The Rev. Hugh Pigot, Rector of Stretham, Cambridgeshire, and author of “The History of Hadleigh,” died on September 22, aged sixty-five years. Mr. Pigot graduated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and besides the above-mentioned work, he was the author of “A Guide to the Town of Hadleigh,” “Suffolk Superstitions,” and other antiquarian works.
The Rev. John Allen Giles, D.C.L., Rector of Sutton, Surrey, formerly headmaster of Camberwell Collegiate School, and afterwards of the City of London School, died on September 24. His name is known as a scholar in various branches of learning. He edited or translated the works of Lanfranc and of the Venerable Bede, “Letters of St. Thomas of Canterbury,” the “Codex Apocryphus Novi Testamenti,” “Sculptores Græci Minores,” “Terentii Comœdiæ,” “Severi Sancti Carmen,” and “The Works of King Alfred the Great.” He was also the author of the “Life and Times of Alfred the Great,” “Life and Letters of Thomas à Becket,” “The History of Bampton,” “The History of Witney,” and a “History of the Ancient Britons,” &c.
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Meetings of Learned Societies.
METROPOLITAN.
British Archæological Association.
(Continued from p. 195.)
The Council of the Archæological Association added this year three “extra days” to their Tenby congress, to be devoted to Haverfordwest and St. David’s. Accordingly on Tuesday, September 9, they went to Narberth, to visit the castle of that town. This was made the subject of comment by Mr. Loftus Brock, who explained its leading features, drawing attention to its strong position and its great extent, and stating a few facts about its history, from which it appeared that it was founded by a Norman baron named Perrott, and passed by royal gift into the hands of Sir Rees or Rhys Ap Thomas, who was its owner in the days of Leland; and the latter mentions it in his “Itinerary” as a “praty” place. Like the other castles of this country, it suffered sadly during the civil wars, and though afterwards repaired and inhabited, it soon fell again into decay. From Narberth their journey lay to Llawwhydden, a castellated mansion of the Bishops of St. David’s, who here figured almost as barons, and lived in baronial splendour. Of this once noble structure only some octagonal towers remain, and these and some fine lancet windows were much admired. The next visit was to Picton Castle, a place which has never ceased to be inhabited, and which, therefore, shows more completely than any other similar structure in Pembrokeshire what was the condition of a feudal castle four or five centuries ago. It was built by a Norman knight named William de Picton, in the reign of William Rufus. The building is oblong in plan, with three large bastions projecting on each side, and at the eastern end, between two smaller bastions, was the principal gateway with a double portcullis. Until a comparatively recent period it retained its original form, and even the alterations made by the late Lord Milford and his predecessors have not much affected or changed its original character as a baronial fortress, castellated and embattled. The castle itself and its historical associations were explained by the present owner, Mr. Charles Philipps, who entertained the whole party present at luncheon. It was late in the afternoon when the party drove on to Haverfordwest, where they explored the noble castle, which frowns down upon the town, the river, and its bridges, but which is far more interesting externally than internally, as its four square walls are really almost a shell, such buildings as there were inside of them having been long since removed in order to utilise it as a prison, a purpose which it has served until very lately. It is now empty and vacant, and has been made the property of the town, who keep it in repair. They also inspected St. Mary’s Church, one of the very finest ecclesiastical structures in South Wales, and remarkable as having nearly the only clerestory (except that of St. David’s Cathedral) to be found within the whole county. Here the archæologists found very much to admire in the Early English arches of the nave and church, the recumbent monument of a knight near the porch door, the elegantly carved roofs, and the graceful arcading and capitals of the pillars throughout.
On Wednesday, the archæologists were favoured with very fine weather for their drive to St. David’s. It is observed of this sixteen-mile journey that it has as many hills as miles. Leland writes: “This tract was inhabited by the Flemings out of the Low Countries, who by permission of King Henry I. were planted here. These are distinctly known still from the Welsh, and so near joined are they in society of the same language with Englishmen, who come nighest of any nation to the Low Dutch tongue, that this their country is called by the Britons, ‘Little England beyond Wales.’ ” On their way to St. David’s the carriages halted at Roche Castle, a fine old fortress, of which little now remains except a single tower, which forms a conspicuous landmark. Its site was evidently chosen for its strength. It was built early in the thirteenth century by one Adam de Roche or de Rocke, who founded here one of the most powerful of Norman families. The name, it may be interesting to know, still remains in Pembrokeshire. The castle was to a great extent ruined in the wars against the Welsh, and what remained became still further dilapidated through the rough treatment which it received from the soldiers of the Parliament when it was held by its captain, Francis Edwards, on behalf of King Charles I. Roche Castle was briefly commented upon by Mr. Loftus Brock. From this point the party proceeded by way of Newgall Sands, and the tumulus which is still called Poyntz Castle, to Solva, and so on to St. David’s, where they arrived in time to partake of the Bishop’s hospitality at a luncheon, which they found ready spread for them in the grounds of the ruined episcopal palace of Bishop Gower. Luncheon over, the Bishop proposed “The Health of the Queen,” and then in a brief speech welcomed the archæologists to this the first banquet given by a bishop in these grounds for many centuries; after which he explained the peculiarities of the structure, which, he said, is really a double palace, joined in the ground-plan into a sort of letter “L” by a common kitchen at the angle. He then enlarged upon the great beauties of the arcade which runs all round the palace above, the curious structure of its once magnificent roof, now destroyed, its exquisite “wheel” or “rose” window, its chapel, and its grand dining-hall; the whole forming together by far the finest specimen of domestic architecture in South Wales, or, perhaps, in the entire principality. It is needless to say that this matchless structure was very much admired. At four o’clock the entire party, nearly one hundred strong, attended service in the cathedral, after which the Dean took them in hand, and conducted them round the building, explaining every part in detail, and showing the extent to which the restorations of the last quarter of a century had altered and improved its condition. He pointed out the semi-Norman arches of the nave, purified from coats of whitewash, the roof cleaned, the side aisles repaved, and the windows restored. Then he led them into the south transept, which not long since was little better than a barn, and assigned as the place for a Welsh service, to which a new roof and new windows had been added by benefactors now deceased. He then took them through a series of ruined side chapels to the Lady-chapel, now bare and roofless, though full of the purest architectural details. Thence the party were conducted to Bishop Vaughan’s chapel, behind the high altar, rich with a roof of fan tracery, which is scarcely to be matched except at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. He also pointed out the front and the back of the marble slab on which rested the shrine of St. David, once an object of pilgrimage inferior in interest and in the number of its devotees only to that of St. Thomas of Canterbury, reminding them that in the old days two pilgrimages to St. David’s were always regarded, in canonical penance, as equivalent to one journey to Rome—according to the old monkish rhyme, “Roma semel quantum bis dat Menevia tantum.” The Dean next showed the progress of the works in the north transept, and then led the party into the cathedral vestry or chapter-house, formerly St. Thomas’s Chapel, where he showed them a small collection of ecclesiastical relics, including the tops of two episcopal croziers, the top of a processional cross, two episcopal rings, and some chalices which had been buried along with some of the older bishops. He also displayed here the cathedral plate, the communion service, platen, and chalice, on which Messrs. Lambert and Loftus Brock offered some descriptive remarks. The Dean having completed his peregrinations and description of the fabric, a vote of thanks to him for his kindness was proposed by Mr. Thomas Morgan, F.S.A, and seconded by Mr. E. Walford, M.A., who, in a few words, contrasted the present state of the cathedral, after its recent repairs, with its new roofs, decorated interior, and rebuilt west front, with what he remembered of it forty years ago, when it was little more than a large barn-like structure, covered with a mixture of whitewash and whitey-brown paint from end to end; he also congratulated the Dean and Chapter on the conservative way in which the work of restoration had been carried out. In the evening the Dean entertained at dinner at his house, in the Close, the leading members of the congress, whom he kindly invited to meet the Bishop.