(Continued from Part I.)

ST. ALBAN, WOOD STREET. [1822, Part II., p. 200.]

THE church of St. Alban, Wood Street, London, exhibits what in the present day is rarely to be met with in our churches. On the right of the reading-desk is a spiral column; on the top an enclosed square compartment with small twisted columns, arches, etc., all of brass, in which is an hour-glass in a frame of a long square form; the four sides are alike, richly ornamented with pillars, angels sounding trumpets, etc. Both ends terminate with a line of crosses pattée and fleur-de-lis somewhat resembling the circle of the crown, all in raised work of brass.*

Butler, in his "Hudibras," thus alludes to these hour-glasses:

It is properly observed by a correspondent of yours that "these Hour-glasses were made use of by the Preachers in the days of Cromwell, who on their first getting into the pulpit and naming the text, turned up the glass, and if the sermon did not last till the glass was out, it was said by the congregation that the preacher was lazy; and if he continued to preach much longer they would yawn and stretch, and by these signs signify to the preacher that they began to be weary of his discourse, and wanted to be dismissed."‡

"Mr. Thomas Wadeson, Parish Clerk, gave a brass branch for the church, and two small ones for the pulpit and reading-desk, and a stand for the hour-glass.' † See "Hudibras," part i., canto 3, verse 1061, and the note on that passage. See Gentleman's Magazine, vol. Ixxiv., p. 201.

VOL. XXVIII.

I

Mr. John Ireland, in describing Hogarth's "Sleeping Congregation," in which the satirist has introduced an hour-glass, says they are "still placed on some of the pulpits in the provinces,' "* and then relates the following anecdote :

"Daniel Burgess, of whimsical memory, never preached without an hour-glass, and he frequently saw it out three times during one sermon. In a discourse which he once delivered at the conventicle in Russell Court against drunkenness, some of his hearers began to yawn at the end of the second glass; but Daniel was not to be silenced by a yawn; he turned his time-keeper, and, altering the tone of his voice, desired they would be patient a while longer, for he had much more to say upon the sin of drunkenness, 'therefore,' added he, 'my friends and brethren, we will have another glass-and then!'" H. C. B.

ST. ANDREW UNDERSHAFT, LEADENHALL STREET. [1831, Part II., pp. 217-218.]

The tower has been cased with compo and rendered uniform in appearance. Four pinnacles have been added to the angles, and a new lantern of an octagon form built, in a carpenter's Gothic taste it is true, but more in unison with the structure than the former one. The portico over the principal door has been removed, and some panelling in compo with shields of arms substituted, but the handsome bases of the columns attached to the jambs of the doorway, which were wantonly destroyed some few years ago, have not been restored. The windows on the clerestory had lost their mullions at some distant period, which have been now restored in stone, uniform in design with the aisles. In the interior some few alterations for the better have been effected; the altar-screen of wainscot, of Corinthian architecture, has been entirely removed, and a new one with arched compartments in the Pointed style occupies its place. The new screen is surmounted with a frieze of foliage interspersed with the monogram "I.H.S." The handsome east window is now fully exposed; its lower mullions had been concealed by the former screen. They were disclosed some years since, when a part of the screen was removed, and the portion of window formerly concealed was glazed with painted glass; at the same time, a painting on glass of St. Andrew, in the head of the arch, was removed, and the tracery it had displaced was restored. On the south side of the chancel an altar-tomb and canopy of the sixteenth century, which was partly hid by wainscotting, has been brought to light.

Stow's monument, which had been tastelessly painted in colours, has been cleaned, and the material, which all the Surveys of London *See "Hogarth Illustrated," vol. i., p. 110.

The tower had previously been covered with this material, the bane of all antiquity.

have set down as composition, appears to be a beautiful antique marble richly veined with light red. The face of the antiquary has gained by the alteration an appearance of deep thought and intellect in the features, which the brush of the house-painter had completely obscured. E. J. C.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S BY THE EXCHANGE.

[1840, Part I., p. 462.]

The church of St. Bartholomew is situated at the north-western angle of Threadneedle Street. There is a small slip of ground between the south wall and the street, which has afforded an opportunity of building two shops and a coffee-room belonging to a tavern ; in consequence this portion of the building is hid, and the usual entrance to the church is through a dusky passage. The west front is unincumbered, and abuts immediately upon the footpath. The north side and east end are free, owing to the proximity of a small burying-ground.

The masonry of a great portion of the exterior has a remarkable appearance. It is built of small stones with large joints, and not worked to a smooth face. In consequence the building possesses a character of greater antiquity than the time of Wren, and allows of the conclusion that the outer walls belonged to the former structure. This supposition is supported by the existence of several confirmatory circumstances. On the north side is a semi-octagon turret staircase attached to the aisle, which possesses a more antique character than is to be met with in works of Wren's period. The centre of the west front and the upper termination of the tower are built with smooth masonry, and the clerestory is constructed with brick. All of these portions appear to be works of a more recent date than the other walls of the building. In the plan the old church has evidently been closely adhered to. It appears from Stow that Sir William Capel, Mayor, 1509, "added unto this church a proper chapel on the south side thereof." This chapel has clearly been retained in the present structure, which, in addition to the usual complement of nave and aisles, has an additional aisle or chapel on the south side, opening to the church by an arch now closed up, and used as a vestry. All these are indications that not only the foundations were adhered to, but great part of the masonry of the old church was preserved. The arches on the top of the tower form a singular and by no means inelegant termination to the structure, and afford a proof of the versatility of the architect's genius in forming so many designs for towers, in none of which is there an absolute sameness.

The interior is far beyond what might be expected from the unpromising appearance of the outside. It is light and graceful, and though simple and by no means of large dimensions, is an

excellent example of what a parish church ought to be. The nave and aisles are divided by an arcade of four semicircular arches on each side springing from Tuscan columns, and having enriched keystones. The similarity in design with the quadrangle of the late Royal Exchange will not fail to occur to any observer who may be acquainted with the latter building. The clerestory diffuses into the building a great body of light with good effect. The horizontal ceilings are panelled, and the whole structure possesses a superior character, resulting more from the judicious arrangement of the parts than from any display of ornament or grandeur of dimensions.

[1841, Part I., p. 153.]

The above sketch represents a niche existing in the south wall of the church of St. Bartholomew's the Little, London, now in course of demolition. In the description of this church, which appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine for May, 1840, p. 462, it was inferred that the walls of the structure were older than the period of Sir C. Wren. The conjecture is now fully confirmed by the discovery of this niche, which was formerly concealed by the wainscotting. The wall in which it is situated is ancient, and the niche evidently retained its original position. It was probably formed for holding the cruets containing the wine and water used in the Sacrament of the Eucharist previously to the oblation. It was not a piscina, as there is no drain or basin for the holy water.

The presence of this niche proves the existence of a chapel at the eastern end of the south aisle of the church, and in all probability it appertained to the chauntry founded in the church, anno 21 Edward IV., by Margaret, daughter and heiress of Sir John Fray, Knight, and wife of Sir John Leynham.

The materials of the church were sold by auction on January 4, and produced the sum of £483 15s., with the exception of the tower, for which £2 was offered and refused, and the south wall and chapel, which it is said are to be retained and worked into the new building for the Sun Fire Office, which is to be erected on the site.

The destroyers of the church have had the decency to remove the altar and font and some other portions, which it is said are to be set up in some new edifice in the neighbourhood of the Metropolis.

The foundations of a second staircase turret attached to the north wall of the church were laid open by the excavation made for the exhumation of the bodies buried in the churchyard. This staircase was more eastward than the existing one; it was a semi-octagon in plan, and was used for communication with the rood-loft.

E. J. C.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE GREAT, SMITHFIELD.*

[1863, Part II., pp. 391-406.]

Among the privileges granted by Henry I. to the priory was a fair, which became a mart of considerable importance. It had also many parish churches by gifts. The names of some, and of the donors, are recited in the charter of Henry III.; and in a subsequent history of the priory between fifty and sixty are enumerated in London alone. Its property consisted chiefly of farms in Middlesex, Essex, and other counties; but these farms had not always, or perhaps generally, churches connected with them. Henry III. in his thirty-eighth year by charter confirmed to the prior and canons the site of their church and hospital given to them by Henry I., and the churches and lands given to them by the benefactors there specified, and subjected the hospital to the prior and canons as by the charters of King John and Henry I. This charter was again confirmed by Richard II. (Dugdale, "Mon. Ang.," vol. vi., p. 291).

The hospital or infirmary was entirely under the government, supervision, and control of the prior and canons; it was, in fact, a benevolent, beneficent adjunct to the priory, not the priory founded for the hospital or infirmary.t

The canons had spiritual duties at the hospital and its chapel, now the church of St. Bartholomew the Less, at St. Sepulchre's Church, and at upwards of fifty other churches in London, as vicarii. "Sisters" are mentioned in a document of Edward III., when those of the hospital, brethren and sisters, petitioned the King to be released from paying tenths and fifteenths to His Majesty in consequence of poverty. The priory under its extensive privileges and rights had no such demands made upon it. The poor sisters probably acted as nurses to the hospital.

In the deed of sale to Sir Richard Rich (miscalled a grant) on May 19, 1544, the King sells: "For the sum of £1,064 11s. 3d. the chief mansion or prior's house, with the appurtenances, consisting of the infirmary, the dormitory, the frater-house (or chapterhouse), the cloisters, the galleries (over them), the hall (or refectory), the kitchen, the woodhouse, the garner (or barn), and the prior's stables, all situated within the Close. The church within the great close to be a parish church for ever, and the void ground 87 ft. in length and 60 in breadth, next adjoining to the west side of the church, to be taken for a churchyard." This was the site of the nave which had been destroyed, and forms the present churchyard.

* A lecture delivered in the church by J. H. Parker, Esq., F.S.A., July 13, 1863 (see Gentleman's Magazine, August, 1863, p. 157).

+ Henry I.'s charter: "Sciatis [me concessisse Eccl'a beat. Bart. & Raheri Priori & Canonicis Regularibus in eandem ecclesiâ Deo servientibus, et pauperibus Hospitalis ejusdem Ecclesiæ, quod sint," etc.