Catherine’s Chapel, on the lofty hill which overlooks the sea near
Abbotsbury. In the construction of this, wood plays no part—all is
solid stone. The roof is formed of transverse ribs, richly bossed where
ridge and purloin ribs intersect them, and each of the two rectangular
compartments between every pair of ribs on either side thus formed is
simply foliated like blank window lights. There is not a thin stone
vault below a stone outer roof above with a space between them, but it
is stone throughout, and on St. Catherine’s wind-swept hill the chapel
has stood uninjured since the Benedictine Monks of Abbotsbury built
this chantry nearly five hundred years ago. The massive buttresses,
from which no pinnacles rise, the parapet pierced by holes for letting
out the water, the turret with its flat cap, in which once the beacon
fire used to be lighted in its iron cresset, render the chapel still
more unique. Nowhere else in England, save on St. Ealdhelm’s Head, can
such a solidly-built structure be found. The simple tracery of the
windows remains, but the glass has disappeared. The windows are boarded
up to keep out the rain and the interior is bare. Resting on a hill
top, washed by the pure breezes, such a chapel is fitly dedicated to
St. Catherine of Alexandria.
THE MEMORIAL BRASSES OF DORSET
BY W. DE C. PRIDEAUX
Dorset is by no means rich in the number of its monumental brasses.
Haines, in his list (1861), gives their number as thirty-three,
distributed over twenty-four churches; but recent researches and
alterations in the county boundaries have rendered his list no longer
strictly accurate. Yet only about one hundredth of the brasses to be
found in England are preserved in Dorset, though its area is about
one fiftieth of the area of England; and so it will be seen that the
number of its brasses is considerably below the average, although it
must be remembered that brasses are very unequally divided, the Eastern
counties having by far the largest proportion.
The earliest known brasses in England date from the latter part of the
thirteenth century; and for three centuries this form of memorial was
in great favour. Brasses had many advantages over carved effigies in
stone; they occupied less space, formed no obstruction in the churches,
were more easily executed, and possibly cheaper. Fortunately, also,
they have lasted longer, and have preserved a wealth of valuable detail
relating to costume and heraldry far in excess of any other form of
monument.
Monumental brasses may be divided roughly into two classes: those in
which the figure is engraved on a rectangular plate, the background
being plain or filled in with diapered or scroll work, which is seen to
such great advantage on many Continental brasses, and those in which
there is no background, the plate being cut around the outline of the
figure, and fastened down into a similarly shaped shallow matrix or
casement in the stone slab. Examples of both kinds are found in Dorset;
but none of our examples are of very early date. One of the oldest,
commemorating Joan de St. Omer, dated 1436 (an engraving of which may
be seen in Hutchins’ _Dorset_, vol. ii., p. 380, and a rubbing by the
late Mr. Henry Moule in the library of the Society of Antiquaries,
London[18]), has disappeared from St. Peter’s Church, Dorchester,
although the matrix still remains. The Oke brass at Shapwick, if of
contemporary workmanship, may be older.
Sometimes brasses were pulled out and sold by the churchwardens for
the value of the metal.[19] Sometimes, indeed, brasses which had
commemorated some warrior, priest, or worthy of former times were taken
up, turned over, re-engraved, and made to do duty in honour of someone
else, as may be seen in the retroscript brasses at Litton Cheney; but
in several cases the brass, after weathering the stormy times of the
civil wars, and escaping the greed of those whose business it was to
guard their church from the mutilation, were lost through the gross
neglect of the nineteenth century restorer. The writer knows of several
specimens now loose and in danger.
The following is a list of all the known brasses in Dorset:—
_Beaminster._—Ann, the wife of Henry Hillary, of Meerhay, 1653.
Elizabeth, the wife of William Milles, and daughter of John Hillary,
of Meerhay, 1674.
Mrs. Ann Hillary, died 1700.
William Milles, Esq., of Meerhay, and Mary, his wife. He died 1760,
aged 82; she died 1771, aged 95.
And outside the wall of south aisle, inscriptions to—
Elizabeth Smitham, 1773, aged 61.
Rev. Edmund Lewis, 1766, aged 40.
Joseph Symes, gent., 1776, aged 75; also Frances, his wife, 1737, aged
47.
And on a large slab in the floor of south aisle, formerly on an altar
tomb—
Pray for the soule of S^{r} John Tone,[20]
Whose bodye lyeth berid under this tombe,
On whos soule J’hu have mercy A Pat’nost’ & Ave.
All small inscriptions only.
_Bere Regis._—J. Skerne and Margaret, his wife, 1596. Kneeling figures,
with heraldic shield and an eight-line engraved verse, on altar tomb.
Robert Turberville, 1559. Inscription only.
_Bryanston._—John Rogers and Elizabeth, his wife, 1528. Inscription
below matrices of their effigies and heraldic shields.
Cecilia Rogers, wife of Sir Richard Rogers, of Bryanston. A ten-line
verse below matrices of her effigy and heraldic shields, 1566.
_Bridport._—Edward Coker, gent. Inscription only, 1685.
_Caundle Purse._—William Longe, 1500; Elizabeth Longe, 1527; Richard
Brodewey, rector, 1536. All small effigies, the two latter with
inscriptions; and all loose when seen by the writer, with the exception
of a small plate to Peter Hoskyns, 1682, above Longe altar tomb.
_Compton Valence._—Thomas Maldon, rector, rebuilder of church, 1440.
Half effigy, from which issue two scrolls, with words from Ps. li. 1.
_Chesilborne._—A small inscribed brass to John Keate, 1552, and
Margaret, his wife, 1554.
_Corfe Mullen._—A small effigy of Richard Birt. Below this there is a
mutilated inscription to Ricardus Birt and Alicia, his wife, 1437.
_Crichel, Moor._—Isabel Uvedale, 1572. An effigy with a ten-line
engraved verse.
William Cyfrewast, Esquyer, 1581. Inscription and two six-line verses.
_Crichel, Long._—Johan’ Gouys. A small inscription only.
_Cranborne._—Margaret, daughter of Henry Ashelie, the wife of William
Wallop, 1582. Inscription only. There is another inscribed plate
bearing date 1631; otherwise illegible.
_Dorchester, St. Peter._—Inscription and scroll to the lost figure of
Joan de St. Omer, widow of Robert More, 1436.
William and Johanna Sillon. Part of inscription. Inscription to John
Gollop.
_Evershot._—William Grey, rector, 1524, with chalice and host.
Inscription below effigy composed of quite a different alloy.
_Fleet Old Church._—Robert and Margaret Mohun, with seventeen children,
1603.
Maximillian Mohun, his son, showing his wife and thirteen children.
_Holme Priory._—Richard Sidwaye, gent., 1612.
_Knowle._—John Clavell, 1572, and two wives; the first with three sons
and one daughter; the second wife, Susan, daughter of Robert Coker, of
Mappowder, is kneeling alone.
_Litton Cheney._—Ralph Henvil, of Looke, 1644. Anne Henvill, daughter
of Richard Henvill, of Looke, 1681. Inscriptions only.
There is also an interesting retroscript brass, in two pieces, having
three inscriptions:—
1.—Johes Chapman, ffysch mōger, 1471.
2.—Alexandriam (?) Warnby, 1486.
3.—Johis Newpton et Thome Neupto.
_Lytchett Matravers._—Thomas Pethyn (_als._ Talpathyn), rector, in
shroud, _c._ 1470.
Margaret Clement, “generosa, specialis benefactrix reedificacionis
huius ecclesie,” 1505.
A matrix of a very large fret (the arms of Matravers), with marginal
inscription, to Sir John Matravers, 1365.
_Langton._—John Whitewod, gent., and his two wives, Johanna and Alicia;
three effigies, with inscription, bearing dates 1457, 1467, and portion
of scrolls.
_Melbury Sampford._—Sir Gyles Strangwayes, 1562, in tabard. Two
shields, with thirteen and fourteen quarterings respectively, and
inscriptions to Henry Strangwayes, Esq., who “died at the syege of
Bolleyne,” and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Lord George Rosse; and
to Sir Gyles Strangwayes and his wife, Joan, eldest daughter of John
Wadham, Esq. There are also strip brasses around recumbent marble
effigies of Sir Gyles Strangwayes the elder, and William Brunyng, and a
rectangular brass plate to Laurencius Sampford, _miles_, and another to
John and Alicia Brounyng, with three coats of arms.
_Milton Abbey._—Sir John Tregonwell, D.C.L., 1565, in tabard, with
heraldic shields and inscription.
John Artur, a monk of the Abbey. A small brass of about the middle of
the fifteenth century.
_Milborne St. Andrew._—John Morton, Esq., 1521, son of Richard Morton,
and nephew of John Morton, Cardinal. Brass plate on altar tomb, below
matrix of a knight in armour.
_Moreton._—James Frampton, 1523. He is shown kneeling, with text on
scrolls.
_Owermoigne._—John Sturton, Esq., 1506. Inscription, “causyd this
wyndowe to be made.”
On a loose plate, now lost, Nicholas Cheverel, Esq., and Jane, his
wife, who both died in the year 1548.
_Piddlehinton._—Thomas Browne, parson for 27 years, in hat and clerical
habit, having staff and book, with a twelve-line verse and inscription,
1617.
There was formerly a brass inscription to John Chapman, 1494, in the
north aisle.
_Piddletown._—Roger Cheverell, 1517. Half effigy, with inscription and
two shields of arms.
Christopher Martyn, Esq., 1524. Kneeling effigy, in tabard, with
shield of arms and partial representation of the Trinity.
Nicholas Martyn, Esq., and wife, 1595, with three sons and seven
daughters, with armorial brass and inscription between effigies, on
back of altar tomb.
_Pimperne._—Mrs. Dorothy Williams, wife of John Williams, curate, 1694.
A very curious effigy, with skeleton below. “Edmund Colepeper fecit.”
_Puncknowle._—William Napper, Esq., brother of Sir Robert Napper, in
armour; by his wife, Anne, daughter of Wm. Shelton, Esq., of Onger
Park, he had six sons. Brass engraved _c._ 1600, before his death.
_Rampisham._—Thomas Dygenys and his wife Isabel. Two figures, with
inscription at their feet, “gud benefactors to this churche.” Both died
in 1523.
_Shaftesbury, St. Peter._—Inscription to Stephen, son and heir of
Nicholas Payne, steward of the Monastery, 1508. On the slab are
matrices of four brass shields. This was removed from the Abbey.
In Holy Trinity churchyard is half a large blue slab, having thereon
the matrix of a large brass which local tradition says was to King
Edward the Martyr.
_Shapwick._—Inscription to Richard Chernok, _als._ Hogeson, vicar, 1538.
A fine effigy of Maria, heiress of Lord de Champneys, and wife of
John Oke. The inscription is to the latter; the former has a dog at
her feet. Her first husband was Sir William Tourney, and she married
William Oke in the reign of Richard II.; so it is quite likely that
this brass is of the fourteenth century.
_Sturminster Marshall._—An effigy of Henry Helme, vicar, in gown, with
moustache and pointed beard. He was the founder of Baylye House (the
vicarage), 1581. The inscription is a ten-line verse. The brass is
fastened on a black marble slab.
Also, “Here lyeth Wylla’ Benett, on whose sowle Gode have merci.” (No
date.)
_Swanage, als. Swanwich._—William Clavell (effigy lost), with Margaret
and Alicia, his wives, _c._ 1470.
John Harve, 1510. Inscription only:—
Suche as I was, so be you, and as I am, so shall you be,
And of the soule of John Harve God have mercy.
Henry Welles, of Godlinstone, 1607, and Marie, his first wife, 1560.
Inscriptions only.
Susan Cockram, wife of Brune Cockram, parson of Swanw^{ch}, 1641.
Thomas Serrell, the sonn of Anthony Serrell, of Swanwhich, 1639.
_Swyre._—John Russell, Esq., and Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of John
Frocksmer, Esq., 1505. Inscription, with arms.
James Russell, Esq. (son of John Russell), and Alys, his wife,,
daughter of John Wise, Esq., 1510. Inscription, with arms.[21]
George Gollop, of Berwick, tenth son of Thomas Gollop, of Strode,
Dorset; brass, _c._ 1787. Long inscription only, to many of this
family.
_Tincleton._—Inscription to Thomas Faryngdon, _armiger_, 1404.
_Tarrant Crawford._—In the year 1862, a small brass plate was found on
the Abbey site in memory of “d’ns Joh’es Karrant.”
_Thorncombe._—Sir Thomas and Lady Brook. Two fine effigies, with long
inscription. Sir Thomas died 1419; Lady Brook, 1437; “on whose soules
God have mercy and pite that for us dyed on the rode tree. Ame’.”
_Upwey._—William Gould, 1681. Inscription only, on outer side of north
wall of chancel, opposite altar tomb.
_West Stafford._—Inscription to Giles Long, 1592, “then Lord of Frome
Bellett and patrone of the parsonage and Stafford.”
_Wimborne Minster._—St. Ethelred, King of the West Saxons, martyr,
“Anno Domini 873 (871?) 23 die Aprilis per manus dacorum paganorum
occubuit.” Half effigy, engraved _c._ 1440; inscription restored _c._
1600.
_Woolland._—Mary, daughter of Robert Williams, of Herringston, and wife
of Robert Thornhull, and then of Lewis Argenton, 1616. The inscription
of twelve lines is curious and descriptive, beginning:—
Here lyeth our landladie loved of all,
Whom Mary Argenton last wee did call.
_Yetminster._—John Horsey, Esquire, 1531, Lord of the Manor of Clifton,
and Elizabeth, his wife, Lady of the Manor of Turges Melcombe. Two fine
effigies, with scrolls at sides and inscription at foot.
Of the foregoing brasses, the following deserve a longer notice:—
_Bere Regis._—J. Skerne and Margaret, his wife. This monument consists
of two kneeling figures, fourteen inches high, cut round the outline,
and represented as kneeling on the pavement; between them is a
rectangular plate, with coat of arms (Skerne impaling Thornhull), and
an inscription on another plate below. Skerne wears a long gown, with
sleeves nearly touching the ground; his wife, a dress, with ruff and a
widow’s wimple. The inscription states that the memorial was erected by
the aforesaid Margaret in 1596.
In the same church there is an inscription to Sir Robert Turberville,
1559. There are also remains of three altar tombs, all with empty
matrices; two in the south aisle probably mark the last resting-places
of members of the Turberville family. It is of these that John
Durbeyfield, in Thomas Hardy’s _Tess_, boasted, “I’ve got a gr’t family
vault at Kingsbere and knighted forefathers in lead coffins there.”
[Illustration: WILLIAM GREY, 1524. RECTOR OF EVERSHOT.]
_Caundle Purse._—The brass of W. Longe, 26 ins. high, represents a man
in armour, with long flowing hair; the head is inclined to the right.
Its matrix was found by the writer in the North, or Longe, Chantry.
The brass is heavy, being ⅜-in. thick; it is poor in execution, and
is, unfortunately, away from its slab.
The monument of Richard Brodewey, rector, is far more interesting. The
head has been broken off; the figure, only ten inches high, represents
the priest as laid out for burial, clad in eucharistic vestments. This
brass is specially noteworthy, because it is the only known memorial
in England in which the maniple is represented as buttoned or sewn, so
as to form a loop to prevent it from slipping off the wrist. This was
the final form that the maniple assumed; in earlier times it simply
hung over the arm without attachment.
_Evershot._—The brass commemorating William Grey is rather larger than
that at Caundle Purse, and is in better condition. Like Brodewey,
Grey is represented as laid out in his eucharistic vestments—amice,
alb, maniple, stole, and chasuble; between his raised hands he holds
a chalice, with the host (similar to Henry Denton, priest, Higham
Ferrers, 1498). There are only about a dozen representations of
chaliced priests in England, so that this memorial may be classed among
rare examples. It was customary to bury a chalice (usually of some
secondary metal) with all ecclesiastics in priests’ orders.[22]
_Fleet._—The two brasses in this church are engraved on rectangular
plates. In each, the husband kneels on the opposite side to the wife
(he dexter, she sinister), with a _prie Dieu_ between them. Their many
sons and daughters kneel behind the father and mother respectively.
_Milton Abbey._—Sir John Tregonwell is represented, kneeling, in a
tabard; and this is the latest tabard brass in England.
Another very interesting and almost unique brass in the Abbey is
that to John Artur, of this place “_monachus_.” Brasses to monks are
exceedingly rare.
_Moreton._—The inscription on the monument of James Frampton is
unusual; the letters are raised above the background, instead of being
sunk in it.
_Piddletown._—The effigy of Roger Cheverell has only the upper part
left—10½ in. by 6 in. in size. The dress is that of a civilian of
good standing, for the cloak is lined with fur; the head is bare and
the hair long.
Christopher Martyn’s brass is engraved on a rectangular plate. The
lower half is occupied by the inscription; above it kneels the figure
in conventional armour, with a tabard bearing arms over. A scroll
comes from the mouth, bearing, in abbreviated form, the prayer,
“Averte faciem tuam a peccatis meis, et omnes iniquitates meas dele.”
Two shields, one low on the right side of the figure, another high
above the left shoulder, bear the well-known Martyn arms; and above
the former, the All Father sits on a throne, with two fingers of
the right hand raised in blessing, and the left hand holds between
the knees a Tau-shaped cross, on which the Son is nailed. There
is, however, no dove, so that it cannot be regarded as a complete
representation of the Trinity. At Bere Regis there is a matrix of an
enthroned figure of almost identical outline.
The memorial to Nicholas Martyn and his wife belongs to the other
type of brass. In the centre, indeed, are two rectangular plates,
one bearing the heraldic shield (Martyn impaling Wadham), the other
the inscription; but the other plates are cut round the figures, and
have little background. On the right or dexter side, the husband,
clad in armour, but not wearing a helmet, kneels, with hands clasped
in prayer, before an altar covered with a fringed cloth, on which
lies an open book; behind him kneel his three sons, wearing cloaks,
with ruffs around their necks. On the left-hand side, Margaret, his
wife, kneels before a similar altar and book; behind her are her
seven daughters, all engaged in prayer. They all wear Elizabethan
costume—hoods, large ruffs, long bodied peaked stomachers and skirts,
extended by farthingales of whalebone.
_Thorncombe._—The brasses to Sir Thomas and Lady Brooke, of Holditch
and Weycroft, are two of the most distinguished to be found of the
fourteenth century. He was sheriff of Somerset, 1389, and of Devon,
1394, and is shown clad in a long gown with deep dependent sleeves,
guarded with fur around the skirt, and pulled in at the waist by a belt
studded with roses; within the gown a second garment appears, with four
rows of fur around the skirt. His hair is short, and his feet rest on a
greyhound couchant, collared. Lady Brooke wears a long robe, fastened
across the breast by a cordon with tassels, over a plain gown; her
hair is dressed in semi-mitre shape, and confined by a richly jewelled
net, over which is placed the cover-chief, edged with embroidery and
dependent to the shoulders. At her feet is a little dog, collared and
belled. Sir Thomas and his wife each wear the collar of SS.; their arms
are in tightly-fitting sleeves, and the hands are raised in prayer.
The inscription around the effigies has been restored, and plain
shields inserted in place of originals, which would have shown Gules
on a chevron argent a lion rampant sable; Brooke with, among others,
Cheddar, Mayor of Bristol, 1360-1, and Hanham.
_Wimborne Minster._—The Ethelred effigy here is only half length.
The king is represented, in part, in priestly vestments. (“As kings
by their coronation are admitted into a sacred as well as a civil
character, the former of these is particularly manifested in the
investiture with clerical garments.”) Though the brass commemorates
a king of the West Saxons, it dates only from 1440. The inscription
is on a copper plate, and the king’s death is said thereon to have
occurred in 873, two years too late. A brass plate on which the date
is correctly given is preserved in the Minster Library. It is supposed
that the figure and the plate bearing the inscription were removed
from the matrix and hidden for safety in the time of the Civil Wars,
and that the plate could not be found when the figure was replaced, so
that the copper one now on the slab was engraved to take the place of
the one lost, which, however, was afterwards found, but not laid on the
stone. It is a noteworthy fact that the effigy is fastened to the stone
with nails of copper, not of brass; doubtless these are contemporary
with the copper plate which bears the inscription. The Ethelred brass
is the only brass commemorating a king that is to be found in England,
and is so illustrated in Haines’ _Manual_, p. 74.
_Wraxall._—Elizabeth Lawrence, wife of Mr. William Lawrence, 1672. A
six-line verse and an impaled coat of arms.
_Yetminster._—This brass, one of the finest in Dorset, was at one time
loose at East Chelborough Rectory, but it has now been fixed to a slab
on the south wall of the church. It was originally laid on a large
stone in the floor of the chancel. John Horsey is represented in full
and very richly ornamented armour; his wife is in a graceful gown and
mantle, with dependent pomander, and fine head-dress.
SHERBORNE
BY W. B. WILDMAN, M.A.
Sherborne, as far as we can tell, owes its existence as a town to the
fact that it was chosen in 705 to be the site where the bishop-stool
was fixed of St. Ealdhelm, the first bishop of Western or Newer Wessex.
Sherborne, like its daughter-towns Wells and Salisbury, is a Bishop’s
town; but, unlike them, it was also, from 998 to 1539, the seat of a
Benedictine Monastery. Thus Sherborne has suffered two distinct shocks
in its career; the first came upon it when it lost its bishop in 1075;
the second, when its Abbey was dissolved in 1539.
Another point worth mentioning concerning the past dignity of the town
is this, that Sherborne, or at any rate, a part of it—Newland—was
once actually a borough, as was also what we may call the suburb of
Castleton.
This part of Sherborne is still called the Borough of Newland; it was
given burghal privileges by Richard Poore, Bishop of Sarum, in 1228,
and, according to Hutchins, it actually sent members to the House of
Commons in 1343. But long after Newland got rid of this then burdensome
privilege it still kept the name and other privileges of a borough,
and both it and Castleton were for administrative purposes outside
the Hundred of Sherborne; they kept their own tourns twice a year,
and their own courts every three weeks; they had their own view of
frank-pledge quite apart from the rest of the town and Hundred. It
is not known to what bishop Castleton owed its title and dignity of
_burgus_.
When Sherborne came into being, the surrounding country bore a very
different look from that which we see to-day. It lay on the western
edge of the great forest of Selwood, a fragment of which still
remains to us here in Sherborne Castle Park. There were then no trim
water-meadows, and the course of our river was marked by moor and
marsh. Here, in the last fold of the Wessex hills, under which lies the
great plain of Somerset, Ealdhelm’s seat was fixed, in a site central
and convenient for the new district, which had barely a quarter of a
century before been added to the West Saxon realm.