STRATFORD-SUB-CASTLE.
Lies close under the hill of Old Sarum, and derives its name from the Roman “street” or road which here “forded” the river on its course to Bradbury Rings and Dorchester. The manor house was the residence of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who was first returned to Parliament (1735) as member for those vacant mounds on the hill above. Governor Pitt purchased the manor in 1690 for 1500l., and Lord Grenville, who had married the sister of Thomas Pitt, Lord Camelford, afterwards sold it for 65,000l. to Lord Caledon. In 1801 John Horne Tooke was returned by Lord Camelford, and in his case the question of the disability of clergymen to sit as Members of Parliament was tried and settled. The doorhead of the quaint gabled parsonage bears the inscription, “Parva sed lapsa domino 1675.” A charming lime avenue leads from the parsonage to the church, which contains an hour glass stand for the pulpit.
THE CHURCH, AMESBURY.
Dedicated to the Memories of St. Mary and St. Melorus.
One of the finest in Wiltshire. A fourteenth century nave roof covers a Norman nave, and a thirteenth century chapel possesses a beautiful window, with two lights, and slender delicate column and sculptured leafy cap. Archæologists dispute as to whether this is the abbey church (a Benedictine order founded by Queen Elfrida to expiate the murder of her step-son at Corfe) or merely the parish church. I consider that there can be no doubt that it is the abbey church, and in my next edition I hope this fact will be proved from excavations to be made under the superintendence of Mr. Detmar Blow, the architect for the structural repairs that are, unfortunately, necessary, the four angles of the church tower and the voussoirs of the arch having become separated, &c. Only 1400l. is needed, and subscriptions will be gratefully acknowledged by the Manager of the Wilts and Dorset Bank, Amesbury, Wilts; or Lady Antrobus, Amesbury Abbey. An unfortunate “restoration” was made in 1853, which swept away the furnishings of the Early Romantic period.
Florence C. M. Antrobus.
AMESBURY ABBEY.
Salisbury.
Since writing the above little note on Amesbury church, the necessary repairs to the tower have been most sympathetically carried out by Mr. Detmar Blow. No changes are to be noticed from the exterior—the test of a good architect’s work applied to old buildings. The underpinning disclosed the remains of a Saxon pillar embedded in the masonry of the nave wall—may not this fact go to prove that the present building stands on the site of Elfrida’s church? At the completion of Mr. Blow’s work, which includes the underpinning of the tower, repairs to the nave, and the rehanging of the bells, further repairs were found to be necessary. The Rev. F. Windley (the new vicar) held a meeting, dismissing Mr. Blow and appointing Mr. Warre as architect in his place, with most unfortunate results. The roof of the exquisite little chapel has been removed and altered to a higher pitch, inferior flint work used, and crude yellow stones instead of the beautiful silvery-grey old coping. This act of vandalism was done against the wishes of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, and my own. No “restorations” (so called) should ever be allowed for these buildings, only “repairs.” The pitch of the old roof should not have been altered, even if originally higher, as, so to speak, the whole thing had grown together; also nothing but old stones for coping should have been used, and grey flints instead of black ones. It is extraordinary to see the damage done to the rare and beautiful buildings in this neighbourhood. Yellow stones, hideous in colour, put in with still more hideous plaster, is the local idea of suitable “restoration.” The vandal architect Butterfield buried (in 1853) under the chancel the memorial tablets, at the same time breaking up the lovely old font and burying its remains. This latter has been beautifully mended by Mr. Kite, builder. The memorial tablets, some very beautiful, have not yet been rehung, as they should be, in the body of the church.