“Beneath these rugged elms, that yew-tree’s shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mould’ring heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.”
To a mind fond of retirement, the lonely ruin covered with ivy, the cottage or the grove have infinite charms; they seem to be a refuge from the storms of life and to have the power of soothing the mind, disordered by discordant passions, to serenity and peace.
The imagination at liberty to enjoy its own reflections, revolves its misfortunes, draws conclusions and compares the present with the past, and is inspired by the situation with that kind of pleasing awe that bids him look forward to brighter prospects.
Section the Fifth.
The Ruins of the parochial Church at Thorp-Market having been lately taken down and rebuilt in a peculiar stile, by the Right Honourable Lord Suffield, the impropriator, attracts many spectators from its novelty.
The present structure, which was designed by Mr. Wood, is simple and elegant; the materials are flint and free-stone, at each of the four corners is a turret, and the points of the gables are terminated by a stone cross after the monkish fashion.
The inside, consisting of only a single aisle, is finished with extreme neatness and in parts with a considerable degree of taste.
The chancel is divided from the body of the church by a light gothic wainscot screen, and an equal portion of the west end by a similar one. The upper parts of each are decorated with modern glass paintings; the subject of those at the chancel end are, in the center, the Dove sent forth from the Ark, and on each side Moses and Aaron. In the center of the corresponding screen are the King’s Arms, well painted upon copper, and on each side those of his Lordship’s family in painted glass.
The pulpit is placed against the north wall and is entered from a staircase in the vestry, on each side is a door, over which are painted, in imitation of bass relief, the symbolical figures of the Saints Mark and Luke.
The greatest defect in the building is in the disposition of the stained-glass in the windows, which instead of being concentrated in such a manner as to throw that devotional gloom into the church which produces such an evident effect upon the mind, and which appears to me to have been the original intention of stained or painted glass, is scattered over the whole window in small pieces, greens, purples, reds and yellows, regularly intermixed with white, giving to the whole an appearance of too much gaiety, independent of the unpleasant manner in which, in a day when the sun is bright, the different colours of the glass are reflected over the church and upon the persons of the congregation. [45]