OXFORDSHIRE: DERBYSHIRE: NOTTINGHAMSHIRE: WORCESTERSHIRE

DORCHESTER: DALE: NEWSTEAD: EVESHAM
DORCHESTER (Augustine Canons)

635, St Birinus, sent to Britain by Pope Honorius, converts Cynegils, King of the west Saxons; is consecrated Bishop of Dorchester, and builds many churches in the district—After the Conquest, William the Conqueror gives the Bishopric of Dorchester to Remigus, a monk of Feschamp in Normandy—1140, Monastery founded by Alexander, third Bishop of Lincoln, for Augustine Canons—1205, King John visits the abbey-1300, South choir aisle added—The monks extend the chancel—1330, South aisle of nave added and used as the parish church—c. 1400, East end added—15—, Dissolved—East end of the church purchased by a relation of the last abbot for ￡140, to prevent its being pulled down and used for building purposes. Annual revenue, ￡677, 1s. 2d.

THE illustrious pile of Dorchester Church stands on the northern bank of the gently flowing river Frome. From the east end of the building the land slants rapidly down to the river side, whilst on either side of the body of the church is pleasant meadow land—the former site, probably, of the conventual buildings. All that remains of these is the guest house to the west of the church. The old Saxon cathedral, used now as the parish church of a country town, is an irregular building, and consists of a nave (Norman) with a south aisle—once used by the monks as their parish church, and containing an altar raised upon three deep steps above which is a blocked-up window—choir (Decorated), having a perfect east window{140} with a protruding central shaft, and also a “Jesse” window on the north side; south choir aisle, in which are two chapels, recently repaired by Sir Gilbert Scott; north choir aisle (part of which is probably Norman work, having a walled-up door to the west—formerly the entrance to the cloisters); a western tower, low and massive in structure and partly Norman work; and lastly, a Perpendicular porch on the south-west angle of the building. Undoubtedly the east end of the church is the most strikingly beautiful part of the edifice.

Exquisite stained glass, and perfect carving of the stone-work in the windows, graceful daintiness of the architecture, costly embroideries and delicate laces on the altars, are among the many beauties of this old abbey church. The “Jesse” window mentioned above is unique. It is of four lights and has intersecting tracery above.

“The centre mullion represents a trunk of a tree with branches ornamented with foliage crossing over the other mullions to the outside jambs. At the foot of the tree is the recumbent figure of Jesse, and at each intersection is a sculptured figure, while others are painted on the glass between; the whole forming a complete genealogical tree of the House of David. The effigy of the King is at the bottom right hand corner, but those representing our Lord and the Virgin Mary have both disappeared. The figures are very quaint and of various sizes; some of those painted in the window still have their names beneath, while most of the others in stone-work have scrolls on which the name was once painted.”—Henry W. Taunt, Esq.

The canopied sedilia and double piscina on the south wall of the chancel are both beautiful specimens of early work—the stained glass in the former being the oldest in the building. Many interesting monuments remain, including several stone effigies of knights; a judge of great note; and of ?schwine, Bishop of Dorchester, 979-1002. Monumental brasses{141} too were formerly very plentiful, but, with a few exceptions, have been either ruthlessly destroyed or stolen for money-making purposes at various times. That of Sir Richard Bewfforest, Abbot of Dorchester (1510), dressed as an Augustine canon, lies near the chancel rails on the north side. He was one of the last abbots of the monastery. There is also part of a once magnificent brass to Sir John Drayton, 1417, a portion of another to “William Tanner, Richard Bewfforest and their wife Margaret” (1513), and one of a female figure belonging to “Robert Bedford and Alice his wife” (1491). Only a few shields of other brasses remain, but to the antiquarian the casements of these beautiful memorials contain much that is interesting, showing as they do the diverse and unique character these lost monuments once possessed. Six of the Dorchester bells bear many signs of great antiquity and two more have recently been added. The tradition connected with the former is, that
“Within the sound of the great bell
No snake nor adder e’er shall dwell,”

and is attributed to the belief that Birinus was “stung to death with snakes.”
DALE (Augustine and Pr?monstratensian Canons)

1160, Founded by Augustine Canons—Dedicated to the Virgin Mary—Twice refounded for monks of the Pr?monstratensian order—1539, Dissolved.

As so little is standing of this religious establishment, a few words will describe its chief features. The ruins consist only of the arch of the great east window of the chapel, some foundations, bases of pillars and various other relics. The chapel, consisting of nave and chancel, is supposed to have been built, together with the house—now a farm-house peculiarly situated under the same roof as the chapel—by Ralph, the son{142} of Geremund, for a poor hermit whom he found living in a forest cave (the cell can still be seen) close by. Subsequently Serle de Grendon invited canons from Kalke, who came then to Deepdale and established the monastery. Many privileges and immunities were granted to them by the church authorities in Rome, and the abbey was visited at different times by persons of all ranks, some of whom became benefactors to the house.

Howitt, in his Forest Minstrel, sketches the history of Dale and the conduct of its inmates thus—
“The devil one night as he chanced to sail
In a wintry wind by the abbey of Dale
Suddenly stopped and looked with surprise
That a structure so fair in that valley should rise.
When last he was there it was lonely and still
And the hermitage scooped in the side of a hill
With its wretched old inmate his beads a-telling
Were all he found of life, dweller, or dwelling.
The hermit was seen in the rock no more;
The nettle and dock had sprung up at the door;
And each window the fern and the harts’ tongue hung o’er,
Within ’twas dampness and nakedness all;
The Virgin, as fair and holy a block
As ever yet stood in the niche of a rock,
Had fallen to the earth, and was broke in the fall.
The holy cell’s ceiling, in idle hour
When haymakers sought it to ’scape from the shower
Was scored by their forks in a thousand scars—
Wheels and crackers, ovals and stars.
But by the brook in the valley below
St Mary of Dale! what a lordly show!
The abbey’s proud arches and windows bright
Glittered and gleamed in the full moonlight.”

But that later corruption set in among these Augustine monks is evident, for Howitt continues that the monks
“Forsook missal and mass
To chant o’er a bottle or shrive a lass;{143}
No matins bell called them up in the morn,
But the yell of the hounds and the sound of the horn;
No penance the monk in his cell could stay
But a broken leg or a rainy day.”

They were then expelled from Deepdale and Pr?monstratensian monks soon filled their place. John Staunton, last abbot, with 16 monks surrendered the abbey in 1539. A full account of the history of this monastic house was written by one of the monks, and through these manuscripts more particulars can be learned of this abbey than of any other in Derby.
NEWSTEAD (Augustine Canons)

1170, Founded by Henry II.—1540, Dissolved. Annual revenue, ￡167, 16s. 11d.—Demesne granted to Sir John Byron, Lieut. of Sherwood Forest, by Henry VIII.—1818, Sold to Colonel Wildman, who enlarges and restores the abbey.—Again restored.

Just as Buckland Abbey possesses more than an ordinary interest in that it became the home of Sir Francis Drake after the Dissolution, so Newstead Abbey boasts a dual attraction. For besides being imbued with the romance and legendary lore inseparable from monastic houses, it came, after the Dissolution of the monasteries, into the possession of the Byron family, and, passing into the hands of the first Lord Byron (1643), then to the “wicked” Lord Byron (1722-98), it eventually became the home of Lord Byron the poet. Most picturesquely placed on the borders of Sherwood Forest, the Newstead Abbey of to-day takes more the form of a private residence than of a monastic ruin. Its undulating and beautifully wooded grounds, containing two sheets of water, extend over many acres. Very little is known of the early history of the abbey beyond the fact that Henry II. built and endowed it in expiation of the murder of Thomas à Becket, and that King John extended his patronage{144} to the house. The modern attraction that Newstead possesses dates from its coming into the hands of the Byrons. The first owner, Sir John Byron, known as “Little John with the great beard,” adapted a portion of the monastic buildings to a private residence, and in the reign of Charles I. the south aisle of the church was converted into a library and reception room.

With the exception of the exceedingly beautiful west front of Early English workmanship, the rest of the church has been allowed to fall into decay. The house itself, so greatly enriched by the poet Byron, is made up of the various monastic offices. The present grand dining-room was once the refectory of the monks, while the original guest chamber, with its grand vaulting, is now converted into the servants’ dining-hall, and the old dormitory into a drawing-room. No alteration has been made in Byron’s arrangements of the abbot’s apartments. Several rooms are still named after the English monarchs who have at various times slept in them. The chapter-house—a building of remarkable beauty to the east of the cloisters—is now used as a chapel for the convenience of the household and tenantry. Within can be seen some richly stained glass and other features of interest. Newstead passed at Byron’s death into the possession of his friend and colleague Colonel Wildman, who greatly restored it. Sir Richard Phillips, in his Personal Tour, relates that—

“Colonel Wildman was a schoolfellow in the same form as Lord Byron at Harrow School. In adolescence they were separated at college, and in manhood by their pursuits; but they lived in friendship. If Lord Byron was constrained by circumstances to allow Newstead to be sold, the fittest person living to become its proprietor was his friend ............