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Frindsbury Church, Kent,-Church of St. Mary Aldermary. [Sept,

pair. An inscribed board, at that time attached to the South side of the Church, was as honourable to the lite rary abilities of the parochial authorities, as the repairs of which I am about to speak, are to their good taste; the said board offered a reward of three guineas, and set out with this learned preamble," Whereas there has been a great number of times depredations committed," &c.

I visited this Church again in the early part of last month. A thorough repair had lately taken place, and never was one more disgraceful to a parish ever witnessed. The windows have all been altered into uniform dwellinghouse windows, with a sort of square headed weather cornice, to give a sort of "Gothic character;" the few remaining sweeps in the tracery of the former windows, which had escaped the hand of other repairers, are entirely knocked out, and lay scattered about the church-yard; and, above all, the elegant ceiling whitewashed!!! The walls of the Church have not escaped this operation, and the whole edifice now possesses as cold, upcomfortable, and miserable an appearance as could be desired in any country church, and which is increased by the ground glass panes in the woodensash style, defying all cheerfulness, and diffusing that dull soporific air over the building, so foreign to an edifice of this description, at least one that has escaped the hands of the innovator.

To whom, I would ask, are we indebted for these elegant repairs? I will not charge a parish carpenter or mason with having superintended the work, the hand of a London architect is plainly indicated in the whole of these tasteless alterations. A careless survey of the building, performed perhaps by a deputy just set down by the coach to look over the old building, and whose genius seems to have aim ed at giving it the air of a barn. Of course "whitewash the ceilings" stood at the head of the survey, and the orders were performed, while the proper guardians of the building supinely suffered the havoc to proceed without an effort to resist its progress. Was no humble artisan in the village to be found who would have repaired without allering? Even a mason from the tunnel of the adjacent canal could not have performed the repairs in a worse style.

In the church-yard is a low stone pedestal, with a sun-dial inscribed on its surface, and near it is set up a rude piece of stone, rough from the quarry, in the situation and about the size of a grave-stone. One side is painted black, the other white; whether there is any thing uncommon relating to this stone, except its appearance, I am not informed.

Mr. URBAN,

SEV

E. 1. C.

Sept. 5. EVERAL houses having been the East of the Church of St. Mary pulled down in Watling-street, to old church has been brought to view. Aldermary, part of the crypt of the It runs North and South about fifty feet, and is in breadth about ten feet. There are five arches on each side, and one at each end. The roof of the crypt, of which there are no remains, appears to have been vaulted and groined; the ribs, five in number, and springing from their imposts between each of the arches, and finishing in a corresponding manner at the opposite side. The key-stones of the arches are large, and perforated underneath, as if to form the capitals of pillars, the tops of these key-stones other ribs which they greatly resemble. From probably sprung to the vaulting. On the East side, about 15 feet from the crypt, were dug up some pieces of clustered columns; which the workmen said had once been a door.

The Church of St. Mary Aldermary was rebuilt about 1548, under the auspices of Henry Keble, grocer and Lord Mayor, and it is probable that the crypt of the Church then erected is now brought to light. The great Fire of London having destroyed this buildby the munificence of an individual, ing, the present Church was erected Henry Rogers, esq. who, influenced by motives of piety, and affected by the loss of religious buildings, left 5000l. to rebuild one church in the City of London; and his lady, who was his executrix, made choice of St.

Mary's. It is of the later order of Gothic architecture. The handsome steeple was erected with the produce of the duty on coals; the altar-piece was presented by Jane, relict of Sir John Smith, Alderman; and the pews only were provided at the expence of the united parishes.

Yours, &c.

A. Y.

Mr.

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1825.]

Mr. URBAN,

Account of the Village of Bedfont..

Sept. 2.

BEDFONT, anciently written Be

defunde, is a small pretty village on the great western road, 13 miles from London, and adjoining Hounslow Heath. By a strange corruption, which is extremely prevalent, this village is now generally known by the name of Belfound. Its name is variously accounted for. Some imagine it to be derived from Bede's fount, or Belle font, there being a small beautiful spring of water still existing on the public roadside, which is kept clean, and much valued, it being considered very efficacious in diseases of the eyes; there is another fine spring in the neighbourhood of this, which supplies the village generally, though it is private property.

The manor of Bedfont is mentioned under the name of East Bedfont (to distinguish it from a hamlet called West Bedfont, in the adjoining parish of Stanwell) as early as the time of Edward the Confessor. In the beginning of the 14th century this manor was given by John De Neville to the priory of Hounslow. It was afterwards granted by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Michael Stanhope, by the intermarriage of whose daughter with George Lord Berkeley, it passed to the Berkeley family. In 1656 it was sold by George Berkeley, esq. (son and heir to the preceding) to Algernon Earl of Northumberland, from which it has regularly descended to the present Duke.

The manor of Hatton, a hamlet appended to the parish of Bedfont, has been annexed to the latter since the year 1376.

The Parish Church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is a small ancient structure; consisting of a nave and chancel of one pace, tiled, with a modern wooden spire. The nave, including the space under the belfry, lately fitted up with benches, will accommodate about 100 adults, of which only 58 sittings, including the Sundayschool boys, are appropriated as free sittings to the poor. There is also a small gallery, containing three pews, private property, and sittings behind for about six singers. There has been a great increase in the population of this parish within the last few years owing to the inclosure of Hounslow GENT. MAG. September, 1825.

201

Heath, a great part of which lies in the parish. In 1800, according to Lysons, its inhabitants were about 330. They now amount nearly to 900.

Between the nave and chancel of the Church is a fine arch of Saxon architecture, with zigzag mouldings, much defaced and decayed by frequent whitewashing; it is 12 feet high by 8 wide. There is another in much better preservation at the entrance of the Church, 74 feet high by 4 wide. In the nave and chancel there are four very small lancet windows; others have been added at different times of various kinds of Gothic, all of stone. The West end window is very handsome, and that over the altar still contains a few panes of glass of the white rose, which fixes its date between 1461 and 1483, the time of the House of York.

There are no monuments of particular note. On the North wall of the chancel is one to the memory of Mrs. Anne Sherborne, 1815, whose name is endeared in the recollection of her virtues. Near it is the following coat of arms: Az. a fesse wavy, between three lions passant Or.

On the floor are the tombs of Mrs. Isabel Page, 1629. Matthew Page, gent. 1631, and Francis Page, 1678. On that of the latter is the following couplet:

"A virtuous life, and a good old age, Perfume the memory of Francis Page."

On the North wall of the nave is a neat marble monument to the memory of Mary, wife of Henry Whitfield, D.D., who died in 1795: on which has since been placed the following inscription:

"Henricus Whitfield, S.T.P. de Rushall in Comitatu Wilt. Rector, et hujusce Ecclesiæ per annos quadraginta duos Vicarius; Vir, si quis alius, doctus, pius venerabilis. Obiit Die Julii 9. anno salutis 1819. Etatis 88."

What, however, renders the village of Bedfont so remarkable and wellknown, are the two yew trees in the Church-yard, cut in topiary. On one of them is the date when they assumed this fictitious shape, 1704, and on the the other are to be seen the initials of the parish officers for that year, J. H. and J. G. R. T. John Hatchet, John Goodwin, Robert Tillyer.

Here is no register of baptisms or

mar

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Account of the Church of Bedfont.

marriages of an earlier date than 1695; that of burials commences in 1678.

There is an earlier book, entitled, "Estbedfont, the Church booke of accompts, as well for the Churchwardens and Overseers for the Poore, as also for ye Churchraytes, according as everie house is aportioned. This booke conteyneth all yat was conteyned in a former booke in ye yere of or Lord, 1593, to ye yere 1627 (....farre goeth ye old booke. This booke beginneth in ye yere 1628." There are no entries of much moment in this old book.

In 1593 is the following list of "Church goods."

"In primis one new Bible.
"It. one new surplus of holland.

"It. a communion cup of silver, with a

cover.

"It. a booke of common prayer.

"It. a paraphrase of Erasmus.

"It. a booke of

"It. a regyster boke of pay."

In the next account is,

"A great new pott of pewter, with a cover, for ye communion."

In 1609 "Mr. Jewell's works" were added.

In 1629 there are several entries of gifts to indigent Preachers and Ministers, and one to a Welsh preacher.

In 1632 to the Church goods is added "a little pay book" to write the names of strange preachers in.

"It. the book of Ecclesiastical Canons."

"In 1633 John Page gave unto the Church a fayre grean carpet, fringed about with greene silk fringe, and embroidered, to be laid upon the communion table every Sabbath day."

In 1635 a trencher plate and napkin were added, which is the last Churchproperty entry in the book.

There are few parishes less indebted to benefactors than Bedfont.

In the Church-yard are no tombstones or monuments worthy of note, except perhaps one erected about 60 years ago, to the memory of John Stanley, "King of the Gypsies," at the cost of his subjects. The tomb is now much decayed, and the slab fastened together by iron cranks, is laid upon the fragments that remain, now nearly level to the earth. It bore the following inscription:

"Readers all, as you pass by,

As you are now, so once was I;
As I am now, so you must be,
Prepare for death and follow me."

[Sept.

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Tmarks on the early History of HE following topographical reSt. Columb, in Cornwall, were suggested by a well-written account of Padstow, in the same county, which appeared in your Magazine for April, p. 320. The writer has traced, with a due reference to dates, the incidents connected with those remains of antiquity which present themselves in the town and its immediate vicinity. Cornwall abounds with additional relations, which serve personally to connect the patron saints with their respective parishes in many instances the character of these legends is doubtful and contradictory; in the present, however, St. Columba appears to possess a more decided claim to the attention of the provincial historian.

Alluding to the existence of Pagan superstition, Mr. Whitaker directs our attention to Tresadern, a residence near the town, as probably representing the temple of Saturn; and we find, according to the same authority, a Cornish sovereign resident at Trekyninget at the commencement of the fourth century; and not far from

"John Goodwin" occurs in the register about this time as vicar: whose name, however, according to Lysons, does not appear in the Bishop's register.

luded to. It was in the reign of Edward Higher Trekyninge is the station alIII. the property of the Arundels and the Hamelys, and at a later period for some generations in the family of Jenkyn. The greater part of the ancient mansion, which was a building of considerable extent, was pulled down in the reign of James the First.

thence

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