The Express.
London, England, 1851-08-07 00:00:00

ARCIIh:OLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF GREAT

BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

BRISTOL, AWL 6.
The final sitting of the historical committee was
held yesterday, and had presented to it two very interesting
and learned papers by Mr. George Poyee. The first was
entitled, " When and by whom was the Church of St.
Mary, Redeliffe, built." It was stated that the church was
founded by Simon de Burton, a merchant of Bristol, com- .
William
by AVilliain Canynge, the elder, and re-edified by
William Canynge, of Bristol, both of whom were likewise'
mayors and merchants of the ancient city. Mr. 1' Clell
paper comprised a minute examination of the arehiteeifeal
structure of the building, as compared with the remade
concerning it, its objects being to show that there musthave
existed a church on the site long anterior to lle Burton,
and that although both Canynges probably contributed to
the erection and completion of the edifice it was
not likely that they executed so much of the
work as had been ascribed to them. Mr. Pryce concluded :
To sum up the remarks I have thus offered to your notice
respecting the erection of the stately church of St. Mary, '
Redeliffe, that portion of the fabric which tradition ascribes
to Simon de Burton agrees better in point of style with the
architecture in practice silty years before the time when be
mm 11eeyyoOrP of Bristol, than it does with the date of his
eryefalty, during which time he is said to have founded
**church, another style being then in fashion ; the part
assigned to William Canynge, sen., by the same suspicions
authority only, appears to have restated from the joint
Marts of himself and the wealthy families inhabiting the
parish ; and that portion of the church ascribed to William
Canynge, jun., was undoubtedly erected by similar means.
gs,
de Burton and the two Canynges must have been very
men in their time, to have been each elected so
=aitimes to fill the civic chair ; and it is not
y they all three contributed largely to the build-
ing, and, perhaps, laid the foundation-stone of some par-
ticular portion of the structure when iu office, in due form ;
but it would be absurd to say, because of this, that they
were the founders. We might, I think, with quite as much
propriety, ascribe the re-edification of the church in our
own day entirely to our prevent worthy chief magistrate,
Sir John Kerte Haberfield, because he laid the foundation
stone for its restore ion, and liberally subscribed towards its
completion. Such a thing may have been done to pane-
gyrise a wealthy merchant and popular chief magistrate in
the time of Canynge, when chroniclers of passing events
were lees scrupulous in such matters, and had little fear of
detection through the general ignorance of the mass of the
population, but such a circumstance would Sc altogether
impossible in the age in which we live.
Some conversation ensued on the subject of this paper,
and a vote of thanks was parsed to the author, after which
Mr. Pryce read a paper " Uu the Early Use of the Pointed
Arch in Bristol," extracts from which are the following:
"The origin of this important member of our national
architecture, is a much disputed point in the world
of antiquaries. The earliest example of the pointed arch
hitherto noticed u existing in Bristol, is that described
in the vaulting of the vestibule to the chapter-house of
the cathedral, which was originally the church of
the monastery of St. Augustine, founded by Robert
Fitsharding, the progenitor of the ennobled family of
Berkeley. The building of this monastic house was
commenced about the year 1142, and it was finished in
1148, at a time when the better and inure elaborate class of
Anglo-Norman architecture prevailed in this country. Mr.
Britton, in his history of Bristol Cathedral, considers this
example of the pointed arch to be one of the first, if not the
first, specimen of that style to be met with. Although
every moulding and adornment of the arches of this vesti-
bule, together with the columns and capitals which support
them, are most decidedly of the Anglo-Norman style, no-
thing can be more certain than the completeness of the
pointed arches which are to be found intermixed with thine
of a purely Norman character; and as the construction of
this vestioule may be fixed at not later than tho last-men-
tioned date, it may well be denominated an early example
of the pointed arch. I am, however, far from believing it to
be the first or earliest specimen of the kind, even in Bristol,
for I think it will nut be difficult to refer to pointed arches
I. this city which lay claim to a still higher antiquity. The
west front of the Priory church of St. James displays in an
arcade which extends across the entire facade, as curious an
admixture of the Norman with the pointed arch as can
well be imagined. Nut only do the former, by intersecting
each order, describe a variety of pointed arches, some more
decisive in their outline than others, but in two instances
the pointed arch stands erect in all its individual complete-
ness. The whole line of columns, capitals, and mouldings,
both in relation to the Norman mode as well us to the
pointed order, are till in the former mode, and of the
minty of the style there can be no doubt. The capitals
throughout are what has been designated' cushioned;
the face of every arch is adorned with the zig-zag mould-
ing; and the somewhat slender columns which support them
are, as in catty instances, destitute of ornament of say
kind. To fix the date of the erection of this priory is
a matter of very considerable importance, because it will
prove that, whenever that event took place, the pointed
arch had must certainly been invented. That feature in
construction, it is generally admitted, was so frequently
used as to form an era in our national architecture, about

the year IPJO ; and it is usual to refer to the pointed arches
in the choir of Canterbury Cathedral as the earliest example
to which a date can be satisfactorily applied ; their erection
having taken place in 117.1. it is, however, equally cer-
tain that it was constructed in the vaulting of the vestibule
to the chapter-house of Bristol Cathedral nearly 30 years
before that period—viz., in 1148, or even earlier. The
Priory of St. James, in this city, owes its origin to Robert
Earl of Gloucester, a natural eon of King Henry I. lie
was born about the year 1090, and he became in after life
the greatest military chieftain of his time. About the
Cear 1130 he commenced the re-construction of Bristol
astle, which, it appears, had fallen into decay; and of the
material prepared for that purpose a tithe, or every tenth
stone, was devoted to the building of the:Priory in question ;
and we may, 1 think, presume that the erection of both
structures miscarried on simultaneously. 1 will not, how-
ever, indulge any surmises on the subject, as we have docu-
mentary evaded e sufficient to prove the fact. Mr. Barrett,
in his history of Bristol, p. 3814 quoting front Dugdale, tells
in that about the year 1129, Simon, Bishop of %Vorcester,
mmiecrated the burying ground belonging to this Priory ;
which, I conceive, shows that the structure was then com-
menced. This Get, however, is must explicitly stated in a
deed of the bishop's, in which he confirms to the priory all
tithes, &c., which it possessed, 'moreover, in that day in
which he dedicated the churchyard of the church of St.
James, at Bristol, then in building,' de., a clear proof
that the Priory was in course of erection at that early period.
Having established a date for the commencement of the
Wading under notice, I shall now endeavour to ascertain
elan it was completed ; and here the testimony recorded is
equally conclusive, in the deed of the bishop referred to,
we are distinctly told that the l'riury was finished one year
before the completion of the castle; and this must have been
nut later than 1137, for it occurred when Benedict was
Abbot of Tewkesbury, who died in that very year. The
'Castle, which embraced a very extensive range of buildings,
must have been finished before 1138, for we tine it then un-
dergoing all the horrors of a siege. This event took place
only eight years alter its commencement, and it is not too
much to presume that the erection of the Priory was •
matter of primary consideration, as a religious house would
Naive the first attention of the builder of the fortress,
Mee depending as we know in those superstitious times
WM the pleasure of the priesthood, whose favour was palm-
ation, in all great undertakings, and especially in matters
allsoting the advancement of the interests of the church,
lithe support and aggrantlisementof monastic institutions.
It is then, I think, quite clear that the I'riory of St. James
was in course of erection when the burying ground was con-
caseated in 1129, and it seems tolerably certain that it was
winspleted before the castle was besieged in 1138; and surely
the church of ties religious house was not the last portion
finished ; we may rather conclude, from what we know
of the practice of the middle ages in such matters, that it
was the first part actually perfected.
The Chairman then brought the section to a close by a
few remarks on the valuable papers which had been read
at its sittings.