same grave.* On the old stone, as we are informed by Weever; was a Latin inscription to the following effect:---" Here lie the bones of the man, whom Bury formerly owned its lord and abbot; his name John, born at Melford in Suffolk, his family and father called Reeve. He was intrepid, prudent, learned, and affable, upright, and a lover of his vow, and his religion: who, when he had seen the 31st of the reign of Henry VIII. died the 31st of March following. May God spare his soul! 1540." At the east end of the south-aisle, a well executed altar monument, for John Baret, who died in 1643, exhibits a striking proof of the skill of some of our ancient artists, in the durability of the red and black substances, with which the letters, engraven in different parts, were filled up. Over the monument is a wooden ceiling • "Abbot Reeve's grave-stone of grey marble, which formerly had his full effigy in brass, with a mitre on his head, and a crosier in his hand, with four coats of arms at the corners of the stone, which is large, and very noble, and no doubt, provided by the good abbot some years before his death, was, not long before I was at Bury in March 1745-6, taken up from the middle of the chancel in St. Mary's church, at Bury, where it had rested ever since the dissolution, to make room for the grave-stone of one Sutton, the purser of a ship, and the abbot's moved out of the church, and laid by the entrance into the south porch, in the church-yard of the said church. This I saw, with no small degree of indignation, when I was at Bury with the late Sir James Burroughs, walking with him about the precincts of the abbey, and into the two noble churches of Bury. The fanatics of 1643, only stole the brass of the grave-stone, but let the bones remain in quiet possession of their rightful habitation." (Cole's MSS. Vol. XXVII. p. 198.) + Weever writes Kemis, but this is evidently erroneous. In John Ap Rice's report concerning the misrule of Bury Abbey, at the time of the dissolution, is the following character of him." As for the abbot, we finde nothing to suspect as touching hys livyng, but it was detected that he laye moche forth in hys granges; that he delited moche in playing at dice and cardes, and therein spent moche money, and in buylding for his pleasure. He did not preache openly. Also that he converted divers fermes. into copieholdes, wherof poore men doth complayne. Also he seemeth to be addicted to the meynteyning of such superstitions ceremonies as hathe ben used beretofor." ceiling, adorned with his motto, in the old English character, "Grace me govern!" the initials of his name, and other painted embellishments, the colors of which remain fresh and unfaded, after the lapse of three centuries and a half. In this church, on the south side of the chancel, beneath the last arch, towards the east, is a large altar monument, covering. the remains of Sir Thomas Drury, who was privy-counsellor to Henry VII. and VIII. and is supposed to have died about the year 1533. This is erroneously attributed, by Weever, to Roger Drury, who died in 1472, and Agnes his wife, in 1445. All that is left of any inscription, on Sir Robert's monument is this distich on the wooden palisades. Such as ye be some time ware wee, Suche as wee are, suche schall ye be. Opposite to this monument, is that of Sir William Carew, who died in 1501, and his wife, in 1525. She was first cousin to Sir Robert Drury, just mentioned. Both these tombs are surrounded with wooden railing, having the effigies upon them, and the trophies over head. The stone which covers John Finers, constituted arch-deacon of Sudbury in 1497, has a brass plate, with his effigy upon it, and an inscription in monkish Latin. In the vestry at the east end of the south aisle, are the figures of John, commonly called Jankyn Smith, a celebrated benefactor of Bury,* and his wife, engraven in brass, on a flat stone, on a corner of which was lately to be seen an escutcheon of his arms. Joseph Weld, esq. serjeant at law, recorder, and at the time of his death, one of the representatives of this town in parliament, is interred in the crypt, at the east end of the chancel; a spot, says • He was an inhabitant of this town in the reign of Edward IV. and gave lands in Bury, Barton, Rougham, Hepworth, and other places, since improved to the yearly value of 2001. for celebrating his anniversary, and the overplus for the benefit of the inhabitants. His portrait on board is still preserved in an upper room at the Guildhall. An inscription on the frame; with the date, 1473, records his benefaction. says the epitaph, which he had chosen in his life-time for that purpose. This gentleman gave 2001. towards the rebuilding of St. James's chancel, and died a bachelor in 1711, aged 60. The church-register records the burial, in St. Mary's, of a bishop of Loghlin, in Ireland, about the same time as Abbot Reeve, but no farther memorial of him is known to be extant. This church sustained considerable injury from lightning, during a violent storm, on the 1st August 1766. A fissure was made in the wall, several large stones of which were driven into the interior, and so tremendous was the explosion, that the destruction of the whole edifice was apprehended. ST. JAMES's church was originally built about the year 1200, by Abbot Sampson, who was dissuaded by his brethren of the abbey, from his intention of going on a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James, at Compostella, in Spain, and in compliance with their recommendation, founded this church in honor of that saint at Bury. The present structure, though far advanced in 1500, was not finished till the reformation, when king Edward VI. gave 2001. to compleat it, as we learn from the following inscription over the west door, in the interior of the building :- Our most noble Sovereign Lord, Town, at the humble suite of John Eyre and Xtopher Peyton. 1551. Long lyfe and blysse to This church, constructed of free-stone, is a fine Gothic building, and the west end is particularly beautiful. The windows are large, numerous and handsome, and were originally adorned with painted glass, some remains of which, yet left in those on the north side, are executed in such a manner as to make us the more deeply regret the injuries they have received. The length of St. James's church is 137 feet, its breadth, 69; and the chancel is 56 feet 8, by 27 feet 5 inches. Against the wall on the south aisle, are two elegant monuments inclosed with iron railing, one of them to the Rt. Honble. James Reynolds, chief baron of the court of Exchequer, who died in 1738, in his 53d year; and the other to Mary his wife. He is represented sitting in his robes of justice; on each side is a weeping figure, and above his coat of arms, with other embellishments. His character is recorded in a Latin inscription of considerable length on the pedestal. * The CHURCH-GATE, which though thirty feet distant from this edifice, serves as a steeple to it, is considered to be one of the noblest specimens of what is denominated Saxon architecture, in the kingdom. Kirby says, that "the arches of this tower are all round, of a Saxon form, and seem to be much older than Henry the Third's time." Some are of opinion, that it was erected in the reign of William the Conqueror, at the same time that the abbey-church was first built of stone, when Albold, a man of rank, and a priest, is said to have made by permission of abbot Baldwin, a tower of no small size.† It stands opposite to the west end of the abbey church; to which it served as a magnificent portal. It is 80 feet in height, of a quadrangular figure, and remarkable for the simple plainness and solidity of its construction. The stone of which it is built, abounds with small shells, that in their natural, state are extremely brittle and perishable. These in their: bed have acquired such hardness, as to resist the injuries •of Suffolk Traveller, p. 216. ↑ Description of Bury St. Edmund's, p. 69. of seven centuries, even when partly laid bare by the crumbling away of the softer gritty particles of the stone. A chapel of Jesus was originally intended to have occupied the space between St. James's church, and this tower. On the west side of the Church-gate, near the foundation, are two curious basso relievos in stone. That on the left, represents mankind in their fallen state, under the dominion of Satan, by the figures of our first parents with a serpent twined round them, and the Devil in the back ground insulting Adam. The other emblematic of the deliverance of man from his bondage, exhibits God the Father with flowing hair, and a long parted beard, sitting triumphantly within a circle, surrounded by cherubim. This piece of sculpture which appears to be of considerable antiquity, is in good preservation, except that the principal figure has lost the right hand. The capitals of some of the pillars in the interior of this gateway, likewise exhibit grotesque figures, which appear to have formed part of the original building. Time has lately made considerable impression upon this venerable edifice. Wide fissures are conspicuous in various parts, especially on the side next the church-yard; and on the other it is said to be twelve inches out of the perpendicular. In consequence of these appearances, the modern belfry has been taken down; the bells with all the wood-work, have been removed from the interior, and the clock from the outside, for the purpose of repairs. Unless means be speedily adopted to preserve this relic of the chaster style of ancient architecture, it seems highly probable that the safety of the inhabitants will soon require its total demolition. The two church-yards, which in fact form but one, are kept in excellent order: an alley of lofty poplars runs diagonally across them, and makes a very pleasant promenade. Nearly in the centre is a small plot of ground inclosed with high iron railing, and planted with trees of different kinds. In this place is the receptacle provided by the late James Spink, esq. banker of Bury, for himself and his family. The spot where he lies in terred |