Evil Spirit in the flames. Others have recognised Leviathan in the waters, or the wild boar rooting up the vine, but the first interpretation seems the true one, except that the tail of the beast terminates in what appears to be a crozier. The inserted decorated windows contain fine canopies of stained glass, in which are represented the arms of De Fresne or De Fraxino, Lords of Moccas. I discovered some years ago the site of the castle in which no doubt they dwelt. The remains of the moat are clearly traced, as also the causeway leading to it across the Marsh. There is also an old tradition in the valley that the effigy in the Church was that of a man who lived in the Meres, the site of the castle. It seems not unlikely that the recumbent figure in the Church was the same person who inserted the decorated windows, and if it can be discovered to whom the arms in the window belonged it may be possible by this means to identify the knight whose tomb is in the chancel. The effigy is remarkable as regards armour, and this example of rounded form of the surcoat is unique in England. We have notices of three De Fresnes-Hugh De Fresne, who obtained a licence to erect battlements at Moccas in 1294; Walter de Fresne, member for the county of Hereford in 1307-8-9-10; Sir Richard de Fresne, 1375, after whose death the property was divided between his three sisters. The Church was repaired in the beginning of the century by Mr. Westmacott. At that time the south window of the apse was like an ordinary cottage window, as I can show you by a drawing. He probably added the fireplace and chimney, and may have rebuilt the bellcote. The Church, before it was restored by Mr. George Gilbert Scott, was ceiled, a semi-domical lath-and-plaster ceiling being in the apse, and the effigy was then placed in the corner of the chancel. The chancel and the apse were both raised, and the windows of the chancel which had been crushed by the lowering of the walls, were restored according to their original design, there being little difficuly from the tracery which remained in determining what that must be. The old glass was also restored. About half of it is new, The chancel arches were terribly cracked, and had to be taken down and rebuilt. The porch was raised, and details imitated from the porch of Turnastone, about six miles off. Before the restoration the west wall was plastered up to a certain height, evidently for the purpose of a fives court. A very early sepulchral stone was discovered when digging round the Church, which remains in the place where it was found. I cannot help pointing out, in conclusion, the admirable manner in which the interior fittings, chancel, stall, &c., have stood since the work was com pleted. Thoroughly well-seasoned oak is difficult to find, and it is to the credit of Messrs. Franklin, of Deddington, who executed the work, that I should point out to intending restorers that it is possible to have work of this kind executed in a satisfactory manner. I have already reminded you that in Moccas we possess the earliest type of Church, the basilica. The early Church, we know, adapted the Roman Halls of Judgment, styled basilicas, to Christian worship. The apse once devoted to the presiding judge and his assessors would now be claimed by the bishop and his presbyters, the bishop's throne being placed under the eastern wall of the apse. The altar of libation would give place to the Christian altar. What we call the chancel would in the basilica be devoted to the pleaders; the nave to the public, as a mart or exchange. The basilica form having thus become endeared to the people, the earlier Churches were erected on that model. In Moccas, we have in its large round arches, its basilica form, in the proportions of its nave (a double cube) some traces, as in other early Romanesque Churches, of classic origin. Such examples of Roman architecture as we find in the Coliseum at Rome and in the Porta Nigra of Trèves, teach us whence came the inspiration which influenced the builders of the earliest Christian Churches. It is surely interesting to trace the growth of that Gothic architecture, of which we have such splendid examples, back through these early Romanesque Churches to the source from which they were derived, and I believe that it is generally felt that, if in this 19th century we are to bring into being a new school of architecture, we must go back to these early forms from which was evolved all that is grand and beautiful in its later development. By the Rev. Sir GEO. H. CORNEWALL, Bart., President. BREDWARDINE Church possesses many remarkable architectural features, but it cannot, I fear, be ranked among Churches remarkable for beauty of design. There are certain interesting problems here for which we must endeavour to find a solution. (i.) Why is the tower placed in its peculiar position, marring the effect of the interior? (ii.) Why have we a skew chancel? (iii.) What is the intention of the block of masonry added to the base of the tower on the east side? (iv.) Is there any cause to account for the south wall of the nave being thrust so sorely out of the perpendicular, as it evidently is? To answer these questions is to give a conjectural history of the Church. I should conceive the tower to have been the earliest portion of the whole Church, it being an argument in my favour that it was rebuilt about 100 years ago. It was probably a watch tower connected with the Castle, guarding the important ford of Bredwardine. A chapel or cell may have been attached to this tower; in reading the history of the Irish Saints of the time of St. Columbanus we find such cells were not uncommon. Being a holy place, a Church of the type of Moccas was built to replace it, but in the same position, notwithstanding that the tower would awkwardly mar the effect of the interior. There would be round arches between chancel and nave, the thrust of the arch being sustained on the north by the tower, the south wall would suffer, as you may observe to be the case. The thrust in the choir portion of the south wall being very severe, and the Church being very dark, a portion of the wall was rebuilt and a large window, the peculiar working of the tracery reminding us of Almeley, inserted; at that time (it may be earlier) the round arch was removed, and when the period of erecting rood-lofts was reached one was erected here, accounting for the block of masonry I have mentioned, which probably contained the staircase leading up to it. At a later period still, the lines of the interior of the Church being hopelessly irregular, a skew chancel was intentionally added. Attention must be called to the font, of remarkable size and beauty, to be compared with the still larger one at Old Radnor. The tympana with quaint figures betray, Mr. Chester supposes, an Eastern origin, as do the tympana at Moccas prove the original Church to have been early Norman; the herring-bone masonry on the north side is an additional proof of this. The recumbent figures in the chancel are well worthy of inspection. They are effigies probably of members of the Vaughan family, the ancient owners of Bred wardine Castle. With reference to the recumbent figures in the chancel, the Vicar of the Church, the Rev. H. T. Williamson, unavoidably absent, supplies the following notes: Canon Phillott, in an article on Bredwardine Church, which appeared in the Ross Gazette, quotes Silas Taylor:-"Tradition delivers that the north figure represents John de Bradwardine, who had possession of the place at the time of the Conquest. The other-the south- —one who married his daughter and heiress." "But," says the Canon, "Mr. Robinson has shown that Taylor was mistaken in both these suppositions, and the older figure, which has been shortened by the length of the legs below the knees, is not earlier than the middle or the latter end of the 14th century. Mr. Robinson conjectures that it represents either Walter Baskervile, who died 1369, or Walter de Bred wardine, the grandfather of Sir Roger Vaughan. He inclines to this latter view on the ground that the Baskerville family are not known to have resided at Bredwardine." Of the second figure Canon Phillott says-"The armour is of the pattern usual in the latter part of the 14th or early 15th century, and the collar of SS., so mysterious in its origin, but so undoubted in its application, denotes the personage represented to have belonged to the Lancastrian party. Mr. Robinson therefore concludes that the figure represents Sir Roger Vaughan, of Bredwardine, who married the daughter of Sir David Gam, and who together with his father-in-law fell in defence of the person of King Henry V. at the battle of Agincourt, October 25th, 1415." In the tablet over the monument of the Vaughan family in Kington Church this fact of his marriage with Gladys, daughter of Sir David Gam, and of his knighthood, are commemorated. What was the SS. collar? In an article in the Saturday Review, October 21st, 1876, on recumbent effigies in Northamptonshire, it is stated that this decoration occurs on 14 effigies in that county, three of these monuments being female figures; and that the earliest recorded description of the collars is in a wardrobe account of Henry, Earl of Derby, afterwards Henry IV., in 1391. There seems but little doubt that it was a badge of the House of Lancaster; and in a window in Old St. Paul's, John of Gaunt was represented as wearing it. The writer of the article suggests that in the SS. of the collar there is an allusion to the word "Soverayne," which formed the motto of Henry IV. and is written and carved on his tomb at Canterbury. But if his father John of Gaunt wore it we can hardly rest satisfied with this explanation. Others say that it was the device of John of Gaunt, he being the "Seneschallus" or Steward of England, and that SS. represents the first and last letter in the word. Some attribute the origin to the initials of the "Sanctus," "Sanctus," "Sanctus." In an article on this collar in the Globe newspaper, March 17th, 1890, it is said that it was gilt, and made of continuous links of the letters SS., with a rose pendant, and free from any ornament. At first it was exclusively intended as a mark of honour for foreign envoys, but later, the collar adorned the Chief Justices of the Law Courts, then three in number, military commanders of high rank, heralds, Kings of Arms, esquires, and distinguished members of the Royal Household. At present the number of wearers is extremely limited, and still from time to time we can read in the Levée Notices in the Gazette, N. B.-This being "Collar Day," the privileged must wear their "collars," i.e., the SS. Decoration.* * Since writing the above Mr. Moore has kindly drawn my attention to the correspondence which was carried on in the Times about the Collar of the Garter and the SS. during August and Sept., 1891. The general impression seems to confirm what I have said above in that this SS. collar was a livery collar adopted by the house of Lancaster (although introduced before that period), and which, as time went on, became the badge of a great political party. One writer says that the SS. collar had no special pendant. The one in Bredwardine Church certainly has. Certainly it is a small one, and is attached to the ring which unites the two ends of the chain. The surface of the pendant is so much worn that I cannot make out if there ever was any design engraved upon it. About ten yards south of the modern porch is situated a recumbent tombstone, the fifth stone from the porch, upon which was formerly the following quaint inscription, now quite illegible : Reader observe here under Neath doth lye one that Was once Rector of Brobury Vicar of Bredwardine and if You trace His Birth a Briton him of Norman Race Profoundly learned and A man of parts Bred up in Oxford M'r Of the Arts His name was Thomas Of the Just. He Died the And about ten yards south-east of this stone is the base of an old cross, which within the memory of the old sexton was surmounted by a sundial, which also has disappeared. The basement has a small dressed cavity on the north side for the stoup for holy water and a kneeling-stone fourteen inches by twelve. When the tower of the Church was re-built in 1790, the old ivy stem was not removed, its age being manifested by its enormous girth. There are four bells, dated and inscribed as follows:-1st bell, A. R. 1729, between A. and R. is stamped in the metal a bell. The letters are probably the initials of the founder. Henry Davis and W. M. Hampton, Ch. Wardens. 2nd bell, 1. R. fecit, 1810. By Music, Minds an equal Temper Know. 3rd bell, A. R., 1747, Peace and good neighbourhood. 4th, large bell. 1826. John Rudhall fecit. belongs to the Church of Brobury, is dated 1686. Parish Register to the following effect :-February in River Wye as ever remembered. The plain silver chalice, which There is a memorandum in the 10th, 1795. The greatest flood |