Notes on Aldbourne Church.

By E. Doran Webb, F.S.A.

HE Parish Church of Aldbourne, which, according to the

King's Book, is dedicated to St. Michael, also lays claim to S. Mary Magdalene as its patron saint. On a curious view of the south side of the Church, by G Bacon, in the possession of W. Brown, Esq. (which, judging from the costume of the figures in the foreground of the picture, was executed in the middle of the last century), is this inscription :

"The south prospect of S. Mary Magdalene, in ye Parish of Auborne in North Wiltshire, whose length is 160 feet and the height of ye tower 99 feet. Inscribed to Mr. Thomas Bacon of ye strand London."

Aldbourne Feast is held on the Monday next to the feast of S. Mary Magdalene (July 22nd), and so closely in the middle ages was such an event as this bound up with the Church life of each town or village, that it seems almost a certainty to me that S. Mary Magdalene was the patron saint of the twelfth century Church, but that when the great work of building the western tower and remodelling the whole building took place in the fifteenth century, the Church was hallowed afresh, receiving as its patron saint S. Michael. Aldbourne Church as we now see it bears but little resemblance to its twelfth century predecessor, which probably was of the usual type and consisted of a nave, north and south aisles of no great width, a low central tower, shallow transepts having apsidal chapels, and an apsidal chancel. As was usually the case the first alterations in the old plan were made at the east end, the apse giving place to the present square-ended chancel in the thirteenth century; later on the two side chapels were built; and last of all, in the fifteenth century, the low central tower was taken down and the present Perpendicular piers with arches opening into the transepts, and the magnificent western tower-whose pierced stone

The

belfry windows remind one of Somersetshire work-built. north porch with chamber over, and the chapel opening into the south transept through a panelled arch, belong to this period; the low-pitch wooden roofs with which the Church, with the exception of the chancel, is covered, are good specimens of late Perpendicular woodwork. Entering the Church through the south porch-the upper room of which was at the last restoration unfortunately destroyed, though the staircase to it remains-we pass through the fine twelfth century doorway into the nave, the arcades of which furnish us with an interesting example of the slight veneration with which the medieval mason treated the work of his predecessor. Three bays of the south arcade remain but little altered from the twelfth century, when they were built, but the north arcade has fared differently-the mouldings have been re-worked at a later period and an entirely fresh character given to them. Against the second pillar of the south arcade stands the font, octagonal on plan, the sides of the bowl being ornamented with a lozenge roughly executed. In the south wall opposite is the niche for a stoup, the bowl of which has disappeared; close by is the entrance and staircase (the latter blocked up) to the room, now destroyed, which was formed in the upper stage of the south porch. The south transept-locally known as the Upham Aisle, contains the brass of Richard Goddard, of Upham, and Elizabeth, his wife. The date of his death is not filled in on the brass, but his wife's death is recorded as happening on the 14th of July, 1482. Against the east wall of the transept is a large stone monument in the style of the early part of the seventeenth century, with effigies of a Goddard, his wife, three sons, and one daughter, all represented kneeling; above, on a shield, the arms of Goddard of Upham quartering, apparently, Goddard of East Woodhay. This monument is believed to commemorate Thomas Goddard, who died 1597, and his second wife. Above the monument is an old helmet suspended by iron brackets let into the wall but so high up that I was not able to examine it.

1 The date, 1609, given in Wilts Arch. Mag., vol. xi., p. 340, is apparently a mistake.

The handsome Jacobean pulpit of wood, which stands against the north pier of the chancel arch, was brought here from Speen, when that Church underwent restoration in 1860.

We now come to the chancel; the three-light east window is modern, but one of the two single-light Early English windows on either side is old, and the other a restoration. Against the north wall is an altar-tomb bearing an incised slab; the inscription which runs round the edge of the slab has been much mutilated. I have been told that a workman rested a ladder on the slab when the new roof was placed on the chancel, and so caused the damage. This incised slab is undoubtedly the finest specimen of this class of memorial to be found in Wiltshire, and represents John Stone, Vicar of Aldbourne, who died in 15-. A John Stone was collated to the stall of Axford, in Salisbury Cathedral, in 1509, but resigned it two years later, when he accepted the stall of Warminster, which in turn he gave up for the stall of Chardstock in 1517; in 1524 we hear of him for the last time as holding the stall of Fordington. The effigy on the slab is that of a priest fully vested, his head resting on a richly-worked cushion, having heavy tassels at three of its corners, his hands supporting a chalice, the bowl of which is unusually large.

On the floor close by this monument is a small brass to Henry Frekylton, chaplain of a chantry in the Church, who died the 10th of September, 1508, the symbols of his priestly office—the book of the gospels and a chalice—are depicted on separate pieces of metal let into the stone slab; the bowl of the chalice has been wrenched off and taken away.

Cut into the south wall is a square-headed aumbry.

The eastern pier of the arch between the chancel and the north chapel is pierced by a double squint which enabled both the people worshipping and the priest serving at the side altar to see the high altar. In this chapel, which was of old used by the Guild or Fraternity of "Our Lady in Aldbourne," immediately under the double squint just described, is a piscina, the bowl of which is destroyed.

In the angle made by the north and east walls is a niche for the figure of the patron saint; beneath the bracket are carved three

roses having four outer and four inner petals. Against the north wall is the somewhat singularly adorned tomb with demi-effigies of Edward Walronde, who died in 1617, aged 96, and of his brother William, who died in 1614, aged 84. The tomb is surmounted by the crest of the family; beneath, on a shield are the arms with supporters.

The Waldron's or Walronde's old house is said to have been burnt down. In the present Vicarage house, styled "The Court House," there was held in 1669 one of the largest conventicles in Wiltshire, Mr. Christopher Fowler, Mr. Burges, formerly of Collingbourne Ducis, and Mr. Hughes, formerly of St. Mary, Marlborough, all being non-conformist ministers, gathered to hear them every Sunday and Thursday some three hundred of the townsfolk and neighbours.

The rood-screen which divided the chancel from the nave has long since disappeared, but the upper doorway, through which access was obtained to the loft, remains, though now walled up, in the north pier of the chancel arch above the pulpit.

A screen made up of old portions of woodwork has been placed across the entrance to the south chapel from the transept. This chapel is now used as a vestry and organ-chamber, and contains the memorial slab of a former Vicar.

The earliest register dates from 1637.

The fine western tower contains a peal of eight bells. Two are pre-Reformation bells, and bear the following inscriptions. On the one;-"Stella Maria maris : succurre: pusima: nobis"; on the other:-"Intonat: de: celis: vor: campane: Michælis: Deus: propicius: esto: a't'abus: Richardi : Godard: quondam: de: Upham: Elizabeth: et Elizabeth: uxorum: eius: ac: a't'abus: o'ï'm: liberorum: et: parentum: suornm: qui: hane: campanam: fieri : fecerunt: anno: D'ni: mecccerbi." A hand-bell, bearing this inscription :-"O Mater Dei memento met. 3. Begoten molt," was found in the walls of an old house at Aldbourne in 1854, and was carefully preserved by W. Brown, Esq.

The present clock face was fixed on the tower in the Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

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