¥)ntm CCbarl** Xmu. 
 
t v&&c-~) 
 
 7 vrr( 
 
 tC)->^/c 
 

$$ou met ttys maptrie of a fjuman fjanU, 
 priHe of Eristotoe anti tl;e aaHestern HanD. 
 
Ctnes 
 
 on 
 
 Be&cltffe €tyutrt)> 
 
 We 
 
 Cj&omag e&attertom 
 
 Stag, curgoiw trabeller, anti pa00 not bet, 
 
 ©ntiH t bis fetttoe a pile astounbe b tfnne epe, 
 mijolt rocfisf on roc&0 hritfi pron joint), ourtaetc 
 ant) o&e0 toitJ) o&e0 entremeb c bt0poneb d lie* 
 
 3F!)t0 migfitie pile, tfi at fieep0 tfie fcignbe0 at fiaie 
 jF^re^lebim e anb tfie moftie f 0torme befie, 
 
 ®:i)3t 0l)oote0 aloofe into tl?e reaulme0 of baie 
 ®fialt fie tfie recorb of tf>e Buglbew fame for aie, 
 
 3 Ffiou 0ee0t tfit0 ma^trie of a fiuman fianb, 
 fUTfie pribe of ^Brgstotoe anb tfie 2aUe0terne fanbe, 
 
 2 ?tt t0 tfie ^Bupibero bertue0 mucfi moe greete, 
 tSreeter tfian can fiie fitotolie0 pen fie ocanbe, 
 
 "^Tfioit 0ee0t tfie 0agncte0 anb fi^ngeo f n s tonen 0tate, 
 ■^Tfiat 0eemb toitfi fireatfi anb fiuman 0oule bt0panbe, s 
 30 papbe h to U0 enoeen tfie0e men of 0tate, 
 
 ©ucfi t0 greete eTan^nge’0 mgnb tofien paptb to (Sob elate, 
 
 <KHell maie0t tfiou fie a0tounb, fiut bieto it toell 
 (So not from fience fiefore tfiou 0ee tfip fill, 
 
 3 nb learn tfie Butlber’0 fiertue0 anb fii0 name ; 
 
 3 Df tfii0 tall 0p^re in eberg country telle, 
 
 3 nb toitfi t be tale tfie lajing ' rgcfi men 0fiame ; 
 
 Sfiotoe fiotoe tfie glorioiw (ZTangnge bib ejccelle 
 Ejoto fiee goob man a frienb for 6pnge0 fiecame, 
 
 3 nb glorgou0 pabeb at once tfie toag to fieaben anb fame. 
 
 a Elegant. b astonish. « intermixed. d disposed- e lightnin 
 f gloomy. b expanded. h compared. ‘inactive. 
 
AN 
 
 HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL ESSAY 
 
 RELATING TO 
 
 Cljurcfj, 
 
 BRISTOL: 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH 
 
 PLANS, VIEWS, AND ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS: 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 an account of tin JHcmiuneitts, 
 
 AND 
 
 ANECDOTES OF THE EMINENT PERSONS INTERRED WITHIN ITS- WALLS ; 
 
 ALSO, AN ESSAY ON 
 
 THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THOMAS CHATTERTON. 
 
 By J. BRITTON, F.S.A. 
 
 “ What wondrous monumente ! What pyle ys thys ? 
 
 That bynds in wonders chayne entendemente ! 
 
 That doth aloof the ayrie skyen kiss, 
 
 And seemeth mountaynes joyned by cemente, 
 
 From Godde hys greete and wondrous storehouse sente.” 
 
 Chatterton. 
 
 ilotttion: 
 
 PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATEKNOSTER-ROW ; J. TAYLOR, HIGH 
 HOLBORNJ AND THE AUTHOR, TAVISTOCK PLACE. 
 
 SOLD BY BARRY, BROWN, BULGIN, ELLISTON, NORTON AND SON, SHEPPARD, AND PECKOVER, AT BRISTOL J 
 ALSO BY BARRATT, GODWIN, UPIIAM, AND MEYLER AND SON, AT BATH. 
 
 1813 . 
 
CHARLES JOSEPH HARFORD, ESQ. F.S.A. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 I have much pleasure in dedicating this volume 
 to you, because you have manifested, on many occasions, 
 a laudable and zealous attachment to archaeological lite- 
 rature generally, and to the antiquities of your native city 
 in particular. Among the public edifices of Bristol there 
 is no one more celebrated than Redcliffe Church. 
 Chatterton has enrolled its name in the annals of poetry 
 and of critical literature ; and the beauties and pecu- 
 liarities of its architecture have long attracted the admi- 
 ration of the antiquary, and artist, and indeed of every 
 person of taste and science. As a whole it is grand and 
 imposing, and its details are curious, beautiful, and ele- 
 gant. To display these characteristics, and elucidate the 
 history of the building, is the express object of this 
 volume, which is inscribed to you, with feelings of re- 
 spect, and very sincere pleasure, 
 
 BY 
 
 The Author. 
 
 July 1813. a 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Lines on Redcliffe Church, by Chatterton : — Dedication v 
 
 Introductory Preface va 
 
 CHAP. 1 1 
 
 Utility of Antiquarian Investigations. — Redcliffe Church is highly curious, beautiful, and interest- 
 ing. — Historical particulars respecting it. — Conjectures concerning the dates of different parts. 
 
 CHAP II 8 
 
 Description of the Church ; with reference to the accompanying prints. 
 
 Plate I. 
 
 II. 
 
 HI. 
 
 IV. 
 
 V. 
 
 VI. 
 
 VII. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 IX. 
 
 X. 
 
 XI. 
 
 XII. 
 
 CHAP. Ill 17 
 
 Account of the monuments, and anecdotes of persons interred in the church. — Lamyngton, J7 • 
 Simon de Burton, 1? : Win. Canynge, 18 j and extract from the church register respecting 
 him: William Coke, 21: John Bleaker, 22: John Brook, 22: John Jay, 22: Thomas 
 Mede, 22 : Philip Mede, 23 . Mrs. Fortune Little, 23 : Sir John Inyn, 24 : Everardus le 
 French, 24 : Thomas Young, 24 : Rev. Thomas Broughton, 24 : William Barrett, 25 : Sir 
 William Penn, 25. 
 
 CHAP. IV 26 
 
 Painted Glass, 26. — Church Furniture, 27. — Cross, 28. — Paintings, 28. — Thunder Storm, 2 Q. 
 
 CHAP. V so 
 
 An Essay on the life, character, and writings of Chatterton, 30.— Monody by Dermody, 37.—= 
 Letters by Chatterton to Dodsley, 39. 
 
 Ground Plan 10 
 
 Plan of the North Porch 12 
 
 Exterior View of the Church from the south-east 13 
 
 View of the East End 14 
 
 View of the South Porch 14 
 
 View of the Tower 14 
 
 View of the North Porch 14 
 
 Interior View of the Nave 14 
 
 View of the South Transept 15 
 
 View of the North Aile I 5 
 
 Door-way and Skreen to the North Porch 15 
 
 Details — Door-way, Windows, &c 
 
 16 
 
INTRODUCTORY PREFACE, 
 
 Having purchased several drawings of Redcliffe Church, it was my inten- 
 tion to have them engraved for the Architectural Antiquities ; but after ma- 
 ture deliberation, I was induced to appropriate them to a separate and com- 
 plete publication. In this I was also tempted to enter more fully into the 
 illustration of the building, and to comprehend a more extensive field of dis- 
 quisition than at first I had intended, or than is usual in the general work. 
 This volume is therefore now submitted to the public, in its present foim and 
 style, with no small degree of anxiety ; for though success generally inspires 
 confidence, and often presumption, I own that 1 feel more than usual solici- 
 tude concerning the reception which the present work may experience with its 
 varied classes of readers. To make it amusing, or interesting to the uninitiated 
 antiquary, I have endeavoured to adapt my sentiments and style of writing to 
 the peculiar character of the edifice, and to the poetical associations with 
 which it is connected. For that mind must be dull and cold indeed, which 
 can remain perfectly tranquil and unwarmed, after surveying the one, and re- 
 flecting on the other. “ Far from me, and far from my friends,” as Dr. John- 
 son observes, “ be such frigid philosophy, as may conduct us indifferent and 
 unmoved over any ground which has been dignified by wisdom, bravery, or 
 virtue. That man is little to be envied, whose patriotism would not gain 
 force upon the plains of Marathon, or whose piety would not grow warmer 
 among the ruins of Iona.”* 
 
 If the plains of Marathon, and the ruins of Iona, be calculated to stimu- 
 late curiosity, and awaken rational and pleasing reflections, I am persuaded 
 that the edifice, which we are about to investigate, must also be entitled to 
 
 * Journey to the Western Islands. 
 
 a 2 
 
Vlll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 more than common notice. Indeed, it cannot fail to claim from the genuine 
 antiquary, and tasteful critic, much of diligent inquiry, and unmixed admira- 
 tion. In reviewing the history of an ancient edifice, we are imperceptibly led 
 into the company of venerable personages long since departed ; — we are car- 
 ried back to remote ages, and shewn distant events, over which Time has 
 spread its obscuring veil. — These pursuits are not merely amusing to the 
 fancy, but may be rendered useful and instructive. “ Whatever,"’ says the elo- 
 quent author just quoted, “ withdraws us from the power of our senses, 
 whatever makes the past, the distant, and the future, predominate over the 
 present, advances us in the dignity of thinking beings.” Thus, by contem- 
 plating, and analyzing the best works of others, we may acquire wisdom : and 
 it is universally admitted, that the grand ecclesiastical edifices of this country, 
 were executed by men highly skilled in mathematical and geometrical know- 
 ledge. Science is unanimously conceded to them; but their claims to taste 
 are not so generally admitted. On this point the most accomplished scholars 
 and critics differ in opinion. Many contend, that beauty, grace, elegance, 
 and sublimity of architecture, is only to be found in Grecian edifices; whilst 
 others admit, that some of these characteristics belong also to Homan build- 
 ings; but they will not allow that any thing approaching to tastefulness, pro- 
 priety, or harmony, is to be found in “ the Gothic” structures of the middle ages, 
 lhe partial admirers of the latter also, are too generally as indiscriminating. 
 and intemperate in their panegyrics on one species of architecture, at the 
 expense of the other ; and thus contention and opposition are excited. Con- 
 troversy is produced, and it too generally happens that controversial writers 
 rather advocate an hypothesis, than calmly and dispassionately endeavour to 
 substantiate fact, and elucidate mystery.* 
 
 * Since Bentham wrote his History of Ely Cathedral, A. D. \ fj I, in which he endeavoured to 
 prove, that the remains of the Conventual Church in that city, are of Saxon architecture, “ founded in 
 0'73,” many volumes and essays have been published concerning the criteria of Saxon and Norman 
 architecture, the origin of the pointed arch, and the country in which this was first adopted. Warton, 
 Gray, Grose, Milner, Whitaker, Hall, Whittington, Millers, Sayers, Dallaway, Hawkins, Carter, 
 Englefield, Lysons, Kerrich, Wilkins, Dutens, King, Haggitt, and others, have all employed their pens, 
 either in this controversy, or on the subject : and to some of these gentlemen we are indebted for much 
 substantial information. 
 
 In the “ Architectural Antiquities ” which I am now publishing, and in the “ Cathedral Antiquities" 
 preparing, almost every class and style of ecclesiastical, domestic, and castellated architecture, will be 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IX 
 
 The present volume has been long announced to the public, and some 
 persons have made repeated inquiries after it. Various circumstances have 
 conspired to occasion delay : but these are all of a public and literary nature. 
 Zealously attached to antiquarian investigations, and embellished works, I 
 often find my inclinations carry me beyond the line of discretion and pru- 
 dence : I eagerly commence a new publication, and am equally eager to per- 
 form my voluntary task with credit to myself, and at the same time satisfy 
 the reasonable expectations of my reader. Thus I have entailed on myself 
 an excess of labour and anxiety which have injured my health, and subjected 
 me to some reprehension. In accomplishing the present little volume, I have 
 encountered more than ordinary expenses and trouble: and though it is not 
 equal to my wishes, yet I hope that its best parts will merit the approbation 
 of the critical reader ; and whatever he may detect as errors of judgment or 
 taste, he will have the generosity to pass over with lenity. 
 
 lo the following literary friends and correspondents I have been much 
 obliged for communications and information in the progress of the work ; 
 and beg they will accept my sincere thanks : 
 
 The Rev. Martin Richard Whish, M. A. the vicar of Redcliffe, for 
 indulgently allowing me access to the registers, and for extracts from one 
 relating to Canynge. 
 
 To Joseph Has le wood, Esq. who has collected almost every book, 
 pamphlet, and paper that has been printed respecting the Chattertonian con- 
 troversy, I am indebted for the two letters printed at the end of this volume, 
 and for the free use of his Archaeological collection. 
 
 To Philip Bliss, Esq. of St. John’s College, Oxford, and the Rev. 
 Bulkeley Bandinel, M. A. and E.S.A. of Trinity College, I am obliged for 
 the communication of some extracts from, and access to, that invaluable lite- 
 rary repository, the Bodleian Library. 
 
 The late Thomas Eagles, Esq. F. S. A. who had critically watched the 
 controversy about Rowley, was personally acquainted with nearly all the wri- 
 ters, who first published the quarto pamphlet of Sir Charles Bawdin, and 
 whose literary stores in printed books and MSS. were choice and valuable, 
 
 carefully delineated ; and from the various specimens and facts adduced, with the accompanying descrip- 
 tions and elucidations, it is hoped that the controverted points, above noticed, will be settled, and the 
 history and principles of ancient English Architecture will be clearly established. 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 obliged me with some interesting letters on the subject. He eagerly con- 
 tended for the authenticity of the poems ; and often expressed an intention of 
 publishing his opinions and arguments on the subject. 
 
 To Charles Joseph Hareord, Esq. F. S. A. I am indebted for much 
 personal civility, and for the zeal he took in promoting my inquiries at Bristol. 
 His friend, 
 
 The Rev. Samuel Sever, M. A. who has recently published the Charters, 
 & c. of Bristol, and thereby conferred a distinguished favour on the citizens, 
 and on the public, obliged me with ready and frank replies to my queries. It 
 is hoped this gentleman will proceed immediately with his History and Anti- 
 quities of Bristol. 
 
 To Granville Penn, Esq. I am indebted for some authentic memoranda 
 respecting Admiral Penn : but am sorry to say that they have been mislaid, 
 or lost, and therefore could not be used on the present occasion. Should 
 another edition of this volume be demanded, I hope to make some amends for 
 this omission. In the mean time the reader is referred to Mr. Clarkson’s in- 
 teresting “ Memoirs of the private and public Life of William Penn,” 2 vols. 
 8vo. 1813. 
 
 Thomas Park, Esq. F. S.A. ever zealous in the cause of archaeological 
 and poetical literature, readily assisted my inquiries respecting the paper 
 about church furniture : as did also 
 
 Lady Millman, a relative of Mr. Browning’s, in whose collection this 
 document was found. 
 
 The Rev. T. D. Fosbrooke, author of “ British Monachism,” obligingly 
 sent me several memorandums respecting Redcliffe, and Chatterton. 
 
 To Robert Southey, Esq. who voluntarily undertook to edit the three 
 volumes of Chatterton’s Works, from benevolent motives, I am obliged for an 
 interesting letter about Redcliffe and Chatterton. He remarks that “ the old 
 ceremony of strewing the church on Palm Sunday, is still observed there.” 
 Respecting the Rowleian question, he says, “ Ever since I had the slightest 
 acquaintance with old English literature, I was perfectly convinced that it 
 was impossible the poems could be genuine. I will, however, mention one 
 decisive argument, which I owe to a friend. The little fac simile of Canynge’s 
 feast contains manifest proofs that the hand-writing is forged; for the letter e 
 is written in eighteen or twenty different ways . — Now also there can be no 
 impropriety in mentioning that there was a trait of insanity in the family. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 XI 
 
 His sister was once confined; and this is a key to the eccentricities of his life, 
 and to the deplorable rashness of his death. At one time he was a great 
 coxcomb in his dress.” — Of this extraordinary youth Mr. Park thus speaks: 
 “ Chatterton was a phenomenon of nature and art ; an enigma of genius ; and 
 he seemed to have breathed in an atmosphere of mystery.” 
 
 At the end of this volume I have been induced to offer a few remarks 
 on the character and talents of Chatterton, because there are still persons of 
 learning who advocate the antiquity of his poems ; and who found their chief 
 arguments on his incompetency to their composition. Dr. Sherwen, in a se- 
 parate pamphlet on the subject, also in the Gentleman’s Magazine; and the 
 Rev. Dr. Symmons, in the “ London Review,” have exerted much ingenuity 
 of argument, and displayed considerable literary knowledge in behalf of the 
 ancient, and against the modern poet. Yet the latter Gentleman asserts, that 
 if Chatterton “ was the creator of the poems attributed to Rowley, it must 
 be confessed, that the posthumous honours which have been offered to him, 
 are as yet inadequate to the claims of his genius ; and that we must still exert 
 ourselves for expressions to impart our full sense of those intellectual powers 
 which appear so greatly to transcend the accustomed liberality of Providence 
 in its intercourse with man.” Dr. Sherwen’s remarks are nearly to the same 
 effect. Though the most profound critics, and almost every reader is willing 
 to allow such extraordinary merit to the poems, yet the collected edition, 
 printed in 3 vols. 1 803, has not yet passed into a second edition. It is hoped 
 that public curiosity may be again excited towards these poems ; and instead 
 of raising a stone monument to the memory of the bard, I would wish to see 
 his works printed in a popular form. No memorial can be more appropriate 
 to an author than a handsome edition of his works; and more especially when 
 these are extensively circulated. 
 
 To Hewson Clarke, Esq. I am obliged for some judicious observations 
 on the character of Chatterton. The criticisms of this gentleman are gene- 
 rally acute and profound: it is hoped that he will speedily execute his long 
 projected work, “a continuation of Johnson’s Lives of the Poets.” 
 
 To Dr. Goldwyer, Mr. Isaac James, Mr. Gutch, Edward Bird, 
 Esq. Mr. Barry, jun. of Bristol, I have to return thanks, for many acts of 
 
Xll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 personal civility, and replies to letters of inquiry, &c. ; also to Mr. R. Webb, 
 and to Mrs. Perrin the sexton. It is but justice to the latter to say, that she 
 manifests a very laudable, and unusual regard for the fine church committed 
 to her charge. 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Utility of Antiquarian Investigations — Redcliffe Church is highly curious , beau- 
 tiful, and interesting — Historical particulars respecting it— Conjectures con- 
 cerning the dates of different parts. 
 
 The study of antiquities, after being long regarded as the occupation of 
 plodding dulness, or frivolous curiosity, has at length attained its due im- 
 portance in the estimation of the public ; and is now the object of assiduous 
 cultivation in the literary and polished circles of society. That a pursuit, 
 indeed, which, while it contributes to the elucidation and embellishment of 
 every other department of literature, possesses within itself the most copi- 
 ous sources of mental pleasure, and while it tends to gratify the ardour of 
 a poetical imagination, and give precision and variety to the page of history, 
 should have been, at one period of English literature, the constant theme of 
 moral and humorous satire, must be imputed to the abuse of an useful and 
 important study, rather than to the insensibility of our wits and moralists 
 to its dignity and value when properly pursued. 
 
 I flatter myself that in the selection of the Church of St. Mary, Red- 
 cliffe, as the object of architectural elucidation and critical inquiry, I shall 
 not subject myself to be numbered among the triflers who devote their labour 
 and their time to frivolous and unimportant objects. The antiquary, the archi- 
 tect, the critic, the biographer, and the poet, are deeply interested in the 
 history and description of an edifice, which combines much elegance of 
 structure, with all the attractions that can be derived from poetical associa- 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 REDC LIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 tion. The design and execution of Redcliffe church, at once deserve the in- 
 vestigation of the architectural antiquary, and commands the admiration of 
 the spectator : the writings, or discoveries of Chatterton have also conferred 
 upon the building itself, and on the surrounding scenery a powerful, but 
 adventitious interest. To the general reader, the names of Rowley and of 
 Canynge, are perfectly familiar : their biography has exercised the critical 
 and historical skill of some of the most celebrated writers of the last, and of 
 the present century, and almost every miscellaneous publication that is in- 
 tended for the closet and the family parlour, contains some particulars of the 
 “ gude priest of Bristow,” or of his youthful representative. On a subject so 
 curious in itself, and of so much interest in the estimation of many discerning 
 persons, it may be presumed, therefore, that the labours of a few weeks have 
 not been totally misapplied : by those who regard the history of the Church 
 of Redcliffe as the just object of historical investigation, the slightest con- 
 tribution to their present stores of information will be received with in- 
 dulgence; and by those to whom the subject may appear undeserving of 
 inquiry, or unsusceptible of embellishment, the brevity that results from a 
 deficiency of materials, it is presumed, will be praised as a merit, rather than 
 censured as a defect. 
 
 If the labours of the Antiquary, indeed, be at any time cheerless and 
 unpromising, it is when his inquiries are baffled by a deficiency of historical 
 materials, or his judgment is bewildered amidst a mass of imperfect and con- 
 tradictory evidence, in examining the history of the Church of Redcliffe, 
 the inquirer is alternately confounded by the opposite statements of different 
 historians and topographers ; discouraged by the absence of all satisfactory 
 information, and perplexed amidst the mazes of falsehood and forgery. 
 Many of the particulars recorded by former writers, depend for their authen- 
 ticity on no better authority than the manuscripts of Chatterton ; and even 
 those statements that have been collected and published from original docu- 
 ments, are deprived of their appropriate weight, by the suspicion that attaches 
 to every historical record connected with the subject. The writers who have 
 paid the most assiduous attention to the early history of the church are 
 perpetually at variance, and the manuscript memoranda contained in different 
 collections, and relating to the more recent stages of inquiry are equally 
 uncertain and unsatisfactory. Under these circumstances, a brief recapitula- 
 tion of the remarks of others, must in some measure supply the place of 
 positive evidence ; and a fair comparison of the scanty documents already in 
 
CAMDEN AND LELANDS ACCOUNTS. 
 
 3 
 
 existence, it is hoped, will be received as an apology for a regular, authentic, 
 and copious narrative. 
 
 Redcliffe, according to Barrett* * * § is proved by many “ ancient deeds,” to 
 have been a parish of great antiquity, and originally formed part, (as it does 
 at present,) of the manor of Bedminster.f Notwithstanding the deeds to 
 which he thus refers, were in all probability the gift of Chatterton, yet, as 
 some of those documents are quoted in the original Latin, and the evidence 
 of Chatterton’s deceptions does not apply to any of these authorities in par- 
 ticular, their authenticity cannot justly be disputed. “ Radcliff,” says Cam- 
 den, J “ a little suburb, was joined to the city by a stone-bridge so thick set 
 with houses, that it seemed a street rather than a bridge. This part is en- 
 closed within the walls, and the inhabitants are free of the city. ’ He imme- 
 diately adds, “ Among the fairest of churches, is St. Mary de Radcliffe, with- 
 out the walls, with a grand ascent of steps ; the whole so spacious and well 
 built, with an arched roof of stone, and a lofty steeple, § as to exceed, in my 
 opinion, all the parish churches of England that I have seen.” Leland says, 
 that “ St. Sprites Chapell, in Radclef Church-yard, was ons a paroche afore 
 
 * History and Antiquities of the City of Bristol, P- 566. 
 
 f The ecclesiastical history of Redcliffe may be considered peculiar, if not truly singular. It con- 
 stitutes a part, or member, of the parish of Bedminster 5 is in the diocese of Bristol, and is a prebend 
 to the cathedral of Salisbury. This prebend comprehends Redcliffe, with the parishes of Bedminster, 
 Abbots-Leigh, and St. Thomas, adjoining Redcliffe ; yet the parochial regulations and ordinances are 
 held distinct and separate from each other, and each is governed by its own churchwardens, &c. 
 The living of Bedminster is both a rectory and a vicarage, and, as prebend, the incumbent is patron 
 of all the other livings. He is nominated by the bishop of Salisbury. Previous to the year 1247, 
 Redcliffe and the Temple-fee were vested in the Knights Templars, and constituted a distinct corporation. 
 I do not find that it passed from the Templars to the Hospitallers, as was generally the case with the 
 possessions of the former : but it is probable that Simon de Burton, a merchant of Bristol, bought 
 it of that military fraternity. The ecclesiastical edifice of Redcliffe is also of a peculiar nature and 
 description : it is easier to name it negatively than positively, for it is not strictly either a parish church, 
 conventual church, collegiate church, cathedral church, or chapel. 
 
 I Gough’s edition of Camden’s Britannia, vol. i. p. 63 . ed. 179 1 * 
 
 § Bishop Gibson, in his translation of Camden, renders this word “ Tower,” and thereby expresses 
 a different object : — Camden’s word is <f Turris.” Much confusion has been produced, and erroneous 
 accounts circulated, for want of a correct nomenclature of terms : and more particularly of those re- 
 lating to ancient buildings, and to other antiquarian objects. 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 the building of Radclyfe new churche*,” and William of Worcester, who was 
 a native of Bristol, and lived in the time of Henry VI. calls St. Sprite’s an 
 ancient chapel, near Redcliffe church. It appears very certain, that an an- 
 cient religious edifice was standing on, or near the site of the present church, 
 anterior to the erection of the building which we are now surveying. Several 
 grants of land towards repairing the original structure, are referred to by 
 Barrett, as being in his own possession : and indulgencies were issued by 
 different bishops, on condition that the persons to whom they were granted 
 would “ devoutly visit the church of the blessed Mary of Radcliffe, in Bris- 
 tol, and there charitably contribute towards the repair of the same, and pray 
 for the souls of those there interred.” The indulgencies are by John, Bishop 
 of Ardfert, dated at Bristol, 1232;— Peter Quivill, Bishop of Exeter, dated at 
 “ Radeclyve,” 1287 David, Archbishop of Cassel, dated at Bristol in 124b; 
 
 Christianus Episcopus Hymelascensis, dated at Bristol 1246*; — and Robert, 
 Bishop of Bath and Wells, dated 1278. All these documents are said to have 
 been found in Canynge’s chests, and notwithstanding they were the gift of 
 Chatterton to Barrett, their number, the difficulties that would have prevented 
 their execution by the want of specific evidence to their fabrication, and 
 their coincidence with other documents, to which it does not appear that 
 Chatterton had access, are in favour of their reception as genuine authorities. 
 
 The foundation, however, of the Great Church, erected on the site of 
 the one thus mentioned, is ascribed by all parties to Simon de Burton, f who, 
 previous to the commencement of the building, in 1292, had been advanced 
 to the mayoralty of Bristol three times, and enjoyed that dignity twice after- 
 waids; viz. in the years 1304 and 1305. J When another writer, therefore, 
 on this subject § ascnbes the foundation of the church to IVilliam Cunj/nge he 
 confounds the completion of the building with its original erection. * It ap- 
 pears that William Canynge, senior, the mayor of Bristol, completed “ the 
 
 * Itinerary, vol. vii. p. 86. Barrett supposes that St. Sprite’s Chapel was also called “ Lamyngtons 
 Lady Chapel.” 
 
 + Leland, though he mentions Burton as founder of an alms-house, in which he was buried, does 
 not allude to his foundation of the present church. 
 
 X MS. in Bib. Bodl. ,l History of the famous City of Bristol, by James Stewart,” MS. J733.— 
 Gough s Collection, Oxford. — MSS. by Hobson, quoted by Barrett. 
 
 § Hist. Bristol, MS. in the possession of the Rev. T. Dudley Fosbrooke. 
 
ERA OF THE BUILDING. 
 
 5 
 
 body of Redcliffe church from the cross aile downwards, and so the church 
 was finished as it now is * and as this was seventy-five years after the de- 
 dication of Burton’s church, it may be considered to be the finishing of what 
 had been begun and partly accomplished by its founder. It was customary, 
 at that time, for the builder of a church to begin at the east end, or choir 
 part, which, when finished, was consecrated, and the remainder was gradually 
 prosecuted, either by the original projector, or by his immediate successors. 
 
 Several Wills are mentioned by Barrett, as dated about 1380, in which 
 money is given “ for the fabric, and towards repairing the Church of Red- 
 cliff and, among others, that of John Muleward mentions a gift in money — 
 “ Ad opus Beatas Marias de Radclcve,” which Barrett justly regards as a proof 
 that the work was going on at that time. The subsequent re-edification of 
 the church by the grandson of the William Canynge who first completed it, 
 is involved in much obscurity. Among Mr. Fosbrooke’s MSS. is one stating 
 that “ anno 1441, William Cannings, who was mayor of Bristol this year, 
 with the help of others of the worshipful town of Bristow, kept masons and 
 workmen to repair and edifye, cover and glaze the church of Redcliffe, 
 which his grandfather had founded in the days of Edward the Third.” f 
 Stewart coincides in this statement, except with regard to the date, which is 
 one year later. A manuscript, quoted by Barrett, agrees with Stewart as to 
 the date of 1442, in which year Canynge was mayor of Bristol. A manuscript 
 in the Bodleian Library informs us that “ the said church, having suffered 
 much in a tempest, the above-mentioned William Canynge, a celebrated 
 merchant and public benefactor, in the year 1474, £ gave five hundred 
 pounds to the parishioners of Redcliffe towards repairing the church, and for, 
 the maintenance of two chaplains and two clerks in St. Mary’s Chapel there* 
 and of two chantry priests. The words of Barrett are — “ the same plan was 
 observed by him in rebuilding and restoring to its original beauty, after being 
 thrown down by lightning. The south aisle, where the mischief fell heaviest, 
 seems to have been rebuilt with a somewhat more elevated arch, and in a 
 lighter style than the north; a difference also is between the windows of 
 the north and south aisle. §” From these various statements it would appear, 
 that Canynge having begun and nearly completed the re-edification of the 
 church, his labours were rendered almost fruitless by the effect of lightning; 
 
 * Barrett, Hist. p. 569. f MS. Collections for Bristol. — See also Barrett, p. 570 ,. 
 
 t In Barrett it is dated 1445. § Hist. Bristol, 571. 
 
6 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 and, that about the year 1445, he repaired the damages, and nearly restored 
 it to the state in which it stood previous to the tempest that threatened its 
 destruction. Barrett says, “ that from a deed in Latin by Canning, dated 6th 
 Edward IV, it appears he founded in that year the chantry of St. Catherine 
 in this church.”* 
 
 Such is the brief but very imperfect history of a structure which it is 
 impossible to contemplate without a powerful impression of the omnipotence 
 of poetical genius. Whether Chatterton, or a priest in the reign of Edward 
 the Fourth, was the author of Ella, and of several other similar poems, the 
 church of Redcliffe itself, the monuments that it contains, and the scenery 
 that surround it, certainly owe much of their attraction and interest, to their 
 association with these writings. The tomb of Canynge might have remained 
 the subject of solitary examination to the occasional visitor, had not his name 
 been coupled with that of the real or supposed author of these extraordinary 
 compositions ; and though the architectural beauties of the structure might 
 have excited the partial and occasional admiration of the professional student, 
 or the lover of the arts; it is owing to the manuscripts of Rowley, or to the 
 materials of their fabrication, that it has become the object of interesting 
 contemplation to the literary world, and has awakened the inquiries, and 
 exercised the talents, of a Milles, a Bryant, a Warton, a Mathias, and a 
 Southey. 
 
 The preceding narrative is given to shew the contradictory and vague 
 statements that have hitherto been made, as to the age and history of the 
 present edifice. It remains for me to elicit, from this crude mass, something 
 like architectural elucidation ; and endeavour to point out the ages, styles, 
 and dates of the varied portions of the church. As I have not been for- 
 tunate enough to obtain any authentic and unsuspicious document on this 
 subject, my inferences can only be conjectural: but if these conjectures ap- 
 pear founded on rational, and truly probable grounds, they will partly supply 
 the place of history, and it is hoped will afford the critical reader some satis- 
 factory information. From the intimations contained in the preceding ex- 
 tracts, and from the architectural styles of the different parts of the church, 
 I am induced to assign to the latter the following dates. 
 
 The superstructure of the whole church displays three distinct and dif- 
 ferent eras of architecture. The middle north porch is certainly the oldest 
 
 * Hist. Bristol. 571 . 
 
THREE ERAS OF ARCHITECTURE. 
 
 7 
 
 portion, and this corresponds in its pilaster-columns, arches, and mouldings, 
 with the buildings of the thirteenth century. — At this age it appears that 
 Simon de Burton lived, and was engaged, in 1292, either in constructing a 
 new church, or “ re-edifying” a former building. Here then we find a part 
 of the edifice, (though certainly only a very small part,) correspond with a 
 specific date. 
 
 Of a subsequent age and style are the tower, and grand northern porch, 
 in both of which we recognise a later species of architecture ; where the 
 tracery of the ceilings, the niches, and numerous mouldings, are of a much 
 more enriched and elaborate character, than the former specimen : these 
 parts were probably raised in the reign of Edward III. by William Canynge, 
 sen. * 
 
 In the finishing of the nave, choir, and transepts, we must look for the 
 works of William Canynge, jun., the rich merchant of Bristol, and Dean of 
 Westbury : but here the style is not so strictly in unison with the era. Still, 
 however, we must contemplate the greater part of the church as the work- 
 manship of his time. 
 
 A more decorated species of architectural design is shewn in the entrance 
 door-way to the vestry ; and also in Sir Thomas Mede’s monument in the 
 north aile, the latter of which was probably raised about the year 1480. 
 
 * He is recorded as member for Bristol in the years 1364, 1383, and 1384. Barrett s History, 
 p. 151. 
 
 ■ 
 
8 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Description of the Church , with reference to the accompanying Prints. 
 
 IVery object of nature and of art, that is inherently grand, or beautiful, 
 is calculated to afford pleasure to the human mind. The sublime and tower- 
 ing mountain, the romantic cascade, the interminable and restless ocean, 
 the broad and translucent lake, are all highly interesting and impressive; 
 but these are the inimitable works of an omniscient Architect : man vainly 
 endeavours to mimic them; and advance the productions of art to vie with 
 those of nature. Though however his works be comparatively small and 
 insignificant, the}' often excite the amazement and admiration of his fellow- 
 creatures. Genius, aided by Science, can produce surprising effects; can 
 furnish, to the curious and inquisitive mind, ample sources of study and 
 delight. This is fully verified in the ancient architecture of Great Britain, 
 as well as in the splendid, and much-praised edifices of Greece and of 
 Italy. It has long been the fashion, founded on prejudice, to praise the'latter 
 at the expense of the former; but the impartial historian and critic will 
 award to each its proper, and just share of excellence. Each style of archi- 
 tecture has its peculiar beauties, merits, and defects: and each will afford 
 important lessons to the judicious architect: but the man who tamely and 
 frigidly copies cither, will impeach both his taste and his judgment. 
 
 In the Church of Redcliffe the architect has manifested both genius and 
 science. Its design has some traits of novelty, and its execution is founded 
 on geometrical principles. Though its ornaments, and some of the parts 
 are similar in many other churches, yet the whole *is unique ; and it may 
 be justly called a grand, and truly interesting specimen of the architecture 
 of the age in which it was erected. Loftiness, lightness, and variety, are its 
 marked characteristics. Every part, both internally and externally, is 
 charged with ornaments: is enriched with sculpture, and architectural em- 
 bellishments: but these are not so prominent and obtrusive as in the gor- 
 geous chapels of King’s College at Cambridge, and of Henry the Seventh 
 at Westminster.* It may not inaptly be compared to a graceful, and elegant 
 
 * Plans, views, and details, with histories and descriptions of these two buildings, are given in 
 “ The Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain,” Vols. I. and II. 
 
VIEW, AND SITUATION OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 9 
 
 female, dressed in a light and flowing drapery; as the latter adorns the 
 former. To continue the metaphor, and thus portray the edifice and its 
 situation, we may further remark, that the former resembles a dignified beauty, 
 accidentally surrounded, and incommoded by a motley group of the rabble. 
 This will not be thought exaggerated by the stranger who visits Redcliffe 
 church from Bristol. The usual approach is by a long, narrow street, skirted 
 by small shops, and from its contracted nature and peculiarity of position, is 
 generally very dirty, black, and perilous to the passenger. Several manufac- 
 tories, warehouses, and workshops, of not the most pleasant and odoriferous 
 kind, are distributed on the right and left : whilst the narrow thoroughfare is 
 generally crowded by colliers, sandmen, sledges, sailors, asses, and carts. In 
 such a situation personal safety is the first care. Having “ run this gauntlet” 
 for about a quarter of a mile, the stranger is at once astonished and delighted, 
 to find the street expanded, the ground rising, and to see a towering edifice 
 elevated on the brow of a natural terrace. This view is singularly impressive 
 and prepossessing, both from its intrinsic and individual effect, and as con- 
 trasted with the inauspicious approach. The richly decorated tower, west 
 front of the church, unique north-porch, and transept ; with flying buttresses, 
 pinnacles, and perforated parapets, all unite to constitute a mass of archi- 
 tecture, which cannot fail to delight the artist, and astonish the common 
 observer. — See pi. VI. 
 
 Built on the side of shelving ground, it was necessary to have a flight of 
 many steps from the level on the north, to the pavement of the church, which 
 is still below the surface of the cemetery, on the south. A fine and very 
 picturesque feature is thus produced; (See Plate VI.), and the same elevated 
 site, confers on the tower, and church, a lofty and imposing aspect. 
 
 The twelve accompanying prints display the forms, features, and archi- 
 tectural peculiarities of nearly the whole edifice : and with a few descriptions, 
 with reference to these prints, it is hoped that the reader will at once be 
 made acquainted with the style and arrangement of the Church, and be satis- 
 fied with my endeavours to illustrate it. 
 
 Various parts of the Exterior of the building are shewn in Plates III, 
 IV, V, VI, and VII ; and of the Interior , in those numbered VIII, IX, X, XI, 
 and XII. The extent, arrangement, and ground plan, are laid down in 
 Plates I. and II. 
 
 c 
 
10 
 
 REDCLIEPE CHUBCH. 
 
 Plate I. Ground Plan. 
 
 The original design of the church, was probably uniform and regular ; but 
 as it has been built at different periods, the later additions have not been 
 raised in accordance either with the style, or plan of the first erection. The 
 eastern chapel, choir and ailes, the transept and a large portion of the nave, 
 display a correspondency of parts, and style : but the vestries, or chantries, 
 P and Q; the porches, R, S, and X, with the tower D, are additional 
 members. 
 
 The ground plan shews the internal arrangement of the church, the pro- 
 jections, number, and relative situation of the clustered columns between 
 the body and the side ailes, the walls, windows, doors, buttresses, porches, 
 skreens, monuments, and the varied forms of the groins, or ribs beneath the 
 vaulted roof. The capital letters refer to the primary divisions of the church; 
 the small letters to different parts and ornaments; the figures to the monu- 
 ments; and the roman numbers with a star to each, to the points of view 
 displayed in the different prints. 
 
 A. A. the nave, B. B. the south aile, C. C. the north aile ; D. the tower, 
 at the north-west angle of the church : E. the centre of the transept, over 
 which the principal tower is usually raised: by the size of the four piers in 
 this place, it seems very probable that it was originally intended to have a 
 tower here; F. the chief aile of the north transept; G. that of the south; 
 H. I. J. and K. the side ailes to the transepts, of corresponding height and 
 character to the ailes of the nave and choir. This continued aile, or double 
 aile to the transept, is not a common feature. I believe it only belongs to 
 the present church, and to those of York, Ely, and Westminster: L. the 
 choir, but here kept apart for the chancel ; M. and N. the north and south 
 ailes to the choir; O. the virgin chapel, now used as a school-room. At the 
 west end of this chapel is a stone skreen, with tracery, shields. &c. On the 
 north and south sides are stair-case turrets, and the whole is lighted by five 
 windows.* At i. is an entrance porch, and at k. a passage from the south aile. 
 Beneath this chapel is a crypt. P. a vestry, and Q. an inner apartment to 
 
 * In the year 157 1, Queen Elizabeth founded a school here for grammar and writing, as expressed 
 by her deed, and also gave a building, called the Holy-Ghost-Chapel, for the school house. This was 
 situated near the south-west angle of Redcliffe church $ but was taken down in the year 1 766 , when 
 an ancient stone coffin, with a figure in basso relievo, and an inscription on the lid, was found in the 
 western wall. — See No. 1. 
 
3?]Lo3 
 
 South. 
 
 London, . .Published by JJiritton, June 1. iSrz 
 
 Figures l to 13. ref a • to different 
 'Monuments and Slat's - lUul letters 
 a to s to various objeets which are 
 described in the annexed work. . 
 
 too feet 
 
 W ,/J 
 
 ISffiBCEILinFE'IE GlETffmGISI: -IBmHSTOIL, 
 
 Oct/nd Vhm. shmirw Hu groining of the Hoof. Sites or' Monuments Ce 
 
 Letters A to X refer to the duTerait 
 parts divisions of the Church 
 which are desertieil uv the an- 
 nejcul work 
 
 North 
 
REFERENCE TO THE PLAN. 
 
 11 
 
 the same. These two rooms have others over them, and appear to have been 
 appropriated as a dwelling for a catholic priest : R. a porch, or vestibule be- 
 tween the hexagon porch and the north aile of the church. This porch is 
 certainly the most ancient part of the whole fabric, and is probably a portion 
 of Simon de Burton’s building. It is a regular square, with small insulated 
 columns against the walls, supporting pointed arches of the lancet shape. 
 The vaulted roof has only two ribs, or groins crossing from the extreme 
 angles, and intersecting each other at the centre. On the western side is a 
 door-way to a stair-case, u. which communicated with a room above, and also 
 with the tower of the church. Another door- way, T. is cut through the wall 
 on the east side, and leads to a gallery round the hexagon porch, and also to 
 the noted Chattertonian apartment over it. S. the Hexagon, or outer porch, 
 which, with the former porch, are shewn more at large in PL II. — W. the 
 Stairs to a room over the southern porch, X. 
 
 Small letters of reference in the plan : — a. Organ skreen ; b. a bracket 
 against this pier supports a carved sword, which belonged to Sir Robert Yea- 
 mans, Knt. and Bart, and who was mayor of Bristol in the year 1669 . His re- 
 mains were interred in the north aile of this church. Near this relic is an 
 object of popular curiosity, traditionally called a rib of the noted Dun-cow, 
 slain by Guy, Earl of Warwick; but it is more likely to be the rib of a whale, 
 or of some other monstrous fish: — c. an old stone font; d. a modern font, en- 
 closed; e. and f. skreens of stone, with open work, dividing the ailes from 
 the chancel, which is also separated from the nave by an iron skreen ; g. and 
 h. stone skreens, closing up the whole of the two arches on the north and 
 south sides of the altar : i. Altar table, behind which is a modern skreen of 
 wainscot, carved, gilt, and painted:* k. door- way to the lady chapel, now 
 closed up: 1. porch to the same chapel: m. door- way to the south aile, near 
 the east end : n. the western door-way : o. stair-case to the organ-loft, tower, 
 and roof of the church. 
 
 The figures, No. 1 to 13, refer to the monuments which will be described 
 hereafter; and the figures III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. and XI. with a 
 star to each, mark the situations, or directions whence the views were taken, 
 corresponding with the same numbers on the top of each plate. 
 
 * The carpenter who designed this, and the organ loft, fancied he should display a fine classical 
 taste, by mimicking the Roman architecture, instead of following the style of the church; and has 
 therefore introduced columns which have some resemblance to the corinthian, or composite order ; but, 
 exclusive of the column, there is scarcely any other architectural member. 
 
 C 2 
 
12 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 Plate II. Ground Plan of the North Porch, &c. 
 
 I was induced to have this second plan engraved for the purpose of 
 displaying, more distinctly, the horizontal form and peculiarity of the great 
 north porch ; also its union with the inner porch, and the insulated columns, 
 doors, stair-cases, skreen, and groining of the latter. The grand external 
 porch is certainly a very singular structure, and eminently entitled to minute 
 illustration and inquiry. Its form, ornaments, appropriation, and “ eventful 
 history,” all conspire to render it exceedingly curious and interesting. The 
 original use and intention of this building cannot easily be accounted for. 
 A porch was already erected on the same side of the church, and that porch 
 was provided with a room over its vaulted ceiling. The plan is an irregular 
 hexagon ; with bold triangular buttresses at the external angles. A stone 
 seat runs round the interior base, a large and singular door-way faces the 
 north ; a smaller one opens towards the east, a closet is in the western wall, 
 and blank arches, with purfled pediments, are placed in the lower story. An 
 ornamental cornice with sculptured busts and flowers, continue round five 
 sides of the room ; and over the cornice is a series of five windows, each di- 
 vided into three days, or lights, with the lower portion walled up. At the sill 
 of these windows is a passage, extending from the stair-case at the south- 
 east angle, to the pier at the corresponding angle. The vaulted roof of this 
 porch is adorned with several ribs ramifying from the centre, in thirty-two 
 radii, to the circumference. At thirteen different points of intersection are as 
 many sculptured bosses, or orbs. 
 
 The external feature of this porch is shewn in Pl. VII . * where the prin- 
 cipal elevation, consisting of a curious door-way, a series of niches, with acute 
 canopies, the upper part of a window, two triangular buttresses, part of the 
 north transept, and a bit of the tower, with modern ballustrades and steps, 
 are tastefully and faithfully displayed. The small openings near the summit 
 of this porch afford light to the apartment, which contains fragments of the 
 famous Rowleyan chests.')' It is probable that this room was originally in- 
 
 * The engraver of this plate has at once enhanced his own reputation, and conferred an honour 
 on the graphic art, by the specimen before us. It is one of those rare works of the burin, which pleases 
 the common observer, and delights the most skilful artist. 
 
 f Barrett says, that one of the largest of the chests, which formerly occupied this room, is noticed 
 in a deed of Canynge’s, in the following terms : “ Cysta serrata cum sex clavibus vocata cysta Willielmi 
 
TPTL.HIPT- 
 
 To JOHN" J5LAG T. ES Estp. an admirer of the Fine Arts , this Plate is inscribed fy ^ { u fh , r 
 
SOUTH AND EAST SIDES OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 13 
 
 tended for the reception of the church muniments : Barrett says it was called 
 the treasury. “ In the old church of Redcliffe,” he remarks, “ were formerly 
 keepers of the porches : the present porches have several apartments, with 
 fire-places over them,” (or rather in them,) “ probably for the habitation of the 
 porter, with many of the chaplains and other religious persons belonging to 
 the same.*” Externally and internally this porch consists of two principal 
 tiers, or stories, each dissimilar to the other, and each adorned with niches, 
 canopies, crockets, pediments, &c. The grand door-way is a curiosity in 
 architecture ; be'ng unlike any other, I believe, in this country. It has some 
 analogy, in form and ornament, to one in the monastery of Batalha, in Por- 
 tugal, which was designed by David Hacket, an Irishman, about 1400.t On 
 the east, side of the porch is a small door-way, ornamented with a triangular 
 pediment, pinnacles, crockets, finial, and foliage running round the inner 
 moulding. The brackets in the niches consist of statues, some of which are 
 very singular and curious. Near the door-way just noticed, these figures, as 
 well as other sculptured ornaments, are in good preservation. 
 
 Plate III. View of the Church from the south east. 
 
 This print shews nearly the whole of the southern side of the Church, 
 with part of the Lady Chapel; the tower and truncated spire, and the southern 
 porch. In this view, though not so carefully defined as I could wish, the 
 forms and tracery of the windows are pointed out; and it will be perceived, 
 that the whole wall of the upper story of the church, from east to west, with 
 the exception of the transept, is covered with panelling and pilaster mould- 
 ings. The lofty and narrow proportion of the middle aile of the transept is 
 also characterised ; and it will be seen that an open-worked parapet extends 
 along the summit of the aile, and another at the top of the church. This 
 part was formerly adorned with pinnacles. Flying buttresses extend from the 
 upper story of the church to the attached buttresses of the ailes ; but the 
 transept is deprived of these supports. 
 
 Canynges in domo thesauraria ecclesiae Beatse Mariae de Redclive.” This chest, continues Barrett, 
 « furnished Mr. Morgan with many curious parchments relating to Mr. Canynges and the church of 
 Redclive.” Hist. Bristol, p. 576. 
 
 * History of Bristol, p. 576. 
 
 f See Murphy’s “ Plans, Elevations, &c. of the Church of Batalha,” with 2/ Engravings, fo. 
 4/. 1 4s. Qcl. 
 
14 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 Plate IV. View of the East Enh. 
 
 This print represents the eastern and two northern windows of the 
 Virgin Mary Chapel, with one of the buttress-staircases to the same ; also the 
 entrance to the crypt, and the open parapet at the top. The contour of the 
 eastern window over the altar, now closed up, is also seen, as well as the 
 window at the east end of the north aile. 
 
 Plate V. South Porch.* 
 
 Though this appendage to the church is at present in a mutilated and 
 disfigured condition, it has been handsome, and highly adorned with archi- 
 tectural dressings. A range of five niches, with acutely pointed and crocketed 
 pediments, is displayed immediately over the central door-way ; and at the 
 angles are double, graduated buttresses, with sculptured canopies and pin- 
 nacles. Behind the porch is shewn three divisions of the upper part of the 
 nave, with the large windows. The style of the upper parapet, and of the 
 angular pinnacle, with the panelling on the outer wall, are shewn in this view. 
 
 Plate VI. View of the Tower, 
 
 Has been already described, p. 9; and it is only necessary to remark, 
 that the whole of the present view cannot be seen from any one point ; as 
 there are houses abutting against the north-west angle of the wall. Under 
 the steps, at the west end, is a conduit. 
 
 Plate VII. View of the North Porch, 
 
 Is the last of the series of plates which I have appropriated to the exterior 
 of the church; and this has been described, p. 12. 
 
 Plate VIII. View of the Nave. 
 
 In this print, the style and decoration of the nave are displayed ; also 
 the choir, or chancel end, and a view into the south aile, with part of the 
 southern transept : at the distant end is shewn one of Hogarth’s pictures, 
 which, with a large curtain, and a modern wooden skreen, hide the eastern 
 
 * As this plate has been engraved by three different hands, I have not put any engraver’s name 
 
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 London ^Published hr J. /i niton. June i, idio. 
 
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 To llu Herd RJi'JislUD Wt/SK Ms!. frebouiary of SaHshuy, find Vicar or' S' WtvrMMm-. Bristol . this Plato is insaibtd by ^ luMor 
 
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 To. Torn SMKBWKX, M3) who has ,/tsplicai much Jrih.rolod teal knowledge in/iisef/MS on "the .hriufuitv iuui mthmiicitr or the Now/cutn MS) 
 
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 lo EDWARD BIRD, Esq. n'tu> tiers exinced, considerable abilities vv the. design and execution of several 
 Pictures, this Plater is inscribed ■ by his sincere 'friend JJjrvUow 
 
 ri.iff. 
 
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TRANSEPT, DOOR-WAY AND SKREEN. 
 
 15 
 
 window as well as the original altar-piece. It will be seen by this print, that 
 the ceiling of the whole church is richly adorned with tracery, and that the 
 wall between the large arches and the upper tier of clerestory windows, 
 is covered with panelling, and pilasters. The forms of the piers, with their 
 bases and capitals, are characterised in this print. 
 
 Plate IX. View across the Transett from North to South. 
 
 The ornamental finishing of the chief aile of the transept, with its lateral 
 aile, the clustered columns, or piers of the nave, and a clerestory window of 
 the same, with two of the very highly ornamented windows of the south 
 transept, are the features of this print. But the chief reason for selecting 
 this point of view is to shew the picturesque arrangement of forms and 
 parts ; and the brilliant effect which is frequently seen in this portion of the 
 church. Unfortunately, the engraver, after having finished two plates of 
 this subject, has not succeeded in producing the desired effect in either. 
 
 Plate X. View in the North Aile. 
 
 In this print is displayed the stone skreen, which divides the north aile 
 from the chancel ; with a stone seat attached. The groined character of the 
 ceiling is also shewn ; and a lofty, close skreen, which fills up the eastern 
 arch of this aile, opposite to which is the fine monument of Sir Thomas 
 Mede, and Philip his brother. 
 
 Plate XI. Door-way and Skreen to the North Porch. 
 
 This skreen, consisting of two portions, is an architectural curiosity and 
 beauty. In the centre is a door-way, with a square head, and ornamented 
 with several richly sculptured bosses in a hollow moulding. On each side is 
 a series of ornamental panels, crowned with Ogee arches, the outer mould- 
 ing of which is adorned with fine crockets and finials. Over the door-way 
 is a very elegant frieze, charged with vine-leaves, busts, animals, and foliage ; 
 and above that is another portion or story of the skreen, with four panels, 
 and surmounted with a rich frieze. Behind this skreen is a blank win- 
 dow, the mullions and tracery of which correspond with the others of the 
 aile.— See PI. XII. 4. 
 
16 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 Plate XII. 
 
 Displays four different windows, a door- way, and part of a parapet. 
 Fig. 1. A lofty, narrow window, at the extremity of the north and south 
 transepts. 2. A window, with tracery beneath it, and an arch, of the upper 
 story of the south transept. The outer ornaments, and filling up of this win- 
 dow, are rather singular. 3. Window, panelling, and an arch of the nave. 
 4 Window of the ailes, finished at the top with an obtuse, triangular mould- 
 ing. 5 . Door- way from the north aile to the vestry, which was probably a 
 chantry erected by Sir Thomas Mede. 6'. The perforated parapet, which 
 runs round the upper wall of the church. 
 
 The Vignette Border in the title-page, shews part of the ribs, and tracery 
 of the ceiling in the north aile. The bosses here are fancifully sculptured. 
 In the east aile of the south transept at p. in the ground plan, is a boss on 
 which are the figures of a sow, with young pigs ; a very strange and unusual 
 device. A similar basso-relievo is found in Exeter cathedral. 
 
 Having thus referred to all the accompanying prints, and pointed out the 
 chief architectural features, and peculiarities of the church, I proceed to 
 specify the principal monuments. 
 
IT 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Description of the Monuments , with reference to the Numbers in the ground 
 Plan , including Anecdotes of John Lamyngton , Simon de Burton , William 
 Canynge, John Bleaker , William Cole, John Jay, John Brook, Sir Thomas 
 Mede, Mrs. Fortune Little, John Inyn, Everard le French, Thomas Brough- 
 ton , William Barrett, and Sir William Penn. 
 
 No. 1 . John Lamyngton. Near the south-west angle of the church is 
 a large stone coffin, with a statue in demi-relief on the lid, and beneath it two 
 words in old characters, which Barrett reads, “ JaamtC0 ILatnpttgtOtt.” This 
 coffin was placed here in 1/66, having been discovered under the west win- 
 dow of St. Sprite’s chapel, which formerly stood close to the church, and was 
 demolished at that period. Upon first opening the coffin, the solid parts of 
 the body retained their natural position in the most perfect manner, but on 
 being touched they immediately crumbled to dust. 
 
 John Lamyngton is mentioned in Barrett’s list of vicars, as having been 
 chaplain of this church in 1393. The same author hazards a conjecture, but 
 upon what grounds he does not state, that St. Sprite’s chapel was called 
 Lamyngton’s Lady-Chapel, before it received its subsequent appellation from 
 the fraternity of the Holy Ghost, to which society the use of it is said to 
 have been granted in 1383, by the master of the Hospital of St, John.* 
 
 No. 2. Is a flat stone, with a cross and two words upon it, which are 
 almost obliterated. Several fragments of other flat grave-stones, with de- 
 faced inscriptions, constitute part of the pavement of the western end of the 
 church ; some of them are certainly of very ancient date. 
 
 No. 3. Is an altar monument supporting the recumbent statue of a war- 
 rior, or knight habited in a coat of chain armour, and having his legs crossed. 
 The name of the person to whom this monument properly belongs, is un- 
 known, there being no inscription, or any distinct mark upon it, by which it 
 can be decidedly ascertained. Tradition assigns it to William Burton; Barrett 
 to Robert de Berkley, who was Lord of Bedminster and Redcliffe. 
 
 Besides the tradition of the name, nothing is known concerning Wil- 
 liam Burton. Indeed, no evidence of the existence of such a person, who 
 
 * Barrett’s History of Bristol, p. AQ6. 
 
 D 
 
18 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 could possibly be the owner of this monument, can be discovered from any 
 species of record. The tradition then is probably erroneous, unless it may 
 be supposed that in the lapse of ages, some accident has led to the substitu- 
 tion of the prenomen William, for that of Simon, in which case this may be 
 regarded as the tomb of Simon de Burton, the original founder of the 
 church, and also of the alms-house called after him “ Burton’s Alms-house.” 
 It is not likely to have belonged to Robert de Berkley, for most of that 
 family were interred in the church of St. Augustine’s monastery. 
 
 No. 4. Is a plain altar tomb, supporting the recumbent figure of a man 
 in sacerdotal robes, with a large scrip, or pocket attached to the left side. 
 An angel is placed at his head, and a dog, with a large bone in his paws, at 
 his feet. There is no inscription upon it, to mark the person to whose me- 
 mory this monument was erected. Mr. Cole states it to be a third tomb to 
 William Canynge ; tradition, however, assigns it to his purse-bearer.* 
 
 No. 5. William Canynge. t Under a large canopy beneath the centre 
 window of the south transept is an altar tomb of stone supporting the re- 
 
 * The opinion of Mr. Cole on this subject is extremely doubtful, as it seems very improbable that 
 the same individual should have three distinct monuments, all immediately adjoining to each other. 
 The traditional account, on the other hand, most likely approximates the truth, for though it may 
 not be the monument of the purse-bearer, it is certainly that of some person intimately connected 
 with Canynge. If the existence of such a person as Thomas Rowley, a priest, and the confidential 
 friend of that distinguished character, could be fully ascertained, I should have little hesitation in 
 ascribing it to him. It is, however, certain that Thomas Rowley, a merchant, was interred in St. John’s 
 church, in Bristol, where a brass commemorates his name. Cole’s MS.S. in the British Mu- 
 seum, voh.x. p. 51. 
 
 f The following extract from a volume of the Parish Register of St. Mary Redcliffe, for the years 
 between 1678 and 1694 inclusive, furnishes many curious particulars relating to Canynge, and to the 
 church which we are illustrating. 
 
 “ William Cannings, burgess and merchant of Bristol, by his deed, dated the 20th of October, 
 1467, and in the — year of King Edward the 4th, did give unto the vicar and wardens, and also to the 
 senior and major part of all the parishioners of the church of the blessed Mary of Redclifi, in Bristol, 
 the sum of £340 of current money, upon condition that the said vicar and church-wardens and their 
 successors for ever should for that gift and with the said money sufficiently repair, or cause to be re- 
 paired and re-edified, the ruinous buildings, tenements, and houses whatsoever of the said church, 
 and with the rents and issues of the land and tenements of the same church should provide, find, and 
 give unto two chaplains, called St. Mary s Priests, nine marks apiece per ann. 1o two cleiks, 
 sufficiently instructed in reading and singing, at £2. 13s. Ad. apiece, and foi executing the 
 sexton’s office £l. 6 j. 8 d. with divers other gifts, as per the record of the same deed in the great 
 red book, fol. 291, it may appear. 
 
 m 
 
WILLIAM CANYNGE. 
 
 19 
 
 cumbent effigies of a man and a woman. The first is dressed in Mayor’s robes, 
 and the second according to the fashion of the times. The inscription, on the 
 back of this tomb, is as follows : 
 
 More he gave to the said vicar, churchwardens, and parishioners, to the use aforesaid, certain 
 jewels of Sir Theobald Knight, which were pawned to him for 160 pounds of like money. 
 
 He founded one chantry to the honour of God and St. Catherine, and another chantry to the 
 honour of God and St. George. And endowed such chantry with lands of the clear value of^lO per 
 annum towards the maintenance of each chantry priest. 
 
 He devised and gave by his will, dated January 14th, 1474, and in the 8th year of King Edward 
 the 4th, five tenements, with the vaults and cellars thereto adjoining and belonging, being in and 
 about the Trough-house, going between St. Nicholas street and Baldwin-street, unto Elizabeth Can- 
 ninge, late wife to John Canninge his son, for term of life; the reversion of her life to Elizabeth 
 Canninge his niece, daughter of Thomas Canninge his brother, late grocer and alderman of London, 
 and to her heirs : and ordained by his will, that for want of such issue, the Mayor and Common 
 Council of Bristol, and the Proctors of Redcliffe, for the time being, should sell the said tenements, 
 and divide the money thereof coming to the uses following, viz. the one-half to be delivered to the 
 said proctors for the use and sustentation of the said chantry of St. Catherine and St. George, and the 
 other half to be devised to the Chamber of Bristol, for the use and common profit of the town. He 
 was bountiful to the poor in Bristol, and to the poor of Westbury upon Trim in the county of Gloc r . 
 He founded an alms-house upon Redcliffe Hill, and gave every one of his poor there 20 s. apiece. 
 
 He gave £20 to the house of the Friars Minors, and _£lO apiece to the mendicant friars in Bris- 
 tol, viz. the Friars Preachers, Friars Augustines, and Friars Carmelites. He was liberal to all fraternities 
 in Bristol, and gave the church of Redcliffhis great ledger books. He was bountiful to all his servants, 
 and gave 60 pounds to all the poor blind and lame dwelling in Bristol. 
 
 Then he gave and devised divers other lands and tenements in Bristol to his nephew William 
 Cannings, and the heirs of his body; and for want thereof, the same to remain to his niece Elizabeth 
 Canninge and the heirs of her body ; and for want thereof, that the lands should be sold by the 
 Mayor and Common Council of Bristol and the Wardens of Redcliff, and that the money thereof pro- 
 ceeding should be devised (divided) to the use aforesaid, viz. the one half to the use of the said chauntries, 
 and the other half for the use and common profit of the town, as appears in the great Orphan Book, 
 fol. 200. 
 
 The said William Cannings, being afterwards dean of the collegiate church and college of Westbury, 
 founded an alms-house at Westbury for six poor men and six poor women, to be continually placed 
 therein; and ordained that one of the men should always be presented to the said alms-house by the 
 Mayor of Bristol for the time being. And one woman continually presented by the Mayoress of Bris- 
 tol, with consent of her sister the late Mayor’swife, as often as any such place should be void. 
 
 Elizabeth Canninge, niece of the said William Canninge, married with Mr. John Houlden, of Lon- 
 don, draper, and had issue between them Richard Houlden, who at the age of three years deceased ; 
 and afterwards the said Elizabeth deceased without any issue ; and the said John Houlden being possessed 
 of the said tenements which were devised by his said wife, and holding the same by the courtesie of 
 England, sold his interest therein to the Mayor and Recorder and two Aldermen of the town of Bristol ; 
 and after the mayor and commonalty of Bristol, and the vicar, chaplains, and proctors of Redcliff, with 
 the consent of the senior part of the parishioners of Redcliffe, for a certain sum of money, to be paid to 
 
 D 2 
 
20 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 “ William Cannings, y e richest marchant of y p towne of Bristow, after- 
 wards chosen 5 times Mayor of y e said towne for the good of the common 
 wealth of the same : he was in order of priesthood 7 years, and afterwards 
 Dean of Westbury, and died the 7th Novein. 1474, which said William did 
 build, within the said town of Westbury, a college (with his canons), and the 
 said William did maintain by space of 8 years, 800 handycrafts men, besides 
 carpenters and masons, every day 100 men. Besides, King Edward the IVth 
 had of the said William 3000 marks for his peace to be had in 2470 tons of 
 shipping.” 
 
 “ These are the names of his shiping and their burthens : — The Mary 
 Canynges, 400 tons; The Mary and John, 900; The Kathrine, 140; The 
 Little Nicholas, 140; The Kathrine of Boston, 220; The Mary Redcliff, 500; 
 The Galliot, 050; The Mary Batt, 220; The Margaret, 200; A ship in Ire- 
 land, 100.”* 
 
 the chamber of Bristol and the proctors of Redcliffe, to the uses aforesaid, sold all the said tenements 
 to the said Mayor, Recorder, and two Aldermen, as by their deed, dated in the 1st year of King Edward 
 the 5th, 1483, which is recorded in the great Red Book, 247, where it may appear. 
 
 William Spencer, executor of the last Will of William Canninge aforesaid, gave to the Mayor and 
 commonalty of Bristol, 8 7 l. 6s. 8 d. to the intent following, viz. twenty pounds he appointed should be 
 freely lent to the Mayor for the time being, during the term of his mayoralty, and so to have con- 
 tinued from mayor to mayor for ever.. The other at 67 L 6$. 8 d, he appointed should be lent to the 
 Bayliffs of the said town, and they to enjoy the same for the time of their being in their office, paying 
 therefore weekly 2 s. per week to the priest of St. George’s Chapel on every Saturday, who shall pre- 
 sently distribute the same to the poor in the alms-house in Lewens Mead : which the said William 
 Spencer built with the money and goods of the said William Cannings, as appears in the great Red 
 Book, folio 317. 
 
 Moreover he bequeathed to certain feoffees, one messuage lying on the back of Bristol, now in 
 the tenure of Richard Pley, of the yearly rent of four pounds, on condition that the said feoffees and their 
 heirs for ever should provide every year, with the profits of the said tenement, three priests sufficiently 
 instructed in sacred divinity to preach the word of God in the parish church of St. Mary Redcliffe, 
 or the yard of the said Church, before the mayor and commons of the said town, and other devout 
 people thither resorting in the Feast of Pentecost, and to pay every of the priests there so preaching 
 6 s. 8 d. To the mayor for the preacher’s dinner at his table, 3s. Ad. each day. To the clerk and sexton 
 for ringing the bell, and placing the forms for the mayor and common council, twelve-pence per diem. 
 
 The residue of the rents he appointed should remain towards payment of quitrents, the repairing 
 the same tenements, and the common profit of the town, as appears in the said book and leaf.” 
 
 * The preceding part of this epitaph has most likely been translated from William of Worcester’s 
 Itinerary, (p. 81, 99,) and is presumed to be of much later date than the death of Canynge. It is 
 singular that his buildings at Redcliffe Church are not mentioned in the above epitaph. 
 
INSCRIPTION ON CANYNGE’s TOMB. 
 
 21 
 
 * f No age, no time, can wear out well woon fame, 
 
 The stones themselves a statly work doth shew. 
 
 From senceless grave we ground may mens good name, 
 
 And noble minds by ventrous deeds we know. 
 
 A lanterne cleer setts forth a candele light, 
 
 A worthy act declares a worthy wight ; 
 
 The buildings rare, that here you may behold,. 
 
 To shrine his bones deserves a tombe of gold. 
 
 The famous fabricke which he here hath donne, 
 
 Shines in its sphere as glorious as the sonne , 
 
 What needs more words, the future world he sought. 
 
 And set the pomp and pride of this at nought. 
 
 Heaven was his aim, let heaven be still his station, 
 
 That leaves such work for others imitation.” 
 
 No. 6. is an altar tomb, on which lies the effigy of a man in priest’s 
 robes. The head is shaved, and the hands are raised, as if in the act of devo- 
 tion. This monument is commonly ascribed to William Canynge * as Dean of 
 Westbury. The head, however, is very different to that on the other tomb; 
 and both have the appearance of being portraits. This of No. 6 presents a 
 very extraordinary face: — a long aquiline nose; a narrow projecting chin; 
 high cheek bones, and very thin cheeks, combine to produce a very singular 
 countenance. At the feet of this statue is a small figure of a man, apparently 
 in great bodily agony. The following inscription, on a loose board, is some- 
 times attached to this tomb: — 
 
 “ Hie inferius tumulatur corpus nobilis, circumspecti magnaeque indus- 
 try vii, Willi. Canyngs, dudum mercatoris et quinquies majoris istius villee 
 et postea in ordine sacerdotali per septennium institute ac Decani de West- 
 bury ; qui in ista ecclesia duas Cantarias perpetuas Duorum Capellanorum : 
 viz' Unam in Honorem S'* Georgii, et alteram in Honorem S'* Catharine ac 
 etiam unum clericum stabiliri fecit et Mariae Virgini Sacravit cum sua Jo- 
 hanna. Quorum animabus propitietur Deus. Amen,” 
 
 No. 7. William Coke. Near the principal monument of Canynge is 
 
 * Canynge’s Will, according to Will. Worcester. Itin. 83. is dated 12th Nov. 147 4, and he died 
 17 th of that month.-— “ His obiit was yerely celebrated, for which, in the year 14/5, there is charged 
 in the annual account, 
 
 “ For our Master William Canynge’s obiit at Lammas-day, as the composition specyfyeth, 2/. 17 s. Od. 
 — Paid for our Master William Canynge’s years mynde, 2/. 11s. 8 d . — At his days requiem, 0/. \ 7 s. 0 d. 
 —For the holy cake for 52 Sundays, wax, 5d. per Sunday, 2/. 7 s. — To Sir Thomas Hawkysoke for 
 his years wages, 61, 13r. 4c?. — To Sir Perse Welles for his years wages, 61. 13j. Ad." — Barrett, 582. 
 
22 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 a flat stone, on which are engraved representations of a large knife, a skim- 
 mer, and this inscription : — 
 
 “ Hie jacet WiLLm Coke quondam servitii Willmi. Canynges mercatore 
 ville Bristole an 3 , aie propitietur Deus. Amen.” 
 
 No. 8. Is a flat stone in the south transept, with an inscription to the 
 memory “ of John Tilly, who died 22 February 165^ and Elizabeth his 
 sister, who died 7 September, 166() ” 
 
 No. 9. John Blecker, or Bleaker, and Richard Coke. A flat stone 
 in the south transept, with a cross upon it, and having a rim of brass running 
 round its edges, bears the two following inscriptions : — 
 
 “ Hie jacet Jobes Blecker sen pandoxator cujus aie propicietur Deus. 
 Amen.” 
 
 “ Hie jacent Ricardus Coke, et Tibota ux. ejus. Quorum aiabus, pro- 
 pitieturens. Amen.” 
 
 John Blecker, Mr. Barrett supposes to have been one of Mr. Canynge’s 
 servants. The term pandoxator is translated both by him and Cole, “ Brewer.” 
 
 No. 10. John Brook. Near the altar are engraved representations of 
 a man and woman, on a brass plate, inlaid in a flat stone, with one shield, and 
 blank places for three others. The following inscription is given by Barrett. 
 
 “ Hie jacet corpus venerabilis viri Johis Brook, quondam servientis ad 
 legem illustrissimi principis felicis memoriae regis. Henrici octavi et justiciari 
 ejusdem regis ad assisas in partibus occidentalibus Angliae, et capitalis sene- 
 scballi illius honorabilis domus et monasterii Beatae Mariae de Glasconia in 
 com. Somcet, qui quidem Johis obiit 25 die mens. Decembris, Anno Dom, 
 millesimo, quingentesimo, xx n, et juxta earn requiescit. Johanna uxor ejus 
 una filiarum et haeredum Ricardi Amerike, quorum animabus propitietur 
 Deus, Amen.” 
 
 No. 11. John Jay. Near the altar is a flat stone, inlaid with brasses, 
 on one of which are engraved two figures, of a man and a woman, and on 
 another fourteen other figures of children. On the stone are brass shields, 
 with monograms, and arms. Beneath their feet is the following inscription : 
 
 “ Hie jacent Johis Jay quondam vicecomes istius villas, et Johanna ux. 
 ej. q. quidem Johis obiit. . . . die . . . mens. . . . A 0 . D m . m,cccc, lxxx, quor. 
 aiabs pprop. de Ame.” 
 
 John Jay was sheriff of Bristol, and a merchant of eminence. His wife 
 was sister to William of Worcester, as appears from the following notice in 
 
JOHN JAY THOMAS MEDE. 
 
 23 
 
 his Itinerary, p. 267. — “Johannes Jay secundus maritus Johannae Sororis 
 meae obiit die 15 mensis Maii anno Christi.” 
 
 No. 12 . Thomas Mede. At the eastern end of the north aile, is a very 
 handsome monument, consisting of an altar tomb, surmounted by a richly 
 ornamented canopy. Recumbent on the former are effigies of the deceased, 
 and of his wife, with their heads resting on cushions, and having two figures 
 of angels supporting the pillow. The plinth of the tomb, as well as the back 
 and sides, are covered with panelling and tracery. Immediately over the 
 tomb are five crocheted canopies, with pinnacles, &c. and the whole is sur- 
 mounted with a richly sculptured frieze and parapet. On the verge is this 
 imperfect inscription : 
 
 “ pdict. Thome Mede ac ter majoris istius ville Bristoll : q. obiit 
 
 xx. diemes Decebis, A. Dm. m. cccc. lxxv qm. anabs pper.” 
 
 Thomas Mede was Sheriff of Bristol in 1452, and subsequently thrice 
 mayor of that city. He had a country seat at Nay land, then called Mede’s- 
 Place, in the parish of Wraxal, and county of Somerset. — Barrett, Hist. 
 Bristol, p. 585. Collinson’s Somersetshire, vol. iii. 156. 
 
 No. 13. Philip Mede. Attached to the former monument, and of the 
 same style and character, but without any effigy, is another to the memory of 
 Philip Mede, with the following inscriptions on labels, and engraved brasses 
 with figures of a man and two women. 
 
 “ S l i. trinitas un d e miserere nobis 
 
 Pater de caelis deus miserere nobis.” 
 
 Philip Mede was brother to Thomas Mede, whose monument has just 
 been described. He appears to have been several times mayor of Bristol, and 
 to have represented that city in two parliaments held at Coventry and at 
 Westminster, in the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Henry the Sixth. His 
 Will is dated Jan. 11, 1471, and directs his body to be buried at the altar of 
 St. Stephen, in Redcliffe Church. — Barrett, 153, 680, 681. — Cole’s MSS. 
 
 Mrs. Fortune Little. A small marble slab, at the north-east angle of 
 the transept, is inscribed with the following lines by Mrs. H. More. 
 
 “ Near this pillar are deposited the remains of Mrs. Fortune Little, 
 widow of Mr. John Little, late of this parish. She died June 28, 1777, aged 57. 
 
 Oh ! could this verse her bright example spread. 
 
 And teach the living while it praised the dead : 
 
 Then, reader, should it speak her hope divine: 
 
 Not to record her faith but strengthen thine j 
 
24 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH* 
 
 Then should her ev’ry virtue stand confess’d, 
 
 ’Till every virtue kindled in thy breast : 
 
 But, if thou slight the monitory strain, 
 
 And she has lived to thee at least in vain* 
 
 Yet let her death an awful lesson give. 
 
 The dying Christian speaks to all that live ; 
 
 Enough for her, that here her ashes rest, 
 
 Till God’s own plaudit shall her worth attest. 
 
 Hannah More. 
 
 Sir John Inyn. In St. Mary’s chapel is a large stone, with a brass plate 
 inlaid in the centre, bearing an engraved figure of the deceased in his judge’s 
 robes. On a slip of brass round the margin is this inscription : 
 
 “ Hie jacet Johannes Inyn Miles capitalis justiciarius domini regis ad 
 placita coram ipso rege tenenda, qui obiit 24 die Marcii, Anno Domini, Mil- 
 lesimo c.c.c.c.xxxix. cujus animae propitietur Deus, Amen.” 
 
 Few particulars, besides those mentioned in the inscription, are known 
 respecting this judge. Barrett states, that his country seat was at Bishop worth, 
 near Filwood, now a farm house. 
 
 Everardus ll Frensshe, or le Fraunceys. Near the centre of the 
 cross aile stands a plain altar tomb, supporting the recumbent figure of a per- 
 son in magisterial robes. The inscription, which is now nearly era-zed* was 
 as follows : 
 
 “ Hie jacet Everardus le French , qui in hac ecclesia duas fundavit can- 
 tarias et duas alias in ecclesia St. Nicolai, et fuit ter maior hujus villae, cujus 
 animae propitietur Deus. Amen, m.ccc.l.” 
 
 Everardus le Fraunceys was mayor of Bristol in the years 1 333, 1337, 
 and 1339, and member for that city in three different parliaments held at 
 Westminster in the twenty-first and twenty-second years of the reign of 
 Edward the Third.— Barrett, Hist. Bristol, p. 151, 675. 
 
 Thomas Young. On a marble monument in the transept, is this in- 
 scription : — 
 
 “ Hie in fieri us sub lapide marmorea sepelitur corpus Thom® Young 
 armigeri, nuper de villa Bristol, ac filii ac haeredis Thomae \ oung unius 
 justiciorum in communi Banco, et Jocosae uxoris ejus qui quidem Ihomas 
 obiit 15 Mali, A. D. 1506, quorum animabus propitietur Deus, Amen.” 
 
 Thomas Young was several times representative for Bristol during the 
 reign of Henry the Sixth. — Barrett, Hist. Bristol, p. 153, 583. 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Broughton was buried in the north aile of this 
 
SIR JOHN IN YN. — THOMAS YOUNG. 
 
 <25 
 
 Church, in December, 1774. He was born in London, July, 1704. Bishop 
 Sherlock presented him with the living and prebendship of Bedminster and 
 Redcliffe. He was one of the original writers in the Biographia Britannica, 
 and also author of a musical drama, entitled, “ Hercules.” — See Jones’s Bio- 
 graphia Dramatica, vol i. p. 72. 
 
 William Barrett. Attached to a column in the south transept is a 
 small marble tablet, commemorative of William Barrett, F. S. A. Surgeon, 
 and author of “ The History and Antiquities of Bristol.” This gentleman 
 having become the dupe of young Chatterton, unfortunately incorporated 
 many of the fictions of that juvenile bard in his history, and thereby rendered 
 the whole apocryphal. It is evident that Mr. Barrett collected a large mass 
 of materials, but was incompetent to the task of selecting, arranging, and 
 discriminating. Many of his papers were left to Mr. Gapper; those relating 
 to Chatterton were disposed of to the Rev. Mr. Kerrich of Cambridge, for 
 Dr. Glynn, and were afterwards deposited in the British Museum. Sir John 
 Smith, of Ashton, purchased some MSS. at Barrett’s sale. 
 
 Sir William Penn.* Fixed to a column in the south transept is a 
 flat slab, with the following inscription, which so fully details the character 
 and public services of the person it commemorates, that it is scarcely neces- 
 sary to say more at present. 
 
 “ To y e Just Memory of S r Will. Pen K l & sometimes Generali, borne at 
 Bristol An. 1621 son of Captain Giles Penn Several! years Consul for y e 
 English in the Mediterranean of y e Penns of Penns Lodge in the County of 
 Wilts & those Penns of Penn in y e C. of BvcKs & by his Mother from y c 
 Gilberts in y e County of Somerset Originally from yorksheire Adicted from 
 his youth to Maritime affaires, He was made Captain at y e yeares of 21; Rear- 
 Admirall of Ireland at 23; Vice Admirall of Ireland at 25; Admiral to y° 
 Streights at 29; Vice Admirall of England at 31 ; & Generali in y e first Duch 
 Warres at 32; Whence retireing in An° 1655 ; He was Chosen a Parliment man 
 for y e Towne of Weymouth I66O: made Commissioner of y e Admiralty, & 
 Navy Gouernor of y e Towne & forts of King-Sail, Vice-Admirall of Munster, 
 & a Member of that Prouinciall Counseill, & in Anno 1664 was Chosen Great 
 
 * In a very interesting work, by Thomas Clarkson, M. A. just published, are some notices of 
 Admiral Penn, with a very ample memoir of his son, William Penn. 2 vols. 8vo. 1813. 
 
 1 have unfortunately lost, or mislaid, some authentic particulars of the Admiral, which were 
 communicated to me by one of his descendants. 
 
 E 
 
26 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 Captain-Commander under his Royal Highnesse; In y c Signall & Most Eui- 
 dently successful! fight against y e Dutch fleet : 
 
 “ Thvs He Took Leave of the Sea, His old Element, Bvt Continued still 
 is other Employs Till 1669 at what Time, Throvgh bodely Infirmitys (Con- 
 tracted By y e Care & fatigve of Pvbliqve Affairs) He Withdrew, Prepared & 
 Made for his End ; & With a Gentle & even Gale In mvch Peace Ariu’d and 
 Ancord In his Last and Best Port, At Wanstead In y e Covnty of Essex y e 
 16 Sept: 1670, being then but 49 & 4 Months old. 
 
 “ To whose Name and Merit, His Suruiuing Lady hath Erected this Re- 
 membrance.” 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Painted glass. — Church furniture. — Cross. — Paintings. — Thunder Storm. 
 
 In the course of the preceding pages, it has been stated, that Redcliffe 
 church contained two chantries, or altars, dedicated to St. George and to St. 
 Catharine : Barret further states, that there were others to St. Blaze, St. Ste- 
 phen, and St. Nicholas. William of Worcester intimates that the principal 
 porch was dedicated to the Virgin : — “ Ubi Sancta et beata virgo venerato/’ 
 He also says, that “ the principal chapel of St. Mary contains effigies of kings 
 curiously wrought in freestone,” and that the “ entrance door-way is curi- 
 ously wrought.” In one of the windows of the north transept are some frag- 
 ments of ancient stained glass , which appear coeval with the church. On one 
 piece is represented six women in a boat, possibly alluding to a particular 
 event connected with the church. There are also some diagrams, arms, and 
 letters, which probably marked certain benefactors who contributed towards 
 finishing the fabric. Figures of the virgin and child, with crowns on their 
 heads, are pretty perfect. 
 
 Among the MSS. that have been discovered in, and relating to Redcliff 
 church, the following is entitled to record here, because it was certainly in 
 existence before Chatterton’s birth. A copy of this paper was communicated 
 to the Society of Antiquaries of London, in the year 173b, by Mr. Theobald. 
 The original is said to have been in the possession of Mr. Browning, of 
 Barton-Hill, near Bristol, who, I learn from Lady Millman, a relation of 
 
ANCIENT SEPULCHRE. 
 
 27 
 
 Mr. Browning’s, also possessed some MS. poems of Chatterton, never printed. 
 Walpole published the following account in the first edition of his Anecdotes 
 of Painting, 1762; but his copy was very inaccurate, and has never been 
 corrected.* * * § Barrett, in his History of Bristol, repeats it from Walpole. In 
 the Nugas Antique f it was printed more fully and accurately, and from that 
 work the following is copied. 
 
 “ The under-written memorandum was found ( among other curiosities) in the cabi- 
 net of the late John Browning , Esq. of Barton, near Bristol.” 
 
 “ Item. That Maister CanyngeJ hath deliver'd this 4th day of July, in 
 the year of our Lord 1470, to Maister Nicholas Petters, vicar of St. Mary Red- 
 cliflfe; Moses Conterin, Philip Barthelmew, procurators § of St. Mary Recl- 
 cliffe, aforesaid ; a new sepulchre well gilt with golde, and a civer thereto. 
 
 “ Item, An image of God Almighty rising out of the same sepulchre, 
 with all the ordinance that ’longeth thereto, (that is to say) a lathe made of 
 timber and the iron-work thereto. 
 
 “ Item, Thereto ’longeth Heaven, made of timber and stain’d clothes. 
 
 * c Item, Hell made of timber, and iron-work thereto, with Divels to the 
 number of 13. 
 
 “ Item, 4 Knights armed, keeping the sepulchre, with their weapons in 
 their hands; that is to say, 2 axes and 2 spears with 2 pav6s. || 
 
 “ Item, 4 payr of Angels’ wings for 4 Angels, made of timber and well 
 painted. 
 
 “ Item, The Fadre, the Crowne and Visage, the ball with a Cross upon 
 it, well gilt with fine gould. 
 
 “ Item, The Holy Ghosht coming- out of Heaven into the sepulchre. 
 
 “ Item, Longeth to the 4 Angels 4 Chevelers.” 
 
 * It is evident that Chatterton was acquainted with Walpole’s Anecdotes of Painters : and it is 
 very probable that a sight of this document, in print, not only induced him to write to Walpole, but to 
 commence fabricator of ancient writings. 
 
 t See a new edition of this work, 2 vols. 8vo. 1804, with additional and corrective notes, by T. 
 Park, F.S.A. 
 
 X “ He was ordained Alcolytlie, and received the higher orders of subdeacon, deacon, and priest 
 in 1467-8. See Tyrvvhytt’s Introduction to Rowley’s Poems.” Park's note to Nugae Antiquae, 1 — 12. 
 Walpole spells the word Cumings: several other words vary in the two works. 
 
 § Barret has proctors. 
 
 |1 f< A pavice was a large shield that covered the whole body.” Park. 
 
 f Park says they are “ supports.” Lord Orford reads Chevclures, perukes. 
 
 E 2 
 
28 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 Among the ancient relics, formerly attached to Redcliffe church, was an 
 old Stone Cross, which is mentioned by William of Worcester, and by 
 several other writers. A passage, in Ray's “ Itineraries,” p. 253, contains this 
 notice of it and of the church : — “ June 19, 1662. Saw Ratcliff church, built 
 by one Cannings. It is in the form of a cathedral arched with stone, well 
 gilded on the roof. In the church-yard is a fair stone cross , whereat are 
 preached four sermons every year ; to wit, on Good-Friday, Easter Sunday, 
 Monday, and Tuesday.” William of Worcester’s words are, “ Crux pul- 
 cherrima artificiose operata est in medio diet! cimiterii.” 
 
 Paintings in Redcliff'e Church. — At the east end, over the altar, are three 
 large pictures* by Hogarth, f representing the following sacred subjects ; 
 viz.— 1. The Ascension of Christ; — 2. The High Priest and Servants sealing the 
 Tomb ; — and 3. The three Marys at the Sepulchre . 
 
 It is incompatible with the constitution of man and the qualifications of 
 genius, to excel in different branches of art, or to acquire positive pre-emi- 
 nence in two distinct departments of science. The productions of Hogarth, 
 among those of several other justly famed artists, serve to illustrate this 
 maxim. In pictures of comic character, rich humour, and moral satire ; and 
 particularly in displaying the human figure and countenance in its common 
 and popular forms, he certainly excelled all other painters : many of his pic- 
 tures were also executed in a masterly style of colouring, grouping, and effect. 
 
 * These were hung up in the church in the year 1/57, and are said to have cost 500 guineas. 
 The lofty eastern window is closed up for the purpose of hanging the largest of these paintings. 
 
 f More volumes and essays have been published respecting Hogarth and his works, than of any 
 other ancient or modern artist. Almost every picture that he painted, and sketch that he made, has 
 been perpetuated and circulated by means of the graver. He commenced this practice himself, and 
 engraved many of his own pictures. Since his death, both John and Samuel Ireland, Dr. Trusler, 
 Cook, and Nichols have published numerous annotations on his works, and prints from every subject 
 they could collect. It is singular that only one, of the three pictures at Redcliffe, has been copied and 
 noticed in these publications : and it is equally singular that this print (in John Ireland’s Illustrations) 
 is so inaccurately copied, that it appears as if “ done " from memory, rather than from the picture. 
 
 Hogarth was certainly an artist of peculiar, and distinguished talents. He stood alone in art, and 
 formed a school of his own. He was at once the pictorial satirist, monitor, and historian of the age in 
 which he lived. I use the latter term, from a conviction that his pictures will always be referred to 
 with pleasure and advantage, as recording the features, costume, and corporeal characteristics of many 
 eminent and illustrious persons, and of many public and private events of his time. — See a very 
 interesting essay “on the genius and character of Hogarth, by Chas. Lambe, in “ The Reflector $ 
 also a brief memoir of him in Rees’s Cyclopaedia, article Hogarth, by T. Phillips, R. A. an artist 
 highly qualified to appreciate his talents. 
 
THUNDER STORM. 
 
 29 
 
 Like the generality of artists, he was occasionally required to paint subjects 
 from ancient and sacred history : but he then wandered out of his element, and 
 at once betrayed a want of judgment and of taste. In the three pictures at 
 Redcliffe church this is exemplified : As specimens of colouring however they 
 possess much merit, and may be viewed with advantage by the young artist ; 
 but in the forms and expression of the figures, and in their attitudes and 
 grouping, we seek in vain for propriety, dignity, or elegance. 
 
 Immediately over the altar-table is a picture, representing Jesus restoring 
 to life the daughter of J air us, by Henry Tresham, R. A. presented in 1792 to 
 the church by the painter’s uncle, Sir Clifton Wintringham, Bart. 
 
 Thunder Storm. — I have already mentioned the result of lightning on 
 Redcliffe church, in the year 1446, when the upper part of the spire was 
 thrown down, and the western end of the church was much damaged. In 
 1812 I had an opportunity of observing the appearances and effects of a 
 violent thunder storm in this edifice, which were really so awful and grand, 
 that I conceive an attempt to describe them will neither be thought irrelevant 
 nor unamusing. Never did I witness a scene so truly sublime. It reminded 
 me of necromancy and enchanted palaces. Busily and intently engaged, alone , 
 in surveying this large church, deciphering the old inscriptions, and examin- 
 ing the monuments, an almost sudden darkness came on : the distant pictures 
 and columns became scarcely perceptible : the rain, accompanied with large 
 hail stones, fell in torrents on the leaden roof; and the glass of the windows 
 seemed in imminent danger of being shivered to atoms. A heavy cloud ap- 
 peared to be suspended immediately over the church, and discharged, from 
 its swoln bosom, an accumulation of water, hail, lightning, thunder, and wind. 
 In any situation such a storm must have been terrific ; but situated as I was, 
 in the midst of this church, impressed with a recollection of the destroyed 
 spire ; enveloped in gloom, and surrounded by knights in armour, monkish 
 effigies, and other images of deceased persons ; the effect was truly sublime 
 and awful. At one moment the whole space was, as Milton terms it, “ dark- 
 ness visible,” when, the next instant, the vivid lightning blazed through the 
 long ailes, and illuminated every object. It glanced on the clustered column, 
 played round the brazen eagle, flashed on the supplicating statues : alternate 
 gloom and dazzling glare pervaded the church. An almost incessant peal of 
 thunder continued to accompany the reiterated flashes of lightning: it now 
 seemed exhausted, but only to come on with additional fury of sound and 
 
30 
 
 HE DC LI FEE CHURCH. 
 
 more awful crashes. Though so truly terrific, I own that it excited more of 
 admiration than of fear : for my whole faculties were absorbed, and seemingly 
 entranced in contemplating the varied, brilliant, and powerful effects of the 
 scene. The sensations of the heart were suspended or over-powered by the 
 more powerful emotions of the soul. 
 
 With a few verbal alterations, the following passage from Walter Scott 
 is at once apposite to, and descriptive of this scene : — 
 
 tl And sudden, through the dark’ned air 
 A flash of lightning came ; 
 
 So broad, so bright, so red the glare, 
 
 The fabric seem’d on flame. 
 
 Glanced every column through the aile, 
 
 Glanced every statue clad in mail. 
 
 Each trophied tomb, each sculptured stone, 
 
 Were instant seen and instant gone : — 
 
 Seem'd all on fire within, around. 
 
 Deep sacristy and altar pale; 
 
 Shone every pillar foliage crown’d, 
 
 And glimmer’d all the dead men’s mail.” 
 
 Lay of the Last Minstrel, Canto VI. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 An Essay on the Life , Character , and Writings of Thomas Chatterton. 
 
 “ Never ending, still beginning.” 
 
 “ And yet poor Edwin was no vulgar boy; 
 
 Deep thought oft seem’d to fix his infant eye : 
 
 Dainties he heeded not, nor gaude, nor toy. 
 
 Save one short pipe of rudest minstrelsy. 
 
 Silent, when glad; affectionate though shy : 
 
 And now his look was most demurely sad; 
 
 And now he laugh’d aloud, yet none knew why ; 
 
 The neighbours star’d and sigh’d, yet bless'd the lad: 
 
 Some deem'd him •wond'rous •wise, and some believ'd him mad.' 
 
 Minstrel. 
 
 Such is the portrait which Beattie has drawn of his imaginary young bard 
 the Minstrel : and this is so correct a delineation of Chatterton, that he may 
 
THOMAS CHATTERTON. 
 
 31 
 
 be considered as the prototype. Every line, and touch, defines a marked 
 featuie of this youth; and at once portrays his mind and character. 
 
 To those who are not familiar with the events of Chatterton’s life, and 
 with the complicated and voluminous controversy excited by his writings, it 
 will be expedient to unfold a few particulars : without some knowledge of 
 which, the following Essay would be uninteresting and inexplicable. — Thomas 
 Chatterton’s father was a schoolmaster, and verger of Redclilfe Church, and 
 died before the birth of his son, who was born Nov. 20, 1752. He continued 
 under the care of his mother, and in Colston’s charity-school, till July 1, 1767, 
 when he was placed, as articled clerk, with Mr. Lambert, an attorney of Bris- 
 tol. In that gentleman’s office he continued three years, when he left his 
 native place, his friends, his home, and his only social comforts, to seek 
 literary fame, and acquire an honest livelihood, in the immense metropolis of 
 the British empire. Confident in the powers and versatility of his own talents, 
 he vainly conceived that a large fortune might be acquired by the exercise 
 of his pen : he also fancied that an English Meecenas might be found, to vie 
 with the illustrious Roman, in the proud exercise of patronage ; but his ex- 
 pectations were visionary, his hopes were blasted : he wrote much, for little 
 remuneration; he struggled some time with penury, and want; and at length, 
 in a moment of mental derangement, terminated the cares of life by a dose of 
 poison, in August 1770. Such is the short history of the most extraordinary 
 youth that ever lived. His various essays in prose and verse, display a vivid 
 imagination, and singular precosity of talent. The chief of his works have 
 been published in three large octavo volumes, but he caused many more to be 
 written. 
 
 The life and character of Chatterton is one of those subjects, on which 
 the essayist may expatiate without fearing that even his prolixity will be tedi- 
 ous, or that his repetitions will be censured as impertinent; and the author of 
 the present work, while he was conscious that but little could be added to 
 the speculations of his predecessors, on a topic that has already exhausted 
 the learning, and confounded the sagacity of our most celebrated critics, was 
 yet unwilling to commit his present volume to the world, without attempting 
 to gratify the natural expectation of his readers. It is not his intention, 
 however, to comment at length on the various difficulties of the Rowley an 
 controversy, or to dwell with minuteness on the personal history of the youth 
 to whom the composition of the disputed productions is attributed; convinced 
 as he is, that the poems ascribed to Rowley, are the effusions of a stripling of 
 
32 
 
 RE DC LITRE CHURCH. 
 
 the eighteenth century, he will confine himself to a cursory review of those 
 prominent features in the character of Chatterton, that appeal to indicate his 
 peculiar aptitude to imitate old writings, and to such correllative observations 
 on incidental topics, as may correct the errors, or supply the imperfections of 
 his critics and biographers. 
 
 The only question, indeed, that remains undecided, regards the qualifi- 
 cation of Chatterton to produce the poems, ascribed to Rowley; and on this 
 point I wish to be particular and explicit. The external testimony is known 
 to every one ; and respecting the internal evidence of the poems themselves, 
 the public has long been decided. The frequent personification of abstract 
 terms, and the copious employment of metaphysical imagery ; the consistency 
 with which the characters and manners are supported; the frequent employ- 
 ment of words and phrases unknown to the age in which Rowley is supposed 
 to have flourished ; the use of the pindaric measure ; the adoption of a stanza 
 unknown in its finished state till the time of Prior; the varieties of metre; 
 and the uniform harmony of the diction and the verse ; all conspire to indi- 
 cate the existence of their author in a fastidious and cultivated age ; when 
 the poet could improve his first rude efforts from the study of existing models, 
 and combine the regularity that arises from experience, with the native energy 
 of genius. 
 
 It would be injustice, indeed, to the learned and able advocates for the 
 authenticity of the poems, to deny that on minute, and isolated points of 
 dispute, they have frequently combated with success the positions of their 
 antagonists. But the extent and minuteness of their researches, is in itself 
 the strongest argument against the justice of their conclusions: had the 
 
 poems been authentic, their claims to antiquity would have been easily sup- 
 ported by the most cursory reference to the works of our earlier poets: the 
 same peculiarities of diction and phraseology which were most observable 
 in the poems of the Rowley an poet, would have been discovered on the 
 surface of our ancient literature; nor would a Bryant and a Sherwen have 
 been content to triumph in the justification of frequent and important ano- 
 malies, by an isolated passage in some obscure writer, discovered after the 
 research of many years, and brought forward with all the ostentation of 
 decisive authority. It may be true, that more than twenty instances of the 
 use of han , combined with the third person plural, are to be found in the 
 writings of our ancient poets ; but such evidence, by shewing the infrequency 
 of this and similar peculiarities, demonstrates the poems of Rowley to be. 
 
PECULIARITIES OF CII ATTERTON's WRITINGS. 33 
 
 even in their grammatical construction, unlike the compositions with which 
 they are the most easily compared, and evinces them to be the productions 
 of a juvenile imitator, unable to distinguish between the current language 
 of our forefathers, and their mistakes and affected irregularities. 
 
 Were it possible for the observer of life and manners to place before 
 him an imaginary picture of embryo genius, and to contemplate with ideal 
 enthusiasm the peculiarities of temper and of habit that might be presumed 
 most strongly to foretell the future expansion of latent excellencies, the 
 creation of his fancy would not present him with a more perfect object of 
 scrutiny or of admiration, than was exhibited by Chatterton during his boyish 
 years. “ I remember, (says Mrs. Newton,) his early thirst for pre-eminence, 
 and that, before he was five years old, he would always preside over his play- 
 mates as their master, and they his hired servants. His spirits were rather 
 uneven ; sometimes so gloomed, that for several days together he would say 
 very little, and that by constraint; at other times extremely cheerful.” 
 
 While he exercised his juvenile talents in the composition of pieces 
 which his seniors and instructors might have vainly endeavoured to equal, 
 he pursued the bias of his genius in solitude and silence; disdaining a 
 competition in which the glory of success bore no comparison with the 
 possible mortification of defeat. He united the assiduity of the student, with 
 those habits of reflection, which give life and beauty to the materials on 
 which they operate ; and combined the pride of conscious superiority, the 
 ambition that animates to the pursuit of great and arduous objects, and the 
 practical activity and perseverance, that are necessary to sustain the flights 
 and embellish the labours of the most exalted genius. The discipline, in- 
 deed, to which he was subjected, confined him, during his early years, to occa- 
 sional and desultory efforts ; but the observer who contemplates in the charity- 
 boy of Bristol, the future representative of a minstrel of the 15th century, 
 will indulge in the supposition, that during his evenings of school-boy gloom, 
 and eccentric meditation, his faculties were absorbed in the combination and 
 creation of those images which ennobled the struggles of Ella, and which 
 diffuse their splendid but melancholy lustre on the beauty, the innocence, and 
 the sorrows of his bride. 
 
 The perseverance and the enthusiasm so necessary to the performance of 
 great undertakings, were perverted by the peculiar bias of his mind: the uni- 
 form testimony of his friends asserts, that he was prone to artifice, that he 
 sometimes contemplated the possibility of a fraud, like that which we suppose 
 
 F 
 
34 
 
 IlEDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 him to have accomplished; that all the stratagems and evasions to which an 
 individual actually committing it would have recourse, were observable in his 
 conduct, and, that he confessed himself to be the author of more than one 
 composition which he had previously given to his friends as the production 
 of Rowley. 
 
 If we suppose the pretended compositions of Rowley to be the writings 
 of Chatterton, his falsehoods and inconsistencies are susceptible of easy ex- 
 planation. He would have imposed the first part of the Battle of Hastings on 
 Mr. Barrett, as an ancient production, and only confessed the deception in a 
 moment of surprize and inadvertence. Is it to be supposed, if that gentleman 
 had made no inquiries into the authenticity of the verses, that Chatterton 
 would have voluntarily undeceived him? And if we admit, that in this in- 
 stance he endeavoured to betray the confidence of his friend by fraud and 
 falsehood, at what point are we to limit his deceptions ? On the other side, 
 if vanity excited him to claim as his own a genuine production of Rowley, 
 why did he not claim the composition of the rest of the manuscripts? He 
 might have done so with impunity : and since he was not restrained by any 
 reverence for truth, it is probable that he was only withheld from acknow- 
 ledging his productions by the same motives, that led to their ascription to 
 an imaginary parent; the conviction that they would be despised and neg- 
 lected as the production of an apprentice boy, of obscure birth and imperfect 
 education. 
 
 To obviate these difficulties, it has been supposed by the later advocates 
 for the authenticity of the poems, that Chatterton did actually discover cer- 
 tain compositions of Rowley among the neglected parchments; that he ex- 
 panded and improved them, and was excited in one or two instances to 
 imitate their appearance and phraseology. 
 
 Consistently with this supposition, it must be conjectured, that the 
 parchments he endeavoured to disguise were intended as the materials of this 
 mode of amusement, and that he submitted the first part of the Battle of 
 Hastings to the inspection of Barrett, as the best experiment by which he 
 could determine his own success. But to indulge in these speculations is 
 only to explain one wonder by another. The individual who Avrote the first 
 part of the Battle of Hastings, must have had learning enough, at least, to 
 compose all the rest of the poems : and to distinguish the interpolated pas- 
 sages from those which are supposed to be genuine, is a task to which the 
 most accomplished critic would be found unequal. 
 
CIIATTERTOn’s ACQUIREMENTS, 
 
 35 
 
 It is recorded by his relatives, that having occasion to write to an absent 
 friend, his letter was composed of all the hard words that he could collect, 
 and contained a request, that it might be answered in a similar manner. This 
 circumstance affords a clue to the composition of Rowley, and to all the sub- 
 sequent writings of their author. 
 
 Having become in some degree conversant with the obsolete language 
 of the fifteenth century, he was willing to exercise the same species of inge- 
 nuity in the production of more elaborate works, that he had before devoted 
 to the composition of a letter. The Poems of Mason, and particularly the 
 Tragedy of Elfrida, were at that time the themes of critical applause, and of 
 popular imitation. Walpole’s “ Castle of Otranto” had just attained peculiar 
 publicity; and this work was published with all the arts of fiction, mystery, 
 and falsehood. The poems of Ossian, or rather of Macpherson, were then the 
 subject of public criticism, curiosity, and controversy. These were all cal- 
 culated to fasten on the mind of Chatter ton, and it is very probable, that he 
 was accustomed to amuse himself during the hours of sedentary confinement, 
 by couching his own imitations of these and other popular compositions, in 
 the obsolete language and phraseology of the fifteenth and fourteenth centu- 
 ries. By the assistance of Speght and Bailey, he was enabled to accomplish 
 his purpose with a facility, which would not be suspected, but by those who 
 have repeated the experiment. Surprized at his own success, the amusement 
 of his solitude became his regular and his favourite occupation. A new field 
 was opened to his personal and literary ambition, and beneath the name of 
 Rowley, he foresaw the easy acquisition and durable existence of a species of 
 literary fame, to which the pretensions of the unlettered boy would have been 
 partially and unwillingly conceded. 
 
 To render the deception so complete, that it should defy the scrutiny of 
 common inquirers, he possessed all the learning and all the resources that 
 were necessary. An inaccurate acquaintance with the vocabulary of our fore- 
 fathers ; a cursory knowledge of Speght, and Stow, and Camden ; a super- 
 ficial recollection of Saxon genealogy, and of one or two ancient Chronicles, 
 were all the materials which were requisite to the accomplishment of the 
 forgery. That Chatterton had access to many of these resources, is known 
 from positive testimony; the few authors to whom his reference has not been 
 positively traced, are neither rare nor valuable; and his deficiency in anti- 
 quarian and historical knowledge, was supplied by the opportunities of his 
 local situation. 
 
56 
 
 llEDCLIFFE CHURCH. 
 
 It has been observed, that in the Battle of Hastings, the names of the 
 Saxons are but sparingly interspersed, while the Normans are minutely and 
 distinctly commemorated ; and Mr. Warton accounts for the circumstance by 
 informing us, that Chatterton copied the names of the Normans from Fuller’s 
 Church History, while of the Saxons he had only the scanty knowledge, that 
 might be obtained in the general course of his reading. It is known that an 
 old translation of Camden was among the books to which he had access, 
 and many of the names and facts which Mr. Bryant enumerates as beyond 
 the research of a school-boy, are to be found in the Britannia. In various 
 instances, as in bestolke and Chtricauncie, he has been misled, as in others he 
 was assisted, by Bailey’s Dictionary. 
 
 But we are triumphantly reminded of the short and hurried intervals, 
 in which, on the supposition that Chatterton was the author of the poems, he 
 must have accomplished such important and multifarious writings. It might 
 be sufficient, without adverting to the evidence, to reply, that the labour of 
 deciphering, transcribing, and explaining the works of Rowley, supposing 
 them to have been genuine, must have been equal to that expended on their 
 original composition. On reviewing the history of his youth, it will appear, 
 however, that his opportunities of literary labour were fully equal, allowing 
 for his known rapidity of composition, to the production of still more ex- 
 tensive and arduous undertakings. At Colston’s school, the hours of applica- 
 tion were, in the Summer, from seven to twelve, and from one to five; in the 
 Winter two hours less each day. He was always in bed by eight o’clock; but 
 was permitted to be absent on Saturdays and Saints days, from one or two at 
 noon, till seven or eight in the evening. Admitting, therefore, an hour in 
 each day to have been devoted to the purposes of cleanliness, there were in 
 summer three hours, and in winter five of each day, besides about three half 
 days in every fortnight, that he could devote to his juvenile pursuits. His 
 habits were solitary; and the intervals devoted by the other boys to the sports 
 of childhood, were employed by him in reading or contemplation. In Mr. 
 Lambert’s office, a very small portion of the day was devoted to business. 
 
 Within the compass of a year and a-half, assisted by leisure, and stimu- 
 lated by enthusiasm, man}' poets have outdone the labours of Chatterton ; 
 and even after supposing one-half of his time to have been devoted to his 
 glossary and his Camden, it may be questioned, whether the number of his 
 works exceeded, in proportion to the time expended in their composition, 
 
MONODY ON CHATTERTON. 
 
 37 
 
 the performances of a Blacket, and a Dermody.* Fluency may be attained by 
 perseverance, and the compositions of the man of genius may flow from his 
 pen, with the same exuberant rapidity, that marks the unpremeditated com- 
 positions of the copious but feeble versifier. 
 
 * The history of this extraordinary poet, and indiscreet youth, has been minutely narrated by 
 Mr. Raymond, in two volumes, 12mo. Among Dermody’s poems is “ A Monody on Chatterton,” 
 of such exquisite pathos, and eloquence, and so peculiarly apposite to our present subject, that I 
 conceive the reader will be gratified in perusing the following passages from it. 
 
 Monody on Chatterton, written ly the late Thomas Dermojdy, 
 in the 12 th year of his age. 
 
 Daughters of Heav’n !' blest sisters of sweet song. 
 Who nurse the seedlings that prolific rise 
 From Poesy’s illustrious birth. 
 
 Firing some favour’d son of earth. 
 
 And lending to his breast a portion of the skies ; 
 O ! hither move along 
 In pensive pace. 
 
 Lead bright Imagination’s seraph-throng 
 O’er the rude stones that frown uncouth — 
 
 In yon deep dell’s oblivious gloom 
 Sadly sleeps a once lov’d youth. 
 
 Ye wood-flowers, breathe your wild perfume,. 
 
 Ye shrouded warblers, harmonize the gale. 
 
 Here, Autumn, fling thy brilliant bloom. 
 
 And fence from wayward winds the sacred vale y 
 
 Tread soft, ye infants of the air,. 
 
 While in the mazy dance you turn. 
 
 Tread soft — and pause to mourn. 
 
 Mingling your mystic sports with sickly care,. 
 
 For genius slumbers here ! 
 
 True Genius, prompt to mount the sphere 
 Of fancy, thro’ pure rapture’s maze. 
 
 And view her with unshrinking gaze, 
 
 Prompt to veil in antique dress 
 What ancientry could ne’er express 
 Catch the Buskin’s lofty mien. 
 
 Or woo the laughter- loving Queen. 
 
 Immortal Boy, thee angels fed 
 With Poesy’s abstracted food. 
 
 Thy bowl was fill’d from Fancy’s fountain head. 
 Thy bowl with wondrous ecstasies embuedj 
 By heaven’s own chymic skill refined. 
 
 Thine was the manner of the mind. 
 
 Had. he but gain’d his manhood’s mighty prime. 
 Bright as the Sun, and as the Sun sublime. 
 
 His soaring soul had borne the awful wand 
 Of magic power, and o’er the fairy land 
 Of Fancy shed a new poetic race. 
 
 Lending creation to his favor’d place. 
 
 But oh ! the dying sounds decay, 
 
 Ah ! they fade away. 
 
 Melting, melting, melting, 
 
 Melting from the ear of day. 
 
 Despair assumes the Muse’s lyre. 
 
 Damps each softly-sinking fire, 
 
 Presses the fury spirit down below, 
 
 And tells his stubborn soul the bitter tale of woe. 
 
 At last, superior to her chain. 
 
 He flies o’er Madness’ wild domain. 
 
 Despis’d and dejected — he faints and he sighs ! 
 Too rigorous Heav’n ! how ghastly his eyes ! 
 Thus I triumph o’er all — lo ! a Chatterton dies ! 
 
 Spare oh ! spare Almighty pow’r ! 
 
 His frenzy’d passions and his last black hourj 
 Spare his mortal portion, spare ! 
 
 Think upon his case distrest. 
 
 And of his soul’s fine essence grant a share to some 
 pure breast I 
 
38 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCH 
 
 Pride, unbounded and solitary pride, was the leading feature in the cha- 
 racter of Chatterton ; and had its direction been guided, or its exuberance 
 repressed by the salutary influence of religious or moral truth, instead of ex- 
 citing him to a secret, and selfish triumph over the dupes of successful for- 
 gery, its influence would have inspired the honourable zeal of open and manly 
 emulation. 
 
 It has been the pride of modern literature to degrade the character of 
 Walpole. That, as a man he was sarcastic, fretful, and fastidious; prone to 
 satirical comment on the failings of his friends; easily disgusted by uncouth- 
 ness of manners or impropriety of speech; accustomed to regard the world of 
 professional literature, with the supercilious smile of conscious elevation; is 
 evident from his letters, and the memorabilia published in “ Walpoliana.” 
 These imperfections and eccentricities were the natural accompaniments of 
 an irritable temperament, and an aristocratic education; they were confirmed 
 and exasperated by the exquisite sensibility of his taste ; which detected with 
 intuitive rapidity the slightest deviation from good manners. The Architect 
 of Strawberry Hill, and the author of the Letter on Grace, might display 
 without offence, a distaste of promiscuous intercourse, and a severity of deci- 
 sion on the character and the manners of the intruders on his notice, that in 
 the common possessor of rank and fortune, would both deserve and receive 
 the salutary infliction of legitimate satire. 
 
 To this individual, of habits so fastidious, so select in his intercourse, 
 and so tender of his literary fame, it was the misfortune of Chatterton to ap- 
 ply : and had Walpole possessed the lights in which we at present view the 
 endowments of his supplicant, there seems no reason to doubt that he would 
 have sacrificed many of his jealousies and prepossessions to the encourage- 
 ment of so extraordinary a phenomenon. As it was, he must have felt indig- 
 nant at the presumption and mercenary spirit of a boy, who could first at- 
 tempt to make him the dupe of his forgeries, and afterwards endeavour to 
 rest his claims for support, or patronage, on the productions of his artifice. 
 Walpole’s discretion, or his humanity, however, overcame his anger, and in a 
 letter equally remarkable for the gentleness of its reproof, and its good sense, 
 he exhorts him to apply with industry and perseverance, to the duties of his 
 profession, as the surest means of enabling him hereafter to discharge the 
 debt of gratitude to his relatives. 
 
 The same sacrifice of principle to the expectation or possession of pecu- 
 
LETTERS OF GHATTERTON. 
 
 39 
 
 niary advantage, that marked Chatterton’s application to Walpole, is too visi- 
 ble in his literary undertakings after his establishment in the metropolis. 
 Some weeks after his arrival, he calculates on the profits that might have been 
 made on Rowley , had the glide old priest been a Londoner instead of a Bris- 
 towyian. He writes on either side of the question, as suits his immediate 
 convenience ; and at a time, when, if we believe his own account, he enter- 
 tained no dread of pecuniary distress, he coldly estimates the death of a man 
 whom even his enemies lamented, at the price of his elegy. He seems in his 
 letters to be conscious that his frequent appearance at public places, demands 
 an apology ; and his Burlettas, written for Marylebone Gardens, appear to 
 testify his intimacy with the leaders of those circles in which no young man 
 of enthusiasm ever moved without corruption. 
 
 His vices and his errors were the natural result of ardent passions, un- 
 controlled by any restraint but convenience, undirected by any motive but 
 the immediate gratification of the passing hour. Had he died a death less 
 premature, it is impossible that a mind like his should not have discovered 
 the folly of that pride, which finds its chief gratification in singularity ; and 
 that sacrifices to a vain display of intellectual independence, the most mo- 
 mentous interests that can excite the speculation, or affect the happiness of 
 man. His pride would have been subdued into virtuous dignity ; the stub- 
 bornness of unbending vanity, would have been converted into the undis- 
 mayed and persevering fortitude of the Christian, and instead of terminating, 
 with the melancholy resolution of despair, a short and unhappy career, he 
 might have improved by his example, that community which he had adorned 
 and enlightened by his talents ; honoured during the splendid progress of his 
 mortal existence by the learned and the good, and the theme in after ages of 
 virtuous reverence, and literary praise. 
 
 The following letters from Chatter ton to Dodsley the bookseller, re- 
 specting his Play of i£lla, &c. have never yet been published ; but as they 
 tend to strengthen the arguments here advanced, I am induced to print 
 them. The cunning, deception, and finesse of the young poet, are strongly 
 illustrated in these letters. — They were written before he commenced his 
 correspondence with Walpole. 
 
40 
 
 REDCLIFFE CHURCII. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 g IR ^ Bristol, Dec. 21, 1 y68. 
 
 I take this method to acquaint you, that I can procure copies of several ancient Poems ; and 
 an Interlude, perhaps the oldest dramatic piece extant ; wrote by one Rowley, a Priest in Bristol, 
 who lived in the reigns of Henry Vlth and Edward IVth. — If these Pieces will be of service to you, 
 at your command, copies shall be sent to you, by 
 
 Your most obedient Servant, 
 
 Please to direct for D. B. to be left with Mr. Thomas Chatterton, D. B. 
 
 Redclift Hill, Bristol. 
 
 For Mr. J. Dodsley, Bookseller , Pall Mall, London. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 g IR Bristol, Fel. 15, 1 76Q. 
 
 Having intelligence that the Tragedy of MWa was in being, after a long and laborious search, 
 I was so happy as to attain a sight of it. Struck with the beauties of it, I endeavoured to obtain a 
 copy to send to you: but the present possessor absolutely denies to give me one, unless I give him a 
 Guinea for a consideration. As I am unable to procure such a sum, I made search foi another copy, 
 but unsuccessfully. — Unwilling such a beauteous Piece should be lost, I have made bold to apply to 
 you : several Gentlemen of learning who have seen it, join with me in praising it. I am far from 
 having any mercenary views for myself in this affair, and, was I able, would print it on my own 
 risque. It is a perfect Tragedy, the plot clear, the language spirited, and the bongs (interspersed in it) 
 are flowing, poetical, and elegantly simple. The similies judiciously applied, and though wrote in the 
 reign of Henry Vlth, not inferior to many of the present age. If I can procure a Copy, with or 
 without the gratification, it shall immediately be sent to you. The motive that actuates me to do 
 this, is, to convince the world that the Monks (of whom some have so despicable an opinion) weie 
 not such blockheads, as generally thought, and that good poetry might be wrote in the dark days of 
 superstition, as well as in these more enlightened ages. An immediate answer will oblige me. I shall 
 not receive your favour as for myself, but as your agent. 
 
 I am. Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient Servant, 
 
 T. CHATTERTON. 
 
 P. S. My reason for concealing my name, was, lest my Master (who is now out of Town) should 
 see my letters, and think I neglected his business. 
 
 Direct for me on Redclift Hill. 
 
 After a specimen of the Tragedy, in part of JEllas speech, he says 
 
 The whole contains about 1000 lines. 
 
 If it should not suit you, I should be obliged to you if you would calculate the expenses of print- 
 ing it, as I will endeavour to publish it by subscription on my own account. 
 
 For Mr. James Dodsley, Bookseller, Pall Mall, London. 
 
 London : Printed by T. Bensley, 
 Bolt Court, Fleet Street. 
 
 tfttrus.