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44

b l e w b ik y

.

B ERK SHIRE.

h avin g the volu te and straigh t-leaved ornam ent peculiar
to th is d a t e : th is tower it would seem had four b e lls :
the two easternm ost p iers are pierced w ith hagioscopes,
that on the south being Perpendicular and the other
square and probably o rig in a l; the north-w est pier con­
tains a fligh t of stone steps leading to an open arch ­
w ay on the rig h t of the nave and anciently the entrance
to the rood lo ft, w hich retains a piscina form ed out of
a N orm an cap, a unique featu re discovered durin g the
restoration of 18 77; the door is Perpendicular, w ith
elaborately
carved panelled t r a c e r y ; the nave is
separated from the south aisle by an arcade of five
Tran sitio n al a rc h e s ; the north arcade is Decorated and
has two arches only, supported by octagonal co lu m n s:
the windows are Perpendicular and L a te D e c o ra ted :
the w estern tower opens to the nave by a bold and lofty
arch, and its lower stage, lig h te d b y a large Perpen­
dicu lar window, serves as a v estry, and is enclosed
towards th e nave by an oak screen w ith cusped open­
ings and cresting, erected in 1906; the porches, erected
in th e P erpendicular period, were of open tim ber-work
w ith barge boards ric h ly c a rv e d ; of these the south
porch rem ains and has been w ell re s to re d ; b ut the
north porch was reb u ilt in 1882 of flint w ith stone
dressings, its carved w ork reproduced and a new oak
door h u n g : above th e doorway is a stone niche, with
a m odern figure of S t. M ichael, and on either side are
sm a ll stone slabs, containing m atrices of brass figures
w ith s cr o lls : the south door, a venerable relic, has a
huge wooden lock and fine iron w o rk : the font, of
Perpendicular date, is octagonal and panelled in quartref o ils : the carved oak cover was presented in 1902 as
a m em orial of the Coronation of K in g Edw. V II.
In the church are several brasses to th e ancient
fam ily of L a tton , of Upton and C h ilto n , the earliest is
th at of a k n ig h t in a fu ll su it of plate arm our w ith his
two wives and several children, c. 1500, and perhaps
representing Thom as L atton , of Upton, d. 8 A p ril, 1503,
two of these figures are on the chancel w all, one wife
being now on one of the piers of the form er central
to w e r: on the north side of the chancel, on the floor,
is a brass of John L a tton , of C h ilton , esq. ob. 31 M ay,
1548, w ith effigies of h im self, habited in a tabard of
his arm s, Anne (Y ate), his w ife and nine children out
of the 15 nam ed in the inscription, a p art of which
has been found to be p a lim p se s t; A lice, sister of this
John L atton , m arried Sir John Daunce, general s u r­
veyor of the Crown lands in th e reign of H enry V III.
who accom panied the Bang to F ran ce in 1513, and was
k n igh ted b y him in the church at T o u rn a y ; in 1515
he was sheriff of Oxon and B erks ; represented O xford­
shire in the p arliam ent of 1529, and died 7th Dec.
1545; the rem ains of the tom b, erected apparently
both to him self and his wife, w ith brass effigies and
shields of arm s, is now in the south chapel, having
been rem oved th ith er since the tim e of A shm ole, and
has an inscription to Dam e A lice Daunce, ob. 27 A ug.
1523 ; again st th e south-east pier, in a slab of Purbeck
m arble, is a brass w ith effigy and L a tin inscription to
John B alam , a form er vicar, ob. 25 M ay, 1496, on the
south side a m odern brass, w ith a figure of F aith and
inscription to the Rev. Jacob M acdonald L L .B . 35 years
vicar of th is parish, d. 4 June, 1871 : his wife E liza,
1849, and his son John, 1841, and on th e north side
a large brass, w ith arm s to th e Low sley fam ily, placed
about 1896 in lieu of an iron slab, buried under the
floor in 1877: the m ural m onum ents were partially
destroyed d urin g the repairs of 1876-7, and include a
despoiled m arble tab let to the Rev. A rth u r B rom ley,
chaplain to John, 3rd E arl of Clarendon, and for five
years curate here, d. 29 Dec. 1831, and on the opposite
side the inscription only of a m onum ent to Mrs. Sarah
W itherell, d. 12 Oct. 1728, origin ally enclosed by
fluted p ilasters ris in g from a corbelled base with
cherub’s head and supportin g a segm ental pedim ent
on w hich la y a book w ith red edges, now on a bracket
in the north a is le : the m em orial slabs form erly on
the chancel floor were buried in 1876 and the floor
en tirely relaid w ith heraldic tiles havin g no reference
to the place : of these slabs one bore an inscription to
E lizabeth, w ife of Daniel L ousley, d. 15 June, 1828,
and has been reproduced on a sm aller s c a le ; the
rem ainder are indicated only by in it ia ls ; the stained
east window, a m em orial to A u gu sta Sarah, w ife of
the Rev. John H ugh B urgess, vicar 1871-90, was
designed and executed by M r. John B en tley of London,
the subject being suggested by the figure of an angel
censing, th e only fragm en t of ancient glass w hich
rem ained in the tra c e ry ; it was dedicated 16 Oct.
1887: b y the north entrance is another m em orial
window to Mrs. Burgess, erected ¡by th e late Rev.
Canon Liddon D.D. and in the chancel one to E liza

[KELL^ ’8

Serre R otch, d. 16 A pril, 1878; there are also m ural
m onum ents to John B ushnell esq. 1816; Ann G oddard,
1847; John G am m on, 1828, and to the fam ily of
H um frey, 1788-1860; and floor-stones in scribed to
Thom as P lott M .A. fellow of Pem broke College, Oxon,
c. 1720; M artha, d au gh ter of Jam es Baker Jauno, 1720,
and to the fam ily of Slade, 1757-1820; in the north
aisle is a sm all in scription on brass to “ John Casberde,
one of the good benefactors to th is ch urch ,” c. 1500,
and a large floor slab in the tower retain s a sim ilar
one, m uch worn, to John Bouldre, 1499- Of other
an tiquities belonging to th e church m ay be m entioned
two chained books, now in a glass oak-fram ed case,
presented by Mrs. L . G . Slade, attach ed to a desk in
the chancel, viz. the Paraphrase of E rasm us on the
New T estam en t, ordered b y E dw ard V I. in 1547, to
be placed in every parish church, and Bishop Jew el’ s
Defence of his A pology for th e C h urch of England,
placed in churches by direction of Archbishop Parker,
together w ith the controversy w ith Dr. H arding, arising
out of his fam ous serm on at S t. Paul’s Cross in 1560;
these volumes were very carefu lly restored and rebound
in London in 1891 at the sole cost of the late Mr.
W. H. Richardson M .A ., F .S .A . of Blew bury (d. 1909),
and
have the
chains quite com plete by which
they w ere probably attached to a le c te rn ; A sh ­
m ole, however, says th a t in his tim e tw o largo
books were chained to the m onum ent of S ir John
and Dame A lice Daunce, mentioned a b o v e: the
fine church chest, stron gly bound w ith iron straps,
is probably Decorated ; there is also in the chancel a
good oak screen of Perpendicular date, and tw o ancient
prayer desk s: in 1886 two recum bent stone effigies of
a k n ig h t and lady, probably of the 15th cent, now
m uch worn and long lyin g on the east side of the
south porch, were rem oved to the north side of the
churchyard next to the tower. Th e p artial restoration
of the ch urch was carried out durin g the period
1877-82 under th e direction of the late M r. Edwin
Dolby, architect, of A b in g d o n : an ancient aum bry
behind th e altar table was also refitted, a reredos of
carved alabaster set up and the north porch rebuilt,
at a total cost of £3,000 : the north aisle was restored
and an organ introduced in 1882: th e restoration, of
the south aisle, transept, and south-east chapel, in
; m em ory of th e Rev. John H ugh Burgess, vicar 1871-90,
j was effected in 1891, under the direction of Mr. J.
; Oldrid S cott F .S .A . architect, at a total cost of £ 1,14 6 ,
1 and in 1906 the tower was restored, 2 bells added and
! the tower screen erected, at a total cost of £420, under
the sam e a rc h itec t: a com m union table of carved oak,
w ith a slab of Belgian m arble, for use in the south
chapel, has been presented by th e Rev. W. C. SayerM ilward M .A. rector of St. Leonards, W allingford,
1873-91; th e communion plate includes a silver chalice
and paten dated 1663, and a paten of silver m ade in
1725-6, and given by M althus’s tru stees: there are 300
sittin gs. The register dates from the year 1588. Th e
livin g is a vicarage, net yearly v alu e £242, w ith resi­
dence, in the g ift of the Bishop of Oxford, and held
since 1913 by th e Rev. A lfred Jackson M .A . of W adham
C ollege, Oxford.
B lew bu ry v'as an cien tly a priest-prebend attached to
the cath edral ch urch of Salisbury and was assessed in
1226 at 40 m arks, and in 1534 a t £ 5 4 ; the rig h t of
nom ination was claim ed both by the Crown and by the
K n igh ts of S t. John of Jerusalem , or Hospitallers, and
the nam es of 28 prebendaries variously nom inated are
on r e c o r d : the rig h t of collation rested w ith the
bish op: by the A ct 33 Hen. V III. (1541-2), the estate
form in g th e prebend was m erged in the separate estates
belonging to the See of S alisb ury and the prebend dis­
solved.
Th e ch urch , tog eth er w ith 5 virgates (150
acres) of land, was held at the tim e of the Domesday
su rvey by W illiam B e lfo u : the advowson was sub­
sequently given to th e K n igh ts T em plars in 1218 by
Tho. de Sandford, cham berlain to K in g John, and it
was held a t a later period by the prebendaries of B lew ­
bury. Th e nam es of 23 vicars are known, and am ong
the past curates m ay be m entioned the Rev. Morgan
Jones
(c.
1780-1820),
an
eccen tric and m iserly
ch aracter, who was in charge here durin g the vicariate
of the Rev. John Keble M .A . and who is said to have
died w orth about £40,000.
Th e W esleyan chapel, b uilt in 1869, on the site of a
form er chapel, is an edifice of brick w ith stone dress­
ings, in a sim ple style of G othic, from designs by the
late Mr. W . H. Woodman, of R ea d in g ; John W esley
visited B lew bu ry tw ice in 1746 and once in 1750 : there
is also a P rim itive M ethodist ch ap el; the old Q uakers’
chapel w hich stood a little south-w est of B lew bu ry farm ,
in w hat is now an orchard, was rem oved d a rin g tho
last century.