brick up the west doorway, and notices of
+unsoundness of the tower occur frequently in the church books. In 1664
+we find the following entry made:&mdash;"Paid in beere to the Ringers for a
+peale to trye if the Tower shooke &pound;0 1s 0d." As we read this entry, we
+cannot help wondering if the large amount of beer which a shilling would
+purchase in those days was given to the ringers so as to give them a
+fictitious courage and blind their eyes to the possible danger of
+bringing the tower down upon their heads. In 1739 the Perpendicular
+window in the western face of the tower was taken out and a smaller oval
+one put in its place, with a view to the strengthening of the wall by
+additional stonework. The modern restorer, however, has again put a
+window of Perpendicular character in place of the oval window inserted
+in the last century, using to aid him in his design, sundry fragments of
+the original tracery found embedded in the walls.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0004"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page13" name="page13"></a>[13]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image04.jpg"><img src="images/image04_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="WIMBORNE MINSTER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [From an old Print." /></a>
+<br />
+WIMBORNE MINSTER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [From an old Print.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Before the nineteenth-century restorations, the pulpit, probably late
+sixteenth-century work, stood in the nave against the middle pillar on
+the north side, and the nave and choir were separated by a screen of
+three arches on which stood the organ. The central arch had doors.
+On either side of the choir were a set of canopied stalls: these
+canopies were removed in 1855 to make the chancel aisles available for a
+congregation. As the canopies interfered with both sight and sound, the
+floor of the choir was lowered to only three steps above the nave, and
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page14" name="page14"></a>[14]</span>
+
+ the stalls reduced to four on each side, with a view to make room for
+restoring the Norman steps indicated by traces on the wall under the
+floor, which led up to the high altar of the Norman church. The
+arrangement of steps was then three from the nave to the choir, four
+from the choir to the next level to the east, and seven from this to the
+presbytery, and one more to the altar platform. In 1866 further changes
+were made: the stalls were increased to the present number to provide
+sufficient accommodation for the choir, the additions being made out of
+old woodwork. The level of the floors was also rearranged; five steps
+now lead up from the nave to the choir, seven to the presbytery and one
+more to the altar platform, the altar itself being raised yet another
+step.
+</p>
+<p>
+During the restoration carried on from 1855 to 1857, great changes
+besides those already mentioned were made in the interior: the whitewash
+and plaster were removed from the walls, a west gallery was taken down,
+the nave re-seated, the organ transferred from its position upon the
+screen to the south transept, and much mischief was done from an
+arch&aelig;ological standpoint, a thing which seems almost inseparable from
+any nineteenth-century restoration.
+</p>
+<p>
+An examination of the masonry shows clearly that all the exterior walls
+east of the transepts save the east wall of the presbytery, which is
+somewhat out of the vertical, the top hanging forward, have been if not
+entirely rebuilt at anyrate completely refaced, and this work was no
+doubt done at the restoration at the middle of the nineteenth century.
+The doorway in the middle of the north choir aisle is entirely modern;
+the doorway which formally occupied this place was provided with a small
+porch.
+</p>
+<p>
+How far this rebuilding and refacing were rendered necessary by the
+condition of the walls at that time it is now impossible to say. The
+fact that the walls of the nave aisles were not similarly treated may
+have been due to want of funds, or it may be that the architects
+employed found them in a better condition than the walls of the choir
+aisles, and so preserved them, though they considered the latter beyond
+the possibility of preservation without the extensive renewing that
+evidently took place.
+</p>
+<p>
+The room containing the chained library was at the same
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page15" name="page15"></a>[15]</span>
+
+ time refitted. New shelves and rods were provided, but the old chains
+were used again.
+</p>
+<p>
+The restoration of 1855-1857 did not extend to the transept; but
+these were taken in hand in 1891, with the usual result&mdash;namely, the
+destruction of some existing features, such as the seventeenth-century
+tracery of the north window,<a href="#note-3" name="noteref-3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> to make room for a nineteenth-century
+window in Decorated style, which, however, differs altogether from any
+window in the minster; the walls were raised about two feet and a roof
+of higher pitch put upon them, which necessitated alterations in the
+gables. A sundial which stood at the summit of the south gable was taken
+down, and this in 1894 was erected on a pillar built in the churchyard,
+a short distance from the south wall of the western tower. The transept
+previous to the restoration with the sun-dial on its gable is shown in
+the illustration on p. 19.
+</p>
+<p>
+A small chamber to contain the hydraulic apparatus for the organ has
+recently been added to the east side of the south transept.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page16" name="page16"></a>[16]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2HCH0002" id="h2HCH0002" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER II
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    THE EXTERIOR
+</h3>
+<p>
+Wimborne Minster does not occupy a commanding position&mdash;it stands on
+level ground, its two towers are not lofty, the western only reaching
+the height of 95 feet and the central 84 feet&mdash;but it has the advantage
+of having an extensive churchyard both on the south side and also on the
+north, so that from either side a good general view of the building may
+be obtained. A street running from the east end of the church towards
+the north gives the spectator the advantage of a still more distant
+standpoint, from which the towers, transepts, choir, and porch group
+themselves into one harmonious whole, the long line of iron railings
+bounding the churchyard being the only drawback. The first impression is
+that there is something wrong with the central tower; the plain heavy
+battlement, with its four enormous corner pinnacles, seems to overweight
+the tower, and as each side of the parapet is longer than the side of
+the tower below, the feeling of top-heaviness is increased. The central
+tower has no buttresses, but the western has an octagonal buttress at
+each corner, and these decrease in cross section at each of four string
+courses; so that this tower seems to taper, and by contrast makes the
+central tower seem to bulge out at the top more than it really does.
+</p>
+<p>
+But Wimborne Minster does not stand alone in giving at first sight a
+feeling that something is wanting to perfect beauty. In nearly every old
+building which has gradually grown up, been altered and enlarged by
+various generations, as need arose, each generation working in its own
+style, and often with little regard to what already existed,
+incongruities are sure to be discernible. But what is lost in unity of
+design increases the interest in the building, historically and
+architecturally regarded. And it is worthy of notice that at Wimborne,
+more than at many places, the enlargers of the church have contented
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page17" name="page17"></a>[17]</span>
+
+ themselves with adding to the building without removing the work of
+their predecessors more than was absolutely necessary. A very cursory
+glance at the exterior of the building as one walks round it is
+sufficient to show that the church as it stands offers to the student of
+architecture examples of every style that has prevailed in this country
+from the twelfth century onward, and he will especially rejoice at
+seeing so much fourteenth-century work. He will, as he passes along the
+narrow footway beneath the east end of the choir, regret that more space
+is not available here to get a good view of the most interesting Early
+English window. If a small tree were felled, and the wall of a garden or
+yard on the side of the footpath opposite to the church pulled down, so
+as to throw open the east end of the choir, it would be a great
+improvement. But this regret can be endured, as, though the window
+cannot be well seen, it is there, and by changing one's position a
+pretty accurate idea of its interesting features can be formed; but far
+keener is the regret that any lover of antiquity must feel when he
+notices, as he examines the church more closely, how busy the
+nineteenth-century restorer has been, how he has raised walls, altered
+the pitch of roofs, and inserted modern imitations of thirteenth and
+fourteenth century work, removing features which existed at the
+beginning of this century to make room for his own work; how he has
+banished much of the old woodwork in the interior, altered the position
+of still more, and generally been far less conservative of the work of
+former generations than the medi&aelig;val enlargers of the minster were.
+However, his work is now done&mdash;nave, towers, and choir were thoroughly
+restored about fifty years ago, and the transepts in 1891. No further
+work is contemplated at present. In fact, there seems nothing more that
+could well be done.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0005"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page19" name="page19"></a>[19]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image05.jpg"><img src="images/image05_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE MINSTER FROM THE SOUTH-EAST BEFORE 1891." /></a>
+<br />
+THE MINSTER FROM THE SOUTH-EAST BEFORE 1891.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The church is built partly of a warm brown sandstone, partly of stone of
+a pale yellow or drab colour, the two kinds being in many places mixed
+so as to give the walls a chequered appearance. This may be noticed both
+outside and inside the building. In some of the walls the stones are
+used irregularly, in others they are carefully squared. The red stone is
+to be met with in the neighbourhood: some of that used for raising the
+transept walls in 1891 was obtained from a bridge in the town that was
+being rebuilt; and from marks on
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page18" name="page18"></a>[18]</span>
+
+ some of those stones it appeared that before being in the bridge they
+had been used in some ecclesiastical building, so that they have now
+returned to their original use. There is little ornament to be seen
+outside, save on the upper stage of the tower; in fact, the whole
+building excepting the arches of the nave and the tower may be described
+as severely plain in character. The college was never wealthy, hence
+probably it could not employ a number of carvers; then again it was not
+a monastic establishment, so that there were no monks to occupy their
+time in the embellishment of the building, carving, as monks often did,
+their quaint fancies on bosses and capitals. We miss the crockets and
+finials, the ball-flower, and other ornaments that we meet with in so
+many fourteenth-century buildings; but the very simplicity of the work
+gives the church a dignity that is often wanting in more highly
+ornamented structures. The small number of the buttresses in the body of
+the church is noteworthy; save at the angles there are only
+five&mdash;namely, two on each nave aisle, and one on the north choir aisle.
+At each of the eastern corners of the choir aisles the buttresses are
+set diagonally, as also are those on the northern corners of the north
+porch. There is a buttress on each of the side walls of the north porch,
+and two set at right angles to each other at each of the two corners of
+the north transept, and also at the south-west corner of the south
+transept; beneath the east window of the choir there is a small one. The
+buttresses at the corner of the choir project but slightly. The central
+tower has none, but the west tower has an octagonal buttress at each
+corner. The central tower attracts notice first. From the outside at the
+angles a small portion of the plain wall of the triforium stage may be
+seen, against which the roofs of the choir and transepts abut; the nave
+roof, however, hides all of this stage at the western face: above this
+face is a band of red-brown sandstone, and above this the clerestory
+stage. In each face are two round-headed windows with a pointed blank
+arch between them. There are six slender shafts to support the outer
+order of moulding over the two windows and the blank arch, and two of a
+similar character to support the inner ring of moulding over each
+window. At each corner of the tower up to the top of this stage runs a
+slender banded shaft. This stage is finished by a string course, above
+which
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page20" name="page20"></a>[20]</span>
+
+ the tower walls recede slightly, the walls of the upper or belfry storey
+being a little thinner than those below. This stage, perfectly plain
+within, is the most richly-ornamented part of the tower outside: it is
+the latest Norman work to be found in the minster, and probably may be
+dated late in the twelfth century. An arcading of intersecting
+round-headed arches runs all round this storey. Seven pointed arches are
+thus formed in each face; between these arches stand slender pillars
+with well carved capitals which show a great variety of design. Five of
+the seven arches on each face were originally open, save possibly for
+louvre-boards placed to keep out the rain; now all but the central one
+on each face are walled up, and the centre one is glazed. This filling
+up was not all done at the same time, as the varying character of the
+stone shows. The work was no doubt begun in order to strengthen the
+walls when the spire was added, and was continued from time to time as
+the necessity for further strengthening arose. Above the stage was a
+bold corbel table, and this is the upper limit of the Norman work. There
+can be little doubt that the Norman builder, here as elsewhere, finished
+his tower with a low pyramidal roof with overhanging eaves to shoot off
+the rain. This covering may have been of lead, but possibly of stone
+tiles or wooden shingles. About a century later this Norman roof was
+removed to make place for a loftier roof or spire. Of its character and
+material and height we know nothing&mdash;there is no description of it; and
+though the minster is represented on an old seal with one spire-crowned
+tower, yet the representation of the rest of the church is so
+conventional that it cannot be regarded as an authentic record of the
+actual appearance of the steeple. It is curious that, as it stood for
+about three hundred years and fell only in the later years of
+Elizabeth's reign, no drawing remains to show us what this spire was
+like. But it passed away, doing some damage to the building in its fall,
+and that is the only record it has left behind; but we can well picture
+to ourselves how much importance must have been added to the minster by
+this spire, which must have been a conspicuous object for many miles
+round. The present heavy, ugly battlemented parapet spoils the general
+effect of the tower; and though we are adverse to the sweeping away of
+any features of an old building, even when the features are inharmonious
+and even ugly&mdash;because this is, as it were, tearing a
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page22" name="page22"></a>[22]</span>
+
+ page of stone from the book of the history of the building&mdash;yet we must
+confess we could have regarded the loss of the seventeenth-century
+parapet and pinnacles with much less regret than other features which
+the restorer has tampered with.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0006"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page21" name="page21"></a>[21]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image06.jpg"><img src="images/image06_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE NORTH TRANSEPT BEFORE 1891." /></a>
+<br />
+THE NORTH TRANSEPT BEFORE 1891.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The <b>North Porch</b>, which was evidently always intended to be, as it
+is to this day, the chief entrance into the church, consists of two bays
+marked externally by buttresses on each side: the inner order of
+moulding to the arch giving access to this porch springs from two shafts
+of Purbeck marble; the outer orders are carried up from the base without
+any capitals or imposts. The height of the crown of the inner arch above
+the capitals from which it springs is somewhat less than half the width
+at the bottom, and the radius of the curvature of the arches is greater
+than the width. Over the arch is a square-headed two-light window,
+lighting the room over the entrance. The roof differs from all the other
+roofs of the church since it is covered with stone tiles, while the
+others are covered with lead. There are buttresses set diagonally at the
+two northern angles of the porch.
+</p>
+<p>
+Between the porch and the transept are three two-light Decorated
+windows. The tracery of all these is alike, but differs from that of the
+two windows to the west of the porch. The most picturesque feature of
+the north transept is the turret containing the staircase by which
+access is obtained to the tower. This, before the church was enlarged in
+the fourteenth century, formed the north-west angle of the Norman
+transept: projecting towards the north, its base is rectangular. This
+rectangular portion rises nearly to the level of the tops of the aisle
+windows, above this level the turret is circular, and rising above the
+transept roof is capped by a low conical roof of stone tiles. Two string
+courses run round it, one at the bottom of the circular part, and one a
+little higher up. This turret was once known as the "Ivy Tower," from
+the ivy that grew on it, but this was all removed at the time when the
+transept was altered in 1891. At that time the side walls were raised
+about two feet, and the roof was raised to the original pitch of the
+Norman transept, and at the same time the tracery of the north window,
+which was of a very plain and clumsy character, seventeenth-century
+work, was removed and the existing tracery inserted. Much
+picturesqueness has been
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page23" name="page23"></a>[23]</span>
+
+ sacrificed to make these changes. The portion of this transept to the
+north of the turret was added about the middle of the fourteenth century
+to form the chantry founded by Bembre, who was dean from 1350-1361. This
+part contains, besides the large window, two smaller two-light windows,
+which look out respectively to the east and west. The tracery in these
+is almost entirely modern. Beyond the transept is the wall of the north
+choir aisle. This stands farther to the north than the wall of the nave
+aisle; in fact, it is in a line with the original north end of the
+Norman transept. In this wall, close to the transept, is a small
+round-headed doorway. And, farther to the east, is another larger
+pointed doorway between the second and third windows of the choir aisle,
+counting from the transept eastward. This doorway is enclosed by a
+triangular moulding very plain in character, but none of it is original.
+The three windows are each of two lights. The tracery of these three is
+alike, but differs from that of the windows in the nave aisle. The east
+window of the north aisle is of five lights. The enclosing arch is not
+very pointed&mdash;much less so than in the narrower windows of the
+aisles&mdash;and each light runs up through the head of the window. These and
+the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page24" name="page24"></a>[24]</span>
+
+ corresponding south choir aisle windows are late Decorated work.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure" style="float:right; width: 300px; margin-left: 1em;">
+<a name="image-0006a"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image07.jpg"><img src="images/image07_th.jpg"
+alt="THE EAST WINDOW. (From Parker's &quot;Introduction to Gothic Architecture.&quot;)" /></a>
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">The East Window.</span><br />
+(From Parker's "Introduction to Gothic Architecture.")
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Unfortunately the churchyard does not extend to the east of the church.
+A narrow footway, bounded to the east by cottages and garden walls,
+renders it impossible to photograph the east window of the choir. This
+is a most interesting one; and has been figured in most books on
+architecture. It consists externally of three lancets enclosed in a
+peculiar way by weather moulding; this rises separately over the head of
+each lancet, and between the windows runs in a horizontal line and is
+continued to the square corner buttresses. Within this moulding, and
+over the heads of each lancet, there is an opening pierced: the central
+one is a quatrefoil, while the other two have six points. These openings
+are a very early example of plate tracery, which was fully developed in
+the Early Decorated style. This window belongs to the Early English
+period, and may be dated about 1220. There will be occasion to refer to
+this window again when speaking of the interior of the church. The south
+choir aisle has a five-light east window closely corresponding to the
+window of the north aisle, and on the south two three-light windows. In
+these, as in the east aisle windows, the lights are carried up through
+the heads. There is no doorway giving access to this aisle from the
+outside.
+</p>
+<p>
+The angle between the choir aisle and south transept is filled up with
+the vestry and the library above it. The south wall of this projects
+beyond the wall of the south transept. This vestry is of Decorated date,
+possibly rather later than the other Decorated work in the minster. The
+upper storey forms the library. Its walls are finished at the top by a
+plain parapet which conceals the flat roof. At the south-western angle
+is an octagonal turret staircase, capped by a pyramidal roof rising from
+within a battlemented parapet, and terminating in a carved finial. This
+is of Perpendicular character. From the sharpness of the stone at the
+coigns it would seem that very extensive restoration, if not absolute
+rebuilding, of the walls was carried on in this part of the church. The
+south transept is rather shorter than that on the north side; but,
+unlike it, all the walls up to the level of the window are of Norman
+date. The string courses on the western side are worthy of close
+attention. One
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page25" name="page25"></a>[25]</span>
+
+ which runs under the south window is continued round the Perpendicular
+buttresses at the south-west angle, and then again joins the original
+course on the western face and runs to within a few feet of the nave
+aisle, where it abruptly terminates. Above this for several feet the
+walls have the same character as below; then the character changes, and
+this change probably marks the junction of the Norman with the Decorated
+work, which was added when the Norman chapel, which occupied the lower
+part of what is now the south end of the transept, was incorporated in
+the transept. Vertically above the termination of the string course just
+mentioned, but at a considerably higher level, another string course
+abruptly begins and runs along the wall, until it passes within the roof
+of the nave aisle. The south end of this shows the length to which the
+original Norman transept extended before the walls of the chapel to the
+south were carried up in the fourteenth century to form the addition to
+the transept. In the southern wall of this new transept was placed a
+large five-light decorated window. In this, as in several of the other
+Decorated windows already described, the lights run up to the enclosing
+arch above. The tracery of this window, as it now exists, dates back
+only to the time when the church was restored in the middle of the
+nineteenth century. Up to 1891 the side walls were about two feet lower
+than at present, and the gable more obtuse. At the summit of the old
+gable stood a block of masonry carrying a sundial; this, when the
+transept was altered, was removed, the new gable being finished with a
+cross. A pillar was built in the churchyard to the south of the western
+tower in 1894, and on it the block from the transept bearing the sundial
+was placed. This sundial has two dates on it&mdash;1696 and 1752, marking, no
+doubt, the year of its original erection and of some subsequent repair.
+It is noteworthy that the figures used in these two dates differ in
+character,&mdash;the eighteenth-century carver who incised the later date not
+thinking it incumbent on him to make his figures match those of his
+predecessor. The three aisle windows between the south transept and the
+south porch are two-light Decorated windows with tracery, some of it
+original, corresponding to that of those on the opposite side in the
+north aisle.
+</p>
+<p>
+The <b>South Porch</b> is small, and the side walls do not project
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page26" name="page26"></a>[26]</span>
+
+ far from the aisle. Above the arch is a carving of a lamb much
+weathered, and on the gable stands a fragment of a cross. The gates
+beneath the outer arch are kept locked save on Sundays, as are
+frequently the gates in the railings surrounding the churchyard to the
+south of the minster, which is divided from the churchyard on the north
+side by the church itself and by railings at the east and west ends of
+it. To the west of the porch are two more two-light windows,
+corresponding in character with the windows opposite in the north aisle.
+The clerestory windows of the nave are of Perpendicular date,
+fifteenth-century work, and have not any beauty. Each has three foliated
+lights under a round-headed moulding. Above each of these three there
+are two lights, all enclosed within a rectangular label. The nave roof
+is higher than the choir roof. Its aisles have lean-to roofs, whereas
+the choir aisles are wider and have gable roofs: hence the clerestory
+windows of the choir, modern lancets, are not visible from the outside.
+</p>
+<p>
+The <b>Western Tower</b> is of four stages, with octagonal buttresses at
+each corner, decreasing in cross section at each course. Of these the
+north-eastern one contains the stairs leading to the top of the tower,
+the others are solid. These are crowned with sharp pyramidal turrets. In
+the lowest stage on the western face is a doorway which for some time
+was stopped up to strengthen the tower, but which was opened again at
+the general restoration. Above this is the west window of six lights,
+Perpendicular in character but of nineteenth-century date. The third
+stage&mdash;the ringing room within is lighted by four small windows: that in
+the west wall is a quatrefoil, those on the north and south have single
+lights foliated at the head; the original one in the east wall was
+covered when the nave roof was raised, and a plain opening was made in
+the wall farther to the south. Above this is the belfry, with two pairs
+of two-light windows on each face: these are divided by transoms, and
+the arches at the tops are four centred. These windows are, of course,
+not glazed, but are furnished with louvre-boards. The tower is finished
+with a battlemented parapet. Just outside the easternmost window on the
+north face, and below the transom, stands a figure now dressed in a coat
+of painted lead, representing a soldier in the uniform of the early part
+of the nineteenth century. He holds a hammer in each hand, with which he
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page28" name="page28"></a>[28]</span>
+
+ strikes the quarters on two bells beside him. He is known by the name of
+the "Jackman" or "Quarter Jack." There are no windows at the west ends
+of the nave aisles; but, as on the south side so on the north, there are
+between the tower and the porch two two-light Decorated windows in the
+wall of the aisle.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0007"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page27" name="page27"></a>[27]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image08.jpg"><img src="images/image08_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE WESTERN TOWER." /></a>
+<br />
+THE WESTERN TOWER.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The level of the churchyards, as in the case with most old
+burying-grounds, is considerably above the level of the floor of the
+church. Hence steps have to be descended on entering the porches, and
+again in passing from the porches into the church. On the south side
+some levelling of the ground has been done, and the upright head-stones
+have been laid flat, but the altar tombs have been allowed to remain as
+they were. There are few trees in the churchyard to impede the view of
+the building; those there are, are as yet small, and serve only to
+pleasantly break the bareness of the ground without hiding the
+architectural features of the building.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page29" name="page29"></a>[29]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2HCH0003" id="h2HCH0003" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER III
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    THE INTERIOR
+</h3>
+<p>
+The North Porch, which no doubt from the days of its erection in the
+fourteenth century has formed the chief entrance into the church, is
+opposite to the westernmost Norman bay of the nave arcading. The porch
+itself is vaulted in two bays, the vaulting springing from slender
+shafts of Purbeck marble which rest on the stone seats on either side of
+the porch. The bosses in which the ribs meet are carved with foliage.
+Over the porch is a small room to which no staircase now leads; one
+which formerly led to it was removed in the seventeenth century. This
+room is lighted by a small two-light Decorated window facing north.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0008"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page30" name="page30"></a>[30]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image09.jpg"><img src="images/image09_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE INTERIOR, LOOKING EAST." /></a>
+<br />
+THE INTERIOR, LOOKING EAST.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The two <b>Aisles</b> are of the same length as the nave, and are
+divided from it by an arcading on either side, each containing six
+pointed arches. The easternmost arches consist of two plain orders, and
+are much narrower than the rest. These arches spring on the east side
+from brackets on the western face of the tower piers: the bracket on the
+north side is plain, that on the south side is ornamented with a kind of
+scale carving. These bays were probably of the same date as the tower,
+and it is not unlikely that the arches were at first like those of the
+tower, of the usual round-headed form. If they were altered when the
+remainder of the nave was built, the wall above was not removed. The
+piers which support the western side of these arches consist each of a
+semi-cylindrical pillar set against a rectangular pier, on the other
+side of which another semi-cylindrical shaft is set to support the next
+arch; the next two pillars on each side are cylindrical, perfectly plain
+in the shafts with very simple bases and capitals. The latter may be
+seen in the illustrations, the former are concealed by the pews. It will
+be noticed as a peculiar feature that a little piece of the outer
+moulding, facing the nave, of the first large arch on the south
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page31" name="page31"></a>[31]</span>
+
+ side is differently carved from all the rest: first, counting from the
+bottom upwards, are three eight-leaved flowers&mdash;these are succeeded by
+three four-leaved flowers, all on a chamfered edge; above this the
+moulding is not chamfered, and the outer face is decorated with shallow
+zig-zag carving. The second member of the moulding consists of chevron
+work somewhat irregularly carved, the projecting tooth-like points not
+being all of the same size; in the centre is a roll moulding, from each
+side of which chevron ornamentation projects, the points directed
+outward perpendicular to the plane of the arch.
+
+<span class="figleft">
+<a name="image-0008a"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image10.jpg"><img src="images/image10_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="PIER AND ARCH-SPRING IN THE SOUTH ARCADE." /></a>
+<br />
+PIER AND ARCH-SPRING IN THE SOUTH ARCADE.
+</span>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page32" name="page32"></a>[32]</span>
+
+ These pillars and arches are noteworthy in that the piers are of
+considerable size, and above them are pointed arches. This would
+indicate a rather late date in the Norman period for this portion of the
+church; probably it was built at some time during the last quarter of
+the twelfth century. With the third wide bay the twelfth-century church
+
+<span class="figright">
+<a name="image-0008b"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image11.jpg"><img src="images/image11_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="DECORATED ARCH IN THE NAVE." /></a>
+<br />
+DECORATED ARCH IN THE NAVE.
+</span>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page33" name="page33"></a>[33]</span>
+
+ terminated, the two arches to the west of these being characterised by
+ornamentation of the Decorated period. At this time, as has been already
+explained (p. 10), the aisles were widened and the inner edges of the
+roofs raised above the clerestory windows of the Norman church. Four
+such windows, round-headed, each placed over the point of an arch, may
+be seen on either side of the nave; but the eastern one on each side
+differs from the other three in being of heavier character and rougher
+workmanship. The external mouldings of these can be well seen from the
+aisles: towards the nave they are splayed and plain. The wall above the
+fourteenth-century arches does not contain any windows on the same level
+as those of the old Norman clerestory; but above them, stretching all
+along each side of the nave, may be seen the windows of the present
+clerestory. These are Perpendicular in style, and are five in number on
+each side, each window being placed over one of the piers of the nave
+arcading. These windows are square-headed, and have at the bottom three
+lights, each light being sub-divided into two at the top. It is believed
+that this clerestory was formed when the walls were raised, at the same
+time as the western tower was erected&mdash;namely, at the end of the
+fifteenth century. But to return to the Decorated arches at the west end
+of the nave. The pier at the eastern side of the easternmost of these
+consists of the semi-cylindrical respond of Norman date, a piece of
+masonry which was part of the west wall of the Norman church; and then
+on the western side of this an added semi-cylinder, on the capitals of
+which may be seen the ball-flower ornament. The pier on either side,
+between the two fourteenth-century arches, is octagonal, with a very
+plain capital (one of these is shown in the illustration on page 57);
+the arches themselves are also plain, consisting of two members with
+chamfered edges. The half pillars at the western side of the western
+arch have been imbedded in the octagonal buttresses of the west tower,
+which project into the church.
+</p>
+<p>
+The height of the nave roof appears to have been altered on several
+occasions. There may be seen from the interior of the nave, on the west
+wall of the lantern tower, two lines running from the level of the tops
+of the Norman clerestory windows: these make an angle of about
+forty-five degrees with the horizontal, and, no doubt, are traces of the
+weather mouldings
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page34" name="page34"></a>[34]</span>
+
+ marking the position of the exterior of the roof of the nave in Norman
+times. Probably the roof visible from the interior was flat and formed
+of wood, and ran across in the line of the string course above the tower
+arch, at a level slightly above the heads of the clerestory windows. A
+round-headed opening above this string course probably gave admission to
+the space between the outer and inner roofs. At a somewhat higher level,
+we have a slight trace which probably marks the junction of the
+fifteenth-century roof with the tower. This roof was of oak and very
+plain&mdash;at the restoration the pitch of the roof was raised and carried
+up to such an extent as to cut off the bases of the clerestory windows
+of the lantern tower; the inner roof itself is of pitch-pine, with
+hammer-beams of the character which finds such favour with
+nineteenth-century architects.
+</p>
+<p>
+The <b>Central Tower</b>, the oldest and probably most interesting part
+of the church, consists of four stages, of which the three lower ones
+are open to the church. The lowest of these was undoubtedly part of the
+original Norman church; the second or triforium was soon added. Above
+this comes the clerestory, the pointed arch between the round-headed
+windows indicating a somewhat later date; and above this there is a
+chamber perfectly plain within, and not open to the church below. The
+outside of this is decorated with an arcading of intersecting arches,
+which indicates a somewhat later date. These intersecting arches form
+seven pointed arches on each side&mdash;five of these were originally open to
+allow the sound of the bells, which were formerly hung in the tower, to
+pass out; but to add strength to the walls all but the middle ones on
+the east face were at various periods walled up. At one time the tower
+was surmounted by a spire, possibly of wood covered with lead; this is
+supposed to have been erected by John de Berwick, who was dean of the
+minster from 1286 to 1312. The squinches which supported this spire may
+still be seen in the upper stage just described. Descending from this
+stage by a spiral staircase in the north-west angle, we find ourselves
+in the clerestory already mentioned. In each face there are two
+round-headed windows widely splayed on the interior, with shafts in the
+jambs; between each pair of windows is a pointed arch, in each angle of
+the tower is a slender shaft encircled by three bands at about
+equidistant intervals: a passage cut in the thickness of the wall runs
+round this stage. Again descending,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page35" name="page35"></a>[35]</span>
+
+ we reach the triforium level. Each of the walls of this stage has two
+pointed sustaining arches built into the wall to support the weight of
+the superincumbent masonry; each of these encloses four semi-circular
+headed arches with shafts of Purbeck marble. The capitals of these are
+rudely carved, and between the relieving pointed arches are carved
+heads, that on the north side being the most noteworthy. The passage
+behind the arches is very narrow, the total thickness of the walls being
+only 4 feet 6 inches. At the centre of each face are the openings which
+formerly led into the spaces between the roofs and ceilings of the nave,
+transepts, and choir of the Norman church. That on the north side now
+leads into a stone gallery, erected in 1891 in the place of a
+dilapidated wooden structure, which runs first westward to the angle
+between the tower and north transept, then along the west face of the
+transept until it reaches a door leading into the stair turret,
+
+<span class="figleft">
+<a name="image-0008c"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image12.jpg"><img src="images/image12_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="CLERESTORY STAGE OF THE CENTRAL TOWER." /></a>
+<br />
+CLERESTORY STAGE OF THE CENTRAL TOWER.
+</span>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page36" name="page36"></a>[36]</span>
+
+ which may be seen from the exterior. At the bottom of this is a door
+opening into the transept. This stair turret projects slightly into the
+transept. The lowest stage of the tower consists of four arches and four
+massive piers. The arches
+
+<span class="figright">
+<a name="image-0008d"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image13.jpg"><img src="images/image13_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE TOWER ARCHES." /></a>
+<br />
+THE TOWER ARCHES.
+</span>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page38" name="page38"></a>[38]</span>
+
+ have two plain orders. The piers have double shafts supporting the
+central order, and single shafts supporting the outer orders. The four
+arches are not of the same width, those on the east and west being wider
+than those on the north and south. In order to get the arches to spring
+from the same level and also to reach the same height at their heads,
+the wider arches are of the shape known as "depressed," while the
+narrower ones are of the "horse-shoe" type. The choir being somewhat
+narrower than the nave, the walls on each side take the place of the
+shaft which would have supported the outer order of the eastern arch.
+The capitals and bases of these arches are very plain, in fact nowhere
+in this church can the elaborately-carved capitals so often met with in
+late Norman work be found. This central tower was undoubtedly gradually
+raised stage by stage, as the character of the architecture indicates:
+probably during each interval the part already finished was capped by a
+pyramidal roof.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure" style="clear:both;">
+<a name="image-0009"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page37" name="page37"></a>[37]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image14.jpg"><img src="images/image14_th.jpg" height="600"
+alt="NORTH TRANSEPT AND CROSSING." /></a>
+<br />
+NORTH TRANSEPT AND CROSSING.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The <b>Nave Aisles</b> were widened in the fourteenth century, the
+Norman walls being removed and their roofs raised; a single stone of the
+weather moulding, which may be seen on the west face of the north
+transept, shows the height and slope of the roof of the Norman aisle.
+The windows of the aisles on either side are two-light Decorated
+windows; the three on either side to the east of the north and south
+porches are of the same character, while the two on each side to the
+west of the porches are also alike but differ in their tracery from
+those to the east. The south porch is much smaller than the north, and
+is very plain; it is composed of two solid walls projecting six feet
+from the wall of the aisle.
+</p>
+<p>
+The <b>Transepts</b>, as has been described in the preceding chapter,
+were lengthened in the fourteenth century&mdash;the southern one by the
+incorporation of some low Norman building, thought by some to have been
+the Lady Chapel, the walls of which were raised; the northern one by the
+addition of Bembre's chantry. This has caused the north transept to be
+somewhat longer than the south. The original Norman transepts seem to
+have been of the same length on either side. Bembre, who died in 1361,
+is supposed to have been buried here. A stone slab lay until 1857 in the
+centre of the pavement,&mdash;on it was a representation of a full-length
+figure of a man dressed in a robe like a surplice;
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page39" name="page39"></a>[39]</span>
+
+<span class="figright">
+<a name="image-0010"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image15.jpg"><img src="images/image15_th.jpg" width="200"
+alt="Thirteenth-Century Piscina in South Transept." /></a>
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">Thirteenth-Century Piscina<br /> in South Transept.</span>
+</span>
+
+ but when the pavement was renewed this stone was allowed to remain
+exposed to sun and rain in the churchyard until the surface was
+weathered to such an extent that it is now impossible to make out with
+any certainty what is upon it. But the description given by Hutchins of
+the arms on the shields which were sculptured on it does not agree with
+the Bembre arms, so that it could hardly have been the tombstone of this
+Dean who founded the chantry. The window at the end of the north
+transept is modern restoration work. Before 1891 the tracery was of a
+very plain character, as may be seen from the illustration (page 21). It
+is supposed that damage was done to this window at the time when the
+tower fell, and that the plain tracery was inserted after that event.
+During the restoration in 1891, the old plaster was removed from the
+walls, and in doing this a Norman altar recess was discovered in the
+east wall of this transept; the southern end of this had been cut away
+when the choir aisle was widened in the fourteenth century. In this
+recess traces of fresco may be seen. A piscina stands to the north of
+this altar recess, and is of Decorated character.
+</p>
+<p>
+The <b>South Transept</b> has a five-light Decorated window at its
+southern end, with modern tracery in imitation of the old,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page40" name="page40"></a>[40]</span>
+
+ each light running up through the head of the window. A very fine Early
+English piscina, with the characteristic dog-tooth moulding, stands in
+the south wall. An altar occupying a position similar to the one in the
+north transept used to stand in this transept also, but the pointed arch
+over the recess shows that it was of later date.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0011"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image16.jpg"><img src="images/image16_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="CHOIR STALLS." /></a>
+<br />
+CHOIR STALLS.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The most elaborate part of the church is that which lies to the east of
+the central tower. The great height to which the altar is raised above
+the level of the nave gives it a very impressive appearance from the
+west end; and, again,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page42" name="page42"></a>[42]</span>
+
+ the view looking westward from the altar level is much enhanced by the
+height from which it is seen.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0012"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page41" name="page41"></a>[41]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image17.jpg"><img src="images/image17_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="WEST VIEW FROM THE CHOIR." /></a>
+<br />
+WEST VIEW FROM THE CHOIR.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The <b>East End</b> is purely English work, and this shows that in the
+thirteenth century the church was extended about 30 feet towards the
+east. The junction of the Early English with the Norman wall is marked
+by a cluster of slender shafts rising from the ground. The alterations
+which were made in the Norman walls at the time of this eastward
+extension have been already described (p. 11).
+</p>
+<p>
+It now only remains to describe the <b>Choir</b> and <b>Presbytery</b>
+as they stand at the present time. Immediately to the east of the tower
+on either side are two pointed arches of two plain orders rising on
+their western sides from plain brackets in the tower piers, and
+supported on the east by engaged shafts with roughly-carved Norman
+capitals. Next to these come the Early English inserted arches, pierced
+as already described through the Norman wall and cutting away the lower
+part of two previously existing Norman windows on each side. The arches
+are of three plain orders, with chamfered edges, resting on clustered
+shafts; beyond these the new thirteenth-century work begins. Beyond the
+clustered shafts mentioned above, which mark the commencement of the
+Early English work, is a lofty arch on either side opening into the
+choir aisles; over each of them is a pair of small lancet windows widely
+splayed inside. Between the piers of these arches a wall is carried, its
+top being about midway between their bases and capitals. On the southern
+wall stands the Beaufort tomb, on the northern the Courtenay tomb; and
+below this the walls are pierced with arches, beneath which are flights
+of nine steps leading on to the crypt beneath the presbytery. It is not
+improbable that after the eastern extension the altar stood at the east
+end of the Norman part of the choir, and that under these two Early
+English arches was the ambulatory or processional passage which is so
+often found to the east of the high altar. Beyond the ends of the choir
+aisles on either side of the presbytery is a lancet window. The east
+window is worthy of the closest observation. Its exterior appearance has
+been already described (p. 24). Within, it consists of three openings
+widely splayed; the thin stone over the central lancet, beneath the
+surrounding moulding, is pierced with a quatrefoil opening;
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page43" name="page43"></a>[43]</span>
+
+ over the two side lancets the corresponding openings have six
+foliations; between the three lights and outside the outer ones, flush
+with the wall, are clusters of shafts of Purbeck marble, from which
+spring mouldings enclosing the lights in a most peculiar fashion: these
+follow the curves of the tops of the lancets, but before meeting they
+are returned in the form of cusps, and then are carried round the upper
+
+<span class="figright">
+<a name="image-0012a"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image18.jpg"><img src="images/image18_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE EAST WINDOW." /></a>
+<br />
+THE EAST WINDOW.
+</span>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page44" name="page44"></a>[44]</span>
+
+ foliated openings. The upper part of each of these mouldings forms about
+three-quarters of the circumference of a circle. The characteristic
+Early English dog-tooth ornament is carved round the moulding of the
+central light, those round the other lights are not thus decorated. The
+whole group is surrounded by a label following the curves of moulding,
+with carved heads at its terminations and points of junction. The six
+cusps of the moulding are ornamented by bosses of carved foliage.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figright">
+<a name="image-0013"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image19.jpg"><img src="images/image19_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="SEDILIA." /></a>
+<br />
+SEDILIA.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+To the south side of the presbytery, between the south window and the
+Beaufort tomb, the triple <b>Sedilia</b> and the <b>Piscina</b> are
+situated: each of these is covered by a canopy of fourteenth-century
+work. These were extensively repaired at the time of the restoration.
+The Beaufort altar tomb is the finest monument in the church. On it are
+two recumbent figures carved in alabaster, and although there is no
+inscription it is certain that they represent John Beaufort, Duke of
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page45" name="page45"></a>[45]</span>
+
+ Somerset, and his wife Margaret. John Beaufort was son of another John
+Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, who was brother of the celebrated Cardinal
+Beaufort, and son of John of Gaunt by his mistress Catherine Swynford, a
+family afterwards legitimatised by Parliament. This second John Beaufort
+distinguished himself in the French wars of Henry IV., who in 1443 gave
+him a step in the peerage, creating him Duke of Somerset. His wife
+Margaret was, when he married her, widow of Oliver St John, and it is
+
+<span class="figright">
+<a name="image-0013a"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image20.jpg"><img src="images/image20_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE BEAUFORT TOMB." /></a>
+<br />
+THE BEAUFORT TOMB.
+</span>
+
+thought that after the death of her second husband in 1444 she married
+again. This John and Margaret, Duke and Duchess of Somerset, are famous
+on account of their daughter the Lady Margaret, so well-known for her
+educational endowments and for the fact that after her marriage with
+Edmund Tudor, the Earl of Richmond, she became the mother of that Henry
+Tudor who overthrew Richard III. at Bosworth, and was crowned King as
+Henry VII. Here on this altar
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page46" name="page46"></a>[46]</span>
+
+ tomb their effigies remain in a wonderful state of preservation, their
+right hands clasped together, angels at their heads, his feet resting on
+a dog, hers on an antelope. He is completely clad in armour, the face
+and right hand only bare&mdash;the gauntleted left hand holds the right hand
+gauntlet, which he has taken off that he may hold the lady's hand. She
+is clad in a long close-fitting garment. Each of the two wears around
+the neck a collar marked with the letters SS. At the apex of the arch
+above their tomb hangs his tourney helm.
+</p>
+<p>
+Under the corresponding arch on the opposite side is a similar tomb, but
+without any effigy. The fragment of an inscription tells us that it is
+the tomb of one who was once the wife of Henry Courtenay, Marquis of
+Exeter, and mother of Edward Courtenay. She was Gertrude, daughter of
+William Blount, Lord Mountjoy. Her husband was beheaded in 1538,
+together with the aged Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, whose chantry
+may be seen in the Priory at Christchurch, though she was laid to rest
+in what Macaulay describes as the saddest burying-ground in England, the
+cemetery of St Peter's, in the Tower. Gertrude, Lady Courtenay, was
+herself attainted at the time of her husband's execution, but was
+afterwards pardoned and died in 1557. The tomb was opened in the last
+century from idle curiosity, and some one attempted to raise the body to
+a sitting posture, with the result that the skeleton fell to pieces. The
+tomb was also damaged by this foolish opening.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figleft">
+<a name="image-0014"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image21.jpg"><img src="images/image21_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="Brass of &AElig;thelred." /></a>
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">Brass of &AElig;thelred</span>.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Three small carved figures at the bottom of the hood moulding of the
+arches over these monuments deserve attention. The one on the west side
+of the southern arch represents Moses with the tables of the law.
+Probably there was another such figure at the eastern end of the same
+moulding, but this would have been cut away when the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page47" name="page47"></a>[47]</span>
+
+ sedilia were inserted. The opposite arch has a figure on each side.
+</p>
+<p>
+Just at the east end of the Courtenay tomb is a slab of Purbeck marble,
+reputed to have once covered the grave of &AElig;thelred. In it is inserted a
+fifteenth-century brass, with a rectangular plate of copper bearing an
+inscription, represented in the illustration (p. 46). A brass plate with
+a similar inscription, though the date on it is given as 872, was found
+in the library. Possibly the original brass and inscription were taken
+up in the time of the civil wars and hidden for safety, and the
+inscription having been lost, the copper plate now on the tomb was made
+when the brass was replaced, and the original plate was afterwards found
+and was placed for safety in what is now the library. <i>Copper</i> nails
+were used to fasten the brass to the floor, which perhaps serves to show
+that the engraved <i>copper</i> plate was made at the time when the brass was
+replaced on the slab. A little piece of the left-hand bottom corner has
+been broken off, and the top of the sceptre is missing. There are no
+rails before the altar, but their place is supplied by three oak benches
+covered with white linen cloths (these may be seen in the illustration
+on p. 43). The use of the "houseling linen" dates back to very early
+times. The word "housel" for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper has gone
+out of use, though most of us are familiar with the line
+
+<span class="quote" style="display:block; margin-bottom: 1.25em;">
+  "<i>Unhouseled</i>, unanointed, unanelled,"
+</span>
+
+in which the ghost of Hamlet's father describes the circumstances of his
+death. The word "unhouseled" in this means that he died without
+receiving the sacred elements before his death.
+</p>
+<p>
+The benches are a relic of Puritan times: there is an entry dated 1656
+in the churchwardens' accounts respecting the payment of &pound;1 "for making
+and setting up the benches about ye communion table in the quire." These
+were at first used as seats, on which the communicants sat to receive
+the bread and wine. In after times their use was modified. These
+benches, ten in number, were placed on the steps leading up to the
+altar, and it was customary for the clerk on "Sacrament Sundays" to go
+to the lectern after morning prayer, and, in a loud voice, give notice
+thus: "All ye
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page48" name="page48"></a>[48]</span>
+
+ who are prepared to receive the Holy Communion draw near." Those who
+wished to communicate then went into the chancel and sat on these
+benches or in the choir stalls, waiting their turns, and kneeling on
+mats until the clergy brought them the bread and wine. Up to 1852 there
+was a rail on the top step, at the entrance of the presbytery, on which
+the houseling linen hung. The rail, which was of no great antiquity, was
+removed at that date, and three of the oak benches were retained to
+supply its place; these are now used as an ordinary communion rail, but
+are always covered with the "fair white cloths."
+</p>
+<p>
+The <b>South Choir Aisle</b>, known as the Trinity Aisle, has at its
+east end a five-light window, each light of which runs up through the
+head; the south wall is pierced by two three-light windows of similar
+character. The wall opposite in the western bay, against which the organ
+now stands, is blank, as on the outside of this the vestry stands with
+the library above it. At the east end of this aisle was the chantry
+founded by the Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond, whose father and
+mother lie in the tomb already described beneath the nearest arch on the
+north side of this aisle. The altar of this chantry, as well as all the
+other altars in the church, numbering ten in all, have been swept away,
+no doubt at the time of the Reformation. But recently the east end of
+this aisle has been fitted up with a communion table for use at early
+services.
+</p>
+<p>
+In this aisle is to be seen, under the second window from the east,
+the marble or slate painted sarcophagus known as the Etricke tomb.
+Anthony Etricke of Holt Lodge, Recorder of Poole, was the magistrate
+who committed for trial the ill-fated Duke of Monmouth, who, after
+his flight from Sedgemoor, was captured in the north of Dorset near
+Critchell. It is said that in his old age he became very eccentric, and
+desired to be buried neither in the church nor out of it, neither above
+ground nor under; and to carry out his wish he got permission to cut a
+niche in the church wall, partly below the level of the ground outside,
+and then firmly fixed in it the slate receptacle which is now to be
+seen. Into this he ordered that his coffin should be put when he died.
+Moreover, he had a presentiment that he should die in 1691, and so
+placed that date upon the side of the sarcophagus. He,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page49" name="page49"></a>[49]</span>
+
+ however, lived twelve years longer than he expected, so that when his
+death really occurred the date had to be altered to 1703. The two dates,
+the later written over the earlier, are still to be seen. On the outside
+of the sarcophagus are painted the arms of his family. The whole is kept
+in good repair, for so determined was the good man that his memory
+should be kept alive, and his last resting-place well cared for, that he
+gave to the church in perpetuity the sum of 20s. per annum, to be
+expended in keeping the niche and coffin in good order. When the church
+was restored in 1857 the outer coffin was opened, and it was found that
+the inner one had decayed, but that the dust and bones were still to be
+seen, these were placed in a new chest and once more deposited in the
+outer coffin.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0015"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image22.jpg"><img src="images/image22_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE ETRICKE TOMB." /></a>
+<br />
+THE ETRICKE TOMB.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+In this aisle is also to be seen an ancient chest, not formed as chests
+usually are, of wooden planks or slabs fastened together, but hewn out
+of a solid trunk of oak. The chest is over 6 feet long, but the cavity
+inside is not more than 22 inches in length, 9 inches in width, and 6
+inches in depth, hence it will be seen how thick and massive the walls
+are. Originally it may have contained some small relics, and probably is
+much older than the present minster itself. It was afterwards used as a
+safe for deeds. In 1735 some deeds were taken from it bearing the date
+1200.
+</p>
+<p>
+Formerly, there stood on this aisle the tomb of John de
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page50" name="page50"></a>[50]</span>
+
+ Berwick, dean of the college, who died in 1312. At his tomb once a year
+the parishioners met to receive the accounts of the outgoing
+churchwardens and to elect new ones. The altar tomb was removed about
+1790, the slab at the top of it being let into the floor.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0016"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image23.jpg"><img src="images/image23_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="ANCIENT CHEST." /></a>
+<br />
+ANCIENT CHEST.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The <b>North Choir Aisle</b> is a foot narrower than the corresponding
+south aisle: it has three windows each with two lights instead of two of
+three lights. This is known as St George's aisle. In the east wall is a
+piscina of Perpendicular date. Two doors lead into this aisle&mdash;one at
+the corner, where the walls of the aisle and transept meet, and one
+between the two easternmost windows. The principal objects in this aisle
+are two bulky chests, one containing the title-deeds of some charity
+lands in the parish of Corfe Castle. This is fastened by six locks, each
+of different pattern,&mdash;each trustee of the charity has a key, of his own
+special lock,&mdash;so that the chest can only be opened by the consent of
+the whole body. The other chest contains the parochial accounts; this
+once had six locks, but now has only two.
+</p>
+<p>
+In the south-eastern corner of this aisle lies a mutilated
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page51" name="page51"></a>[51]</span>
+
+ effigy of a mail-clad knight with crossed legs. This is said to have
+been removed to the minster from another church when it was destroyed.
+Whom it represents is uncertain, but traditionally it is known as the
+Fitz Piers monument.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0017"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image24.jpg"><img src="images/image24_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="UVEDALE MONUMENT." /></a>
+<br />
+UVEDALE MONUMENT.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+In this aisle is the monument of Sir Edmund Uvedale, who died in 1606.
+The monument was erected by his widow in "dolefull duety." It is in the
+Renaissance style, and was carved by an Italian sculptor. The old knight
+is represented
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page52" name="page52"></a>[52]</span>
+
+ clad in a complete suit of plate armour, though without a helmet. He
+lies on his right side, his head is raised a little from his right hand,
+on which it has been resting, as though he were just awaking from his
+long sleep, his left hand holds his gauntlet. Above the tomb hangs an
+iron helmet, such as was worn in Elizabethan times, and which very
+probably was once worn by Sir Edmund himself.
+</p>
+<p>
+Between the eastern ends of the choir aisles, and beneath the eastern
+end of the presbytery, is the <b>Crypt</b>. This is a vaulted chamber,
+the vaulting being supported on two pairs of pillars, thus forming three
+aisles, as it were, running east and west, each containing three bays.
+The western bay is of somewhat later date than the central and eastern;
+the wall against which the westernmost of the pillars once stood was
+removed, but the piers were allowed to remain, backed up by a new piece
+of masonry built against them to support the new vaulting. The crypt is
+lighted by four windows, equal-sided spherical triangles in shape; two
+look out eastward, one northward beyond the chancel arch, one,
+correspondingly placed, to the southward. The centre of the east end is
+a blank wall. Against this the altar stood&mdash;a niche, probably a piscina,
+still may be seen. On each side of the place where the altar stood there
+are two openings into the choir aisles. The exteriors of these are of
+the same form and size as the crypt windows, but they are deeply splayed
+inside, and probably were used as hagioscopes or squints, to allow those
+kneeling in the choir aisles to see the priest celebrating mass at the
+crypt altar.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0018"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page53" name="page53"></a>[53]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image25.jpg"><img src="images/image25_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="ENTRANCE TO CRYPT." /></a>
+<br />
+ENTRANCE TO CRYPT.
+</div>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0019"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page55" name="page55"></a>[55]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image27.jpg"><img src="images/image27_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE CRYPT." /></a>
+<br />
+THE CRYPT.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The <b>Vestry</b> stands in the south-east angle between the transept
+and choir aisle; it is a vaulted building dating from the fourteenth
+century, and is lighted by two windows, one looking to the east, the
+other to the south. A small door at the south-west corner opens upon the
+staircase leading to the <b>Library</b>&mdash;a chamber situated above the
+vestry. The collection consists chiefly of books left to the minster by
+will of the Rev. William Stone, Principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford, a
+native of Wimborne. They were brought from Oxford in 1686, under the
+care of the Rev. Richard Lloyd, at that time Master of the Grammar
+School at Wimborne. The books are chiefly works on divinity; some
+additions were subsequently and at various times made to the original
+collection. The books were attached
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page54" name="page54"></a>[54]</span>
+
+ to the shelves for safety's sake by iron chains, the upper end carrying
+rings which slid on rods fastened to the shelf above, the other end to
+the edge of the binding of the books. Hence the volumes had to be placed
+on the shelves with their backs to the walls. The room in which the
+books were placed was formerly known as the Treasury; it was refitted in
+1857, but the old chains are still used. It would occupy too much space
+were any attempt made to give a list of the books. The oldest volume is
+a manuscript of 1343, "Regimen Animarum,"
+
+<a name="image-0018a"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<a href="images/image26.jpg"><img src="images/image26_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE LIBRARY." /></a>
+<br />
+THE LIBRARY.
+</span>
+
+written on vellum, and
+containing a few illuminated initials. A "Breeches," Black-Letter Bible,
+dated 1595, is another book worth mentioning; also a volume of Sir
+Walter Raleigh's History of the World. A hole was burnt through 104 of
+its pages. It is said that Matthew Prior, the poet, was reading it by
+candle light and fell asleep, and when he woke was much distressed to
+find that the snuff from his candle had done the mischief. He did his
+best to repair the damage, by placing a
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page56" name="page56"></a>[56]</span>
+
+ tiny piece of paper over the hole in each page, and inserting the
+missing letters with pen and ink. The book has since been rebound,
+leaves taken from another copy having been bound in between the damaged
+pages.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figright">
+<a name="image-0020"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image28.jpg"><img src="images/image28_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE FONT." /></a>
+<br />
+THE FONT.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The lower part of the west tower is used as a baptistery; this is
+separated from the nave by a screen, formed of fragments of the old rood
+screen. In the centre stands the octagonal late Norman <b>Font</b>,
+supported by eight slender shafts of Purbeck marble, and a modern
+spirally-carved central
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page57" name="page57"></a>[57]</span>
+
+ pillar of white stone, through which runs the drain to carry off the
+water.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figright">
+<a name="image-0021"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image29.jpg"><img src="images/image29_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE CLOCK IN THE WEST TOWER." /></a>
+<br />
+THE CLOCK IN THE WEST TOWER.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+In the inner southern wall of this tower, rather low down, is fixed a
+curious old <b>Clock</b> made by Peter Lightfoot, a Glastonbury monk, in
+the early part of the fourteenth century. The earth is represented by a
+globe in the centre, the sun by a disc which travels round it once in
+twenty-four hours, showing the time of day; the moon by a globe so
+fastened to a blue disc that it revolves once during a lunar month; half
+of this is painted black, the other half is gilt, and the age of the
+moon is indicated by the amount of the gilded portion visible&mdash;when the
+moon is full the whole of the gilt hemisphere is shown, when new the
+whole of the black. This clock still goes, the works being in a room
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page58" name="page58"></a>[58]</span>
+
+ in the tower above. It requires winding once a day. The same clock also
+causes the Jack outside the tower to strike the quarters.
+</p>
+<p>
+In the <b>Belfry</b> is a peal of eight bells. The tenor weighs about 36
+cwts., the treble 7 cwts.
+</p>
+<p>
+The tenor bears this inscription:
+</p>
+<p class="center">
+  <span class="smcap">Mr Wilhemus Loringe me primo fecit,<br />
+      in honorem  st&aelig; cutberg&aelig;.<br />
+  renovabar sumptu parochali per ab,<br />
+          anno domini 1629.</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+The seventh bell is dated 1798.
+</p>
+<p>
+The sixth bell 1600, and is thus inscribed: "<span class="smcap">Sound out the Bells, in
+God regoyce.</span>"
+</p>
+<p>
+The fifth 1698, "<span class="smcap">Praise the Lord.</span>"
+</p>
+<p>
+The fourth 1686, "<span class="smcap">Pulsata rosamundi maria vocata. SMV.</span>"
+</p>
+<p>
+The third was originally the smallest bell of the peal, and bears the
+Latin hexameter: "<span class="smcap">Sum minima hic campana, at inest, sua gratia
+parvis</span>," and the words, "<span class="smcap">This Bell was added to ye five in</span>
+1686, Samuel Knight." The two smaller bells are of recent date.
+</p>
+<p>
+The <b>Lectern</b> bears date 1623. The stone pulpit is modern (1868).
+The old wooden pulpit, whose place it has taken, has been removed to the
+church at Holt.
+</p>
+<p>
+The earliest mention of an <b>Organ</b> is in 1405, but the earliest
+authentic record is of one set up by John Vaucks, Organ Master,
+in 1533. A memorandum in the churchwardens' accounts speak of him
+setting up a pair of organs on the rood loft. In the year 1643, we have
+records of the sale of organ-pipes and old tin. After the Restoration
+in 1664, we have a record of the purchase of a new organ for &pound;180.
+This was repaired, enlarged, and rebuilt at various times, and at the
+restoration, when the rood screen was unfortunately destroyed, the organ
+was placed in the south choir aisle.
+</p>
+<p>
+All the lower windows are now filled with painted glass; all of which,
+with the exception of a few fragments, is nineteenth-century work.
+</p>
+
+<p style="clear:both;">
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page59" name="page59"></a>[59]</span>
+</p>
+
+<h3>
+DEANS OF WIMBORNE
+</h3>
+
+<table summary="Deans of Wimborne">
+<tr><td>  Martin Pattislee or Pattishull          </td><td>appointed</td><td>1224 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Ralph Brito                             </td><td>    "    </td><td>1229 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  John Mansell                            </td><td>    "    </td><td>1247 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  John de Kirkby                          </td><td>    "    </td><td>1265 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  John de Berwick                         </td><td>    "    </td><td>1286 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Stephen de Mawley                       </td><td>    "    </td><td>1312 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Richard de Clare                        </td><td>    "    </td><td>1312 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Richard de Swinnerton                   </td><td>    "    </td><td>1334 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Richard de Merimouth                    </td><td>    "    </td><td>1338 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Richard de Kingston	                  </td><td>    "    </td><td>1342 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Thomas de Clopton                       </td><td>    "    </td><td>1349 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Reginald de Bryan                       </td><td>    "    </td><td>1349 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Thomas de Bembre (founder of the chantry)</td><td>   "    </td><td>1350 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Henry de Buckingham                     </td><td>    "    </td><td>1361 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Richard de Beverley                     </td><td>    "    </td><td>1367 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  John de Carp                            </td><td>    "    </td><td>1398 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Roger Tortington                        </td><td>    "    </td><td>1408 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Peter de Altebello                      </td><td>    "    </td><td>1412 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Walter Medford                          </td><td>    "    </td><td>1416 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Gilbert Kymer                           </td><td>    "    </td><td>1427 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Walter Herte                            </td><td>    "    </td><td>1467 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Hugh Oldham                             </td><td>    "    </td><td>1485 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Thomas Rowthel                          </td><td>    "    </td><td>1508 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Henry Hornby                            </td><td>    "    </td><td>1509 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Reginald Pole                           </td><td>    "    </td><td>1517 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Nicholas Wilson                         </td><td>    "    </td><td>1537 </td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td>  <span class="smcap">College dissolved</span></td><td>"    </td><td>1547 </td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page60" name="page60"></a>[60]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2HCH0004" id="h2HCH0004" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER IV
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    ST MARGARET'S HOSPITAL
+</h3>
+<p>
+About a quarter of a mile to the north-west of Wimborne stands the
+chapel of <b>St Margaret's Hospital</b>. The date of the foundation of
+this hospital is uncertain; tradition has it that it was founded by John
+of Gaunt, son of Edward III., but this is without doubt wrong, as
+documents&mdash;the character of which seem to indicate an early
+thirteenth-century date&mdash;have been found, from which it appears that
+this hospital existed at that time, and was set apart for the relief and
+support of poor persons afflicted with leprosy. This disease was at one
+time so common in England that a great number of lazar-houses were
+erected in the country, and many were well endowed; but when, after a
+time, the disease became less violent, many abuses crept in, persons not
+really suffering from the disease pretended to be lepers in order to get
+pecuniary benefits, and hence in many cases the leper hospitals were
+suppressed, or converted to other purposes. At the present day we find
+in many places, as here at Wimborne, that they are used as almshouses.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0022"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page61" name="page61"></a>[61]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image30.jpg"><img src="images/image30_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="ST MARGARET'S HOSPITAL." /></a>
+<br />
+ST MARGARET'S HOSPITAL.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+This hospital, however, was not one of the well-endowed. It appears from
+a deed, dated in the sixteenth year of Henry VIII., that the hospital
+was chiefly maintained, not by endowments, but by the gifts of the
+charitable who were willing to contribute to its support; and to
+encourage the benevolent to give, the deed recites that "Pope Innocent
+IV, in the year 1245, by an indulgans or bulle did assoyl them of all
+syns forgotten, and offences done against fader and moder, and all
+swerynges neglygently made. This indulgans, grantyd of Petyr and Powle,
+and of the said pope, was to hold good for 51 yeres and 260 days,
+provided they repeated a certain specified number of Paternosters and
+Ave Marias daily." The date of this indulgence proves the antiquity of
+the hospital, as it shows that it was in existence before the middle of
+the thirteenth century. A
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page62" name="page62"></a>[62]</span>
+
+ chantry was also founded in the chapel here by John Redcoddes of one
+priest to say masses for his soul. To this chantry, according to a deed
+dated in the sixteenth year of Henry VI., many tenements in Wimborne
+belonged. In later times the Rev. William Stone, who has been mentioned
+before as the founder of the Minster Library, by his will left his lands
+and tenements in the parish of Wimborne Minster to be applied to the
+benefit of almsmen only who should live in St Margaret's Hospital.
+</p>
+<p>
+There is a further endowment, but how it came to this hospital has not
+been discovered. The advowson and tithes of the Rectory of Poole were,
+in the reign of James I., granted to the Mayor and Corporation of Poole
+for forty years, on the corporation undertaking to find a curate to
+discharge the duties lately discharged by the vicar, and to pay a rent
+to the crown of &pound;12, 16s. per annum. In the reign of Charles I., the
+advowson and tithes were granted to two men, Thomas Ashton and Henry
+Harryman, and their heirs for ever, on the same conditions; but they are
+now again held by the Corporation, who pay out of the revenues&mdash;to St
+Margaret's hospital &pound;9, 16s.; to the churchwardens of Wimborne Minster,
+for the maintenance of the Etricke tomb, &pound;1; and to the fellows of
+Queen's College, Oxford, to be spent in wine and tobacco on November
+5th, yearly &pound;2.
+</p>
+<p>
+The Redcotte chantry possessed sundry vestments, the gift of Margaret
+Rempstone, in the thirty-fifth year of Henry VI., and plate, an
+inventory of which exists. This plate, on the dissolution of chantries,
+was given by the parishioners to the king, Edward VI. The hospital or
+almshouses stands on the high road from Wimborne to Blandford; the
+chapel joins one of the tenements occupied by the almsmen. These
+tenements are nine in number; three are inhabited by married couples,
+three by men, and three by women. Some of these cottages are of half
+timber, and thatched, others of modern brick. The chapel, at which there
+is now a service every Thursday afternoon, conducted by one of the
+minster clergy, is a plain building, which has been recently refitted,
+but remains, as far as windows and walls are concerned, in its original
+state. There are three doors in the north wall; the heads are pointed,
+and it is noteworthy that in the central door, that generally used for
+access to the chapel,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page63" name="page63"></a>[63]</span>
+
+ the two sides of the arch are of different curvatures, so that the point
+of the arch is nearer to the right-hand side. The edge of the wall is
+chamfered round the doorways. The east window has a semicircular head,
+and plain wooden tracery dividing it into two lancet-headed lights with
+an opening above them. There is a window in both the south and north
+walls, near the east end, each of two lights; the south window is widely
+splayed inside; the head of each light has one cusp on each side. The
+head of each light of the north window has two cusps on each side.
+Farther to the west, on the south side, is a single narrow lancet,
+widely splayed, and still farther to the west is a semicircular opening
+with wooden tracery. The general character of the masonry would indicate
+that local workmen were employed in building this chapel, and that
+little was spent in ornamenting it at the time of the erection. There
+are, however, some traces of frescoes on the inside of the walls, both
+geometrical patterns and figures. The pointed doorways and the lancet
+window on the south side would indicate the thirteenth century as the
+date of the original building, and this agrees with the documentary
+evidence mentioned above for the foundation of the hospital. The roof is
+an open one of massive wooden rafters, with the beams running across at
+the level of the wall plates.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page64" name="page64"></a>[64]</span>
+</p>
+
+<h3>
+DIMENSIONS OF WIMBORNE MINSTER
+</h3>
+
+<table summary="Dimensions of Wimborne Minster">
+<tr><td>  Extreme length, exterior, E. to W.                 </td><td>   198</td><td>feet </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Extreme width, exterior, N. to S.                  </td><td>   102</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of Nave, interior                           </td><td>    67</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of Nave, interior                            </td><td>    23</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Height of Walls                                    </td><td>    40</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of Nave Aisles, interior                    </td><td>    70</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of Nave Aisles, interior                     </td><td>    13</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of North Transept, interior                 </td><td>    42</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of North Transept, interior                  </td><td>    18</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Height of Walls, interior                          </td><td>    30</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of South Transept, interior                 </td><td>    33</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of South Transept, interior                  </td><td>    18</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Height of Walls                                    </td><td>    30</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of Choir, interior                          </td><td>    32</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of Choir, interior                           </td><td>    21</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Height of Choir Walls                              </td><td>    28</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of Presbytery                               </td><td>    30</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of Presbytery                                </td><td>    21</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of North Choir Aisle                        </td><td>    53</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of North Choir Aisle                         </td><td>    21</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of South Choir Aisle                        </td><td>    53</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of South Choir Aisle                         </td><td>    20</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of Side of Central Tower (square), interior </td><td>    31</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Height of Central Tower                            </td><td>    84</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of Side of Western Tower (square), exterior </td><td>    31</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Height of Western Tower                            </td><td>    95</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of North Porch, N. and S., interior         </td><td>    15</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of North Porch, E. and W., interior          </td><td>    14</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of South Porch, N. and E., interior         </td><td>     6</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of South Porch, E. and W., interior          </td><td>     7</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of Vestry, N. and S., interior              </td><td>    15</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of Vestry, E. and W., interior               </td><td>    14</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of Baptistery, E. to W., interior           </td><td>    18</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of Baptistery, N. to S., interior            </td><td>    19</td><td>  " </td></tr>
+<tr><td colspan="3">&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td>  <span class="smcap">Area</span>                                      </td><td>10,725</td><td>sq. feet. </td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page65" name="page65"></a>[65]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2H_4_0009" id="h2H_4_0009" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h1>
+    CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+</h1>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<p>
+    <span class="pagenum"><a id="page66" name="page66"></a>[66]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0023"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image31.jpg"><img src="images/image31_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY, FROM THE BRIDGE." /></a>
+<br />
+CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY, FROM THE BRIDGE.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page67" name="page67"></a>[67]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2H_4_0010" id="h2H_4_0010" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h1>
+    CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+</h1>
+
+<h2>
+    <a name="h2HCH0005" id="h2HCH0005" ></a>
+    CHAPTER I
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    HISTORY OF THE BUILDING
+</h3>
+<p>
+On the promontory washed on the one side by the slow stream of the
+Dorset Stour, and on the other by the no less sluggish flow of the
+Wiltshire Avon, not far from the place where they mingle their waters
+before making their way amid mudflats and sandbanks into the English
+Channel, stands, and has stood for more than eight hundred years, the
+stately Priory Church which gives the name of Christchurch to a small
+town in the county of Hants. The massive walls of its Norman nave, its
+fifteenth-century tower, and its great length&mdash;for, from the east wall
+of its Lady Chapel to the west wall of its tower, it measures no less
+than 311 feet&mdash;make it a conspicuous object from the Channel, especially
+after sundown, when its form, rising above the low shore of Christchurch
+Bay, is silhouetted against the sky. It is one of the finest churches
+below cathedral rank that is to be found in England. It is a perfect
+mine of wealth to the student of architecture, containing examples of
+every style from its early, possibly Saxon, crypt to the Renaissance of
+its chantries. Here we may see the solid grandeur of Norman masonry in
+the nave, with its massive arcading and richly-wrought triforium; the
+graceful beauty of the Early English in its north porch and in the
+windows of the north aisle of the nave; the more fully developed
+Decorated in the windows of the south aisle of the same; and
+Perpendicular in the tower and Lady Chapel.
+</p>
+<p>
+The crypts beneath the north transept and the presbytery may have
+belonged to the original church, but of that which is visible above
+ground the oldest part was due to Flambard, of whom more hereafter.
+When the first church was founded we cannot tell. Here, as in many
+other places, the origin is lost in the haze of antiquity and
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page68" name="page68"></a>[68]</span>
+
+ legend. Here, as at many other places, we find the original builders
+choosing one site, and the stones that they had laid during the day
+being removed by night by unseen, and therefore angelic, hands to
+another. It was on the heights of St Catharine, about a mile and a half
+away from the present site, that the human builders strove to raise
+their church. It may be that this hill, still marked by the ramparts of
+an ancient encampment, was not holy ground on account of its former
+occupation by heathens, though in after time, a chapel, built in the
+early part of the fourteenth century, existed there; but, anyhow, not on
+this hill, but on the flat lands of Saxon Tweoxneham, a name which
+passed into the forms of Thuinam and Twynham, that the great Priory
+Church was destined to stand. But not even when the human builders began
+to erect the church on the miraculously chosen ground did supernatural
+interposition cease. A stranger workman came and laboured at the
+building: never was he seen to eat as the other workmen did, never did
+he come with his fellows to receive his wages. Once, when a beam had
+been cut too short for the place it was to occupy, he lengthened it by
+drawing it out with his hand; and when the day for consecration came,
+and the other workmen gathered together to see their work hallowed by
+due ceremonial, this stranger workman was nowhere to be seen. The
+ecclesiastics came to the conclusion that this was none other than the
+carpenter's son of Nazareth, and the church which had in part been
+builded by the hands of the Christ Himself in later days became known as
+Christchurch.
+</p>
+<p>
+But, if we disregard these legends, we do not at once find ourselves on
+sure and certain ground. The foundation has been attributed to
+&AElig;thelstan, but this is hardly likely, as, in a charter dated 939, he
+gives one of the weirs on the Avon at Twynham to the Abbey Church of
+Middleton, now Milton Abbey in North Dorset, which he would be hardly
+likely to do if he had founded, or were thinking of founding, a
+religious house at Twynham; and as he died in 940, not much time was
+left for any foundation after this grant. Again, we find King Eadred
+granting land and fishing near Twineham to Dunstan. However, in the time
+of the Confessor, mention is made of the canons of Holy Trinity
+possessing lands in Thuinam. It must be remembered that it had been
+intended,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page69" name="page69"></a>[69]</span>
+
+ according to the legend, to dedicate the church to the Holy Trinity, and
+no doubt this was done, although it was afterwards identified especially
+with the second Person.
+</p>
+<p>
+In Domesday it is stated that the canons of the Church of the Holy
+Trinity hold lands in the village, and also in the Isle of Wight
+opposite. Certain it is that in the days of Eadward the Confessor there
+was a church at Twynham dedicated to the Holy Trinity, held by a
+collegiate society of secular canons. This church was swept away by
+Ranulf Flambard, the notorious justiciar and chaplain of William II.,
+whose evil deeds, contrary to the oft-quoted passage from Mark Antony's
+speech in Julius C&aelig;sar, are now generally forgotten; while the good
+deeds that he wrought,&mdash;the nave of this church, and the still grander
+nave of Durham Cathedral Church, Durham Castle, "Norham's castled
+steep," and Kepier Hospital, built while he held the most important
+diocese in the North of England,&mdash;live after him, and have shed a glory
+on his name. Evil he was in moral character without doubt, but a
+glorious builder nevertheless. Though he oppressed the clergy, though it
+was through his instrumentality and by his advice that sees were kept
+vacant for years, and when filled, only given to those who were able and
+willing to pay large sums to the king, yet it is rather as a great
+architect than as an ecclesiastic that we, who gaze with delight and
+admiration on his work that has come down to us, will regard him. It is
+said that, as his end drew nigh, he realised the amount of evil he had
+done, and strove to make his peace with heaven and restitution to some,
+at least, of those whom he had wronged. He died in 1128, and his body
+rests in the great Cathedral Church of St Cuthbert that he had done so
+much to raise. But it was in the earlier part of his career, before he
+received the bishopric of Durham in 1099, that he probably began the
+work at Christchurch with which we are at present concerned.<a href="#note-4" name="noteref-4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> He was
+succeeded there by Godric, who is called Senior and Patron and
+afterwards Dean; but Flambard seems still
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page70" name="page70"></a>[70]</span>
+
+ to have exercised some authority over him, illegal probably, but none
+the less real. We find him granting to Godric, for the work of building,
+all the offerings made by strangers and pilgrims, and when a canon died
+his share of the revenues of the college was devoted to the same object,
+the vacancy not being filled up by the appointment of any new canon.
+</p>
+<p>
+The length of Godric's tenure of office is uncertain. On his death Henry
+I. appointed Gilbert de Dousgunels dean, having appropriated to himself
+the accumulated fabric fund. Henry I. granted the patronage of the
+church to Richard de Redvers, Earl of Devon, who appointed his chaplain,
+Peter, a Norman of Caen, dean. This dean seems to have diverted the
+funds from the work of completing the church, but his successor,
+Randulphus, carried on the work again, so that in his time the church
+and the conventual buildings were roofed in. In the time of Hilary, in
+the year 1150, the secular college of canons was converted into a Priory
+of Augustinian Canons. This change was made with the consent of Baldwin
+de Redvers, in accordance with the wishes of Henry of Blois, brother of
+King Stephen, and at that time Bishop of Winchester, who is well known
+from the fact of his founding the Hospital of St Cross, near Winchester.
+Hilary, two years before this change was made, had been consecrated
+Bishop of Chichester, and subsequently became one of the episcopal
+opponents of Thomas Becket. Henceforth, until the dissolution in the
+reign of Henry VIII., the head of the religious community at
+Christchurch was a prior, who was, according to a charter granted by
+Richard de Redvers in 1160, elected by the canons. There were, in all,
+twenty-six priors, and their names have come down to us, but with only
+the most meagre notices of the architectural work which was carried on
+by each of them. Extensive, however, it must have been; and from what we
+see of the church itself, it would seem as if building operations must
+have been almost constantly in progress.
+</p>
+<p>
+In all probability there was, according to the usual plan of Norman
+churches, a tower at the junction of the nave and transepts, and beyond
+this an apsidal choir. But there is no documentary record of such a
+tower ever having been built or fallen, although its existence is
+rendered probable by a carving of a church with tower and spire on
+Draper's chantry, and by
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page71" name="page71"></a>[71]</span>
+
+ a similar representation on a seal, and in two other parts of the
+building. It is probable that the original choir extended westward
+beyond the transept, as at Westminster to the present day.
+</p>
+<p>
+As has been stated above, the Norman church was commenced by Flambard
+towards the end of the eleventh century; and of the work so begun, the
+earliest existing remains are the arcading of the nave, the triforium,
+and the transepts with the eastern apsidal chapel attached to the south
+transept. Next to this in order came the walls of the aisles of the
+nave, and the cloisters and chapter-house, which, however, have
+disappeared; cloisters would come to be considered a necessity as soon
+as the secular canons were superseded by regulars. The early English
+clerestory of the nave seems to have been built in the time of the third
+prior, Peter, about the beginning of the thirteenth century. To the end
+of same century may be approximately assigned the vaulting of the nave
+aisles, the north porch, and a chapel attached to the north transept.
+Alterations of an extensive nature seem to have been begun in the
+fourteenth century; for to this date belong the rood screen, placed
+farther to the east than the old division between the ritual choir of
+the canons and the western part of the nave, which was probably given up
+to the lay dwellers in the parish,&mdash;and the splendid reredos. The Lady
+Chapel also was completed certainly before 1406, probably eleven years
+earlier. The fifteenth century saw the western tower built and the choir
+commenced and a great part of it finished, though the vaulting seems not
+to have been completed until the early part of the sixteenth century, as
+W. E. the initials of William Eyre, who was prior from 1502 to 1520, are
+to be seen on the bosses and the arch of the south choir aisle. Somewhat
+later still is the chantry at the east end of the south choir aisle,
+built by the last prior and dated 1529, and the chantry built by the
+last of the Plantagenets, Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, daughter of
+the Earl of Clarence and mother of Cardinal Pole, who at the age of
+seventy was executed by Henry VIII. in 1541.
+</p>
+<p>
+Shortly before the dissolution in 1536 Prior Draper addressed a petition
+to Henry VIII. which is still in existence in the Record Office, praying
+that he would spare the Priory church, basing his request upon the
+desolate
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page72" name="page72"></a>[72]</span>
+
+ character of the district, the poverty of the house, and the fact that
+the church was not only a place for poor religious men, but also a
+parish church to the town and hamlets round about, whose inhabitants
+numbered from fifteen to sixteen hundred, that there was no place where
+any honest man on horseback or on foot might have succour or repose for
+the space of eight or nine miles, "but only this poor place of
+Christchurch, to which both rich and poor doth repair and repose." He
+goes on to say how it was of late years a place of secular canons, until
+the king's antecessors made it a place of canons regular, that "the
+poor, not only of the parish and town, but also of the country, were
+daily relieved and sustained with bread and ale, purposely baked and
+brewed for them weekly to no small quantities according to their
+foundation, and a house ordained purposely for them, and officers
+according duly given attendance to serve them to their great comfort and
+relief." But all the pleading was in vain. Commissioners were appointed,
+who presented their report to Lord Cromwell December 2, 1539. They say
+that "we found the Prior a very honest and conformable person, and the
+house well furnished with jewels and plate, whereof some be meet for the
+king's majesty's use." Then follows a list of the treasures of the
+abbey, of the yearly value of the several endowments, and of the
+officers of the Priory, thirteen in number besides the Prior. Prior
+Draper retired on a pension, and the site of the domestic buildings was
+conveyed to Stephen and Margaret Kirton. The domestic buildings
+themselves gradually disappeared, but the whole of the church was handed
+over to the parish as a church, the grant to the churchwardens being
+made by letters patent 23 October 32 Henry VIII. It conveyed to them
+"the choir body, bell-tower with seven bells, stones, timber, lead of
+roofing and gutters of the church and the cemetery on the north side."
+Since then the church has been served by vicars, the patronage being in
+the hands of the dean and chapter of Winchester until the nineteenth
+century, when the advowson was purchased by Lord Malmesbury. The living
+is now in the gift of the Bishop of Winchester.
+</p>
+<p>
+During the present century much restoration has been done. The nave was
+vaulted in stucco in 1819; the west window was taken in hand in 1828;
+the pinnacles of the tower and the upper part of the turret containing
+the stairs were renewed in 1871; and constant repairs have been going on
+up to the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page73" name="page73"></a>[73]</span>
+
+ present time; and the principle that has guided the restorer has been,
+when any stonework has been removed to put in its place as exact a copy
+of the old as possible,&mdash;a principle that cannot be approved of, as it
+will lead, when the newness of the modern work has been toned down by
+time, to confusion between the genuine old work and the modern imitation
+of it. It is far better, when there is no question of stability but only
+of appearance, to leave the old stonework, even though much decayed, as
+it is, unscraped, untouched by the chisel, and where strength is needed
+to put in frankly nineteenth-century work, which could never by any
+possibility be mistaken for part of the original building.
+</p>
+<p>
+One of the most glaring instances of injudicious restoration is to be
+met with in the apsidal chapel attached to the eastern side of the south
+transept. This work was carried out by the Hon. C. Harris, late Bishop
+of Gibraltar. The arcading is a nineteenth-century imitation of Norman
+work; the pavement is glaringly modern. Of what interest, it may well be
+asked, is such work? Who would care to visit Christchurch to see it? The
+nineteenth-century carver cannot possibly produce work similar to that
+of the carver who lived in the twelfth century,&mdash;the conditions of his
+life are altogether different, his training bears no resemblance to that
+of the old artist, his work is a forgery, and a most clumsy one too. In
+this chapel we see this reprehensible practice carried to its fullest
+extent, but there are many other parts of the building which have
+suffered. Most of the arcading on the exterior of the transept is modern
+imitation, and the tracery of the windows of the south choir aisle has
+been entirely renewed; no old stones, though many might have been used,
+have been reset in their original position. The arcading of the south
+aisle of the nave has been terribly tampered with. Possibly under the
+influence of time many of the shafts had partially crumbled, and the
+surface of the carved capitals had perished, so that the original design
+could not be made out; but that was no reason for cutting away the
+ornamental work to make way for modern decoration which may or may not
+bear some slight resemblance to what was there before. Some of the piers
+of the nave arcading have also been partially renewed. By an act of
+much-to-be-condemned vandalism the sub-arches of the two eastern bays of
+the south triforium of the nave were cut away to make
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page74" name="page74"></a>[74]</span>
+
+ room for faculty pews; recently a glaring white pillar has been
+introduced into the westernmost of these two bays, and two sub-arches
+built. If the same kind of work is carried out in the other, we shall
+see in all probability an attempt to copy the unique scale decoration
+which still exists on the tympanum under the corresponding principal
+arch on the north side, cut with modern tools with all the lifeless
+rigidity of modern work. Another mistake which has been made, is the
+scraping off of the plaster from the interior walls of the chamber known
+as St Michael's Loft, over the Lady Chapel, and the re-pointing of the
+stonework. Old builders invariably covered their rubble walls with
+plaster, but the modern restorer for some reason seems to hate plaster
+and prefers, to show the coarse stonework which the builder never
+intended should be seen, and to emphasise the roughness by filling up
+the joints with conspicuous pointing. This, however, is not so
+destructive as much of the work which has been condemned above, because
+at any time the walls could be recovered with a thin coat of smooth
+plaster laid on with a trowel, but not "floated,"&mdash;that is, not brought
+to a smooth surface by a long straightedge.
+</p>
+<p>
+A large and old building such as this Priory Church will need almost
+constant repairs to keep it sound and safe, and the income from
+visitors' fees is quite sufficient for this purpose. It is, however,
+much to be feared that restoration and reconstruction will form far too
+large a part of the work done in this building. Every new ornamental
+stone, to make room for which some original stone is displaced, detracts
+from the value of the building from an arch&aelig;ological point of view; and
+though there may be some, or even many, who prefer the trim and smug
+appearance of modern work to that of the old, instinct with life, full
+of the thoughts of the builders and workers in wood and stone, whose
+bones have mouldered into dust in the garth of the vanished cloisters,
+and whose very names have in many cases been forgotten, yet we hope that
+those who have this priceless treasure in their keeping may recognise
+ere it is too late, that the result of a continuance of the process of
+restoration commenced about the middle of the nineteenth century will be
+the gradual conversion of a splendid memorial of bygone ages into a
+modern sham, and they themselves will be regarded, when true love of art
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page75" name="page75"></a>[75]</span>
+
+ becomes general, with the same indignation as that which they themselves
+feel with regard to those who pulled down the roof of the south transept
+and cut out the columns and sub-arches of the triforium in days before
+the Gothic revival set in. And the modern restorer has less excuse than
+the destroyer of a hundred years ago. If, like the vandals of the
+Georgian period, they had been blind to the beauties of architectural
+art, they would have had no sin, yet since they profess to see,
+therefore their sin will remain and their names will be held in
+perpetual reproach and everlasting contempt.
+</p>
+<p>
+The foregoing historical sketch of the building has perforce been
+somewhat vague in dates, for, in the absence of documentary evidence, it
+is not easy to fix from architectural considerations alone the date of
+any particular piece of work within a limit of some twenty years or so.
+The out-of-the-way position of the Priory of Christchurch&mdash;for no great
+road ran through the town, and though it is near the sea there is no
+convenient harbour near it&mdash;has brought it to pass that it is scarcely
+mentioned in any medi&aelig;val chronicles. Its own fabric rolls and annals
+have been lost. Here and there, however, the date of a will or the
+inscription on a monument has enabled a more definite date to be arrived
+at. The dates also of the dedications of some of the many altars are
+known&mdash;viz. that of the Holy Saviour, used by the canons as their high
+altar, and that of St Stephen, dedicated by the Bishop of Ross in 1199;
+that of the altar of the Holy Trinity, which stood in the nave, and was
+the high altar of the parish; and those of the altars of SS. Peter and
+Paul, SS. Augustine and Gregory and all the Prophets, dedicated by
+Walter, Bishop of Whitherne, on November 7, 1214; that of the altar of
+St John the Baptist and St Edmund, dedicated on December 7, 1214, by the
+same bishop; and that of the altar of SS. Michael and Martin, dedicated
+by the Bishop of the Isles in 1221.
+</p>
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page76" name="page76"></a>[76]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2HCH0006" id="h2HCH0006" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER II
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    THE EXTERIOR
+</h3>
+<p>
+The exterior of the church of Christchurch Priory may be well seen from
+several points of view. The churchyard lies to the north of the
+building, extending beyond it both to the east and west. On the south
+side, where all the domestic buildings of the Priory once stood, there
+is a modern house and private grounds. All that belongs to the church is
+a path running under the walls as far as the east corner of the
+transept, where a garden door stops farther progress. Several glimpses
+of the building, however, may be obtained on the way down to the Stour,
+and seen from the south side of this river, the church rises above its
+surroundings, and forms a conspicuous object. A good general view on the
+north-east may also be obtained from a bridge over the Avon. From this
+point of view the great length of the church is apparent; on the
+right-hand side may be seen the ruins of the Norman keep of the castle
+on its artificial mound, and nearer to the bridge the remains of a
+twelfth-century Norman house. From the churchyard, also, the whole north
+side of the church may be seen at once, and many striking features will
+be noticed. Among these, the circular staircase attached to the
+transept, with its rich diaper work; Norman arcading of interlacing
+arches running round the transept; the large windows of the choir
+clerestory, so wide and closely set together that the whole wall seems
+as though composed of glass&mdash;through which, and the windows of the
+opposite wall, the light of the sky can be seen; and lastly, the upper
+storey of the Lady Chapel with its row of windows of a domestic type.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0024"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page77" name="page77"></a>[77]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image32.jpg"><img src="images/image32_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY, FROM THE NORTH-EAST." /></a>
+<br />
+CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY, FROM THE NORTH-EAST.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+A systematic examination of the exterior may best be begun with the
+<b>Western Tower</b>. This is of fifteenth-century date, and is set
+partially within the church&mdash;that is to say, its builder did not add it
+to the west of the church, making an archway
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page78" name="page78"></a>[78]</span>
+
+<a name="image-0024a"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<a href="images/image33.jpg"><img src="images/image33_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="TOWER DOOR." /></a>
+<br />
+TOWER DOOR.
+</span>
+
+ through the previously existing west front, but pulled down the whole
+west wall of the nave, leaving, however, the west walls of the aisles,
+and carried the north and south walls of the new tower as far back into
+the church as the space occupied by the western bay, thus leaving two
+spaces at the west end of the aisles, one now used as a vestry, the
+other as a kind of lumber-room. In the west face of the tower is a
+doorway under a rectangular label; in the spandrels are two shields,
+bearing the arms of the Priory, and of the Montacutes and Monthermers,
+Earls of Salisbury. The doors are modern. Immediately above the doorway
+is a large window with three tiers, each containing six lights. The head
+of the window above these is of an ordinary Perpendicular character. The
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page79" name="page79"></a>[79]</span>
+
+ tracery was restored in 1828. Above this window is a niche containing a
+figure of Christ. The upper stage, which contains the bells, has two
+two-light windows in each face, each light being divided by a transom.
+These windows are not glazed, but are furnished with louvre-boards. The
+tower is crowned with a pierced battlemented parapet having pinnacles at
+the corners and at the middles of each side; within this rises
+
+
+a low
+pyramidal roof. The stair turret runs up at the north-east angle of the
+tower; this is octagonal, and is crowned with a parapet and crocketed
+pinnacles; the upper part of this turret and the pinnacles were renewed
+in 1871. The tower is strengthened by two buttresses at right angles to
+each other at each of the two western angles. On either side of the
+tower, as already explained, may be seen the west end of the nave
+aisles; these have windows with Perpendicular tracery, and on the north
+wall of the north aisle is a plain, round-headed doorway cut through the
+wall in modern time, with a Perpendicular window over it.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figright">
+<a name="image-0025"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image34.jpg"><img src="images/image34_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="NORTH PORCH." /></a>
+<br />
+NORTH PORCH.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page80" name="page80"></a>[80]</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Next comes the <b>North Porch</b>, with a chamber above it&mdash;here,
+as in many other churches, the chief entrance into the building. Its
+great dimensions, both in length and height, however, are remarkable;
+it projects 40 feet beyond the aisle wall, and its own side walls rise
+nearly to the height of the clerestory of the church. Its south end
+does not extend beyond the wall of the aisle, so that there is a space
+between the upper part of the porch and the clerestory. The upper part
+above the porch proper contains, as mentioned above, a lofty chamber,
+probably originally the muniment-room. This is lighted by two pairs
+of narrow single-light windows on either side, and by a similar pair
+in the north face beneath the obtuse-angled gable. This room is, no
+doubt, a later addition. The entrance into the porch is a beautiful,
+deeply-recessed archway of thirteenth-century date, with numerous shafts
+of Purbeck marble on either side. Within the porch the side walls are
+divided into two compartments, each of which is composed of two pointed
+arches beneath another larger pointed arch, with a cinquefoil in the
+head. On the west side, near the outer archway, is a cinquefoiled
+recess, with shafts of Purbeck marble and foliated cusps. This is
+said originally to have contained a desk, at which the prior met the
+parishioners and signed deeds. A stone seat runs along each side of
+the porch walls. The double doorway which leads into the church is very
+beautiful and rich Early English work. From six Purbeck marble shafts on
+either side spring the orders of the enclosing archway; the heads of the
+double doorways themselves are cinquefoiled arches with foliated cusps.
+At the jambs, and dividing the two doors, are clusters of Purbeck marble
+shafts, with moulded capitals. In the tympanum is a quatrefoil, the
+upper part of which projects so as to form a canopy. This was, no doubt,
+intended to contain some carved subject, possibly the Doom. Very
+extensive restoration was carried out in the groining and porch
+generally, in 1862.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0026"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page81" name="page81"></a>[81]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image35.jpg"><img src="images/image35_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE NORTH DOOR." /></a>
+<br />
+THE NORTH DOOR.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The wall of the <b>North Aisle</b> between the porch and the transept is
+divided into six compartments by Early English buttresses with gabled
+heads. This wall was built in Norman times, as may be seen from the
+small round-headed windows which light the clerestory, but was in Early
+English times faced with fresh ashlar, which conceals the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page82" name="page82"></a>[82]</span>
+
+ Norman arcading of intersecting arches which ran along this wall. The
+triforium windows on this side are not, though they are on the south
+side, regularly arranged; there are none in the two western divisions,
+while between the easternmost buttress and the transept there are two.
+Six late thirteenth-century windows were cut through this wall&mdash;these
+are all of similar design; they consist of two lights under a comprising
+arch, with a circle in the head. The clerestory windows are of plainer
+character. Each window consists of two simple lancets set under a
+recessed arch without any hood moulding; the tympana also above the
+lancet heads are not pierced or decorated in any way; in fact, the whole
+clerestory is remarkably plain. Between the windows are flat buttresses.
+The aisles are covered with lean-to roofs of lead, the nave itself with
+a tiled roof of medium pitch. The gable at the east end of the nave, and
+indications on the east face of the tower, show that the pitch of the
+roof was once higher, and that it must have been lowered at some time
+after the tower was built in the fifteenth century.
+</p>
+<p>
+The <b>North Transept</b> is most interesting. Its west wall contains
+two round-headed windows with billet moulding, the northern one blocked
+up; and at the north-west corner is a cluster of cylindrical shafts
+running up to about the same height as the walls of the aisle. Why they
+terminated here it is hard to say; they may mark the termination of the
+original Norman wall. This wall may not have risen above this height, or
+the upper part may have been taken down and rebuilt when the large
+Perpendicular window was inserted in the north end of the transept. At
+the north-east corner of the transept stands a richly-ornamented turret
+of Norman date. Round the lower part of this the arcade of intersecting
+arches which runs round the whole transept is carried; above this, round
+the turret, runs an arcading of semicircular-headed arches springing
+from pairs of shafts; above this the wall is decorated with diaper work;
+and finally, another arcading, this time of round-headed arches rising
+from single shafts, encircles the turret. The turret is capped by a
+sloping roof of stone attached to the transept wall. This turret is
+worthy of close attention, because it shows how the Norman builders
+hated monotony; each stage has its own decoration unlike that of any
+other; and, moreover, there are variations in the shafts of
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page83" name="page83"></a>[83]</span>
+
+ the arcading&mdash;some are plain,
+
+<a name="image-0026a"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<a href="images/image36.jpg"><img src="images/image36_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE NORTH TRANSEPT IN 1810. (From Britton's &quot;Architectural Antiquities.&quot;)" /></a>
+<br />
+THE NORTH TRANSEPT IN 1810.<br />
+(From Britton's "Architectural Antiquities.")
+</span>
+
+ some decorated in one way, some in
+another. The same love of variety may be seen here that lends so great a
+charm on a larger scale to Flambard's glorious
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page84" name="page84"></a>[84]</span>
+
+ nave at Durham. No doubt this north transept had attached to its east
+wall an apsidal Norman chapel similar to that which still exists on the
+eastern side of the south transept, but this had to make way for an
+addition of two chapels, which we may assign, from the character of
+their architecture, to the latter end of the thirteenth century. The
+northern chapel is lighted by a three-light window with three foliated
+circles in the head, which is rather sharp pointed, and the southern one
+by a two-light window with one foliated arch. These are beautiful
+examples of plate tracery. Above these chapels is a small chamber
+lighted by a window of similar character. This is supposed to have been
+the tracing room, where the various architectural designs for the
+building were drawn.
+</p>
+<p>
+To the east of the transept may be seen the <b>Choir</b> and
+<b>Presbytery</b>, with its four clerestory windows; the <b>Choir
+Aisle</b>, also with four windows; the <b>Lady Chapel</b>, with the
+octagonal turret-staircase leading into Saint Michael's Loft above it.
+It will be noticed that there is no window in the aisle under the
+western clerestory window of the choir, as the space where this would
+have been found is occupied by the two chapels to the east of the
+transept, and also that the aisle extends beyond the choir and flanks
+the western part of the Lady Chapel. The whole of this part of the
+church is of Perpendicular character. The windows of the choir aisles
+are low, the arches are depressed, and the curvature of each side of the
+arch is so slight that they appear almost straight lines. The body of
+these windows contains four lights; in the head, each of these is
+subdivided into two. Between the aisle windows are buttresses, which,
+with the exception of the one opposite the east wall of the choir, which
+terminates in a gable, have pinnacled cappings; and from each of these,
+save the gabled one, a flying buttress is carried over the roof of the
+aisle and rests against the choir wall. The aisle roof is flat, and at
+the top of the outer wall runs a plain parapet pierced with quatrefoil
+openings. The clerestory windows are of great size and are set close
+together. The choir roof is flat and is quite invisible from the
+exterior. There can be little doubt that a parapet at one time ran along
+the tops of the clerestory walls, but this has disappeared. The Lady
+Chapel has on either side three large Perpendicular
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page85" name="page85"></a>[85]</span>
+
+ windows; the arches of these as well as those of the clerestory have
+pointed heads. The western half of the central window of the Lady Chapel
+is blocked up by the later-built octagonal
+
+<a name="image-0026b"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<a href="images/image37.jpg"><img src="images/image37_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE NORTH TRANSEPT." /></a>
+<br />
+THE NORTH TRANSEPT.
+</span>
+
+ turret containing the
+staircase to Saint Michael's Loft. The staircase commences in an
+octagonal turret at the north-east corner of the choir aisle,&mdash;this
+rises above the aisle roof,&mdash;the stairs are then carried above the east
+wall of the choir aisle and then into the octagonal turret, which runs
+up the wall of
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page86" name="page86"></a>[86]</span>
+
+ the Lady Chapel and the loft above, and rises to some height above the
+parapet. There is a similar staircase on the south side, but the turret
+does not rise quite so high above the roof. There are five square-headed
+two-light windows on either side of St Michael's Loft, the lights being
+divided by transoms, the upper parts foliated. At the east end is a
+three-light window without any transom, with an obtuse arch under a
+dripstone. The loft has a parapet all round it pierced with quatrefoil
+openings. Some of this parapet, at any rate, is modern, as, in a
+photograph of the north side taken in 1884, the parapet is only shown to
+the east of the turret. As restoration work is constantly going on at
+the church, the money paid by visitors for viewing the interior
+(sixpence a head, which produces over &pound;500 a year) being devoted to this
+object, the parapet will doubtless in course of time be extended along
+the walls of the choir, and will certainly add to the beauty of the
+church; and as nothing will be destroyed to make room for it, such an
+addition will not be open to the same objection as much of the work done
+by restoration committees.
+</p>
+<p>
+The buttresses at the east angles of the Lady Chapel are set diagonally,
+and rise in five stages; the upper stage of each is square, in section,
+with the faces parallel to the walls of the church, and reaches a higher
+level than the parapet, and is finished with a flat cap. The large east
+window is a Perpendicular one of five lights. From the base of the
+south-east buttress runs a wall dividing the burying-ground from the
+gardens of the house, to the south of the church, which stands on the
+site of the domestic buildings of the priory. The portion of the wall of
+the Lady Chapel beneath the easternmost window on the north side is
+modern. Here Mr Ferrey, the architect, by whom much of the restoration
+was carried out, discovered traces of an external chantry and the marks
+of an arcading corresponding to that still remaining on the inside.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0027"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page87" name="page87"></a>[87]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image38.jpg"><img src="images/image38_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE SOUTH AISLE OF NAVE." /></a>
+<br />
+THE SOUTH AISLE OF NAVE.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The object of the chamber above the Lady Chapel is uncertain,&mdash;in 1617
+it is described as "St Michael's Loft," in 1666 the parishioners
+described it as "heretofore a chapter-house," when petitioning the
+bishop to allow it to be used as a school. But if it was ever used as a
+chapter-house, it could only have been for a short time, as there is
+evidence that there was a chapter-house to the south side of the choir
+in the twelfth century, and that this remained as late as 1498. The
+south
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page88" name="page88"></a>[88]</span>
+
+ side of the Lady Chapel and choir correspond very closely with the north
+side, but there are several differences to be noticed between the south
+and north transepts. On the eastern side of the <b>South Transept</b>
+the Norman apsidal chapel still remains. This has a semi-conical roof
+with chevron table moulding under it, and two windows&mdash;one of original
+Norman work, the other a three-light Early English window. A sacristy of
+Early English date stands to the east of the apsidal chapel, and
+occupies the space between the apse and the south choir wall. At the
+south-east corner of the transept there is a circular stair turret
+corresponding to some extent with the turret at the north-east angle of
+the north transept; this, in the second stage, becomes octagonal in
+section, and rises above the parapet of the transept. In the south face
+is a depressed segmental window, much smaller than the corresponding
+window on the north side, under a gabled parapet. The pitch of the roof
+of the south transept is much higher than that of the north transept,
+and the upper part of the transept does not abut against the walls of
+the church. Two tiers of corbel brackets on the south wall, and traces
+of two Norman windows seem to indicate that here, as elsewhere, a slype,
+with a room above it, intervened between the south end of the transept
+and the chapter-house. This slype was generally a passage connecting the
+cloister garth with the smaller garth to the south of the choir which
+was often used as a burying-place for the abbots or priors, as the case
+may be, and was the place where the monks or canons interviewed visitors
+and chapmen. The room above was often used as the library. The south of
+the <b>Nave</b> is decidedly inferior in interest to the north. The
+cloisters have entirely disappeared, but a series of round-headed
+arches, formed of stucco, may conceal a stone arcading similar to that
+hidden by the Early English facing of the north wall. The small
+round-headed windows giving light to the triforium are more regularly
+arranged than on the north side; there is one, and only one, in each
+division between the buttresses. There were, as usual, two doors in this
+wall: one for the canons, in the wall opposite to the west of the
+cloister, one close to the transept for the prior; both are now blocked
+up. The prior's door, in the injunction of Langton, 1498, is directed to
+be kept locked, save when on festivals a procession passed through it.
+This doorway is of early thirteenth-century work; it is
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page89" name="page89"></a>[89]</span>
+
+ round-headed, and is French in character. There is a legend that a party
+of French monks, terrified by a dragon which rose out of the sea,
+possibly an ancestor of the sea-serpent of more modern days, put in to
+Christchurch haven, and were entertained by the canons, with whom they
+abode for many years; possibly this door may be of their workmanship or
+design. In the south wall a large aumbry or cupboard, in the thickness
+of the walls, may be seen; in this possibly the canons kept the books
+that they had brought from the library for study. What the windows in
+this aisle were we cannot say&mdash;originally, no doubt, Norman, for the
+westernmost window is still of this style; but the others, which were
+widened either in Early English or Decorated times, are now all filled
+with nineteenth-century tracery of Decorated type. The buttresses
+between the windows, unlike those on the north side, are flat Norman
+ones. Towards the west end of the aisle a passage has in modern times
+been cut through the wall, and when this was done remains of a staircase
+which, no doubt, led to the dormitory, were discovered. The clerestory,
+on this side, is of the same plain character as on the north side.
+</p>
+<p>
+In a line with the south wall, but some little distance to the west,
+still stands a house which was once the porter's lodge, close to the
+site of the gatehouse. The porter's lodge was built by Prior Draper II.
+in the sixteenth century. The remains of the domestic buildings are very
+scanty&mdash;some old walls near the modern mill, occupying, no doubt, the
+site of the mill where the canons' corn was ground; some vestiges of the
+fish ponds; some few traces of walls and foundations, are all that have
+come down to modern days. From the similarity of arrangement in the
+buildings of religious houses, however, we can, with great certainty,
+assign the sites for the various parts&mdash;the dormitory over the
+cellarage, to the west of the cloister garth; the refectory to south of
+it; the calefactory, chapter-house, slype, to the east; and the prior's
+lodgings to the south of the choir, forming the lesser garth; the barns,
+bakery, and brew-house to the south-west of the church, near the
+porter's lodge and gatehouse. The prior had a country house at Heron
+Court, a grange at Somerford, and another at St Austin's, near
+Lymington. It must be understood that the choir was the church of the
+canons, and, as was common in churches served by Augustinian
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page90" name="page90"></a>[90]</span>
+
+ canons, the nave was used for the services which the laity of the
+district attended.
+</p>
+<p>
+It is noteworthy that whether owing to the purity of the air, so
+different from that which exists in the large cities where so many of
+the cathedral churches stand, or from the goodness of the stone, most of
+the Priory Church is in most excellent preservation. Carving which, we
+are assured, has never been retouched with a chisel since it was first
+cut, remains as sharp and clearly cut as though it were the work of the
+nineteenth century; possibly some of its excellence is due to the
+preservative effect of the whitewash with which it was once covered, and
+which has been cleaned off with water and a stiff bristled brush.
+</p>
+<p>
+The stone of which the north side of the nave is built came from
+Binstead; the limestone columns from Henden Hill; the Norman round
+turret and the choir is built of Portland stone; while Purbeck marble
+shafts are used in the north porch, and of the fine white stone from
+Caen in Normandy, the Salisbury and Draper chantries in the interior
+are constructed. These, though now about four hundred years old, are
+absolutely sharp in all the carving. There is a tombstone to the north
+of the porch which bears a curious inscription as follows:&mdash;"We were
+not slayne but raysd, raysd not to life but to be byried twice by men
+of strife. What rest could the living have when dead had none agree
+amongst you heere we ten are one. Hen. Rogers died Aprill 17 1641."
+This inscription has been variously explained. It is said by some that
+Cromwell, afterwards Protector, was at Christchurch, and dug up some
+lead coffins to make bullets for his soldiers, and flung the bodies out
+of ten such coffins into one grave; but this is manifestly incorrect.
+Oliver Cromwell was never at Christchurch, though Thomas Cromwell
+probably was, and here, as elsewhere, the two have been confounded. In
+many cases poor Oliver has had to bear the blame for destruction caused
+to churches by his less well-known namesake, the great destroyer of
+religious houses in the days of the eighth Henry. But neither of them
+had anything to do with this tomb, nor were the Parliamentary forces
+guilty of tampering with the coffins of the dead in the parish
+burying-ground at Christchurch. The very date precludes the idea, for
+the civil war did not begin till more than fifteen months after the date
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page91" name="page91"></a>[91]</span>
+
+ carved on this stone; and we may give the Roundheads credit for more
+sense than to be digging up coffins to make their bullets with, when
+there was abundance of lead to be had for the stripping on the roof of
+the Priory Church. A far more probable explanation is that which states
+that the ten bodies here interred were those of ten shipwrecked sailors,
+who were first buried on the cliffs near the spot where they were washed
+ashore; but the lord of the manor, when he heard thereof, waxed
+exceeding wroth, and a strife ensued between him and one Henry Rogers,
+Mayor of Christchurch, the former insisting on their removal to
+consecrated ground, the latter objecting to the removal, probably on the
+ground of expense; but in the end the lord of the manor had his way. But
+the mayor, to save the cost of ten separate graves, had them all buried
+in one, and placed this inscription over their remains as a protest
+against the conduct of the lord of the manor in moving their remains
+from their first resting-place.
+</p>
+<p>
+The graveyard at the present time is neatly kept and well cared for.
+The headstones have not, as they have been in many other places,
+tampered with; and though many of the alterations made in the
+restoration will not gain the approval of arch&aelig;ologists, yet some have
+been judiciously done, and some that are in contemplation will certainly
+have the result of rendering once more visible beautiful medi&aelig;val work,
+long concealed by ugly modern additions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page92" name="page92"></a>[92]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2HCH0007" id="h2HCH0007" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER III
+</h2>
+<h3>
+    THE INTERIOR
+</h3>
+<p>
+A rapid walk round the interior of the Priory Church shows that it
+practically consists of three main portions, almost entirely divided
+from each other&mdash;the <b>Nave</b>, the <b>Choir</b>, and the <b>Lady
+Chapel</b>. The solid rood screen, pierced by one narrow doorway, forms
+an effectual division between the nave and choir, while the stone
+reredos and the wall above it, running right up to the vaulting,
+entirely separates the latter from the Lady Chapel. In medi&aelig;val times
+the choir was reserved for the use of the canons; the nave was the
+parish church with its own high altar; the rood loft was an excellent
+point of vantage from which a preacher could address a large
+congregation. In those times pews had not been introduced; open benches
+may have existed. At present the nave is occupied by pews; these with
+their cast-iron poppies were erected in 1840, and were then higher than
+at present. Still, even in their present form, they hide the bases of
+the pillars, and might with much advantage be swept away, and their
+places taken by open benches or movable chairs. The pews in the
+transepts are of older date; these, together with the galleries above
+them&mdash;that in the south transept supporting the organ&mdash;are a sad
+disfigurement to the church, and it is to be hoped that they will be
+soon removed; they hide some splendid Norman work. The case of the north
+gallery is worse than the south, as a staircase leading to it disfigures
+the beautiful Early English chapel attached to the east side of the
+transept. This gallery, however, contains some faculty pews. All the
+owners of these, save one, consented to its removal; but one stood out
+against it, and, having the legal right to prevent any alteration, has
+up to the present time kept the gallery intact. But as he has recently
+died there can be little doubt that
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page93" name="page93"></a>[93]</span>
+
+ no long time will now elapse before this disfigurement to the church
+will be a thing of the past. There seems little need for the gallery, as
+there is ample accommodation on the floor of the church for any
+congregation that is likely to assemble within the walls. Many
+alterations, some of which are certainly improvements, have already been
+made. In an engraving, dated 1834, the organ is represented standing on
+
+<a name="image-0027b"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<a href="images/image39.jpg"><img src="images/image39_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="The Nave in 1834." /></a>
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">The Nave in 1834</span>.
+</span>
+
+the rood screen, probably the best place for it; and the four eastern
+bays of the nave are seen to be partitioned off by a wooden screen with
+a rod for curtains. On a level with the capitals of the pillars, to the
+west of this partition, stands the font. At this time also the triforium
+was boarded off in order to shut out draughts and cold; but this
+boarding has happily been swept away, the partition across the nave has
+been removed, and an oaken screen with glazed panels runs across the
+church, cutting off the western bay from the remainder of the nave. The
+font, a modern one, now stands under the tower; a modern pulpit on the
+south side, under the crossing, where also desks for the clergy and
+choir have been placed. It is now the custom on Sunday mornings to read
+the whole of the service up to the end of the Nicene Creed, in the nave;
+after the sermon is over, the communicants alone enter the choir to
+receive the sacrament.
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page94" name="page94"></a>[94]</span>
+
+ The choir is also used for week-day services. The Lady Chapel
+is not used. The nave is Early Norman work, and was chiefly built during
+the reign of William II.; the clerestory, however, was added at the
+beginning of the thirteenth century by Peter, who was prior from 1195 to
+1225. The original nave was probably covered by a flat wooden ceiling,
+the Early Norman builders rarely venturing to span any wide space by a
+stone vaulting. The present vaulting is of stucco, and was added by
+Garbett in 1819. The roof was altered in Perpendicular times more than
+once, as indications of a higher pitched roof than the present one
+exists on the east face of the fifteenth-century tower. As springing
+stones for a vaulted roof exist, it is probable that a stone roof was at
+one time contemplated; but possibly the idea was abandoned on account of
+the fear that the walls, unsupported by any exterior flying buttress to
+resist the thrust, would not have borne the weight. It will be
+remembered that such buttresses are to be met with along the walls of
+the choir, which is covered with a stone vaulting. The nave consists of
+seven bays. The pillars of this arcading, unlike those of Flambard's
+nave at Durham, are not cylindrical, but consist of half columns set
+against piers rectangular in section. The capitals are of the early
+cushion shape; some of them seem to have been subsequently carved with
+ornamentation which bears some resemblance to classical forms. The wall
+spaces above the semicircular arches, and below the chevron
+string-course which runs beneath the triforium, are decorated with
+hatchet-work carving, as will be seen from the illustrations. The
+triforium on either side consists, in each bay, of two coupled arches
+supported by a central pillar, enclosed by a comprising arch with bold
+mouldings and double columns, separated by square members. The most
+beautiful bay is the easternmost, on the north side, where the wall
+surface above the smaller arches, and beneath the enclosing arch, is
+carved with a kind of scale-work. Possibly the opposite bay, on the
+south side, was as richly ornamented, but the lower arches and the
+central column no longer exist, as they were cut away to make room for a
+faculty pew in 1820. These two bays were included within the original
+Norman choir. The central shaft, on the north side, is twisted. Two of
+the central shafts, on the south side, are richly ornamented&mdash;one
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page95" name="page95"></a>[95]</span>
+
+<a name="image-0028"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<a href="images/image40.jpg"><img src="images/image40_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE NAVE." /></a>
+<br />
+THE NAVE.
+</span>
+
+<span class="pagenum" style="float: right; clear:right;"><a id="page96" name="page96"></a>[96]</span>
+
+ with twisted decoration, the other with a projecting reticulated
+pattern. The shaft and sub-arches of the second bay from the east on
+this side is a modern renewal, as here also the old work was destroyed
+in 1820 to make room
+
+<a name="image-0028a"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<a href="images/image41.jpg"><img src="images/image41_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="NORTH ARCADE OF NAVE." /></a>
+<br />
+NORTH ARCADE OF NAVE.
+</span>
+
+<span class="figright">
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page97" name="page97"></a>[97]</span>
+<a name="image-0029"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image42.jpg"><img src="images/image42_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="FROM THE NORTH TRIFORIUM." /></a>
+<br />
+FROM THE NORTH TRIFORIUM.
+</span>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page98" name="page98"></a>[98]</span>
+
+ for a pew. The north triforium can be reached by a staircase continued
+up into the tower, entered from the western part of the aisle; access to
+the south triforium can only be gained by the use of a ladder. The north
+triforium deserves examination. It will be found that pointed arches
+have been added at the back, and buttresses have been built against the
+back of the wall behind the arches; the floor is rendered uneven by
+humps necessitated by the Early English vaulting of the aisle
+below&mdash;probably the aisles were originally covered with a barrel roof.
+At the east end of the north triforium an arch may be seen, which once
+opened out into the transept; this is now walled up, and traces of
+painting may still be seen on it. There is a passage under the
+clerestory, to which access may be obtained by a passage across the
+transept; this was, no doubt, made in order that the shutters of the
+windows might be opened or closed, according to the state of the
+weather. From the staircase which leads up to the north triforium a
+passage leads into the chamber over the north porch. This is a large
+room, about 40 feet in length from north to south, and is now used as a
+practising room for the choir; it is fitted with benches and a grand
+piano, and has a modern wooden gallery running along its south end.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figleft">
+<a name="image-0030"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image43.jpg"><img src="images/image43_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="Bay of the Triforium, South Side." /></a>
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">Bay of the Triforium, South Side</span>.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The <b>South Aisle</b> is much more elaborately decorated than the
+north. Along the south wall runs a fine Norman arcade, the arches
+ornamented with billet and cable moulding. The window in the western bay
+is the original Norman one; the others were altered either in Early
+English or Decorated
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page99" name="page99"></a>[99]</span>
+
+<a name="image-0031"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<a href="images/image44.jpg"><img src="images/image44_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE SOUTH AISLE OF NAVE." /></a>
+<br />
+THE SOUTH AISLE OF NAVE.
+</span>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page100" name="page100"></a>[100]</span>
+
+ times, and are now filled with modern tracery in the Decorated style
+designed by Mr Ferrey. In the third bay is a holy water stoop, and in
+the fifth a large aumbry or recess, entered by a door; in this used to
+be kept the bier and lights used at funerals. Along the walls of each
+aisle runs a stone bench. There is no arcading on the wall of the north
+aisle. The vaulting of both aisles is Early English, dating from the
+time of Peter, the third prior, who, as previously stated, built the
+clerestory. The tracery of the north aisle windows is transitional in
+character between Early English and Decorated.
+</p>
+<p>
+The <b>Transepts</b> are much encumbered by modern pews and galleries,
+and it is only by careful examination that much of the beautiful work
+that they contain can be seen. The arch opening from the south aisle
+into the transept is Early English, and the skilful junction of Early
+English and Norman work at this point is deserving of attention. This
+transept was at one time covered by a stone vaulting, which was
+destroyed at the latter end of the eighteenth century and in the
+beginning of the nineteenth. Some of the bosses taken from this may be
+seen, piled up with the old font and other fragments, at the west end of
+the north choir aisle. The west wall of the transept contains a Norman
+window. A doorway into the slype remains in the wall, and communicates
+with a wall passage. At the eastern side of the transept an arch opens
+out into an apsidal chapel, but pews block up the entrance. This chapel
+has been so completely restored that it has a thoroughly neat and modern
+appearance, and has lost all its arch&aelig;ological value; round it runs a
+Norman arcade, and on the north side an aumbry may be seen. The north
+transept retains its Norman arcading, which, fortunately, has not been
+touched by the restorer's hand; how long it may escape is doubtful, as
+it is much mutilated. Still, as it is simply decorative, and not
+necessary for the stability of the wall, it would be well to leave it
+untouched, as genuine old work, even though it may have suffered at the
+hand of time or of former generations, is, from a decorative point of
+view, infinitely preferable to any modern reproduction. There are two
+small windows in the west wall to light the wall passage to the
+clerestory, which is reached by a gallery running across the base of the
+north window. In the north wall, behind the
+
+<a name="image-0032"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page101" name="page101"></a>[101]</span>
+<a href="images/image45.jpg"><img src="images/image45_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE MONTACUTE CHANTRY." /></a>
+<br />
+THE MONTACUTE CHANTRY.
+</span>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page102" name="page102"></a>[102]</span>
+
+ back of the pews, is a thirteenth-century recess. From this transept
+access is gained to the circular staircase leading downward to the crypt
+and upward to the small chamber above the eastern chapels. This is
+popularly known as Oliver Cromwell's harness room, and marks are shown
+on the wall supposed to have been holes for the insertion of pegs
+whereon he hung his harness; but as the Protector never came to
+Christchurch, all this is purely mythical. On one of the walls Mr
+Ferrey, the architect, found a design for a window; this he copied, and
+used when designing the tracery of the window he inserted over the
+prior's door at the east end of the south aisle of the nave. This
+tracing chamber is lighted by a two-light window with a quatrefoil in
+the head in the eastern wall. The two chapels below are beautiful
+examples of transition work from the Early English to the Decorated
+style; they were built by the De Redvers, Earls of Devon, the last of
+whom died in 1263. The eagles of the Montacute and Monthermer families
+appear in this chantry. There are two windows in the eastern wall. The
+larger, on the north, consists of three lights, with three circles in
+the head; the foliation of these outside the glass forms cinquefoil
+openings; the smaller window is of a similar character, but consists of
+two lights only, with a single foliated arch above them. An archway,
+widely splayed, on the western side, opens into the transept, and
+another archway opens into the choir aisle; this has a panelled pier,
+standing a little apart from the eastern side, designed to support the
+arch, which probably was found to be giving way. The shafts along the
+eastern wall, the capitals of one of which is carved with a number of
+heads said to represent the twelve apostles, should be noticed; the
+vaulting ribs are also interesting, especially the joggled ribs seen
+over the window. A stone altar stood in one of these chantries until
+1780. These chapels are sadly disfigured by a mean staircase which leads
+into the transept gallery; it is devoutly to be hoped that before long
+this may be removed, and the exquisite beauty of the chapels seen
+without any inharmonious and irritating feature such as this staircase
+undoubtedly is. Below the transept is an Early Norman crypt; it is
+thought by some, from the rudeness of the work, that it may be of
+earlier date than the existing church, and that it belonged to the
+original church which Flambard
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page104" name="page104"></a>[104]</span>
+
+ destroyed to make room for his more splendid edifice. In it were
+discovered a number of human bones, which were reinterred in the
+churchyard. It has a plain barrel roof, divided by broad flat arches
+rising from pilasters.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0033"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page103" name="page103"></a>[103]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image46.jpg"><img src="images/image46_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE NORTH AISLE OF NAVE." /></a>
+<br />
+THE NORTH AISLE OF NAVE.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It has often been debated whether or not the church ever possessed a
+central tower. There is no documentary evidence bearing on the question.
+It may be said that if a tower existed and fell, or was pulled down for
+any reason, some record would have remained; but the records connected
+with the building are fragmentary, and it by no means follows that the
+absence of record proves the non-existence of such a tower. In the case
+of Wimborne Minster the churchwarden's accounts contain no record of the
+building or of the fall of the spire, yet we know from outside testimony
+that such a spire did fall in 1600, and that a representation of it
+occurs on a seal. So here at Christchurch a seal is in existence on
+which the church is represented with a central tower of two storeys, the
+lower plain, the upper lighted by two round-headed windows and capped by
+a low pyramidal spire or roof with a tall cross on the summit. This is
+exactly what one would expect to find: a central tower is almost always
+found in Norman churches, especially collegiate churches; and the
+pyramidal roof was almost certainly the usual form in which these early
+towers were finished. The battlemented parapets which we so often meet
+with in Norman towers are in all cases more recent additions. Moreover,
+the massive arches and piers at the corners indicate that a tower was
+contemplated, even if it were never built. In the east gable of the nave
+as it at present exists, two round-headed windows may be seen. It is
+highly probable that this gable once formed part of the east wall of the
+tower, and when the tower was removed this wall was converted into a
+gable. Everything to the east of the crossing being of late fourteenth
+or early fifteenth century date, indicates that extensive alterations
+were made at that time; and if a tower and spire had previously existed,
+it must have been removed before this date. In the centre of the carving
+over the doorway leading into the Draper chantry, dated 1529, there is a
+representation of a church with a central tower and spire. Of course, no
+such steeple existed at the time this chantry was built,
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page105" name="page105"></a>[105]</span>
+
+ but it may have been a copy of some then existing representation of the
+building as it had appeared in former times. There are also two other
+carvings of angels carrying a model of a church with a central
+tower&mdash;one near the Salisbury chantry, one on the choir roof.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0034"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image47.jpg"><img src="images/image47_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE CRYPT." /></a>
+<br />
+THE CRYPT.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The nave is divided from the choir by a splendid rood screen 16 feet 6
+inches high, 33 feet long, and 9 feet thick. The western face of this
+projects beyond the line joining the east walls of the two transepts;
+its eastern face rests against the eastern piers intended to support the
+central tower. It was extensively restored by Mr Ferrey in 1848, who
+considered that it may have been removed from some conventual church
+after the dissolution of the monasteries in the time of Henry VIII. and
+re-erected here. But there does not seem to be any real grounds for
+supposing that it was not expressly built for this church. Its character
+indicates a date somewhat late in the fourteenth century. In the centre
+is a narrow doorway and a passage
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page106" name="page106"></a>[106]</span>
+
+ into the choir; from the north side of this passage a flight of steps
+leads to the top of the loft. The base of the screen is plain; above
+this is a row of thirteen panelled quatrefoils on each side of the
+doorway&mdash;each containing a plain shield, over these a string course,
+then two rows of canopied niches, the upper row consisting of twelve,
+the lower, owing to the doorway occupying the central space, of only
+ten. The lower niches have pedestals, each formed of four short columns
+with detached bases but with large capitals, which meet one another
+above; these capitals are richly carved with foliage. No doubt, on the
+level space thus formed statues at one time stood. Woodwork screens with
+glazed doors and panels, made from an oak screen which formerly was
+placed across the south transept, run across the western ends of the
+choir aisles, so that when the doors of these and of the rood screen are
+locked, the eastern arm of the cross is entirely shut off from the rest
+of the church.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0035"><!--IMG--></a>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page107" name="page107"></a>[107]</span></p>
+<a href="images/image48.jpg"><img src="images/image48_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE ROOD SCREEN." /></a>
+<br />
+THE ROOD SCREEN.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The <b>Choir</b> is entirely Perpendicular in character, and it seems to
+have been begun in the time of Henry VI. but not to have been completed
+until the time of Henry VII., and some of the carving of the stalls is
+of still later date. Leland says of it, "Baldwin, Earl of Devon, was the
+first founder, and his successors to the time of Isabella de
+Fortibus,<a href="#note-5" name="noteref-5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> and at present the Earls of Salisbury are regarded as
+founders." Four large clerestory windows on either side light the choir.
+The wall beneath these is continued downwards to the floor, but under
+each window a low obtusely-pointed depressed archway is cut leading into
+the aisles. Between the bottom of each clerestory window and the heads
+of these arches the wall is panelled as with window mullions and
+tracery, so that the appearance from the inner side may be best
+understood by imagining that each window extended from floor to roof,
+but that the upper part alone is glazed, the lower cut away for the arch
+leading into the aisle, and the lower lights beneath the transom blocked
+up with masonry. These lower arches are more or less blocked up. The
+Salisbury chapel blocks up the north-eastern one completely; the
+sedilia, no doubt, occupied the opposite one, where now a modern altar
+tomb may be
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page108" name="page108"></a>[108]</span>
+
+<a name="image-0035a"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figleft">
+<a href="images/image49.jpg"><img src="images/image49_th.jpg" width="150"
+alt="STALL SEAT. South Side." /></a>
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">Stall Seat.</span><br />
+South Side.
+</span>
+
+<a name="image-0035b"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figleft">
+<a href="images/image50.jpg"><img src="images/image50_th.jpg" width="150"
+alt="STALL SEAT. North Side." /></a>
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">Stall Seat.</span><br />
+North Side.
+</span>
+
+<a name="image-0035c"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figleft">
+<a href="images/image51.jpg"><img src="images/image51_th.jpg" width="150"
+alt="STALL SEAT. North Side." /></a>
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">Stall Seat.</span><br />
+North Side.
+</span>
+
+ seen. The next on each side to the west is open, and flights of steps
+under them lead down to the aisles; the woodwork at the back of the
+choir stalls close the remaining two on the inside, and on the outside
+chantry chapels, opening one into the north one into the south aisle,
+stand under the second arch on each side counting from the rood screen.
+The upper stalls number in all thirty-six, fifteen on either side, and
+six with their backs to the rood screen. There is, also, a lower range
+of stalls on the north and south. The prior's and sub-prior's stalls on
+either side the doorway in the screen looking east are canopied, as also
+is the precentor's at the east end of the south side. The arms of the
+stalls are quaintly carved with various grotesque figures, as are also
+the misereres; the upper parts of the panels behind the upper stalls are
+also carved in low relief; above these is a projecting cornice decorated
+with pinnacles. The stalls are late Perpendicular work, the wainscoting
+behind the stalls being later still, as we can see from the subjects
+carved on the upper part of each panel. Some of the misereres are,
+however, very old&mdash;one dates back to about 1200, another to 1300, others
+are of later date, and most of them belong to the same period as the
+stalls. The older ones were found lying about in the lumber of the
+church, and have been placed in recent years in some of the stalls the
+seats of which had been lost or stolen. The older seats may have
+belonged to the original Norman choir. As the term "miserere" may not be
+understood by all our readers, it may be well to quote from Parker's
+"Glossary of Architecture" the following description:&mdash;"Miserere,
+Misericorde, Patience, or Pretella, is the projecting bracket on the
+under-side of the seats of stalls in churches:
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page109" name="page109"></a>[109]</span>
+
+<a name="image-0036"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<a href="images/image52.jpg"><img src="images/image52_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="CHOIR STALLS." /></a>
+<br />
+CHOIR STALLS.
+</span>
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page110" name="page110"></a>[110]</span>
+
+ these, where perfect, are fixed with hinges so that they may be turned
+up, and when this is done the projection of the miserere is sufficient,
+without actually forming a seat, to afford very considerable rest to any
+one leaning upon it. They were allowed as a relief to the infirm during
+the long services that were required to be performed by ecclesiastics in
+a standing posture. They are always more or less ornamented with
+carvings of leaves, small figures, animals, etc., which are generally
+very boldly cut. Examples are to be found in almost all ancient churches
+which retain any of the ancient stalls&mdash;one of the oldest remaining
+specimens is in Henry VII.'s Chapel at Westminster; it is in the style
+of the thirteenth century." When Parker wrote the last sentence the
+still older miserere now to be seen at Christchurch had not been
+discovered.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0037"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image53.jpg"><img src="images/image53_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="MISERERE ON STALL SEAT. (Circa 1300.) North Side." /></a>
+<br />
+MISERERE ON STALL SEAT. (<i>Circa</i> 1300.)<br />
+<span class="smcap">North Side</span>.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+It is curious to notice the absence of reverence on the part of the
+medi&aelig;val canons, according to our modern notions, that
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page111" name="page111"></a>[111]</span>
+
+<span class="pagenum" style="float: right; clear:right;"><a id="page112" name="page112"></a>[112]</span>
+
+ these quaint carvings indicate. One might have expected that inside the
+church the subjects would have always been of a sacred nature, rude
+perhaps, and grotesque from their rudeness. Such carvings are found in
+many places, but here at Christchurch we have satirical subjects,
+caricatures of contemporaries, some indeed of so objectionable a
+character that they have been removed of late years. A few examples of
+these carvings will be given. On the arm of one of the stalls a fox is
+represented preaching to a flock of geese, a cock acting as clerk. On
+one of the misereres we have a pair of devils somewhat resembling
+monkeys tempting an angel, a goose bringing an offering on a plate to a
+quaint figure, a man with a hatchet employed in carving, a man with a
+hole in the back of his garments fastened with a pin, besides various
+animals, fishes, mermaids, and monsters. On the wainscoting we have the
+heads of Henry VII., Henry VIII., Catharine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn,
+Cardinal Campeggio, the King of Scots, and the Duchess of Burgundy, who
+assisted Perkin Warbeck in his attempt to gain the crown of England, and
+two canons disputing over a cup, which is placed between their faces.
+This last carving probably has some reference to the granting of the cup
+to the laity in time of Henry VIII.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0038"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image54.jpg"><img src="images/image54_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE CHOIR." /></a>
+<br />
+THE CHOIR.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The vaulting of the choir is of a somewhat unusual character: the
+pendants are especially worthy of notice. It is difficult to describe
+the manner in which they are placed, but the illustration shows their
+character and position. The short connecting ribs of the vaulting form
+a stellated cross over the presbytery. Some colour may still be seen on
+the carved work of this portion of the church, and the initials of
+William Eyre, prior 1502-1520, appear on the bosses.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0039"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page113" name="page113"></a>[113]</span>
+<a href="images/image55.jpg"><img src="images/image55_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE REREDOS." /></a>
+<br />
+THE REREDOS.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The east wall of the presbytery contains no window, but is occupied by
+a beautiful stone reredos carved with a representation of the tree of
+Jesse. It is divided into three tiers with five compartments in each,
+the central one wider than the two on either side; the space above it
+and beneath the vaulting is occupied by a wall, in which a doorway now
+blocked up may be seen. The outer compartments of the lowest tier
+contain doors leading to a platform behind the reredos; between them
+stands an oak altar, the gift of A. N. Welby Pugin in 1831. Above the
+altar in the central compartment Jesse lies asleep, on the left hand
+David plays upon his harp, on the right sits
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page114" name="page114"></a>[114]</span>
+
+ Solomon deeply meditating. Above Jesse we have in one carving an
+amalgamated representation of the birth of Christ and the visit of the
+Wise Men. On the left hand sits the Virgin Mary with her Child, fully
+clothed in a long garment, not wrapped in swaddling clothes, standing in
+her lap; behind her stands a man, probably Joseph; and before her kneels
+one of the Wise Men offering his gift of gold in the form of a plain
+tankard; on the right behind him stand his two fellows, one carrying a
+pot of myrrh, the other a boat-shaped vessel, probably intended for a
+censer containing frankincense. On a bracket above the head of the
+kneeling Wise Man, the shepherds kneel in adoration; nor are the flocks
+that they were tending forgotten, for several sheep may be seen on a
+hill-top above their heads. Thirty-two small figures may be counted in
+niches in the buttresses dividing the compartments; crockets, finials,
+and pinnacles decorate the various canopies over the carvings. This
+reredos is apparently of late Decorated date, and therefore earlier than
+the fifteenth-century choir. Possibly it was an addition to the Norman
+choir before this was removed to make room for the existing one. Mr
+Ferrey was of opinion that it may have once stood across the nave
+between the second piers from the east, thus forming a reredos for the
+western part of the nave, which was used as the church of the parish.
+Below the presbytery is a Norman crypt, now converted into a vault for
+the Malmesbury family. It has already been mentioned that there are
+doors on either side of the altar, leading to a kind of gallery or
+platform behind the reredos; these were designed to allow certain
+ceremonial compassings of the altar, and it is possible that steps led
+down from the platform to the ambulatory. On the east side of these
+doorways there are corbel heads under the arches, and the walls of the
+platform are panelled. Within the altar rails is a slab bearing the name
+of Baldwin IV., the seventh Earl of Devon. On the south side is the
+monument of Lady Fitzharris, who died in 1815; it is a statue by Flaxman
+representing the Lady teaching her two sons from the Bible. Farther to
+the east is the altar tomb of the Countess of Malmesbury, who died in
+1877, occupying the place of the sedilia; and on the north the exquisite
+chantry of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, the last bearer of the royal
+name of Plantagenet, whose tragic fate and horrible execution
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page116" name="page116"></a>[116]</span>
+
+ is one of the foulest stains on the memory of Henry VIII. She was the
+daughter of "false, fleeting, perjured Clarence" and of the kingmaker's
+eldest daughter Isabella, and was mother of the celebrated Reginald Pole
+who, being ordained deacon at the age of sixteen, was appointed Dean of
+Wimborne a year later, and rose in time to the high rank of
+Cardinal-Archbishop of Canterbury, and played an important part in
+history in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Mary. She erected this lovely
+chantry as her last resting-place, wishing to lie after her troublous
+life in this quiet spot, but it was not so to be. Her son, by the
+publication on the Continent of a violent attack on Henry VIII.,
+incensed the king to such an extent that he laid his hands on all the
+kindred of the Poles he could find in England; some were tried and
+executed, others attainted without trial, among them the Countess of
+Salisbury, who was at the time over seventy years of age. She refused to
+lay her head upon the block, and the headsman hacked at her neck as she
+stood erect; her body was not allowed to be buried in the chantry which
+she had erected for herself,&mdash;so far did the spite of Henry go,&mdash;but she
+lies among the ambitious and unfortunate, the aspiring, and unsuccessful
+of many a sect and party in the cemetery of St Peter's Chapel in the
+Tower. Hers was an ill-starred race. Her grandfather was slain at
+Barnet, 1471; her father murdered by his brother Edward IV., 1478; her
+own brother, the Earl of Warwick, imprisoned by Henry VII., and
+subsequently beheaded on Tower Hill, 1499; her eldest son, Lord Montagu,
+was executed for high treason; and Margaret herself met a like fate on
+May 27, 1541.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0040"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page115" name="page115"></a>[115]</span>
+<a href="images/image56.jpg"><img src="images/image56_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE SALISBURY CHANTRY." /></a>
+<br />
+THE SALISBURY CHANTRY.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Her chantry is built of Caen stone, and the decoration is of Renaissance
+character. It is conjectured to be the work of the Florentine sculptor
+Pietro Torrigiano, who died in the prison of the Inquisition in Spain in
+1522. He was engaged on Henry VII.'s tomb in Westminster, and other
+works ordered by Henry VIII. at Westminster and Windsor, from 1509 till
+1517; and if this chantry at Christchurch is his design the date must
+lie between these two years. Two four-light windows with battlemented
+transoms look out on either side; to the west of these two doorways
+lead, one to the presbytery the other to the north aisle; on the east
+wall are three canopied niches, beneath which an altar stood or was
+intended to stand; the ceiling is richly carved with fan traceries and
+bosses; the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page117" name="page117"></a>[117]</span>
+
+<a name="image-0040a"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<a href="images/image57.jpg"><img src="images/image57_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="INTERIOR OF THE SALISBURY CHANTRY." /></a>
+<br />
+INTERIOR OF THE SALISBURY CHANTRY.
+</span>
+
+ latter have been mutilated&mdash;by order, it is said, of Henry VIII. A
+letter from the King's Commissioner thus describes the work done:&mdash;"In
+thys churche we founde a chaple and a monumet curiosly made of cane
+stone p<sup>r</sup>pared by the late mother of Raynolde Pole for herre buriall,
+which we have causyd to be defaced and all the Armis and Badgis to be
+delete." On
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page118" name="page118"></a>[118]</span>
+
+ the north side are twelve tabernacles. This chapel stands on a richly
+carved panelled basement, and all the walls are covered with minute
+carving; but here, as elsewhere, in late work we find the same forms
+repeated again and again, and we miss that wealth of fancy which gives
+each boss or capital carved by the earlier workers such a life and
+individuality. The side of this chapel that faces the north aisle is
+more elaborate than that facing the choir, and is necessarily more
+lofty, as its base rests on the floor of the aisle, which is lower than
+the floor of the presbytery. On the west face is one of several memorial
+tablets to members of the Rose family, who are buried in this aisle.
+</p>
+<p>
+In the north choir aisle, at the western end, may be seen a kind of
+small museum of fragments from various parts of the church, collected at
+the time of the restoration, among them some bosses from the vaulting of
+the south transept, destroyed about a hundred years ago, and fragments
+of a Norman font. The vaulting of this and the corresponding aisle on
+the south side is of the same character as that of the choir, but is
+somewhat plainer, and is not decorated with crosses or pendants. On the
+south side of this aisle is a late Perpendicular chantry, built in
+accordance with the will of Sir William Berkeley, dated 1486, to
+commemorate himself and his wife. Part of the inscription ...
+<span class="smcap">ARMIGERI MARGARETE QUE CONSOR</span> ... can still be read on the
+frieze; on its flat ceiling are painted two large roses, one white, one
+red; it contains two brackets for cruets; over the entrance to it is
+placed an oval memorial tablet to one John Cook, who died in 1787.
+Eastward of this is the Salisbury chapel already described. On the north
+wall of the aisle is a monument, consisting of an altar-tomb with a
+front of carved quatrefoils and a purbeck slab, dating about 1550. The
+canopy over it is later, and the coat of arms beneath it is that of
+Robert White of Hadlow, Kent, who is commemorated on a board at the west
+end of the church as a benefactor who left &pound;100 in land for the poor in
+1619, thus fixing the date of this portion of the tomb. The scroll
+beneath the arms has the initials R. W., and the motto "Suffer in Tym."
+A chantry is formed at the eastern end of the aisle by the western end
+of the north wall of the Lady Chapel. It contains an altar tomb with the
+recumbent figures of Sir John Chidioke, a Dorset knight, slain in 1449
+in the Wars of the
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page119" name="page119"></a>[119]</span>
+
+<a name="image-0041"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<a href="images/image58.jpg"><img src="images/image58_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE DRAPER CHANTRY." /></a>
+<br />
+THE DRAPER CHANTRY.
+</span>
+
+ Roses, and his wife. This monument has occupied its present position
+only from 1791,&mdash;it previously stood in the north transept.
+</p>
+<p>
+The east end of the south choir aisle is occupied by the chantry chapel
+of John Draper II., the last of the priors and titular bishop of
+Neapolis in Palestine, near the ancient Shechem in Samaria; it is dated
+1529, and is formed by a screen of Caen stone stretching across the
+aisle. There is a central doorway with a depressed arch at the top, and
+canopied niches over it, and on either side are two transomed four-light
+unglazed windows under arches of the same character as that over the
+doorway; along the top of the screen runs a battlemented
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page120" name="page120"></a>[120]</span>
+
+<a name="image-0042"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figleft">
+<a href="images/image59.jpg"><img src="images/image59_th.jpg" width="150"
+alt="Piscina in the Draper Chantry." /></a>
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">Piscina in the<br /> Draper Chantry.</span>
+</span>
+
+ parapet. Within the chantry, on the south wall, is a very beautiful
+piscina, the finest in the church. Just outside the screen is a
+square-headed doorway. Along the south wall of this aisle, as along the
+north wall of the corresponding north aisle, a stone bench-table runs.
+On the north side the panelled wall on which the Countess of
+Malmesbury's altar tomb stands is decorated with carvings of angels; the
+largest of these holds a shield with a death's-head. Farther to the
+west, beyond the steps leading down from the choir, is a Perpendicular
+chantry, known as the Harys chantry; it has open tracery above cusped
+panels, canopied niches, and a panelled bench table. Robert Harys was
+rector of Shrowston, and died in 1525; his rebus, a hare under the
+letter R, may be seen on the panels. On the opposite side of the aisle
+is the doorway leading into what is known as the <b>sacristy</b>. This
+is a thirteenth-century addition to the church, and is of irregular
+shape, as it is wedged in, as it were, between the apsidal chapel on the
+east side of the transept and the south wall of the choir aisle. In the
+south wall are triple sedilia with Purbeck shafts and foliated heads; in
+the north wall is a square opening or squint.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0043"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page121" name="page121"></a>[121]</span>
+<a href="images/image60.jpg"><img src="images/image60_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE SACRISTY." /></a>
+<br />
+THE SACRISTY.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+Behind the reredos is an ambulatory or processional path; from this may
+be seen, over the archway leading into the south aisle, the end of the
+"miraculous beam," lengthened, according to the legend, by Christ, when
+He appeared as a workman and took part in the building of the original
+church. How this came to be preserved, and how it came to occupy a
+position amidst the latest work in the church, is not recorded. The Lady
+Chapel is very beautiful Perpendicular work; it had its own altar and
+reredos under the east window. The reredos is much mutilated, but
+besides the part that is still attached to the wall, there are many
+loose fragments now set up on the altar. This is a
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page122" name="page122"></a>[122]</span>
+
+<a name="image-0043a"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figleft">
+<a href="images/image61.jpg"><img src="images/image61_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="The Miraculous Beam." /></a>
+<br />
+<span class="smcap">The Miraculous Beam.</span>
+</span>
+
+ slab of Purbeck stone, 11 ft. in length and 3 ft. 10 ins in breadth. On
+the north and south sides of the altar are the tombs of Thomas, Lord
+West, and Lady Alice West, his mother. These tombs are of Purbeck marble
+and of a form by no means uncommon in the churches of Wessex. The ten
+shafts supporting the canopy of the tomb on the north still remain; from
+the other tomb such shafts as it had have disappeared. Thomas, Lord
+West, died in 1406, his mother in 1395: these dates fix within
+reasonable limits the date of the building of the Lady Chapel. Thomas
+West, in his will, directs that his body should be buried in the
+"<i>New</i> Chapel of Our Lady in the Mynster of Christchurch." It is
+noteworthy to remark that the original arcading is cut away to make room
+for this monument, so that the chapel had been finished before he died.
+Both Sir Thomas West and his mother were benefactors to the church.
+Besides other bequests of money towards the building fund and for
+perpetual masses, each of them gave about &pound;18 for the singing of 4500
+masses within six months of the day of their deaths. On the south side
+of the chapel is the original doorway leading into the canons'
+burial-ground; a corresponding door is to be seen on the north side. The
+splays of the arches of the windows are elaborately ornamented with
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page124" name="page124"></a>[124]</span>
+
+<a name="image-0043b"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="figright">
+<a href="images/image63.jpg"><img src="images/image63_th.jpg" width="300"
+alt="THE LADY CHAPEL." /></a>
+<br />
+THE LADY CHAPEL.
+</span>
+
+ panelling. The arcading under the window, a series of ogee arches, is
+worthy of notice. The tattered colours of the "Loyal Christchurch
+Volunteers," one of the earliest regiments of volunteers, which was
+enrolled in 1793, hang at the entrance to the Lady Chapel. The vaulting
+is of the same
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page126" name="page126"></a>[126]</span>
+
+ character as that of the choir, with curious pendants in the form of
+church lanterns.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0044"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page123" name="page123"></a>[123]</span>
+<a href="images/image62.jpg"><img src="images/image62_th.jpg" width="500"
+alt="THE TOMB OF THOMAS, LORD WEST." /></a>
+<br />
+THE TOMB OF THOMAS, LORD WEST.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<b>St Michael's Loft</b> is reached by long flights of steps running up
+the turrets described in the last chapter. It is a plain, low room with
+a low-pitched tie-beam roof of oak. It was once a chapel, as the piscina
+in the east wall clearly shows. The site of the altar is now occupied by
+a disused desk of the character familiar to us in our own school days
+some half-a-century ago; it is a sort of pew with doors, within which
+the master sat enthroned and ramparted. This room was used as a public
+grammar school from 1662 till 1828, and subsequently as a private
+school, which was finally closed in 1869. The boys went to this school
+and returned from it by the staircase on the north side which has an
+entrance from the churchyard; the stairs on the south side were used
+when anyone had occasion to go into the church or to go from it to the
+room above.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0045"><!--IMG--></a>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page125" name="page125"></a><!--[125]--></span>
+<a href="images/image64.jpg"><img src="images/image64_th.jpg" width="500"
+alt="ST MICHAEL'S LOFT." /></a>
+<br />
+ST MICHAEL'S LOFT.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+An upper chamber or chapel is an uncommon feature in England. Remains of
+staircases give rise to the conjecture that there was a similar chapel
+over the Lady Chapel at Chester, and somewhat similar erections are to
+be met with on the Continent; but Christchurch Priory is unique in
+possessing such a perfect specimen. The dedication of the upper storey
+to St Michael, the conductor of souls to Paradise, is appropriate.
+Churches built in elevated positions were frequently dedicated to him,
+and few if any medi&aelig;val churches dedicated to this archangel are to be
+met with on low-lying ground.
+</p>
+<p>
+Under the western tower stands a modern font. The fragments of a
+Norman font, with carvings representing various incidents in the
+life of Christ, may be seen, preserved in the north choir aisle. The
+fifteenth-century successor has been removed to Bransgore Church, four
+miles off.
+</p>
+<p>
+Against the north wall of the tower stands the monument of the poet
+Shelley, the work of the sculptor Weekes. Needless to say, it is but a
+cenotaph. The "heart of hearts," "Cor Cordium," and the ashes of the
+poet cremated on the Tuscan shore, lie far away, hard by the pyramid of
+Caius Cestius, in the grave where the loving hands of Trelawney laid
+them in 1823. Here we have an ideal representation of the finding of the
+drowned body&mdash;not a pleasing one, but less ghastly
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page127" name="page127"></a>[127]</span>
+
+ than the reality; and below the inscription which tells his name and the
+number of his years and the manner of his death, the following stanza
+from his own "Adonais" may be read:&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="i3">    "He hath out-soared the shadow of our night: </p>
+<p class="i4">     Envy and calumny and hate and pain, </p>
+<p class="i4">     And that unrest which men miscall delight, </p>
+<p class="i4">     Can touch him not and torture not again; </p>
+<p class="i4">     From the contagion of the world's slow stain </p>
+<p class="i4">     He is secure, and now can never mourn </p>
+<p class="i4">     A heart grown cold, a head grown grey in vain, </p>
+<p class="i4">     Nor, when the spirit's self has ceased to burn </p>
+<p class="i4">     With sparkless ashes load an unlamented urn." </p>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+<p>
+The choice of Christchurch Priory as the site for this monument was due
+to the fact that the poet's son, Sir Percy Florence Shelley, who erected
+it, lived at Boscombe Manor, between Christchurch and Bournemouth.
+</p>
+<p>
+The tower contains a peal of eight bells. These are all old; the fifth
+and sixth bells have fourteenth-century inscriptions round their crowns,
+the others appear to have been cast early in the fifteenth century.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0046"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image65.jpg"><img src="images/image65_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="THE SHELLEY MONUMENT." /></a>
+<br />
+THE SHELLEY MONUMENT.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page128" name="page128"></a>[128]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2HCH0008" id="h2HCH0008" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    CHAPTER IV
+</h2>
+
+<h3>
+    DEANS OF THE SECULAR COLLEGE
+</h3>
+
+<p>    1. Ralf Flambard, afterwards Bishop of Durham. </p>
+<p>    2. Godric. </p>
+<p>    3. Gilbert de Dousgunels. </p>
+<p>    4. Peter de Oglander. </p>
+<p>    5. Randulphus. </p>
+<p>    6. Hilary, afterwards Bishop of Chichester. </p>
+
+<h3>
+PRIORS OF THE AUGUSTINIAN COLLEGE
+</h3>
+
+<p>   1. Reginald, 1150.</p>
+<p>   2. Ralph.</p>
+<p>   3. Peter, 1195. He built the clerestory and carried out other Early
+      English work.</p>
+<p>   4. Roger, 1225.</p>
+<p>   5. Richard.</p>
+<p>   6. Nicholas de Wareham.</p>
+<p>   7. Nicholas de Sturminster.</p>
+<p>   8. John de Abingdon, 1272.</p>
+<p>   9. William de Netheravon, 1278.</p>
+<p>  10. Richard Maury, 1286.</p>
+<p>  11. William Quenton, 1302.</p>
+<p>  12. Walter Tholveshide, 1317.</p>
+<p>  13. Edmund de Ramsbury, 1323. During his time Bishop Stratford's
+      Injunctions were issued, 1325. See page 129.</p>
+<p>  14. Richard de Queteshorne, 1337.</p>
+<p>  15. Robert de Leyghe, 1340.</p>
+<p>  16. William Tyrewache, 1345.</p>
+<p>  17. Henry Eyre, 1357. He became blind in 1367 and was allowed a
+      coadjutor.</p>
+<p>  18. John Wodenham, 1376.</p>
+<p>  19. John Borard, 1398. During his time Archbishop Arundel issued
+      Injunctions, 1404. See page 130.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page129" name="page129"></a>[129]</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+  20. Thomas Talbot, 1413.
+</p>
+<p>
+  21. John Wimborne, 1420.
+</p>
+<p>
+  22. William Norton.
+</p>
+<p>
+  23. John Dorchester.
+</p>
+<p>
+  24. John Draper I., 1477. Bishop Langton's Injunctions were issued
+      during his tenure of the priory.
+</p>
+<p>
+  25. William Eyre, 1502. During his time the choir was completed.
+</p>
+<p>
+  26. John Draper II. He surrendered the priory to Henry VIII.'s
+      commissioners, 1539, and was allowed to retain Somerford Grange
+      for life, and received a pension of &pound;133, 6s. 8d. He died in
+      1552, and was buried in the nave near the entrance to the choir.
+</p>
+
+<h3>
+VICARS OF CHRISTCHURCH
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+By the council of Arles 1261, religious orders that held parish churches
+were bound to supply vicars to officiate. These were appointed by the
+canons, and were taken from their own body.
+</p>
+<p>
+The names of many of these are known. The 13th was Robert Harys, whose
+chantry stands in the south choir aisle; he died in 1325. In the time of
+the 15th, William Trapnell, the church was granted by Henry VIII. to the
+parishioners, 32nd year of Henry VIII. In the time of the 17th, Robert
+Newman, an inventory of the property was made by order of Edward VI.'s
+commissioner. John Imber, the 21st vicar, was expelled by the Parliament
+from 1647-1660, but was restored to his preferment in the same year as
+Charles II. gained the throne. The present vicar is the 32nd.
+</p>
+
+<h3>
+STRATFORD'S INJUNCTIONS, 1325
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+1. Every canon save the seneschal and cellarer must attend Matins, High
+Mass, and the Hours. The seneschal, if present in the priory for two
+nights together, must attend one Matins, and the cellarer must be
+present at service on alternate nights at least.
+</p>
+<p>
+2. Six canons must be enrolled for celebrating Our Lady's Mass; the
+prior must celebrate on all great feasts at High Mass, and on Saturdays
+at Our Lady's Mass, and must wear a surplice not a rochet.
+</p>
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page130" name="page130"></a>[130]</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+3. Canons in priests' orders must celebrate daily, those who are not
+must repeat eleven Psalms with a Litany or Psalter of Our Lady every
+day.
+</p>
+<p>
+4. Four confessors must be appointed to hear the confessions of the
+canons.
+</p>
+<p>
+5. Latin or French must be the languages spoken.
+</p>
+<p>
+6. No one save the prior or officers, without special leave, must ride
+or leave the Priory.
+</p>
+<p>
+7. Two-thirds of the canons must dine daily in the refectory; the door
+must be kept by a secular watchman whose duty it is to remove servants
+and idle people from the door during dinner; the almoner must prevent
+any canon carrying his commons to the laundry-people or people of the
+town.
+</p>
+<p>
+8. All the canons must sleep in the dormitory, each in his own bed.
+</p>
+<p>
+9. The infirmary must be visited daily by the prior or sub-prior.
+</p>
+<p>
+10. Two canons must act as treasurers, and a yearly account must be
+presented.
+</p>
+<p>
+11. The common seal must be kept under four locks, and documents sealed
+in full chapter, not as heretofore during Mass.
+</p>
+<p>
+12. Canons must not play at chess or draughts, nor keep hounds or arms
+(save in the custody of the prior), nor have a servant (save when on a
+journey), nor write nor receive letters without leave. The prior may
+keep hounds outside the priory buildings.
+</p>
+
+<h3>
+ARCHBISHOP ARUNDEL'S INJUNCTIONS, 1404
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+No. 1. Ordered the destruction of an old hall and an adjoining chamber
+known as the sub-prior's hall after the departure of Sir Thomas West its
+then occupier, as noblemen were in the habit of occupying it to the
+great disturbance of the order and the keeping open of gates which ought
+to be closed.
+</p>
+<p>
+No. 2. Enjoined the building of a house for the pr&oelig;centor, and a new
+chamber for the sick.
+</p>
+<p>
+No. 3. Ordered the setting apart of a chamber for recreation apart from
+the infirmary (it may be supposed that the canons during recreation
+hours were noisy, thereby disturbing the sick).
+</p>
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page131" name="page131"></a>[131]</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+No. 4. Directed the provision of separate studies for the canons. It
+would appear that nobles, such as the Montacutes and Wests, put the
+priory to such great expense by taking up their abode, together with
+their retainers, in the domestic part of the buildings.
+</p>
+
+<h3>
+THE NORMAN CASTLE
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Very little of the castle erected by Richard de Redvers, who died in
+1137, remains; but on an artificial mound at no great distance to the
+north of the Priory Church stand fragments of the east and west walls of
+the square Norman keep, about 20 feet high and 10 feet thick. The castle
+belonged to the De Redvers, Earls of Devon, till they were alienated to
+the crown in the 9th year of Edward I. (1280), the last earl having died
+in 1263, though the last female descendant lived till 1293. In 1331,
+Edward III. granted the castle and land to William de Montacute, Earl of
+Salisbury; after the execution of John de Montacute in 1400 for the part
+he took in the plots against the new king, Henry IV., Sir Thomas West,
+who lies buried in the Lady Chapel, was appointed constable. He died in
+1405, then Thomas, Earl of Salisbury, held the castle till 1428. After
+this it was held by various persons, and we find a constable of the
+Lordship of Christchurch as late as 1656. The manor held by the De
+Redvers, and then by the Montacutes, passed through various hands. Among
+the holders we may notice the Nevilles, hence the connection with the
+Priory of the ill-fated Margaret, the kingmaker's granddaughter, who was
+Countess of Salisbury in her own right, the Earl of Clarendon, Sir
+George Rose, and the present owner, the Earl of Malmesbury, who obtained
+it in 1862.
+</p>
+<p>
+In early days the bailiff of the de Redvers regulated all markets,
+fairs, tolls, and fines, and had the right of preemption and sat as
+judge in the tenants' court. Edward I. relieved the burgesses of
+Christchurch from all arbitrary exactions, and established a fixed
+fee-farm rent instead. The castle was taken for the Parliament by Sir
+William Waller with 300 men on April 7, 1644.
+</p>
+<p>
+A little to the north-east of the castle stand the remains of one of the
+few Norman houses that have come down to the present time. It is thus
+described in the first volume of
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page132" name="page132"></a>[132]</span>
+
+ "The Domestic Architecture of the Middle Ages" by Turner and Parker, pp.
+38, 39. This volume was published in 1851. "At Christchurch, in
+Hampshire, is the ruin of a Norman house, rather late in the style, with
+good windows of two lights and a round chimney shaft.<a href="#note-6" name="noteref-6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> The plan, as
+before, is a simple oblong; the principal room appears to have been on
+the first floor. It is situated on the bank of the river near to the
+church, and still more close to the mound, which is said to have been
+the keep of the castle; being between that and the river, it could not
+well have been placed in a situation of greater security. Whether it
+formed part of another series of buildings or not, it was a perfect
+house in itself, and its character is strictly domestic. It is about
+seventy feet long, and twenty-four broad, its walls, like those of the
+keep, being exceedingly thick. On the ground floor are a number of
+loop-holes: the ascent to the upper storey was by a stone staircase,
+part of which remains; the ground floor was divided by a wall, but the
+upper storey seems to have been a long room, lighted by three double
+windows on each side; near the centre of the east wall, next the river,
+is a large fireplace, to which the round chimney before mentioned
+belongs. At the north end, there appears to have been a large and
+handsome window of which part of the arch and shafts remain, and there
+is a small circular window in the south gable. From what remains of the
+ornamental part of this building, it appears to have been elegantly
+finished and cased with squared stones, most of which are, however, now
+taken away. There is a small projecting tower, calculated for a flank,
+under which the water runs; it has loopholes both on the north and east
+fronts, these walls are extremely thick. By the ruins of several walls,
+there were some ancient buildings at right angles to this hall,
+stretching away towards the keep. This was probably part of the
+residence of Baldwin de Redvers, Earl of Devon, to whom the manor of
+Christchurch belonged about the middle of the twelfth century."<a href="#note-7" name="noteref-7"><sup>[7]</sup></a>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page133" name="page133"></a>[133]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0047"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image66.jpg"><img src="images/image66_th.jpg" width="400"
+alt="REMAINS OF THE NORMAN HOUSE." /></a>
+<br />
+REMAINS OF THE NORMAN HOUSE.
+</div>
+
+<p>
+This building is much overgrown with ivy, which by a comparison of the
+illustration given in the work just quoted with its present condition,
+as represented in the photograph here reproduced, has increased
+considerably during the last
+
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page134" name="page134"></a>[134]</span>
+
+ fifty years. It is due to the memory of the Rev. William Jackson, who
+was vicar of Christchurch from 1778 to 1802, that it should be recorded
+that he saved this valuable relic of Norman domestic architecture from
+destruction. He was evidently imbued with a spirit of love for antiquity
+by no means common a hundred years ago, and far too rare even at the
+present day.
+</p>
+
+<h3>
+DIMENSIONS OF CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+</h3>
+
+<table summary="Dimensions of Christchurch Priory">
+<tr><td>  Extreme length                  </td><td>311 </td><td>feet. </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of Nave                  </td><td>118 </td><td> "    </td><td align="right">9 </td><td>inches. </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of Nave                   </td><td> 58 </td><td> "    </td><td align="right">5 </td><td>   " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Height of Nave                  </td><td> 58 </td><td> " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of Transept              </td><td>101 </td><td> "    </td><td align="right">2 </td><td>   " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of Transept               </td><td> 24 </td><td> "    </td><td align="right">4 </td><td>   " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of Choir                 </td><td> 70 </td><td> " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of Choir with Aisles      </td><td> 60 </td><td> "    </td><td align="right">6 </td><td>   " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Height of Choir                 </td><td> 63 </td><td> " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of side of Tower, E. to W.   </td><td> 27 </td><td> "    </td><td align="right">9 </td><td>   " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of side of Tower, N. to S.   </td><td> 22 </td><td> "    </td><td align="right">4 </td><td>   " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Height of Tower                 </td><td>120 </td><td> " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of Lady Chapel           </td><td> 36 </td><td> "    </td><td align="right">4 </td><td>   " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of Lady Chapel            </td><td> 21 </td><td> "    </td><td align="right">1 </td><td>   " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Length of St Michael's Loft     </td><td> 58 </td><td> "    </td><td align="right">3 </td><td>   " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>  Width of St Michael's Loft      </td><td> 19 </td><td> "    </td><td align="right">7 </td><td>   " </td></tr>
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
+<tr><td>  <span class="smcap">Area</span>                   </td><td colspan="4">18,300 sq. feet. </td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page135" name="page135"></a>[135]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div style="height: 4em;"><a name="h2H_4_0015" id="h2H_4_0015" ></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<h2>
+    PLANS
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page136" name="page136"></a>[136]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0048"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image67.jpg"><img src="images/image67_th.jpg" width="500"
+alt="PLAN OF WIMBORNE MINSTER" /></a>
+<br />
+<!-- PLAN OF WIMBORNE MINSTER -->
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page137" name="page137"></a>[137]</span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figure">
+<a name="image-0049"><!--IMG--></a>
+<a href="images/image68.jpg"><img src="images/image68_th.jpg" width="500"
+alt="PLAN OF CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY" /></a>
+<br />
+<!-- PLAN OF CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY -->
+</div>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<h2>
+Footnotes:
+</h2>
+
+<p class="foot">
+<a name="note-1"><!--Note--></a>
+<a href="#noteref-1">[1]</a> It is noteworthy that they all held some other preferment
+during the time that they held the office of dean.
+</p>
+
+<p class="foot">
+<a name="note-2"><!--Note--></a>
+<a href="#noteref-2">[2]</a> In an inventory made in the reign of Henry VIII. we find
+mentioned an image of St Cuthberga, with a ring of gold, and two little
+crosses of gold, with a book and staff in her hand. The head of the
+image of silver with a crown on it of silver and gilt. On her apron a St
+James shell with a buckle of silver and gilt.
+</p>
+
+<p class="foot">
+<a name="note-3"><!--Note--></a>
+<a href="#noteref-3">[3]</a> This tracery is shown in the illustration on p. 21. The
+original foliation seems to have been cut away, and the intermediate
+mullions extended to the points of the two lights. This may have been
+done with a view to economy in reglazing the window. The modern window
+is shown on page 37.
+</p>
+
+<p class="foot">
+<a name="note-4"><!--Note--></a>
+<a href="#noteref-4">[4]</a> Sir Gilbert Scott, however, thought that the Norman nave of
+the Cathedral Church at Durham was commenced before Flambard became
+bishop, and that the new church at Christchurch was begun after that
+date, so that the work at Christchurch was copied by him from what he
+found already commenced at Durham when he went there.
+</p>
+
+<p class="foot">
+<a name="note-5"><!--Note--></a>
+<a href="#noteref-5">[5]</a> She lived in the latter half of the thirteenth century.
+</p>
+
+<p class="foot">
+<a name="note-6"><!--Note--></a>
+<a href="#noteref-6">[6]</a> Since rebuilt.
+</p>
+
+<p class="foot">
+<a name="note-7"><!--Note--></a>
+<a href="#noteref-7">[7]</a> Grove's "Antiquities," vol. ii. p. 178.
+</p>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h2>
+Transcriber's Notes:
+</h2>
+
+<p>
+Page 5: "commemerated" corrected to "commemorated."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Page 12: L s d originally printed above numbers on their own line.
+Combined with numbers.
+</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS: WIMBORNE MINSTER AND CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY***</p>
+<p>******* This file should be named 19511-h.txt or 19511-h.zip *******</p>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Bell's Cathedrals: Wimborne Minster and
+Christchurch Priory, by Thomas Perkins
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Bell's Cathedrals: Wimborne Minster and Christchurch Priory
+       A Short History of Their Foundation and a Description of Their Buildings
+
+
+Author: Thomas Perkins
+
+
+
+Release Date: October 9, 2006  [eBook #19511]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS: WIMBORNE
+MINSTER AND CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 19511-h.htm or 19511-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/5/1/19511/19511-h/19511-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/5/1/19511/19511-h.zip)
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Lower case o-with-tilde accent is indicated by [~o].
+
+      Superscripted abbreviations are indicated by a preceeding caret.
+
+      Bold characters are enclosed between # marks.
+
+
+
+
+
+WIMBORNE MINSTER AND CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+
+A Short History of Their Foundation and Description of Their Buildings
+
+by
+
+THE REV. THOMAS PERKINS
+M.A., F.R.A.S.
+Rector of Turnworth, Dorset
+
+With Illustrations from Photographs by the Author
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+London George Bell & Sons 1902
+First Edition 1899
+Second Edition, Revised, 1902
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR'S PREFACE
+
+
+When writing the chapters of the present volume which treat of Wimborne
+Minster, the author consulted the last edition of Hutchins' "History of
+Dorset," which contains a considerable amount of somewhat ill-arranged
+information on the subject, verifying all the descriptions by actual
+examination of the building; similarly, when preparing the part of
+this volume dealing with Christchurch Priory, he made some use of
+"The Memorials of Christchurch Twynham," written originally by the Rev.
+Mackenzie Walcott, F.S.A., and revised after his death in 1880 by Mr B.
+Edmund Ferrey, F.S.A. He also consulted papers on the subject that have
+appeared from time to time in various periodicals and MSS. that were
+kindly placed at his disposal by the Secretary of the Society for the
+Protection of Ancient Buildings.
+
+He desires to express his thanks to the Vicars of the two churches
+for permission to thoroughly examine every part of the buildings,
+and to photograph them without let or hindrance; he also wishes to bear
+testimony to the readiness shown by the clerks and vergers in imparting
+local information and in facilitating his photographic work.
+
+                                                                  T. P.
+
+_October_ 1899.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+WIMBORNE MINSTER
+
+                                                                PAGE
+
+CHAPTER I.--History of the Building                                3
+  Date of Foundation                                               5
+  The Norman Church                                             8, 9
+  Alterations in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries      10, 11
+  Alterations in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries        11, 12
+  Modern Restorations                                             14
+
+CHAPTER II.--The Exterior                                         16
+  The Central Tower                                               16
+  The North Porch                                                 22
+  The East Window                                                 24
+  The Sundial                                                     25
+  The South Porch                                                 25
+  The Western Tower                                               26
+
+CHAPTER III.--The Interior                                        29
+  The North Porch                                                 29
+  The Aisles                                                  29, 38
+  The Clerestory                                                  33
+  The Central Tower                                               34
+  The Transepts                                                   38
+  The East End, Choir and Presbytery                              42
+  Sedilia and Piscina                                             44
+  The Beaufort and Courtenay Tombs and Brass of Aethelred     42, 47
+  The South Choir Aisle and Etricke Tomb                          48
+  The North Choir Aisle and Uvedale Monument                  50, 51
+  The Crypt, Vestry, and Library                                  52
+  Deans of Wimborne                                               59
+
+CHAPTER IV.--St Margaret's Hospital                               60
+  Dimensions of Wimborne Minster                                  64
+
+
+CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+
+CHAPTER I.--History of the Building                               67
+  Foundation                                                      68
+  The Norman Church                                               70
+  Alterations in the Thirteenth-Fifteenth Centuries               71
+  Modern Alterations                                              72
+
+CHAPTER II.--The Exterior                                         76
+  The Western Tower                                               76
+  The North Porch                                                 80
+  The North Aisle                                                 80
+  The North Transept                                              82
+  The Choir, Presbytery, and Lady Chapel                          84
+  The South Transept                                              88
+  The Nave                                                        88
+  The Porter's Lodge, and Sites of the Domestic Buildings         89
+
+CHAPTER III.--The Interior                                        92
+  The Nave                                                     92-98
+  The Aisles                                                      98
+  The Transepts                                                  100
+  The Rood Screen                                                105
+  The Choir                                                      106
+  The Choir Stalls                                           108-110
+  The Reredos                                                    112
+  The Salisbury Chantry                                          116
+  The Draper Chantry                                             118
+  The Lady Chapel, and the "Miraculous Beam"                     120
+  St Michael's Loft                                              126
+  The Shelley Monument                                           126
+
+CHAPTER IV.--Deans, Priors, and Vicars of Christchurch           128
+  Stratford's Injunctions                                        129
+  Archbishop Arundel's Injunctions                               130
+  The Norman Castle                                              131
+  The Norman House                                               132
+  Dimensions of Christchurch Priory                              134
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+WIMBORNE MINSTER
+
+                                                                PAGE
+
+Arms of Wimborne and Christchurch                        _Title page_
+Wimborne Minster from the North-East                               2
+Wimborne Minster in 1840                                           3
+Wimborne Minster in 1707. (From a copperplate in the Library)     13
+The Minster from the South-East before 1891                       19
+The North Transept before 1891                                    21
+The East Window                                                   23
+The Western Tower                                                 27
+The Interior, looking East                                        30
+Pier and Arch-Spring, South Arcade                                31
+Decorated Arch in the Nave                                        32
+Clerestory Stage of the Central Tower                             35
+The Tower Arches                                                  36
+North Transept and Crossing                                       37
+Thirteenth-Century Piscina, South Transept                        39
+Choir Stalls                                                      40
+West View from the Choir                                          41
+The East Window                                                   43
+Sedilia                                                           44
+The Beaufort Tomb                                                 45
+Brass of Aethelred                                                46
+The Etricke Tomb                                                  49
+Ancient Chest                                                     50
+The Uvedale Monument                                              51
+Entrance to Crypt                                                 53
+The Library                                                       54
+The Crypt                                                         55
+The Font                                                          56
+The Clock in the West Tower                                       57
+St Margaret's Hospital                                            61
+
+
+CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+
+Christchurch Priory from the Bridge                               66
+Christchurch Priory from the North-East                           77
+Tower Door                                                        78
+The North Porch                                                   79
+The North Door                                                    81
+The North Transept in 1810                                        83
+The North Transept                                                85
+South Aisle of Nave                                               87
+The Nave in 1834                                                  93
+The Nave                                                          95
+North Arcade of the Nave                                          96
+From the North Triforium                                          97
+Bay of the Triforium, South Side                                  98
+South Aisle of the Nave                                           99
+The Montacute Chantry                                            101
+North Aisle of the Nave                                          103
+The Crypt                                                        105
+The Rood Screen                                                  107
+Stall Seats (3)                                                  108
+Choir Stalls                                                     109
+Miserere on Stall Seat (_circa_ 1300)                            110
+The Choir                                                        111
+The Reredos                                                      113
+The Salisbury Chantry                                            115
+Interior of the Salisbury Chantry                                117
+The Draper Chantry                                               119
+Piscina in the Draper Chantry                                    120
+The Sacristy                                                     121
+The Miraculous Beam                                              122
+Tomb of Thomas, Lord West                                        123
+The Lady Chapel                                                  124
+St Michael's Loft                                                125
+The Shelley Monument                                             127
+Remains of the Norman House                                      133
+
+PLANS                                                       136, 137
+
+
+
+[Illustration: WIMBORNE MINSTER FROM THE NORTH-EAST.]
+
+[Illustration: _By Rev. J. L. Petit._ WIMBORNE MINSTER IN 1840.]
+
+
+
+
+WIMBORNE MINSTER
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HISTORY OF THE BUILDING
+
+
+Of the churches connected with the religious houses which once existed
+in the county of Dorset, three only remain to the present day. Of some
+of the rest we have ruins, others have entirely disappeared. But the
+town of Sherborne, once the bishop-stool of the sainted Aldhelm, who
+overlooked a vast diocese comprising a great portion of the West Saxon
+kingdom, has its Abbey now used as its Parish Church. The great Abbey
+of Milton, founded by AEthelstan, has handed down to us its choir and
+transepts--rebuilt in the fourteenth century, after the former church
+had been destroyed by fire--and this, though private property, is still
+used for occasional services; and the minster church at Wimborne has
+became the church of the parish of Wimborne Minster.
+
+The town has been by many supposed to stand on the site of the Roman
+Vindogladia, though this station has by others been identified with
+Gussage Cowdown, or the circular encampment of Badbury Rings, about
+three miles to the north-west of Wimborne Minster. Be this as it may,
+the district was occupied by the Roman conquerors of our island; and
+Roman pottery and other remains have been found in the neighbourhood,
+including a small portion of pavement beneath the floor of the minster
+church.
+
+The derivation of the name Wimborne, or Winborne as we find it sometimes
+written, has been much disputed; but as we find the same word appearing
+as the name of several other places which lie on the course of the same
+stream, now generally called the Allen, though sometimes the Wim, it
+is highly probable that the name is derived from that of the river.
+Compound names for villages are very common in Dorset--the first word
+being the name of the river on which the village stands, the second
+being added to distinguish one village from another. Thus we find along
+the Tarrant, villages known as Tarrant Gunville, Tarrant Hinton, Tarrant
+Launceston, Tarrant Monkton, etc.; and along the Winterborne we find
+Winterborne Houghton, Winterborne Stickland, Winterborne Clenstone,
+etc.; and in like manner we meet with Monkton up Wimborne, Wimborne
+Saint Giles, and Wimborne Minster along the course of the Allen. The
+characteristic name of Winterborne for a brook that is such in winter
+only, but is a dried-up bed in a hot summer is borne by two streams in
+Dorset, each giving its name to a string of villages. May not the word
+Wimborne or Winborne be a contraction for this same word Winterborne,
+the "burn" of the rainy winter months, applied to the little stream of
+the Allen, though it cannot now be said to be dry in summer?
+
+The small town of Wimborne Minster stands not far from the junction of
+the Allen with the slow-running Dorset Stour, in the midst of pleasant
+fertile meadow-land, from which here and there some low hills rise. Its
+chief glory has been, and probably always will be, its splendid church,
+with its central Norman and its Western Perpendicular towers, its Norman
+and Decorated nave, its Early English choir, and its numerous tombs and
+monuments of those whose names are recorded in the history of the
+country.
+
+The exact year of the foundation of the original religious house is
+differently given in various ancient documents: the dates vary from
+705 A.D. to 723 A.D. At this time, Ine was king of the West Saxons;
+and one of his sisters, Cudburh--or Cuthberga, as her name appears in
+its Latinised form--was espoused or married to Egfred, or, as he is
+often called, Osric, the Northumbrian king, but the marriage was never
+consummated, and the lady as soon as possible separated from him and
+retired to the convent at Barking, and afterwards founded the convent at
+Wimborne. Some say that she objected to the intemperate habits of her
+espoused as soon as she met him; others, that having previously vowed
+herself to heaven, she persuaded him to release her from the engagement
+to him, which had been arranged without her wishes being consulted.
+Her sister Quinberga is stated to have been associated with her in the
+foundation of the religious house, and both were buried within its
+precincts, and both were afterwards canonised; Saint Cuthberga was
+commemorated on August 31st "as a virgin but not a martyr." A special
+service appointed for the day is to be found in a Missal kept in the
+Library of the Cathedral Church at Salisbury, in which the following
+prayer occurs:--
+
+"Deus qui eximie castitatis privilegio famulam tuam Cuthbergam
+multipliciter decorasti, da nobis famulis tuis ejus promerente
+intercessione utriusque vitae prosperitatem. Ut sicut ejus festivitas
+nobiscum agitur in terris, ita per ejus interventum nostri memoria apud
+te semper habeatur in coelis, per Dominum etc."
+
+There is reason to believe that the earliest date given above for the
+foundation (705 A.D.) is the most probable one, as Regner in his tracts
+mentions a letter bearing this date written by Saint Aldhelm, and taken
+from the register of Malmesbury, in which he includes in a list of
+congregations to which he grants liberty of election the monastery at
+Wimborne, presided over by the sister of the king. There is also some
+evidence for the existence of a community of monks at Wimborne, as well
+as of nuns. But of these original religious houses not a trace remains:
+the very position of St Cuthberga's Church is uncertain; we cannot
+be sure that the present building occupies the same site; the last
+resting-places of the two royal foundresses are not even pointed out
+by tradition. Probably the buildings were destroyed, the nuns slain or
+driven out, when the raiding Danes overran Wessex in the ninth century.
+
+The next historical event that we meet with in connection with Wimborne
+is the burial of King AEthelred, the brother and immediate predecessor
+on the throne of the great West Saxon king AElfred. As there is doubt
+about the year of the foundation by Cuthberga, so again there is a
+conflict of testimony as to the date, place, and manner of the death of
+AEthelred--the inscription on the brass (about which more will be said
+when we come to describe the interior of the minster) not agreeing with
+the usually accepted date for the accession of AElfred, 871; but as the
+brass is itself many centuries later than the burial of the king whose
+likeness it professes to bear, its authority may well be questioned.
+Anyhow, AEthelred died either of wounds received in some battle with the
+Danes, in some spot which different archaeologists have placed in Surrey,
+Oxford, Berkshire, or Wilts, or worn out by his long and arduous
+exertions while struggling with the heathen invaders; and his body--this
+alone is certain--was brought to Wimborne for burial. It has been
+conjectured that AElfred, after he had defeated the Danes and established
+himself firmly on the throne of Wessex, would naturally rebuild the
+ruined abbey. He founded, as we know, an abbey at Shaftesbury; he is
+recorded to have built at Winchester and London; he had undoubtedly a
+taste for architecture, and he was a devout son of Mother Church, so
+that it is by no means improbable that he would erect a church over the
+grave of his brother: but no record of such building remains, and there
+is no trace of any pre-Norman work in the existing minster.
+
+The original church and conventual buildings having been swept away by
+the Danes, whether AElfred restored it or not is uncertain, but it is
+certain that a house of secular canons was established at Wimborne by a
+king of the name of Eadward; but again there is some uncertainty as to
+whether this king was the one who is sometimes called the Eadward the
+Elder, sometimes Eadward the Unconquered, son and successor of AElfred,
+or Eadward the Confessor. Anyhow, it became a collegiate church and a
+royal free chapel, and as such it is mentioned in Domesday Book, and it
+is noticed as a Deanery in the charters of Henry III. Leland, writing in
+the reign of Henry VIII., says, "It is but of late time that a dean and
+prebendaries were inducted into it." The deanery was in the gift of the
+Crown, and we have a full list of the deans from 1224 up to 1547, when
+it was dissolved. The ecclesiastical establishment consisted of a dean,
+four prebendaries, three vicars, four deacons, and five singing men.
+It will not be needful to give any detailed account of these, as most
+of them, though in many cases they held other more dignified posts,[1]
+either together with the deanery or after resigning it, are not men
+who have made their mark in English history. A few only will here be
+mentioned, who on account of some circumstances connected with the
+fabric, or for other reasons, are more noteworthy.
+
+    [1] It is noteworthy that they all held some other preferment
+        during the time that they held the office of dean.
+
+#Thomas de Bembre#, 1350-1361, founded a chantry and an altar in the
+north part of the north transept, which was added at this time.
+
+#Reginald Pole#, so well known in the history of the reigns of Henry
+VIII. and Queen Mary, was Dean of Wimborne from 1517 till 1537. It is
+remarkable that he was only seventeen years of age at the time of his
+appointment.
+
+He was succeeded by #Nicholas Wilson#, who held the office of dean until
+the dissolution of the deanery in 1547. To him a curious letter still
+existing was addressed in 1538 by certain leading men of the parish,
+though nothing appears to have been done in consequence of it. These
+worthy men complain of the dilapidated state of the church, the want
+of funds to carry out needed repairs, and suggest the taking from the
+church "seynt Cuthborow's hed," and "the sylv' y^t ys about the same
+hed," which they claim as belonging to the parish on the ground that
+it was made by the charity of the parishioners in times past. "Our
+chyrche," they say, "ys in gret ruyn and decay and our toure ys
+foundered and lyke to fall and ther ys no money left in [~o] chyrche box
+and by reason of great infyrmyty and deth ther hath byn thys yere in
+oure parysh no chyrche aele, the whych hath hyndred [~o] chyrch of xx^ti
+nobles and above, and well it is knowen y^t we have no land but onely
+the charity of good people, wherfor nyed constraynyth us to sell the
+sylv' y^t is about the same hed. Besechynge yo^r mastership to sertefy
+us by y^r tre wher we may sell the said sylv' to repayr [~o]
+chyrche."[2]
+
+    [2] In an inventory made in the reign of Henry VIII. we find
+        mentioned an image of St Cuthberga, with a ring of gold, and
+        two little crosses of gold, with a book and staff in her hand.
+        The head of the image of silver with a crown on it of silver
+        and gilt. On her apron a St James shell with a buckle of silver
+        and gilt.
+
+The names of many of the other ecclesiastics connected with the church
+are known: among these, we need only mention William Lorynge canon, who
+in the time of Richard II. caused the great bell called the Cuthborow
+bell to be made; and Simon Beneson, sacrist, who left land, which is
+called Bell Acre, towards the maintenance and repair of the bells.
+
+Among other benefactors of the church was Margaret, Countess of
+Richmond, mother of Henry VII., so well known at Cambridge under the
+name of Lady Margaret, the foundress of Christ's and St John's Colleges.
+She founded at Wimborne the original seminary connected with the
+minster, which afterwards became by a charter of Elizabeth the Grammar
+School of the town, and presented splendid vestments to the church. July
+9th was until the Reformation kept at the minster as a festival to her
+memory, with a special office and High Mass.
+
+When the deanery was abolished, Wimborne Minster became a Royal
+Peculiar, under the administration of three priest-vicars elected by the
+Corporation. These served each for a week in turn. The Corporation had
+the power of appointing one of the three vicars--who was known as the
+"Official"--to hold courts and grant licences. The court was held in the
+western part of the north aisle, the Official presiding, seated at a
+desk, the two other vicars sitting one on each side of him, while at a
+long table sat the churchwardens, sidesmen, the vestry clerks, and the
+apparitors.
+
+The arrangement by which the vicars served the church each in turn
+continued in force until 1876. At that time one of the three vicars
+retired on a pension; another removed to the chapelry of Holt,
+three miles from Wimborne (which had previously been served in turn
+by the vicars of Wimborne), a parsonage having been built for his
+accommodation; and the third became sole vicar of the minster church
+and the parish attached to it.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For the history of the fabric we have to trust almost entirely to the
+architectural features of the church itself, as documentary evidence is
+unusually scanty.
+
+Nothing of earlier date than the twelfth century can be seen in
+Wimborne Minster, but we know pretty accurately, the extent and form of
+the Norman Church; for, during the course of restoration undertaken in
+the present century, the foundations of some parts of this church were
+discovered beneath the floor of the existing building, and other pieces
+of Norman work formerly concealed, and now again concealed beneath
+plaster, were laid bare. There is one interesting feature about the
+church worthy of notice--namely, that the builders who succeeded one
+another at the various periods of its history did not, as a rule,
+destroy the work of their predecessors to such an extent as we
+frequently find to have been the case with the builders of other
+churches: possibly this may have been due to the fact that at no time
+was Wimborne Minster a rich foundation. There was no saintly shrine,
+there were no wonder-working relics to attract pilgrims and gather the
+offerings of the faithful and enrich the church in the way in which
+the shrine of Saint Cuthbert enriched Durham, that of the murdered
+archbishop enriched Canterbury, and that of the murdered king enriched
+Gloucester. But, whatever the reason may have been, we can but be
+thankful that the mediaeval builders destroyed so little at Wimborne;
+while we regret that modern restorers have not been as scrupulous in
+preserving the work which they found existing, but have in some
+instances endeavoured to put the church back again into the state in
+which they imagined the fourteenth-century builders left it.
+
+We may regard the arches and lower stages of the central tower as the
+oldest part now remaining in its original condition. No doubt the Norman
+choir was the first to be built, as we find that it was almost the
+universal custom to begin churches at the eastern end, and gradually to
+extend the building westward, as funds and time allowed. Here, however,
+as in many other cases, the small Norman choir eastward of the central
+tower in course of time was considered too small, and the eastern
+termination had to be demolished to admit of the desired extension to
+the east. Norman choirs, as a rule, had an apsidal termination to the
+east, and it was not till Early English times that square east ends,
+which were characteristic of the English church in pre-Norman times,
+prevailed again over the Norman custom; and it is worthy of notice that
+this rectangular termination towards the east end remains a marked
+characteristic of the thirteenth-century work in England, Continental
+church-builders having retained the apsidal termination till the
+Renaissance. The side walls of the Norman choir extended two bays to the
+east of the central tower, and the nave four bays westward of the same.
+The transepts were shorter than at present, and the side aisles of the
+nave narrower. There appear to have been two side chapels to the choir,
+extending as far as the first bay eastward; beyond this to the east were
+two Norman windows on each side: these windows, parts of which remain,
+cut off by the Early English arches, were round-headed, and richly
+ornamented with chevron mouldings. They were uncovered at the time of
+the restoration, but are now again hidden by plaster. At the south end
+of the south transept a low building seems to have existed: the walls
+of this were raised when the south transept was lengthened in the
+fourteenth century. The Norman masonry may be seen under the south
+window of the transept, and a Norman string course runs round the sides
+and ends of the present transept. The aisles of the nave were not only
+narrower, but were also lower, than those now existing. It is also
+probable that these aisles did not originally extend as far westward
+as the nave. The windows of the Norman clerestory, which may still be
+seen from the interior, though all similar in design, are not alike in
+workmanship. The one over the narrow eastern bay on either side differs
+from those over the three bays farther to the west. Moreover, a
+continuous foundation has been discovered underneath the three western
+arches of the Norman nave. Possibly there was at one time a solid wall
+in this position, intended, however, from the first only to be
+temporary, and this was removed when the aisles, still in Norman times,
+were lengthened. The tower itself was not all built at the same time;
+the upper stages are ornamented with an arcading of intersecting arches
+indicating a somewhat later date.
+
+In the thirteenth century the east end of the choir seems to have been
+removed and the presbytery added: its date is pretty clearly determined
+by the east window, in which we notice some signs of the approaching
+change from the Early English simple lancet into the plate tracery of
+the Decorated period. Rickman gives its approximate date as 1220. During
+the fourteenth century the nave aisles were widened and extended farther
+west, and at the same time two bays were added to the nave itself. The
+Norman chapels on either side of the choir were lengthened into aisles,
+not, however, extending as far to the east as the thirteenth-century
+presbytery; arches were cut in the Norman choir walls to give access
+to these new aisles. The transepts were lengthened, the south one by
+raising the walls of the Norman chapel mentioned above, which, it has
+been conjectured, was used as the Lady Chapel, the north transept by
+the addition of Bembre's chantry.
+
+During the fifteenth century the western tower was built 1448-1464,
+and probably at the same time the walls of the nave were raised; and
+the roofs of the nave aisles, which had been much lower than now, so
+as not to block up the Norman clerestory windows, were raised on the
+sides joining the nave walls above the heads of these windows, and a new
+clerestory was formed in the raised wall. This contains five windows on
+each side, each window being placed over one of the piers of the nave
+arcading.
+
+During the Early English period, probably by John de Berwick, who was
+dean from 1286-1312, a spire was added to the central tower. This was
+for long in an unsafe condition, and at length, in 1600, it fell. The
+following is the description given by Coker, a contemporary writer:
+"Having discoursed this longe of this church, I will not overpasse a
+strange accident which in our dayes happened unto it, viz. Anno Domini
+1600 (the choire beeing then full of people at tenne of clock service,
+allsoe the streets by reason of the markett), a sudden mist ariseing,
+all the spire steeple, being of a very great height, was strangely cast
+downe, the stones battered all the lead and brake much timber of the
+roofe of the church, yet without anie hurt to the people; which ruin is
+sithence commendablie repaired with the church revenues, for sacriledge
+hath not yet swept awaye all, being assisted by Sir John Hannam, a
+neighbour gentleman, who if I mistake not enjoyeth revenues of the
+church, and hath done commendablie to convert part of it to its former
+use." Other accounts mention a tempest at the time of the fall. It is
+not unlikely that the tower was weakened by the alterations in the
+fourteenth century, when wider arches were cut in the west walls of the
+transepts, in consequence of the widening of the nave aisles. The fall
+of the spire, which fell towards the east, demolished the clerestory
+windows of the choir on the south side, and their place was supplied by
+a long, low Tudor window oblong in shape and quite plain. The windows,
+however, on both sides have been entirely altered, and those now
+existing in the clerestory are small lancets of modern date.
+
+The spire was not rebuilt, but the heavy looking battlement and solid
+pinnacles which still remain, and detract considerably from the beauty
+of the tower, were added as a finish to it in the year 1608. It is
+curious that the churchwardens' books, in which many entries occur
+detailing repairs and other work connected with the spire, make no
+mention of its fall.
+
+The western tower was also a source of trouble. It was built, as has
+been already mentioned, during the latter half of the fifteenth century,
+the glazing of the windows being completed in 1464; but as early as 1548
+it was thought necessary to brick up the west doorway, and notices of
+unsoundness of the tower occur frequently in the church books. In 1664
+we find the following entry made:--"Paid in beere to the Ringers for a
+peale to trye if the Tower shooke L0 1s 0d." As we read this entry, we
+cannot help wondering if the large amount of beer which a shilling would
+purchase in those days was given to the ringers so as to give them a
+fictitious courage and blind their eyes to the possible danger of
+bringing the tower down upon their heads. In 1739 the Perpendicular
+window in the western face of the tower was taken out and a smaller oval
+one put in its place, with a view to the strengthening of the wall by
+additional stonework. The modern restorer, however, has again put a
+window of Perpendicular character in place of the oval window inserted
+in the last century, using to aid him in his design, sundry fragments of
+the original tracery found embedded in the walls.
+
+[Illustration: WIMBORNE MINSTER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. From an old
+Print.]
+
+Before the nineteenth-century restorations, the pulpit, probably late
+sixteenth-century work, stood in the nave against the middle pillar on
+the north side, and the nave and choir were separated by a screen of
+three arches on which stood the organ. The central arch had doors.
+On either side of the choir were a set of canopied stalls: these
+canopies were removed in 1855 to make the chancel aisles available for
+a congregation. As the canopies interfered with both sight and sound,
+the floor of the choir was lowered to only three steps above the nave,
+and the stalls reduced to four on each side, with a view to make room
+for restoring the Norman steps indicated by traces on the wall under
+the floor, which led up to the high altar of the Norman church. The
+arrangement of steps was then three from the nave to the choir, four
+from the choir to the next level to the east, and seven from this to the
+presbytery, and one more to the altar platform. In 1866 further changes
+were made: the stalls were increased to the present number to provide
+sufficient accommodation for the choir, the additions being made out of
+old woodwork. The level of the floors was also rearranged; five steps
+now lead up from the nave to the choir, seven to the presbytery and one
+more to the altar platform, the altar itself being raised yet another
+step.
+
+During the restoration carried on from 1855 to 1857, great changes
+besides those already mentioned were made in the interior: the whitewash
+and plaster were removed from the walls, a west gallery was taken down,
+the nave re-seated, the organ transferred from its position upon the
+screen to the south transept, and much mischief was done from an
+archaeological standpoint, a thing which seems almost inseparable from
+any nineteenth-century restoration.
+
+An examination of the masonry shows clearly that all the exterior walls
+east of the transepts save the east wall of the presbytery, which is
+somewhat out of the vertical, the top hanging forward, have been if not
+entirely rebuilt at anyrate completely refaced, and this work was no
+doubt done at the restoration at the middle of the nineteenth century.
+The doorway in the middle of the north choir aisle is entirely modern;
+the doorway which formally occupied this place was provided with a small
+porch.
+
+How far this rebuilding and refacing were rendered necessary by the
+condition of the walls at that time it is now impossible to say. The
+fact that the walls of the nave aisles were not similarly treated may
+have been due to want of funds, or it may be that the architects
+employed found them in a better condition than the walls of the choir
+aisles, and so preserved them, though they considered the latter beyond
+the possibility of preservation without the extensive renewing that
+evidently took place.
+
+The room containing the chained library was at the same time refitted.
+New shelves and rods were provided, but the old chains were used again.
+
+The restoration of 1855-1857 did not extend to the transept; but
+these were taken in hand in 1891, with the usual result--namely, the
+destruction of some existing features, such as the seventeenth-century
+tracery of the north window,[3] to make room for a nineteenth-century
+window in Decorated style, which, however, differs altogether from any
+window in the minster; the walls were raised about two feet and a roof
+of higher pitch put upon them, which necessitated alterations in the
+gables. A sundial which stood at the summit of the south gable was taken
+down, and this in 1894 was erected on a pillar built in the churchyard,
+a short distance from the south wall of the western tower. The transept
+previous to the restoration with the sun-dial on its gable is shown in
+the illustration on p. 19.
+
+    [3] This tracery is shown in the illustration on p. 21. The original
+        foliation seems to have been cut away, and the intermediate
+        mullions extended to the points of the two lights. This may
+        have been done with a view to economy in reglazing the window.
+        The modern window is shown on page 37.
+
+A small chamber to contain the hydraulic apparatus for the organ has
+recently been added to the east side of the south transept.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE EXTERIOR
+
+
+Wimborne Minster does not occupy a commanding position--it stands on
+level ground, its two towers are not lofty, the western only reaching
+the height of 95 feet and the central 84 feet--but it has the advantage
+of having an extensive churchyard both on the south side and also on the
+north, so that from either side a good general view of the building may
+be obtained. A street running from the east end of the church towards
+the north gives the spectator the advantage of a still more distant
+standpoint, from which the towers, transepts, choir, and porch group
+themselves into one harmonious whole, the long line of iron railings
+bounding the churchyard being the only drawback. The first impression is
+that there is something wrong with the central tower; the plain heavy
+battlement, with its four enormous corner pinnacles, seems to overweight
+the tower, and as each side of the parapet is longer than the side of
+the tower below, the feeling of top-heaviness is increased. The central
+tower has no buttresses, but the western has an octagonal buttress at
+each corner, and these decrease in cross section at each of four string
+courses; so that this tower seems to taper, and by contrast makes the
+central tower seem to bulge out at the top more than it really does.
+
+But Wimborne Minster does not stand alone in giving at first sight a
+feeling that something is wanting to perfect beauty. In nearly every
+old building which has gradually grown up, been altered and enlarged
+by various generations, as need arose, each generation working in
+its own style, and often with little regard to what already existed,
+incongruities are sure to be discernible. But what is lost in unity
+of design increases the interest in the building, historically and
+architecturally regarded. And it is worthy of notice that at Wimborne,
+more than at many places, the enlargers of the church have contented
+themselves with adding to the building without removing the work of
+their predecessors more than was absolutely necessary. A very cursory
+glance at the exterior of the building as one walks round it is
+sufficient to show that the church as it stands offers to the student of
+architecture examples of every style that has prevailed in this country
+from the twelfth century onward, and he will especially rejoice at
+seeing so much fourteenth-century work. He will, as he passes along the
+narrow footway beneath the east end of the choir, regret that more space
+is not available here to get a good view of the most interesting Early
+English window. If a small tree were felled, and the wall of a garden
+or yard on the side of the footpath opposite to the church pulled down,
+so as to throw open the east end of the choir, it would be a great
+improvement. But this regret can be endured, as, though the window
+cannot be well seen, it is there, and by changing one's position a
+pretty accurate idea of its interesting features can be formed; but
+far keener is the regret that any lover of antiquity must feel when
+he notices, as he examines the church more closely, how busy the
+nineteenth-century restorer has been, how he has raised walls, altered
+the pitch of roofs, and inserted modern imitations of thirteenth and
+fourteenth century work, removing features which existed at the
+beginning of this century to make room for his own work; how he has
+banished much of the old woodwork in the interior, altered the position
+of still more, and generally been far less conservative of the work of
+former generations than the mediaeval enlargers of the minster were.
+However, his work is now done--nave, towers, and choir were thoroughly
+restored about fifty years ago, and the transepts in 1891. No further
+work is contemplated at present. In fact, there seems nothing more that
+could well be done.
+
+[Illustration: THE MINSTER FROM THE SOUTH-EAST BEFORE 1891.]
+
+The church is built partly of a warm brown sandstone, partly of stone of
+a pale yellow or drab colour, the two kinds being in many places mixed
+so as to give the walls a chequered appearance. This may be noticed both
+outside and inside the building. In some of the walls the stones are
+used irregularly, in others they are carefully squared. The red stone is
+to be met with in the neighbourhood: some of that used for raising the
+transept walls in 1891 was obtained from a bridge in the town that was
+being rebuilt; and from marks on some of those stones it appeared that
+before being in the bridge they had been used in some ecclesiastical
+building, so that they have now returned to their original use. There
+is little ornament to be seen outside, save on the upper stage of the
+tower; in fact, the whole building excepting the arches of the nave and
+the tower may be described as severely plain in character. The college
+was never wealthy, hence probably it could not employ a number of
+carvers; then again it was not a monastic establishment, so that there
+were no monks to occupy their time in the embellishment of the building,
+carving, as monks often did, their quaint fancies on bosses and
+capitals. We miss the crockets and finials, the ball-flower, and other
+ornaments that we meet with in so many fourteenth-century buildings; but
+the very simplicity of the work gives the church a dignity that is often
+wanting in more highly ornamented structures. The small number of the
+buttresses in the body of the church is noteworthy; save at the angles
+there are only five--namely, two on each nave aisle, and one on the
+north choir aisle. At each of the eastern corners of the choir aisles
+the buttresses are set diagonally, as also are those on the northern
+corners of the north porch. There is a buttress on each of the side
+walls of the north porch, and two set at right angles to each other
+at each of the two corners of the north transept, and also at the
+south-west corner of the south transept; beneath the east window of the
+choir there is a small one. The buttresses at the corner of the choir
+project but slightly. The central tower has none, but the west tower has
+an octagonal buttress at each corner. The central tower attracts notice
+first. From the outside at the angles a small portion of the plain wall
+of the triforium stage may be seen, against which the roofs of the choir
+and transepts abut; the nave roof, however, hides all of this stage at
+the western face: above this face is a band of red-brown sandstone, and
+above this the clerestory stage. In each face are two round-headed
+windows with a pointed blank arch between them. There are six slender
+shafts to support the outer order of moulding over the two windows and
+the blank arch, and two of a similar character to support the inner ring
+of moulding over each window. At each corner of the tower up to the top
+of this stage runs a slender banded shaft. This stage is finished by a
+string course, above which the tower walls recede slightly, the walls of
+the upper or belfry storey being a little thinner than those below. This
+stage, perfectly plain within, is the most richly-ornamented part of the
+tower outside: it is the latest Norman work to be found in the minster,
+and probably may be dated late in the twelfth century. An arcading of
+intersecting round-headed arches runs all round this storey. Seven
+pointed arches are thus formed in each face; between these arches stand
+slender pillars with well carved capitals which show a great variety of
+design. Five of the seven arches on each face were originally open, save
+possibly for louvre-boards placed to keep out the rain; now all but the
+central one on each face are walled up, and the centre one is glazed.
+This filling up was not all done at the same time, as the varying
+character of the stone shows. The work was no doubt begun in order to
+strengthen the walls when the spire was added, and was continued from
+time to time as the necessity for further strengthening arose. Above
+the stage was a bold corbel table, and this is the upper limit of the
+Norman work. There can be little doubt that the Norman builder, here as
+elsewhere, finished his tower with a low pyramidal roof with overhanging
+eaves to shoot off the rain. This covering may have been of lead, but
+possibly of stone tiles or wooden shingles. About a century later this
+Norman roof was removed to make place for a loftier roof or spire. Of
+its character and material and height we know nothing--there is no
+description of it; and though the minster is represented on an old seal
+with one spire-crowned tower, yet the representation of the rest of the
+church is so conventional that it cannot be regarded as an authentic
+record of the actual appearance of the steeple. It is curious that, as
+it stood for about three hundred years and fell only in the later years
+of Elizabeth's reign, no drawing remains to show us what this spire was
+like. But it passed away, doing some damage to the building in its fall,
+and that is the only record it has left behind; but we can well picture
+to ourselves how much importance must have been added to the minster by
+this spire, which must have been a conspicuous object for many miles
+round. The present heavy, ugly battlemented parapet spoils the general
+effect of the tower; and though we are adverse to the sweeping away of
+any features of an old building, even when the features are inharmonious
+and even ugly--because this is, as it were, tearing a page of stone from
+the book of the history of the building--yet we must confess we could
+have regarded the loss of the seventeenth-century parapet and pinnacles
+with much less regret than other features which the restorer has
+tampered with.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORTH TRANSEPT BEFORE 1891.]
+
+The #North Porch#, which was evidently always intended to be, as it
+is to this day, the chief entrance into the church, consists of two
+bays marked externally by buttresses on each side: the inner order of
+moulding to the arch giving access to this porch springs from two shafts
+of Purbeck marble; the outer orders are carried up from the base without
+any capitals or imposts. The height of the crown of the inner arch above
+the capitals from which it springs is somewhat less than half the width
+at the bottom, and the radius of the curvature of the arches is greater
+than the width. Over the arch is a square-headed two-light window,
+lighting the room over the entrance. The roof differs from all the other
+roofs of the church since it is covered with stone tiles, while the
+others are covered with lead. There are buttresses set diagonally at the
+two northern angles of the porch.
+
+Between the porch and the transept are three two-light Decorated
+windows. The tracery of all these is alike, but differs from that of
+the two windows to the west of the porch. The most picturesque feature
+of the north transept is the turret containing the staircase by which
+access is obtained to the tower. This, before the church was enlarged
+in the fourteenth century, formed the north-west angle of the Norman
+transept: projecting towards the north, its base is rectangular. This
+rectangular portion rises nearly to the level of the tops of the aisle
+windows, above this level the turret is circular, and rising above the
+transept roof is capped by a low conical roof of stone tiles. Two string
+courses run round it, one at the bottom of the circular part, and one a
+little higher up. This turret was once known as the "Ivy Tower," from
+the ivy that grew on it, but this was all removed at the time when the
+transept was altered in 1891. At that time the side walls were raised
+about two feet, and the roof was raised to the original pitch of the
+Norman transept, and at the same time the tracery of the north window,
+which was of a very plain and clumsy character, seventeenth-century
+work, was removed and the existing tracery inserted. Much
+picturesqueness has been sacrificed to make these changes. The portion
+of this transept to the north of the turret was added about the middle
+of the fourteenth century to form the chantry founded by Bembre, who
+was dean from 1350-1361. This part contains, besides the large window,
+two smaller two-light windows, which look out respectively to the east
+and west. The tracery in these is almost entirely modern. Beyond the
+transept is the wall of the north choir aisle. This stands farther to
+the north than the wall of the nave aisle; in fact, it is in a line with
+the original north end of the Norman transept. In this wall, close to
+the transept, is a small round-headed doorway. And, farther to the east,
+is another larger pointed doorway between the second and third windows
+of the choir aisle, counting from the transept eastward. This doorway is
+enclosed by a triangular moulding very plain in character, but none of
+it is original. The three windows are each of two lights. The tracery
+of these three is alike, but differs from that of the windows in the
+nave aisle. The east window of the north aisle is of five lights. The
+enclosing arch is not very pointed--much less so than in the narrower
+windows of the aisles--and each light runs up through the head of the
+window. These and the corresponding south choir aisle windows are late
+Decorated work.
+
+[Illustration: THE EAST WINDOW.
+(From Parker's "Introduction to Gothic Architecture.")]
+
+Unfortunately the churchyard does not extend to the east of the church.
+A narrow footway, bounded to the east by cottages and garden walls,
+renders it impossible to photograph the east window of the choir. This
+is a most interesting one; and has been figured in most books on
+architecture. It consists externally of three lancets enclosed in a
+peculiar way by weather moulding; this rises separately over the head of
+each lancet, and between the windows runs in a horizontal line and is
+continued to the square corner buttresses. Within this moulding, and
+over the heads of each lancet, there is an opening pierced: the central
+one is a quatrefoil, while the other two have six points. These openings
+are a very early example of plate tracery, which was fully developed in
+the Early Decorated style. This window belongs to the Early English
+period, and may be dated about 1220. There will be occasion to refer to
+this window again when speaking of the interior of the church. The south
+choir aisle has a five-light east window closely corresponding to the
+window of the north aisle, and on the south two three-light windows. In
+these, as in the east aisle windows, the lights are carried up through
+the heads. There is no doorway giving access to this aisle from the
+outside.
+
+The angle between the choir aisle and south transept is filled up with
+the vestry and the library above it. The south wall of this projects
+beyond the wall of the south transept. This vestry is of Decorated date,
+possibly rather later than the other Decorated work in the minster. The
+upper storey forms the library. Its walls are finished at the top by a
+plain parapet which conceals the flat roof. At the south-western angle
+is an octagonal turret staircase, capped by a pyramidal roof rising from
+within a battlemented parapet, and terminating in a carved finial. This
+is of Perpendicular character. From the sharpness of the stone at the
+coigns it would seem that very extensive restoration, if not absolute
+rebuilding, of the walls was carried on in this part of the church.
+The south transept is rather shorter than that on the north side; but,
+unlike it, all the walls up to the level of the window are of Norman
+date. The string courses on the western side are worthy of close
+attention. One which runs under the south window is continued round the
+Perpendicular buttresses at the south-west angle, and then again joins
+the original course on the western face and runs to within a few feet
+of the nave aisle, where it abruptly terminates. Above this for several
+feet the walls have the same character as below; then the character
+changes, and this change probably marks the junction of the Norman with
+the Decorated work, which was added when the Norman chapel, which
+occupied the lower part of what is now the south end of the transept,
+was incorporated in the transept. Vertically above the termination of
+the string course just mentioned, but at a considerably higher level,
+another string course abruptly begins and runs along the wall, until it
+passes within the roof of the nave aisle. The south end of this shows
+the length to which the original Norman transept extended before the
+walls of the chapel to the south were carried up in the fourteenth
+century to form the addition to the transept. In the southern wall of
+this new transept was placed a large five-light decorated window. In
+this, as in several of the other Decorated windows already described,
+the lights run up to the enclosing arch above. The tracery of this
+window, as it now exists, dates back only to the time when the church
+was restored in the middle of the nineteenth century. Up to 1891 the
+side walls were about two feet lower than at present, and the gable more
+obtuse. At the summit of the old gable stood a block of masonry carrying
+a sundial; this, when the transept was altered, was removed, the new
+gable being finished with a cross. A pillar was built in the churchyard
+to the south of the western tower in 1894, and on it the block from the
+transept bearing the sundial was placed. This sundial has two dates on
+it--1696 and 1752, marking, no doubt, the year of its original erection
+and of some subsequent repair. It is noteworthy that the figures used in
+these two dates differ in character,--the eighteenth-century carver who
+incised the later date not thinking it incumbent on him to make his
+figures match those of his predecessor. The three aisle windows between
+the south transept and the south porch are two-light Decorated windows
+with tracery, some of it original, corresponding to that of those on the
+opposite side in the north aisle.
+
+The #South Porch# is small, and the side walls do not project far
+from the aisle. Above the arch is a carving of a lamb much weathered,
+and on the gable stands a fragment of a cross. The gates beneath the
+outer arch are kept locked save on Sundays, as are frequently the gates
+in the railings surrounding the churchyard to the south of the minster,
+which is divided from the churchyard on the north side by the church
+itself and by railings at the east and west ends of it. To the west of
+the porch are two more two-light windows, corresponding in character
+with the windows opposite in the north aisle. The clerestory windows
+of the nave are of Perpendicular date, fifteenth-century work, and have
+not any beauty. Each has three foliated lights under a round-headed
+moulding. Above each of these three there are two lights, all enclosed
+within a rectangular label. The nave roof is higher than the choir roof.
+Its aisles have lean-to roofs, whereas the choir aisles are wider and
+have gable roofs: hence the clerestory windows of the choir, modern
+lancets, are not visible from the outside.
+
+The #Western Tower# is of four stages, with octagonal buttresses at
+each corner, decreasing in cross section at each course. Of these the
+north-eastern one contains the stairs leading to the top of the tower,
+the others are solid. These are crowned with sharp pyramidal turrets.
+In the lowest stage on the western face is a doorway which for some time
+was stopped up to strengthen the tower, but which was opened again at
+the general restoration. Above this is the west window of six lights,
+Perpendicular in character but of nineteenth-century date. The third
+stage--the ringing room within is lighted by four small windows: that in
+the west wall is a quatrefoil, those on the north and south have single
+lights foliated at the head; the original one in the east wall was
+covered when the nave roof was raised, and a plain opening was made in
+the wall farther to the south. Above this is the belfry, with two pairs
+of two-light windows on each face: these are divided by transoms, and
+the arches at the tops are four centred. These windows are, of course,
+not glazed, but are furnished with louvre-boards. The tower is finished
+with a battlemented parapet. Just outside the easternmost window on the
+north face, and below the transom, stands a figure now dressed in a coat
+of painted lead, representing a soldier in the uniform of the early part
+of the nineteenth century. He holds a hammer in each hand, with which he
+strikes the quarters on two bells beside him. He is known by the name of
+the "Jackman" or "Quarter Jack." There are no windows at the west ends
+of the nave aisles; but, as on the south side so on the north, there are
+between the tower and the porch two two-light Decorated windows in the
+wall of the aisle.
+
+[Illustration: THE WESTERN TOWER.]
+
+The level of the churchyards, as in the case with most old
+burying-grounds, is considerably above the level of the floor of the
+church. Hence steps have to be descended on entering the porches, and
+again in passing from the porches into the church. On the south side
+some levelling of the ground has been done, and the upright head-stones
+have been laid flat, but the altar tombs have been allowed to remain as
+they were. There are few trees in the churchyard to impede the view of
+the building; those there are, are as yet small, and serve only to
+pleasantly break the bareness of the ground without hiding the
+architectural features of the building.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE INTERIOR
+
+
+The North Porch, which no doubt from the days of its erection in the
+fourteenth century has formed the chief entrance into the church, is
+opposite to the westernmost Norman bay of the nave arcading. The porch
+itself is vaulted in two bays, the vaulting springing from slender
+shafts of Purbeck marble which rest on the stone seats on either side of
+the porch. The bosses in which the ribs meet are carved with foliage.
+Over the porch is a small room to which no staircase now leads; one
+which formerly led to it was removed in the seventeenth century. This
+room is lighted by a small two-light Decorated window facing north.
+
+[Illustration: THE INTERIOR, LOOKING EAST.]
+
+The two #Aisles# are of the same length as the nave, and are
+divided from it by an arcading on either side, each containing six
+pointed arches. The easternmost arches consist of two plain orders, and
+are much narrower than the rest. These arches spring on the east side
+from brackets on the western face of the tower piers: the bracket on the
+north side is plain, that on the south side is ornamented with a kind of
+scale carving. These bays were probably of the same date as the tower,
+and it is not unlikely that the arches were at first like those of the
+tower, of the usual round-headed form. If they were altered when the
+remainder of the nave was built, the wall above was not removed. The
+piers which support the western side of these arches consist each of a
+semi-cylindrical pillar set against a rectangular pier, on the other
+side of which another semi-cylindrical shaft is set to support the next
+arch; the next two pillars on each side are cylindrical, perfectly plain
+in the shafts with very simple bases and capitals. The latter may be
+seen in the illustrations, the former are concealed by the pews. It
+will be noticed as a peculiar feature that a little piece of the outer
+moulding, facing the nave, of the first large arch on the south side is
+differently carved from all the rest: first, counting from the bottom
+upwards, are three eight-leaved flowers--these are succeeded by three
+four-leaved flowers, all on a chamfered edge; above this the moulding
+is not chamfered, and the outer face is decorated with shallow zig-zag
+carving. The second member of the moulding consists of chevron work
+somewhat irregularly carved, the projecting tooth-like points not being
+all of the same size; in the centre is a roll moulding, from each side
+of which chevron ornamentation projects, the points directed outward
+perpendicular to the plane of the arch. These pillars and arches are
+noteworthy in that the piers are of considerable size, and above them
+are pointed arches. This would indicate a rather late date in the Norman
+period for this portion of the church; probably it was built at some
+time during the last quarter of the twelfth century. With the third wide
+bay the twelfth-century church terminated, the two arches to the west
+of these being characterised by ornamentation of the Decorated period.
+At this time, as has been already explained (p. 10), the aisles were
+widened and the inner edges of the roofs raised above the clerestory
+windows of the Norman church. Four such windows, round-headed, each
+placed over the point of an arch, may be seen on either side of the
+nave; but the eastern one on each side differs from the other three
+in being of heavier character and rougher workmanship. The external
+mouldings of these can be well seen from the aisles: towards the nave
+they are splayed and plain. The wall above the fourteenth-century arches
+does not contain any windows on the same level as those of the old
+Norman clerestory; but above them, stretching all along each side of
+the nave, may be seen the windows of the present clerestory. These are
+Perpendicular in style, and are five in number on each side, each window
+being placed over one of the piers of the nave arcading. These windows
+are square-headed, and have at the bottom three lights, each light being
+sub-divided into two at the top. It is believed that this clerestory
+was formed when the walls were raised, at the same time as the western
+tower was erected--namely, at the end of the fifteenth century. But
+to return to the Decorated arches at the west end of the nave. The
+pier at the eastern side of the easternmost of these consists of the
+semi-cylindrical respond of Norman date, a piece of masonry which was
+part of the west wall of the Norman church; and then on the western
+side of this an added semi-cylinder, on the capitals of which may be
+seen the ball-flower ornament. The pier on either side, between the two
+fourteenth-century arches, is octagonal, with a very plain capital (one
+of these is shown in the illustration on page 57); the arches themselves
+are also plain, consisting of two members with chamfered edges. The half
+pillars at the western side of the western arch have been imbedded in
+the octagonal buttresses of the west tower, which project into the
+church.
+
+[Illustration: PIER AND ARCH-SPRING IN THE SOUTH ARCADE.]
+
+[Illustration: DECORATED ARCH IN THE NAVE.]
+
+The height of the nave roof appears to have been altered on several
+occasions. There may be seen from the interior of the nave, on the
+west wall of the lantern tower, two lines running from the level of
+the tops of the Norman clerestory windows: these make an angle of about
+forty-five degrees with the horizontal, and, no doubt, are traces of the
+weather mouldings marking the position of the exterior of the roof of
+the nave in Norman times. Probably the roof visible from the interior
+was flat and formed of wood, and ran across in the line of the string
+course above the tower arch, at a level slightly above the heads of the
+clerestory windows. A round-headed opening above this string course
+probably gave admission to the space between the outer and inner roofs.
+At a somewhat higher level, we have a slight trace which probably marks
+the junction of the fifteenth-century roof with the tower. This roof
+was of oak and very plain--at the restoration the pitch of the roof was
+raised and carried up to such an extent as to cut off the bases of the
+clerestory windows of the lantern tower; the inner roof itself is of
+pitch-pine, with hammer-beams of the character which finds such favour
+with nineteenth-century architects.
+
+[Illustration: CLERESTORY STAGE OF THE CENTRAL TOWER.]
+
+The #Central Tower#, the oldest and probably most interesting part
+of the church, consists of four stages, of which the three lower ones
+are open to the church. The lowest of these was undoubtedly part of the
+original Norman church; the second or triforium was soon added. Above
+this comes the clerestory, the pointed arch between the round-headed
+windows indicating a somewhat later date; and above this there is a
+chamber perfectly plain within, and not open to the church below. The
+outside of this is decorated with an arcading of intersecting arches,
+which indicates a somewhat later date. These intersecting arches form
+seven pointed arches on each side--five of these were originally open to
+allow the sound of the bells, which were formerly hung in the tower, to
+pass out; but to add strength to the walls all but the middle ones on
+the east face were at various periods walled up. At one time the tower
+was surmounted by a spire, possibly of wood covered with lead; this is
+supposed to have been erected by John de Berwick, who was dean of the
+minster from 1286 to 1312. The squinches which supported this spire may
+still be seen in the upper stage just described. Descending from this
+stage by a spiral staircase in the north-west angle, we find ourselves
+in the clerestory already mentioned. In each face there are two
+round-headed windows widely splayed on the interior, with shafts in
+the jambs; between each pair of windows is a pointed arch, in each
+angle of the tower is a slender shaft encircled by three bands at about
+equidistant intervals: a passage cut in the thickness of the wall runs
+round this stage. Again descending, we reach the triforium level. Each
+of the walls of this stage has two pointed sustaining arches built into
+the wall to support the weight of the superincumbent masonry; each of
+these encloses four semi-circular headed arches with shafts of Purbeck
+marble. The capitals of these are rudely carved, and between the
+relieving pointed arches are carved heads, that on the north side being
+the most noteworthy. The passage behind the arches is very narrow, the
+total thickness of the walls being only 4 feet 6 inches. At the centre
+of each face are the openings which formerly led into the spaces between
+the roofs and ceilings of the nave, transepts, and choir of the Norman
+church. That on the north side now leads into a stone gallery, erected
+in 1891 in the place of a dilapidated wooden structure, which runs first
+westward to the angle between the tower and north transept, then along
+the west face of the transept until it reaches a door leading into the
+stair turret, which may be seen from the exterior. At the bottom of this
+is a door opening into the transept. This stair turret projects slightly
+into the transept. The lowest stage of the tower consists of four arches
+and four massive piers. The arches have two plain orders. The piers have
+double shafts supporting the central order, and single shafts supporting
+the outer orders. The four arches are not of the same width, those on
+the east and west being wider than those on the north and south. In
+order to get the arches to spring from the same level and also to reach
+the same height at their heads, the wider arches are of the shape known
+as "depressed," while the narrower ones are of the "horse-shoe" type.
+The choir being somewhat narrower than the nave, the walls on each side
+take the place of the shaft which would have supported the outer order
+of the eastern arch. The capitals and bases of these arches are very
+plain, in fact nowhere in this church can the elaborately-carved
+capitals so often met with in late Norman work be found. This central
+tower was undoubtedly gradually raised stage by stage, as the character
+of the architecture indicates: probably during each interval the part
+already finished was capped by a pyramidal roof.
+
+[Illustration: THE TOWER ARCHES.]
+
+[Illustration: NORTH TRANSEPT AND CROSSING.]
+
+The #Nave Aisles# were widened in the fourteenth century, the
+Norman walls being removed and their roofs raised; a single stone of the
+weather moulding, which may be seen on the west face of the north
+transept, shows the height and slope of the roof of the Norman aisle.
+The windows of the aisles on either side are two-light Decorated
+windows; the three on either side to the east of the north and south
+porches are of the same character, while the two on each side to the
+west of the porches are also alike but differ in their tracery from
+those to the east. The south porch is much smaller than the north, and
+is very plain; it is composed of two solid walls projecting six feet
+from the wall of the aisle.
+
+The #Transepts#, as has been described in the preceding chapter,
+were lengthened in the fourteenth century--the southern one by the
+incorporation of some low Norman building, thought by some to have been
+the Lady Chapel, the walls of which were raised; the northern one by the
+addition of Bembre's chantry. This has caused the north transept to be
+somewhat longer than the south. The original Norman transepts seem to
+have been of the same length on either side. Bembre, who died in 1361,
+is supposed to have been buried here. A stone slab lay until 1857 in the
+centre of the pavement,--on it was a representation of a full-length
+figure of a man dressed in a robe like a surplice; but when the pavement
+was renewed this stone was allowed to remain exposed to sun and rain in
+the churchyard until the surface was weathered to such an extent that it
+is now impossible to make out with any certainty what is upon it. But
+the description given by Hutchins of the arms on the shields which were
+sculptured on it does not agree with the Bembre arms, so that it could
+hardly have been the tombstone of this Dean who founded the chantry.
+The window at the end of the north transept is modern restoration work.
+Before 1891 the tracery was of a very plain character, as may be seen
+from the illustration (page 21). It is supposed that damage was done to
+this window at the time when the tower fell, and that the plain tracery
+was inserted after that event. During the restoration in 1891, the old
+plaster was removed from the walls, and in doing this a Norman altar
+recess was discovered in the east wall of this transept; the southern
+end of this had been cut away when the choir aisle was widened in the
+fourteenth century. In this recess traces of fresco may be seen. A
+piscina stands to the north of this altar recess, and is of Decorated
+character.
+
+[Illustration: THIRTEENTH-CENTURY PISCINA IN SOUTH TRANSEPT.]
+
+The #South Transept# has a five-light Decorated window at its southern
+end, with modern tracery in imitation of the old, each light running up
+through the head of the window. A very fine Early English piscina, with
+the characteristic dog-tooth moulding, stands in the south wall. An
+altar occupying a position similar to the one in the north transept used
+to stand in this transept also, but the pointed arch over the recess
+shows that it was of later date.
+
+[Illustration: CHOIR STALLS.]
+
+The most elaborate part of the church is that which lies to the east of
+the central tower. The great height to which the altar is raised above
+the level of the nave gives it a very impressive appearance from the
+west end; and, again, the view looking westward from the altar level is
+much enhanced by the height from which it is seen.
+
+[Illustration: WEST VIEW FROM THE CHOIR.]
+
+The #East End# is purely English work, and this shows that in the
+thirteenth century the church was extended about 30 feet towards the
+east. The junction of the Early English with the Norman wall is marked
+by a cluster of slender shafts rising from the ground. The alterations
+which were made in the Norman walls at the time of this eastward
+extension have been already described (p. 11).
+
+It now only remains to describe the #Choir# and #Presbytery# as they
+stand at the present time. Immediately to the east of the tower on
+either side are two pointed arches of two plain orders rising on their
+western sides from plain brackets in the tower piers, and supported on
+the east by engaged shafts with roughly-carved Norman capitals. Next
+to these come the Early English inserted arches, pierced as already
+described through the Norman wall and cutting away the lower part of two
+previously existing Norman windows on each side. The arches are of three
+plain orders, with chamfered edges, resting on clustered shafts; beyond
+these the new thirteenth-century work begins. Beyond the clustered
+shafts mentioned above, which mark the commencement of the Early English
+work, is a lofty arch on either side opening into the choir aisles; over
+each of them is a pair of small lancet windows widely splayed inside.
+Between the piers of these arches a wall is carried, its top being about
+midway between their bases and capitals. On the southern wall stands the
+Beaufort tomb, on the northern the Courtenay tomb; and below this the
+walls are pierced with arches, beneath which are flights of nine steps
+leading on to the crypt beneath the presbytery. It is not improbable
+that after the eastern extension the altar stood at the east end of the
+Norman part of the choir, and that under these two Early English arches
+was the ambulatory or processional passage which is so often found to
+the east of the high altar. Beyond the ends of the choir aisles on
+either side of the presbytery is a lancet window. The east window is
+worthy of the closest observation. Its exterior appearance has been
+already described (p. 24). Within, it consists of three openings widely
+splayed; the thin stone over the central lancet, beneath the surrounding
+moulding, is pierced with a quatrefoil opening; over the two side
+lancets the corresponding openings have six foliations; between the
+three lights and outside the outer ones, flush with the wall, are
+clusters of shafts of Purbeck marble, from which spring mouldings
+enclosing the lights in a most peculiar fashion: these follow the curves
+of the tops of the lancets, but before meeting they are returned in the
+form of cusps, and then are carried round the upper foliated openings.
+The upper part of each of these mouldings forms about three-quarters
+of the circumference of a circle. The characteristic Early English
+dog-tooth ornament is carved round the moulding of the central light,
+those round the other lights are not thus decorated. The whole group is
+surrounded by a label following the curves of moulding, with carved
+heads at its terminations and points of junction. The six cusps of the
+moulding are ornamented by bosses of carved foliage.
+
+[Illustration: THE EAST WINDOW.]
+
+[Illustration: SEDILIA.]
+
+To the south side of the presbytery, between the south window and the
+Beaufort tomb, the triple #Sedilia# and the #Piscina# are situated: each
+of these is covered by a canopy of fourteenth-century work. These were
+extensively repaired at the time of the restoration. The Beaufort altar
+tomb is the finest monument in the church. On it are two recumbent
+figures carved in alabaster, and although there is no inscription it is
+certain that they represent John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and his
+wife Margaret. John Beaufort was son of another John Beaufort, Earl of
+Somerset, who was brother of the celebrated Cardinal Beaufort, and son
+of John of Gaunt by his mistress Catherine Swynford, a family afterwards
+legitimatised by Parliament. This second John Beaufort distinguished
+himself in the French wars of Henry IV., who in 1443 gave him a step in
+the peerage, creating him Duke of Somerset. His wife Margaret was, when
+he married her, widow of Oliver St John, and it is thought that after
+the death of her second husband in 1444 she married again. This John and
+Margaret, Duke and Duchess of Somerset, are famous on account of their
+daughter the Lady Margaret, so well-known for her educational endowments
+and for the fact that after her marriage with Edmund Tudor, the Earl
+of Richmond, she became the mother of that Henry Tudor who overthrew
+Richard III. at Bosworth, and was crowned King as Henry VII. Here
+on this altar tomb their effigies remain in a wonderful state of
+preservation, their right hands clasped together, angels at their heads,
+his feet resting on a dog, hers on an antelope. He is completely clad
+in armour, the face and right hand only bare--the gauntleted left hand
+holds the right hand gauntlet, which he has taken off that he may hold
+the lady's hand. She is clad in a long close-fitting garment. Each of
+the two wears around the neck a collar marked with the letters SS. At
+the apex of the arch above their tomb hangs his tourney helm.
+
+[Illustration: THE BEAUFORT TOMB.]
+
+Under the corresponding arch on the opposite side is a similar tomb, but
+without any effigy. The fragment of an inscription tells us that it is
+the tomb of one who was once the wife of Henry Courtenay, Marquis of
+Exeter, and mother of Edward Courtenay. She was Gertrude, daughter of
+William Blount, Lord Mountjoy. Her husband was beheaded in 1538,
+together with the aged Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, whose chantry
+may be seen in the Priory at Christchurch, though she was laid to rest
+in what Macaulay describes as the saddest burying-ground in England, the
+cemetery of St Peter's, in the Tower. Gertrude, Lady Courtenay, was
+herself attainted at the time of her husband's execution, but was
+afterwards pardoned and died in 1557. The tomb was opened in the last
+century from idle curiosity, and some one attempted to raise the body to
+a sitting posture, with the result that the skeleton fell to pieces. The
+tomb was also damaged by this foolish opening.
+
+[Illustration: BRASS OF AETHELRED.]
+
+Three small carved figures at the bottom of the hood moulding of the
+arches over these monuments deserve attention. The one on the west
+side of the southern arch represents Moses with the tables of the law.
+Probably there was another such figure at the eastern end of the same
+moulding, but this would have been cut away when the sedilia were
+inserted. The opposite arch has a figure on each side.
+
+Just at the east end of the Courtenay tomb is a slab of Purbeck marble,
+reputed to have once covered the grave of AEthelred. In it is inserted a
+fifteenth-century brass, with a rectangular plate of copper bearing an
+inscription, represented in the illustration (p. 46). A brass plate with
+a similar inscription, though the date on it is given as 872, was found
+in the library. Possibly the original brass and inscription were taken
+up in the time of the civil wars and hidden for safety, and the
+inscription having been lost, the copper plate now on the tomb was made
+when the brass was replaced, and the original plate was afterwards found
+and was placed for safety in what is now the library. _Copper_ nails
+were used to fasten the brass to the floor, which perhaps serves to show
+that the engraved _copper_ plate was made at the time when the brass was
+replaced on the slab. A little piece of the left-hand bottom corner has
+been broken off, and the top of the sceptre is missing. There are no
+rails before the altar, but their place is supplied by three oak benches
+covered with white linen cloths (these may be seen in the illustration
+on p. 43). The use of the "houseling linen" dates back to very early
+times. The word "housel" for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper has gone
+out of use, though most of us are familiar with the line
+
+  "_Unhouseled_, unanointed, unanelled,"
+
+in which the ghost of Hamlet's father describes the circumstances of his
+death. The word "unhouseled" in this means that he died without
+receiving the sacred elements before his death.
+
+The benches are a relic of Puritan times: there is an entry dated 1656
+in the churchwardens' accounts respecting the payment of L1 "for making
+and setting up the benches about ye communion table in the quire." These
+were at first used as seats, on which the communicants sat to receive
+the bread and wine. In after times their use was modified. These
+benches, ten in number, were placed on the steps leading up to the
+altar, and it was customary for the clerk on "Sacrament Sundays" to go
+to the lectern after morning prayer, and, in a loud voice, give notice
+thus: "All ye who are prepared to receive the Holy Communion draw near."
+Those who wished to communicate then went into the chancel and sat on
+these benches or in the choir stalls, waiting their turns, and kneeling
+on mats until the clergy brought them the bread and wine. Up to 1852
+there was a rail on the top step, at the entrance of the presbytery,
+on which the houseling linen hung. The rail, which was of no great
+antiquity, was removed at that date, and three of the oak benches
+were retained to supply its place; these are now used as an ordinary
+communion rail, but are always covered with the "fair white cloths."
+
+The #South Choir Aisle#, known as the Trinity Aisle, has at its east
+end a five-light window, each light of which runs up through the
+head; the south wall is pierced by two three-light windows of similar
+character. The wall opposite in the western bay, against which the organ
+now stands, is blank, as on the outside of this the vestry stands with
+the library above it. At the east end of this aisle was the chantry
+founded by the Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond, whose father and
+mother lie in the tomb already described beneath the nearest arch on the
+north side of this aisle. The altar of this chantry, as well as all the
+other altars in the church, numbering ten in all, have been swept away,
+no doubt at the time of the Reformation. But recently the east end of
+this aisle has been fitted up with a communion table for use at early
+services.
+
+In this aisle is to be seen, under the second window from the east,
+the marble or slate painted sarcophagus known as the Etricke tomb.
+Anthony Etricke of Holt Lodge, Recorder of Poole, was the magistrate
+who committed for trial the ill-fated Duke of Monmouth, who, after
+his flight from Sedgemoor, was captured in the north of Dorset near
+Critchell. It is said that in his old age he became very eccentric, and
+desired to be buried neither in the church nor out of it, neither above
+ground nor under; and to carry out his wish he got permission to cut a
+niche in the church wall, partly below the level of the ground outside,
+and then firmly fixed in it the slate receptacle which is now to be
+seen. Into this he ordered that his coffin should be put when he died.
+Moreover, he had a presentiment that he should die in 1691, and so
+placed that date upon the side of the sarcophagus. He, however, lived
+twelve years longer than he expected, so that when his death really
+occurred the date had to be altered to 1703. The two dates, the later
+written over the earlier, are still to be seen. On the outside of the
+sarcophagus are painted the arms of his family. The whole is kept in
+good repair, for so determined was the good man that his memory should
+be kept alive, and his last resting-place well cared for, that he gave
+to the church in perpetuity the sum of 20s. per annum, to be expended in
+keeping the niche and coffin in good order. When the church was restored
+in 1857 the outer coffin was opened, and it was found that the inner one
+had decayed, but that the dust and bones were still to be seen, these
+were placed in a new chest and once more deposited in the outer coffin.
+
+[Illustration: THE ETRICKE TOMB.]
+
+In this aisle is also to be seen an ancient chest, not formed as chests
+usually are, of wooden planks or slabs fastened together, but hewn out
+of a solid trunk of oak. The chest is over 6 feet long, but the cavity
+inside is not more than 22 inches in length, 9 inches in width, and 6
+inches in depth, hence it will be seen how thick and massive the walls
+are. Originally it may have contained some small relics, and probably is
+much older than the present minster itself. It was afterwards used as a
+safe for deeds. In 1735 some deeds were taken from it bearing the date
+1200.
+
+Formerly, there stood on this aisle the tomb of John de Berwick, dean of
+the college, who died in 1312. At his tomb once a year the parishioners
+met to receive the accounts of the outgoing churchwardens and to elect
+new ones. The altar tomb was removed about 1790, the slab at the top of
+it being let into the floor.
+
+[Illustration: ANCIENT CHEST.]
+
+The #North Choir Aisle# is a foot narrower than the corresponding south
+aisle: it has three windows each with two lights instead of two of three
+lights. This is known as St George's aisle. In the east wall is a
+piscina of Perpendicular date. Two doors lead into this aisle--one at
+the corner, where the walls of the aisle and transept meet, and one
+between the two easternmost windows. The principal objects in this aisle
+are two bulky chests, one containing the title-deeds of some charity
+lands in the parish of Corfe Castle. This is fastened by six locks, each
+of different pattern,--each trustee of the charity has a key, of his own
+special lock,--so that the chest can only be opened by the consent of
+the whole body. The other chest contains the parochial accounts; this
+once had six locks, but now has only two.
+
+In the south-eastern corner of this aisle lies a mutilated effigy of a
+mail-clad knight with crossed legs. This is said to have been removed to
+the minster from another church when it was destroyed. Whom it represents
+is uncertain, but traditionally it is known as the Fitz Piers monument.
+
+[Illustration: UVEDALE MONUMENT.]
+
+In this aisle is the monument of Sir Edmund Uvedale, who died in 1606.
+The monument was erected by his widow in "dolefull duety." It is in the
+Renaissance style, and was carved by an Italian sculptor. The old knight
+is represented clad in a complete suit of plate armour, though without a
+helmet. He lies on his right side, his head is raised a little from his
+right hand, on which it has been resting, as though he were just awaking
+from his long sleep, his left hand holds his gauntlet. Above the tomb
+hangs an iron helmet, such as was worn in Elizabethan times, and which
+very probably was once worn by Sir Edmund himself.
+
+Between the eastern ends of the choir aisles, and beneath the eastern
+end of the presbytery, is the #Crypt#. This is a vaulted chamber, the
+vaulting being supported on two pairs of pillars, thus forming three
+aisles, as it were, running east and west, each containing three bays.
+The western bay is of somewhat later date than the central and eastern;
+the wall against which the westernmost of the pillars once stood was
+removed, but the piers were allowed to remain, backed up by a new piece
+of masonry built against them to support the new vaulting. The crypt
+is lighted by four windows, equal-sided spherical triangles in shape;
+two look out eastward, one northward beyond the chancel arch, one,
+correspondingly placed, to the southward. The centre of the east end is
+a blank wall. Against this the altar stood--a niche, probably a piscina,
+still may be seen. On each side of the place where the altar stood there
+are two openings into the choir aisles. The exteriors of these are of
+the same form and size as the crypt windows, but they are deeply splayed
+inside, and probably were used as hagioscopes or squints, to allow those
+kneeling in the choir aisles to see the priest celebrating mass at the
+crypt altar.
+
+[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO CRYPT.]
+
+[Illustration: THE LIBRARY.]
+
+The #Vestry# stands in the south-east angle between the transept
+and choir aisle; it is a vaulted building dating from the fourteenth
+century, and is lighted by two windows, one looking to the east, the
+other to the south. A small door at the south-west corner opens upon the
+staircase leading to the #Library#--a chamber situated above the vestry.
+The collection consists chiefly of books left to the minster by will
+of the Rev. William Stone, Principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford, a native
+of Wimborne. They were brought from Oxford in 1686, under the care of
+the Rev. Richard Lloyd, at that time Master of the Grammar School at
+Wimborne. The books are chiefly works on divinity; some additions were
+subsequently and at various times made to the original collection. The
+books were attached to the shelves for safety's sake by iron chains, the
+upper end carrying rings which slid on rods fastened to the shelf above,
+the other end to the edge of the binding of the books. Hence the volumes
+had to be placed on the shelves with their backs to the walls. The room
+in which the books were placed was formerly known as the Treasury; it
+was refitted in 1857, but the old chains are still used. It would occupy
+too much space were any attempt made to give a list of the books. The
+oldest volume is a manuscript of 1343, "Regimen Animarum," written on
+vellum, and containing a few illuminated initials. A "Breeches,"
+Black-Letter Bible, dated 1595, is another book worth mentioning; also
+a volume of Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World. A hole was burnt
+through 104 of its pages. It is said that Matthew Prior, the poet, was
+reading it by candle light and fell asleep, and when he woke was much
+distressed to find that the snuff from his candle had done the mischief.
+He did his best to repair the damage, by placing a tiny piece of paper
+over the hole in each page, and inserting the missing letters with pen
+and ink. The book has since been rebound, leaves taken from another copy
+having been bound in between the damaged pages.
+
+[Illustration: THE CRYPT.]
+
+[Illustration: THE FONT.]
+
+The lower part of the west tower is used as a baptistery; this is
+separated from the nave by a screen, formed of fragments of the old rood
+screen. In the centre stands the octagonal late Norman #Font#, supported
+by eight slender shafts of Purbeck marble, and a modern spirally-carved
+central pillar of white stone, through which runs the drain to carry off
+the water.
+
+[Illustration: THE CLOCK IN THE WEST TOWER.]
+
+In the inner southern wall of this tower, rather low down, is fixed a
+curious old #Clock# made by Peter Lightfoot, a Glastonbury monk, in the
+early part of the fourteenth century. The earth is represented by a
+globe in the centre, the sun by a disc which travels round it once in
+twenty-four hours, showing the time of day; the moon by a globe so
+fastened to a blue disc that it revolves once during a lunar month; half
+of this is painted black, the other half is gilt, and the age of the
+moon is indicated by the amount of the gilded portion visible--when the
+moon is full the whole of the gilt hemisphere is shown, when new the
+whole of the black. This clock still goes, the works being in a room in
+the tower above. It requires winding once a day. The same clock also
+causes the Jack outside the tower to strike the quarters.
+
+In the #Belfry# is a peal of eight bells. The tenor weighs about 36
+cwts., the treble 7 cwts.
+
+The tenor bears this inscription:
+
+    MR WILHEMUS LORINGE ME PRIMO FECIT,
+        IN HONOREM  STAE CUTBERGAE.
+    RENOVABAR SUMPTU PAROCHALI PER AB,
+            ANNO DOMINI 1629.
+
+The seventh bell is dated 1798.
+
+The sixth bell 1600, and is thus inscribed: "SOUND OUT THE BELLS, IN GOD
+REGOYCE."
+
+The fifth 1698, "PRAISE THE LORD."
+
+The fourth 1686, "PULSATA ROSAMUNDI MARIA VOCATA. SMV."
+
+The third was originally the smallest bell of the peal, and bears the
+Latin hexameter: "SUM MINIMA HIC CAMPANA, AT INEST, SUA GRATIA PARVIS,"
+and the words, "THIS BELL WAS ADDED TO YE FIVE IN 1686, Samuel Knight."
+The two smaller bells are of recent date.
+
+The #Lectern# bears date 1623. The stone pulpit is modern (1868).
+The old wooden pulpit, whose place it has taken, has been removed to the
+church at Holt.
+
+The earliest mention of an #Organ# is in 1405, but the earliest
+authentic record is of one set up by John Vaucks, Organ Master,
+in 1533. A memorandum in the churchwardens' accounts speak of him
+setting up a pair of organs on the rood loft. In the year 1643, we have
+records of the sale of organ-pipes and old tin. After the Restoration
+in 1664, we have a record of the purchase of a new organ for L180.
+This was repaired, enlarged, and rebuilt at various times, and at the
+restoration, when the rood screen was unfortunately destroyed, the organ
+was placed in the south choir aisle.
+
+All the lower windows are now filled with painted glass; all of which,
+with the exception of a few fragments, is nineteenth-century work.
+
+
+DEANS OF WIMBORNE
+
+  Martin Pattislee or Pattishull            appointed 1224
+  Ralph Brito                                   "     1229
+  John Mansell                                  "     1247
+  John de Kirkby                                "     1265
+  John de Berwick                               "     1286
+  Stephen de Mawley                             "     1312
+  Richard de Clare                              "     1312
+  Richard de Swinnerton                         "     1334
+  Richard de Merimouth                          "     1338
+  Richard de Kingston                           "     1342
+  Thomas de Clopton                             "     1349
+  Reginald de Bryan                             "     1349
+  Thomas de Bembre (founder of the chantry)     "     1350
+  Henry de Buckingham                           "     1361
+  Richard de Beverley                           "     1367
+  John de Carp                                  "     1398
+  Roger Tortington                              "     1408
+  Peter de Altebello                            "     1412
+  Walter Medford                                "     1416
+  Gilbert Kymer                                 "     1427
+  Walter Herte                                  "     1467
+  Hugh Oldham                                   "     1485
+  Thomas Rowthel                                "     1508
+  Henry Hornby                                  "     1509
+  Reginald Pole                                 "     1517
+  Nicholas Wilson                               "     1537
+
+  COLLEGE DISSOLVED                             "     1547
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+ST MARGARET'S HOSPITAL
+
+
+About a quarter of a mile to the north-west of Wimborne stands the
+chapel of #St Margaret's Hospital#. The date of the foundation of
+this hospital is uncertain; tradition has it that it was founded by
+John of Gaunt, son of Edward III., but this is without doubt wrong,
+as documents--the character of which seem to indicate an early
+thirteenth-century date--have been found, from which it appears that
+this hospital existed at that time, and was set apart for the relief and
+support of poor persons afflicted with leprosy. This disease was at one
+time so common in England that a great number of lazar-houses were
+erected in the country, and many were well endowed; but when, after a
+time, the disease became less violent, many abuses crept in, persons not
+really suffering from the disease pretended to be lepers in order to get
+pecuniary benefits, and hence in many cases the leper hospitals were
+suppressed, or converted to other purposes. At the present day we find
+in many places, as here at Wimborne, that they are used as almshouses.
+
+[Illustration: ST MARGARET'S HOSPITAL.]
+
+This hospital, however, was not one of the well-endowed. It appears from
+a deed, dated in the sixteenth year of Henry VIII., that the hospital
+was chiefly maintained, not by endowments, but by the gifts of the
+charitable who were willing to contribute to its support; and to
+encourage the benevolent to give, the deed recites that "Pope Innocent
+IV, in the year 1245, by an indulgans or bulle did assoyl them of all
+syns forgotten, and offences done against fader and moder, and all
+swerynges neglygently made. This indulgans, grantyd of Petyr and Powle,
+and of the said pope, was to hold good for 51 yeres and 260 days,
+provided they repeated a certain specified number of Paternosters and
+Ave Marias daily." The date of this indulgence proves the antiquity of
+the hospital, as it shows that it was in existence before the middle
+of the thirteenth century. A chantry was also founded in the chapel
+here by John Redcoddes of one priest to say masses for his soul. To this
+chantry, according to a deed dated in the sixteenth year of Henry VI.,
+many tenements in Wimborne belonged. In later times the Rev. William
+Stone, who has been mentioned before as the founder of the Minster
+Library, by his will left his lands and tenements in the parish of
+Wimborne Minster to be applied to the benefit of almsmen only who should
+live in St Margaret's Hospital.
+
+There is a further endowment, but how it came to this hospital has not
+been discovered. The advowson and tithes of the Rectory of Poole were,
+in the reign of James I., granted to the Mayor and Corporation of Poole
+for forty years, on the corporation undertaking to find a curate to
+discharge the duties lately discharged by the vicar, and to pay a rent
+to the crown of L12, 16s. per annum. In the reign of Charles I., the
+advowson and tithes were granted to two men, Thomas Ashton and Henry
+Harryman, and their heirs for ever, on the same conditions; but they are
+now again held by the Corporation, who pay out of the revenues--to St
+Margaret's hospital L9, 16s.; to the churchwardens of Wimborne Minster,
+for the maintenance of the Etricke tomb, L1; and to the fellows of
+Queen's College, Oxford, to be spent in wine and tobacco on November
+5th, yearly L2.
+
+The Redcotte chantry possessed sundry vestments, the gift of Margaret
+Rempstone, in the thirty-fifth year of Henry VI., and plate, an
+inventory of which exists. This plate, on the dissolution of chantries,
+was given by the parishioners to the king, Edward VI. The hospital or
+almshouses stands on the high road from Wimborne to Blandford; the
+chapel joins one of the tenements occupied by the almsmen. These
+tenements are nine in number; three are inhabited by married couples,
+three by men, and three by women. Some of these cottages are of half
+timber, and thatched, others of modern brick. The chapel, at which there
+is now a service every Thursday afternoon, conducted by one of the
+minster clergy, is a plain building, which has been recently refitted,
+but remains, as far as windows and walls are concerned, in its original
+state. There are three doors in the north wall; the heads are pointed,
+and it is noteworthy that in the central door, that generally used
+for access to the chapel, the two sides of the arch are of different
+curvatures, so that the point of the arch is nearer to the right-hand
+side. The edge of the wall is chamfered round the doorways. The east
+window has a semicircular head, and plain wooden tracery dividing it
+into two lancet-headed lights with an opening above them. There is a
+window in both the south and north walls, near the east end, each of
+two lights; the south window is widely splayed inside; the head of each
+light has one cusp on each side. The head of each light of the north
+window has two cusps on each side. Farther to the west, on the south
+side, is a single narrow lancet, widely splayed, and still farther to
+the west is a semicircular opening with wooden tracery. The general
+character of the masonry would indicate that local workmen were employed
+in building this chapel, and that little was spent in ornamenting it at
+the time of the erection. There are, however, some traces of frescoes
+on the inside of the walls, both geometrical patterns and figures. The
+pointed doorways and the lancet window on the south side would indicate
+the thirteenth century as the date of the original building, and this
+agrees with the documentary evidence mentioned above for the foundation
+of the hospital. The roof is an open one of massive wooden rafters, with
+the beams running across at the level of the wall plates.
+
+
+DIMENSIONS OF WIMBORNE MINSTER
+
+  Extreme length, exterior, E. to W.                     198 feet
+  Extreme width, exterior, N. to S.                      102   "
+  Length of Nave, interior                                67   "
+  Width of Nave, interior                                 23   "
+  Height of Walls                                         40   "
+  Length of Nave Aisles, interior                         70   "
+  Width of Nave Aisles, interior                          13   "
+  Length of North Transept, interior                      42   "
+  Width of North Transept, interior                       18   "
+  Height of Walls, interior                               30   "
+  Length of South Transept, interior                      33   "
+  Width of South Transept, interior                       18   "
+  Height of Walls                                         30   "
+  Length of Choir, interior                               32   "
+  Width of Choir, interior                                21   "
+  Height of Choir Walls                                   28   "
+  Length of Presbytery                                    30   "
+  Width of Presbytery                                     21   "
+  Length of North Choir Aisle                             53   "
+  Width of North Choir Aisle                              21   "
+  Length of South Choir Aisle                             53   "
+  Width of South Choir Aisle                              20   "
+  Length of Side of Central Tower (square), interior      31   "
+  Height of Central Tower                                 84   "
+  Length of Side of Western Tower (square), exterior      31   "
+  Height of Western Tower                                 95   "
+  Length of North Porch, N. and S., interior              15   "
+  Width of North Porch, E. and W., interior               14   "
+  Length of South Porch, N. and E., interior               6   "
+  Width of South Porch, E. and W., interior                7   "
+  Length of Vestry, N. and S., interior                   15   "
+  Width of Vestry, E. and W., interior                    14   "
+  Length of Baptistery, E. to W., interior                18   "
+  Width of Baptistery, N. to S., interior                 19   "
+
+  AREA                                                10,725 sq. feet.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+
+
+[Illustration: CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY, FROM THE BRIDGE.]
+
+
+
+
+CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HISTORY OF THE BUILDING
+
+
+On the promontory washed on the one side by the slow stream of the
+Dorset Stour, and on the other by the no less sluggish flow of the
+Wiltshire Avon, not far from the place where they mingle their waters
+before making their way amid mudflats and sandbanks into the English
+Channel, stands, and has stood for more than eight hundred years, the
+stately Priory Church which gives the name of Christchurch to a small
+town in the county of Hants. The massive walls of its Norman nave, its
+fifteenth-century tower, and its great length--for, from the east wall
+of its Lady Chapel to the west wall of its tower, it measures no less
+than 311 feet--make it a conspicuous object from the Channel, especially
+after sundown, when its form, rising above the low shore of Christchurch
+Bay, is silhouetted against the sky. It is one of the finest churches
+below cathedral rank that is to be found in England. It is a perfect
+mine of wealth to the student of architecture, containing examples of
+every style from its early, possibly Saxon, crypt to the Renaissance of
+its chantries. Here we may see the solid grandeur of Norman masonry in
+the nave, with its massive arcading and richly-wrought triforium; the
+graceful beauty of the Early English in its north porch and in the
+windows of the north aisle of the nave; the more fully developed
+Decorated in the windows of the south aisle of the same; and
+Perpendicular in the tower and Lady Chapel.
+
+The crypts beneath the north transept and the presbytery may have
+belonged to the original church, but of that which is visible above
+ground the oldest part was due to Flambard, of whom more hereafter.
+When the first church was founded we cannot tell. Here, as in many other
+places, the origin is lost in the haze of antiquity and legend. Here,
+as at many other places, we find the original builders choosing one
+site, and the stones that they had laid during the day being removed by
+night by unseen, and therefore angelic, hands to another. It was on the
+heights of St Catharine, about a mile and a half away from the present
+site, that the human builders strove to raise their church. It may be
+that this hill, still marked by the ramparts of an ancient encampment,
+was not holy ground on account of its former occupation by heathens,
+though in after time, a chapel, built in the early part of the
+fourteenth century, existed there; but, anyhow, not on this hill, but on
+the flat lands of Saxon Tweoxneham, a name which passed into the forms
+of Thuinam and Twynham, that the great Priory Church was destined to
+stand. But not even when the human builders began to erect the church
+on the miraculously chosen ground did supernatural interposition cease.
+A stranger workman came and laboured at the building: never was he seen
+to eat as the other workmen did, never did he come with his fellows to
+receive his wages. Once, when a beam had been cut too short for the
+place it was to occupy, he lengthened it by drawing it out with his
+hand; and when the day for consecration came, and the other workmen
+gathered together to see their work hallowed by due ceremonial, this
+stranger workman was nowhere to be seen. The ecclesiastics came to
+the conclusion that this was none other than the carpenter's son of
+Nazareth, and the church which had in part been builded by the hands
+of the Christ Himself in later days became known as Christchurch.
+
+But, if we disregard these legends, we do not at once find ourselves
+on sure and certain ground. The foundation has been attributed to
+AEthelstan, but this is hardly likely, as, in a charter dated 939, he
+gives one of the weirs on the Avon at Twynham to the Abbey Church of
+Middleton, now Milton Abbey in North Dorset, which he would be hardly
+likely to do if he had founded, or were thinking of founding, a
+religious house at Twynham; and as he died in 940, not much time was
+left for any foundation after this grant. Again, we find King Eadred
+granting land and fishing near Twineham to Dunstan. However, in the
+time of the Confessor, mention is made of the canons of Holy Trinity
+possessing lands in Thuinam. It must be remembered that it had been
+intended, according to the legend, to dedicate the church to the Holy
+Trinity, and no doubt this was done, although it was afterwards
+identified especially with the second Person.
+
+In Domesday it is stated that the canons of the Church of the Holy
+Trinity hold lands in the village, and also in the Isle of Wight
+opposite. Certain it is that in the days of Eadward the Confessor there
+was a church at Twynham dedicated to the Holy Trinity, held by a
+collegiate society of secular canons. This church was swept away by
+Ranulf Flambard, the notorious justiciar and chaplain of William II.,
+whose evil deeds, contrary to the oft-quoted passage from Mark Antony's
+speech in Julius Caesar, are now generally forgotten; while the good
+deeds that he wrought,--the nave of this church, and the still grander
+nave of Durham Cathedral Church, Durham Castle, "Norham's castled
+steep," and Kepier Hospital, built while he held the most important
+diocese in the North of England,--live after him, and have shed a glory
+on his name. Evil he was in moral character without doubt, but a
+glorious builder nevertheless. Though he oppressed the clergy, though it
+was through his instrumentality and by his advice that sees were kept
+vacant for years, and when filled, only given to those who were able and
+willing to pay large sums to the king, yet it is rather as a great
+architect than as an ecclesiastic that we, who gaze with delight and
+admiration on his work that has come down to us, will regard him. It is
+said that, as his end drew nigh, he realised the amount of evil he had
+done, and strove to make his peace with heaven and restitution to some,
+at least, of those whom he had wronged. He died in 1128, and his body
+rests in the great Cathedral Church of St Cuthbert that he had done so
+much to raise. But it was in the earlier part of his career, before
+he received the bishopric of Durham in 1099, that he probably began
+the work at Christchurch with which we are at present concerned.[4]
+He was succeeded there by Godric, who is called Senior and Patron
+and afterwards Dean; but Flambard seems still to have exercised some
+authority over him, illegal probably, but none the less real. We find
+him granting to Godric, for the work of building, all the offerings
+made by strangers and pilgrims, and when a canon died his share of the
+revenues of the college was devoted to the same object, the vacancy not
+being filled up by the appointment of any new canon.
+
+    [4] Sir Gilbert Scott, however, thought that the Norman nave of
+        the Cathedral Church at Durham was commenced before Flambard
+        became bishop, and that the new church at Christchurch was
+        begun after that date, so that the work at Christchurch was
+        copied by him from what he found already commenced at Durham
+        when he went there.
+
+The length of Godric's tenure of office is uncertain. On his death Henry
+I. appointed Gilbert de Dousgunels dean, having appropriated to himself
+the accumulated fabric fund. Henry I. granted the patronage of the
+church to Richard de Redvers, Earl of Devon, who appointed his chaplain,
+Peter, a Norman of Caen, dean. This dean seems to have diverted the
+funds from the work of completing the church, but his successor,
+Randulphus, carried on the work again, so that in his time the church
+and the conventual buildings were roofed in. In the time of Hilary, in
+the year 1150, the secular college of canons was converted into a Priory
+of Augustinian Canons. This change was made with the consent of Baldwin
+de Redvers, in accordance with the wishes of Henry of Blois, brother of
+King Stephen, and at that time Bishop of Winchester, who is well known
+from the fact of his founding the Hospital of St Cross, near Winchester.
+Hilary, two years before this change was made, had been consecrated
+Bishop of Chichester, and subsequently became one of the episcopal
+opponents of Thomas Becket. Henceforth, until the dissolution in the
+reign of Henry VIII., the head of the religious community at
+Christchurch was a prior, who was, according to a charter granted by
+Richard de Redvers in 1160, elected by the canons. There were, in all,
+twenty-six priors, and their names have come down to us, but with only
+the most meagre notices of the architectural work which was carried on
+by each of them. Extensive, however, it must have been; and from what we
+see of the church itself, it would seem as if building operations must
+have been almost constantly in progress.
+
+In all probability there was, according to the usual plan of Norman
+churches, a tower at the junction of the nave and transepts, and beyond
+this an apsidal choir. But there is no documentary record of such a
+tower ever having been built or fallen, although its existence is
+rendered probable by a carving of a church with tower and spire on
+Draper's chantry, and by a similar representation on a seal, and in
+two other parts of the building. It is probable that the original
+choir extended westward beyond the transept, as at Westminster to the
+present day.
+
+As has been stated above, the Norman church was commenced by Flambard
+towards the end of the eleventh century; and of the work so begun, the
+earliest existing remains are the arcading of the nave, the triforium,
+and the transepts with the eastern apsidal chapel attached to the south
+transept. Next to this in order came the walls of the aisles of the
+nave, and the cloisters and chapter-house, which, however, have
+disappeared; cloisters would come to be considered a necessity as soon
+as the secular canons were superseded by regulars. The early English
+clerestory of the nave seems to have been built in the time of the third
+prior, Peter, about the beginning of the thirteenth century. To the end
+of same century may be approximately assigned the vaulting of the nave
+aisles, the north porch, and a chapel attached to the north transept.
+Alterations of an extensive nature seem to have been begun in the
+fourteenth century; for to this date belong the rood screen, placed
+farther to the east than the old division between the ritual choir of
+the canons and the western part of the nave, which was probably given up
+to the lay dwellers in the parish,--and the splendid reredos. The Lady
+Chapel also was completed certainly before 1406, probably eleven years
+earlier. The fifteenth century saw the western tower built and the choir
+commenced and a great part of it finished, though the vaulting seems not
+to have been completed until the early part of the sixteenth century, as
+W. E. the initials of William Eyre, who was prior from 1502 to 1520, are
+to be seen on the bosses and the arch of the south choir aisle. Somewhat
+later still is the chantry at the east end of the south choir aisle,
+built by the last prior and dated 1529, and the chantry built by the
+last of the Plantagenets, Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, daughter of
+the Earl of Clarence and mother of Cardinal Pole, who at the age of
+seventy was executed by Henry VIII. in 1541.
+
+Shortly before the dissolution in 1536 Prior Draper addressed a
+petition to Henry VIII. which is still in existence in the Record
+Office, praying that he would spare the Priory church, basing his
+request upon the desolate character of the district, the poverty of
+the house, and the fact that the church was not only a place for poor
+religious men, but also a parish church to the town and hamlets round
+about, whose inhabitants numbered from fifteen to sixteen hundred, that
+there was no place where any honest man on horseback or on foot might
+have succour or repose for the space of eight or nine miles, "but only
+this poor place of Christchurch, to which both rich and poor doth repair
+and repose." He goes on to say how it was of late years a place of
+secular canons, until the king's antecessors made it a place of canons
+regular, that "the poor, not only of the parish and town, but also of
+the country, were daily relieved and sustained with bread and ale,
+purposely baked and brewed for them weekly to no small quantities
+according to their foundation, and a house ordained purposely for
+them, and officers according duly given attendance to serve them
+to their great comfort and relief." But all the pleading was in vain.
+Commissioners were appointed, who presented their report to Lord
+Cromwell December 2, 1539. They say that "we found the Prior a very
+honest and conformable person, and the house well furnished with jewels
+and plate, whereof some be meet for the king's majesty's use." Then
+follows a list of the treasures of the abbey, of the yearly value of
+the several endowments, and of the officers of the Priory, thirteen in
+number besides the Prior. Prior Draper retired on a pension, and the
+site of the domestic buildings was conveyed to Stephen and Margaret
+Kirton. The domestic buildings themselves gradually disappeared, but the
+whole of the church was handed over to the parish as a church, the grant
+to the churchwardens being made by letters patent 23 October 32 Henry
+VIII. It conveyed to them "the choir body, bell-tower with seven bells,
+stones, timber, lead of roofing and gutters of the church and the
+cemetery on the north side." Since then the church has been served by
+vicars, the patronage being in the hands of the dean and chapter of
+Winchester until the nineteenth century, when the advowson was purchased
+by Lord Malmesbury. The living is now in the gift of the Bishop of
+Winchester.
+
+During the present century much restoration has been done. The nave was
+vaulted in stucco in 1819; the west window was taken in hand in 1828;
+the pinnacles of the tower and the upper part of the turret containing
+the stairs were renewed in 1871; and constant repairs have been going on
+up to the present time; and the principle that has guided the restorer
+has been, when any stonework has been removed to put in its place as
+exact a copy of the old as possible,--a principle that cannot be
+approved of, as it will lead, when the newness of the modern work has
+been toned down by time, to confusion between the genuine old work and
+the modern imitation of it. It is far better, when there is no question
+of stability but only of appearance, to leave the old stonework, even
+though much decayed, as it is, unscraped, untouched by the chisel, and
+where strength is needed to put in frankly nineteenth-century work,
+which could never by any possibility be mistaken for part of the
+original building.
+
+One of the most glaring instances of injudicious restoration is to be
+met with in the apsidal chapel attached to the eastern side of the south
+transept. This work was carried out by the Hon. C. Harris, late Bishop
+of Gibraltar. The arcading is a nineteenth-century imitation of Norman
+work; the pavement is glaringly modern. Of what interest, it may well be
+asked, is such work? Who would care to visit Christchurch to see it? The
+nineteenth-century carver cannot possibly produce work similar to that
+of the carver who lived in the twelfth century,--the conditions of his
+life are altogether different, his training bears no resemblance to that
+of the old artist, his work is a forgery, and a most clumsy one too. In
+this chapel we see this reprehensible practice carried to its fullest
+extent, but there are many other parts of the building which have
+suffered. Most of the arcading on the exterior of the transept is modern
+imitation, and the tracery of the windows of the south choir aisle has
+been entirely renewed; no old stones, though many might have been used,
+have been reset in their original position. The arcading of the south
+aisle of the nave has been terribly tampered with. Possibly under the
+influence of time many of the shafts had partially crumbled, and the
+surface of the carved capitals had perished, so that the original design
+could not be made out; but that was no reason for cutting away the
+ornamental work to make way for modern decoration which may or may not
+bear some slight resemblance to what was there before. Some of the piers
+of the nave arcading have also been partially renewed. By an act of
+much-to-be-condemned vandalism the sub-arches of the two eastern bays
+of the south triforium of the nave were cut away to make room for
+faculty pews; recently a glaring white pillar has been introduced into
+the westernmost of these two bays, and two sub-arches built. If the
+same kind of work is carried out in the other, we shall see in all
+probability an attempt to copy the unique scale decoration which still
+exists on the tympanum under the corresponding principal arch on the
+north side, cut with modern tools with all the lifeless rigidity of
+modern work. Another mistake which has been made, is the scraping off of
+the plaster from the interior walls of the chamber known as St Michael's
+Loft, over the Lady Chapel, and the re-pointing of the stonework. Old
+builders invariably covered their rubble walls with plaster, but the
+modern restorer for some reason seems to hate plaster and prefers, to
+show the coarse stonework which the builder never intended should be
+seen, and to emphasise the roughness by filling up the joints with
+conspicuous pointing. This, however, is not so destructive as much of
+the work which has been condemned above, because at any time the walls
+could be recovered with a thin coat of smooth plaster laid on with a
+trowel, but not "floated,"--that is, not brought to a smooth surface
+by a long straightedge.
+
+A large and old building such as this Priory Church will need almost
+constant repairs to keep it sound and safe, and the income from
+visitors' fees is quite sufficient for this purpose. It is, however,
+much to be feared that restoration and reconstruction will form far too
+large a part of the work done in this building. Every new ornamental
+stone, to make room for which some original stone is displaced, detracts
+from the value of the building from an archaeological point of view; and
+though there may be some, or even many, who prefer the trim and smug
+appearance of modern work to that of the old, instinct with life, full
+of the thoughts of the builders and workers in wood and stone, whose
+bones have mouldered into dust in the garth of the vanished cloisters,
+and whose very names have in many cases been forgotten, yet we hope that
+those who have this priceless treasure in their keeping may recognise
+ere it is too late, that the result of a continuance of the process of
+restoration commenced about the middle of the nineteenth century will
+be the gradual conversion of a splendid memorial of bygone ages into a
+modern sham, and they themselves will be regarded, when true love of art
+becomes general, with the same indignation as that which they themselves
+feel with regard to those who pulled down the roof of the south transept
+and cut out the columns and sub-arches of the triforium in days before
+the Gothic revival set in. And the modern restorer has less excuse than
+the destroyer of a hundred years ago. If, like the vandals of the
+Georgian period, they had been blind to the beauties of architectural
+art, they would have had no sin, yet since they profess to see,
+therefore their sin will remain and their names will be held in
+perpetual reproach and everlasting contempt.
+
+The foregoing historical sketch of the building has perforce been
+somewhat vague in dates, for, in the absence of documentary evidence, it
+is not easy to fix from architectural considerations alone the date of
+any particular piece of work within a limit of some twenty years or so.
+The out-of-the-way position of the Priory of Christchurch--for no great
+road ran through the town, and though it is near the sea there is no
+convenient harbour near it--has brought it to pass that it is scarcely
+mentioned in any mediaeval chronicles. Its own fabric rolls and annals
+have been lost. Here and there, however, the date of a will or the
+inscription on a monument has enabled a more definite date to be arrived
+at. The dates also of the dedications of some of the many altars are
+known--viz. that of the Holy Saviour, used by the canons as their high
+altar, and that of St Stephen, dedicated by the Bishop of Ross in 1199;
+that of the altar of the Holy Trinity, which stood in the nave, and was
+the high altar of the parish; and those of the altars of SS. Peter and
+Paul, SS. Augustine and Gregory and all the Prophets, dedicated by
+Walter, Bishop of Whitherne, on November 7, 1214; that of the altar of
+St John the Baptist and St Edmund, dedicated on December 7, 1214, by the
+same bishop; and that of the altar of SS. Michael and Martin, dedicated
+by the Bishop of the Isles in 1221.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE EXTERIOR
+
+
+The exterior of the church of Christchurch Priory may be well seen from
+several points of view. The churchyard lies to the north of the
+building, extending beyond it both to the east and west. On the south
+side, where all the domestic buildings of the Priory once stood, there
+is a modern house and private grounds. All that belongs to the church is
+a path running under the walls as far as the east corner of the
+transept, where a garden door stops farther progress. Several glimpses
+of the building, however, may be obtained on the way down to the Stour,
+and seen from the south side of this river, the church rises above its
+surroundings, and forms a conspicuous object. A good general view on the
+north-east may also be obtained from a bridge over the Avon. From this
+point of view the great length of the church is apparent; on the
+right-hand side may be seen the ruins of the Norman keep of the castle
+on its artificial mound, and nearer to the bridge the remains of a
+twelfth-century Norman house. From the churchyard, also, the whole north
+side of the church may be seen at once, and many striking features will
+be noticed. Among these, the circular staircase attached to the
+transept, with its rich diaper work; Norman arcading of interlacing
+arches running round the transept; the large windows of the choir
+clerestory, so wide and closely set together that the whole wall seems
+as though composed of glass--through which, and the windows of the
+opposite wall, the light of the sky can be seen; and lastly, the upper
+storey of the Lady Chapel with its row of windows of a domestic type.
+
+[Illustration: CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY, FROM THE NORTH-EAST.]
+
+[Illustration: TOWER DOOR.]
+
+A systematic examination of the exterior may best be begun with
+the #Western Tower#. This is of fifteenth-century date, and is set
+partially within the church--that is to say, its builder did not add
+it to the west of the church, making an archway through the previously
+existing west front, but pulled down the whole west wall of the nave,
+leaving, however, the west walls of the aisles, and carried the north
+and south walls of the new tower as far back into the church as the
+space occupied by the western bay, thus leaving two spaces at the
+west end of the aisles, one now used as a vestry, the other as a kind
+of lumber-room. In the west face of the tower is a doorway under a
+rectangular label; in the spandrels are two shields, bearing the arms of
+the Priory, and of the Montacutes and Monthermers, Earls of Salisbury.
+The doors are modern. Immediately above the doorway is a large window
+with three tiers, each containing six lights. The head of the window
+above these is of an ordinary Perpendicular character. The tracery was
+restored in 1828. Above this window is a niche containing a figure of
+Christ. The upper stage, which contains the bells, has two two-light
+windows in each face, each light being divided by a transom. These
+windows are not glazed, but are furnished with louvre-boards. The tower
+is crowned with a pierced battlemented parapet having pinnacles at
+the corners and at the middles of each side; within this rises a low
+pyramidal roof. The stair turret runs up at the north-east angle of the
+tower; this is octagonal, and is crowned with a parapet and crocketed
+pinnacles; the upper part of this turret and the pinnacles were renewed
+in 1871. The tower is strengthened by two buttresses at right angles
+to each other at each of the two western angles. On either side of
+the tower, as already explained, may be seen the west end of the nave
+aisles; these have windows with Perpendicular tracery, and on the north
+wall of the north aisle is a plain, round-headed doorway cut through the
+wall in modern time, with a Perpendicular window over it.
+
+[Illustration: NORTH PORCH.]
+
+Next comes the #North Porch#, with a chamber above it--here, as in
+many other churches, the chief entrance into the building. Its great
+dimensions, both in length and height, however, are remarkable; it
+projects 40 feet beyond the aisle wall, and its own side walls rise
+nearly to the height of the clerestory of the church. Its south end
+does not extend beyond the wall of the aisle, so that there is a space
+between the upper part of the porch and the clerestory. The upper part
+above the porch proper contains, as mentioned above, a lofty chamber,
+probably originally the muniment-room. This is lighted by two pairs
+of narrow single-light windows on either side, and by a similar pair
+in the north face beneath the obtuse-angled gable. This room is, no
+doubt, a later addition. The entrance into the porch is a beautiful,
+deeply-recessed archway of thirteenth-century date, with numerous shafts
+of Purbeck marble on either side. Within the porch the side walls are
+divided into two compartments, each of which is composed of two pointed
+arches beneath another larger pointed arch, with a cinquefoil in the
+head. On the west side, near the outer archway, is a cinquefoiled
+recess, with shafts of Purbeck marble and foliated cusps. This is
+said originally to have contained a desk, at which the prior met the
+parishioners and signed deeds. A stone seat runs along each side of
+the porch walls. The double doorway which leads into the church is very
+beautiful and rich Early English work. From six Purbeck marble shafts on
+either side spring the orders of the enclosing archway; the heads of the
+double doorways themselves are cinquefoiled arches with foliated cusps.
+At the jambs, and dividing the two doors, are clusters of Purbeck marble
+shafts, with moulded capitals. In the tympanum is a quatrefoil, the
+upper part of which projects so as to form a canopy. This was, no doubt,
+intended to contain some carved subject, possibly the Doom. Very
+extensive restoration was carried out in the groining and porch
+generally, in 1862.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORTH DOOR.]
+
+The wall of the #North Aisle# between the porch and the transept is
+divided into six compartments by Early English buttresses with gabled
+heads. This wall was built in Norman times, as may be seen from the
+small round-headed windows which light the clerestory, but was in
+Early English times faced with fresh ashlar, which conceals the Norman
+arcading of intersecting arches which ran along this wall. The triforium
+windows on this side are not, though they are on the south side,
+regularly arranged; there are none in the two western divisions, while
+between the easternmost buttress and the transept there are two. Six
+late thirteenth-century windows were cut through this wall--these are
+all of similar design; they consist of two lights under a comprising
+arch, with a circle in the head. The clerestory windows are of plainer
+character. Each window consists of two simple lancets set under a
+recessed arch without any hood moulding; the tympana also above the
+lancet heads are not pierced or decorated in any way; in fact, the whole
+clerestory is remarkably plain. Between the windows are flat buttresses.
+The aisles are covered with lean-to roofs of lead, the nave itself with
+a tiled roof of medium pitch. The gable at the east end of the nave, and
+indications on the east face of the tower, show that the pitch of the
+roof was once higher, and that it must have been lowered at some time
+after the tower was built in the fifteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORTH TRANSEPT IN 1810.
+(From Britton's "Architectural Antiquities.")]
+
+The #North Transept# is most interesting. Its west wall contains
+two round-headed windows with billet moulding, the northern one blocked
+up; and at the north-west corner is a cluster of cylindrical shafts
+running up to about the same height as the walls of the aisle. Why they
+terminated here it is hard to say; they may mark the termination of the
+original Norman wall. This wall may not have risen above this height,
+or the upper part may have been taken down and rebuilt when the large
+Perpendicular window was inserted in the north end of the transept. At
+the north-east corner of the transept stands a richly-ornamented turret
+of Norman date. Round the lower part of this the arcade of intersecting
+arches which runs round the whole transept is carried; above this, round
+the turret, runs an arcading of semicircular-headed arches springing
+from pairs of shafts; above this the wall is decorated with diaper work;
+and finally, another arcading, this time of round-headed arches rising
+from single shafts, encircles the turret. The turret is capped by a
+sloping roof of stone attached to the transept wall. This turret is
+worthy of close attention, because it shows how the Norman builders
+hated monotony; each stage has its own decoration unlike that of
+any other; and, moreover, there are variations in the shafts of the
+arcading--some are plain, some decorated in one way, some in another.
+The same love of variety may be seen here that lends so great a charm
+on a larger scale to Flambard's glorious nave at Durham. No doubt this
+north transept had attached to its east wall an apsidal Norman chapel
+similar to that which still exists on the eastern side of the south
+transept, but this had to make way for an addition of two chapels, which
+we may assign, from the character of their architecture, to the latter
+end of the thirteenth century. The northern chapel is lighted by a
+three-light window with three foliated circles in the head, which is
+rather sharp pointed, and the southern one by a two-light window with
+one foliated arch. These are beautiful examples of plate tracery. Above
+these chapels is a small chamber lighted by a window of similar
+character. This is supposed to have been the tracing room, where the
+various architectural designs for the building were drawn.
+
+To the east of the transept may be seen the #Choir# and #Presbytery#,
+with its four clerestory windows; the #Choir Aisle#, also with four
+windows; the #Lady Chapel#, with the octagonal turret-staircase leading
+into Saint Michael's Loft above it. It will be noticed that there is no
+window in the aisle under the western clerestory window of the choir,
+as the space where this would have been found is occupied by the two
+chapels to the east of the transept, and also that the aisle extends
+beyond the choir and flanks the western part of the Lady Chapel. The
+whole of this part of the church is of Perpendicular character. The
+windows of the choir aisles are low, the arches are depressed, and the
+curvature of each side of the arch is so slight that they appear almost
+straight lines. The body of these windows contains four lights; in the
+head, each of these is subdivided into two. Between the aisle windows
+are buttresses, which, with the exception of the one opposite the east
+wall of the choir, which terminates in a gable, have pinnacled cappings;
+and from each of these, save the gabled one, a flying buttress is
+carried over the roof of the aisle and rests against the choir wall.
+The aisle roof is flat, and at the top of the outer wall runs a plain
+parapet pierced with quatrefoil openings. The clerestory windows are of
+great size and are set close together. The choir roof is flat and is
+quite invisible from the exterior. There can be little doubt that a
+parapet at one time ran along the tops of the clerestory walls, but
+this has disappeared. The Lady Chapel has on either side three large
+Perpendicular windows; the arches of these as well as those of the
+clerestory have pointed heads. The western half of the central window
+of the Lady Chapel is blocked up by the later-built octagonal turret
+containing the staircase to Saint Michael's Loft. The staircase
+commences in an octagonal turret at the north-east corner of the choir
+aisle,--this rises above the aisle roof,--the stairs are then carried
+above the east wall of the choir aisle and then into the octagonal
+turret, which runs up the wall of the Lady Chapel and the loft above,
+and rises to some height above the parapet. There is a similar staircase
+on the south side, but the turret does not rise quite so high above the
+roof. There are five square-headed two-light windows on either side of
+St Michael's Loft, the lights being divided by transoms, the upper parts
+foliated. At the east end is a three-light window without any transom,
+with an obtuse arch under a dripstone. The loft has a parapet all round
+it pierced with quatrefoil openings. Some of this parapet, at any rate,
+is modern, as, in a photograph of the north side taken in 1884, the
+parapet is only shown to the east of the turret. As restoration work
+is constantly going on at the church, the money paid by visitors for
+viewing the interior (sixpence a head, which produces over L500 a year)
+being devoted to this object, the parapet will doubtless in course of
+time be extended along the walls of the choir, and will certainly add to
+the beauty of the church; and as nothing will be destroyed to make room
+for it, such an addition will not be open to the same objection as much
+of the work done by restoration committees.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORTH TRANSEPT.]
+
+The buttresses at the east angles of the Lady Chapel are set diagonally,
+and rise in five stages; the upper stage of each is square, in section,
+with the faces parallel to the walls of the church, and reaches a higher
+level than the parapet, and is finished with a flat cap. The large east
+window is a Perpendicular one of five lights. From the base of the
+south-east buttress runs a wall dividing the burying-ground from the
+gardens of the house, to the south of the church, which stands on the
+site of the domestic buildings of the priory. The portion of the wall of
+the Lady Chapel beneath the eastern-most window on the north side is
+modern. Here Mr Ferrey, the architect, by whom much of the restoration
+was carried out, discovered traces of an external chantry and the marks
+of an arcading corresponding to that still remaining on the inside.
+
+[Illustration: THE SOUTH AISLE OF NAVE.]
+
+The object of the chamber above the Lady Chapel is uncertain,--in
+1617 it is described as "St Michael's Loft," in 1666 the parishioners
+described it as "heretofore a chapter-house," when petitioning the
+bishop to allow it to be used as a school. But if it was ever used as
+a chapter-house, it could only have been for a short time, as there is
+evidence that there was a chapter-house to the south side of the choir
+in the twelfth century, and that this remained as late as 1498. The
+south side of the Lady Chapel and choir correspond very closely with the
+north side, but there are several differences to be noticed between the
+south and north transepts. On the eastern side of the #South Transept#
+the Norman apsidal chapel still remains. This has a semi-conical roof
+with chevron table moulding under it, and two windows--one of original
+Norman work, the other a three-light Early English window. A sacristy
+of Early English date stands to the east of the apsidal chapel, and
+occupies the space between the apse and the south choir wall. At the
+south-east corner of the transept there is a circular stair turret
+corresponding to some extent with the turret at the north-east angle
+of the north transept; this, in the second stage, becomes octagonal in
+section, and rises above the parapet of the transept. In the south face
+is a depressed segmental window, much smaller than the corresponding
+window on the north side, under a gabled parapet. The pitch of the roof
+of the south transept is much higher than that of the north transept,
+and the upper part of the transept does not abut against the walls of
+the church. Two tiers of corbel brackets on the south wall, and traces
+of two Norman windows seem to indicate that here, as elsewhere, a slype,
+with a room above it, intervened between the south end of the transept
+and the chapter-house. This slype was generally a passage connecting the
+cloister garth with the smaller garth to the south of the choir which
+was often used as a burying-place for the abbots or priors, as the case
+may be, and was the place where the monks or canons interviewed visitors
+and chapmen. The room above was often used as the library. The south of
+the #Nave# is decidedly inferior in interest to the north. The cloisters
+have entirely disappeared, but a series of round-headed arches, formed
+of stucco, may conceal a stone arcading similar to that hidden by the
+Early English facing of the north wall. The small round-headed windows
+giving light to the triforium are more regularly arranged than on the
+north side; there is one, and only one, in each division between the
+buttresses. There were, as usual, two doors in this wall: one for the
+canons, in the wall opposite to the west of the cloister, one close to
+the transept for the prior; both are now blocked up. The prior's door,
+in the injunction of Langton, 1498, is directed to be kept locked, save
+when on festivals a procession passed through it. This doorway is of
+early thirteenth-century work; it is round-headed, and is French in
+character. There is a legend that a party of French monks, terrified
+by a dragon which rose out of the sea, possibly an ancestor of the
+sea-serpent of more modern days, put in to Christchurch haven, and were
+entertained by the canons, with whom they abode for many years; possibly
+this door may be of their workmanship or design. In the south wall a
+large aumbry or cupboard, in the thickness of the walls, may be seen;
+in this possibly the canons kept the books that they had brought from
+the library for study. What the windows in this aisle were we cannot
+say--originally, no doubt, Norman, for the westernmost window is still
+of this style; but the others, which were widened either in Early
+English or Decorated times, are now all filled with nineteenth-century
+tracery of Decorated type. The buttresses between the windows, unlike
+those on the north side, are flat Norman ones. Towards the west end of
+the aisle a passage has in modern times been cut through the wall, and
+when this was done remains of a staircase which, no doubt, led to the
+dormitory, were discovered. The clerestory, on this side, is of the same
+plain character as on the north side.
+
+In a line with the south wall, but some little distance to the west,
+still stands a house which was once the porter's lodge, close to the
+site of the gatehouse. The porter's lodge was built by Prior Draper
+II. in the sixteenth century. The remains of the domestic buildings are
+very scanty--some old walls near the modern mill, occupying, no doubt,
+the site of the mill where the canons' corn was ground; some vestiges
+of the fish ponds; some few traces of walls and foundations, are all
+that have come down to modern days. From the similarity of arrangement
+in the buildings of religious houses, however, we can, with great
+certainty, assign the sites for the various parts--the dormitory over
+the cellarage, to the west of the cloister garth; the refectory to south
+of it; the calefactory, chapter-house, slype, to the east; and the
+prior's lodgings to the south of the choir, forming the lesser garth;
+the barns, bakery, and brew-house to the south-west of the church,
+near the porter's lodge and gatehouse. The prior had a country house
+at Heron Court, a grange at Somerford, and another at St Austin's, near
+Lymington. It must be understood that the choir was the church of the
+canons, and, as was common in churches served by Augustinian canons, the
+nave was used for the services which the laity of the district attended.
+
+It is noteworthy that whether owing to the purity of the air, so
+different from that which exists in the large cities where so many of
+the cathedral churches stand, or from the goodness of the stone, most of
+the Priory Church is in most excellent preservation. Carving which, we
+are assured, has never been retouched with a chisel since it was first
+cut, remains as sharp and clearly cut as though it were the work of
+the nineteenth century; possibly some of its excellence is due to the
+preservative effect of the whitewash with which it was once covered, and
+which has been cleaned off with water and a stiff bristled brush.
+
+The stone of which the north side of the nave is built came from
+Binstead; the limestone columns from Henden Hill; the Norman round
+turret and the choir is built of Portland stone; while Purbeck marble
+shafts are used in the north porch, and of the fine white stone from
+Caen in Normandy, the Salisbury and Draper chantries in the interior
+are constructed. These, though now about four hundred years old, are
+absolutely sharp in all the carving. There is a tombstone to the north
+of the porch which bears a curious inscription as follows:--"We were
+not slayne but raysd, raysd not to life but to be byried twice by men
+of strife. What rest could the living have when dead had none agree
+amongst you heere we ten are one. Hen. Rogers died Aprill 17 1641."
+This inscription has been variously explained. It is said by some that
+Cromwell, afterwards Protector, was at Christchurch, and dug up some
+lead coffins to make bullets for his soldiers, and flung the bodies out
+of ten such coffins into one grave; but this is manifestly incorrect.
+Oliver Cromwell was never at Christchurch, though Thomas Cromwell
+probably was, and here, as elsewhere, the two have been confounded.
+In many cases poor Oliver has had to bear the blame for destruction
+caused to churches by his less well-known namesake, the great destroyer
+of religious houses in the days of the eighth Henry. But neither of
+them had anything to do with this tomb, nor were the Parliamentary
+forces guilty of tampering with the coffins of the dead in the parish
+burying-ground at Christchurch. The very date precludes the idea, for
+the civil war did not begin till more than fifteen months after the
+date carved on this stone; and we may give the Roundheads credit for
+more sense than to be digging up coffins to make their bullets with,
+when there was abundance of lead to be had for the stripping on the roof
+of the Priory Church. A far more probable explanation is that which
+states that the ten bodies here interred were those of ten shipwrecked
+sailors, who were first buried on the cliffs near the spot where they
+were washed ashore; but the lord of the manor, when he heard thereof,
+waxed exceeding wroth, and a strife ensued between him and one Henry
+Rogers, Mayor of Christchurch, the former insisting on their removal to
+consecrated ground, the latter objecting to the removal, probably on the
+ground of expense; but in the end the lord of the manor had his way. But
+the mayor, to save the cost of ten separate graves, had them all buried
+in one, and placed this inscription over their remains as a protest
+against the conduct of the lord of the manor in moving their remains
+from their first resting-place.
+
+The graveyard at the present time is neatly kept and well cared
+for. The headstones have not, as they have been in many other
+places, tampered with; and though many of the alterations made in the
+restoration will not gain the approval of archaeologists, yet some have
+been judiciously done, and some that are in contemplation will certainly
+have the result of rendering once more visible beautiful mediaeval work,
+long concealed by ugly modern additions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE INTERIOR
+
+
+A rapid walk round the interior of the Priory Church shows that it
+practically consists of three main portions, almost entirely divided
+from each other--the #Nave#, the #Choir#, and the #Lady Chapel#. The
+solid rood screen, pierced by one narrow doorway, forms an effectual
+division between the nave and choir, while the stone reredos and the
+wall above it, running right up to the vaulting, entirely separates the
+latter from the Lady Chapel. In mediaeval times the choir was reserved
+for the use of the canons; the nave was the parish church with its own
+high altar; the rood loft was an excellent point of vantage from which
+a preacher could address a large congregation. In those times pews had
+not been introduced; open benches may have existed. At present the nave
+is occupied by pews; these with their cast-iron poppies were erected in
+1840, and were then higher than at present. Still, even in their present
+form, they hide the bases of the pillars, and might with much advantage
+be swept away, and their places taken by open benches or movable chairs.
+The pews in the transepts are of older date; these, together with
+the galleries above them--that in the south transept supporting the
+organ--are a sad disfigurement to the church, and it is to be hoped that
+they will be soon removed; they hide some splendid Norman work. The case
+of the north gallery is worse than the south, as a staircase leading to
+it disfigures the beautiful Early English chapel attached to the east
+side of the transept. This gallery, however, contains some faculty pews.
+All the owners of these, save one, consented to its removal; but one
+stood out against it, and, having the legal right to prevent any
+alteration, has up to the present time kept the gallery intact. But as
+he has recently died there can be little doubt that no long time will
+now elapse before this disfigurement to the church will be a thing of
+the past. There seems little need for the gallery, as there is ample
+accommodation on the floor of the church for any congregation that is
+likely to assemble within the walls. Many alterations, some of which are
+certainly improvements, have already been made. In an engraving, dated
+1834, the organ is represented standing on the rood screen, probably the
+best place for it; and the four eastern bays of the nave are seen to be
+partitioned off by a wooden screen with a rod for curtains. On a level
+with the capitals of the pillars, to the west of this partition, stands
+the font. At this time also the triforium was boarded off in order to
+shut out draughts and cold; but this boarding has happily been swept
+away, the partition across the nave has been removed, and an oaken
+screen with glazed panels runs across the church, cutting off the
+western bay from the remainder of the nave. The font, a modern one,
+now stands under the tower; a modern pulpit on the south side, under the
+crossing, where also desks for the clergy and choir have been placed. It
+is now the custom on Sunday mornings to read the whole of the service up
+to the end of the Nicene Creed, in the nave; after the sermon is over,
+the communicants alone enter the choir to receive the sacrament. The
+choir is also used for week-day services. The Lady Chapel is not used.
+The nave is Early Norman work, and was chiefly built during the reign
+of William II.; the clerestory, however, was added at the beginning of
+the thirteenth century by Peter, who was prior from 1195 to 1225. The
+original nave was probably covered by a flat wooden ceiling, the Early
+Norman builders rarely venturing to span any wide space by a stone
+vaulting. The present vaulting is of stucco, and was added by Garbett
+in 1819. The roof was altered in Perpendicular times more than once, as
+indications of a higher pitched roof than the present one exists on the
+east face of the fifteenth-century tower. As springing stones for a
+vaulted roof exist, it is probable that a stone roof was at one time
+contemplated; but possibly the idea was abandoned on account of the fear
+that the walls, unsupported by any exterior flying buttress to resist
+the thrust, would not have borne the weight. It will be remembered that
+such buttresses are to be met with along the walls of the choir, which
+is covered with a stone vaulting. The nave consists of seven bays. The
+pillars of this arcading, unlike those of Flambard's nave at Durham,
+are not cylindrical, but consist of half columns set against piers
+rectangular in section. The capitals are of the early cushion shape;
+some of them seem to have been subsequently carved with ornamentation
+which bears some resemblance to classical forms. The wall spaces above
+the semicircular arches, and below the chevron string-course which runs
+beneath the triforium, are decorated with hatchet-work carving, as will
+be seen from the illustrations. The triforium on either side consists,
+in each bay, of two coupled arches supported by a central pillar,
+enclosed by a comprising arch with bold mouldings and double columns,
+separated by square members. The most beautiful bay is the easternmost,
+on the north side, where the wall surface above the smaller arches,
+and beneath the enclosing arch, is carved with a kind of scale-work.
+Possibly the opposite bay, on the south side, was as richly ornamented,
+but the lower arches and the central column no longer exist, as they
+were cut away to make room for a faculty pew in 1820. These two bays
+were included within the original Norman choir. The central shaft, on
+the north side, is twisted. Two of the central shafts, on the south
+side, are richly ornamented--one with twisted decoration, the other with
+a projecting reticulated pattern. The shaft and sub-arches of the second
+bay from the east on this side is a modern renewal, as here also the old
+work was destroyed in 1820 to make room for a pew. The north triforium
+can be reached by a staircase continued up into the tower, entered from
+the western part of the aisle; access to the south triforium can only be
+gained by the use of a ladder. The north triforium deserves examination.
+It will be found that pointed arches have been added at the back, and
+buttresses have been built against the back of the wall behind the
+arches; the floor is rendered uneven by humps necessitated by the Early
+English vaulting of the aisle below--probably the aisles were originally
+covered with a barrel roof. At the east end of the north triforium an
+arch may be seen, which once opened out into the transept; this is now
+walled up, and traces of painting may still be seen on it. There is
+a passage under the clerestory, to which access may be obtained by a
+passage across the transept; this was, no doubt, made in order that
+the shutters of the windows might be opened or closed, according to the
+state of the weather. From the staircase which leads up to the north
+triforium a passage leads into the chamber over the north porch. This is
+a large room, about 40 feet in length from north to south, and is now
+used as a practising room for the choir; it is fitted with benches and
+a grand piano, and has a modern wooden gallery running along its south
+end.
+
+[Illustration: THE NAVE IN 1834.]
+
+[Illustration: THE NAVE.]
+
+[Illustration: NORTH ARCADE OF NAVE.]
+
+[Illustration: FROM THE NORTH TRIFORIUM.]
+
+[Illustration: BAY OF THE TRIFORIUM, SOUTH SIDE.]
+
+The #South Aisle# is much more elaborately decorated than the north.
+Along the south wall runs a fine Norman arcade, the arches ornamented
+with billet and cable moulding. The window in the western bay is the
+original Norman one; the others were altered either in Early English or
+Decorated times, and are now filled with modern tracery in the Decorated
+style designed by Mr Ferrey. In the third bay is a holy water stoop, and
+in the fifth a large aumbry or recess, entered by a door; in this used
+to be kept the bier and lights used at funerals. Along the walls of each
+aisle runs a stone bench. There is no arcading on the wall of the north
+aisle. The vaulting of both aisles is Early English, dating from the
+time of Peter, the third prior, who, as previously stated, built the
+clerestory. The tracery of the north aisle windows is transitional in
+character between Early English and Decorated.
+
+[Illustration: THE SOUTH AISLE OF NAVE.]
+
+[Illustration: THE MONTACUTE CHANTRY.]
+
+The #Transepts# are much encumbered by modern pews and galleries,
+and it is only by careful examination that much of the beautiful work
+that they contain can be seen. The arch opening from the south aisle
+into the transept is Early English, and the skilful junction of Early
+English and Norman work at this point is deserving of attention.
+This transept was at one time covered by a stone vaulting, which was
+destroyed at the latter end of the eighteenth century and in the
+beginning of the nineteenth. Some of the bosses taken from this may be
+seen, piled up with the old font and other fragments, at the west end of
+the north choir aisle. The west wall of the transept contains a Norman
+window. A doorway into the slype remains in the wall, and communicates
+with a wall passage. At the eastern side of the transept an arch opens
+out into an apsidal chapel, but pews block up the entrance. This chapel
+has been so completely restored that it has a thoroughly neat and modern
+appearance, and has lost all its archaeological value; round it runs a
+Norman arcade, and on the north side an aumbry may be seen. The north
+transept retains its Norman arcading, which, fortunately, has not been
+touched by the restorer's hand; how long it may escape is doubtful,
+as it is much mutilated. Still, as it is simply decorative, and not
+necessary for the stability of the wall, it would be well to leave it
+untouched, as genuine old work, even though it may have suffered at the
+hand of time or of former generations, is, from a decorative point of
+view, infinitely preferable to any modern reproduction. There are
+two small windows in the west wall to light the wall passage to the
+clerestory, which is reached by a gallery running across the base of
+the north window. In the north wall, behind the back of the pews, is a
+thirteenth-century recess. From this transept access is gained to the
+circular staircase leading downward to the crypt and upward to the small
+chamber above the eastern chapels. This is popularly known as Oliver
+Cromwell's harness room, and marks are shown on the wall supposed to
+have been holes for the insertion of pegs whereon he hung his harness;
+but as the Protector never came to Christchurch, all this is purely
+mythical. On one of the walls Mr Ferrey, the architect, found a design
+for a window; this he copied, and used when designing the tracery of the
+window he inserted over the prior's door at the east end of the south
+aisle of the nave. This tracing chamber is lighted by a two-light window
+with a quatrefoil in the head in the eastern wall. The two chapels below
+are beautiful examples of transition work from the Early English to the
+Decorated style; they were built by the De Redvers, Earls of Devon, the
+last of whom died in 1263. The eagles of the Montacute and Monthermer
+families appear in this chantry. There are two windows in the eastern
+wall. The larger, on the north, consists of three lights, with three
+circles in the head; the foliation of these outside the glass forms
+cinquefoil openings; the smaller window is of a similar character, but
+consists of two lights only, with a single foliated arch above them. An
+archway, widely splayed, on the western side, opens into the transept,
+and another archway opens into the choir aisle; this has a panelled
+pier, standing a little apart from the eastern side, designed to support
+the arch, which probably was found to be giving way. The shafts along
+the eastern wall, the capitals of one of which is carved with a number
+of heads said to represent the twelve apostles, should be noticed; the
+vaulting ribs are also interesting, especially the joggled ribs seen
+over the window. A stone altar stood in one of these chantries until
+1780. These chapels are sadly disfigured by a mean staircase which leads
+into the transept gallery; it is devoutly to be hoped that before long
+this may be removed, and the exquisite beauty of the chapels seen
+without any inharmonious and irritating feature such as this staircase
+undoubtedly is. Below the transept is an Early Norman crypt; it is
+thought by some, from the rudeness of the work, that it may be of
+earlier date than the existing church, and that it belonged to the
+original church which Flambard destroyed to make room for his more
+splendid edifice. In it were discovered a number of human bones, which
+were reinterred in the churchyard. It has a plain barrel roof, divided
+by broad flat arches rising from pilasters.
+
+[Illustration: THE NORTH AISLE OF NAVE.]
+
+It has often been debated whether or not the church ever possessed a
+central tower. There is no documentary evidence bearing on the question.
+It may be said that if a tower existed and fell, or was pulled down for
+any reason, some record would have remained; but the records connected
+with the building are fragmentary, and it by no means follows that the
+absence of record proves the non-existence of such a tower. In the case
+of Wimborne Minster the churchwarden's accounts contain no record of the
+building or of the fall of the spire, yet we know from outside testimony
+that such a spire did fall in 1600, and that a representation of it
+occurs on a seal. So here at Christchurch a seal is in existence on
+which the church is represented with a central tower of two storeys, the
+lower plain, the upper lighted by two round-headed windows and capped by
+a low pyramidal spire or roof with a tall cross on the summit. This is
+exactly what one would expect to find: a central tower is almost always
+found in Norman churches, especially collegiate churches; and the
+pyramidal roof was almost certainly the usual form in which these early
+towers were finished. The battlemented parapets which we so often meet
+with in Norman towers are in all cases more recent additions. Moreover,
+the massive arches and piers at the corners indicate that a tower was
+contemplated, even if it were never built. In the east gable of the nave
+as it at present exists, two round-headed windows may be seen. It is
+highly probable that this gable once formed part of the east wall of the
+tower, and when the tower was removed this wall was converted into a
+gable. Everything to the east of the crossing being of late fourteenth
+or early fifteenth century date, indicates that extensive alterations
+were made at that time; and if a tower and spire had previously existed,
+it must have been removed before this date. In the centre of the carving
+over the doorway leading into the Draper chantry, dated 1529, there is a
+representation of a church with a central tower and spire. Of course, no
+such steeple existed at the time this chantry was built, but it may have
+been a copy of some then existing representation of the building as it
+had appeared in former times. There are also two other carvings of
+angels carrying a model of a church with a central tower--one near the
+Salisbury chantry, one on the choir roof.
+
+[Illustration: THE CRYPT.]
+
+The nave is divided from the choir by a splendid rood screen 16 feet 6
+inches high, 33 feet long, and 9 feet thick. The western face of this
+projects beyond the line joining the east walls of the two transepts;
+its eastern face rests against the eastern piers intended to support the
+central tower. It was extensively restored by Mr Ferrey in 1848, who
+considered that it may have been removed from some conventual church
+after the dissolution of the monasteries in the time of Henry VIII. and
+re-erected here. But there does not seem to be any real grounds for
+supposing that it was not expressly built for this church. Its character
+indicates a date somewhat late in the fourteenth century. In the centre
+is a narrow doorway and a passage into the choir; from the north side
+of this passage a flight of steps leads to the top of the loft. The
+base of the screen is plain; above this is a row of thirteen panelled
+quatrefoils on each side of the doorway--each containing a plain shield,
+over these a string course, then two rows of canopied niches, the upper
+row consisting of twelve, the lower, owing to the doorway occupying the
+central space, of only ten. The lower niches have pedestals, each formed
+of four short columns with detached bases but with large capitals, which
+meet one another above; these capitals are richly carved with foliage.
+No doubt, on the level space thus formed statues at one time stood.
+Woodwork screens with glazed doors and panels, made from an oak screen
+which formerly was placed across the south transept, run across the
+western ends of the choir aisles, so that when the doors of these and of
+the rood screen are locked, the eastern arm of the cross is entirely
+shut off from the rest of the church.
+
+[Illustration: THE ROOD SCREEN.]
+
+[Illustration: STALL SEAT. South Side.]
+
+[Illustration: STALL SEAT. North Side.]
+
+[Illustration: STALL SEAT. North Side.]
+
+The #Choir# is entirely Perpendicular in character, and it seems to
+have been begun in the time of Henry VI. but not to have been completed
+until the time of Henry VII., and some of the carving of the stalls
+is of still later date. Leland says of it, "Baldwin, Earl of Devon,
+was the first founder, and his successors to the time of Isabella de
+Fortibus,[5] and at present the Earls of Salisbury are regarded as
+founders." Four large clerestory windows on either side light the choir.
+The wall beneath these is continued downwards to the floor, but under
+each window a low obtusely-pointed depressed archway is cut leading
+into the aisles. Between the bottom of each clerestory window and the
+heads of these arches the wall is panelled as with window mullions
+and tracery, so that the appearance from the inner side may be best
+understood by imagining that each window extended from floor to roof,
+but that the upper part alone is glazed, the lower cut away for the arch
+leading into the aisle, and the lower lights beneath the transom blocked
+up with masonry. These lower arches are more or less blocked up.
+The Salisbury chapel blocks up the north-eastern one completely; the
+sedilia, no doubt, occupied the opposite one, where now a modern altar
+tomb may be seen. The next on each side to the west is open, and flights
+of steps under them lead down to the aisles; the woodwork at the back
+of the choir stalls close the remaining two on the inside, and on the
+outside chantry chapels, opening one into the north one into the south
+aisle, stand under the second arch on each side counting from the rood
+screen. The upper stalls number in all thirty-six, fifteen on either
+side, and six with their backs to the rood screen. There is, also,
+a lower range of stalls on the north and south. The prior's and
+sub-prior's stalls on either side the doorway in the screen looking
+east are canopied, as also is the precentor's at the east end of the
+south side. The arms of the stalls are quaintly carved with various
+grotesque figures, as are also the misereres; the upper parts of the
+panels behind the upper stalls are also carved in low relief; above
+these is a projecting cornice decorated with pinnacles. The stalls are
+late Perpendicular work, the wainscoting behind the stalls being later
+still, as we can see from the subjects carved on the upper part of each
+panel. Some of the misereres are, however, very old--one dates back to
+about 1200, another to 1300, others are of later date, and most of them
+belong to the same period as the stalls. The older ones were found lying
+about in the lumber of the church, and have been placed in recent years
+in some of the stalls the seats of which had been lost or stolen.
+The older seats may have belonged to the original Norman choir. As the
+term "miserere" may not be understood by all our readers, it may be
+well to quote from Parker's "Glossary of Architecture" the following
+description:--"Miserere, Misericorde, Patience, or Pretella, is the
+projecting bracket on the under-side of the seats of stalls in churches:
+these, where perfect, are fixed with hinges so that they may be turned
+up, and when this is done the projection of the miserere is sufficient,
+without actually forming a seat, to afford very considerable rest to any
+one leaning upon it. They were allowed as a relief to the infirm during
+the long services that were required to be performed by ecclesiastics
+in a standing posture. They are always more or less ornamented with
+carvings of leaves, small figures, animals, etc., which are generally
+very boldly cut. Examples are to be found in almost all ancient churches
+which retain any of the ancient stalls--one of the oldest remaining
+specimens is in Henry VII.'s Chapel at Westminster; it is in the style
+of the thirteenth century." When Parker wrote the last sentence the
+still older miserere now to be seen at Christchurch had not been
+discovered.
+
+    [5] She lived in the latter half of the thirteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: CHOIR STALLS.]
+
+[Illustration: MISERERE ON STALL SEAT. (_Circa_ 1300.) NORTH SIDE.]
+
+It is curious to notice the absence of reverence on the part of the
+mediaeval canons, according to our modern notions, that these quaint
+carvings indicate. One might have expected that inside the church the
+subjects would have always been of a sacred nature, rude perhaps, and
+grotesque from their rudeness. Such carvings are found in many places,
+but here at Christchurch we have satirical subjects, caricatures of
+contemporaries, some indeed of so objectionable a character that they
+have been removed of late years. A few examples of these carvings will
+be given. On the arm of one of the stalls a fox is represented preaching
+to a flock of geese, a cock acting as clerk. On one of the misereres we
+have a pair of devils somewhat resembling monkeys tempting an angel, a
+goose bringing an offering on a plate to a quaint figure, a man with
+a hatchet employed in carving, a man with a hole in the back of his
+garments fastened with a pin, besides various animals, fishes, mermaids,
+and monsters. On the wainscoting we have the heads of Henry VII., Henry
+VIII., Catharine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Cardinal Campeggio, the King of
+Scots, and the Duchess of Burgundy, who assisted Perkin Warbeck in his
+attempt to gain the crown of England, and two canons disputing over a
+cup, which is placed between their faces. This last carving probably has
+some reference to the granting of the cup to the laity in time of Henry
+VIII.
+
+[Illustration: THE CHOIR.]
+
+The vaulting of the choir is of a somewhat unusual character: the
+pendants are especially worthy of notice. It is difficult to describe
+the manner in which they are placed, but the illustration shows their
+character and position. The short connecting ribs of the vaulting form
+a stellated cross over the presbytery. Some colour may still be seen on
+the carved work of this portion of the church, and the initials of
+William Eyre, prior 1502-1520, appear on the bosses.
+
+[Illustration: THE REREDOS.]
+
+The east wall of the presbytery contains no window, but is occupied by
+a beautiful stone reredos carved with a representation of the tree of
+Jesse. It is divided into three tiers with five compartments in each,
+the central one wider than the two on either side; the space above it
+and beneath the vaulting is occupied by a wall, in which a doorway now
+blocked up may be seen. The outer compartments of the lowest tier
+contain doors leading to a platform behind the reredos; between them
+stands an oak altar, the gift of A. N. Welby Pugin in 1831. Above the
+altar in the central compartment Jesse lies asleep, on the left hand
+David plays upon his harp, on the right sits Solomon deeply meditating.
+Above Jesse we have in one carving an amalgamated representation of the
+birth of Christ and the visit of the Wise Men. On the left hand sits the
+Virgin Mary with her Child, fully clothed in a long garment, not wrapped
+in swaddling clothes, standing in her lap; behind her stands a man,
+probably Joseph; and before her kneels one of the Wise Men offering
+his gift of gold in the form of a plain tankard; on the right behind
+him stand his two fellows, one carrying a pot of myrrh, the other
+a boat-shaped vessel, probably intended for a censer containing
+frankincense. On a bracket above the head of the kneeling Wise Man,
+the shepherds kneel in adoration; nor are the flocks that they were
+tending forgotten, for several sheep may be seen on a hill-top above
+their heads. Thirty-two small figures may be counted in niches in the
+buttresses dividing the compartments; crockets, finials, and pinnacles
+decorate the various canopies over the carvings. This reredos is
+apparently of late Decorated date, and therefore earlier than the
+fifteenth-century choir. Possibly it was an addition to the Norman choir
+before this was removed to make room for the existing one. Mr Ferrey
+was of opinion that it may have once stood across the nave between the
+second piers from the east, thus forming a reredos for the western part
+of the nave, which was used as the church of the parish. Below the
+presbytery is a Norman crypt, now converted into a vault for the
+Malmesbury family. It has already been mentioned that there are doors
+on either side of the altar, leading to a kind of gallery or platform
+behind the reredos; these were designed to allow certain ceremonial
+compassings of the altar, and it is possible that steps led down from
+the platform to the ambulatory. On the east side of these doorways
+there are corbel heads under the arches, and the walls of the platform
+are panelled. Within the altar rails is a slab bearing the name of
+Baldwin IV., the seventh Earl of Devon. On the south side is the
+monument of Lady Fitzharris, who died in 1815; it is a statue by Flaxman
+representing the Lady teaching her two sons from the Bible. Farther to
+the east is the altar tomb of the Countess of Malmesbury, who died in
+1877, occupying the place of the sedilia; and on the north the exquisite
+chantry of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, the last bearer of the royal
+name of Plantagenet, whose tragic fate and horrible execution is one
+of the foulest stains on the memory of Henry VIII. She was the daughter
+of "false, fleeting, perjured Clarence" and of the kingmaker's eldest
+daughter Isabella, and was mother of the celebrated Reginald Pole who,
+being ordained deacon at the age of sixteen, was appointed Dean of
+Wimborne a year later, and rose in time to the high rank of
+Cardinal-Archbishop of Canterbury, and played an important part in
+history in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Mary. She erected this lovely
+chantry as her last resting-place, wishing to lie after her troublous
+life in this quiet spot, but it was not so to be. Her son, by the
+publication on the Continent of a violent attack on Henry VIII.,
+incensed the king to such an extent that he laid his hands on all the
+kindred of the Poles he could find in England; some were tried and
+executed, others attainted without trial, among them the Countess of
+Salisbury, who was at the time over seventy years of age. She refused to
+lay her head upon the block, and the headsman hacked at her neck as she
+stood erect; her body was not allowed to be buried in the chantry which
+she had erected for herself,--so far did the spite of Henry go,--but she
+lies among the ambitious and unfortunate, the aspiring, and unsuccessful
+of many a sect and party in the cemetery of St Peter's Chapel in the
+Tower. Hers was an ill-starred race. Her grandfather was slain at
+Barnet, 1471; her father murdered by his brother Edward IV., 1478; her
+own brother, the Earl of Warwick, imprisoned by Henry VII., and
+subsequently beheaded on Tower Hill, 1499; her eldest son, Lord Montagu,
+was executed for high treason; and Margaret herself met a like fate on
+May 27, 1541.
+
+[Illustration: THE SALISBURY CHANTRY.]
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE SALISBURY CHANTRY.]
+
+Her chantry is built of Caen stone, and the decoration is of Renaissance
+character. It is conjectured to be the work of the Florentine sculptor
+Pietro Torrigiano, who died in the prison of the Inquisition in Spain in
+1522. He was engaged on Henry VII.'s tomb in Westminster, and other
+works ordered by Henry VIII. at Westminster and Windsor, from 1509 till
+1517; and if this chantry at Christchurch is his design the date must
+lie between these two years. Two four-light windows with battlemented
+transoms look out on either side; to the west of these two doorways
+lead, one to the presbytery the other to the north aisle; on the east
+wall are three canopied niches, beneath which an altar stood or was
+intended to stand; the ceiling is richly carved with fan traceries and
+bosses; the latter have been mutilated--by order, it is said, of Henry
+VIII. A letter from the King's Commissioner thus describes the work
+done:--"In thys churche we founde a chaple and a monumet curiosly made
+of cane stone p^rpared by the late mother of Raynolde Pole for herre
+buriall, which we have causyd to be defaced and all the Armis and Badgis
+to be delete." On the north side are twelve tabernacles. This chapel
+stands on a richly carved panelled basement, and all the walls are
+covered with minute carving; but here, as elsewhere, in late work we
+find the same forms repeated again and again, and we miss that wealth
+of fancy which gives each boss or capital carved by the earlier workers
+such a life and individuality. The side of this chapel that faces the
+north aisle is more elaborate than that facing the choir, and is
+necessarily more lofty, as its base rests on the floor of the aisle,
+which is lower than the floor of the presbytery. On the west face is
+one of several memorial tablets to members of the Rose family, who are
+buried in this aisle.
+
+In the north choir aisle, at the western end, may be seen a kind of
+small museum of fragments from various parts of the church, collected at
+the time of the restoration, among them some bosses from the vaulting of
+the south transept, destroyed about a hundred years ago, and fragments
+of a Norman font. The vaulting of this and the corresponding aisle on
+the south side is of the same character as that of the choir, but is
+somewhat plainer, and is not decorated with crosses or pendants.
+On the south side of this aisle is a late Perpendicular chantry, built
+in accordance with the will of Sir William Berkeley, dated 1486, to
+commemorate himself and his wife. Part of the inscription ... ARMIGERI
+MARGARETE QUE CONSOR ... can still be read on the frieze; on its flat
+ceiling are painted two large roses, one white, one red; it contains two
+brackets for cruets; over the entrance to it is placed an oval memorial
+tablet to one John Cook, who died in 1787. Eastward of this is the
+Salisbury chapel already described. On the north wall of the aisle is a
+monument, consisting of an altar-tomb with a front of carved quatrefoils
+and a purbeck slab, dating about 1550. The canopy over it is later, and
+the coat of arms beneath it is that of Robert White of Hadlow, Kent, who
+is commemorated on a board at the west end of the church as a benefactor
+who left L100 in land for the poor in 1619, thus fixing the date of this
+portion of the tomb. The scroll beneath the arms has the initials R. W.,
+and the motto "Suffer in Tym." A chantry is formed at the eastern end of
+the aisle by the western end of the north wall of the Lady Chapel. It
+contains an altar tomb with the recumbent figures of Sir John Chidioke,
+a Dorset knight, slain in 1449 in the Wars of the Roses, and his wife.
+This monument has occupied its present position only from 1791,--it
+previously stood in the north transept.
+
+[Illustration: THE DRAPER CHANTRY.]
+
+The east end of the south choir aisle is occupied by the chantry chapel
+of John Draper II., the last of the priors and titular bishop of
+Neapolis in Palestine, near the ancient Shechem in Samaria; it is dated
+1529, and is formed by a screen of Caen stone stretching across the
+aisle. There is a central doorway with a depressed arch at the top, and
+canopied niches over it, and on either side are two transomed four-light
+unglazed windows under arches of the same character as that over the
+doorway; along the top of the screen runs a battlemented parapet. Within
+the chantry, on the south wall, is a very beautiful piscina, the finest
+in the church. Just outside the screen is a square-headed doorway.
+Along the south wall of this aisle, as along the north wall of the
+corresponding north aisle, a stone bench-table runs. On the north side
+the panelled wall on which the Countess of Malmesbury's altar tomb
+stands is decorated with carvings of angels; the largest of these holds
+a shield with a death's-head. Farther to the west, beyond the steps
+leading down from the choir, is a Perpendicular chantry, known as the
+Harys chantry; it has open tracery above cusped panels, canopied niches,
+and a panelled bench table. Robert Harys was rector of Shrowston, and
+died in 1525; his rebus, a hare under the letter R, may be seen on the
+panels. On the opposite side of the aisle is the doorway leading into
+what is known as the #sacristy#. This is a thirteenth-century addition
+to the church, and is of irregular shape, as it is wedged in, as it
+were, between the apsidal chapel on the east side of the transept and
+the south wall of the choir aisle. In the south wall are triple sedilia
+with Purbeck shafts and foliated heads; in the north wall is a square
+opening or squint.
+
+[Illustration: PISCINA IN THE DRAPER CHANTRY.]
+
+[Illustration: THE SACRISTY.]
+
+Behind the reredos is an ambulatory or processional path; from this may
+be seen, over the archway leading into the south aisle, the end of the
+"miraculous beam," lengthened, according to the legend, by Christ, when
+He appeared as a workman and took part in the building of the original
+church. How this came to be preserved, and how it came to occupy a
+position amidst the latest work in the church, is not recorded. The Lady
+Chapel is very beautiful Perpendicular work; it had its own altar and
+reredos under the east window. The reredos is much mutilated, but
+besides the part that is still attached to the wall, there are many
+loose fragments now set up on the altar. This is a slab of Purbeck
+stone, 11 ft. in length and 3 ft. 10 ins in breadth. On the north and
+south sides of the altar are the tombs of Thomas, Lord West, and Lady
+Alice West, his mother. These tombs are of Purbeck marble and of a form
+by no means uncommon in the churches of Wessex. The ten shafts
+supporting the canopy of the tomb on the north still remain; from the
+other tomb such shafts as it had have disappeared. Thomas, Lord West,
+died in 1406, his mother in 1395: these dates fix within reasonable
+limits the date of the building of the Lady Chapel. Thomas West, in his
+will, directs that his body should be buried in the "_New_ Chapel of Our
+Lady in the Mynster of Christchurch." It is noteworthy to remark that
+the original arcading is cut away to make room for this monument, so
+that the chapel had been finished before he died. Both Sir Thomas West
+and his mother were benefactors to the church. Besides other bequests of
+money towards the building fund and for perpetual masses, each of them
+gave about L18 for the singing of 4500 masses within six months of the
+day of their deaths. On the south side of the chapel is the original
+doorway leading into the canons' burial-ground; a corresponding door is
+to be seen on the north side. The splays of the arches of the windows
+are elaborately ornamented with panelling. The arcading under the
+window, a series of ogee arches, is worthy of notice. The tattered
+colours of the "Loyal Christchurch Volunteers," one of the earliest
+regiments of volunteers, which was enrolled in 1793, hang at the
+entrance to the Lady Chapel. The vaulting is of the same character as
+that of the choir, with curious pendants in the form of church lanterns.
+
+[Illustration: THE MIRACULOUS BEAM.]
+
+[Illustration: THE TOMB OF THOMAS, LORD WEST.]
+
+[Illustration: THE LADY CHAPEL.]
+
+[Illustration: ST MICHAEL'S LOFT.]
+
+#St Michael's Loft# is reached by long flights of steps running up the
+turrets described in the last chapter. It is a plain, low room with a
+low-pitched tie-beam roof of oak. It was once a chapel, as the piscina
+in the east wall clearly shows. The site of the altar is now occupied by
+a disused desk of the character familiar to us in our own school days
+some half-a-century ago; it is a sort of pew with doors, within which
+the master sat enthroned and ramparted. This room was used as a public
+grammar school from 1662 till 1828, and subsequently as a private
+school, which was finally closed in 1869. The boys went to this school
+and returned from it by the staircase on the north side which has an
+entrance from the churchyard; the stairs on the south side were used
+when anyone had occasion to go into the church or to go from it to the
+room above.
+
+An upper chamber or chapel is an uncommon feature in England. Remains of
+staircases give rise to the conjecture that there was a similar chapel
+over the Lady Chapel at Chester, and somewhat similar erections are to
+be met with on the Continent; but Christchurch Priory is unique in
+possessing such a perfect specimen. The dedication of the upper storey
+to St Michael, the conductor of souls to Paradise, is appropriate.
+Churches built in elevated positions were frequently dedicated to him,
+and few if any mediaeval churches dedicated to this archangel are to be
+met with on low-lying ground.
+
+Under the western tower stands a modern font. The fragments of a
+Norman font, with carvings representing various incidents in the
+life of Christ, may be seen, preserved in the north choir aisle. The
+fifteenth-century successor has been removed to Bransgore Church, four
+miles off.
+
+Against the north wall of the tower stands the monument of the poet
+Shelley, the work of the sculptor Weekes. Needless to say, it is but
+a cenotaph. The "heart of hearts," "Cor Cordium," and the ashes of the
+poet cremated on the Tuscan shore, lie far away, hard by the pyramid
+of Caius Cestius, in the grave where the loving hands of Trelawney laid
+them in 1823. Here we have an ideal representation of the finding of the
+drowned body--not a pleasing one, but less ghastly than the reality; and
+below the inscription which tells his name and the number of his years
+and the manner of his death, the following stanza from his own "Adonais"
+may be read:--
+
+   "He hath out-soared the shadow of our night:
+    Envy and calumny and hate and pain,
+    And that unrest which men miscall delight,
+    Can touch him not and torture not again;
+    From the contagion of the world's slow stain
+    He is secure, and now can never mourn
+    A heart grown cold, a head grown grey in vain,
+    Nor, when the spirit's self has ceased to burn
+    With sparkless ashes load an unlamented urn."
+
+The choice of Christchurch Priory as the site for this monument was due
+to the fact that the poet's son, Sir Percy Florence Shelley, who erected
+it, lived at Boscombe Manor, between Christchurch and Bournemouth.
+
+The tower contains a peal of eight bells. These are all old; the fifth
+and sixth bells have fourteenth-century inscriptions round their crowns,
+the others appear to have been cast early in the fifteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: THE SHELLEY MONUMENT.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+
+DEANS OF THE SECULAR COLLEGE
+
+   1. Ralf Flambard, afterwards Bishop of Durham.
+   2. Godric.
+   3. Gilbert de Dousgunels.
+   4. Peter de Oglander.
+   5. Randulphus.
+   6. Hilary, afterwards Bishop of Chichester.
+
+
+PRIORS OF THE AUGUSTINIAN COLLEGE
+
+   1. Reginald, 1150.
+   2. Ralph.
+   3. Peter, 1195. He built the clerestory and carried out other Early
+      English work.
+   4. Roger, 1225.
+   5. Richard.
+   6. Nicholas de Wareham.
+   7. Nicholas de Sturminster.
+   8. John de Abingdon, 1272.
+   9. William de Netheravon, 1278.
+  10. Richard Maury, 1286.
+  11. William Quenton, 1302.
+  12. Walter Tholveshide, 1317.
+  13. Edmund de Ramsbury, 1323. During his time Bishop Stratford's
+      Injunctions were issued, 1325. See page 129.
+  14. Richard de Queteshorne, 1337.
+  15. Robert de Leyghe, 1340.
+  16. William Tyrewache, 1345.
+  17. Henry Eyre, 1357. He became blind in 1367 and was allowed a
+      coadjutor.
+  18. John Wodenham, 1376.
+  19. John Borard, 1398. During his time Archbishop Arundel issued
+      Injunctions, 1404. See page 130.
+  20. Thomas Talbot, 1413.
+  21. John Wimborne, 1420.
+  22. William Norton.
+  23. John Dorchester.
+  24. John Draper I., 1477. Bishop Langton's Injunctions were issued
+      during his tenure of the priory.
+  25. William Eyre, 1502. During his time the choir was completed.
+  26. John Draper II. He surrendered the priory to Henry VIII.'s
+      commissioners, 1539, and was allowed to retain Somerford Grange
+      for life, and received a pension of L133, 6s. 8d. He died in
+      1552, and was buried in the nave near the entrance to the choir.
+
+
+VICARS OF CHRISTCHURCH
+
+By the council of Arles 1261, religious orders that held parish churches
+were bound to supply vicars to officiate. These were appointed by the
+canons, and were taken from their own body.
+
+The names of many of these are known. The 13th was Robert Harys, whose
+chantry stands in the south choir aisle; he died in 1325. In the time of
+the 15th, William Trapnell, the church was granted by Henry VIII. to the
+parishioners, 32nd year of Henry VIII. In the time of the 17th, Robert
+Newman, an inventory of the property was made by order of Edward VI.'s
+commissioner. John Imber, the 21st vicar, was expelled by the Parliament
+from 1647-1660, but was restored to his preferment in the same year as
+Charles II. gained the throne. The present vicar is the 32nd.
+
+
+STRATFORD'S INJUNCTIONS, 1325
+
+1. Every canon save the seneschal and cellarer must attend Matins, High
+Mass, and the Hours. The seneschal, if present in the priory for two
+nights together, must attend one Matins, and the cellarer must be
+present at service on alternate nights at least.
+
+2. Six canons must be enrolled for celebrating Our Lady's Mass; the
+prior must celebrate on all great feasts at High Mass, and on Saturdays
+at Our Lady's Mass, and must wear a surplice not a rochet.
+
+3. Canons in priests' orders must celebrate daily, those who are not
+must repeat eleven Psalms with a Litany or Psalter of Our Lady every
+day.
+
+4. Four confessors must be appointed to hear the confessions of the
+canons.
+
+5. Latin or French must be the languages spoken.
+
+6. No one save the prior or officers, without special leave, must ride
+or leave the Priory.
+
+7. Two-thirds of the canons must dine daily in the refectory; the door
+must be kept by a secular watchman whose duty it is to remove servants
+and idle people from the door during dinner; the almoner must prevent
+any canon carrying his commons to the laundry-people or people of the
+town.
+
+8. All the canons must sleep in the dormitory, each in his own bed.
+
+9. The infirmary must be visited daily by the prior or sub-prior.
+
+10. Two canons must act as treasurers, and a yearly account must be
+presented.
+
+11. The common seal must be kept under four locks, and documents sealed
+in full chapter, not as heretofore during Mass.
+
+12. Canons must not play at chess or draughts, nor keep hounds or arms
+(save in the custody of the prior), nor have a servant (save when on a
+journey), nor write nor receive letters without leave. The prior may
+keep hounds outside the priory buildings.
+
+
+ARCHBISHOP ARUNDEL'S INJUNCTIONS, 1404
+
+No. 1. Ordered the destruction of an old hall and an adjoining chamber
+known as the sub-prior's hall after the departure of Sir Thomas West its
+then occupier, as noblemen were in the habit of occupying it to the
+great disturbance of the order and the keeping open of gates which ought
+to be closed.
+
+No. 2. Enjoined the building of a house for the proecentor, and a new
+chamber for the sick.
+
+No. 3. Ordered the setting apart of a chamber for recreation apart from
+the infirmary (it may be supposed that the canons during recreation
+hours were noisy, thereby disturbing the sick).
+
+No. 4. Directed the provision of separate studies for the canons. It
+would appear that nobles, such as the Montacutes and Wests, put the
+priory to such great expense by taking up their abode, together with
+their retainers, in the domestic part of the buildings.
+
+
+THE NORMAN CASTLE
+
+Very little of the castle erected by Richard de Redvers, who died in
+1137, remains; but on an artificial mound at no great distance to the
+north of the Priory Church stand fragments of the east and west walls of
+the square Norman keep, about 20 feet high and 10 feet thick. The castle
+belonged to the De Redvers, Earls of Devon, till they were alienated to
+the crown in the 9th year of Edward I. (1280), the last earl having died
+in 1263, though the last female descendant lived till 1293. In 1331,
+Edward III. granted the castle and land to William de Montacute, Earl of
+Salisbury; after the execution of John de Montacute in 1400 for the part
+he took in the plots against the new king, Henry IV., Sir Thomas West,
+who lies buried in the Lady Chapel, was appointed constable. He died in
+1405, then Thomas, Earl of Salisbury, held the castle till 1428. After
+this it was held by various persons, and we find a constable of the
+Lordship of Christchurch as late as 1656. The manor held by the De
+Redvers, and then by the Montacutes, passed through various hands. Among
+the holders we may notice the Nevilles, hence the connection with the
+Priory of the ill-fated Margaret, the kingmaker's granddaughter, who was
+Countess of Salisbury in her own right, the Earl of Clarendon, Sir
+George Rose, and the present owner, the Earl of Malmesbury, who obtained
+it in 1862.
+
+In early days the bailiff of the de Redvers regulated all markets,
+fairs, tolls, and fines, and had the right of preemption and sat as
+judge in the tenants' court. Edward I. relieved the burgesses of
+Christchurch from all arbitrary exactions, and established a fixed
+fee-farm rent instead. The castle was taken for the Parliament by Sir
+William Waller with 300 men on April 7, 1644.
+
+A little to the north-east of the castle stand the remains of one of
+the few Norman houses that have come down to the present time. It is
+thus described in the first volume of "The Domestic Architecture of the
+Middle Ages" by Turner and Parker, pp. 38, 39. This volume was published
+in 1851. "At Christchurch, in Hampshire, is the ruin of a Norman house,
+rather late in the style, with good windows of two lights and a round
+chimney shaft.[6] The plan, as before, is a simple oblong; the principal
+room appears to have been on the first floor. It is situated on the bank
+of the river near to the church, and still more close to the mound,
+which is said to have been the keep of the castle; being between that
+and the river, it could not well have been placed in a situation of
+greater security. Whether it formed part of another series of buildings
+or not, it was a perfect house in itself, and its character is strictly
+domestic. It is about seventy feet long, and twenty-four broad, its
+walls, like those of the keep, being exceedingly thick. On the ground
+floor are a number of loop-holes: the ascent to the upper storey was by
+a stone staircase, part of which remains; the ground floor was divided
+by a wall, but the upper storey seems to have been a long room, lighted
+by three double windows on each side; near the centre of the east wall,
+next the river, is a large fireplace, to which the round chimney before
+mentioned belongs. At the north end, there appears to have been a large
+and handsome window of which part of the arch and shafts remain, and
+there is a small circular window in the south gable. From what remains
+of the ornamental part of this building, it appears to have been
+elegantly finished and cased with squared stones, most of which are,
+however, now taken away. There is a small projecting tower, calculated
+for a flank, under which the water runs; it has loopholes both on the
+north and east fronts, these walls are extremely thick. By the ruins of
+several walls, there were some ancient buildings at right angles to this
+hall, stretching away towards the keep. This was probably part of the
+residence of Baldwin de Redvers, Earl of Devon, to whom the manor of
+Christchurch belonged about the middle of the twelfth century."[7]
+
+    [6] Since rebuilt.
+
+    [7] Grove's "Antiquities," vol. ii. p. 178.
+
+[Illustration: REMAINS OF THE NORMAN HOUSE.]
+
+This building is much overgrown with ivy, which by a comparison of the
+illustration given in the work just quoted with its present condition,
+as represented in the photograph here reproduced, has increased
+considerably during the last fifty years. It is due to the memory of the
+Rev. William Jackson, who was vicar of Christchurch from 1778 to 1802,
+that it should be recorded that he saved this valuable relic of Norman
+domestic architecture from destruction. He was evidently imbued with a
+spirit of love for antiquity by no means common a hundred years ago, and
+far too rare even at the present day.
+
+
+DIMENSIONS OF CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY
+
+  Extreme length                       311 feet.
+  Length of Nave                       118  "    9 inches.
+  Width of Nave                         58  "    5    "
+  Height of Nave                        58  "
+  Length of Transept                   101  "    2    "
+  Width of Transept                     24  "    4    "
+  Length of Choir                       70  "
+  Width of Choir with Aisles            60  "    6    "
+  Height of Choir                       63  "
+  Length of side of Tower, E. to W.     27  "    9    "
+    "        "        "    N. to S.     22  "    4    "
+  Height of Tower                      120  "
+  Length of Lady Chapel                 36  "    4    "
+  Width of Lady Chapel                  21  "    1    "
+  Length of St Michael's Loft           58  "    3    "
+  Width of St Michael's Loft            19  "    7    "
+
+  AREA                              18,300 sq. feet.
+
+
+
+
+PLANS
+
+
+[Illustration: PLAN OF WIMBORNE MINSTER]
+
+[Illustration: PLAN OF CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY]
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+  Page  5: "commemerated" corrected to "commemorated."
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS: WIMBORNE MINSTER
+AND CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY***
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