CONCLUSION
Whatever method can be devised for the prevention of the vanishing of
England's chief characteristics are worthy of consideration. First
there must be the continued education of the English people in the
appreciation of ancient buildings and other relics of antiquity. We
must learn to love them, or we shall not care to preserve them. An
ignorant squire or foolish landowner may destroy in a day some
priceless object of antiquity which can never be replaced. Too often
it is the agent who is to blame. Squires are very much in the hands of
their agents, and leave much to them to decide and carry out. When
consulted they do not take the trouble to inspect the threatened
building, and merely confirm the suggestions of the agents. Estate
agents, above all people, need education in order that the destruction
of much that is precious may be averted.
The Government has done well in appointing commissions for England,
Scotland, and Wales to inquire into and report on the condition of
ancient monuments, but we lag behind many other countries in the task
of protecting and preserving the memorials of the past.
In France national monuments of historic or artistic interest are
scheduled under the direction of the Minister of Public Instruction
and Fine Arts. In cases in which a monument is owned by a private
individual, it usually may not be scheduled without the consent of the
owner, but if his consent is withheld the State Minister is empowered
to purchase compulsorily. No monument so scheduled may be destroyed or
subjected to works of restoration, repair, or alteration without the
consent of the Minister, nor may new buildings be annexed to it
without permission from the same quarter. Generally speaking, the
Minister is advised by a commission of historical monuments,
consisting of leading officials connected with fine arts, public
buildings, and museums. Such a commission has existed since 1837, and
very considerable sums of public money have been set apart to enable
it to carry on its work. In 1879 a classification of some 2500
national monuments was made, and this classification has been adopted
in the present law. It includes megalithic remains, classical remains,
and medieval, Renaissance, and modern buildings and ruins.[63]
[63] A paper read by Mr. Nigel Bond, Secretary of the National
Trust, at a meeting of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian
Field Club, to which paper the writer is indebted for the
subsequent account of the proceeding's of foreign governments with
regard to the preservation of their ancient monuments.
We do not suggest that in England we should imitate the very drastic
restorations to which some of the French abbeys and historic buildings
are subjected. The authorities have erred greatly in destroying so
much original work and their restorations, as in the case of Mont St.
Michel, have been practically a rebuilding.
The Belgian people appear to have realized for a very long time the
importance of preserving their historic and artistic treasures. By a
royal decree of 1824 bodies in charge of church temporalities are
reminded that they are managers merely, and while they are urged to
undertake in good time the simple repairs that are needed for the
preservation of the buildings in their charge, they are strictly
forbidden to demolish any ecclesiastical building without authority
from the Ministry which deals with the subject of the fine arts. By
the same decree they are likewise forbidden to alienate works of art
or historical monuments placed in churches. Nine years later, in 1835,
in view of the importance of assuring the preservation of all national
monuments remarkable for their antiquity, their association, or their
artistic value, another decree was issued constituting a Royal
Commission for the purpose of advising as to the repairs required by
such monuments. Nearly 200,000 francs are annually voted for
expenditure for these purposes. The strict application of these
precautionary measures has allowed a number of monuments of the
highest interest in their relation to art and archæology to be
protected and defended, but it does not appear that the Government
controls in any way those monuments which are in the hands of private
persons.[64]
[64] _Ibid._
In Holland public money to the extent of five or six thousand pounds a
year is spent on preserving and maintaining national monuments and
buildings of antiquarian and architectural interest. In Germany steps
are being taken which we might follow with advantage in this country,
to control and limit the disfigurement of landscapes by advertisement
hoardings.
A passage from the ministerial order of 1884 with reference to the
restoration of churches may be justly quoted:--
"If the restoration of a public building is to be completely
successful, it is absolutely essential that the person who directs
it should combine with an enlightened æsthetic sense an artistic
capacity in a high degree, and, moreover, be deeply imbued with
feelings of veneration for all that has come down to us from
ancient times. If a restoration is carried out without any real
comprehension of the laws of architecture, the result can only be
a production of common and dreary artificiality, recognizable
perhaps as belonging to one of the architectural styles, but
wanting the stamp of true art, and, therefore, incapable of
awakening the enthusiasm of the spectator."
And again:--
"In consequence of the removal or disfigurement of monuments which
have been erected during the course of centuries--monuments which
served, as it were, as documents of the historical development of
past periods of culture, which have, moreover, a double interest
and value if left undisturbed on the spot where they were
originally erected--the sympathy of congregations with the
history of their church is diminished, and, a still more
lamentable consequence, a number of objects of priceless artistic
value destroyed or squandered, whereby the property of the church
suffers a serious loss."
How much richer might we be here in England if only our central
authorities had in the past circulated these admirable doctrines!
Very wisely has the Danish Government prohibited the removal of stones
from monuments of historic interest for utilitarian purposes, such as
is causing the rapid disappearance of the remains on Dartmoor in this
country; and the Greeks have stringent regulations to ensure the
preservation of antiquities, which are regarded as national property,
and may on no account be damaged either by owner or lessee. It has
actually been found necessary to forbid the construction of limekilns
nearer than two miles from any ancient ruins, in order to remove the
temptation for the filching of stones. In Italy there are stringent
laws for the protection of historical and ancient monuments.
Road-mending is a cause of much destruction of antiquarian objects in
all countries, even in Italy, where the law has been invoked to
protect ancient monuments from the highway authorities.
We need not record the legal enactments of other Governments, so
admirably summarized by Mr. Bond in his paper read before the Dorset
Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club. We see what other
countries much poorer than our own are doing to protect their national
treasures, and though the English Government has been slow in
realizing the importance of the ancient monuments of this country, we
believe that it is inclined to move in the right direction, and to do
its utmost to preserve those that have hitherto escaped the attacks of
the iconoclasts, and the heedlessness and stupidity of the Gallios
"who care for none of these things."
When an old building is hopelessly dilapidated, what methods can be
devised for its restoration and preservation? To pull it down and
rebuild it is to destroy its historical associations and to make it
practically a new structure. Happily science has recently discovered a
new method for the preserving of these old buildings without
destroying them, and this good angel is the grouting machine, the
invention of Mr. James Greathead, which has been the means of
preventing much of vanishing England. Grout, we understand, is a
mixture of cement, sand, and water, and the process of grouting was
probably not unknown to the Romans. But the grouting machine is a
modern invention, and it has only been applied to ancient buildings
during the last six or seven years.[65] It is unnecessary to describe
its mechanism, but its admirable results may be summarized. Suppose an
old building shows alarming cracks. By compressed air you blow out the
old decayed mortar, and then damping the masonry by the injection of
water, you insert the nozzle of the machine and force the grout into
the cracks and cavities, and soon the whole mass of decayed masonry is
cemented together and is as sound as ever it was. This method has been
successfully applied to Winchester Cathedral, the old walls of
Chester, and to various churches and towers. It in no way destroys the
characteristics and features of the building, the weatherworn surfaces
of the old stones, their cracks and deformations, and even the moss
and lichen which time has planted on them need not be disturbed.
Pointing is of no avail to preserve a building, as it only enters an
inch or two in depth. Underpinning is dangerous if the building be
badly cracked, and may cause collapse. But if you shore the structure
with timber, and then weld its stones together by applying the
grouting machine, you turn the whole mass of masonry into a monolith,
and can then strengthen the foundations in any way that may be found
necessary. The following story of the saving of an old church, as told
by Mr. Fox, proclaims the merits of this scientific invention better
than any description can possibly do:--
"The ancient church of Corhampton, near Bishops Waltham, in
Hampshire, is an instance. This Saxon church, 1300 years old, was
in a sadly dilapidated condition. In the west gable there were
large cracks, one from the ridge to the ground, another nearer the
side wall, both wide enough for a man's arm to enter; whilst at
the north-west angle the Saxon work threatened to fall bodily off.
The mortar of the walls had perished through age, and the ivy had
penetrated into the interior of the church in every direction. It
would have been unsafe to attempt any examination of the
foundations for fear of bringing down the whole fabric;
consequently the grouting machine was applied all over the
building. The grout escaped at every point, and it occupied the
attention of the masons both inside and outside to stop it
promptly by plastering clay on to the openings from which it was
running.
"After the operation had been completed and the clay was removed,
the interior was found to be completely filled with cement set
very hard; and sufficient depth having been left for fixing the
flint work outside and tiling inside, the result was that no trace
of the crack was visible, and the walls were stronger and better
than they had ever been before. Subsequent steps were then taken
to examine and, where necessary, to underpin the walls, and the
church is saved, as the vicar, the Rev. H. Churton, said, 'all
without moving one of the Saxon "long and short" stones.'"
[65] A full account of this useful invention was given in the
_Times_ Engineering Supplement, March 18th, 1908, by Mr. Francis
Fox, M. Inst. C.E.
In our chapter on the delightful and picturesque old bridges that form
such beautiful features of our English landscapes, we deplored the
destruction now going on owing to the heavy traction-engines which
some of them have to bear and the rush and vibration of motor-cars
which cause the decay of the mortar and injure their stability. Many
of these old bridges, once only wide enough for pack-horses to cross,
then widened for the accommodation of coaches, beautiful and graceful
in every way, across which Cavaliers rode to fight the Roundheads, and
were alive with traffic in the old coaching days, have been pulled
down and replaced by the hideous iron-girder arrangements which now
disfigure so many of our streams and rivers. In future, owing to this
wonderful invention of the grouting machine, these old bridges can be
saved and made strong enough to last another five hundred years. Mr.
Fox tells us that an old Westmoreland bridge in a very bad condition
has been so preserved, and that the celebrated "Auld Brig o' Ayr" has
been saved from destruction by this means. A wider knowledge of the
beneficial effects of this wonderful machine would be of invaluable
service to the country, and prevent the passing away of much that in
these pages we have mourned. By this means we may be able to preserve
our old and decaying buildings for many centuries, and hand down to
posterity what Ruskin called the great entail of beauty bequeathed to
us.
Vanishing England has a sad and melancholy sound. Nevertheless, the
examples we have given of the historic buildings, and the beauties of
our towns and villages, prove that all has not yet disappeared which
appeals to the heart and intellect of the educated Englishman. And
oftentimes the poor and unlearned appreciate the relics that remain
with quite as much keenness as their richer neighbours. A world
without beauty is a world without hope. To check vandalism, to stay
the hand of the iconoclast and destroyer, to prevent the invasion and
conquest of the beauties bequeathed to us by our forefathers by the
reckless and ever-engrossing commercial and utilitarian spirit of the
age, are some of the objects of our book, which may be useful in
helping to preserve some of the links that connect our own times with
the England of the past, and in increasing the appreciation of the
treasures that remain by the Englishmen of to-day.
INDEX
Abbey towns, 210-29
Abbot's Ann, 381
---- Hospital, Guildford, 343
Abingdon, 278
---- bridge, 320
---- hospital, 344
---- archives of, 365
Age, a progressive, 2
Albans, St., Abbey, 212
---- inn at, 254
Aldeburgh, 18
Aldermaston, 196, 381
Alfriston, 256
Allington Castle, 124
Alnwick, 31
Almshouses, 333-48
Almsmen's liveries, 346
American rapacity, 6-7, 164, 183
Ancient Monuments Commission, 392
_Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ on Castles, 116
Armour, 184
Art treasures dispersed, 5
Ashbury camp, 208
Atleburgh, Norfolk, 147
Avebury, stone circle at, 207
---- manor-house, 180
Aylesbury, Vale of, 86, 91
---- inn at, 256
Bainbridge, inn at, 254
Banbury, 83
Barkham, 148
Barnard Castle, 119
Barrington Court, 189
Bartholomew's, St., Priory, 351-9
Bath, city of, 220
Beauty of English scenery vanishing, 383-91
Berkeley Castle, 118
Berwick-on-Tweed, 29, 31
Beverley, 303, 310
Bewcastle Cross, 288
Bledlow Crosses, 303
Bodiam Castle, 125
Bonfires of old deeds, 366
Bosham, 16
Bournemouth, 17
Bowthorpe, 139
Boxford, 145
Bradford-on-Avon, 142, 328
Branks, 315
Bray, Jesus Hospital at, 340
Bridges, destruction of, 10
---- old, 318-32
Bridgwater Bay, 17
Bridlington, 17
Bristol Cathedral, 220
Burford, 94
Burgh-next-Walton, 17
Burgh Castle, 112
Caister Castle, 126
Canals, 389
Canterbury Cathedral, 211
---- inns at, 248
Capel, Surrey, 82
Castles, old, 111-32
Cathedral cities, 210-29
Caversham bridge, 322
Chalfont St. Giles, 88
Charms of villages, 67
Chester, 50
Chests, church, 159
Chests in houses, 196
Chichester, 164
---- hospital at, 335
Chingford, Essex, 141
Chipping Campden, 345
Chipping monuments, 164
Church, a painted, 158
---- furniture, 158
---- plate, 160
Churches, Vanishing or Vanished, 133-65
Churchwarden's account-books, 366
Cinque Ports, 23
Cirencester, 270
Clipping churches, 378
Clock at Wells, 214
Cloth Fair, Smithfield, 356
Coast erosion, 15-27
Coastguards, their uses, 27
Cobham, 336
Coleshill bridge, 326
Colston Bassett, 139
Commonwealth, spoliation during the, 148, 220
Compton Wynyates, 174
Conway, 31
Corhampton church, 397
Cornwall, prehistoric remains in, 204
Corsham, 345
Cottages, beauties of old, 68, 108
Covehithe, 17
Coventry, 58, 255, 345
Cowper at Weston, 170
Cranbrook registers, 372
Crane bridge, Salisbury, 327
Cromer, 17
Crosses, 283-305
---- wayside, 293
---- market, 293
---- boundary, 300
---- at Cross-roads and Holy Wells, 300
---- sanctuary, 303
---- as guide-posts, 303
Crowhurst, 181
Croyland bridge, 324
Cucking stool, 314
Curious entries in registers, 373
Customs that are vanishing, 375-82
Deal, 86
Derby, West, stocks restored, 312
Devizes, inn at, 260
Dickens, C., and inns, 242
Disappearance of England, 15-27
Documents, disappearance of old, 364-74
Dover Castle, 117
Dowsing, W., spoliator, 148
Dunwich, 22
Eashing bridge, 327
Eastbourne, 17
Easter customs, 379
Easton Bavent, 17
Edwardian castles, 123
Elizabethan house, an, 104, 178
Ely fair, 363
---- registry plundered, 369
England, disappearance of, 15-27
Essex, 100
Estate agents, 10
Evesham, 223
Ewelme, 345
Exeter town hall, 280
Experience, a weird, 171
Fairs, vanishing, 349-63
Fastolfe, Sir John, 126
Felixstowe, 18
Fig Sunday, 379
Fires in houses, 166
Fishermen's Hospital, 342
Fitzstephen on Smithfield Fair, 352
Flagon, a remarkable, 194
Football in streets, 378
Forests destroyed, 386
Foreign governments and monuments, 392-5
Friday, Good, customs on, 379
Furniture, old, 196
---- church, 158
Galleting, 78
Garden cities, 384
Gates of Chester, 51
Geffery Almshouses, 337
Gibbet-irons, 316
Glastonbury, 147, 250
---- powder horn found at, 192
Gloucester, 252
Goodening custom, 377
Gorleston, 45
Gosforth Cross, 289
Grantham, inns at, 240
---- crosses at, 298
Greenwich, the "Ship" at, 260
Grouting machine, 396
Guildford, 343
Guildhalls, 268
Guildhall at Lynn, 38
Gundulf, a builder of castles, 115
Hall, Bishop, his palace, 246
Halton Cross, 291
Hampton, 17
Happisburgh, 17
Hardy, T., on restoration, 156
Hartwell House, 196
Heckfield, 160
Herne Bay, 17
Hever Castle, 124
Higham Ferrers, 335
_Hints to Churchwardens_, 153
Holinshed quoted, 177, 191
Holman Hunt, Mr., on bridges, 318
Honiton Fair, 360
Hornby Cross, 292
Horsham slates, 80
Horsmonden, Kent, 82
Hospitals, old, 333-48
Houses, old, 104, 171
---- destroyed, 5
---- half-timber, 57, 74, 107
Hungate, St. Peter, Norwich, 140
Hungerford, 308, 314
Huntingdon, inn at, 240
---- bridge at, 327
Ilsley, West, sheep fair, 362
Inns, signs of, 262
---- old, 230-65
---- retired from business, 259
---- at Banbury, 84
Intwood, Norfolk, 140
Ipswich, 45
Irving, Washington, on Inns, 234
Ivy, evils of, 141
Jessop, spoliator, 150
Jousts at Smithfield, 353
Kent bridges, 326
Keswick, Norfolk, 140
Kilnsea, 17, 21
Kirby Bedon, 139
Kirkstead, 141
Leeds Cross, 290
---- Castle, 123
Leominster, 314
Levellers at Burford, 97
Lichgate at Chalfont, 90
Links with past severed, 3
Liscombe, Dorset, 140
Littleport, 86
Llanrwst bridge, 320
Llanwddyn vale destroyed, 384
London, vanishing, 11
---- churches, 135
---- growth of, 70
---- Inns, 238
---- Livery Companies' Almshouses, 338
---- Paul's Cross, 304
---- St. Bartholomew's Fair, 351-9
---- water supply threatens a village, 385
Lowestoft, 150
Lynn Bay, 17
Lynn Regis, 35, 342
Mab's Cross, Wigan, 304
Maidstone, 280
Maidenhead bridge, 320
Maldon, 103
Manor-houses, 177
Mansions, old, 166-202
Marlborough, inn at, 259
Martyrs burnt at Smithfield, 353
Megalithic remains, 203
Memory, folk, instance of, 208
Menhirs, 203, 204
Merchant Guilds, 267
Milton's Cottage, 88
"Mischief, the Load of," 262
Monmouthshire castles, 128
Mothering Sunday, 379
_Mottes_, Norman, 111, 115
Mumming at Christmas, 376
Municipal buildings, old, 266-82
National Trust for the Protection of Places of Historic Interest, 141,
189, 278, 281, 386
Newbury, stocks at, 309
---- town hall, 274
Newcastle, 111
---- walls, 34
New Forest partly destroyed, 386
Newton-by-Corton, 17
Norham Castle, 120
Norton St. Philip, 255
Nottingham Goose Fair, 360
Norwich, 244, 271
---- hospitals at, 342
Ockwells, Berks, 187
Olney bridge, 330
Orford Castle, 118
Oundle, 338
Oxford, 70
---- St. Giles's Fair, 360
Palimpsest brasses, 147
Palm Sunday customs, 379
Pakefield, 17
Paston family, 126, 140, 246
Penshurst, 181
Pevensey Castle, 112
Plaster, the use of, 180
Plough Monday, 378
Pontefract Castle, 121
Poole, 17
Porchester Castle, 112
Ports and harbours, 84
Portsmouth, 86
Poulton-in-the-Fylde, 311
Pounds, 312
Prehistoric remains, destruction of, 203-9
Preservation of registers, 374
Progress, 2
Punishments, old-time, 306-17
Quainton, Bucks, 337
Radcot bridge, 323
Ranton, house at, 107
---- priory, 138
Ravensburgh, 20, 21
Reading, guild hall at, 274
---- Fair, 360
Rebels' heads on gateways, 32
Reculver, 23
Reformation, iconoclasm at, 145, 218
Register books, parish, 368
Restoration, evils of, 9, 10, 151, 153, 156, 220
Richard II., murder of, 121
Richmond, 111, 260
Ringstead, 140
Rochester, 35, 248
Rollright stones, 204
Roman fortresses, 114
Rood-screens removed, 158
Roudham, 140
Rows at Yarmouth, 42
---- ---- Portsmouth, 86
Ruskin, 3, 67, 198, 200
Ruthwell Cross, 289
Rye, 60
Saffron Walden, 100
Salisbury, halls of guilds at, 281
Sandwich, 34
St. Albans Cathedral, 212
---- inn at, 254
St. Audrey's laces, 363
St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield, 351-9
St. Margaret's Bay, 17
Salisbury, halls of guilds at, 281, 294
Sandwich, 34
Saxon churches, 144
Scenery, vanishing of English, 3, 383-91
Scold's bridle, 315
Sea-serpent at Heybridge, 104
Selsea, 23
"Seven Stars" at Manchester, 252
Shingle, flow of, 26
Shrewsbury, 52, 270
Shrivenham, Berks, 165
Shrovetide customs, 378
Signboards, 264
Sieges of towns, 32
Simnels, 379
Skegness, 21
Skipton, 310
Smithfield Fair, 351-9
Smuggling, 258
Society for Protection of Ancient Buildings, 141, 320, 326
Somerset, Duke of, spoliator, 146
Somerset crosses, 296
Sonning bridges, 318
Southport, 16
Southwell, inn at, 144
Southwold, 17, 18
Staircases, old, 196
Staffordshire churches, 136
Stamford, hospitals at, 336
Stilton, inn at, 243
Stocks, 306-17
-- in literature, 307
Stonehenge, 205
Storeys, projecting, 72
Stourbridge Fair, 362
Stow Green Fair, 362
Strategic position of castles, 114
Streets and lanes, in, 67-110
Stump Cross, 304
Suffolk coast, 20
Surrey cottages, 76
Sussex coast, 17
Sussex, Robert, Earl of, spoliator, 147
Swallowfield Park, 194
_Tancred_, description of an inn, 236
Taunton Castle, 129
Tewkesbury, inns at, 252
Thame, 91, 367
Thatch for roofing, 78
Thorpe-in-the-Fields, 139
Tile-hung cottages, 77
Tournaments at Smithfield, 353
Towns, old walled, 28-66
---- abbey, 210-29
---- decayed, 266
---- halls, 266-82
Turpin's ride to York, 240
Tyneside, coast erosion at, 21
Udimore, Sussex, 94
Uxbridge, inn at, 256
Viking legends, 290, 291
Walberswick, Suffolk, 148
Walled towns, old, 28-66
Walls, city, destroyed, 12
Wallingford, 276, 313
Warwick, 70, 159
Wash, land gaining on sea, 16
Water-clock, 196
Well customs, 381
Wells, cross at, 297
Wells Cathedral, 213-16
Welsh castles, 130
Weston house, 170
Whipping-posts, 306-17
White Horse Hill, 206
Whitewash, the era of, 157
Whittenham Clumps, 207
Whittenham, Little, 152
Whitling church, 139
Whittington College, 338
Winchester, St. Cross, 334
Winchmore Hill Woods, destroyed, 386
Window tax, 180
Winster, 278
Witney Butter Cross, 297
Wirral, Cheshire, 25
Wokingham, 277
---- Lucas's Hospital at, 340
Wood, Anthony, at Thame, 93
Wymondham, 256, 297
Yarmouth, 17, 40, 147, 342
York, 48
---- walls of, 34
Yorkshire coast, 17
Ypres Tower, Rye, 64