Kellys_Berks_Bucks&Oxon_1915_0886.jpg

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D O RCH ESTER.

O XFO R D SH IRE.

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present care taken of th em .” The great road to London, choir stalls are Perpendicular, with poppy kea,ds
which lay through this place, being turned in another panelled ends, one of w hich bears a scroll with th'e nam
direction, so weakened and im poverished the town that of Richard Bewforest, entwining his pastoral staff- q 6
from the m iddle of the 12th century it began rapidly to font is a Norm an w ork of lead, w ith figures of 11
decay, and from its form er gran deur it is now reduced to apostles, and is set on a modern stone base; some h 6
a hum ble a g ricu ltu ral village. It derives its nam e from ever, have supposed the font
to be a relic of the old Saxo
the Welsh “ dw r,” water, and was called by the Romans c h u rch : on the north side
ofth e nave is a memor'1!
" D u rocin a; ” Bede term s it “ C ivitas D o rc in ia ;” and window to the Rev. W . C. M acfarlane M .A. vicar, i8r§
Leland named it “ H vdropolis,” the town of w ater. The 86 ; there are brasses to S ir John Drayton kt. c.' i j
village has of late years grown into favour as a sum m er w ith effigy in fu ll arm our, b u t w anting most of th’
resort on account of its rural attractiveness, splendid lower lim b s; he is w earing a collar of SS. and his head
abbey church and the d eligh tful scenery about the river, in a close helm et, rests on another helm with the crest
which also affords good boating and fishing.
of a Saracen’s h e a d : there is also a slab once containin
The abbey is supposed to have been first founded by the figure of a kn igh t in arm our, four shields and a
S. B irinus in 635 for secular canons, who worked as m arginal in scrip tion ; of these brasses only two shield*
parish priests, b ut on the reconstitution of the abbey by rem ain, and the m em orial is perhaps that of Richard'
Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, c. 1140, these were re ­ Drayton, c. 1450; on another slab to a member of this
placed by canons of the A ugustinian o rd e r; of the fam ily there rem ains only
a shield w ith a merchant's
cloisters, which stood north of the church, the chapter m ark : th e brass to S ir Richard Bewfforeste, abbot, n o
house and dom estic buildings, there are now no rem a in s: has the effigy com plete, w ith pastoral staff and inscrin’
on its suppression (he revenues of the abbey w ere esti­ tion and a scroll invocation to the Holy Virgin, the
m ated at ¿ ”190.
beginning of which is m issin g : there are also mutilated
The records of the Peculiar of Dorchester, whose ju ris ­ brasses to W illiam Tanner, Richard Beweforest and his
diction extended over nine parishes, began from 1586, wife M argaret, 1513; a slab w ith incised marginal in.
and are now at the Principal R egistry.
scription and the m atrix of a brass to John Sutton
The A bbey church of SS. P eter and Paul and St. abbot, 1349, and a slab w ith traces of an incised figure
B irin u s. purchased by Richard Bewforest 3t the Disso­ and a m arginal inscription, now m uch worn, to Roger
lution for £140, and presented by him to th e parish abbot of Dorchester, c. 1510, and suffragan bishop of
in 1554, is a spacious and h igh ly in terestin g edifice Lvdda, besides a num ber of slabs despoiled of their
of stone, 270 feet in length and 40 feet high, singular b rasses: in the south nave is a m em orial to Thomas
and irregu la r in all its features, and consisting of Day, 1693, w ith a quaint v e r s e ; and there are mural
tw o collateral naves (the eastern portion of the m onum ents, w ith arm s, to Mrs. Agnes Clarke, daughter
northern nave form ing th e choir), north choir aisle, of Lord Viscount Wenman, oh. 1661 ; Charles, son of
south porch and a m assive em battled western tower, W illiam C aster, ob. 1668; Anne (Clarke), wife of Edward
rebuilt about 1602 and containing a clock w ith quarter Carleton, of Penrith, oh. 1669 1 an^ to Mary (Port), wife
chim es, added in 1901. and 8 bells, the tenor w eighing of John G ranger, d. 17 5 1: several stone coffins have
18 cwt. and bearing the legend “ Protege Birin e been disinterred at different tim es, one of which con­
quos convoco tu sine fine.”
It exh ib its portions of tained rem ains wrapped in gilt leather, and a pewter
every ecclesiastical style and of transitions from one ch a lic e: two stained windows w ere erected in the Ladv
style to a n o th e r: the exterior, there being no clere­ chapel in 1900 in m em ory and by the bequest of John
story, apppars long and low. but th e in terior, from Gill Godwin esq. : fragm ents of the shrine of St.
the peculiarity of its arrangem ent, is s tr ik in g ; its Birinus have been found b u ilt up in the recess on the
proportions are unquestionably fine and the Decorated north side of the nave, near th e crossing, from which
arcades of the choir are particu larly eleg a n t: the north it appears to have been about 8 feet long by 2 feet
aisle is Transitional E arly E nglish, w ith an east window wide, w ith elaborate vaultin g richly coloured: the
o f the E arly Decorated period and a piscina and whole building was restored under the superintendence
au m b rie s: the p resbytery and south nave are of a date of the late S ir G ilb ert S cott R .A . the work having
som ewhat later than the Decorated period, and the latter, been begun under th e auspices of the Oxford Archi­
th e portion originally assigned as the parish church, has tectural and Historical Society in 1846: there are 578
an altar platform of four paces, a singular doorway, w ith s ittin g s : the entrance to the church is on the south
enriched triangular headed arch in th e south-east angle, side by a spacious stone porch, w ith timbered roof,
and next it a large recess extending over th e altar, with south of which, in th e churchyard, is an ancient cross,
an early and curious wall painting of the “ C ru cifix io n ; ” with a restored h e a d : at th e entrance to the church­
in this aisle form erly stood an altar tomb w ith the yard is a good lych gate, overshadowed by a very fine
recum bent effigy of a w arrior in chain m ail, c. 1250, now chestnut tree.
Th e reg ister of baptism s and burials
removed to the east end of the south choir aisle, and dates from th e year 1638; m arriages, 1639. The living
south of this is another altar tom b, w ith a draped is a vicarage, net yea rly value about ¿£170, including
figure of the 14th century, believed on good au th ority to 30 acres of glebe, w ith residence, in the gift of the
represent John de Stonor, chief ju stic e of the Common Bishop of O xford, and held since 1886 by the Rev.
Pleas, 1329, and w ith some interruption till his death in N athaniel Castleton. Stephen Poyntz M.A. of Pem­
1354; there is also a Perpendicular altar tom b bearing a broke College, O xford, and surrogate.
The Catholic
fine recum bent k n ig h tly effigy of alabaster, conjectured church, dedicated to St. Birinus, is an edifice in the
from the arm s upon it to represent a m em ber of the Decorated style, b u ilt and opened in 1849, at the sole
S egrave fam ily, c. 1400; th e sides of the tom b are expense of the late John D avev esq. who also devised his
surrounded by m any small buttresses, alternating with house for the use of the resident p rie s t: it consists of
canopied arches : this p art of th e church has also the chancel and nave, separated by a carved oak screen, end
effigy of a bishop of the 14th c e n tu ry ; beneath is a crypt south porch : the altar is of stone, supported by sculp­
about 11 by 8 feet in area: th e west arch of th e crossing tured figures of the E v a n g e lists ; the east and other
is Transition Norman, dating from 1180, and to this windows are stained.
H ere is a Protestant Chur™
style belong also the north nave wall on th e north side of England M ission. T he M issionary College of Sband those portions of the south wall left unpierced ou P eter and Paul was founded October 30, 1878, main*
th e creation of the later arcade: the east window of the through th e exertions of the late Rev. W. C. Mac:farchoir, of Transitional Decorated work, has fine re tic u ­ lane M .A. and is intended for the. training of sfcnae1^
lated tracery, and is adorned w ith statuettes and pin­ for the m ission w ork of the Church of England 1
nacles. and divided into two portions of three lig h ts foreign parts ; the course of study, which extends ove
each by a laTge plain buttress, and still retains m uch four years, includes the study of the Holy Scriptures _
ancient g la s s : the Jesse window, on the north side of the original lan guages, classics, history, the careful a
th e choir, also Decorated, is of four ligh ts w ith im agery practical study of the Prayer Book and of theol°gyj_
nn the m ullions, which are crossed by foliaged w aving b uildin gs, consisting in part of converted awe lines of stonework, intended to represent branches, houses, are in a quaint E n g lish Domestic style, an
and the whole forms a genealogical tree springing from sides rooms for students, include a c h a p e l , library, ^
^
a figure of Jesse recum bent on the ledge under the re fe c to ry ; th e college is at present available
'
centre m u llio n ; the crowning figure of O ur Lady, bear­ students ; th e governm ent is in the hands of a com
w
ith
the
R
ig
h
t
Rev.
the
Lord
Bishop
of
Oxford
as
ri
in g in her arm s the infant Jesus, has been unfortunately
^
d e s tro y e d : the south window of the choir is Perpendi­ the Rev. M ichael Robert N ewbolt M .A. principa .
cular, and rem arkable as having a transom across the m arket has long been discontinued, but an
centre of the window w ith figures in stone representing pleasure fair is still held on E aster Tuesdaya procession of ecclesiastics to celebrate the H oly E u ­ Chester C ottagers’ H orticultural Society was 4.^
|0f
c h a rist; below it are three canopied sedilia and a piscina, lished in 1869, and holds annual shows, a
Good ns
also canopied; the sedilia, c. 1350, are pieTced at the prizes are offered for com petition.
0j
back and glazed near th e top w ith glass of the 12th cen­ barbel, pike, tench and perch m ay be had r
tu ry , representing incidents in the life of S . B irin u s : the lock and weir as far as Shillingford. Dunch s c