building in and around Stamford, the visible results of which have
rendered the town so famous among generations of ecclesiologists and
students of architecture. St. Leonard’s Priory, already mentioned, which
had suffered severely during the Danish incursions, was rebuilt at this
time, and, judging by the remains of the nave of the Priory Church (which
is all that now remains), must have been a noble edifice. The west
front, the portion latest in date (_c._ 1190) of the existing fabric,
is one of the finest examples of its kind in the country. In the centre
of the lowest stage is a blocked doorway surmounted by a round arch of
four highly enriched orders. The arch is supported by groups of elegant
detached shafts, terminating in foliage caps of Early English character
and exquisite workmanship. On either side of this central door is another
smaller recess of similar character. Above, in the second stage, is
an arcade of seven round-headed arches with chevron ornament, three
being open and four blocked; while over this again, in the gable, is a
vesica-shaped moulded recess. Sad to relate, this beautiful old building
is now doing duty as a cart-shed!
Stamford is not rich to-day in architecture of the Norman style, and
St. Leonard’s Priory, a small portion of what remains of St. Paul’s
Church (now used as part of the Grammar School premises), an arch on
the west side of St. Mary’s Hill, known as the “Pack-horse Arch,” and
a few fragments of the original Hospital of SS. John and Thomas (now
incorporated in Lord Burghley’s Bedehouse at the south extremity of the
bridge), are perhaps all that we can assign to this period. We must not,
however, conclude from this that Stamford was ill equipped with churches
and religious foundations in the twelfth century. All Saints’, Water
Street, on the south side of the river, was erected in 1066, but has
now entirely disappeared, while the original church on the site of the
present St. Martin’s was begun in 1133. All Saints’ College (attached
to Crowland Abbey) and St. Mary’s Benedictine Nunnery, founded in 1109
and 1120 respectively; St. Giles’ Lazar House (1150); the House of the
Holy Sepulchre and Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene (of about the same date
and with some remains still visible in a private residence known as “The
Hermitage,” close to the George Hotel); St. Michael’s Priory (1156); the
Hospital of St. John the Baptist and St. Thomas of Canterbury (1170);
and a cell (_c._ 1200) of Peterborough Abbey, in Burghley Park (traces
of which are said to remain in the kitchens of Burghley House)—form
a list which, though incomplete, abundantly attests to the religious
activity which existed here at this time. All the above were in the
Northamptonshire part of the town. Of those on the north side, there
is documentary evidence that the Church of “All Saints in the Mercat”
(_i.e._ Market), so called to distinguish it from All Saints’, Water
Street, was in existence in 1170, while we may assert, on architectural
grounds, that the Church of St. Paul was also erected in the twelfth
century. Among buildings of slightly later date we may mention the
Hospital of St. Leger (1208), near St. Paul’s Church; St. Mary’s Priory,
Newstead, for Austinian Canons, founded in 1230 and situated about a
mile eastward of the town; and the Friary of SS. Mary and Nicholas, for
Dominicans (1230), on the south side of St. Leonard’s Street—of all of
which houses no traces now remain.
Of the Franciscan or Black Friary (_c._ 1250), near St. Paul’s Gate on
the eastern side of the town, a small postern gate may still be seen;
and of the Carmelite or White Friary (1260), situated a little to the
north-east of the preceding, the picturesque gateway which now gives
access to the grounds of the Stamford Infirmary but which is of later
date (_c._ 1350), is one of the architectural features of the town.
In 1292 the Gilbertine Canons of Sempringham, a community which has
a special interest as being the only order originating in England,
founded a Hall in St. Peter’s Street, on the west side of the town, a
few remains of which are still visible; and in 1335 an Austinian Friary
was established not far from the same spot, of which a fragment or two
remain, built into an almshouse hard by. The list here given, which,
it is to be feared, is somewhat in the nature of a catalogue, cannot
fail to establish the fact that Stamford was an important centre of
religious life during this period, an assertion which receives additional
corroboration when we examine further the records of the church-building
in the town.
Although Stamford can never have covered what we should now consider
a large area, she possessed as many as sixteen churches, a number now
reduced to six; and if those which remain may stand as a fair sample of
the whole, Stamford, in her halcyon days, must have been able to furnish
a veritable feast of architectural beauty. Of some of the churches which
no longer exist little is recorded, as, for example, All Saints’, Water
Street (already mentioned), St. Stephen’s, St. Thomas’, St. Michael’s
Cornstall, St. Mary’s Bennewerk (_i.e._ within the “works” or walls),
and Holy Trinity. These were all destroyed in 1461 under circumstances
to be noticed hereafter. St. Clement’s (near Clement’s Gate, now known
as Scotgate), St. Peter’s (situated on St. Peter’s Hill, and originally
belonging to Hambleton, Rutland), and St. Andrew’s (in Broad Street),
were removed under an Act of Parliament in 1553. The parishes belonging
to both the above groups of vanished churches were subsequently
apportioned to one or other of the surviving parish churches.
Perhaps this will be a convenient place at which to offer a few
remarks—necessarily very brief and inadequate—concerning the churches
which are still in existence, since no account of Stamford could be
deemed complete which did not include some notice, however imperfect, of
what many would deem her chief glory—namely, her Gothic architecture.
As a recent writer[89] has pointed out, it is essential that the student
of the Stamford churches should bear in mind that the memorable year
1461, when the town was laid waste by the Lancastrian army, witnessed the
partial or complete destruction of every church in the place; and that
when the work of restoration began, the materials were re-used so far as
was found possible, portions of those churches which it was decided not
to rebuild being in all probability worked into the fabric of those of
which the restoration was taken in hand. When we bear this fact in mind,
certain features found in some of the churches can be explained which
would otherwise be most difficult to account for.
_St. Mary’s Church_ occupies a striking position at the top of the
hill leading from the Welland Bridge to the centre of the town. The
thirteenth-century tower, surmounted by a beautiful fourteenth-century
spire of the broach type, forms what many would consider Stamford’s
fairest architectural possession. The arcading on the belfry and the
elegant tracery in the spire lights are among the many exquisite
features of this part of the building. The nave appears to have been
rebuilt in the Perpendicular Period, though the material is largely of
thirteenth-century date. The chancel is in the Early English style, while
the chapel on the north side, of fifteenth-century work, contains a fine
contemporary wooden roof which still preserves its original gilding and
decoration.
_All Saints’ Church_ is favoured by its open situation, having in this
respect a great advantage over the majority of the Stamford churches.
Though alluded to in a document of the twelfth century, as stated above,
no portion of the present fabric can be assigned to a date earlier than
the thirteenth century. Of the latter period are the nave and chancel
arcades and the remarkable arcading on the outside of the south and east
walls. The pillars of the south nave arcade are singularly beautiful,
having foliage caps surmounting banded, detached shafts. This church,
moreover, is rich in monumental brasses, one of which commemorates
William Browne (the restorer of this church in the fifteenth century) and
his wife. Of this William Browne we shall have occasion to speak when we
describe “Browne’s Hospital.”
_St. John’s Church_ is a strikingly uniform Perpendicular building, and
affords an admirable example of the style. It contains a well-preserved
oak screen as well as a good specimen of a timber roof, which retains
some of its original colouring and has carved figures of angels under the
principals. In the windows are some remains of fine old glass.
[Illustration: ST. MARY’S CHURCH AND HALL, STAMFORD.]
_St. George’s Church_ exemplifies better than any other what has been
said concerning the restoration of the Stamford churches after the 1461
havoc. Without this explanation a visitor would be sorely puzzled on
beholding a series of nave columns, each consisting of an Early English
base supporting an octagonal drum of Decorated date, above which is an
Early English cylindrical section, surmounted in its turn by another
octagonal portion and a cap, both of Decorated style. The church once
possessed a series of windows containing representations of King Edward
III. and the first Knights of the Garter, but unfortunately this glass,
which would have been of inestimable value and interest at the present
time, was destroyed during the Parliamentary wars.
_St. Michael’s Church_ is quite modern (consecrated in 1836), though it
occupies the site of an eleventh or twelfth century building. It contains
but little of interest to the ecclesiologist.
A portion (the south aisle) of the _Church of St. Paul_ survives, and has
been used since the sixteenth century as a class-room in connection with
the Grammar School. It is a curious and somewhat puzzling building, being
partly of thirteenth-century date, but having on the south wall a Norman
corbel-table. It also contains fragments of later date, a piscina and a
small heart shrine.
So far all the churches we have been considering are on the Lincolnshire
side of the river, but for the sake of completeness a word or two must
be said of the _Church of St. Martin_ in the Northamptonshire part of
the town, though this is strictly outside our subject. It is mainly
a fifteenth-century structure, though there are traces of the older
building which is known to have existed on this site. Some of the windows
contain some fine old glass which was brought here from Tattershall
Church and elsewhere; but perhaps the chief interest of the church to the
visitor is afforded by the series of tombs of the Cecil family, including
those of the great Elizabethan statesman, Lord Burghley, and of his
father and mother, as well as a very pretentious Italian marble monument
commemorating John, Earl of Exeter (_ob._ 1700), and his wife Anne. An
opportunity occurs here to correct an error which has found its way, by
repeated copyings, into almost all the printed accounts of this church,
to the effect that William Laud, who became Archbishop of Canterbury,
was once curate of St. Martin’s, Stamford, whereas the parish which
can in reality claim this distinction is Stanford (formerly known as
Stanford-on-Avon), near the borders of Warwickshire. Both places being in
the same county and diocese, the mistake is a not unnatural one.[90]
Before we pass from the consideration of Stamford’s architectural
features, we must briefly notice another class of institutions with which
the borough is exceptionally well endowed, namely, almshouses; and chief
among these is Browne’s Hospital or Bedehouse, founded towards the end
of the fifteenth century by that William Browne whose name has already
been mentioned as the rebuilder of All Saints’ Church. He was a wealthy
merchant of the Staple of Calais, born of an old Stamford family, and
was himself six times Mayor of the borough. The Bedehouse is under the
care of a Warden and Confrater, and accommodates ten men and two women.
The residential part of the establishment was rebuilt in 1870, but the
old dormitory (no longer so used), with the audit-room over it, the
cloisters, and the small chapel communicating with both, and extending
upwards to the full height of the building, remain as they were. The
oak screen, through which the chapel is entered from the west, is an
exquisite example of woodwork of the best Perpendicular Period, and
the windows of the chapel and audit-room contain some very beautiful
contemporary glass. The Bedehouse, moreover, possesses some fine and
valuable furniture and fittings, including a very curious almsbox
discovered in a wall during the 1870 restoration.
[Illustration: CHAPEL SCREEN, BROWNE’S HOSPITAL, STAMFORD.]
Hopkins’ Hospital, founded in 1770, contains in one of its walls a
gargoyle and part of a window, the only remaining fragments of the
Austinian Friary which stood close by.
Lord Burghley’s Bedehouse was founded by the great Lord Treasurer in
1597. It occupies the site of the old Hospital of St. John and St. Thomas
at the south end of the town bridge.
Fryer’s Almshouses, Truesdale’s Hospital, Snowden’s Hospital (or St.
John’s Callis), Williamson’s Hospital, and St. Peter’s Hospital (or All
Saints’ Callis), of which a mere enumeration must suffice, combine to
make a formidable list of such charitable institutions, which speaks
well for the philanthropy and public spirit of past generations of
Stamfordians.
After this somewhat lengthy architectural digression it is time to
resume the thread of Stamford’s general history where we left it at the
beginning of the church-building period. In 1206 the manorial rights of
Stamford were conveyed by the King to the Norman noble, William, Earl
Warren, whose name figures largely in the early history of the town. He
made considerable additions to the castle, and, according to tradition,
was responsible for instituting the famous “bull running” in the river
meadows below the Castle, which became a popular annual celebration.
The story goes that Earl Warren observed one day in the water meadows
an infuriated bull, which made its way into the town, scattering and
attacking in its wild career those of the inhabitants who were unlucky
enough to come in its way. The spectacle appears to have appealed to
Warren’s sporting instincts, and he thereupon made over the meadow to
the butchers of the town on condition that they provided a bull annually
on 13th November for a repetition of the pastime. It was not until 1839,
after a keen struggle between the public and the authorities lasting for
several years, that this ignoble “sport” was suppressed.
Earl Warren’s arms (checquy argent and azure), impaling the royal arms of
England, are borne by the borough of Stamford to this day, as can be seen
by a glance at the shield on the front of the Town Hall on St. Mary’s
Hill.
In 1256 Henry III. granted the first charter to the town, and we may,
perhaps, pause here for a moment to consider the municipal history of the
borough, which has been a long and honourable one. Edward IV., in the
first year of his reign, bestowed a second charter on the town by which
the chief alderman was raised to a position of exceptional privilege and
responsibility, being within his jurisdiction the immediate lieutenant of
the King. The next charter dates from the reign of Charles II., and in
this the chief alderman is for the first time styled “Mayor.” The last
charter was granted by James II. The early archives of Stamford perished,
like so many other valuable possessions, in the Lancastrian onslaught
upon the town in 1461, but the subsequent municipal deeds and documents,
including the 1461 charter, have been carefully preserved. The Stamford
corporation, moreover, possess exceptionally fine regalia, including a
small and very beautiful silver mace believed to be of the time of Edward
IV., a larger mace dated 1660, and a third of majestic size presented in
1678. The last, which bears the initials of King Charles II., was given
by Charles Bertie, who was one of the members representing Stamford in
Parliament. He also presented the corporation with a valuable silver
punch-bowl, capable of containing five gallons. Two additional silver
cups were the gifts of other donors in 1650 and 1658.
In 1266 a situation arose in connection with Stamford which forms a
curious chapter in her annals. Following on the revocation by Henry III.
of a licence under which a number of students from Oxford and Cambridge
had established themselves at Northampton, a migration of these young men
to Stamford took place, and their numbers being increased by a further
secession from Oxford in 1333, there grew up in the town a species of
rudimentary university which at length incurred the jealousy of the
older universities. Both parties appealed to the King, with the result
that the Stamfordians were ordered to disperse. It was not, however, till
some of the more recalcitrant of the students had been removed in custody
to Oxford that the royal mandate could effect its purpose. It is believed
that up to comparatively recent years the undergraduates of Oxford and
Cambridge were called upon to register a definite undertaking that they
would abstain from studying at Stamford. The scene of this episode in
Stamford’s history was on the south side of St. Paul’s Street, the site
being now occupied by a girls’ school, still known as Brazenose, and
standing where the old Brazenose College of the Oxford seceders formerly
stood until demolished in 1668. The famous Brazenose knocker, which the
Oxonians are said to have carried with them from their Oxford hall,
remained behind at Stamford until late in the nineteenth century, when
the authorities of Brazenose College, Oxford, purchased the premises and
bore the precious relic in triumph back to its original home on the banks
of the Isis.
In 1293 Queen Eleanor’s body rested here on its way from Harby to
Westminster, and a cross (of which nothing now remains to mark the site)
was erected on the western side of the town, near St. Clement’s Gate, as
was done at each point where the cortège halted on its journey.
In 1363 the Castle and manor of Stamford were given by Edward III. to
his son Edward, Duke of York. The connection thus established naturally
led the inhabitants to espouse the Yorkist cause in the Wars of the
Roses which followed in the next century, and they thus brought upon
themselves the calamities which have already been referred to in dealing
with the churches in the town. In 1461 the Lancastrian army, marching
towards St. Albans under Sir Andrew Trollope, attacked, captured and
well nigh demolished the town, at the same time destroying all the
municipal archives. Ten years later, however, occurred what is known as
the “Lincolnshire Rising,” which ended in the defeat of the Lancastrians
near Empingham, a few miles north of Stamford.[91] In this fight the
Stamfordians by their courage earned for themselves such distinction that
King Edward IV. marked his appreciation of their services by granting
permission for the royal lions to be placed on the coat-of-arms of
Stamford side by side with the arms of Earl Warren.
Of the events of the next half century we will only mention the
re-establishment and re-endowment of the old Grammar School (which is
known to have been in existence for over two centuries previously) by
William Radcliffe in 1530, the benefits of whose munificence are enjoyed
to this day by the boys of the town and district.
The latter half of the sixteenth century witnessed the dissolution of
the monasteries under Henry VIII. This event in a town which, as we
have seen, contained religious foundations of nearly every order then
in existence, must have wrought an overwhelming upheaval, and as we
contemplate the situation we are forced to realise that, to a great
extent, Stamford’s glory had departed.
In Elizabeth’s reign began the rise of the Cecil family, whose fortunes
have since been so closely bound up with Stamford.
Richard Cecil, the father of the great Lord Treasurer, obtained
possession of the manor of Burghley in 1528, and, after adding
considerably to the estates, died in 1552, and was buried in St.
Margaret’s Church, Westminster. His more famous son William, afterwards
first Lord Burghley, was born at Bourne, and received part of his
education at Stamford Grammar School, proceeding thence to St. John’s
College, Cambridge. He rose to be a statesman of eminence under Edward
VI., but his name is, of course, more intimately associated with the
reign of Elizabeth. The Queen on more than one occasion visited Stamford,
and the room, with its furniture, which she occupied at Burghley House
is still shown to visitors. The Lord Treasurer was a great benefactor to
Stamford, of which he was made lord of the manor by his royal mistress.
It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to state that both branches of the Cecil
family, now represented by the Marquises of Exeter and Salisbury, trace
their descent from the Elizabethan statesman.
In 1565 William Cecil employed John Thorpe to design “Burghley House by
Stamford town,” which remains one of the stateliest of England’s stately
homes. Seeing, however, that it stands in Northamptonshire, it is not
intended to deal at length with the building or the wealth of artistic
treasures which it contains.
The troubles of the Civil War did not leave Stamford untouched, and
Cromwell’s iconoclastic followers have left their mark on many a church
and monument, while Burghley House underwent a siege in 1643.
It is said that Stamford can claim to have been the last place to shelter
King Charles I. as a free man; for, after spending a night at a house
on Barnhill as the guest of a Mr. Wolph, he passed out under cover of
darkness accompanied by two friends, and made his way to the headquarters
of the Scottish army near Newark, only to be basely sold by them to the
enemy immediately afterwards. The gateway by which the King departed
still exists, but was considerably altered by the well-known antiquary,
Dr. Stukeley, who occupied the premises in the eighteenth century. From
the close of the Civil War, Stamford has enjoyed a period of unbroken
peace and quiet prosperity. Before the advent of railways the town was
an important posting station from its position on the Great North Road.
The immense range of stabling at the back of the famous old “George Inn”
sufficiently testifies to the amount of coaching and posting traffic
which passed through Stamford during the period in which these were the
recognised methods of travelling. The fact that the main line of the
Great Northern Railway was taken through Peterborough, instead of through
Stamford as was first contemplated, resulted in the latter town being
left for a time somewhat in a back-water, though at the present time the
railway facilities are admirable. The rapidly increasing use of motor
vehicles seems likely to revive to some extent the conditions of the
old coaching days; but, like many another venerable and historic town,
Stamford seems to have wrapped herself in an atmosphere of dignified
repose which even the clamorous passage through her main streets of a
stream of turbulent automobiles appears powerless to disturb.
In bringing these memories of old Stamford to a close, the writer
is only too conscious that he has been able to do but scant justice
to his subject. If, however, any reader be tempted hereby to visit
this fascinating old town and thus to supply by his own observation
and research all that in these pages is lacking of historical and
topographical description, assuredly he will not be disappointed.
TATTERSHALL CASTLE AND CHURCH
BY THE EDITOR
The ancient castles of this country, almost without exception, are full
of interest to all sorts and conditions of men and women. The remote
antiquity of the rude hill-top fortresses of Cornwall, Wiltshire,
and Wales; the huge earthworks of Old Sarum; the story of a gallant
defence like Newark; the close association with history of the Tower of
London, and with the magic of romance like Conisboro’, Kenilworth, and
Carlisle, find devotees for each. Often, too, castles are among the most
picturesque objects of picturesque scenery, as Manor Bier, Dunolly, and
Tantallon may testify; while to the archæologist they present a world of
interest as their plans, their builders, and their history are discussed,
occasionally with a wordy vigour which recalls the fights their walls
have witnessed.