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their edges, and then twisted. It was probably worn obliquely; and it is suggested by Dr. Wilde that the projecting member, coming in front, might have served to hang the bridle-rein upon. It weighs 27 oz. 7 dwt. 20 gr. The torque next within measures 5 ft. 6 in., and weighs 12 oz. 7 dwt. 13 gr. These two were found by a peasant boy in 1810, in the side of one of the clay raths at Tara. Two other varieties are shewn in In concluding this portion of his valuable Catalogue, Dr. Wilde dissents from the opinion of the late President of the Academy, the Rev. Dr. Todd, that there are no auriferous streams or veins of gold in Ireland capable of supplying so very large a mass of gold as would be required to furnish all the ornaments of that metal found in the country; and he adduces, among other arguments, the fact that upwards of £10,000 worth of gold was procured from one locality, in a few weeks, within the last eighty years.

We look forward with pleasure to further parts of the Catalogue in which the works in iron, and also the coins, will be described.

STOCKTON TOKENS.-Mr. John Hogg, of Norton, near Stockton, has recently communicated to a local paper the particulars of the discovery of several coins and tokens in his neighbourhood, one of which is of sufficient interest to justify us in transferring it to our pages. After speaking of the finding of a silver coin of Henry IV. with the inscription CIVITAS EBORACI, and a groat of Charles II., he says,-"A third coin, which has been met with here, near the church door, is a local one, namely, a token struck in the reign of Charles II., and in the memorable year of the great fire in London, 1666. Its obverse bears the crowned head of the king in profile. It looks to the left, whilst that on a sixpence of the same king looks to the right. Around the head is the legend-GOD SAVE THE KING. Its reverse presents in the centre-IN STOKTON; and around are the names and date-JOHN WELLS, 1666. This little copper token is figured in Brewster's first edition of the History of Stockton,' 1796, No. iii., and an accurate representation it is of the size of the token, and of the very bad and rough execution of the profile; and the long hair-à la Cavalier,' as Surtees writes-is indeed a woeful design of the beautiful and flowing locks-even as represented on that king's sixpence, also in my possession-of that lively and engaging' monarch's head-dress. Mr. Surtees observes that In the reign of Charles II., only one tradesman in Stockton deemed it expedient to issue his promissory pence.' (Vol. iii. p. 182.) John Wells, as well for his own scholarship as for the credit of the fine arts in that town, ought to have taken care at least to have perpetuated the name of the place correctly, and not, as his token states, 'Stokton,' even if he was unable to procure a more skilful artist who could have delineated the royal profile with a better resemblance of his Majesty's real physiognomy. John Wells himself was doubtless a tradesman in Stockton; forty-seven years afterwards, viz., in 1713 and 1714, we find a 'John Wells,' who was then twice mayor of the borough. I must mention that after a century and a half the numismatic art had made great progress in our town;' and that in the year 1813, when many other tokens were coined by individuals in different towns in England, an excellent penny-piece was issued by the firm of Christopher and Jennett.' This copper token is like the old penny-piece of George III. of 1797. Its obverse has a similar sitting figure of Britannia, who holds in her right hand an olive-branch, with the sea and a ship in the distance; and its reverse gives a good view of Stockton-bridge, with its five arches, and the river Tees. In execution it is not unworthy of the Royal Mint."

ECCLESIOLOGY OF WORCESTERSHIRE.

(Concluded from p. 411.)

PASSING to the consideration of the exterior, the tower first demands our notice. It has been already stated that the west end of the nave is by far the most common position for the tower; but wherever placed, they bear for the most part a strong general resemblance to each other, being chiefly of the Perpendicular style, and divided into two or three stages, in the upper of which is a two-light belfry window on each side. The buttresses at the angles are usually placed diagonally, and sometimes extend up to the parapet, as at Upton Snodsbury, where they are of great projection, and have no less than seven sets-off. Western towers generally have a three or four-light window in the lower stage opening into the church, the rest of the tower up to the belfry stage being quite plain and merely pierced with small square-headed or arched openings. The parapet is mostly embattled, with pinnacles at the angles, though these are often wanting, while the roof is either flat and leaded; or pyramidal, as at St. John's, Worcester, Pedmore, Birt's Morton, Pendock, and others; or gabled, like Hampton Lovett. The staircase is sometimes carried up within a turret projecting externally from the tower, as at Strensham, where it is square, and placed at the south-eastern angle, the eastern side being flush with the tower wall, which gives the latter an appearance of great width when viewed in that direction. A similar arrangement exists at Berrow, but here the effect is still more singular, the tower wall being extended as a buttress in the opposite direction, so as to match the turret.

The churches formerly subordinate to the Abbey of Evesham have towers of rather a different type to the above. They are of smaller size, have heavy embattled parapets and pinnacles, large projecting gargoyles, with a gabled roof rising a little above the parapet. The west window is often of small dimensions, and the opening from the tower to the nave has more the character of a large doorway than the usual lofty tower-arch. Examples-Norton, Offenham, Abbot's Morton. The tower of Badsey Church must, however, be excepted from the foregoing description, as it is one of the finest in the county, being very massive, and having a large four-light west window, deeply recessed belfry windows, and eight pinnacles on the summit. The lofty tower at Little Comberton is noteworthy, on account of its three-light belfry windows, each of a different pattern; and at Overbury, the belfry windows are filled with stone tracery, like some Somersetshire examples. The towers at Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, and King's Norton, are orna

mented with blank panelling and niches, but we cannot boast of any of the rich double windows which add so much to the effect of the towers in some districts. Norman towers occur at Tenbury and Harvington, the latter surmounted by a modern shingled spire. The lowest stages of the towers at Fladbury and Cropthorne are also of this style, and both possess the peculiarity of having a narrow window pierced through each of the shallow buttresses which project from the centre of the three disengaged sides of the tower. There is another peculiarity connected with the Fladbury tower, for the walls of the upper or later stages, being considerably wider than those below, the extra thickness is supported by pointed arches, built so as not to interfere with the original Norman windows, though these latter are now walled up. The towers at Stoke Prior, Clifton-on-Teme, and the lowest stage at Northfield, are Early English; and Worcester Cathedral, Pershore Abbey, Pendock, Bredon, Upton-on-Severn, and the lower part of Severn Stoke, Decorated. The only octagonal tower in the county is at Sedgeberrow.

Eighteen towers are surmounted by stone spires, all springing from within parapets, there being no old example of the broach. The loftiest spires are those of Bromsgrove, King's Norton, Old Swinford, Bredon, Tredington, Yardley, and the modern one of St. Andrew's, Worcester. Most of them belong to the fifteenth century, but Bredon, and St. Lawrence, Evesham, are Decorated. There were formerly spires at Ripple, Fladbury, and Upton-upon-Severn, and a lofty one at old Ombersley Church.

Of the seven original shingled spires, four have been destroyed and one rebuilt. Within the embattled parapet of Grafton Flyford tower rises a stone version of the well-known Sompting tower-roof. Gabled or saddle-back towers are met with at Hill Croome, Welland (1732), and Queenhill (modern).

Bell-turrets are generally square, of wood, and surmounted by pyramidal roofs. The best examples are at Alfrick, White Ladies Aston, and Tibberton, but the two latter have octagonal spirelets. Stone bell-gables occur at the west end at Cofton Hackett and Elmbridge, and over the chancel-arch at Wyre Piddle, and at the desecrated chapel of Netherton.

The only sanctus-bell-cots are at Hampton Lovett and Middle Littleton; the one at Offenham was too dilapidated to be replaced on the new church. The sanctus-bell was often, no doubt, hung within one of the belfry windows; and a small bell still remains in that position at St. Mary's, Kidderminster, St. Andrew's, Droitwich, Fladbury, Shelsley Beauchamp, &c.

The towers are rich in that essentially English feature-good peals of bells. They appear to have been cast for the most part during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, by Rudhall, of Gloucester; but

the bells of St. Helen's and St. Nicholas', Worcester, and a few others, were from the foundry of Sanders, of Bromsgrove. The more modern peals are by Mears. Three (or four) peals of ten bells, twelve peals of eight bells, fifty peals of six bells, twenty peals of five bells, twelve peals of four bells, twenty-six peals of three bells.

The porch often forms the most interesting external feature, especially in the smaller churches, where we sometimes find elegant opentimbered examples, as at Huddington, Crowle, Himbleton, North Piddle, and Knightwick old church. There are likewise good wooden porches at Yardley (engraved in the Instrumenta Ecclesiastica), Leigh, Stockton, Mathon, Alfrick, &c. At Bredon and Ripple are lofty stone porches, having an upper chamber, which at Ripple formerly extended across the aisle. Bromsgrove, All Saints', Evesham, and Sedgeberrow have also good stone porches, as have likewise the churches of Hampton and Church Honeybourne, where they are roofed with large stone slabs without any timber-work to support them. Original crosses not unfrequently surmount the gables; the most common form is that in which each arm is slightly cusped, but floriated and plain wheel-crosses are by no means rare. At the east end of Throckmorton Chapel is a cross ornamented with the ball-flower; and on the transept gable at Badsey is a rich cross placed parallel to the ridge of the roof, so as to face east and west.

A considerable portion of the cross remains in almost every churchyard, but I do not know of any instance in which the shaft is surmounted by the original cross itself, though it has been restored at Hampton Lovett, Salwarpe, Leigh, and Clifton-upon-Teme. The only lich-gate is a plain double one at Clifton-upon-Teme.

This having always been a well-wooded county, it is not surprising to find that material entering largely into the construction of its buildings. Timber houses are, or rather were, very general, and the little church of Newland and the nave at Besford are constructed in like manner with timber framing, filled in with plaster. The large number of wooden porches and bell-turrets has been previously noticed. Massive frame-towers formerly supported lofty shingled spires at Suckley and at Lindridge old church; and the towers at Cotheridge and Warndon are entirely of the same material. The piers and arches at Ribbesford are of wood, as they were likewise at old Hallow Church. At Earl's Croome is a fifteenth-century wooden window.

Before pointing out the localities of some of the best examples of the different styles of medieval architecture, it may be well to observe that they are very much mixed up together throughout the county, there being no example of a church entirely of one period, except perhaps one or two late Perpendicular structures; for either later additions or alterations have been made to early buildings, or portions of earlier

work have been retained in late erections. Ripple Church, though the most complete specimen we have of an Early English structure, has Perpendicular east and west windows, and a modern top to the tower. The Decorated church of King's Norton is attached to a Perpendicular tower, while the Perpendicular St. Lawrence, Evesham, has a Decorated tower.

Of Saxon, or ante-Norman work, we have no well-authenticated example. The chancel-arch at Wyre Piddle has been often adduced as a specimen of this early style, but it possesses no characteristic features to distinguish it from many similar structures of undoubted Norman workmanship. Indeed, the chancel-arch at the neighbouring chapel of Pinvin, with its plain square abacus and rude construction, has a greater claim to the title of Saxon than that at Wyre. The north wall of the nave at Edvin Loach contains some herring-bone masonry, and the north wall at Rouse Lench is built in courses of large and small stones, somewhat after the manner of the Jewry Wall at Leicester.

Norman work is exceedingly common, many of the smaller churches appearing to retain their original main walls of this period, with no further alteration than the insertion of larger windows in place of the small Norman lights, and the addition of a tower or bell-turret, as at White Ladies Aston (before its recent enlargement), Martley, Mathon, and Sapey Pitchard. The east end of Mathon is an interesting specimen of the style, and consists of two single lights resting on a stringcourse, with a small circular window in the gable. Sapey Pitchard and White Ladies Aston have a single Norman light only at the east end. There are good Norman arcades at Great Malvern, Cropthorne, Overbury, Beoley, Astley, and Broadway. These have all massive cylindrical piers, generally with circular, but occasionally with square capitals. The abacus at Cropthorne is unusually thin, having much the appearance of a square tile; and the carving of the capitals at Great Malvern never proceeded farther than about one-third round the northeast respond. Norman chancel-arches are numerous; sometimes quite plain, but often much enriched, as at Earl's Croome, Holt, Cotheridge, and Rock; the latter is an unusually fine, lofty example; and the shafts at Cotheridge are twisted, with a circular ornament in the hollows. Though usually narrow, the arches at Astley and Pedmore extend nearly the whole width of the chancel. The groined porch at Bredon, together with the west front and its angle turrets, are excellent examples of the style; which is most perfectly exemplified, however, in the northwestern part of the county, one side of each of the churches of Rock, Shrawley, Astley, and Holt still remaining as originally constructed in the twelfth century. At Rock are two arches supported on shafts with plain cushion capitals in each of the easternmost bays, one being pierced

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