PART II.]

been customary in the time of his predecessors, for the repairs of the church. This the abbot refused, unless his right to the said trees, as patron and rector, was acknowledged by a payment of one fourth of their value. The parish ioners demurred at this proposal, and the abbot sent Lambert de Fossedyk his steward to inquire into the circumstances, who found the parishioners actively employed in felling the trees, for which they pleaded a prescriptive right. The steward forbad them to proceed, which so exasperated the workmen, that they made an immediate attack upon him with their axes, tore his robes, wounded and robbed him; and his life was only saved by the exertions of the Vicar and other priests, who rescued him and placed him for security in the vestry; whence he was not released till a messenger had been despatched to Croyland, and an extorted permission was obtained from the abbot to cut down the trees and apply them to the intended purpose. The aggressors, however, subsequently made their peace by doing penance for the assault.

The present vicarage house is a building in the style of Charles I. although it was not erected till the year 1683. It is furnished with a low porch in front; the old windows have massive stone frames and mullions; and the whole is thatched with reeds. An inscription on a beam in the kitchen shows its age and the name of the Vicar, I. Thomas, by whom it was erected in 1683.

The parish is very extensive, being nearly seventeen miles in length, and between two and three in breadth. It has seven manors, which are distinguished by the names of Abbots, St. John of Jerusalem, Aswick, Hag. beach, Pipwell, Kirk Fee, and Knevitts. At the distance of about seven miles from the church, at a hamlet called Whaplode Drove, is a chapel of ease, for the convenience of the inhabitants living in that remote part of the parish.

The church is an eccentric though an admirable composition, and consists of a nave with aisles, transept, and chancel, with an elegant tower at the end of the south transept; all of very considerable magnitude. The abbot of Croyland had an occasional residence within the parish, and it

* « Asewik, a farm about four miles

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appears highly probable that he intended to furnish this church with more towers than one, but the design never executed. The present

was

tower was erected about the latter end of the 12th century, and is still in good preservation, to display the taste and science of the architect by whom it was designed and executed. It has four ornamental stages. The first is panneled with an arcade of arches slightly pointed, supported on slender cylinders, and ornamented with zigzag mouldings. The second story has a range of pointed arches above, and in each face a tall lancet window, but on the east side the window has been made up with masonry, and in the lower part a niche with a trefoil head inclosed within a pediment, has been inserted. The third story is panelled with a tier of arches, and the fourth has a pair of pointed bell windows, the arches decorated with the toothed ornament, and springing from elegant clusters of small cylinders. At the south-east angle of the tower is an octagonal staircase rising to the parapet, all of plain masonry, except that portion which adjoins the bell story, and here we have the effect relieved by a torus moulding at each angle. The whole is crowned by an embattled parapet over a cornice of heads, and finished with pinnacles at the angles. This tower contains five bells, with the following inscriptions :

1. Laudo Deum. Henricus Penn fusor, 1718. Shield, a lion rampant.

2. It clamor ad cœlos, 1718.

8. Ut mundus sic nos, nunc lætitiam nunc dolorem, 1718. Plebem voco, con

4. Jac. Bolton

grego clerum, 1718.

5. Defunctos plango, vivos moneo, 1718. Joh. Rvstat, Vicar. Shield, a lion rampant.

The lower part of the tower formerly communicated with the interior of the church by a spacious archway, and was not used, as at present, for a belfry. Here, under an arch in the wall, is a piscina, and close adjoining is a square recess with mouldings for a door, evidently the depository for a pyx. There are indications of a chantry, and I cannot entertain a

from Croyland be water upon Weland water. It was the Abbates place. Quappelode ix miles from Croyland, and 5 miles from Asewik Asewik is in Quappelode paroch."(Leland, vol. iv. Append. p. 162, 163.)

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doubt but an altar was established here before the Reformation, though the precise period would be difficult to determine; for I know of no place that would afford a greater facility for the celebration of private masses. Within the belfry door are two slender cylindrical columns with Ionic capitals; and over it on the outside, within a pediment and finial, is the trefoil recess already mentioned, which is of a date considerably posterior to the erection of the tower, and was evidently inserted by closing up one of the lancet windows which originally gave light to the ringing chamber, and formed a portion of the primitive clerestory of this detached fabric. In the niche was doubtless placed the image of the saint to whom the chantry was dedicated.

The south front has five windows with depressed arches despoiled of their tracery, and a triangular porch recently erected. The clerestory is panelled with an arcade of circular arches, eight of which are pierced and glazed. The east window has four lights; but it is without character, for the whole chancel has been rebuilt within the last seven or eight years. In the north front is a transept supported by diagonal buttresses, which has at present no internal communication with the church, and is used as a school room. Here are these arms carved in stone:

Quarterly, 1 and 4, on a fess between two chevronels, three quatrefoils; 2 and 3, three fusils in triangle. Impaled with, on a fess between three Aeurs de lis, a cinquefoil.

The nave, aisle, and clerestory, are similar to those on the south; and the west end has a large pointed door with lateral niches, and over it a noble window with five lights and a transom; and the façade terminates with a handsome cross fleury on the apex of the gable.

The interior is spacious and lofty, supported on each side by seven circular arches springing from diversified columns, some being cylindrical, others clustered with four and eight shafts, and others octangular; all, however, massive, and crowned with bold projecting capitals, ornamented with sculptured foliage. The roof is composed of carved oak, and the spandrels are filled in with quatrefoils and other tasteful devices, and the imposts were

[XCIX.

formerly decorated on either side with a row of human figures in drapery, bearing shields. Three only remain. 1. A cross. 2. A bend. 3. A hammer. Underneath a bracket, which has been placed in the centre pillar facing the south aisle, is a recumbent figure of a venerable man in a flowing garment, with his left leg crossing the other, and lying in a natural and easy posture. I am at a loss to designate this individual; but by a hole which appears in his belly, I conjecture that this is not the original situation in which he was placed; but that on some alterations or repairs of the church, the bracket has been fixed here by an ignorant workman in a reversed position, by which the figure has been thrown underneath, instead of upon it; for in its primitive posture it probably represented the patriarch Jacob as the base of a genealogical tree of the twelve tribes of Israel; or, like a similar representation in one of the chancel windows of Dorchester, Oxon, he might personate Jesse, from whose body springs a similar tree, with wide spreading branches, on which are depicted his descendants, terminating in Jesus Christ. The windows in the south aisle and clerestory formerly contained these arms: 1. Barry of six, Azure and Argent. 2. Azure, on a bend Gules three roses Argent. 3. Argent, two lions passant gardant.

In the east window of the north transept: 1. Argent, two lions passant gardant. 2. Or, a fess between two chevronels Gules. 3. Sable, a fret Argent. 4. Azure, on a bend Gules three roses Argent.

On an oaken pew in the north aisle, carved iu relief, are these two shields: 1. A cross. 2. Three passion nails in pile. In the floor of the same aisle is a blue slab, with the figures of a man and woman deeply indented, and at their feet a shield. These have been filled in with massive brass-work, but not a vestige remains at this day to indicate the persons in whose honour the monument was constructed. In the floor of the nave are several modern inscribed stones to the memory of the Aistrups and others; and one old uninscribed slab, with a cross botoné at each end. At the west end of the south aisle is a sumptuous monument of freestone, consisting of a tomb under a canopy supported by ten composite columns, four on each side, and

PART II.]

one at each end. On the tomb lies a knight in rich armour, with his head on a superb cushion; and at his feet on a wreath, a wyvern's head, erased Argent, collared and langued Gules. His lady lies at his right hand, her head on a similar cushion, and at her feet, on a wreath, a griffin sejant. On each side of the tomb between the bases of the columns are five kneeling children; and the whole is protected by an iron railing. Over the canopy are these shields:

1. Argent, fretty Sable, on a canton Gules a chaplet Or. Crest, a wyvern's head erased Argent, collared and langued Gules-IRBY. 2. IRBY, im. paled with, Sable, a cross engrailed Or, with a mullet for differencePEYTON.

The frieze is charged with the following inscription in Roman capitals: "Heere lieth bvried Sr Anthonie Irby, Knight, sonne of Anthonie Irby, esqvire, and Alice his wife, davghter of Thomas Welbie, esquire, which Sr Anthonie tooke to wife Elizabeth davghter of Sr John Peyton of Iselam in the covntie of Cambridge, knight and baronet, of the noble race of the Vffordes, sometimes Earls of Suffolke, by whome he had issve Sr Anthonie Irby, knight, Edward, Thomas, Alice, and Elizabeth, who died an infant; Sr Anthonie

the eldest married his first wife Fravnces, davghter of Sir William Wray, knight and baronet, and Fravnces his wife, davghter and coheire to Sir William Drvry of Halsted in Suffolk; his second, Margaret, davghter of St Richard Smith of the countie of Kent, knight."

To this inscription there is no date, but on searching the pedigree of this family I find that Sir Anthony died in 1623. Near the tomb are suspended the knight's helmet and banner, which contains his arms.

The font is placed in its legitimate situation in the centre of the unpewed space at the west end, and exactly between the north and south porch doors. It is elevated on a circular basement of three steps, and supported on a square plinth of black stone rounded at the angles. Upon this is a central cylinder of black stone surrounded with four twisted columns. The font itself is square at the base, and higher up the corners are cut away so as to form a hexagon, each face being panelled and fluted. The whole height is about seven feet.

The nave opens into the chancel by

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a beautiful Norman arch, finely ornamented with a double row of zigzag mouldings. Over this is a wooden singing gallery, which occupies the place of the ancient rood loft, and is accessible by the old stone staircase within the south pier. The chancel screen is gone, but the beauty of the lower part, which is incorporated into the pews that stand at the entrance of the chancel, extorts the sigh of regret that the remainder has been consigned to oblivion. The designs have been tastefully carved in oak, and polished. In the north pew are two shields flanked by pointed arches cinquefoil, the spandrels decorated with flowers. 1. On a fess between two chevronels voided three cross crosslets; on the angle of the upper chevronel a crescent for difference; impaled with, Ermine, three fusils in triangle Ermines. 2. Quarterly, 1 and 4, as the last shield. 2 and 3, as the impaling of ditto. Impaled with a fess between three fleurs de lis. The ornaments in the south pew are divided into five compartments. lines, and decorated with balls and 1. A rectangle intersected by diagonal flowers. 2. A ribbon or fillet flowing, and inscribed with these letters, cut in relief, R, o, e, to, g, n. 3. An uncouth figure of a beast with a collar and wings tasselled. 4. A shield, charged with a fess between three fleurs de lis springing out of crescents, impaled with a fess chequée between three roses. 5. A ribbon or fillet, as before, part cut away, but the remainder bearing the letters M, B, O.

The chancel being new, contains little of interest. The altar-screen is Grecian; and within the altar rails are slabs to the memory of two of my sisters, Frances Oliver, who died Nov. 10, 1811, aged 27 years; and Mary, the wife of the Rev. John Watkins, who died Oct. 16, 1818, aged 32. In the chancel floor are a few other monumental slabs, and amongst the rest a blue stone to the memory of the Rev. John Thomas, who built the Vicarage house, and died Oct. 7, 1688.

The churchyard is spacious, and on two short fragments of wall adjoining the public gates, are some coffin shaped stones, which bear the impress of antiquity, though they are now applied to the unworthy purpose of a common coping to the wall. One of them, which I consider the oldest, is purfled