Read Ebook: Repton and its neighbourhood by Hipkins F C Frederick Charles

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Ebook has 835 lines and 55827 words, and 17 pages

For two years he applied himself to the study of sacred and monastic literature.

The virtues of a hermit's life attracted him, and he determined to adopt it, so, in the autumn of 696, he again set out in search of a suitable place, and soon lost himself among the fens, not far from Gronta--which has been identified with Grantchester, near Cambridge--here, a bystander, named Tatwine, mentioned a more remote island named Crowland, which many had tried to inhabit, but, owing to monsters, &c., had failed to do so. Hither Guthlac and Tatwine set out in a punt, and, landing on the island, built a hut over a hole made by treasure seekers, in which Guthlac settled on St. Bartholomew's Day, vowed to lead a hermit's life. Many stories are related, by Felix, of his encounters with evil spirits, who tried to turn him away from the faith, or drive him away from their midst.

Of course the miraculous element abounds all through the narrative, chiefly connected with his encounters with evil spirits, whom he puts to flight, delivering those possessed with them from their power. So great was his fame, bishops, nobles, and kings, visit him, and Eadburgh, Abbess of Repton, daughter of Aldulph, King of East Angles, sent him a shroud, and a coffin of Derbyshire lead, for his burial, which took place on the 11th of April, A.D. 714.

The first cartoon, the left half of which is wanting, is a picture of Guthlac and his companions asleep, clad in chain armour.

The 2nd. Guthlac takes leave of his companions.

The 3rd. Guthlac is kneeling between bishop Headda, and the abbess, in Repton abbey. The bishop is shearing off Guthlac's hair.

The 4th. Guthlac, Tatwine, and an attendant are in a boat with a sail, making their way back to the island of Crowland.

The 5th. Guthlac, with two labourers, is building a chapel.

The 6th. Guthlac, seated in the completed chapel, receives a visit from an angel, and his patron saint Bartholomew.

The 7th. Guthlac is borne aloft over the Chapel by five demons, three of whom are beating him with triple-thonged whips. Beccelm, his companion, is seated inside the Chapel, in front of the altar, on which is placed a chalice.

The 8th. Guthlac, with a nimbus of sanctity round his head, has been borne to the jaws of hell, by the demons, and is rescued by St. Bartholomew, who gives a whip to Guthlac.

The 9th. The cell of Guthlac is surrounded by five demons, in various hideous shapes. He has seized one, and is administering a good thrashing with his whip.

The 10th. Guthlac expels a demon from the mouth of Egga, a follower of the exiled AEthelbald.

The 11th. Guthlac, kneeling before bishop Headda, is ordained a priest.

The 12th. King AEthelbald visits Guthlac, both are seated, and Guthlac is speaking words of comfort to him.

The 13th. Guthlac is lying ill in his oratory, Beccelm is kneeling in front of him listening to his voice.

The 14th. Guthlac is dead, two angels are in attendance, one receiving the soul, "anima", as it issues from his mouth. A ray of light stretches from heaven down to the face of the saint.

The 15th. Beccelm and an attendant in a boat, into which Pega, sister of Guthlac, is stepping on her way to perform the obsequies of her brother.

The 16th. Guthlac, in his shroud, is being placed in a marble sarcophagus by Pega and three others, one of whom censes the remains.

The 17th. Guthlac appears to King AEthelbald.

The 18th. Before an altar stand thirteen principal benefactors of Crowland Abbey. Each one, beginning with King AEthelbald, carries a scroll on which is inscribed their name, and gift.

The Abbey of Crowland was built, and flourished till about the year 870, when the Danes burnt it down, four years later they destroyed Repton.

Guthlaxton Hundred in the southern part of Leicestershire, and four churches, dedicated to him, retain his name. The remains of a stone at Brotherhouse, bearing his name, and a mouldering effigy, in its niche on the west front of the ruins of Crowland Abbey, are still to be seen. His "sanctus bell" was at Repton, and as we shall see, in the account of the Priory, acquired curative powers for headache.

ST. WYSTAN.

Wystan was the son of Wimund, son of Wiglaf, King of Mercia, his mother's name was Elfleda. Wimund died of dysentery during his father's life-time, and was buried in Crowland Abbey, and, later on, his wife was laid by his side. When the time came for Wystan to succeed to the crown, he refused it, "wishing to become an heir of a heavenly kingdom. Following the example of his Lord and master, he refused an earthly crown, exchanging it for a heavenly one," and committed the kingdom to the care of his mother, and to the chief men of the land. But his uncle Bertulph conspired against him, "inflamed with a desire of ruling, and with a secret love for the queen-regent." A council was assembled at a place, known from that day to this, as Wistanstowe, in Shropshire, and to it came Bertulph and his son Berfurt. Beneath his cloak Berfurt had concealed a sword, and , whilst giving a kiss of peace to Wystan, drew it and smote him with a mortal wound on his head, and so, on the eve of Pentecost, in the year 849, "that holy martyr leaving his precious body on the earth, bore his glorious soul to heaven. The body was conveyed to the Abbey of Repton, and buried in the mausoleum of his grandfather, with well deserved honour, and the greatest reverence. For thirty days a column of light, extending from the spot where he was slain to the heavens above, was seen by all those who dwelt there, and every year, on the day of his martyrdom, the hairs of his head, severed by the sword, sprung up like grass." Over the spot a church was built to which pilgrims were wont to resort, to see the annual growth of the hair.

The remains of St. Wystan rested at Repton till the days of Canute , when he caused them to be transferred to Evesham Abbey, "so that in a larger and more worthy church the memory of the martyr might be held more worthily and honourably." In the year 1207 the tower of Evesham Abbey fell, smashing the presbytery and all it contained, including the shrine of St. Wystan. The monks took the opportunity of inspecting the relics, and to prove their genuineness, which some doubted, subjected them to a trial by fire, the broken bones were placed in it, and were taken out unhurt and unstained. The Canons of Repton hearing of the disaster caused by the falling tower, begged so earnestly for a portion of the relics, that the Abbot Randulph granted them a portion of the broken skull, and a piece of an arm bone. The bearers of the sacred relics to Repton were met by a procession of prior, canons, and others, over a mile long, and with tears of joy they placed them, "not as before in the mausoleum of his grandfather, but in a shrine more worthy, more suitable, and as honourable as it was possible to make it," in their Priory church, where they remained till it was dissolved in the year 1538.

In memory of St. Wystan, the first Parish Church of Repton was dedicated to him, as we shall see in our account of Repton Church.

REPTON CHURCH.

The double string-course is terminated by the responds. There were recesses in each of the walls of the crypt. In the wall of the west recess there is a small arch, opening into a smaller recess, about 18 inches square. Many suggestions have been made about it: it was a "holy hole" for the reception of relics, or a opening in which a lamp could be kept lit, or that it was used as a kind of "hagioscope," through which the crypt could be seen from the nave of the church, when the chancel floor was higher, and the nave floor lower than they are now.

There are two passages to the church, about two feet wide and ten feet high, made from the western angles of the crypt.

A doorway was made, on the north side, with steps leading down to it, from the outside, during the thirteenth century; there is a holy water stoup in the wall, on the right hand as you enter the door.

For many years it has been a matter of dispute how far the recesses in the crypt, on the east, north, and south sides, extended. Excavations just made , have exposed the foundations of the recesses. The recess on the south side is rectangular, not apsidal as some supposed, it projects 2 ft. 2 in. from the surface of the wall, outside, and is 6 ft. 2 in. wide. About two feet below the ground level, two blocks of stone were discovered, , two feet apart, they rest on a stone foundation. The inside corners are chamfered off. On a level with the stone foundation, to the south of it, are two slabs under which a skeleton was seen, whose it was, of course, cannot be said. The present walls across the recesses, on the south and east, block them half up, and were built in later times.

The recess on the east end was destroyed when a flight of stone steps was made leading down to the crypt. These steps are single, roughly made stones of varied length, resting on the earth, without mortar. When the flight was complete there would have been twelve, reaching from the top to the level of the crypt floor.

The steps would afford an easier and quicker approach to the crypt and church, but when they were made cannot now be said.

The recess on the north side was also destroyed when the outer stairway, and door, were placed there, probably, as before stated, in the thirteenth century. On the outside surface of the three walls, above the ground level, are still to be seen traces of the old triangular-shaped roofs which covered the three recesses, and served as buttresses to the walls. Similar "triangular arches" are to be seen at Barnack, and Brigstock.

The eastern end of the north aisle is the only portion of the ancient transepts above the ground level. During the restorations in 1886 the foundations of the Anglo-Saxon nave were laid bare, they extend westward up to and include the base of the second pier; the return of the west-end walls was also discovered, extending about four feet inwards.

Over the chancel arch the removal of many coats of whitewash revealed an opening, with jambs consisting of long and short work; a similar opening to the north of it used to exist, it is now blocked up.

The tower and steeple were finished in the year 1340. Basano, in his Church Notes, records the fact--"An? 1320 ?40. The tower steeple belonging to the Prior's Church of this town was finished and built up, as appears by a Scrole in Lead, having on it these words--"Turris adaptatur qua traiect? decoratur. M c ter xx bis. Testu Palini Johis."

A groined roof of stone, having a central aperture, through which the bells can be raised and lowered, separates the lower part of the tower from the belfry.

The north and south aisles were extended to the present width. The eastern end of the south aisle was also enlarged several feet to the south and east, and formed a chapel or chantry, as some say, for the Fyndernes, who were at one time Lords of the Repton Manor. A similar, but smaller, chapel was at the east end of the north aisle, and belonged to the Thacker family. They were known as the "Sleepy Quire," and the "Thacker's Quire." Up to the year 1792 they were separated by walls in order to make them more comfortable, and less draughty! These walls were removed in 1792, when "a restoration" took place.

The square-headed south window of the "Fynderne Chapel" composed of four lights, with two rows of trefoil and quatrefoil tracery in its upper part, is worthy of notice as a good specimen of this style, and was probably inserted about the time of the completion of the tower and spire. The other windows in the church of one, two, three, and four lights, are very simple examples of this period, and, like the chancel arch, have very little pretensions to architectural merit, in design at least.

The high-pitched roof of the earlier church was lowered--the pitch is still indicated by the string-course on the eastern face of the tower--the walls over the arcades were raised several feet from the string-course above the arches, and the present roof placed thereon. It is supported by eight tie-beams, with ornamented spandrels beneath, and wall pieces which rest on semi-circular corbels on the north side, and semi-octagonal corbels on the south side. The space above the tie-beams, and the principal rafters is filled with open work tracery. Between the beams the roof is divided into six squares with bosses of foliage at the intersections of the rafters.

The south porch, with its high pitched roof, and vestry, belongs to this period. It had a window on either side, and was reached from the south aisle by a spiral staircase .

In the year 1779 the crypt was "discovered" in a curious way. Dr. Prior, Headmaster of Repton School, died on June 16th of that year, a grave was being made in the chancel, when the grave-digger suddenly disappeared from sight: he had dug through the vaulted roof, and so fell into the crypt below! In the south-west division of the groined roof, a rough lot of rubble, used to mend the hole, indicates the spot.

The crypt seems to have been used as a receptacle for "all and various" kinds of "rubbish" during the restoration, for, in the year 1802, Dr. Sleath found it nearly filled up, as high as the capitals, with portions of ancient monuments, grave-stones, &c., &c. In the corner, formed by north side of the chancel and east wall of the north aisle, a charnel, bone, or limehouse had been placed in the Middle Ages: this house was being cleaned out by Dr. Sleath's orders, when the workmen came upon the stone steps leading down to the crypt, following them down they found the doorway, blocked up by "rubbish," this they removed, and restored the crypt as it is at the present day.

During the years 1842 and 1848 galleries in the north and south aisles, extending from the west as far as the third pillars, were erected.

In 1854, the two round arches and pillars, on either side of the eastern end of the nave, were removed, and were replaced by the present pointed arches and hexagonal piers, for, as before stated, the sake of uniformity! Thus an interesting portion belonging to the ancient church was destroyed. The illustration opposite was copied from a drawing done, in the year 1847, by G. M. Gorham, then a pupil in the school, now Vicar of Masham, Bedale. To him our thanks are due for allowing me to copy it. It shows what the church was like in his time, 1847.

In 1885 the last restoration was made, when the Rev. George Woodyatt was Vicar. The walls were scraped, layers of whitewash were removed, the pews, galleries, &c., were removed, the floor of the nave lowered to its proper level, a choir was formed by raising the floor two steps, as far west as the second pier, the organ was placed in the chantry at the east end of the south aisle. The floor of nave and aisles was paved with wooden blocks, the choir with encaustic tiles. The whole church was re-pewed with oak pews, and "the choir" with stalls, and two prayer desks. A new pulpit was given in memory of the Rev. W. Williams, who died in 1882. The "Perpendicular roof" was restored to its original design: fortunately there was enough of the old work left to serve as models for the repair of the bosses, &c. The clerestory windows on the south side were filled with "Cathedral" glass. The splendid arch at the west end was opened.

Since that restoration, stained glass windows have been placed in all the windows of the north aisle by Messrs. James Powell and Sons, Whitefriars Glass Works, London; the one in the south aisle is also by them. The outside appearance of the church roof was improved by the addition of an embattled parapet, the roof itself was recovered with lead.

In 1896 all the bells were taken down, by Messrs. John Taylor, of Loughborough, and were thoroughly examined and cleansed, two of them, the 5th and 6th , were re-cast, .

The only part of the church not restored is the chancel, and we hope that the Lord of the Manor, Sir Vauncey Harpur-Crewe, Bart., will, some day, give orders for its careful, and necessary restoration.

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