# Archaeological Journal/Volume 3/Archaeological Intelligence (Part 1)

Archaeological Intelligence.
Primeval Period.
Mr. George Grant Francis sent for exhibition several weapons of the early British period, found in South Wales, and preserved in the Museum of the Royal Institution at Swansea. Amongst these was a fine bronze sword, discovered in Glamorganshire, of the kind termed by Sir S. Meyrick, cleddyv, the hilt of which, as he observes, was commonly formed of horn, hence the adage, "he who has the horn has the blade." It measures in length 233/4 in., the widest portion of the blade measures 13/4 in., and the weight is 23 oz. A similar weapon, of precisely the same length, found at Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire, is to be seen in the armoury at Goodrich Courts
Mr. Francis sent a stone axe from the same collection, the form of which is rather unusual; it was found at Llanmadock, in Gower; its length is 6 in., and weight 23 oz.
Other interesting specimens of Celtic weapons have been recently exhibited at the meetings of the Institute by Mr. Whincopp, of Woodbridge, from his extensive collection of remains discovered in the ​eastern counties. Sir Philip Egerton also sent several examples found on his property in Cheshire.
To the series of torcs described in Mr. Birch's paper, may be added one found at Wraxall, which must be considered as presenting a new type. From the cast of it exhibited by the Rev. H. T. Ellacombe, it appears to be wrought with a waved pattern, and to have been originally ornamented with jewels, or vitreous pastes.
Vases discovered in Furness.
The Rev. John Baldwin transmitted through Mr. Beck, Local Secretary for Lancashire, two small earthen vases of unusual fashion, discovered under a cairn near Roose, a hamlet at the southern point of the peninsula of Furness. No description of the cairn itself has been preserved, but it was evidently a place of sepulture, as the remains of a body which had been burnt on the spot, and small pieces of charcoal, were found in it. One of these vases appeared to present some features of general resemblance to the vessels discovered by Sir Richard Hoare in the barrows in Wiltshire, and considered by him to have been used as thuribula. The other was of ruder fabric and shape, the only ornament on it being a scratched zig-zag or chevron pattern round the upper edge of the vessel. These vases had been placed at the head of the body, which was towards the west, and contained nothing but earth. After cremation, earth to the height of a foot or more had been heaped over the remains, which again was covered with stones to the quantity of between two and three hundred cart loads.
ROMAN PERIOD.
Mr. Tucker, Local Secretary for Devonshire, exhibited six tessons of brick, which were found in digging the foundations of the union workhouse at Colchester in 1837. Mr. Birch observed that these subjects were evidently modern fabrications, and that he had no doubt an ingenious system of deception and forgery was practised in respect of them. It was quite certain they were neither Roman nor medieval; indeed, an inscription or cartouche on one of them was copied from Champollion's Letters from Egypt, published in 1833, before whose time it was unknown. A sword and dagger, with iron blades, and hilts of horn, with Latin inscriptions on them, said ​to have been found at the same place, were also exhibited by Mr. Tucker. Mr. Birch considered these to be the work of the same forger.
Extensive excavations are now in progress on the site of the Roman town of Segontium, at Caernarvon, under the direction of the Rev. R. R. Parry Mealy. Foundations of buildings, coins, and other Roman remains, have been discovered, of which we hope to give a more detailed account, after they have been submitted to the inspection of the Committee.
Mr. Samuel Tymms, of Bury St. Edmunds, communicated for examination a fragment of a glass vessel, supposed to be of Roman date, discovered at Lavenham in Suffolk. The annexed representation shews its dimensions; in the central part was enclosed a small quantity of liquid, half filling the cavity; it was slightly tinged with a pinkish colour, and seemed to deposit a whitish sediment. The glass was of a pure white crystalline texture. Stow relates that amongst numerous Roman remains found when the field anciently called Lolesworth, now Spittlefield, was broken up about the year 1576 to make bricks, "there were found divers vials, and other fashioned glasses, some most curiously wrought, and some of chrystall, all which had water in them, nothing differing in clearnesse, taste, or savour from common spring water, whatever it was at the first. Some of these glasses had oyle in them very thick, and earthly in savour." In the Museum of Antiquities at Rouen a small glass vial, accounted to be Roman, is preserved, hermetically sealed and half full of liquid. Vases found at Tubney
Among the specimens of Roman pottery recently submitted to the Committee may be noticed a fragment found at the camp at Winklersbury, near Basingstoke, Hants, stamped with the name albinys, exhibited by the Rev. E. Hill, student of Christ Church, Oxford; and two vases of late Roman manufacture, found in the parish of Tubney, Berks, near a barrow in the vicinity of the old church. They were transmitted by the Rev. Dr. White, of Magdalene College, Oxford. We may also here mention a Roman brick found in digging the foundations of the Post Office, St. ​Martin's-le-Grand, impressed with the letters p.p.br. lon. The initials p. p. br. probably indicate the name of the manufacturer, the letters lon. the place of manufacture, Londinium, as the lon. on the third brass coins of Constantine the Great has been thought by numismatists to mark London as the place of mintage. This brick was exhibited by Mr. J. W. Burgon, and others similarly stamped have, we believe, been found in the soil of London.
SAXON PERIOD.
Mr. J. O. Westwood exhibited drawings of two remarkable crosses. One represented, in full dimensions, the west side of the Great Cross now standing by the road side in the village of Carew, Pembrokeshire; it has lately been placed on a solid stone foundation, and as the adjoining road has been lowered, and is rather narrow, the cross appears quite gigantic. Mr. Westwood stated that the east side of this monument had been inaccurately figured by Fenton and Donovan, but that he could not learn that the west side had ever been represented. The letters of the inscription are incised, but the patterns are in relief. The space on the right of the inscription has never been inscribed. The ornament on the summit of the cross is defaced on the west side, but appears, from a slight portion remaining, to have been of an interlaced ribbon pattern: on the east side, it is inscribed with a cross, each limb being formed of three incised lines.
The other drawing represented, also of the full size, the east side of the Great Cross at Nevern, which, with the kind assistance of the Rev. I. Jones, Mr. Westwood had been enabled to rub and delineate on all its sides, which are equally ornamented. The east, south, and north sides have not been figured: the inscription, however, is given in Gibson's and Gough's Camden, but unexplained. The west side also presents an inscription within a narrow central fascia. The errors in some of the patterns, as represented in the annexed cut, are rather curious, and shew the manner in which the workman executed his design. Mr. Westwood observed that these crosses exhibited only two of the principal types, characteristic of ancient British and Irish work: the spiral pattern and the interlaced dragon design being never found in Wales, where, also, all the crosses, unlike those of Iona, the Isle of Man, and Ireland, are almost invariably destitute of figures. It is extremely difficult to assign a precise date to these two crosses, either with reference to the very unintelligible inscriptions upon them, or the style of their ornamental work, because it is well known, that in places but little influenced by external circumstances, the same conventional forms have subsisted for many centuries: as, for instance, in Ireland, where the hand-writing of the fourteenth or fifteenth century is very similar to that of the eighth or ninth, or, to approach more closely to the point in question, in the isles on the west of Scotland, where the crosses retained till a very late period their primitive style of art. However, as there is so near a resemblance between the work of these two crosses, and that on some of the stones in South Wales, which can be well ​
| Cross at Carew. West side. | Cross at Nevern. East side. |
Runic Cross at Lancaster.
The purpose with which these early sculptured crosses were erected, has not been clearly ascertained; in some instances they may have been sepulchral memorials, but this does not appear to have been invariably their intention. The curious inscribed memorial found at Lancaster in 1807, bears a striking resemblance to the crosses noticed in South Wales. A representation of this monument, somewhat deficient in accuracy, has been given in the Archæologia, and it will suffice to refer our readers to the learned dissertation by Mr. Kemble which accompanies it. For the sake of comparison with the sculptured crosses of Wales, the annexed representations are presented to the readers of the Journal: they are taken from accurate sketches, and a cast from the Runic inscription, which have been communicated to the Institute by Mr. Michael Jones. This cross was found in 1807, in digging a grave in the churchyard of St. Mary's, Lancaster: the portion thus rescued from oblivion measures 3 feet in height, and the breadth of the cross when the arms were perfect, appears to have been 1 foot 9 inches. The inscription is in Runes, and in the Anglo-Saxon dialect; it was explained by Mr. Kemble as signifying, "Pray for Cynibald ​ and Cuthbert, or for Cynibald son of Cuthbert." Mr. Jones stated that he had sent a cast from this remarkable inscription to Professor Finn Magnussen of Copenhagen, who had proposed the following reading and interpretation of the Runes. "GIBIDON FA RO CYNIBALD CUP (or CUTH) BURMN; Oremus nancisci quietem Cynibaldum celebrem Castellanum." He supposed that the person commemorated had been the Saxon Burghman, or Governor of the town of Lancaster. The Professor also expressed his opinion that this memorial had been sculptured in the eighth or ninth century.
Several Northumbrian stycas of Ethelred and Eanred were communicated by Mr. John Richard Walbran; they were discovered near the Elshaw, or Ailcey Hill, a large tumulus not far from the cathedral of Ripon, where a considerable number were found in 1695, according to Thoresby.
PERIOD OF GOTHIC ART.
The bronze matrix of the singular seal of which a representation is annexed, was discovered about the year 1812, in a ruined tower of the castle of Giéz, in Touraine. A cast in plaster was presented to Mr. Way by Monsieur Louis Dubois, one of the Conservateurs of the collection in the Louvre, who stated that a little gold figure of St. George, possibly a knightly decoration, and a small triptic of gilt brass, were found with the seal. According to local tradition, the castle of Giéz had been at one period the abode of the duke of Bedford, but the seal, which appears to be a kind of rude imitation of the mayoralty seal of the city of London, is certainly a work of a later time. This matrix can scarcely be considered as a forgery, fabricated for any illegal purpose; the assimilation is merely to be traced in the general arrangement of the design, the details being changed in many respects, which may be seen by comparison with the original mayoralty seal, made towards the close of the fourteenth century. The matrix is now almost wholly defaced, the most deeply sunk portions of the design being alone preserved; the annexed representation is taken from an impression in its perfect state. Stowe relates that the old seal was broken
​in 4 Richard II., 1380, by Richard Odiham, chamberlain of the city during the mayoralty of Sir William Walworth, and its place supplied by a new matrix, on which were represented St. Peter and St. Paul, with the Virgin and Child above, and a shield of arms of the city beneath, supported by two lions, and on either side a sergeant of arms, in a tabernacle surmounted by an angel. In the spurious seal it will be observed that besides the alteration of all the architectural details, in which no Gothic character is retained, the figure of St. Peter is changed into that of a king, and under the sergeants are introduced two escutcheons, that on the dexter side being charged with two lions, probably intended for the ancient bearing of Normandy, the other with the three lions of England, omitting altogether the quartering of France. The legend is precisely the same on both seals.
The annexed cut represents an impression from the brass matrix of a personal seal of the fourteenth century, discovered in a field at Newnham Murren, near Wallingford. It is now in the possession of Mr. J. G. Payne, of Wallingford, who forwarded it for the inspection of the Committee. From the legend—*s' ioh'is . de . dvfforde.—and the armorial bearings on the shield, it seems probable that it may have been the seal of John de Ufford, who was summoned to Parliament in 34 Edward III., A.D. 1360. He was the son and heir of Ralph de Ufford, brother of Robert, first earl of Suffolk. In 27 Edward III. he had a grant in fee of the manor of Great Belstead, co. Suffolk, parcel of the possessions of the alien abbey of Aumale. In 33 Edward III. he was appointed one of the Commissioners of Array for the county of Norfolk. He died in 1361, holding at the period of his decease the manor of Great Belstead, and lands at Burgh, Glemham, and Chipenhale, co. Suffolk, and at West Lexham and Postwick, co. Norfolk. Mr. Davy, of Ufford, who has obligingly supplied several instances of the name having been written 'de Dufford,' selected from the Leiger Book of Blythburgh Priory, observes that the Uffords derived their arms, sa. a cross engrailed or., in the first quarter a mullet ar., from the family of Peyton, settled at Ufford, Glover in his ordinary assigning this coat to Peyton. On the other hand it is stated in Bloomfield's history of Norfolk, that the Uffords bore this device by permission of the family of Hovel. The presence of the lions on this seal can only be explained by assuming them to have been introduced as ornamental details; it does not appear that the Uffords ever used a lion as a crest or cognizance. Mr. Payne also forwarded for inspection another brass matrix, found at Clapcot, near Wallingford: the device appeared to be a badger under a bush or tree; the legend reads *s' ioh'is . de . gildeford., date about the end ​of the fourteenth century. A seal with a similar device is in the possession of R. Weddell, Esq., of Berwick.
Mr. Orlando Jewitt exhibited a drawing and impression of a brass seal of the fourteenth century, found near Abingdon, Berks. The device is the figure of St. Margaret, trampling on a dragon, her usual emblem, with the legend * savncta margareta. This seal is of pyramidal form, hexagonal, and terminates in a trefoil, precisely resembling in shape the seal of John de Ufford before described.
The curious seal, here represented, communicated to the Institute by the Marquess of Northampton, was found about five years since in a field near to the collegiate church of Stoke by Clare, Suffolk. It is now in the possession of Mr. Barton, of Woodbridge, and appears to have been used as a secretum, or privy seal. The device is an antique intaglio, a cornelian set in silver, with the legend iesys : est : amor : mevs, the setting being apparently work of the fourteenth century. The device represents a genius holding in his hand a head, probably a mask, and about to deliver it into the hands of a little faun, who is seen skipping before him. It has been conjectured that this antique had been chosen as a device by one of the deans or members of the church of Stoke, which was dedicated to St. John the Baptist, from a supposed assimilation to the Scriptural history of the delivery of the head of St. John by the executioner to the daughter of Herodias. The legend is of frequent occurrence on medieval seals and ornaments, and possibly was regarded as a charm. Amongst the bequests of William of Wykeham, occurs a monile, or pendent ornament, probably attached to a pair of beads, on which were graven the same words. On the reverse of the seal there is a little ring, and an ornament chased in the form of a leaf. Two privy seals of similar fashion found near Luddesdown, in Kent, have been communicated by the Rev. E. Shepherd, both being composed of antique gems, mounted in silver of medieval workmanship. One bears the device of a lion, with his paw resting on a bull's head, and the legend svm leo qovis eo non nisi vera veo, the other exhibits an eagle displayed, with the motto consilivm est qvodcvqe cano. Probably the bird was considered to be the ominous raven. Another similar medieval appropriation of an antique gem, an engraved onyx, was communicated by Mr. Hansbrow, of Lancaster: it was found at "Galla Hill," in Carlisle. In every instance there was a little loop or ring on the reverse of the seal, near the upper extremity of the oval.
Several curious specimens of the ring-shaped brooch, discovered n various parts of England, may be regarded with interest by the readers of the Journal. This kind of fibula was worn from times of remote antiquity, it was perhaps less commonly used by the Romans than the bow-shaped ​fibula, and ornaments of the like nature, contrived with an elastic acus, or tongue, which fell into a groove, or was kept in its place by a hook or fastening. The ring-brooch served as a fastening in a different manner; the acus was simply hinged, not elastic; it traversed the tissue which had been drawn through the ring, and when the portions of the garment thus connected were drawn back, the acus was brought back upon the ring, and kept most securely in place. Brooches of this fashion occur amongst Etruscan and Roman remains; they have been found in Saxon places of burial in this country, and were commonly used during the Anglo-Norman period and later times. In Gloucestershire, and, probably, other parts of England, ornaments of this form were commonly worn as late as the last century. The medieval ring-brooches are interesting chiefly on account of the legends or ornaments engraved upon them, which occasionally appear to have been talismanic, but usually express the love of which such little gifts were frequently the token. Of the former kind is the beautiful brooch, set with gems, and curiously formed with two tongues, or acus, formerly in the possession of Col. Campbell, of Glen Lion, and inscribed with the names of the kings of the East, caspar . melchior . baltazar, considered, as Keysler states, to be a charm against epilepsy. In this class also the brooch in Mr. Jewitt's possession, and discovered near Oxford, may be included, which bears the name jesvs nazarenvs, so frequently used in the preservative charms worn during the middle ages.
✠roberdt margeerie : av
The final letters may designate the surname, or possibly signify à vous. This ornament is of pure gold, and appears to be of the fourteenth century.
Another gold brooch, of the same period, found in St. John Zachary burial ground, and now in the possession of Mr. W. Hunt, has the following legend on one side, cele ki vvs 'avez enclose, and on the other, vvs salv en vmerne la os.
A ring-brooch of bronze, in the possession of Mr. Edwards, of Winchester, is inscribed with the words povert pert comt, poverty loses, or mars, respect. In the curious collection of antiquities belonging to Mr. Whincopp, of Woodbridge, there is a silver ring-brooch, contrived ingeniously so as to remedy the inconvenience which attended the use of these fastenings, in drawing the tissue of the garment through a ring of small size. The ring was formed with an opening on one side, and the acus, which was not hinged, but moved freely to any part of the ring, having been with ease passed through the tissue, was brought through the opening between the volutes. It was then brought round until, the point resting against the ring, it was firmly secured, and the volutes prevented its slipping accidentally through the opening. The ring-brooch was an ornament worn by both sexes: it appears on the sepulchral effigy of Richard, Cœur de Lion, at Rouen, as well as on that of Berengaria his queen, at Le Mans: it served to gather up the fulness of the surcote on the breast of the knight, as shewn by one of the effigies in the Temple church, but usually was used to close the little opening on the neck, in the robes of either sex, termed the vent, or fente, which served to make the collar fit becomingly, as shewn by many effigies of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
A singular silver ring, of which a representation is here given, so as to shew the whole of the ornament developed, was brought for exhibition by Mr. Talbot. The interlaced plaited work seems to resemble some ornaments of an age as early as the Saxon period: but the ring is probably of a later date, and it is chiefly worthy of notice on account of the singular impress of the two feet, of which no explanation has been offered. It is probably to be regarded as one of the emblems of the Passion, or as a memorial of the pilgrimage to the Mount of Olives, where the print of the feet of the Saviour, which miraculously marked the scene of His Ascension, was visited by pilgrims with the greatest veneration.
Amongst numerous specimens of the work of the Limoges enamellers, communicated to the Institute, the small armorial scutcheons, some of which are here represented, appear not undeserving of notice. Two discovered among the remains of Newark Priory, Surrey, were brought by Dr. Bromet; one charged with the cross flory between five martlets, the bearing attributed to Edward the Confessor, and assumed by Richard II. in conjunction with the arms of England; the other argent, three fusils in fess gules, the bearing of Moutacute. Mr. John G. Nichols exhibited several of these scutcheons, formerly in the collection of the Dean of St. Patrick's, on one of which was a lion passant on a field azure, within a tressure flory; on another a fleur-de-lis; on another appeared a dragon on the obverse, the reverse being paly, dimidiating a bearing semé of fleurs-de-lis. Another curious example is in the possession of the Rev. Walter Sneyd; two are in the collection of Mons. Sauvageot, at Paris, one of which, bearing the arms of France with a label of three points, each charged with three castles, is remarkable as being furnished with a loop, or attachment, at the side. Enamelled scutcheons of this fashion and dimensions are appended to the consecrated rose, presented to the Count of Neufchâtel by the Pope, in the thirteenth century, now in the possession of Col. Theubet. These ornaments appear, however, to have been appended to the trappings or harness of horses, and one specimen belonging to Mr. Nichols has preserved the adjustment by which it had been attached to the leather. In a MS. preserved in Trinity College, Cambridge, there is a drawing which represents a charger thus caparisoned; the peytrell, or breast-band, has a row of these scutcheons appended to it all around the horse's breast.
Mr. Figg, of Lewes, sent a drawing of the effigy found February 13, within the grounds of Lewes Priory, nearly on the top of the north side of the. railway slope. He stated that the mail had evidently been gilt; the surcote was covered with a white ground, and the blue coloured upon that; the armorial bearings with a black substance, and coloured a reddish yellow to receive the gilding. The belts were both coloured vermillion, with gilded ornaments, and the lining of the surcote was vermillion. This effigy much resembles that in the Temple church, as shewn in pl. 9 of ​Richardson's Monumental Effigies, which is supposed to represent Robert de Ros, surnamed Fursan, who died in 1227.
Effigy found at Lewes.
Unfortunately, the head and the greater part of the legs of this effigy are missing; but what remains of it shews the legs were crossed, the left over the right. This portion of it is 2 ft. 9 in. long, of Wealden marble, and well cut. It represents a knight of the time of Henry III., and bears a general resemblance to the effigy in the Temple church, referred to by Mr. Figg. The hauberk is of what is called ring mail, the rings being set edgewise, and not interlaced. The courses of the rings run horizontally; those of each course inclining, as is usual, in the opposite direction to the next. The sleeve of the hauberk is somewhat loose. The surcote, which no doubt was long as well as full, retains at places, and especially about the shoulders and on the left side between the waist and sword belts, portions of blue on a white ground; and within a fold, at the lower part towards the left side, is a cross botoné 21/4 in. long, probably once gilt, no portion of the gold remaining on it. The surcote is confined round the waist, but the waist belt does not appear. The shield is much broken: no colour or device is perceptible upon it. Between it and the body is the greater part of the sword; the pomel of which came nearly as high as the arm-pit. The right hand, covered with a muffler shewing a thumb but no fingers, rests on the breast. Judging from such details as remain, the execution of this effigy may be referred to the middle of the thirteenth century, or a few years earlier.
Mr. M. A. Lower has conjectured, on the authority of the blue and the cross upon the surcote, that the arms were those of the great family of Braose, "azure, crusillé or, a lion rampant crowned of the second," and that the effigy represented John de Braose, who died 1232, by a fall from his horse. The costume and supposed date would agree with this, but there is no evidence of his being buried at Lewes, and Mr. Blaauw suggests that, as he died at Bramber, he would more probably have been buried, as his father was, in the neighbouring monastery of Sele, founded by his ancestor.
The well-known arms of the Beauchamps would also account for the cross, and there was probably a Robert de Beauchamp buried at Lewes; his widow Dionysia granting the monks a yearly sum to pray for his soul; but as he belonged to the Beauchamps of Hacche, in Somersetshire, ​their arms were entirely different, "vairy." The effigy might be connected with the Warennes by considering it as one of the Barr family, whose arms were "azure semée of cross crosslets, two barbies hauriant endorsed, or." John, the 8th Earl de Warenne, at the invitation of King Edward I., married in 1305, Joanna, daughter of Henry, Earl of Barr, by the Princess Eleanor, the kings daughter. He died 1347, and was buried under a raised tomb near the high altar of the priory church at Lewes, not far from the spot where the effigy was discovered. This earl bore the arms of Barr on his seals; in one case surrounding his own chequers, in another on separate escutcheons. (Watson's Warren, v. i. pl. 2.) If the costume is too early to agree with the earl, it is possible that some one of the Barr family in a preceding generation may have been buried at Lewes.
Inscription on Leaden Cist.
Portion of Inscription on the Incised Slab in memory of Gundrada.
Mr. Blaauw, Local Secretary, brought for the inspection of the Institute the lid of the leaden cist, recently discovered at Lewes, on which is inscribed the name of Gundrada, the supposed daughter of William the Conqueror. The accompanying engraving of this inscription has been executed from a drawing carefully reduced. Judging by the character of the letters, and also by the fretted cord-moulding which ornaments the cist itself, it can scarcely be referred to a date more ancient than the first half of the thirteenth century. Mr. Blaauw also exhibited a careful rubbing of the incised slab, in memory of Gundrada, which once formed part of the Shirley monument in Isfield church; it is of the same period as the cist. The expression "Stirps Gundrada Ducum" is most important; it confirms the conclusion of Mr. Stapleton, as to the parentage of Gundrada, and proves, in some degree, that when this memorial was executed, the real descent of the consort of William de Warenne was well known.
The annexed representation of an altar-tomb (see woodcut, next page,) discovered in the church of St. Stephen, Bristol, in May, 1844, is engraved from a drawing furnished by Mr. J. G. Jackson.
Monument, St. Stephen's, Bristol.
​It has been conjectured that the effigies on this tomb represent John Shipward, mayor of Bristol in 1455, and Catharine his wife. He died in 1473, and was buried in the church. The east window formerly contained painted glass, and under two figures was the following inscription: "Orate pro animabus Johannis Shipward et Catharinæ Uxoris ejus, qui Johannes istam fenestram fecit, et fuit specialis benefactor hujus ecclesiæ." It has however been urged, that the very existence of the above described inscription and the effigies renders it improbable that there was any other monument to Shipward; none is named by Barrett, or Camden, the former of whom gives moreover a list of monuments.
St. Stephen's Bristol.
On the 1st of June in the same year, the single effigy here figured was discovered in the south wall of the church, from whence it has been removed and refixed on the north side, and westward of the above described monument. It has an inscription on the north side of the slab, but this being next to the wall is unfortunately invisible.
The Rev. W. H. Gunner, of Winchester, Local Secretary, communicated an impression of a sepulchral brass, of the fifteenth century, in the church of Wyke, Hants, representing the figure of St. Christopher, a subject which is not of usual occurrence on sepulchral memorials, (See woodcut in next page.)
Dr. Bromet exhibited a rubbing from a credence-table on the south side of the chancel of Brabourne church, Kent. It is of black marble, and is sculptured with a cross inscribed in a circle, flanked with, apparently, the matrices of inscriptions on brass.
Dr. Bromet submitted also a rubbing from a brass in Godalming church to the memory of John Barker, Esq., who died in 1595. It is remarkable as shewing the form of sword-hilt and the cutlace or dagger of that period.
Mr. Gunner called the attention of the Committee to an interesting crypt, which he presumed to be of late Norman work, in the cellars of the Angel Inn. in the High-street, Guildford. Mr. Gunner stated that he was not aware that any notice of this relic of antiquity had been published, except in a local work.
This crypt is 35 ft. in length by 19 ft. in breadth. It is divided down the centre by two piers supporting the groining of the roof, which consists of cross-ribs and springers, without bosses at the points of intersection. The soffits of the arches are quite flat, with the edges plainly chamfered. The piers are without imposts or capitals: the ends of the vaulting ribs dying off in them, but resting on corbel-heads in the walls. ​Its present height is about 10 ft., the span of the arches lengthwise 9 ft. 3 in., breadthwise 8 ft. 3 in. The present height of the piers is 5 ft. 7 in to the spring of the arch, and their circumference about 4 ft. 6 in. The bases appear to have been cased in later times with a thick coating of cement, as they are out of all proportion to the rest of the pier, both in size and height. The crypt is entered from the north (through a cellar, in which are large remains of ancient masonry) by a doorway with a pointed arch, the height of which is 6 ft. 4 in. The thickness of the wall in this part is 5 ft. Mr. Gunner was informed that another crypt, of smaller dimensions, existed under a house on the opposite side of the street, higher up the hill. The popular opinion is that this crypt belonged to the castle of Guildford, but its situation is without all the exterior defences of the castle.
Brass, Wyke Church, Hants.
We most readily avail ourselves of the opportunity afforded by Mr. Boutell's interesting communication, to supply an accidental omission in the eighth number of the Archaeological Journal, and to acknowledge the friendly disposition exhibited towards the Institute by the recently formed Architectural Society of St. Alban's. To their liberality we were indebted for the loan of the admirable wood engraving of the fresco representing the incredulity of St. Thomas, recently discovered in the abbey church, presented to our members in that number of the Journal. The Committee of the Institute regard with much satisfaction the recent formation of this and similar local associations, for the praiseworthy object of preserving and elucidating antiquarian remains, and their satisfaction is greatly increased by the consideration that these societies, and first among them the Architectural Society of St. Alban's, have manifested the most kindly feeling towards the Institute, and volunteered their most cordial co-operation in promoting its views. The first anniversary of the St. Alban's Society will occur on June 17, and, being held in a place so replete with interest to the lover of Medieval Architecture, an agreeable and instructive meeting may be expected under the Earl of Verulam's presidency.
Mr. W. S. Walford communicated a letter from the Rev. C. Boys, of Wing, on the remains of coped coffin-lids on the churchyard walls of Lyddington in Rutlandshire, and Castor in Northamptonshire, As we shall recur to this subject at a future time, it will be sufficient to observe at present, that Mr. Boys found the remains of seventeen coped slabs at Lyddington, on which ornament could be distinctly traced, and two at Castor, Mr. Boys forwarded sketches of two of the coped lids at Lyddington, One of these was sculptured with an elaborate cross-flory; the other presented an example of that peculiar style of monumental effigy which occurs during the fourteenth century: a trefoiled ​aperture is cut in the slab to shew the head and bust of the body supposed to lie beneath, the remaining surface of the stone being decorated, as in this case, with a cross, or with armorial bearings, as on the tomb of Sir William de Staunton, in Staunton church, Notts. Other examples of this fashion occur at Brampton, in Derbyshire, and at Aston Ingham, in Herefordshire.
Mr. Wykeham Archer exhibited drawings from the frescoes recently discovered in Carpenter's Hall; and from the statues of King Lud and his two sons, formerly in niches on the eastern front of Lud-gate. Sir Richard Westmacott observed, that although these statues had been considered as of great antiquity, he thought, from their pseudo-classical costume, that they were not older than the seventeenth century. But Dr. Bromet was of opinion that, from their style, their heads were as old as A.D. 1260, when Stow says, Ludgate "was beautified with images of Lud and other kings," and which, having been smitten off at the Reformation, were, in Mary's time, replaced, and so remained till 1586, in which year the gate was newly built, with the images of Lud and others, as before. He thought it probable, however, that the bodies and limbs of these statues are not older than 1666, when the gate, which had been damaged by the fire, was again repaired; and having been used as a prison until 1761, was finally taken down, and its statues deposited in the small churchyard adjoining, whence they were removed to their present situation, in the gardens of the Hertford villa in the Regent's Park.
Amongst various antiquities and curious objects, communicated by Mr. George Grant Francis, Local Secretary for South Wales, from the collection of the Royal Institution at Swansea, was a die, supposed to have been found near that town, formed of coarse whitish clay, coated with a blue glaze. Each of the six sides bore a letter, as here represented, indicating the amount of gain or loss; this object having evidently been used as a plaything in place of the te-to-tum, and thrown with the hand or with a dice-box, the T denoting turn again, the A all, N nothing, &c. It has been conjectured that this may be the plaything formerly termed a Daly. "Daly or play, tessura, alea, decius." Promptorium Parvulorum. Horman says, in the Vulgaria, that "men play with three dice, and children with four dalies—astragulis vel talis. Wolde god I coude nat play at the dalys, aleam. Cutte this flesshe into daleys, tessellas." In the British Museum there is preserved a die, having eighteen rectangular faces, six of which are marked with the following letters, TA—LS—SZ—NG—NH—ND, and the intervening sides are marked with picks, like an ordinary die, up to the number twelve. The ​eight corners, being canted off, form triangular facets, which bear no marks. This object is supposed to be of German origin.
A curious, and singularly beautiful, gold ornament, supposed to be of early British workmanship, was found in the year 1836, by a peasant girl, whilst cutting turf on or near Cader Idris, Merionethshire. Nothing was discovered with it, to assist in determining its date or use. The annexed representation is of the exact size of the original, communicated to the Institute by the Rev. R. Gordon, and the ornament itself is in the possession of the Rev. J. H. Davies, Sodington. Worcestershire. It consists of two small cups, elegantly ornamented with filagree, and connected by a slender central wire, on which slide two small disks, which serve as coverings of the cups. It has been conjectured that it had been used in place of a fibula or fastening of some article of dress.
The Rev. John Wilson, Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford, exhibited several fragments of encaustic tiles, which were found with other objects, including part of an iron spur and a silver penny of Edward III., in the parish of Oddington, in Oxfordshire, upon removing some old foundations in a large pasture field on the "Grange Farm." What the buildings had been was totally unknown, but as the traces of them were visibly marked by the inequalities of the turf, the removal of part of what was left took place in consequence of the tenant's wish to use the stones for other purposes. Mr. Wilson observed, that the discovery of these fragments of tiles afforded, in conjunction with other circumstances, a clue to that which has hitherto been a desideratum—the true site of the monastery known to have existed in the parish of Oddington.
Sir Robert Gait, Knight, Lord of the manor of Hampton, now called Hampton Gay, possessed, we are told, a fourth part of the village of Ottendun (villa de Ottendun); and going to Gilbert, abbot of Waverley, the earliest Cistercian house in England, desired and obtained leave to build an abbey, of the same order, in the village of Ottendun, which accordingly he raised at his own charge, and endowed it with five virgates of land, which made the fourth part of a knight's fee, and called it, from the name of an adjoining wood, Ottelie. The abbot and convent of Waverley added to the endowment one hide in Norton; and Editha, wife of Robert de Oyley, with her husband's consent, gave out of part of her own dowry in Weston, bordering upon Otmoor, that demesne which lay on the corner of their wood, and continued on without the intermixture ​of any other lands; the quantity of which was thirty-six acres. The words of the grant, as given in the Monasticon, are these: "Notum sit omnibus sanctæ matris ecclesiæ filiis, quod ego Editha Roberto de Oily conjugali copulo juncta, consilio et voluntate ejusdem Roberti mariti mei, de duario meo de Weston, dedi in perpetuam elemosinam Deo et sanctæ Mariæ et fratribus in Oteleia secundum institutionem Cistercii virentibus, dominium illud, quod extremitati nemoris illorum absque alterius terræ intermixtione continuatur."
We do not find the precise date of Sir Robert Gait's house; but as the foundation of Waverley Abbey was laid Nov. 24, 1128, in the twenty-ninth year of Henry the First, and Gilbert succeeded John, the first abbot thereof, who died within the year of his appointment, it could hardly be earlier than 1130; and the fraternity having been removed by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, to the neighbourhood of Thame, in the same county, (some ruins of their house there now belonging to the Baroness Wenman, are engraved by Skelton in his Antiquities of Oxfordshire,) and their church dedicated to St. Mary on July 21st, 1138, the monks must have dwelt a very short time at Oddington; at the utmost, not more than seven or eight years, and probably less. Their buildings would, consequently, be inconsiderable.
With respect to the situation of these, Leland indefinitely remarks, "in this Ottemar was the foundation of Tame abbey;" and Bishop Kennett, in quoting the observation, seems to imagine that the abbey was in Otmoor itself, the corner nearest to the village of Oddington; "the religious," he proceeds to say, "always affected such low places, out of pretence to the more solitary living, but rather out of love to fish and fat land; and this site upon the moor was fitter for an ark than a monastery." The spot which the Bishop indicates, is generally thought to have been by a small pond below the old rectory house, pulled down some years since; but the error in this is so obvious, that it is surprising a writer of such eminence, living, as he did, some time in the neighbourhood, should have made it; for no traces of buildings have been found there; and if we refer to the particulars of the foundation we shall discover no probability of any wood called Ottelie, or any other, having been near; and instead of the land of Weston adjoining it, that parish lies quite in another direction.
The pasture field, in which the remains were found, corresponds, on the contrary, in every point with the spot chosen by Sir Robert Gait, and referred to in the charter of Edith. It is a very large piece of ground, near the farm house, running along the edge of Weston parish, and is even now in so rough a state as to be nearly as much "a lea" as it ever was. The name of the farm, "The Grange," implies that it was once monastic property. The field itself adjoins Weston parish and wood, which latter ​may have been, and probably was, part of that anciently called Ottelie, and the dowry lands of Edith in Weston might therefore very well run up, "without the intermixture of any other lands," to the "nemus" or grove of the monks, which would be that growing about their habitation. There are also remains of buildings here, and fragments of them are of an ecclesiastical description. For all these reasons, it seems extremely probable that the site of the original monastery at Oddington was at the Grange Farm, under Weston wood, and not on the border of the moor, below the destroyed parsonage house.
One remark may, perhaps, be permitted on a point of etymology. Sir Robert Gait is said to have called his new foundation Ottelie, from the name of an adjoining wood. Of this word, the latter part, lie or lea, would probably describe the nature of the ground where the building was placed; so that we have Otte left for the name of the wood; and Whitaker, in his History of Manchester, interprets Otta-dini to denote the people in the woods, so that Otte would seem to be the general British term for a wood. If this conjecture be well founded, Ottelie would signify, the lea or open ground before the wood; Ottendun, now Oddington, the hill or rising ground amongst the woods, the village being, in fact, on rising ground, above the general level of its immediate neighbourhood; and Otmoor, the mere or lake of the wood, or fringed with wood, a description, which, as far as can be judged, could very correctly apply to it in former times.
The portrait of Queen Elizabeth appears to have been placed in certain churches, probably from veneration for her memory, and according to Stow it was designated in the churches of London as the Monument. It is doubtful whether this practice was sanctioned or enjoined by any authority, and it does not appear to have been generally adopted. Mr. Jabez Allies communicated a description of a portrait of the Queen, found by him in the old farm-house, called the Lower Berrow, in Suckley parish, Worcestershire; which, as he had reason to believe, had been formerly suspended in the church. It exhibits the usual magnificence of costume, and is thus inscribed, "Posvi Devm adiutorem mevm. Æt: svæ 59. Nata Gronewiciae, Ao: 1533, Septem: 6." Under her left elbow appears an open book, with a quotation from Psalm xl. 11. This portrait was painted in the year 1592. Mr. Allies remarked that great discrepancy is found in the statements of various historians in regard to the day of Elizabeth's birth, here recorded to have taken place Sept. 6. Mr. Allies stated, at the same time, that at a cottage in the hamlet of Alfrick, he had noticed a basin of free-stone, resembling a holy-water stoup, which, as he conjectured, had been brought from the parish church of Suckley, or Alfrick Chapel; it was ornamented with two sculptured heads, one apparently intended as a representation of the Blessed Virgin.
* ↑ Skelton's Goodrich Court Armoury, pl. xlviii. See other examples in Gough's Camden, iii. pl. 34; Pennant's Scotland, ii. pl. xliv.; Leitfaden zur nordischen Alterthumskunde, p. 45, where the form of the hilt is shewn.
* ↑ Survey of Lond., b. ii. c. 5. p. 177, ed. 1633.
* ↑ Ducatus Leodiensis, 56. It is believed that the stycas found in 1695 were pre- served in Thoresby's Museum, respecting which and its dispersion Mr. Walbran has communicated these interesting particulars. "It is impossible to discover the majority of the articles that composed Thoresby's Museum. His wife retained possession of it until her death, which occurred fifteen years after that of Thoresby; but as the articles had been chiefly stowed away in a garret pervious to the weather, many of them were spoiled and broken, others lost, and some stolen, for she was careless of their preservation. After her death in 1742, the collections in natural history were found either damaged or destroyed. Dr. Burton, the author of the 'Monasticon Eboracense,' had such of the geological specimens as were not spoiled, together with the shells. The insects were worth nothing. The botanical specimens were all thrown out. The warlike curiosities were also thrown out. The mathematical instruments were sold for 7s. 6d. Such of the curious 'household stuff,' as remained unspoiled by damp and rust, was sold for 6s. to a brazier; for Mrs. Thoresby had suffered many of these articles to be purloined. The few statues and carvings were broken and mutilated. Of the seals. Dr. Burton acquired one; others were given to Dr. Rawlinson. The amulets could not be found. Some of the engravings were lost, others stolen, and many spoiled; Wilson got some, and Mr. Thoresby, jun., others. The valuable collection of coins, together with the manuscripts, various editions of the Bible, and the autographs, were sent to Mr. Thoresby's eldest son, Ralph, who was the incumbent of Stoke Newington. He died in 1763, and his effects were sold soon after. The coins produced above £450. I have not heard who were the purchasers, but in 1778 Mr. John White, of Newgate Street, London, had many of them. The printed books were bought by T. Payne of the Mews-gate, and retailed by a marked catalogue. Mr. White purchased a curious MS. collection of English songs; Horace Walpole, a MS. collection of Corpus Christi plays, the same, I believe, that was sold at the Strawberry-hill sale for £220. 10s., (it was lot 92, 6th day,) where there were sold several other MSS. from Thoresby's collection. Walpole also purchased at the younger Thoresby's sale the valuable case of the watch presented by the Parliament to Fairfax, after the battle of Naseby, the unique enamel work of which was executed by Bredier alone. This, it may be remembered, Mr. Bevan purchased at the Strawberry-hill sale (17th day, 1841) for 20 guineas. Many of the autographs and some MSS. came into the hands of the late Mr. Upcott; among others, Thoresby's Album, and the Diary and Letters published by Mr. Hunter; a few other MSS. were purchased of the younger Thoresby's executors by Mr. Wilson, the recorder of Leeds, and are now in the possession of Mr. Wilson of Melton."
* ↑ Survey of London, Candlewicke St. Ward, p. 237, ed. 1633.
* ↑ Pat. 27 Ed. III. p. 2. m. 8.
* ↑ Fœd. iii. 455.
* ↑ Esc. 35 Ed. III. no. 87.
* ↑ There are several bronze fibulæ in the British Museum, apparently of Roman date. See also Montf. Ant. Expl., vol. iii. pl. xxx.; and the fibula of bronze found at Cirencester, Archæol., vol. x. pl. xii.
* ↑ Pennant's Scotland, vol. i. p. 103.
* ↑ On a brass ring of the same period, discovered at Newark Priory, Surrey, and communicated by Dr. Bromet, are inscribed, in similar letters, the words POVERT PERT.
* ↑ The shelf mark of this MS. is R. 16. 2.
* ↑ Engraved in Stothard's Monumental Effigies. There is an open trefoil which displays his feet also.
* ↑ Kennett, P. A. i. 126, and authorities there cited. Monast. v. 40
* ↑ Monast. v. 404.
* ↑ Monast. v. 237.
* ↑ Monast. v. 237.
* ↑ Kennett, P. A. i. 128. Monast. v. 403.
* ↑ IV. 191 a.
* ↑ P. A. i. 128.
* ↑ According to Sandford, Rapin, and Hume, Elizabeth was born on Sept. 7, other writers give the 8th.