Part 18 (1/2)
I am inclined, however, to suggest that it was a chantry chapel, put under the protection of the Abbey and served by its inmates according to the Will of one of the former wealthy lords of Tattershall and Kirkstead, whose burial place it eventually became.
”This beautiful little structure consists of an unbroken oblong, supported by plain b.u.t.tresses, insufficient to sh.o.r.e up its side walls and bear the weight of its vaulted roof. A plain plinth const.i.tutes the footing of the structures, above which is a bold boutel string, below the window sills, and it is surmounted by quarter round corbels which originally supported a corbel table and a higher pitched roof than the present one, not long ago (in the forties), covered with thatch. The side windows consist of very narrow little lancets. At the east end is a triplet, and at the west end structural ornaments of a most beautiful kind have been most lavishly supplied. Owing to the loss of the gables of this chapel, and its present hipped roof, its appearance at a distance does not promise much, but, when approached, the remarkable beauty of its design, and especially of its western elevation, will most a.s.suredly command admiration.
”From its own architectural evidence we may safely a.s.sume that it was built during the first quarter of the 13th century, and it nearly resembles the contemporary work in the north transept of Lincoln Cathedral. The western facade is supported by a b.u.t.tress on the south, and a larger b.u.t.tress on the north in the shape of a staircase turret, the upper portion of which is now lost. Between these is one of the most lovely doorways imaginable. Its jambs are first enriched by an inner pair of pillars, having caps from which spring vigorously, and yet most delicately, carved foliage; and then, after a little interval, two more pairs of similar pillars, carrying a beautifully-moulded arch, one member of which is enriched with the tooth mould. Above this lovely doorway, in which still hangs the co-eval, delicately-ironed oak door, is an arcade of similar work, in the centre of which is a pointed oval window of beautiful design; but, through the loss of the gable above, this elevation is sadly marred. In the north wall, close to the west end, is a semi-circular-headed doorway, similar in general character to the western one, but plainer. Its arched head, however, is charmingly moulded, and has the tooth ornament worked upon its inner chamfer.
”Within, is a still more beautiful sight than without, for the whole of the interior is, in every respect, admirable.
”A bold, boutel string runs round the walls about five feet from the ground, and from this, at intervals, rise dwarf shafts surmounted by most delicately carved caps, the foliation, of which almost looks as if it might expand, and yield to the breeze. These serve as supporters to vaulting princ.i.p.als, enriched with the tooth ornament, dividing the roof vaulting into four squares, having large circular foliated bosses in the middle, on the easternmost of which is also carved the holy Lamb and bannered cross.
”In each bay of the side walls is a pair of lancet windows, except in the westernmost one of the north wall, where the north doorway takes the place of one of these, and close to this, in the west wall, is a little doorway giving access to the turret staircase. The triplet at the east end is simply exquisite. This consists of a central lancet and a smaller one on either side, between which rise lovely cl.u.s.tered and handed pillars, enriched with flowing foliated caps, supporting, with the aid of corresponding responds enriched by the tooth ornament, lovely moulded arches, on which the nail head ornament is used.
”Towards the east end of the south wall is a piscina, having a triangular head and shelf groove. Towards the west end, on the north side, are portions of some very valuable woodwork, apparently co-eval with the chapel itself. These probably const.i.tuted the lower part of a rood screen, and consist of slender pillars, supporting lancet-headed arcading. They are now used as divisions between the seating, and are most noteworthy. {246} There is also a respectable canopied pulpit, of the time of James I., but scarcely worthy of the wors.h.i.+p it seems to invite, from its peculiar position at the east end of the chapel.
”I must now refer more particularly to a sepulchral effigy in the chapel.
The lower portion of this is lost, and the remainder is now reared up against the south wall. This represents a knight in a hauberk of mail covered by a surcoat, and drawing his sword slightly out of its sheath, pendent on his left. At a low level on the right is his s.h.i.+eld, and over his coife de maille, or mail hood, covering his head, is a cylindrical helm, slightly convex at the top, having narrow bands crossing it in front, the horizontal one, which is wider than the other, or vertical one, being pierced with ocularia, or vision-slits, but dest.i.tute of breathing holes below. The head, thus doubly protected, rests upon a small pillow, from which spring branches of conventional foliage. These helms began to be worn about the opening of the 13th century; to which breathing holes were added about 1225. Thus the armour of this knightly effigy exactly coincides in date with the architecture of the chapel in which it still remains, and it may well have served to commemorate Robert de Tattershall and Kirkstead, who died 1212.”
To these remarks of the Bishop I here add some valuable observations made by Mr. Albert Hartshorne, F.S.A., in a Paper read before the Archaeological Inst.i.tute, {247} and reprinted for private circulation, on ”Kirkstead Chapel, and a remarkable monumental effigy there preserved.”
He says: ”Reared against the south wall at the west end is a monumental effigy in Forest marble, larger than life, of a man in the military costume of the first quarter of the 13th century. He wears a cylindrical helm, a hauberk, apparently hooded, a short surcote, and a broad cingulum. The left arm is covered by a ponderous s.h.i.+eld, and he draws a sword in a scabbard. He wears breeches of mail, but the legs, from the knees downward, are missing. The head rests upon a cus.h.i.+on, supported by conventional foliage. The occurrence of a cylindrical flat-topped helm in monumental sculpture is, of itself, sufficiently rare to merit a notice. There are two examples of it at Furness Abbey, two at Chester-le-street, one at Staindrop, and one at Walkern,-seven only in all, so far as appears to be known. They occur in the seals of Hen.
III., Edward I., Alexander II. of Scotland, and Hugh de Vere. Actual examples of such headpieces are certainly of the utmost rarity. There is a very genuine one in the Tower, and another at Warwick Castle. Some sham ones were in the Helmet and Mail Exhibition, held in the rooms of the Inst.i.tute in 1880, and are suitably exposed in the ill.u.s.trated catalogue of this interesting collection.” ”Banded mail,” as it is called, has been one of the archaeological difficulties ”of the past and present generations, and the late Mr. Burges took great trouble in endeavouring to unravel the mystery of its construction . . . having casts made from the only four then known . . . effigies (with it) at Tewkesbury, Tollard Royal, Bedford, and Newton Solney; but . . . he had to confess, in the end, that he could make nothing satisfactory of it.
Here, at Kirkstead, is the fifth known sculptured example of banded mail in the kingdom, and . . . it is the earliest example of all . . . it resembles most the Newton Solney type; but I can throw no light upon the mail's construction, though I have long considered the subject, and must leave the matter as I found it, twenty years ago, a mystery. If we are to suppose, as the Bishop Suffragan has suggested, that a local lord built Kirkstead chapel, then I am disposed to think, with him, that that lord was Robert de Tattershall and Kirkstead, who died in 1212. The date of that chapel may certainly be of about the same period, namely, a little after the time of St. Hugh of Lincoln, and co-eval with the Early English work of the second period in Lincoln Cathedral. The effigy may very well have been set up to the memory of Robert de Tattershall, a few years after his death.”
So far the Bishop and Mr. Hartshorne. We have only to add that, some time in the forties, certain alterations were made, such as removing the thatched roof and covering it with slates, taking away much rotten timber and replacing it with fresh. Some so-called ”unsightly beams” were also removed, but they had probably been introduced at a very early period, and it was, probably, also mainly due to them that the walls had not fallen further outward than they had done. Whereas now, without any such support, and with the ma.s.sive stone roof pressing upon them, the destruction of the building must be only a question of time, and that not a very long one, unless some remedy is applied. I have a note, from Baron Hubner's ”Travels through the British Empire,” {249} that ”when the town of Melbourne, in Australia, in 1836, was yet a small scattered village, with wooden houses, wooden church, &c., a tree was the belfry.”
At that same period the bell of Kirkstead chapel also hung in a tree, still standing at the south-west corner of the churchyard. Climbing up, a few years ago, to examine the bell, I found the following, cut in the lead under the bell turret: ”Thomas Munsall, Nottingham, August, 1849; Edward Gadsby, Nottingham, Aug., 1849. George Whitworth (of Kirkstead), Joiner.” The two former slated the roof, and the last was the local carpenter. The history of this church in modern times, as a place of wors.h.i.+p, has bean peculiar. The estate, having been bestowed upon the Fiennes Clintons by Henry VIII., pa.s.sed, in the 18th century, by marriage, to the Disneys and the benefice, being a Donative and, therefore, almost private property, Mr. Daniel Disney, being a Presbyterian, appointed a minister of that persuasion to officiate; also endowing it with lands which produced a stipend of 30 a year in 1720.
This gift was confirmed by his Will. Presbyterian ministers continued to hold it till the death of a Mr. Dunkley in 1794. The manor had then been sold to the Ellison family, and a suit was inst.i.tuted to recover the benefice to the Church of England; the case was tried at Lincoln a.s.sizes in 1812, when, by a compromise, the fabric was restored to the Church of England; but the Presbyterian endowment remained in the hands of trustees, who subsequently erected a Presbyterian chapel at Kirkstead, and in more recent times, a manse was built in connection with it, now occupied by the Rev. R. Holden. Dr. John Taylor, of Norwich, was one of the ministers appointed by Mr. Disney. He held it some 18 years, from 1715, and here composed his Concordance, in 2 vols. In 1876 the church was visited by the Architectural Society, when, in consequence of its dangerous condition, it was closed by order of the Bishop, awaiting restoration, and it awaits it still.
Of this interesting structure no one can get any view of the interior beyond (strange to say) what can be seen through the keyhole. May we hope that the Rontgen Rays may soon be sufficiently developed to enable us to photograph it through the boards of the ancient door, the hinges of which, we may add, are worthy of notice. I conclude these remarks upon it with the words of a former owner, {250a} who was inspired to write of it thus:-
This ancient chanel! Still the House of G.o.d, And boasting still the consecrated sod, 'Neath which, where ancient oaks, wide-spreading, shade, The rude forefathers of the place were laid.
Fair, too, as ancient, is that holy place, Its walls and windows richest traceries grace; While cl.u.s.ters of the lightest columns rise, And beauties all unlooked for, there surprise.
'Twas well, when Ruin smote the neighbouring Pile, It spared this humbler Beauty to defile.
O! 'Tis a gem of purest taste, I ween, Though little it be known, and seldom seen.
The writer may add that he has himself twice made strenuous efforts, backed most earnestly by the late Bishop Wordsworth, and has sent out many hundreds of appeals for aid, to prevent this little gem going to ruin; but, owing to apathy and indifference, where they should not have been found, those efforts proved futile. He can only reiterate the warning words of Mr. Albert Hartshorne:-”I know not whether such aid will be forthcoming; but of two things I am quite certain: if nothing is done the chapel must collapse, and that very soon; and when it does so fall, it will become such an utter ruin that it would be quite impossible to put it up again.” {250b}
One more historical incident, of more than local interest, may here just be mentioned. It has already been stated that after the Dissolution the Abbey lands were granted by Henry VIII. to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and that, on the death of his issue the King granted them to the Fiennes Clinton family, in the person of Lord Clinton and Saye, afterwards Earl of Lincoln. In this family they remained for several generations, until by marriage they pa.s.sed to the Disneys. In the time of the unhappy King Charles I., families were often divided, one party remaining true to the Sovereign, and a relative espousing the cause of the Commonwealth. But Henry Clinton, alias Fynes, remained staunch to his King, providing horse and arms for the Royalist cause. This, no doubt, brought him not a few enemies; and in consequence he had the great compliment paid him of being granted a deed of ”Protection” by his grateful sovereign. We cannot give the whole here, but it is ent.i.tled ”Protection of Mr. Henry Fynes & his Wyfe.”
”(Endorsed) by Major Markham of ye Lyfeguards,” and is headed ”Charles R . . . whereas Wee are informed that Henry Fynes of Christed Abbey . . .
and his wyfe are, and have been, in all these rebellious times, persons very loyall and well affected to us and our service, wee are graciously pleased to grant them this our speciall Protection, &c., &c. . . . given at our Court at Oxford ye 7th day of February, 1643.” A fac-simile copy of the original is given in ”Linc. N. & Q.,” vol. i. (1889), p. 22.
To any of his kith and kin who may still be living among us, and they are not few, it may be a pleasure and a pride to reflect that their ancestor ”of Christed” shewed himself a true man in times when it needed some courage to do so. None of them could have a better motto to abide by, in all things, than that of the head of the House, ”Loyalte n'a honte,”
Loyalty is not ashamed.
Our lengthy peregrinations have now brought us, once more, within a mile of Woodhall Spa; thither let us proceed, ”rest and be thankful.”
And now, gentle readers, it would seem we have arrived at a fitting ”period, or full stop,” in our somewhat arduous undertaking; and here we might well shake hands and finally part company,-we would fain hope, with a hearty ”au revoir.”