ST. MARY'S CHURCH. THE rebuilding of ST. MARY'S CHURCH (originally erected A. D. 1005) was begun in 1424, and finished about the year 1433. This fine structure is 139 feet long (exclusive of the chancel, which is 74 feet by 68) and 67 in breadth. It is divided into three aisles, by two rows of elegant, slender columns. The roof of the nave, which was framed at Caen in Normandy, is deservedly admired for its lightness and elegance. From their height, the finely carved figures of angels, which support the principals of the roof, fortunately escaped the barbaric fury of the puritans. The supporters of the braces over the north and south aisles are particularly deserving of notice; bearing, neatly carved, the arms of the borough, and of the bishopric of Norwich, a variety of birds, beasts, &c.-The devices in the centres of the principals are also very curious. The roof of the chancel is painted and gilded in imitation of curiously shaped pannels, at the bottom of which, in eleven compartments on each side, are represented angels, with scrolls in their hands, on which is inscribed the Te Deum Laudamus. Of the numerous altars, images, and pictures, by which this edifice was distinguished, previously to the reformation, part of an altar, supposed to be that of our Lady, against the south wall, is all that remains. The pillars, monuments, and walls of the church have, for successive years, been washed with white lime. The present sexton, a short time since, in scraping off a portion of this extraneous covering from the wall, on the north side of the west entrance, discovered, on its original face, a painting in water colours, representing "Our Saviour taken from the Cross;" and there is little doubt that other parts of the building were ornamented in a similar manner. At the dissolution, St. Mary's church, as well as that of St. James, was included in the general system of plunder, and both of them were stripped of plate, and other ornaments, to the value, at that period, of £480. Numerous inscriptions, and effigies in brass, were, in the year 1644, torn off by the churchwardens, and scandalously sold for their private emolument. Thus, many of the most ancient monuments, in these churches, have lost their chief interest. During a violent thunder-storm, on the 1st of August, 1766, a fissure was made in the wall of this church, 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. On the north side of the communion table, in St. Mary's church, was formerly an altar monument, simple and unadorned, to the memory of Mary Tudor, third daughter of Henry VII. whose remains, originally interred in the conventual church, were, at the dissolution, removed hither. This monument was thought to be only a cenotaph; but, on opening it, in the year 1731, a covering of lead, evidently enclosing a human body, was found, with the following inscription on the breast: Mary Quene of ffranc. The slab that covered the tomb was doubtlessly the one which had been originally devoted to that purpose. It was marked with crosses, and consequently had served also as an altar at which masses were celebrated. Notwithstanding the discovery of these royal remains, the tomb continued without any external memorial of the deceased, until the year 1758; when Dr. Symonds, of Bury, caused it to be repaired at his own expense, and placed a marble tablet at its west end, inscribed as follows: Sacred to the Memory Of Mary Tudor, Third Daughter of Henry VII. King of England, who was first married in 1514, to Lewis XII. King of France; and afterwards, in 1517, to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. T |