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18

ABINGDON.

B E R K S H IR E .

dows, and massive b u ttresse s; the first floor has a
lo fty open-timbered roof, and contains a fine Early
English fireplace, w ith a hood carried 011 graceful shafts
w ith foliated capitals, and a quite unique ch im n ey; in
an adjoining block, extending to a backwater of the
Tham es, is a spacious vaulted undercroft, with groining
springing from a central sh aft: in 1895 the Corporation
acquired possession of these buildings under a lease
from the C h arity Trustees, and have since put them
in good re p a ir; the work was carried out under the
direction of Mr. H arry Redfern, architect, of London,
and the buildings are now open to public inspection:
H enry I. (Beauclerc), Geoffrey of Monmouth, the
Chronicler (1100-54) and Robert de Beaumont, Earl of
Leicester and Hereford, and Chief Justiciar of England
*n IJ55 » w ere students here, and Egelwyn, bishop of
D urham (1056-71), died while imprisoned in the abbey
in 1071.
St. Helen's church, standing close to the river, south­
w est of the town, is a spacious edifice chiefly in the
Perpendicular style, consisting of five parallel aisles of
unequal length and breadth, named as follows, be­
ginning from the north— Jesus aisle, Our Lady’s aisle,
St. Helen’s aisle, St. Catharine’s aisle and the Holy
Cross a isle ; a tower and spire on the north-east, with
a porch in the lower stage, vestry on the south-east,
and a sm all chapel or chantry west of the to w er; the
church was com pletely restored in 1873, under the
direction of Mr. Woodyer, at a cost of ¿7,021, when
the pews and galleries were removed, the nave and
chancel roof renewed in open tim ber work and con­
siderably h eigh ten ed ; the chancel was also newly in ­
closed by a stone screen on the north side, and
separated from the nave by a lofty and elaborate screen
of oak, and in 1897 a handsome reredos of oak designed
by G. F. Bodley esq. R.A., F .S .A . ■was presented by
Miss H yd e: the north aisle has a tim ber ceiling, richly
painted with figures of kings, prophets and saints,
given by Nicholas Gold, one of the founders of the
fratern ity of the Holy C ro ss; and an altar of alabaster,
with an upper slab of jasper also designed by G. F.
Bodley esq. and erected as a m emorial to the Rev.
R. C. F. Griffith M.A. vicar 1885-96: the south aisles
one of which was built in 1539, for the use of a guild,
are rather later, but of the same character, as is also
the south porch, which has a good doorway and a
canopied niche, recently filled w ith a figure of St.
Catharine, the buttresses being surmounted with
figures of St. Dunstan and St. iE th elw old : the tower
is Early English and has a plain parapet with crocheted
angle turrets, from within which flying buttresses sup­
port a tall octagonal spire; it contains a peal of 10
bells, rem arkable for their exceeding sweetness of tone,
and a clo ck ; the restoration of the tower and spire
was completed on May 1st, 1886, under the superin­
tendence of J. Oldrid Scott, a rch ite ct; at the same
tim e the three porches were restored and figures placed
in the vacant niches; the cost of repairing the Early
English north porch being defrayed by C hrist's Hos­
p ita l ; the west porch now bears in a niche a figure
of St. Helen, holding in her arm s a model of the
church, and surmounting the buttresses are the sym ­
bols of the Evangelists, carved in sto n e ; a large new
window was placed in the baptistery by Mrs. George
G ibbs in memory of her husband, two large niches on
each side of the window were also repaired and statues
of St. John the Baptist and St. Philip the Deacon,
executed by Nicholls, placed in th e m ; the whole cost
exceeded ¿2,700; the east and west windows, both of
which are of modern date, have been filled with stained
g la s s ; the form er as a memorial to Thomas Hyde esq.
and the latter to his brother, John Hyde esq. and there
are others to George Bowes Morland esq. Edward Morland esq. Alfred D. Bartlett esq. and to Mrs. Griffith,
wife of the Rev. Robert Charles Francis Griffith M.A.
vicar 1885-96; one erected by the late Miss K ent to her
father and brother, and another by the teachers and
children of the Sunday school; in the north aisle, be­
neath a feathered arch, is the altar tomb of John
Roysse, founder of Abingdon school, who died 27 July,
1571; the upper slab, brought by his direction from
his garden in London, served, until 1873, as a table,
from which bread was distributed every Sunday, in
accordance with his will, to 12 poor persons; it bears
the shield of arms— gules, a griffin segreant arg. with
crest and m antling— formerly placed above i t ; and also
an inscribed brass plate affixed on the restoration of
th° tomb by the past and then present scholars in
187a : in the north aisle is a huge marble monument
bv Hickey, with portrait figures and busts, erected
p-'^s -iant to the will of Mrs. Elizabeth Hawkins, oh.
May 22, 1786, and commemorating the deceased, heT

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k elly’s

relatives, and the Rev. W alter Harte, vice-principal
of St. Mary Hall, Oxford, who died in 1768, on the
eve of their intended m a rria g e ; here also is a small
square altar tomb, repaired by C h rist’s Hospital in
1826 and inscribed to Richard Curtaine, gent, “ a
principal m agistrate of this Corporation,” buried July
i 3, 1643 ; and at the west end of St. Catharine’s aisle
is a brass, within a large slab of Caen stone, to
Galfridus (Geoffrey) Barbur, m erchant, ob. April 21,
1417, with his effigy in the attitude of p ra y e r; he was
for some tim e bailiff of Bristol and was chief bene­
factor to this to w n ; his rem ains, removed from the
abbey on its dissolution, were re-interred in this
ch u rch ; in the church was also buried Henry Langley
D.D. m aster of Pembroke College, Oxford, d. 10 Sept.
1679; there is a brass to W illiam Heyward S.T.D .
vicar, ob. 1501, with his effigy in academ ic dress; in
the choir vestry is a portrait, on panel, of Mr. W illiam
Lee, five times mayor of Abingdon, who died in 1637,
aged 92; accompanying the portrait is a genealogical
chart, and an inscription, stating that he had in his
lifetim e issue from his loins two hundred, lacking but
th re e ; in St. Catharine’s aisle near the organ is now
placed a chained bible, dated 1611; several other
chained books remain in the church, but have been
much damaged by d am p ; in the first south aisle is a
mural tablet to Edmund, youngest son of Lionel
Bostock, ob. Aug. 3, 1605, and over it a quartered
shield of a rm s ; near it, on a framed wood panel are
painted the arms of Oliver Hide, 1565, and Thomasine
his wife, 1568 ; on the west wall is a small brass in ­
scription to Thomas Mayott, twice mayor, ob. May 30,
1627; the pulpit is Jacobean, and bears in panels the
legend: “ ad haec idoneus quis,” and the date 1636;
there are seven seats set apart for the Corporation, the
foremost of which is flanked by figures of the lion and
unicorn, carved in wood and supporting sh ield s; hung
in the clergy vestry are portraits of some Bishops of
the Diocese and six former v ic a rs ; the organ, inclosed
in a panelled case of carved oak, displays a quaint figure
of David, carved in wood, with gilded harp and crown;
the font, of white marble, was executed by the late
Mr. H. P. Peyman, of Abingdon, and shown in the
Great Exhibition of 1851; the oak canopy dated 1643
was restored in 1902 and is surm ounted bv a figure of
an angel bearing the Book of Life, ca rv e d ’b y A Hodge
esq. ; in 1644-5. the Parliam entary arm y, under
General Waller, while quartered, here, used the north
aisle as a sta b le; among the vicars m ay be mentioned
Ethelm arus or Aym er de Valence, half brother to Henry
I. and afterwards Bishop of W in chester; there are 1,200
sittings, m ost of which are free. The church was
wholly closed against interm ents June 27, 1856. The
register dates from the year 1538. The living is a
vicarage, net yearly value ¿240, including residence,
with the rectory of St. Nicolas, value ¿ 1 8 , in the gift
of the Bishop of Oxford, and held since 1900 by the Rev.
Herbert Thomas Maitland M.A. of Worcester College,
Oxford, rural dean of Abingdon, surrogate, and chaplain
to Abmgdon union ; a vicarage house for the parish of
St. Helen was erected in 1870 upon a site on the north
side of Albert Park.
The church of St. Nicholas, situated on the north
side of the M arket place, adjoining the abbey gateway,
was built, according to Dugdale, by Nicholas de Coleham or Culham, prior, and afterwards abbot of A bing­
don, between the years 1289 and 1307, although por­
tions of the west front seem to indicate an earlier
origin, perhaps during the period 1200-20 ; traces of the
triple lancet window, which originally lighted the west
front, are still visible, as well as of other similar win­
dows in the north w a ll, and it m ay therefore be con­
cluded that the building existed at least 60 years before
the abbacy of de Coleham ; the church is a small struc­
ture, consisting only of chanep] a. .J nave, a small
chantry, organ chamber and vestry on the north and
an embattled western tower, containing 6 bells, cast in
October, 1741, by Abel Rudhall, who received for the
work the five old bells and clappers, valued at
¿ 1 4 1 103. 4^d. and ¿70 is. iod. in cash; a new clock
with quarter chimes was placed in position in 1887; the
tower is built partly upon the west wall, and is other­
wise supported from within the church by two stone
niers or legs, standing clear of the walls attached to i t ; in
the north side is a minstrels’ gallery and a re g u la r square
stair turret, with a gabled roof and a small triangular
window ; the west doorway, with its lateral arcading, is
a good example of Late Norman work, but the rest of
the church as now existing is chiefly Perpendicular:
during the year 1881 the church underwent a thorough
restoration at the hands of Mr. Edwin Dolby, architect,
of Abingdon, 1 a cost of ¿2,554, in course of which