than the three counties comprised in the present work; but they may, not unreasonably, be deemed to indicate the general state of architectural knowledge throughout the country. Sussex, consisting in great measure of forest, was probably in a backward condition: not merely however was Kent (as will be noticed in the Introduction to that county) superior in civilization, so as to be in some respects a model, to other dioceses, but Bede informs us, that Benedict Biscop travelled from Rome to England with Archbp. Theodore, when the latter came to take possession of the see of Canterbury, and remained two years in that city, before, after another journey to Rome, he founded the monastery of Wearmouth. (Ut sup. 318.) Theodore was archbishop twenty years; his diocese therefore had abundant opportunities of profiting by his acquaintance, which no doubt was considerable, with foreign arts, even if those arts had not previously been imported.

Our Saxon ancestors undoubtedly were far less skilled in architecture, than those of succeeding ages; but it would be a mistake to suppose, that their churches, even after the general adoption of stone and lime masonry, were mere rude, unadorned structures. Those specimens of their workmanship, which remain to the present day, evince, that they certainly paid some attention, not only to ornament in general, but even to sculpture; witness the tower of Barnack church, Northamptonshire, and Sompting church, Sussex. We can scarcely imagine, that, while much intercourse was maintained with the Continent, which assuredly was the case,* art, as then known and practised there, was less cultivated in this country, than at the same period in Ireland; and the researches of Mr. George Petrie (see his very interesting work on the Round Towers of Ireland,) have sufficiently established the fact, that many of the ruins remaining in his country date much earlier than the Norman invasion of England; those edifices even now exhibiting much constructive skill, and in many instances proving the care and labour employed upon their adornment. But, in addition to any inferences we may draw, ancient writers actually bear testimony both to the opinion, formed in their day, of the early ecclesiastical edifices, and also to the attention and expense bestowed upon supplying them with

* We are informed, that, beside Britons (from Wales and Cornwall) and Scots (from Ireland) many Franks, Frisians, Gauls, Pagans (from the unconverted parts of Germany) and Armoricans, both noble and ignoble, voluntarily settled in England to enjoy the blessing of King Alfred's paternal government. "Franci autem multi, Frisones, Galli, Pagani, Britones, et Scoti, Armorici sponte se suo dominio subdiderant, nobiles scilicet et ignobiles." (Annales Rerum Gestarum Elfredi Magni, auctore Asserio Menevensi. Wise's edition, 44.)

whatever was considered necessary and appropriate for their sacred purposes. Thus Hexham church, built by Bp. Wilfrid A. D. 674, is styled a wonderful work, "mirabile opus ;" and Ripon was indebted to the same munificent prelate for a highlycommended church. (Notes to Bed. Hist. Eccl. l. 5, c. 19.) Of his successor, Acca, the statement already referred to is, that he added to his church various beauties and rare works; "ecclesiæ suæ edificium multifario decore ac mirificis ampliavit operibus." (Ib. 1. 5, c. 20.) He also, beside collecting relics, and providing separate altars, &c. for them, erected and furnished a splendid library (unquestionably "splendid" according to the experience and idea of the age) as well as procured vessels and lights for his cathedral "historias passiones eorum (scil. apostolorum et martyrum Christi) "una cum cæteris ecclesiasticis voluminibus summa industria congregans, amplissimam ibi ac nobilissimam bibliothecam fecit, necnon et vasa sancta et luminaria, aliaque hujusmodi quæ ad ornatum domus Dei pertinent, studiosissime paravit." (Ibidem.) Similarly it is stated of Benedict Biscop (Ib. 324), that he had bestowed on his monastery at Wearmouth a most noble and copious library: "Bibliothecam, quam de Roma nobilissimam copiosissimamque advexerat." The following quotation likewise will show the opinion upon this subject of a very competent judge. "That many of the Saxon churches were erected of stone, and on plans of great complexity, with crypts, triforia, clerestories, central towers, and other parts resembling in arrangement the Norman churches, can hardly be doubted, from the descriptions that have been preserved to us," &c. (Professor Willis's Architectural Hist. of Winchester Cathedral, 34.)

From the brief report by his historian, Asser, of K. Alfred's proceedings we may acquire some insight into the state of domestic architecture at that period. Alfred himself appears to have been a great builder, and must have acquired a knowledge of the art, as of so many others, far beyond his contemporaries. He is stated to have taught all his goldsmiths and craftsmen, falconers, hawkers, and huntsmen; and by his own new contrivance to have formed edifices far beyond the custom of his predecessors. 'Aurifices, et artifices suos omnes, et falconarios, et accipitrarios, canicularios quoque (non desinebat) docere; et ædificia supra omnem antecessorum suorum consuetudinem, venerabiliora et pretiosiora nova sua machinatione facere." (Asser's Alfred by Wise, 43.) Notwithstanding his long-continued and most harassing warfare with the Danes, we are assured that he

found time to reconstruct destroyed cities and towns, and to found others upon fresh sites: he erected royal residences of different kinds both of stone and of timber, such as excited the admiration of his subjects: and for convenience he changed the situation of some of his stone manor-houses. Some of these structures are declared to have been adorned with gold and silver. "(Quid loquar) De civitatibus et urbibus renovandis, et aliis, ubi nunquam ante fuerant, construendis? De ædificiis aureis et argenteis incomparabiliter illo docente fabricatis? De aulis et cambris regalibus, lapideis et ligneis, suo jussu mirabiliter constructis ? De villis regalibus lapideis antiqua positione mutatis, et in decentioribus locis regali imperio decentissime constructis?" (Ut sup. 58.) But though Alfred's buildings were so skilfully framed and so richly adorned for the age, it is also quite clear, that the workmanship was really very defective. For after his ingenious invention for ascertaining the time by means of wax candles, so divided by marks, as that each portion would last just an hour, he was compelled farther to contrive horn lanthorns* to hold those candles, because otherwise they often consumed too rapidly in consequence of high winds by day and by night rushing violently through not merely the doors and windows of the churches, the openings of the masonry and planks, but likewise the frequent cracks in the walls. "Ventorum violentia inflante, quæ aliquando per ecclesiarum ostia et fenestrarum, maceriarum quoque et tabularum, vel frequentes parietum rimulas." (Ut sup. 68.) It having been mentioned above, that libraries even were not neglected in Saxon times, a testimony may be added to prove the care taken to preserve family documents. A charter of A. D. 903 states that Duke Æthelfrid having lost all his hereditary records by a fire, he petitioned K. Edward, his lieutenants, and the senators of Mercia for their consent and licence to have others written; to which they unanimously agreed. "Contigit quod Æthelfrido duci omnes hereditarii libri ignis uastatione combusti perierant. Tali igitur necessitate cogente, praedictus dux rogauit Eadweardum regem, Æthelredum quoque et Æthelfledam, qui tunc principatum et potestatem gentis Merciae sub praedicto rege tenuerunt, omnes etiam senatores Merciorum, ut ei consentirent, et licentiam darent alios

*Though the manufacture of glass had been introduced into England two hundred years previous to Alfred's reign, and above a century before the last-named event Bede had noticed the advantage of that article for the construction of church lamps (see the quotation above from Bede, 319) it is remarkable, that K. Alfred used horn instead of glass for his lanthorns, which must indeed have been of considerable height, but plates of glass might surely have been procured equal to the largest laminæ of horn, and either would require the support of cross-bars.

libros rescribendi. Tunc illi unianimiter omnes deuota mente consenserunt ut alii libri rescriberentur, eodem modo quo et priores scripti erant, in quantum eos memoriter recordari potuissent." (Cod. Dipl. V, 154.) Again, of a subsequent charter, A. D. 909, the subject is the importance of written records, and the necessity of maintaining a succession of them in sound condition. (Ut sup. 168.)

Many probably will be surprised to hear of paintings in Saxon times; but Bede tells us expressly of such things. As he calls them indifferently not merely "picturas," but "imagines," he may possibly be describing sculpture; though the situation, in which they were placed, "ecclesiam in gyro coronaret," makes me consider them to have been rather paintings on the interior walls, than carvings inserted in the exterior. The subjects were, in one church the history of our Lord: in the other proofs of the harmony between the Old and New Testaments; for instance, Isaac bearing the wood, and in an adjoining compartment the Lord carrying the cross; again, the serpent, which Moses lifted up in the wilderness, and the Son of man exalted on the cross. "Dominicæ historiæ picturas, quibus totam Dei genetricis ecclesiam in gyro coronaret; imagines quoque ad ornandum monasterium ecclesiamque beati Pauli apostoli de concordia veteris et novi Testamenti summa ratione compositas exhibuit: verbi gratia, Isaac ligna quibus immolaretur portantem, et Dominum crucem in qua pateretur æque portantem, proxima super invicem regione, pictura conjunxit. Item serpenti in heremo a Moyse exaltato, Filium hominis in cruce exaltatum comparavit." (Bede, 323, Oxford, 1846.)

The researches, required by this undertaking, have shown, that, as the sequel will render evident, an immense number of churches and chapels have been desecrated and destroyed. We may flatter ourselves, that we live in a church-building age; and so, happily, we do, compared to a preceding period. Still in that respect we come far behind the zeal and munificence of our ancestors. It will be observed, that the work of destruction has been carried on in all the three counties, though, as might be anticipated, most extensively in the two largest, namely, Kent and Sussex. Many however of the demolished churches were situated near the mansions of the resident nobility or gentry; and I am disposed to conjecture, that these small, distinct ecclesiastical structures might, in some instances, if not generally,

have been pulled down, as no longer necessary, on the proprietor of the estate founding a chantry in, that is, as an addition to, the parish church; which, as even the following Notes will show, see particularly that on Poynings, Sussex, was frequently done. There is reason to suppose, that other, perhaps many, chapels, beside those specially named hereafter, once existed in various parts of our three counties.

In investigating the period, to which the erection of individual churches should be assigned, I doubt if sufficient attention be generally paid to the material, of which the building is constructed. My own experience leads me to imagine, that occasionally some clue to the date may be afforded by the kind of stone, which may have been principally used. A few years ago the accumulated whitewash of centuries was scraped from the arches of Rottingdean church, Sussex, when, among the Caen stone chiefly employed, beside several pieces of the county sandstone, appeared numerous others of a sort, which was new to two persons of considerable experience in such matters, one as an architect, the other as a stonemason. Subsequently I embraced every opportunity of searching elsewhere for this stone; and the result is, that I have discovered small portions in many churches in this neighbourhood, where they may have been old stones worked up again; the more ancient the edifice, the greater being the prospect of finding specimens. It is remarkable also, that such specimens occur as if in their primary position, where the. strongest marks of antiquity exist. For example: at St. John's sub Castro, Lewes, see the Note, the original part of the very curious arch consists of the stone in question. It is likewise present in the ribs of the tower, as well as in the foundation of the east end, of Sompting church, also in Sussex. The two churches of Corhampton and Warnford in Hampshire both exhibit specimens, but with a striking variation in the former the stone remains in the ornamental parts, namely, in the chancel-arch, and in the distinctive ribs upon the outer walls, as if so placed from the first; whereas in the latter it is mixed up among other stones, not being the sole, nor the chief, material used. Now Corhampton, as well as Sompting, is a generally admitted relic of Anglo-Saxon workmanship, while Warnford cannot probably date earlier than Norman times. Again; of the splendid Norman church of Romsey, Hampshire, the greater proportion certainly, if not the whole, is constructed of this stone, even including the exterior walls of the western end, which was completed in the