Читать книгу History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Shropshire [1851] - Samuel Bagshaw - Страница 13

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St. Mary’s Church stands in a commanding position in St. Mary’s street, and is one of the most interesting ecclesiastical edifices in the country. This fine structure is cruciform, and consists of nave, side aisles, transept, chancel, two side chapels, and a tower, crowned with a lofty and beautiful spire. In common with most of our early churches there is no opportunity of ascertaining the precise date of its erection; it is said to owe its foundation to Edgar, who, at the suggestion of Archbishop Dunstan, placed in it a dean, seven prebends, and a parish priest, with a stipend of £6. 6s. 8d. per annum. There is, however, every probability that the foundation was antecedent to his reign. In the time of Edward the Confessor, this college possessed a landed estate of about 1300 acres, which it continued to hold at the Domesday survey, but of which it was soon after deprived. From a very early period this church enjoyed the privilege of a royal free chapel, and was therefore exempt from the jurisdiction of the Bishops. These privileges formed a frequent ground of contest between the sovereign pontiffs and the kings of England. A particular instance relates to the church now under consideration. About the year 1270, the dean had a dispute with the Abbot of Salop, touching the right of presentation to the Church of Fittes, or as it was then written, Fitesho, to which one Robert de Acton had been instituted by the Bishop of Lichfield, and forcibly ejected by the dean. Acton, being a crusader, was under the especial protection of the pope, whose officer called “the Executor of the Cross,” sent an order to the Abbot of Shrewsbury to restore the incumbent to his benefice. This being done the king’s attorney-general filed an information against the abbot, requiring him to answer ‘whereof he exercised jurisdiction in the Chapel of Fitesho,’ appertaining to the King’s Free Chapel of St. Mary, of Salop, which is exempt, so that neither our lord “the pope, nor any other ecclesiastical judge hath jurisdiction therein.” Judgment passed against the abbot, and he was sentenced to pay damages to the king and to suffer imprisonment.

The Dean of St. Mary’s, had, from time immemorial, the power of collecting and paying into the king’s exchequer, the tenths or other subsidies arising from the deanery and prebends. Edward the first confirmed this privilege; and his grandson, in the eighteenth year of his reign, recognized by directing the sheriffs of Salop and Hereford not to enter the jurisdiction of the royal chapel, or to levy a distress on the possessions thereof, for any subsidies or tenths, unless the dean should neglect to make a due return. At the dissolution of collegiate churches 1. of Edward VI., the revenues which consisted chiefly of tithe, amounted to £42, the greatest portion of which was granted by that monarch towards the endowment of the Free Schools. According to Leland it had a dean and nine poor prebendaries, also vicars choral, two chauntry priests, a parish priest, and a clerk or assistant. The peculiar jurisdiction of the Royal Free Chapel remained till the recent act of parliament restored it to the bishop of the diocese, and was held in lease at an annual rent of £1. 6s. 8d., of the corporation to whom Queen Elizabeth granted it by charter, dated 23rd May, 1571. The usual style of the minister was “ordinary and official, principal of the peculiar and exempt jurisdiction of the Free Royal Chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” In his courts wills were proved, letters of administration were granted, and all ecclesiastical matters, arising within the parish and its subordinate chapelries, adjudicated. In 1632, King Charles I., during his residence at the council house, attended divine service here, received the sacraments, and made solemn protestations of his fidelity to the principles of the reformed religion.

This venerable edifice exhibits various styles of architecture: the Anglo-Norman of the 12th century in the basement of the nave and most of the doors; the lancet style of the 13th century, in the chancel and transept, and the obtuse arch of the 15th century in the side aisles and chapels. The basement of the tower is of red sand stone, and the upper portion of grey, and in the Anglo-Norman and early pointed styles of architecture. The dimensions of the church are—length from east to west 160 feet—breadth of nave and side aisles 53 feet—transept 90 feet, and height of tower and steeple 223 feet; the height of the steeple from the bed of the river 300 feet. The beautifully proportioned octagonal spire which rises from a tower of noble proportions, is a conspicuous ornament to the town, and is seen from the adjacent country to a considerable distance. The nave and side aisles externally, in the pointed style of the 15th century, are of the Grinshill free stone, and entered on the north and south-west by beautiful semi-circular arches, adorned with chevron, lozenged and foliated mouldings; the south-west porch is in the Anglo-Norman style, having zigzag mouldings, issuing from clustered columns, with foliated capitals. On each side is a small pointed window, exhibiting specimens of the earliest rudiments of the millioned Gothic architecture, in which has lately been placed some highly interesting painted glass, of German execution, on which are depicted various incidents, chiefly from the Apocrypha. A stone porch, entered by a pointed arch, had recently been erected before the corresponding door on the north side.

The interior of this venerable edifice is spacious, lofty, and strikingly noble; the nave is separated from the side aisles by four semicircular arches, resting on elegant clustered columns, with foliated capitals of varied and beautiful designs. Above is a clerestory, which is continued along the walls of the chancel, lighted by a short double window, bluntly pointed and bisected by single mullions. The ceiling of the nave is of panelled oak, richly studded with elegant and exquisitely carved pendants and foliated bosses, and merits attention not only on account of its elaborate workmanship, but as being one of the richest and most highly preserved specimens of its kind now in existence. A lofty pointed arch, including in its span the entire breadth of the nave, rises from richly clustered piers, with foliated capitals, and divides the nave from the ancient choir. Eastward is a similar arch of like dimensions, springing from the same pier. From these, the wings of the transept, corresponding in size, branch off to the north and south. At each extremity of the transept is a fine triple lancet window, highly enriched with slender shafts, foliated capitals, and delicate mouldings, filled with beautiful stained glass, illustrative of Scripture history; the most prominent figures are those of Christ, the Virgin Mary, the Apostles and Evangelists, and an escutcheon of the arms of George III., executed by Mr. David Evans, of Shrewsbury. The chancel is elevated above the rest of the church. The ceiling, like that of the transept, is excellently painted, and adorned with some of the rich fret work removed from the wreck of the churches of St. Chad and St. Alkmund. On the north side of the altar is a beautiful triple lancet window, with arches remarkably acute, resting on two insulated columns, with capitals adorned with foliage. This window contains some fine stained glass, representing the history of the life of St. Bernard. The great east window occupies the whole extremity of the chancel, and exhibits the debased style of English architecture of the Elizabethan era. In this window is the curious and beautiful ancient stained glass which filled the window of the old St. Chad’s church, prior to its demolition, and which was presented to this church in 1791. The subject is the genealogy of Christ from the root of Jesse. Jesse is represented reclining in sleep, from his loins spring a vine, which overspreads the whole window, enclosed in his branches the several kings, his descendants—the series of which is finished by the husband of the Virgin Mary in a devotional posture at the feet of his progenitor. Many of the figures are depicted with their peculiar emblems, the ground of the whole is exquisitely beautiful, and the clusters of grapes, and the bright verdure of the vine leaves, are displayed with great effect. Underneath is an inscription requesting our prayers for “Mons. John de Charlton, and Dame Hawis, his companion,” from which, and from the armorial bearings, we learn that this beautiful piece of ancient art was set up by the great Sir John de Charlton, lord of Powis, and must have been executed about the middle of the fourteenth century. It has been conjectured the glass was presented to the grey friars of this town, to which religious house Sir John and his wife were great benefactors, and that it was removed to St. Chad’s at the dissolution. This is a singular circumstance of so fragile a material surviving the destruction of two vast and substantial edifices. Within the last few years the window has been judiciously restored. The organ is a powerful and fine toned instrument, erected by Harris and Byfield, in 1729. By the munificence of the present incumbent, the west end has been enriched by an elegant organ screen of the most elaborate workmanship, executed by Mr. John Carline. On the south side of the chancel is the Trinity or “Leybourne chapel,” which communicates with the south transept by a fine Norman arch, and with the chancel with an arch in the pointed style. It is said to have been founded about the year 1300, by one of the Leybournes, of Berwick, as a place of sepulture for the family, and was subsequently enlarged into its present form by the Draper’s company. In the south east wall are three stone sedilia, with canopied arches, and near the north east wall is an altar tomb (probably of Simon de Leybourne, lord of Berwick, who died between 1300 and 1315), the sides of which are adorned with canopied niches formerly containing figures; and on the tomb reclines a figure of a knight cross-legged, and in chain armour. In this tomb the headless corpse of Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, who was taken prisoner at the battle of Shrewsbury, 1403, and beheaded, is believed to have been interred. Underneath the south window is a neatly executed gothic monument in memory of Heathcoate Wigram, of Woodhouse, in the county of Essex; he was a pupil to the Royal Free Grammar School, of this town, and was drowned whilst bathing in the Severn, on September 1st, 1838, aged 14 years. The monument was erected by the masters and pupils in memory of him whom they loved and lamented. Against the east wall are monuments to John Jendine, Esq., and Thomas Sutton, Esq., and between them is the statue of Bishop Butler, erected by his pupils at the cost of eight hundred guineas. The figure is full length, sitting in an easy and graceful position, clothed in the episcopal robes; the right hand hanging over the chair, and the left hand supporting the head, which is leaning in thought. The figure is of the purest statuary marble, and the pedestal which supports the statue of dove coloured marble from the Clee Hill; it was sculptured by F. H. Baily, Esq., R.A. On the north side of the chancel is the vestry, recently erected in the Norman style, the windows of which are ornamented with antique German and Flemish glass; immediately adjoining is the chauntry chapel of St. Catherine; these windows are also beautified with stained glass, illustrating various portions of Scripture history. This chapel is now used as a baptistry, and the ancient stone font, which is beautifully carved, stands in the centre, on a rich pavement of encaustic tile. An alabaster slab, against the north wall, engraved with figures of a warrior and a lady, commemorates Nicholas Stafford, Esq., and Catherine, his wife, who died in 1643. A white marble monument, recently erected by subscription, over the door leading into the vestry, remembers the brave admiral Benbow, a native of the parish. It represents an obtuse pyramid of black marble, against which leans an oval medallion bust of the admiral, surrounded with anchors, flags, and cannon, and below a delicately sculptured representation in bas relief of a naval fight. In the north transept is placed a most beautiful free stone monument to the late Rev. J. B. Blakeway, which for elegance of design, and beauty of execution, has rarely been surpassed in modern times; it is upwards of 12 feet in length and 16 feet in height, and is divided into three compartments by clustered buttresses, which sustain richly crocheted pinnacles. The centre compartment comprises a large pointed arch canopied and crocheted, the back of which is deeply recessed, and contains the following inscription in ornamental Roman capitals:—

To the Memory of the Reverend

John Brickdale Blakeway, M.A., F.A.S.,

Thirty-one years ordinary and official,

And thirty-two years Minister of this Parish.

This Monument is erected

By the voluntary subscription of his parishioners,

As a tribute of respect for his talents,

Esteem for his virtues,

And gratitude for his long and faithful services,

As their friend and pastor.

He died the tenth day of March, MDCCCXXVI,

Aged sixty years.

As a preacher, Mr. Blakeway was admired for his forcible illustration of Holy writ, and the valuable admonitions which his discourses generally contained. As an author he was known to the world by the publication of several sermons, and controversial tracts; and as an historian his name will be immortalized in the elaborate History of Shrewsbury, which he commenced in 1820, in conjunction with the venerable Archdeacon Owen, and just lived to see the general history and ecclesiastical portions published in two quarto volumes. There are other memorials, exquisite specimens of monumental skill, unrivalled in elegance of design and richness of execution, in various parts of the same edifice, which our limits will not allow us to notice. On the exterior wall of the tower are the following quaint verses to the memory of Robert Cadman, who, on February 2nd, 1793, lost his life in an attempt to descend from the top of the spire of St. Mary’s along a rope which he had fixed to its highest part, and extended to a field on the opposite side of the river. In the midst of his passage the rope broke, as he was passing over St. Mary’s Friars, and he fell lifeless on the ice-bound earth:—

Let this small monument record the name

Of Cadman, and to future times proclaim,

How from a bold attempt to fly from this high spire,

Across the Sabrine stream he did acquire

His fatal end! ’Twas not for want of skill,

Or courage, to perform the task, he fell;

No, no, a faulty cord, being drawn too tight

Hurried his soul on high to take his flight,

Which hid the body here beneath; good night.

The patronage of St. Mary’s church is vested in five trustees, the living is returned at £312, and is enjoyed by the Rev. W. G. Rowland; the Rev. V. B. Johnstone and T. G. Galway are the curates.

St. Chad’s Church.—The old collegiate church of St. Chad, of which only a small part, called the Lady Chapel, is standing, occupies the eminence between College Hill and Belmont. The collegiate establishment consisted of a dean, ten secular canons, and two vicars choral; and was founded soon after the subjugation of Pengwern, in the 8th century, by Offa, King of Mercia, who, as tradition states, converted the palace of the kings of Powis into his first church. In the time of Edward the Confessor, this church held twelve hides of land, which it retained at the Domesday survey. Subsequently other considerable possessions were acquired by the college, so that at the dissolution the yearly revenues amounted to £49. 13s. The college was dissolved in the 2nd Edward IV., and the crown leased the collegiate property for a term of twenty-one years, and a few years afterwards it was appropriated to the Free School of Shrewsbury, in which it is now vested. Respecting the various changes which this ancient edifice must have undergone during a period of nearly 1,000 years, few notices have been preserved. In the year 1393, a considerable part of it was consumed by fire, occasioned by the carelessness of a plumber, who, alarmed at the conflagration, endeavoured to escape over the ford of the Severn, and was drowned. The damage was so extensive, that the inhabitants of the town obtained from Richard II. a remission of certain taxes to enable them to rebuild it.

In this church, at a very early period, the doctrines of the Reformation were promulgated. William Thorpe, a priest, obtained leave in the year 1407 to deliver a sermon before the principal inhabitants. On this occasion he boldly exposed the corruptions of the Romish church, in consequence of which the bailiffs of the town preferred charges of heresy and sedition against him to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who brought him to trial. In his examination, he candidly admitted the charges laid against him, but adhered to his opinions with manly and unshrinking steadiness, when he was remanded to prison; but of his subsequent fate we possess no account. The progress of the Reformation effected a wonderful change in the minds of men. In the 1st of Edward VI. the bailiffs of Shrewsbury, whose predecessors had denounced one of its boldest champions as a heretic, ordered the pictures and superstitious ornaments of St. Chad’s to be publicly burnt; and in the 26th of Elizabeth, the service of the Church of England was solemnly established there.

The old church was a majestic edifice, and from its situation, on a commanding eminence, presented from a distance a cathedral-like appearance. It was cruciform, with a central tower, and chiefly in the Anglo-Norman and lancet styles of architecture, with subsequent additions, having the characteristics of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The misfortune which befel this venerable edifice in 1788 is a striking proof of the mischiefs occasioned by the interment of the dead in the interior of places of worship. Early in the year, one of the four pillars, which supported the tower in the centre of the church, shrunk in so alarming a manner as to endanger the safety of the fabric. An architect of the town advised that the whole tower should be taken down, but the parish vestry, rejecting this advice, employed a mason in the rash attempt of underbuilding the pillar. The second morning after the work had commenced, July 9th, when the clock had struck four, the decayed pillar gave way, the tower was instantly rent asunder, and falling with its heavy peal of bells on the roof of the nave and transepts, sunk, with a great part of the building, in one tremendous crash to the ground. The ruins, on the following day, presented an awful spectacle; and pews, pulpit, organ, monuments, and bells, were seen broken and dispersed in a thousand forms. Among the rubbish were found pieces of Saxon sculpture, which had probably belonged to the ancient church, and had been used in the repairs after the calamitous fire which happened in 1393. Any attempt at rebuilding the edifice being now deemed inadvisable, the remaining fragments were taken down, except the Lady Chancel, to prevent further mischief. The fine stained glass of the west window having fortunately escaped destruction, was carefully preserved, and afterwards placed in the chancel of St. Mary’s church. The figure of St. Chad, in his episcopal vestments, which stood on the summit of the organ, was also preserved, and is now placed in the vestry of the new church. Such funeral monuments as could be rescued from the ruins, were placed at the disposal of the families to whom they belonged, and others were removed to the chapel before mentioned. This chapel, originally dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was rebuilt in 1571, by Humphrey Onslow, Esq., being the burial place of his family, and is now solely used for reading the funeral service over those who are buried in the ancient cemetery. One of the monuments now removed to the Abbey Church remembered Richard Onslow, an eminent lawyer, and speaker of the House of Commons in the 8th of Queen Elizabeth. He was the ancestor of Sir Richard, afterwards Lord Onslow, who filled the chair of the House of Commons in the 8th of Queen Anne; and also of Arthur Onslow, Esq., who so ably exercised the office of speaker during many successive parliaments. There is a small tablet to the Rev. Job Orton, who was interred in the same grave as Mr. Bryan, a former minister of this church, who quitted his benefice on the act of uniformity.

The New Church of St. Chad.—From the site of the old edifice being deemed ineligible, the new church was built on a commanding eminence bordering on the Quarry. It is constructed of the beautiful white free stone brought from Grinshill. The body of the church forms a circle one hundred feet in diameter, and externally consists of a rustic basement, with square windows, on which reposes a superstructure, containing a series of large arched windows, between each of which are coupled Ionic pilasters, resting on the basement and supporting a bold cornice, crowned with an open balustrade. Attached to the main edifice is a small circular building with similar enrichments; and beyond which is the steeple, consisting of three stories. Upon a square rustic basement rises an octagonal belfry, enriched with Ionic pilasters, and above, a small cupola supported on a heavy cylinder, surrounded by eight slender Corinthian pillars. A heavy cross and vane crowns the summit. On each side of the tower is a plain square wing, which are used as vestries. Before the front is a handsome portico, elevated on a flight of steps, and supported by four Doric columns. The exterior beauty of this church consists more in the fineness of its materials, and the splendour of its ornaments, than in the harmonious proportion and disposition of its several parts. The interior is handsomely and conveniently arranged; and though possessing much of the theatrical air, yet, by the ingenuity of the circular arrangement, all the congregation can distinctly hear and see the officiating clergyman. A capacious gallery, ornamented in front with a handsome balustrade, surrounds the whole church except the chancel, and reposes on a double row of short pillars with Ionic capitals. From these a corresponding tier of slender fluted shafts rises to the ceiling, which is adorned with a glory in the centre, and a rich cornice of angels and wings interlaced. The chancel, contrary to general custom, is towards the north, and is separated from the body of the church by a handsome arch, springing from an entablature supported by composite columns, with capitals richly gilt. Over the chief entrance is a powerful and fine-toned organ, built by Gray, of London, in 1794, and enlarged and improved in 1848. The font formerly belonged to the parish of Malpas, and is that in which the late Bishop Heber was baptized.

The principal monuments are, a handsome panelled marble tablet, with a fine bust by Chantrey, commemorative of Mr. John Simpson, an eminent architect, and builder of this church. A similar tablet and bust, by Chantrey, to William Hazledine, Esq., the builder of the Menai bridge; an oblong Grecian tablet, with an elegant latin inscription, to the Rev. Francis Leighton, his lady, and two grandchildren; and in the vestibule an elegant marble mural monument to the officers and privates of the 53rd, or Shropshire Regiment, who were killed on the 10th of February, 1846, in the battles of Subraon, Aliwal, and Loodhiana, on the Sutluj. The window above the altar is ornamented with painted glass, representing the descent from the cross, after Rubens, the Salutation and Representation in the Temple, executed by Mr. Evans, of this town, whose skill has also been exercised in four other windows of this church, of which the subjects are, the raising of Lazarus, Christ receiving little children, healing of the sick, and the tribute money, the whole of which were presented by the Rev. R. Scott. The church was commenced building March 2nd, 1790, and consecrated August 20th, 1792; there is accommodation for a congregation of 2200 persons. The total cost, including site, organ, and bells, £19,352. The living is a vicarage, returned at £350, in the patronage of the Lord Chancellor; incumbent, Rev. John Yardley, M.A.

The Church of the Holy Cross, commonly called the Abbey Church, is situated in the Abbey Foregate. It is built of red sand stone, and consists of nave, side aisles, and a massive tower at the west end. Though the beauty of the church has suffered both from dilapidation and mutilation, yet it displays many interesting features of ancient Norman architecture, combined with the earlier pointed style. It originally formed part of the richly endowed monastery founded by Roger de Montgomery, the first Earl of Shrewsbury, and was built on the site of a small wooden church dedicated to St. Peter, which it is said was erected in the time of Edward the Confessor, by Siward, a Saxon gentleman, then resident in Shropshire. The nave or great western aisle, was in very early times appropriated to the use of the neighbouring inhabitants, who were in general servants of the Abbey. It was called the Parish Church of the Holy Cross, within the monastery of St. Peter’s, of Salop. For this reason it was spared in the general destruction of the Abbey, and being now one of the parochial churches of the town, retains the name of Holy Cross. When entire it was a stately cruciform building, equal in size to some of our cathedrals, but two-thirds of the structure was destroyed at the dissolution of monasteries in the time of Henry VIII. The principal entrance is at the west end under the tower, through a pointed doorway, with mouldings skilfully inserted within a deeply recessed semi-circular arch, the exterior rib of which springs on each side from a Norman pillar, with indented capital. Above this rises a magnificent and elegantly proportioned window, divided horizontally by embattled transoms, and perpendicularly by six upright mullions into seven compartments; the arched head is gracefully pointed and filled with a profusion of the most delicate tracery. On each side of the window is a canopied niche, containing statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, the tutelar saints of the Abbey. The nave is separated from the side aisles by the semi-circular arches, resting on short mosaic pillars in the Anglo-Norman style. The western portion has two pointed arches in the Gothic style, rising from clustered pillars, with capitals composed of small horizontal mouldings; a lofty and graceful arch opens from the nave of the tower, and affords a view of the fine west window, the upper part of which is filled with armorial bearings. The fine eastern window filled with stained glass was executed by Evans, of Shrewsbury, with his usual taste. Underneath this window is a beautifully executed stone altar screen, composed of an arcade of five Norman arches, with varied mouldings, surrounded by a pierced balustrade. The communion table is fenced by stone railing uniform in style, the whole of which was designed and executed by Messrs. Carline and Dodson, of this town, through the liberality of the late Rev. R. Scott. The north east window of the north aisle contains a figure of St. Peter, the arms of the see of Lichfield, of Lord Berwick, the donor, and of thirteen incumbents since the reformation. In the south aisle is a beautiful mosaic window of stained glass, containing the armorial bearings, of the families connected with the Rev. John Roche. At the west end of the church is a spacious gallery, and an excellent organ, erected in 1806, at the cost of 365 guineas.