Kellys_Berks_Bucks&Oxon_1915_0858.jpg

62

BERFO R\

OXFORDSHIRE.

[ k e l l f ’s

fenestra decorotur;" a second stained window was the plaster ceiling of which is highly enriched with
inserted in 1907 : within the chapel is an altar tomb arabesque work and pendant bosses; the walls are
of stone and grey marble to this John Leggare, with wainscotted, and there is a mantel-piece of carved
niches inclosing kneeling figures of angels bearing stone bearing the Lenthall arms: a door at one apgle0{
shields; but the brasses formerly on the upper slab are the room leads to a terrace, connecting it with the
now lost; here also is a mural tablet to Christopher chapel, which has windows with elaborate traceryKempster, ob. 1715, who was clerk of the works to Sir in rear of the main front is a range of buildings; the
Christopher Wren during the building of the cathedral grounds on the north side slope pleasantly to the river
and dome of St. Paul's, and to his wife and numerous and command a yiew of Westhall hill and the vallov
descendants, and he is believed, from evidence con­ of the Windrush.
tained in the bailiff's accounts of the borough of Among the eminent men connected with this place
Abingdon, to have been the architect of the fine market may be mentioned Sir William Beechey, the painter
house in that town ; the roofs of both this and the born here 12th December, 1753; he became a Royai
north transept are of carved oak, resting on sculptured Academician in 1797, was knighted in 1798, and died at
stone corbels; the floor is partly composed of grave­ Hampstead, 28th Jan. 1839; John Wilmot, the witty
stones relating to the Pryor family, originally placed but dissolute Earl of Rochester, born 10 April, 1647;d
oefore the high altar, and one of them bears an inscrip­ 26 July, 1680; Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland
tion to John Pryor, gent, murdered and found hidden whose father married the daughter and heiress of Sir
in the Priory garden, 3 April, 1697: on the floor at the Lawrence Tanfield kt. was bom here in or about 1610vast end of the nave is a brass with kneeling effigies, he was sometime M.P. for Newport, Isle of Wight, and
marginal inscription and English verses, to John Spicer. in 1641 Secretary of State, but was slain at the first
I437> and Alice his wife : the original oak pulpit, of battle of Newbury, 20th September, 1643.
Perpendicular work, with t.raceried panels, richly painted The Baptist chapel, built in 1700, is in Witney street:
and gilt, has been placed on a modern stone base: the the Wesleyan chapel, in High street, adapted from a
brass lectern was given by the Misses Cooper, daughters private dwelling house, in 1849, will hold 350 persons:
of the Rev. Edward Philip Cooper B.D. vicar of Bur- both chapels have attached burial grounds.
ford with Fulbrook from 1836, d. November 29, 1864: The Friends’ Meeting house in Pitt’s lane, a lar*e
the church was wainscotted in 1827: the nave, Silvester building of stone, will seat 300 persons.
chapel and chantry chapel were restored in 1870-72,
The Burford Recreation Society, founded in 1904,
under the superintendence of the late G. E. Street esq. purchased
in 1906 Falkland Hall, at one time part of
R.A. at a cost of£2,670; this work included the restora­ the Old Bear
inn. This is now used for dancing, enter­
tion of the small Priory chapel in the nave, the altar being tainments, pub
lic meetings &c.
replaced and the dossal renewed: in 1877, the chancel,
A
market
i
s held every Saturday for corn &c. and
tower and Tanfield chapel were restored, the former by
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners at a cost of £781, and fairs are held on the last Saturday in April, and Sept.
the two latter by subscription at a cost of £1,303 ; other 25 (originally, by grant of Henry VII, 1497, on the
restorations were carried on up to 1887, at a total cost, Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross), for hiring.
from 1871 to 1888, exclusive of private gifts, of £5,843 : The Cottage Hospital, originally established in 1868,
the church contains 700 sittings, all being free with the but rebuilt in Upton road and opened in 1902, will hold
exception of the faculty seats of the hamlets of Upton and eight patients.
Signet : in the churchyard are several altar tombs, one of There are eight almshouses founded, according to the
which, opposite the south porch, has a brass inscribed to inscription, in 1457 by Richard Nevill, Earl of War­
John Hunt, 1603, placed by his sons William and Richard wick, but in fact by Henry Bishop, apd rebuilt in 1828;
in 1609; under the west wall of the churchyard Cornet four other almshouses, erected by Dr. John Castle in
Thompson and two soldiers were shot 17 May, 1649. 1726, are now incorporated with these; four additional
for the use of churchwomen, were erected
The register of baptisms and burials dates from the almshouses,
in the High street in 1913 by the executors of
year 1612; marriages, 1613. The living is a vicarage Miss
Price, the daughter of a former solicitor of
with the chapelry of Fulbrook annexed, joint net Burford;
here are also various minor charitable
yearly value £170, including 200 acres of glebe, with bequests; t
the total amount for distribution in kind
residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Oxford, and held and
money
i
about £93 yearly; for education, £199;
since 1907 by the Rev. William Charles Emeris M.A. of apprenticing,s £52;
purposes, £47; and for
New College, Oxford, and rural dean of Witney ; the other purposes, aboutchurch
yearly; by an order of the
vicarage house bears date 1672. A sum of £120 yearly Charity Commissioners,£7dated
1876, the charities are
is pail by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners fora curate. distributed by a body of 12 trus
s. The hamlets of
The priory or hospital of St. John the Evangelist here Upton and Signet have a poor’stee
allotment producing
formerly belonged to the abbey of Keynsham, Somerset­ about £7 yearly for fuel.
shire; its revenues were valued at the Dissolution at
£13 6s. 6d. and the estate was granted in the 35th year At the corner of Sheep street stands the ancient
of Henry VIH. (1543-4), together with the manor, to Tolsey or Custom house, a gabled building supported
Edmund Harman, who erected a mansion on the site of on pillars with projecting windows; there are also
the ancient priory, and on his death Ann, duchess of several old houses of some interest, one of which, at
Somerset, and Henry Lee (?) of Ditchley, held portions the corner of Priory lane, has a fine oriel window and
of the manor; Queen Elizabeth in 1598-9 sold it to Sir was once known as “ The Bear Inn;” another, men­
John Fortescue, from whom it was purchased by Sir tioned in a deed of 1590, is called “ Cob-Hall,” which in
Lawrence Tanfield kt. who rebuilt the mansion, which, 1650 was an inn, called the “Swan;’- an old house at
descending to his grandson, Lucius Lord Falkland, was the foot of the bridge bears an inscription recording its
epair in 1576 and gift to the school in 1577 by Simon
sold in 1634 to William Lenthall, Speaker of the Long r
Parliament ; the latter built the curious detached chapel, Wisdom, alderman. Beneath a house inthe High street,
now
(19x5) occupied by Mr. C. F. Arthurs, is a vaulted
disused since 1799; in 1808 it was much reduced in
ndercroft in two portions, divided by a thick wall
size: the last resident was William John Lenthall, who u
p
i
e
r
c
a wide archway; the larger half has a cen­
lived here up to 1827, but alienated the estate in 1829 tral oecdtaby
l pier, with moulded base and capital from
to Mr. Charles Greenaway, who never lived there and which thgeona
vaulting springs, the ribs being otherwise
allowed the place to fall into disrepair; it afterwards
supported
by
corbels on the walls; the other portion is
passed to his niece. Miss Toude, who was lady of the
manor, and at her death it came into the possession in two bays, and is similarly groined, with corbels only.
In
Witney
street is a large stone mansion of Late
of Mr. Hurst, of Little Barrington, Glos. who sold it
to Colonel F. B. de Sales La Terrière, who having Renaissance character, with a singular embattled para­
p
e
t
,
b
u
i
l
t
about
1690, and known as “ The Great
restored the mansion, after a neglect of close upon a
House:” the hall, the landing and passages are
century, resold it to Emslie John Horniman esq. J.P. p
a
n
e
l
l
e
d
and
d
e
c
ora
with curious paintings, executed
who now resides there. The house, as it now stands, towards the close oted
f the 17th century. This was at
has an Elizabethan front of two wings, in the centre of one time th e residen
of M ts. Crisp and M rs. Gaskwhich is the carved stone porch with two quaint human th e friends of FannyceBurney
and her circle, and now
figures, believed to represent the family of Harman,
but which now act as supporters to the arms of the occupied by Mrs. Conway.
Lenthalls inserted at a later date ; it contains a large About half a mile south-west from Burford were St.
hall in which are seen some of the pillars and arches Christopher's or Kitt’s quarries, from which the stone
of the original priory, which was standing in 1291, for the columns, mouldings and tracery of St. Paul*
and a Tudor mantelpiece which was found in a room Cathedral was chiefly obtained; the site is now 8
of a more recent date : leading from this hall, through favourite spot for pic-nic parties.
an oak galleried central hall, is a fine oak balustraded Arthur Reginald Hurst esq. of Horsham Park, Sussexstaircase, with carved spirals and the treads curiously and Little Barrington, is lord of the manor; the prin­
inlaid with rosewood, and a magnificent ball-room, cipal landowners are Henry Tansley esq. William Henry