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LA M BOCRN .

B E R K S H IR E .

L A M B O T J R N (or C h ip p in g Lam bourn) is a parish and
sm all town, and the head of a p etty sessional division,
w ith a term inal station on the L am bourn V a lley r a il­
way from N ew bu ry, con structed in 1895-8 ; it is about
7 m iles south from Uffington station and 7 south-east
from Shrivenham station, both on the G reat W estern
railw ay, 10 m iles north from H ungerford, 12 m iles
north-w est from N ew bu ry and 10 south from W antage,
in the S outhern division of the county, hundred of
Lam bourn, union and cou n ty court d istrict of H un­
gerford , ru ra l deanery of N ew bu ry, archdeaconry of
Berks and diocese of O x fo rd ; the Lam bourn riv er takes
its rise near here and flows th rou gh th e town to the
K ennet, near N ew bury. Th e town is lighted w ith gas
b y a com pany. The ch urch of S t. M ichael is an ancient
and spacious cruciform b uilding of stone and shingle in
the N orm an. E a rly E n g lish and P erpendicular styles,
consisting of chancel, nave, transepts, three chapels,
south porch and a central em battled tow er, w ith four
octagonal tu rre ts and containing 8 bells and c lo c k : the
chancel is of E a rly E n g lish date, and has a fine P e r­
pendicular ea st window of five lig h ts and a sm all D e­
corated p is c in a : on the south side an arch of th e same
period opens into an aisle called St. M ary’s chapel, and
eastward of it is a window, the sill of w hich form s
se d ilia ; on the north side two P erpendicular arches
open to an aisle of th at d a t e : at the east end is a m ural
m onum ent of late E lizabethan or Jacobean date to
Thom as G arrard and A gnes (W aldwyne) his wife ; and
in the south w all a slab of black m arble, w ith effigies
in brass of his son, Thom as G arrard, gent. 1619, Anne
(J u tt) his w ife, 1610, and Thom as, th eir son: there is
also a m edallion of C harles I. in alabaster, w ith figures
representing T ru th and J u stice, standing on “ Round
H e a d s ” in chains: th e lower arches are good N orm an,
alm ost E a rly E n g lis h : the transepts have chiefly
Decorated and P erp en dicular windows, but one lancet
survives in th e north tran sep t, w hich has a Transition
Norm an arch on th e w est s id e : the chapel of St. M ary,
ea st of the south transept, belongs to th e Decorated
period, and was built, b y John de E stb u ry about 1360:
he died O ctober 25, 1375, and his tom b w ith th a t of his
son is in the ch a p e l: th e sum ptous m arble m onum ent,
to the G arrard fam ily of Bockham pton, also form erly in
this chapel, now rem ains only in fragm en ts, w hich record
the nam es of R oger G arrard and E lizabeth (V iolett), his
w ife: south of St. M ary’s chapel, and opening into it, is
the chapel of the H oly T rin ity, a L a te Perpendicular
stru ctu re, in the centre of w hich is an altar tom b, with
an effigy in copper of John E stb u ry, 1508, in a surcoat
of his arm s and a m argin al in scrip tion : this John E s t­
bury was also the founder of th e alm shouse or hospital,
situated near the- ch urchyard, for ten poor m en, who.
durin g divine service, are w ont to kneel round the
founder’ s tom b, about w hich new oaken stalls were
placed, in 1888, b y trustees, a t a cost of £45. for that
p u rp o se: there is also a brass, w ith half-effigies, to
John de E stb u ry, c. 1400, and A gnes, his w if e : the
E ssex chapel, north of th e ch urch , occupies the site of
the older chantry, founded b y the De Bathes or the
Bohuns, b u t was extended eastw ard n early two cen­
tu ries la ter to its p resent dim ensions, and m ost prob­
ab ly b y S ir Thom as E ssex kt. whose v ery fine alabaster
m onum ent is placed in th is c h a p e l; this tom b bears
life-size recum ben t figures of S ir Thom as E ssex, who
died 29 A u g u st, 1558, and of dame M arg aret, h is wife,
fo u rth d au gh ter of W illiam , first baron Sandvs of the
V ine, w ith a m argin al in scrip tio n : around are m any
m em orials of the Seym ours, who for nearly three cen­
turies resided at Inliolm es, in th is parish, on one of
which, th a t of E dw ard Seym our esq. (ob. 1798), are
som e verses by H enry Jam es Pye esq. M .P ., D .C .L . and
Poet L au reate in 1790; here also rests C harles F etti. place, a benefactor to the local c h a ritie s : th is chapel was
for a long tim e used as a house for th e parish fire
en gin e, b ut was reb u ilt from the foundations about
1850, and is now used as a choir vestry. Th e nave is
th e oldest p art of the church, and dates from th e n t h
cen tu ry (1085): it has four bays, w ith L a te Norm an
arch es and m assive pillars, and a cle re sto ry : at the
w est end are traces of its origin al N orm an windows,
w ith an existin g circular window in the g a b le : the
staircase to the rood-loft, diverted from its original
course, is now connected w ith the tower, b u t the en­
trance is from the e x te r io r : on the w all, form erly
crossed by th e rood-loft, is a p is c in a : the aisles were
origin ally m uch lower and ligh ted w ith sm all Norm an
w indow s: b u t the existin g south aisle seems to be
D ecorated and th at on th e north side P e rp en d icu la r:
the only rem ains of the old roofing are to be found
in the south aisle, elsewhere it was en tire ly renewed,
w ith the exception of the tie beam s, in 1849-50: the
low er, erected some 60 or 70 years la ter than the nave,

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k e l l y ’s

is a p erfect square of about 20 feet, and an excellent
exam ple, as far as the top of th e clock, of Transition
N o rm a n ; the upper portion is P erp en d icu la r: about
1770 it was bound round on the exterior w ith iron ­
work, and an independent bell-fram e erected w ith in :
in 1892 th e tower was th oro ugh ly restored, refaced w ith
stone, and the bells re-hung upon a new iron f r a m e : a
new v au lted oak ceilin g beneath the tow er was also
erected : the south porch is Decorated, w ith P erp en di­
cular ad dition s; above it is a parvise or p riest’s room,
which used to be reached by a stone staircase from the
outside, b ut now by a spiral iron sta ir within the
p o rc h ; a corresponding porch on the north side was
rem oved in 1850: there are two fon ts: the earlier, a
work in the debased Renaissance style, was obtained
between 1663 and 1666, and after havin g stood in the
north tran sep t till 1849, was then rem oved and sold,
and used as a flower-pot in the garden of M r. L yn e’s
farm , at Barton,, near M arlborough, W ilts : in its place,
Mr. H ippisley presented a new font of pseudo-Norm an
ch aracter, b ut in 1903 the 17th cen tu ry fon t was re ­
covered and replaced in the c h u r c h ; the stained w in ­
dows in the T rin ity chapel are m em orials, inserted by
H. H ippisley esq. of Lam bourn Place : the east window,
rep resen tin g th e “ L a st Ju d gm en t.” was erected in 1876
in m em ory of R obert M ilm an, bishop of C a lcu tta (186776), who died 15 M arch, 1876, and was form erly vicar
of L a m b o u rn : the w est stained window was erected in
1905 in m em ory of Dr. K e n n a rd : there is also a m em orial
window in the chancel to the Rev. John M urray, a form er
v ic a r : a stained window has been inserted in th e nave to
the m em ory of Miss Tw ynam , by Col. Tw ynam C .B . : the
organ, restored in 1890 at a cost of £ 1 5 7 , 'was erected
in 1862: th e restoration, carried ou t in 1892 a t a total
cost of £3,300, included, in addition to the w ork already
m entioned, the erection of new oak choir stalls, the
repair of th e north doorway and new heating apparatus :
the cost of restoring the chancel was borne by th e lay
im propriators, and th a t of H oly T rin ity chapel by the
trustees of the alm shouses of John E stb u ry : the lvch
gate, erected ait the same tim e at a cost of £130, is a
m em orial to C harles W illiam Jousiffe of Seven B a r­
rows : some relics, found six feet beneath the tower,
durin g the recen t restoration, are now in the Essex
ch ap el: fragm en ts of a valuab le pre-Reform ation stained
window, purchased in a sale for a nom inal sum , have
been presented to the church b y P olice-Sergeant
F rederick S m ith of Lam bourn, and are now in a w in ­
dow of the H oly T rin ity c h a p e l: th ere are 600 sittings.
T h e ch urch and churchyard w ere closed again st fu rth er
in term en ts M arch 2, 1880, except a t the w estern side
of the ch urch yard w here some years ago a piece of
ground was added and consecrated. The register dates
from th e year 1560. and is in excellen t preservation
The liv in g is a vicarage, net yea rly value £150, in ­
clu ding 42 acres of glebe, w ith residence, in the gift
of the Bishop of O xford, and held since 1895 by the
Rev. Reginald Bagnall M .A. of T rin ity C ollege, C am ­
bridge. T h ere are W esleyan and P rim itive M ethodist
chapels.
On the north side of the ch urch is the
Hospital, consisting of houses for ten brethren, founded
by John, the son 01 John E stb u ry or Isb u ry, in 1502, and
endowed w ith 400 acres, incom e £ 7 1 9 ; each inm ate
has 10s. w eekly and a house rent f r e e : the alm sm en
attend daily m orning prayers in the E stb u ry or T rin ity
C hapel, kneeling around the above-m entioned tom b,
and also atten d th e daily m orning service of the c h u r c h :
Mrs. Tem p lar Down and the W arden of New College,
Oxford, are the hered itary supervisors of the charity,
the m anagem ent of w hich is now in the hands of seven
trustees appointed by the C h arity C o m m issio n ers: on
an ancient brass plate inserted in the brickw ork near
the entrance are some Latin verses, referrin g to the
foundation of the hospital. A John de E stb u ry was
representative in Parliam en t for Berks in the years
1368, 1376 and 1377. N ear the church are also five
sm all alm shouses, called H ardrett’s or Place A lm shouses,
for five aged labourers, who have is. w eekly and a
house ren t f r e e : th is ch arity is under the m anagem ent
of trustees. The ch arities for the general poor am ount
to about £30 yearly, for distribution in m oney and
£ 1 6 5s. for c lo th in g : there are also charities of £40 a
year le ft to the W esleyan body for educational purposes.
Joshua S ylvester, the poet, called by S outhey the
“ silver-tongued S ylvester,” was a retainer of the Essex
fam ily at Lam bourn, where he was patronised by M is­
tress E ssex, wife of W illiam E ssex esq. He died at
M iddleburgh, in Holland, in 1618. A fair was granted
by K in g H enry III. in 1227, to be held in F eb ruary, on
the festival of S t. M atthew, b ut has for m an y years
been discon tin u ed: th e C h arter for a m arket was re­
newed in the reign of H enry Y I. b ut this was discon­
tinued in the la st c e n tu r y : two fairs were also granted