Part 5 (1/2)
”Thus, in a short time, a fair and goodly structure was quite stript of all its ornamental beauty, and made a ruthful spectacle, a very chaos of desolation and confusion, nothing scarce remaining but only bare walls, broken seats, and shatter'd windows on every side.
”And in the time of this publick confusion, two other things hapned not unworthy of relating: the one for the strangeness, the other for the sadness of the accident. The first was this, when now the church lay open to all comers, without locks and bars, and none to look after them, those specially that lead up to the leads above; two young children not above five years old, had got up the steeple by themselves, and having lost their way down, come to the place where the great bells hang. Here there was a large round s.p.a.ce left purposely in the arch, when first built, for the drawing up bells or any other things, as there should be occasion. This place used to be safely closed before, but now it lay wide open, and was between thirty and forty yards off from the ground. The two children, coming hither and finding this pa.s.sage, one, out of his childish simplicity, was for jumping down: No, (saies the other) let us rather swarm down, there being a bell rope then hanging down through that place to the clockhouse below. Now, this last they did, and a gentleman walking there beneath at that time, sees two children come with that swiftness down the rope, like arrows from a bow, who were both taken up for dead, on the place. This hapned on a Sunday ith' afternoon, in sermon time.
The news coming into the parish church, that two children falling off from the minster were slain, the congregation were exceedingly disorder'd, so that the preacher could not go on for a time, every parent fearing it might be their own childrens case; till at length they understood the truth and certainty of all. For it pleased G.o.d by a strange and wonderful providence to preserve both these children, having no hurt but only their hands galled by the rope, and their feet a little stunted by the fall from the clock-house, where they were thrown off, the rope being fastened there, and this some four or five yards high. The persons, I suppose, are both living still; and one of them, (whose father was then one of the chief tradesmen of the town) since a grave minister, and rector of a parish in Northamptons.h.i.+re.
”The other thing that hapned of more fatal consequences was this:--it being that time of the year when young lads are busie in rifling jackdaws nests to get their young, a scholar of the free-school, a son to a parliament officer, was got upon the top of the minster about this employment; who going along the cieling in the body of the church, and treading unwarily on some rotten boards, fell down from thence, upon the loft where the organ now stands, having his pockets filled with those inauspicious birds, and with the fall from so great a height, was slain outright and never stirred more.
”These two things hapned much about the same time, and in the time of that publick confusion and disorder. But to proceed in our intended narrative. These things I have related before were indeed the acts of private persons only, men of wild intemperate zeal, and who had no commission for what they did, but what was owing to the swords by their sides. Yet notwithstanding all these things seemed afterwards to be own'd and approved by the powers then in being, when they sold all the churches lands, and many fair buildings adjoyning to the minster, were likewise pulled down and sold by publick order and authority, such were the cloysters, the old chapter-house, the library, the bishops hall and chapel at the end of it: the hall was as fair a room as most in England; and another call'd the green chamber, not much inferior to it.
These all were then pull'd down and destroyed; and the materials, lead, timber, and stone exposed to sale, for any that would buy them. But some of the bargains proved not very prosperous; the lead especially that came off the palace, was as fatal as the gold of Tholouse; for to my knowledge, the merchant that bought it, lost it all, and the s.h.i.+p which carried it, in her voyage to Holland.
”And thus the church continued ruined and desolate, and without all divine offices for a time; till at length by the favour of a great person in the neighbourhood, it was repaired and restored to some degrees of decency again; and out of the ashes of a late cathedral, grew up into a new parochial church, in which way it was employ'd and used ever after, untill the kings happy restauration. For Mr. Oliver St. John, chief justice then of the common pleas, being sent on an emba.s.sy into Holland by the powers that governed then, requested this boon of them at his return, that they would give him the ruin'd church or minster at Peterburgh; this they did accordingly, and he gave it to the town of Peterburgh for their use, to be employ'd as a parochial church, their own parish church being then very ruinous and gone to decay.
”Now the town considering the largeness of the building, and the greatness of the charge to repair it, which of themselves they were not able to defray, they all agree to pull down the ladies chapel as it was then called, an additional building to the north side of the minster, (being then ruinous and ready to fall) and to expose the materials thereof, lead, timber, and stone to sale, and to convert the mony that was made of them, towards the repairs of the great fabrick.
”All this they did, and appointed certain persons to oversee the work, and expended several summs thus in repairs, mending the leads, securing the roof, glazing several windows, and then fitting up the quire, and making it pretty decent for the congregation to meet in. And this they did, by taking the painted boards that came off from the roof of the ladies chapel, and placing them all along at the back of the quire, in such manner as they continue to this day.
”When the place was thus fitted up, and the devastations which the souldiers had made in some measure repaired, one Mr. Samuel Wilson, school master of the charter-house, in London, was sent down by the committee of plundred ministers, as they were then called, to be preacher, with a sallary of 160_l._ per an. in which employment he continued untill the kings return. Then Dr. Cofin, the antient dean of the church, after almost twenty years exile in France, return'd and re-a.s.sumed his right again, in the year 1660, about the end of July. He then after so long an interval renew'd the antient usage, and read divine service first himself, and caused it to be read every day afterward, according to the laudable use and custome, and settled the church and quire in that order wherein it now continues.
”But though the church was thus delivered from public robbers and spoilers, yet it was not safe from the injuries of private hands. For some ten or twelve years after, certain thieves in the dead of the night, broke into the church and stole away all the plate they could find, viz.: a fair silver bason gilt, and the virgers two silver rods, and a linnen table-cloth to wrap them in, which were never heard of to this day. This was the same bason that had been plunder'd by the souldiers, and recovered again, but irrecoverably lost now. Yet both these losses were soon repaired, one by Dr. Henshaw, bishop then of the place, who gave a fair new silver basin gilt; the other made up by Dr.
Duport, then dean, who furnisht the virgers again with the ensigns of their office, by buying two new silver maces for the churches use.
”And thus is this history brought down at length within our own knowledge and remembrance; where we have seen what various fortunes this antient church has had, which now reckons at least one thousand years from its first foundation. It has been often ruinated, and as often re-edified. Once it was destroyed by Danes; twice consumed by fire; it escaped the general downfal of abbies, in Hen. the Eighth's time, though not without the loss of some of her fairest manners; and yet what that king took away in revenues, he added to it in dignity, by converting it from an abbey into a cathedral church. But the worst mischief that ever befel it, was that in the late rebellious times, when the church itself was miserably defaced and spoiled; and all the lands for the maintenance thereof, quite alienated and sold. And yet through G.o.ds especial goodness and favour, we have lived to see the one repaired, the others restored, and the church itself recovering her antient beauty and l.u.s.tre again. And that it may thus long continue, flourish and prosper, and be a nursery for vertue, a seminary for true religion and piety, a constant preserver of G.o.ds publick wors.h.i.+p and service, and free from all sacrilegious hands, is the earnest and hearty prayer wherewith I shall conclude this discourse.”
[17] Sir William Fitzwilliam, of Milton, to whom the castle then belonged, used to pay visits to the queen of Scots during her confinement, and his n.o.ble and gentlemanly conduct, secured the good esteem of Mary. At a later period, a little before the queen was executed, she presented him with a picture of her son, as a testimony of the value which she set upon his friends.h.i.+p. This picture is now in the possession of the Fitzwilliam family.
[18] The original letter, in the king's own hand-writing, is still in the possession of the Dean and Chapter of Peterborough, and has recently been placed in a frame by the entrance from the south aisle. The following is a copy:--”JAMES R. Trusty and wel-beloved, wee greet you well, for that wee remember it appertaynes to ye duty wee owe to our dearest mother that like honour should be done to hir body and like monument be extant of hir as to others, hirs and our progenitors have bene used to be done, and ourselves have already performed to our deare sister ye late Queen Elizabeth. Wee have commanded a Memoriall of hir to be made in our church of Westminster, ye place where ye Kings and Queens of this realme are usually interred. And for that wee thinke it inconvenient that ye monument and hir body should be in severall places, we have ordered that hir said body remayning now interred in that our Cathedrall Church of Peterborough shalbe removed to Westminster to hir said monument; and have committed ye care and chardg of ye said translation of hir body from Peterborough to Westminster to ye reverend father in G.o.d our right trusty and wel beloved servant ye Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, bearer hereof, to whom wee require you (or to such as ye shall a.s.signe) to deliver ye corps of our said deceased mother, ye same being taken up in a decent and respectfull manner as is fitting. And for that there is a pall now upon ye hea.r.s.e over hir grave which wilbe requisite to be used to cover hir said body in ye removing thereof, which may perhapps be deemed as a ffee that should belong to ye church. We have appointed ye said reverend father to pay you a reasonable redemption for ye same, which being done by him wee require you that he may have ye pall to be used for ye purpose aforesaid. Given under our signet at our Honor of Hampton Court ye eight and twentieth day of September in ye tenth yeare of our reigne of England, France and Ireland, and of Scotland ye six and fortieth. To our trusty and welbeloved ye Dean and Chapter of our Cathedrall Church of Peterborough, and in theire absence to ye right reverend father in G.o.d ye Bishop of Peterborough and to such of ye Prebends or other officers of that church as shalbe found being there.”
[19] This ancient record is said to have been written about the year 1217, by a monk named Hugh Candidus. It is a MS. account of the History of the Abbey from its foundation. Dean Patrick gives the following account of its singular preservation:--”One book indeed, and but one, still remains, which was happily redeemed from the fire by the then precentor of the church, Mr. Humfrey Austin, who knowing the great value of it, first hid it, in February, 1642, under a seat in the quire: and when it was found by a soldier on the twenty-second of April, 1643 (when all the seats were pulled down), rescued it again by the offer of ten s.h.i.+llings, 'for that old latin bible' as he called it, and about which he pretended to enquire. The name of the bible by the help of the ten s.h.i.+llings, preserved this precious treasure from the flames, whither it was going, as Mr. Austin hath left a record in the beginning of the book; with a copy of the soldier's acknowledgement:--'_This booke was hide in the Church by me Humphrey Austin; February, 1642. And found by one of Coll.
Cromwelle souldyers when they pul'd down all the seats in the quire, April 22th, 1643. And I makeing inquirie amongst them for an old Latin Bible which were lost, I found out at last the partie who had it, and I gave him for the booke tenn s.h.i.+llings as you see by this acquittance.... The coppie of his acquittance:--I pray let this Scripture Book alone, for he hath paid me for it, and therefore I would desire you to let it alone. By me HENRY TOPCLIFFE, souldyer under Captain Cromwell, Colonel Cromwell's sonn; therefore I pray let it alone._--By me Henry Topcliffe.'”
This Ancient Ma.n.u.script book is now kept with other doc.u.ments in the Chapter house of the Cathedral.
[20] Dean Patrick, in his supplement to _Gunton's History of the Cathedral_, says it was famous for three things, ”a stately front, a curious altar piece, and a beautiful cloister.”
Mr. Davys, in his _Guide_, also says, ”we learn, from other writings, that the stall-work, in its choir, was remarkably fine, that its windows of painted gla.s.s were of a most superb description, and that, in the number, and beauty of its monuments and bra.s.ses, it excelled most of the other churches of the realm.
Its central tower, though then in an incomplete state, was much finer than it now is, as it had a handsome octagon above what now forms the central tower. The north western transept tower was also adorned with a lofty spire. This spire, which was of wood covered with lead, was taken down soon after this time.”
[21] ”Wulfade was much addicted to hunting, and one day pursuing a goodly hart, which being hotly pursued, took soil in a fountain near unto the cell of St. Chad, who espying the hart weary, and almost spent, was so compa.s.sionate towards him that he covered him with boughs and leaves, conjecturing, as if heaven had some design in the access and deportment of that beast. Presently comes Prince Wulfade, and enquired of St. Chad concerning the hart, who answered, That he was not a keeper of beasts, but the souls of men, and that Wulfade was then, as an hart to the water brooks, sent by G.o.d to the fountain of living water: which Wulfade hearing with astonishment, entered into further conference with St. Chad in his cell, and was by him baptized: and returning with joy to his father's court, he secretly told his brother Rufine of all that had pa.s.sed, perswading him to be baptized also; to which Rufine consenting, Wulfade brought him to St. Chad, who likewise baptized this other brother.”
[22] ”This Christian pair of brothers did often resort to a private oratory, where they performed their devotions; but at length being discovered to their father by the steward Werbode, who instigated, and enflamed the fire of paternal fury against the sons, King Wolfere, the father, watching the time when his sons were gone to pray, followed them, and entering the oratory, slew both his sons with his own hand; and he, and Werbode demolis.h.i.+ng the place, left the bodies of his sons buried in the rubbish.” ”Queen Ermenild, having searched for the bodies of her sons, found them out, and giving them burial, [in one stone coffin,] built in the same place where they were slain, a church of stone.”
[23] Dean Kipling, on the authority of tradition, is of opinion, that St. Chad's well was in the quadrangle on the south side of the minster, called the laurel court; but Gunton says, ”St. Chad had his cell in the county of Stafford, was the first bishop of Lichfield, where he founded the cathedral church, and there lieth buried.” And this a.s.sertion would appear to be born out by the fact that the ”church of stone” referred to in the previous note, is known to have been erected at _Stone_, in Staffords.h.i.+re.
[24] The present painted windows are of modern date, excepting one or two, which are composed of fragments of the windows of the cloisters above described.
CHAPTER IV.
_Historical account of the building of the monastery, and description of the architectural peculiarities of the present cathedral._
Having in the preceding chapters given a brief history of the former monastery and present cathedral of Peterborough, up to the present time, it now remains for us to say something of its architectural peculiarities, and to notice some of the remarkable relicts of antiquity which are still to be found within its walls. It has already been stated, that in the year 655, the foundation for a monastic inst.i.tution was laid at _Medeshamstede_; that it was completed seven years afterwards;--and was destroyed by fire in 870. The architectural character of the building at this period cannot be strictly ascertained; but, from the accounts given of it by monkish writers, it is supposed to have been of the pure Saxon style. The monastery was again re-built in 966, and again destroyed by the lawless hands of barbarian invaders. Five successive times did it undergo various changes of ruin and desolation, until the year 1117, when a new building was raised upon the foundations of the old one, and many additions were made to it;--extending its circuit, and improving its architectural appearance.