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A B IN G D O N .

B E R K S H IR E .

fram ed, the upper floor of w hich appears to have been
a dorm itory for g u e s t s ; at the w est end of th is, placed
transversely, is another block, reb u ilt in the Decorated
period, w ith walls of g rea t th ickn ess, traceried w in­
dows, and m assive b u ttre s s e s ; the first floor has a
lo fty open-tim bered roof, and contains a fine E arly
E n glish fireplace, w ith a hood carried on gracefu l shafts
w ith foliated capitals, and a quite unique c h im n ey; in
an adjoining block, extending to a backwater of the
T ham es, is a spacious v a u lted 'u n d ercro ft, w ith groining
springing from a cen tral s h a ft: in 1895 the Corporation
acquired possession of these b uildin gs under a lease
from the C h a rity T rustees, and have since p u t them
in good rep a ir; the work was carried out under the
direction of Mr. H arry Redfern, arch itect, of London,
and the buildings are now open to public in sp ectio n :
H enry I. (B eauclerc), G eoffrey of M onm outh, the
C hronicler (1100-54) and Robert de B eaum ont, E arl of
L eicester and Hereford, and C h ief J u sticia r of England
in 1155, w ere studen ts here, and E gelw yn , bishop of
D urham (1056-71), died w hile im prisoned in the abbey
in 1071.
S t. H elen's church, standing close to the river, sou th ­
w est of th e town, is a spacious edifice chiefly in the
Perpendicular style, consisting of five parallel aisles of
unequal len gth and breadth, nam ed as follows, be­
gin n in g from the north— Jesus aisle, Our L a d y’ s aisle,
S t. H elen’ s aisle, S t. C ath arin e’s aisle and the Holy
C ross a is le ; a tower and spire on the north-east, w ith
a porch in the low er stage, vestry on the south-east,
and a sm all chapel or ch an try w est of th e tow er; the
church was com p letely restored in 1873, under the
direction of Mr. W oodyer, at a cost of £7,021, when
the pews and galleries w ere rem oved, the nave and
chancel roof renew ed in open tim b er w ork and con­
siderably h eig h te n ed ; the chancel was also newly in ­
closed by a stone screen on the north side, and
separated from th e nave by a lo fty and elaborate screen
of oak, and in 1897 a handsom e 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 b er ceiling, rich ly
p ainted w ith figures of k in gs, prophets and saints,
given by Nicholas Gold, one of th e founders of the
fratern ity of the H oly C r o s s ; and an altar of alabaster,
w ith an upper slab of jasper also designed by G . F.
Bodley esq. and erected as a m em orial to the Rev.
R. C. F . G riffith M .A . vicar 1885-96 : th e south aisles,
one of which was b u ilt in 1539» f ° r
use
a g u ^ld,
are rather la ter, b ut of th e same ch aracter, as is also
the south porch, w hich has a good doorway and a
canopied niche, recen tly filled w ith a figure of St.
C atharin e, the buttresses bein g surm ounted w ith
figures of St. D unstan and St. iE th elw o ld : the tower
is E arly E n glish and has a plain parapet w ith crocheted
angle tu rre ts, from w ith in w hich flying buttresses sup­
port a ta ll octagonal sp ire; it contains a peal of 10
bells, rem arkab le for th eir exceeding sweetness of tone,
and a clo ck ; th e restoration of th e tow er and spire
was com pleted on M ay 1st, 1886, under the superin­
tendence of J. O ldrid S cott, a rc h ite c t; at the same
tim e the three porches were restored and figures placed
in the vacan t n ich es; th e cost of rep airin g the E arly
E nglish north porch being defrayed by C h rist’ s H os­
pital ; th e w est porch now bears in a niche a figure
of S t. Helen, holding in her arm s a m odel of the
church, and surm ounting th e buttresses are the sym ­
bols of the E van gelists, carved in sto n e ; a large new
window was placed in the bap tistery by Mrs. G eorge
G ibbs in m em ory of her husband, two large niches on
each side of the'w in do w were also repaired and statues
of S t. John the B ap tist and S t. Ph ilip the Deacon,
executed b y N icholls, placed in th e m ; the whole cost
exceeded £2,700 ; the east and w est windows, both of
w hich are of m odern date, have been filled w ith stained
g la s s ; the form er as a m em orial to Thom as H yde esq.
and the la tte r to h is brother, John Hyde esq. and there
are others to G eorge Bowes Morland esq. E dw ard Morland esq. A lfred D. B artlett esq. and to M rs. G riffith,
wife of the Rev. R obert C harles Francis G riffith M .A.
vicar 1885-96; one erected by the la te M iss K en t to her
father and brother, and another by th e teachers and
children of the Sunday sch ool; in th e north aisle, be­
neath a feathered arch, is the altar tom b of John
R oysse, founder of Abingdon school, who died 27 July,
15 7 1; the upper slab, b rough t by h is direction from
his garden in London, served, until 1873, as a table,
from which bread was distrib uted every Sunday, in
accordance w ith his will, to 12 poor persons ; it beajs
the shield of arm s— gules, a griffin segreant arg. w ith
crest and m antling— form erly placed above i t ; and also
an inscribed brass plate affixed on the restoration of
th e tom b bv the past and then present scholars in

[ k e l l y ’s

1873 ; in the north aisle is a huge m arble m onum ent
by H ickey, w ith portrait figures and busts, erected
pursuant to the w ill of M rs. E lizabeth H awkins, ob.
M ay 22, 1786, and com m em orating the deceased, her
relatives, and the Rev. W alter H arte, vice-prin cipal
of St. M ary H all, O xford, who died in 1768, on the
eve of th eir intended m a r r ia g e ; here also is a sm all
square altar tom b, repaired by C h rist’s H ospital in
1826 and inscribed to R ich ard C urtain e, gen t. “ a
principal m agistrate of th is Corporation,” b uried July
18, 1643 ; and at the west end of S t. C atharin e’s aisle
is a brass, within a large slab of Caen stone, to
G alfrid u s (G eoffrey) Barbour, m erchant, ob. A p ril 21,
1417, w ith his effigy in th e attitu d e of p r a y e r ; he was
for some tim e b aiiiff of B ristol and was ch ief bene­
factor to th is tow n ; h is rem ains, rem oved from the
abbey on its dissolution, were re-interred in this
c h u r c h ; in the church was also buried H enry L angley
D.D. m aster of Pem broke College, Oxford, d. 10 Sept.
1679; there is a brass to W illiam H eyward S .T .D .
vicar, ob. 1501, w ith his effigy in academ ic d ress; in
the choir vestry is a p ortrait, on panel, of M r. W illiam
Lee, five tim es m ayor of Abingdon, who died in 1637,
aged 92; accom panying the portrait is a genealogical
ch art, and an inscription, statin g th at he had in his
lifetim e issue from his loins tw o hundred, lack in g but
th ree; in St. C ath arin e’s aisle near th e organ is now
placed a chained bible, dated 1611; several other
chained books rem ain in the church, but have been
m uch dam aged by d a m p ; in the first south aisle is a
m ural tab let to' E dm und, you n gest son of Lionel
Bostock, ob. A u g. 3, 1605, and over it a quartered
shield of arm s; near it, on a fram ed wood panel are
painted the arm s of O liver Hide, 15^5 ’ and Thom asine
his w ife, 1568; on the w est w all is a sm all brass in ­
scription to Thom as M ayott, twice m ayor, ob. M ay 30,
1627; the p ulpit is Jacobean, and bears in panels the
le g e n d : “ ad haec idoneus q uis,” and th e date 1636;
there are seven seats set apart for the Corporation, the
forem ost of w hich is flanked by figures of the lion and
unicorn, carved in wood and supporting shields ; h ung
in th e clergy vestry are p ortraits of some Bishops of
the Diocese and six form er v ic a r s ; th e organ, inclosed
in a panelled case of carved oak, displays a quain t figure
of D avid, carved in wood, w ith gilded harp and crown ;
the font, of w hite m arble, was executed by the late
Mr. H. P. Peym an, of Abingdon, and shown in the
G reat E xhibition of 1851; the oak canopy dated 1643
was restored in 1902 and is surm ounted by a figure of
an angel bearing the Book of L ife, carved b y A . Hodge
es q .; in 1644-5, the P arliam en tary arm y, under
G eneral W aller, w hile quartered here, used the north
aisle as a sta b le; am ong the vicars m ay be m entioned
E th elm arus or A ym er de Valence, half brother to Henry
I. and afterw ards Bishop of W in ch ester; there are 1,200
sittin g s, m ost of w hich are free. Th e church was
wholly closed against in term en ts June 27, 1856. Th e
register dates from the year 1538. T he livin g is a
vicarage, net yearly value £240, including residence,
with the rectory of St. N icolas, value £ 18 , in the gift
of th e Bishop of O xford, and held sine© 1914 by the
Rev. H enry Alexander Kennedy M .A. of T rin ity College,
Dublin, and chaplain to Abingdon u n io n ; a vicarage
house for the parish of St. Helen was erected in 1870
upon a site on the north side of A lb ert Park.
The church of St. N icholas, situated on the noTth
side of the M arket place, adjoining th e abbey gatew ay,
was b uilt, according to Dugdale, by N icholas de Coleham or Culham , prior, and afterw ards abbot of A b in g ­
don, between the years 1289 and 1307, although por­
tions of the w est front seem to indicate an earlier
origin, perhaps during the period 1200-20 ; traces of the
triple lan cet window, w hich origin ally lig h ted the west
front, are still visible, as well as of other sim ilar w in­
dows in the north w a ll; and it m ay therefore be con­
cluded th at the b uildin g existed at least 60 years before
the abbacy of de Coleham ; the church is a sm all stru c­
ture, consisting only of chancel and nave, a small
chantry, organ cham ber and vestry on the north and
an em battled western tower, containing 6 bells, cast in
October, 1741, b y A bel Rudhall, who received for the
work the five old bells and clappers, valued at
£ 141 ios. 4^d. and £70 is. io d . in c a s h ; a new clock
with quarter chimes was placed in position in 1887; the
tower is b uilt p artly upon the west w all, and is other­
wise supported from w ithin the church by two stone
piers or legs, standing clear of th e walls attached to i t ; in
the north side is a m instrels’ gallery and a singular square
stair turret, w ith a gabled roof and a small tria n g u la r
window ; the w est doorway, w ith its lateral arcading, is
a good exam ple of L a te Norm an work, b u t the rest of
the church as now existin g is chiefly P e rp en d icu la r: