Patrixbourne Church Medieval Patronage Fabric and History

PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE, FABRIC AND HISTORY MARY BERG This study explores the medieval history of St Mary's church, Patrixbourne (Plate I), including the development of the fabric, its decoration, its patronage and its links with Normandy. The wealth of Romanesque decoration on its south door and at the east end, together with the siting of the tower mid-way along the narrow south aisle, make it an unusual monument and one that merits attention. It would have been particularly helpful if the nineteenth-century restorers and the builders of the north aisle had recorded what they found before they started their work. Sadly, this is not the case. The first questions are why such an important monument was built in a small village in the first place, at whose instigation and who might have paid for it. Documentary evidence is limited in the extreme. It is known that the church was given to a priory near Rouen around 1200 and that it seems to have been complete at that time. 1 The church was sold to Merton Priory in Surrey during the Hundred Years' War, but surviving records provide only scant additional information.2 Concerning its earliest phases there is only silence. It seems that Patrixbourne was never a dependency of Christ Church, Canterbury or of St Augustine's Abbey, despite its proximity. This then raises the issues of the exact date of the fabric, the sequence of building, and whether the decoration is contemporary with the building. The surviving medieval work is concentrated into two phases; the first as carried out in the twelfth century, and the second in the fifteenth. Exact dates are, however, elusive: the only direct evidence is the fabric itself. The presence of Caen stone indicates postConquest work and the decoration of the south door provides opportunities for comparison with other Romanesque sculpture and other media in England which have been explored by previous commentators such as Kahn. However, the very unusual position of the tower and the wheel window at the east end immediately presents difficulties in finding parallels. 113 MARY BERG PLATE I Patrixbourne church The Patrick Family While there is on ly very limited documentary evidence for the church. there is a rich and previously unexplored fund available on the history of the Patrick family from which the village derives its name. Because the relevance of this material has not been appreciated before, it receives particular emphasis here and has led to further enquiry in Normandy. The first known documentary record of a church at Patrixbourne is a bare mention in Domesday Book; there were al so earl ier. Anglo- 114 PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE, FABRIC & HISTORY Saxon burials nearby. 3 The incorporation of stone worked in pre-Conquest fashion in the present building has led some writers, for example, Newman and Kahn, to contend that the pre-Conquest church at Patrixbourne was built of stone as opposed to wood. Given the existence of other small stone churches in east Kent before I 066, this seems plausible. Domesday Book records that Richard, son of William,4 held Patrixbourne from Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and half-brother of William the Conqueror. After that, as Sanders records, the manor was held by the Patrick family who came from La Lande-Patry, near Fiers in the Calvados region of Normandy (Map 1). William Patrick's name appears on deeds in Normandy in the period I 066-83, and Richard was almost certainly his son. 5 The heir to William Patrick I's possessions in Normandy, according to Surville [ 1906], was Raoul whose heir was William Patrick II. A William Patrick (probably II) was mentioned in the reign of Henry I ( 1100-35) and held Patrixbourne by 1115: 6 presumably the same as mentioned in the reign of King Stephen ( 1135-54) as holding Patrixbourne, according to Sanders. His heir was William Patrick III who died in 1174 leaving four sons. The eldest son, William Patrick IV, also died in that year and was succeeded by his brother Ingelram Patrick who died in 1190/1, leaving no male heirs, but two married daughters, Maud and Joan. The Patrick family was 'one of the most ancient and the most illustrious in Normandy' with its origins in La Lande-Patry and a large number of other fiefdoms in the area, according to Surville [1906). The site of the Patrick castle at La Lande-Patry is still visible today, although nothing remains of the building.7 There was a twelfth-century church nearby until the late nineteenth century. Framed photocopies displayed in the entrance porch of the present church show reproductions of two drawings of the church as it was in the early nineteenth century without a roof but with a Romanesque chancel arch. According to Surville [ 1913], William Patrick I was not at first a supporter of Duke William of Normandy but underwent a change of heart to fight alongside him at Hastings. Like many Normans who helped Duke William, it seems that William Patrick I was rewarded with tenancies in England, including Patrixbourne. 8 William I witnessed a charter in Normandy in 1082, and in I 107 and 1129 William Patrick II witnessed records of lawsuits in Caen and Argentan. 9 Surville [ 1906] records that William Patrick III took part in one of the rebellions against Henry II, King of England and Duke of Normandy, during the tumultuous period 1171-74. He was probably among the group of Norman barons and bishops that Henry met on 17 115 la Lande Patcy MARY BERG • CAEN • Cintheaux • FaJaise • Fiers CANTERBURY• Preaux Map I Kent and Normandy showing the main locations mentioned in the text. May 1172 close to La Lande-Patry. 10 Despite his participation in the rebellion and subsequent imprisonment, no evidence has been found that any of his property, either in Normandy or in England, was forfeit. Surville [ 1906] states that the Patrick family either founded priories or donated land to existing ecclesiastical establishments in the area around La Lande-Patry, but it was not only in Normandy that 116 PATRJXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE, FABRIC & HJSTORY PLATE II The Patrick seal from a charter from 1174-90 (Canterbury Cathedral Archives DCc/Ch Ant P40). Reproduced with the kind permission of the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury the Patricks demonstrated their piety. There are two undated charters relating to the gift by In gel ram Patrick ( 1174-1190/1) of rent received from the tenant of Patrixbourne mill to the monks of Christ Church. 11 The first charter was witnessed by, amongst others, Normans from Caen and Falaise. This first charter also has Jngelram 's seal attached, fortunately in a remarkably good state of preservation (Plate 11), and clearly that of a man of substance. 12 lngelram's daughter Maud married Ralph Tesson, seneschal of Normandy, and he became lord of La Lande-Patry on the death of his 117 MARY BERG father-in-law. Tesson was visited at La Lande-Patry by King John on April 3, 1203 on his way to Bonneville-sur-Touque. Presumably, King John hoped, but failed, to persuade Tesson to support him in his struggle to retain Normandy. In 1208 Tes son's estates in England, including Patrixbourne, were awarded to Geoffrey de Say. 13 It is clear that Joan Patrick received the church and its manor because when she married Jean de Preaux he gave the church and its income to the priory he founded at Beaulieu, near Preaux. 14 It is not known exactly when Jean de Preaux gave the holdings acquired as a result of his marriage to Beaulieu, but it would seem reasonable to assume that he did not live at Patrixbourne. The Fabric Both Kahn and Tatton-Brown cite as evidence of an earlier, probably eleventh-century building, the saddle-shaped block which forms the head of the small window on the south side of the west wall and the roughly laid herring-bone masonry, also in the west wall. 15 Among the other churches in east Kent with surviving remnants of preConquest fabric, Whitfield provides a particularly interesting comparison because it is relatively unaltered. 16 The exterior of the west end of the Whitfield nave is of similar proportions to that at Patrixbourne, although like Patrixbourne it is clad in flint so that not much actual evidence is visible. With the exception of the north aisle, the plan of Patrixbourne church today is, at first glance, probably much as it was at the end of the twelfth century (Fig. 1). The main changes in the view from the south are the later spire, the existence of the Bifrons chapel 17 and the creation of a ridge roof over both the chapel and the remains of the south aisle to the west. 18 The chapel was probably added some time after the twelfth century and is a re-building of the south aisle between the tower and the chancel. The overall length of the nave and the chancel and the position of the porch, however, are unchanged. The twelfth-century church was fundamentally a two-cell building, but with the addition of a narrow south aisle. The latter feature is unusual and may, as Kahn surmises, have originally been a way of incorporating - or making full use of - the floor plan of an earlier church. The two cells consist of a nave that is longer, wider and taller than the chancel giving the appearance of two boxes, one of which would fit inside the other. Many such two-cell churches were built in east Kent and in Normandy in the twelfth century. The examples from Normandy are often larger than those in Kent and are probably slightly older. A few, 118 PATRIXBOURNE CHURCtl MU>ll:VAL PATRONAGE, FABRIC & HISTORY PLATE Ill Cin1hcaux church \Uch as Thaon and Cintheaux near Cacn (Plate Ill). are distingui,hed by arcades with round arches around the upper levels of the exterior-. of both the chancel and nave. If there are thus plentiful paralleh for Patrixboume·s general design, the position of the tower midway along the south aisle, by contrast, is very unusual, and no contemporary example has been identified in cast Kent or in Normandy. Indeed. a door in that position is uncommon. Main entrances are u􀁘ually placed closer to the west end of the nave in England or at the west end in ormaody. 19 In England where are there are south doors at the west end of the nave. there are often north doors on the opposite c;ide of the nave. :?O The general appearance of the west end of the church has changed since the twelfth century, not least because of the addition of a large window in the upper part of the wall. It seems that there may have been a west door at some time because it looks as if a space below the 119 N 0 \1115 V/14- Wl3 • --------1-- ---------i...1-----liliif- - --- ------1111!1------ ------􀀖- - ----􀀗- ------ •-------■------------- --- -- - ---- ----- --- --- --------, I WB 'd/7 W9 llVfR W6 II \ Fig. I Plan of St Mary's Patrixboume. (Diagrammatic only and not to scale: measured drawings a,e shown in Livett I 909 and Rigold 1969.) PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE, FABRIC & HISTORY window has been filled in, but it is not possible to be certain on the basis of either external or internal evidence, according to TattonBrown. The central part of the nave is probably still of approximately the original proportions but the roof level has been raised. The later north aisle is clearly seen from the west and the large window in the centre of the main nave is post-twelfth century. The flint cladding hides a great deal, but it is just possible to make out some quoins which Newman and Kahn both believe to be pre-Conquest. At the west end of the south aisle there is a small round-headed window which appears on stylistic grounds to date from the twelfth century. It seems to have been restored and, possibly, reset. There are two round-headed windows in the south wall of the chancel, one close to the nave and one in the sanctuary,21 with a small door between them at the nave end. Small doors in the chancel were quite common in English churches of this period, 22 but are less common in twelfth-century churches in France. However, there is a similar door in the south wall of the chancel at Cintheaux which also has doors into the south and north of the nave and no west door. The south portal is, as already mentioned, below the tower, in line with the centre of the nave. This unusual position means that the congregation, once through the entrance area under the tower, is immediately almost in the middle of the main body of the church. The general form of the portal is reminiscent of twelfth-century churches in Normandy and elsewhere in France - where, however, the main entrance is usually at the west end. Patrixbourne's tower looks square but is in fact a little broader than it is deep. There is a string-course just above the present roof level and a round opening in each side above the string-course. Although he does not mention Patrixbourne specifically, Rigold suggests that towers in a lateral position were often to be found in France but rarely in England except in Kent. He also writes, 'Stone towers may collapse but in poor parishes they are not demolished lightly: they are more likely to be brought up to date, and most unlikely, to be pulled down and not replaced at all'. There is another post-twelfth-century, square-headed window in the south wall of the south aisle to the west of the main door. Below that window and to the left, there are cornerstones that may have supported an earlier window. The north aisle is certainly later but there is a round-headed north door that would seem to pre-date the wall into which it is set. Livett believed that the door was 'Norman', or twelfth-century, and had been removed from 'elsewhere' and set in its present position. He also thought it was originally made for a thicker wall. Certainly the appearance of the door supports this view since it is thicker than the 121 MARY BERG present wall and seems to have been re-built, presumably in the process of moving it and making any necessary repairs. It may have been in the previous north wall of Patrixbourne church. No other twelfth-century features are incorporated in any of the walls of the north aisle. The east end of the chancel also seems largely unchanged since the twelfth century. In the gable there is a decorated wheel window and below it three round-headed lancet windows, with the central window much larger than those on either side. The lancets were reported to have been blocked but reopened in the nineteenth-century restoration to house the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Swiss glass that had already been presented to the church by the first Marchioness of Conyngham as part of the 1849 restoration (as recorded by ScottRobertson). However, some doubt is thrown on the idea that all three had been closed because a central lancet is shown below the wheel window in Charles Clarke's watercolour dating from about 1828 (now in the Victoria and Albert Museum). From both inside and outside the lancets now seem out of scale with the wheel window and, although there is no specific mention in surviving documents of any changes, it is possible that the side lancets were reopened and the central one enlarged in order to accommodate the enamelled glass collection. To complete the tour of the exterior of the church mention must be made of the square-headed, later window at the east end of the Bifrons chapel. All internal walls of Patrixbourne church are now plastered and painted white, but one can speculate that there was painting on the west and north walls as well as in the chancel and around the chancel arch. In the only surviving commentary before the nineteenth-century re-building, Hasted wrote that the church was small and that 'the pillars in it are very large and clumsy, and the arches circular'. Newman is mistaken when he says that the north and south arcades are Scott's work of I 857. First, the north aisle was, according to both Newman and Scott Robertson, added in the mid-1820s and, second, the arch to the west of the tower (now almost hidden by the insertion of an organ in the bay) remains round-headed. It seems likely that the original round-headed arch (or, more likely, arches) between the Bifrons chapel and the nave was replaced when the chapel was added and that the northern arcade was designed to match the Bifrons arches. 23 The dimensions of the chancel are unchanged since the twelfth century, although the floor level seems to have been raised.24 The chancel arch is unchanged and is round-headed, although its shape is now more of a horseshoe than a semi-circle.25 It has cylindrical shafts, and plain capitals and footings. The overall effect is of unexciting but good workmanship. As already mentioned, the only 122 PATRlXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE. FABRIC & HISTORY surviving twelfth-century arcade arch is that at the west end of the south aisle. The arches under the tower present something of a problem as they are not all the same. To the west, there is a low half-arch which seems to date from the time when the roof was lower. The other two arches are tall and pointed and must be later than the twelfth century. Presumably there was a matching half-arch to the east which was replaced when the Bifrons chapel was built and the roof raised (see Livett's plan). Furthermore, it seems that both this arch and the northern arch have been repaired or rebuilt more recently, probably during one of the nineteenth-century restorations. The twelfth-century south portal and wheel window are both decorated and merit more detailed examination. The Patrixbourne south door is often considered together with two other portals in Kent - the south door at Barfreston and the west door at Rochester Cathedral. The twelfth-century sculpture in Kent has been characterised as a 'school' or series, for example by Boase, Stone and Zarnecki. Kahn believes that several groups of craftsmen worked at Rochester Cathedral, Canterbury Cathedral and, possibly, Faversham in the third quarter of the twelfth century and that 'the elaborate decorative styles of the parish churches at Patrixbourne and Barfreston are later examples of the same trend'. She suggests that one team came from Normandy, and that the 'new sculptural style' came from Touraine and northern France. Musset points out that the general form of the doors is similar to some in the Patricks' homeland, although observing that the decoration owes nothing to Normandy but instead is reminiscent of churches in the Loire and the Gironde. There is a decorative triangular gable over the portal with sawtooth edging and a male head at each stop. The head on the left has a beard of the sort found on figures carved in the mid-twelfth century in western France, for example at Souillac. Twelfth-century gables are unusual in southern England but more common in lower Normandy and Ireland. The gable over the west door at St Margaret's at Cliffe is the only other example in Kent, but there are similar gables over both the north and south round-headed portals at Cintheaux and over some round-headed west doors including the churches at Chambois and Meuvaines, also in Lower Normandy. There is then the question of whether or not such gables ever served a useful purpose - for example, to support a small wooden porch or to divert rainwater away from a decorated portal - or whether they were purely decorative. Both the gables in east Kent and those in Normandy are decorated and that may imply that they had no practical purpose. Pointed gables also occur in churches in Ireland dating from the second quarter of the 123 MARY BERG twelfth century, for example Cormac's Chapel at Cashel and Rosecrea. However, they are usually more sharply pointed than those in English and Norman churches. 26 An even more unusual feature of the gable at Patrixbourne is that it contains a round-headed niche in which there is an Agnus Dei - albeit so badly damaged that it is scarcely discernible. The niche is rather out of scale with the gable and it has been viewed as a later addition. In addition to the damage to the niche, much of the figurative sculpture on the tympanum is badly damaged, and there are signs of restoration on the portal as a whole. The best-preserved figures are the non-iconic grotesques (bottom right) and this suggests that the damage may have been a deliberate act during the Civil War, and is not due to weathering. At the height of the iconoclism Puritans attacked the palace built for Archbishop Cranmer at nearby Bekesbourne and it is possible that at least some of the damage to the carved figures at Patrixbourne, including that over the priest's door, may have been done at the same time. There was some repair and restoration of the portal in the nineteenth century, probably when the church was thoroughly restored by Scott in 1849, and further work may have been carried out in the 1939 restoration. Although the tympanum is defaced, there is a consensus that the central figure is Christ and that he is flanked by at least two angels (Plate IV). This is a fairly common motif: other carved Romanesque examples include the groups in the centre of the tympana of the west door at Rochester and the Prior's Door at Ely. Whereas at Rochester there are only two angels and the evangelists' symbols can be clearly seen completing the group, Patrixbourne' s tympanum is now so weathered that it is hard to identify the other figures. In 1882, when the carving may have been in slightly better condition, Scott Robertson wrote: 'The tympanum shews our Lord in majesty; on His right hand are three figures, two of whom seem to be angels; the third kneeling in the corner does not appear t o have wings. On our Lord's left hand, the figures are not easily distinguishable'. It is no longer possible to make out the smaller figures in such detail, but the donor must be a candidate for a kneeling figure without wings at the bottom of the group.27 The lintel is so deep that it almost looks as though the tympanum was conceived as two separate parts. It is divided into three more or less equal parts across its width with pairs of addorsed (back-to-back), winged griffins on each side and what seems to be a seated figure in foliage in the centre. The grotesques are quite clear but the figure is damaged - another possible indicator that the portal was deliberately defaced, as Musset and Kahn believe. The Rochester tympanum is supported by a lintel with sculptures of ten figures.28 124 PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE, FABRIC & HISTORY PLATE IV Patrixbourne south door 125 MARY BERG Like the west portal at Rochester, Patrixbourne's south portal has five orders of voussoirs, though each is different in character and there is also a decorated hood mould, unlike Rochester's which is plain. The ornamentation of the Patrixbourne hood mould, described by Stone as 'new dog-tooth', is difficult to parallel locally.29 The west portals at Rochester and St Margaret's at Cliffe, and the south portal at Barfreston, have nothing comparable. The voussoirs immediately below the hood mould contain twenty-three motifs, twenty-one of which are framed in foliage. The lowest figure on the western side is a grotesque without foliage and the block is half as wide again as the others, which are roughly equal in size. The grotesque is a griffin with the head of a woman or child wearing a bonnet. All but one of the medallion-style motifs are arranged in pairs, each with a similar pattern of foliage in mirror image. Some medallions have been restored and some sculpture appears not to fit into a pattern. The central figures in each pair generally alternate between heads and birds and most of the heads seem to be of men with longish hair and beards. (See Appendix 1.) The portal is of a uniform and familiar style with foliage and grotesques as recurrent themes, with the possible exception of the Agnus Dei. Most writers, like Zarnecki, who have commented in any detail on the sculpture have drawn parallels with examples in western and central France, and most have also seen similarities with the west door at Rochester. However, Stone believes that the tympanum and lintel of the Patrixbourne door bears 'little relation to the new French influence'. Musset suggests that the same team of sculptors was active at Patrixbourne and Barfreston but a comparison of the Patrixbourne, Barfreston and Rochester doors seems to support Kahn's view that there is a much closer relationship between Patrixbourne and Rochester than Patrixbourne and Barfreston. First, the sculpture at Barfreston in general is more delicate and there is greater use of foliage than at either Rochester or Patrixbourne. Second, the voussoir motifs are quite different with signs of the zodiac and labours of the year forming a coherent programme at Barfreston. Finally, although all three tympana feature Christ in Majesty and angels, the style of the Barfreston figures on the voussoirs is rounder and fuller than the others. Musset writes that the south portal is a long way from the austere geometric style, but that is not the case of the priest's door in the south chancel (Plate V). The voussoirs over the narrow door and the lintels are carved with geometric patterns. Only the capitals on the single round column on each side have non-geometric patterns, and these are not figurative but scalloped capitals with what seems to be 126 PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE, FABRlC & HISTORY PLATE V Patrixbourne priest's door 127 MARY BERG some kind of leaf motif. The door was 'stopped' when Glynne visited the church between 1829 and 1840, but it was open again by the end of the nineteenth century. Scott Robertson believed the chancel arch and, possibly, the priest's door pre-dated the south portal and the decoration at the east end. Livett disagreed and no later commentators have dealt with the priest's door in any detail. There are doors in a similar position at Barfreston, Castle Hedingham and Cintheaux (Normandy). The decoration of the doors at Barfreston and Cintheaux is similar in style to our example, but that at Castle Hedingham is rather different. There is a badly degraded figure above the priest's door. The damage is so great that it is not possible to judge whether it is likely to be contemporary with the door itself or not. It was already in poor condition when Hasted saw it towards the end of the eighteenth century, but he thought it may be the Virgin. An alternative view, that the figure is Thomas Becket, has nothing to support it other than that the church is close to Canterbury and the main part of the building dates from around the time of his assassination. Three churches in southern England of a similar size and date have wheel windows, each with eight decorated 'spokes': Patrixbourne and Barfreston in Kent and Castle Hedingham in Essex. The treatment of the inner windows is similar in each case but the surrounds are all different (Plate VI). Each has lancets on a string course below the circular window, but all have been altered over the course of the centuries and so it is not easy to determine how similar they were originally. At Patrixbourne, the window fills the upper part of the gable, and the outer surround is decorated with a simple geometric design and a head at the top. The head is male with a long forked beard and looks as if it has horns. The window at Barfreston does not fill the top of the gable and the outer surround is decorated with grotesques and foliage; there the wheel window is also set above three round-headed lancets, but these are smaller and all of the same height. There is other sculpture around the window but no figures on the outer surround, although at least some of it was probably re-set in the nineteenth century. The Castle Hedingham window is in a plain setting but the window has been extensively repaired and many elements have been replaced, rendering detailed comparison impossible. Its lancets are slightly pointed rather than round-headed, implying that they are of a slightly later date than those of the Kent churches. 30 The similarity between the detail at Patrixbourne and Barfreston is striking. Both have eight cylindrical 'spokes' meeting similar circles in the centre: both have the same sort of cat mask decoration on at least some of the spokes; and both have trefoi I decoration at the outer 128 PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE. FABRIC & HISTORY 129 PLATE VI Wheel windows: Palrixbourne (top) Barfreston (centre) Casile Hedingham (left) MARY BERG rim. There are four cat masks at Patrixbourne and eight at Barfreston, but both windows have been repaired and we cannot be certain how many there were originally.31 These English examples are broadly similar to wheel windows in France but, rather than copies of particular examples, are slightly later free interpretations of them.32 Furthermore, there are no real parallels closer to home. In particular it is worth stressing that there is now nothing in the cathedrals at Canterbury or Rochester, where models have generally been sought, to suggest that either of these buildings actually played such a role in this case. 33 Dating What, then, does the fabric suggest about the dates for Patrixbourne church and its decoration? The form of the building, the surviving round arches and round-headed doors and windows indicate a building of the twelfth century. Political uncertainty in the first half of that century may have inhibited building, although the ci vii war of King Stephen's reign (1135-54) had relatively little impact in Kent. This factor may point to the second half of twelfth century as more likely for the main part of the church at Patrixbourne. This period saw a great deal of building and re-building of churches and cathedrals in England reflecting the growth in prosperity and increased cosmopolitan contact under Henry II. Kahn believes that 1170 is a more realistic date for the church than the later dates of 1200 (Newman) or 1180 (Rigold). Zarnecki gives a date for Patrixbourne of 1180 based on his examination of the sculpture. 34 The decoration was not necessarily carried out at the same time as the building work. However, the relationship between the Patrixbourne south door and the west door at Rochester (thought to date from around 1160), rather than to the rebuilding of Canterbury Cathedral a few years after the fire of 117 4, suggests an earlier rather than a later date for its carving. Although taking the same general shape as the doors in Normandy already mentioned, those churches are generally earlier than the third quarter of the twelfth century.35 A date of between 1170 and 1180 would seem credible for the south portal. The decorative style of this door is close to the earlier styles found in Normandy and, since building often started at the east end and worked towards the west, may have been completed before the south portal. The wheel window presents some difficulty. No dates have been suggested for the window alone and, with the exception of Barfreston, no parallels survive in the area to provide guidance. It is just 130 PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE, FABRIC & HISTORY conceivable that the window was moved from elsewhere, in which case it may predate the rest of the church by some decades, or it may have been added later. There is little to indicate that the window is contemporary with either the priest's door or the south portal, but it may have been made by a different team of workmen. Can our knowledge of the historical context help us to make further headway? During this period the Pa tricks were patrons of the church and held manors in the area. The family was rich and influential enough to have financed the building. The last William Patrick to be lord of the manor of Patrixbourne died in prison in Normandy in 1174 and his heir, Ingelram Patrick, died in 1190/91. There is some evidence that lngelram spent time at Patrixbourne and that he took an interest in Christ Church Priory and so it seems reasonable to assume that he is a strong candidate for principal donor of the church. The church was not dependent on any of the local major ecclesiastical establishments, in particular Christ Church Priory or St Augustine's Abbey. It is likely, therefore, that the twelfth-century building was completed in the period 1170-1190 under the patronage of the Patricks. As noted above, Patrixbourne only remained under the Patrick patronage until about 1200 when the church was given to Beaulieu Priory, near Rouen.36 The church remained with the canons of Beaulieu, with one or two short breaks when it reverted to the English Crown, until the Hundred Years' War. After the loss of Normandy in 1204, the church escheated to the Crown together with all Jean de Preaux's land in England37 and not recovered by Beaulieu Priory until 1207.38 When Joan died in 1215, her land (but not the church and its income because they had been given to Beaulieu) reverted to King John and, like the Tes son holdings, passed into the hands of Geoffrey de Say (according to Sanders). The priory seems to have thrived under the patronage of the Preaux family in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The original Augustinian prior and canons went to Beaulieu from Saint-Lo. There were 15 monks in 1253, and twelve in 1267. In the 1250s the priory suffered at the hands of rebellious peasants, in particular their vines were burned.39 During this difficult time for the priory, in 1258, the right to appoint a priest to the living of Patrixbourne was given by the 􀂐rchbishop of Canterbury to the Prior and Convent of Merton Priory tn Surrey (also Augustinian). This arrangement seems to have been accepted by Beaulieu, although no record of an agreement survives. Merton seems to have taken its responsibilities seriously because in 1297 the Prior of Merton reported to the bishop that it appeared that 'sir William Pyk had given little or nothing towards the repair of the 131 MARY BERG rectory of [Patrix]Bourne as he had agreed and promised; and now either dead or nearly so, and, after his decease without executors, there would be little prospect of settling matters'. According to Heales, the Prior and Convent of Merton presented Brother Peter de Fodryngehe as incumbent at Patrixbourne and he was admitted by two chaplains of the Pope and administrators of the Archbishop of Canterbury in the first decade of the 1300s. In 1317, the Archbishop of Canterbury decreed that there should always be two chaplains at Patrixbourne, one of them at Bridge. In exchange for certain land and rights to tithes, they should pay the Archbishop 40s. a year and rebuild the chancel of the church, 'if necessary'. On October 4, 1333 the escheator of Kent was ordered to restore the church and manor to the Prior of Beaulieu as they had been wrongfully confiscated on the death of Prior Simon in the same year.40 From the onset of the Hundred Years War in about 1337, problems relating to payment of the annual £10 rent for Patrixbourne by Beaulieu began to arise. In February 1340 the king gave the Patrixbourne property belonging to Beaulieu over to the keeping of the abbot of Langdon because the proctor of Beaulieu was unable to pay the rent, presumably because he had not received it from Beaulieu. A month later, Patrixbourne was committed to the keeping of 'Bartholomew de Bourn parson of Walsoken' against payment of £10 a year.41 In September 1381 Patrixbourne was taken over by the vicars of Bekesbourne and Patrixbourne who agreed to pay the annual rent of 1 O0s. to the Exchequer and to maintain the clergy, the houses and building of the manor and to be responsible for all other charges 'as long as the war with France shall endure' .42 Continuing poor communications as well as political expediency no doubt contributed to the acquisition in 1390 of Patrixbourne by Richard Altryncham from the prior and convent of Beaulieu on a sixty-year lease.43 Although Richard Altryncham was granted the lease in recognition of his service to the Crown during the wars with France, there seems to have been an element of negotiation with Beaulieu. Heales records a petition sent to the Bishop of St David's in Wales by the prior of Beaulieu asking for help in obtaining compensation for the loss of 100 sous annual income. The prior believed he had been promised the compensation when the lease was granted to Richard Altryncham at an earlier hearing in London. Richard Altryncham sold the estates he had acquired from Beaulieu to Merton Priory in October 1409.44 The arrangement was confirmed the following year with a grant from the prior and convent of Beaulieu of the manor of Patrixbourne to the prior and convent of Merton, thus ending more than two hundred years of ownership by the canons of 132 PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE, FABRIC & HISTORY Beaulieu. They probably saw Patrixbourne merely as a useful source of income and so took no real interest in the church as such. Similarly Merton, although presenting the incumbent, had little incentive to improve the building. The only record referring to the structure of Patrixbourne church is that from 1317 stipulating that the vicar was responsible for any necessary repairs to the chancel. A window in the decorated style, and so possibly from the first half of the fourteenth century, is to be found in the north wall of the present north aisle to the west of the door. However, the aisle was added around 1824, and so it is reasonable to assume, as Tatton-Brown does, that like the Romanesque north door, it has been reset. However, there is no mention in the Merton Priory records of the period that any window was added to any part of the church or of an earlier window being replaced. There is, then, little evidence of any building after the completion of the first stage at the end of the twelfth century until the fifteenth century.45 There was a considerable programme of alterations in the fifteenth century when the Isaac family held a number of manors in Patrixbourne and the surrounding area.46 The large, three-light west window is perpendicular in style and there are heads at the stops of the hood mould.47 The head on the left looks female and the one on the right male; could these be the donors? The western buttresses may have been added to support the wall to allow the large window to be inserted. Tatton-Brown agrees with Livett that the south-west aisle was heightened and the square-headed window installed or replaced there (also perpendicular in style) in the fifteenth century. The southeast chapel, now called Bifrons, was also added or, possibly, re-built around the same time. The square-headed window in the south wall of the chapel matches that in the south-west aisle.48 On the interior and looking rather like a blocked window, there is a small round-headed niche set in the east wall between the larger, twentieth-century window and the south wall. 49 The niche is not visible in any way from the outside but may either have been the remains of a matching window for that at the west end of the south aisle which was 'saved' when the chapel was built. We know that the chapel was in use in the 1440s because John Isaac ll, 50 who was born around 1380 and died before July 3, 1443, ·was buried with his wife Cecily in a chancel of the church of Patricksbourne, which was known as the Isaac chapel' (Hasted). 51 It would, therefore, seem that the chapel was either built for this purpose or already existed. On the south wall there is the surround of what appears to have been a tomb decorated in the style of the mid-f ifteenth century but the tomb itself has been removed (Plate 133 MARY BERG PLATE VII The Isaac tomb in Patrixbourne church? VIl). 52 John Isaac Ill (born c. 1422) asked in his will, made in 1500, that his body be buried in the 'Chapel of John at Patrixbourne'. It is not, however, clear, whether this was a chapel within St Mary's or whether it was a separate building. The Isaacs held Howletts, as well as Hode and Ratling, and there is a ruined chapel called Well Chapel, near Howletts, built in the perpendicular style which was associated with the Isaacs. However, the Well chapel was in the parish of lckham. If the Isaac chapel was dedicated to St John the Baptist, the niche above the south door with its Agnus Dei may also date from the fifteenth century rather than from the twelfth. Unfortunately, the niche is so degraded that it is hard to form a judgement. The chapel was clearly completed in time for John Isaac II and his wife to be buried there and, since the chapel is likely to have been completed after the changes to the roof, most if not all of the fifteenth-century rebuilding is likely to have taken place in the earlier part of the century. Members of the Isaac family are plausible patrons as they were wealthy and influential, had already donated money for the completion of the cloister at Christ Church, Canterbury (the Isaac arms appear in the ceiling vault53 ) and chose to be buried in the church. 54 134 PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE, FABRIC & HISTORY CONCLUSION The conventional view of St Mary's, Patrixbourne - like that of Barfreston' s church - is that it was in some sense dependent on one or other of the major ecclesiastical establishments in Canterbury. Its chronology has generally been estimated in relation to Canterbury work (or, occasionally, to that of Rochester), and it has often been assumed that the same workshops or teams of itinerant workmen were involved. One of the main conclusions of the present study is that St Mary's should be detached from the supposed influence of the Kentish cathedrals, highlighting rather the potential pitfalls in dating and classifying lesser buildings in relation to greater ones. While such a comparative approach can be useful in the preliminary stages - not least because greater foundations are generally better documented than lesser ones - it has severe limitations and may lead to over-simplification. A wider approach is needed where the work appears to have been initiated by an individual family patron: it is to their history and connections that we should look to understand the chronology and development of the monuments in question. The case of Patrixbourne shows how fruitful this can be. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper is an abridged version of a dissertation submitted for an M.A. in Medieval and Tudor studies at the University of Kent at Canterbury in 2000. The writer received both moral and practical support from many at the UKC, in particular her supervisor, Dr Richard Gameson and Richard Bales. She owes a great debt to the staff of libraries in Canterbury, London and Normandy, especially Cressida Annersley of Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Andrew Clague, church architect at Patrixbourne, offered an architect's insight into the building, and kindly allowed her to use his firm's plan of the building. Residents of Beaulieu Ferme in Normandy allowed her access to the former priory there. Patrixbourne parishioners provided a great deal of help. Rosalie Stacey has given the writer many of her excellent photographs of the church exterior and has allowed them to be used in the study. Plate II is reproduced with the kind permission of the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral. . The writer's husband, Peter Berg, was chauffeur, photographer, interpreter, counsellor, proof-reader and many other things. Needless to say, the opinions expressed in the study are entirely the writer's and she bears full responsibility for any errors and omissions. 135 MARY BERG APPENDIX 1: THE DECORATION OF THE SOUTH DOOR AT PATRIXBOURNE Description of figurative pairs in the first order or outer voussoir from left to right Human heads in profile oriented towards the middle and looking toward the griffin. Birds which appear to be foraging in the foliage. One head in profile and one almost full face, slightly facing one another. A pair of birds facing each other. No carving, but some new material has been used to make good damage. This pair should have contained heads to maintain the pattern. Birds, but seems to have been restored. The first head is full face and correctly orientated with a bushy moustache and what looks like a triangular cap or, possibly, a crown.ss The second head of the pair appears to be lying on its back facing the sky, but the whole medallion looks to be of newer stone than some of the others and the unusual orientation may have been the result of later re-carving. A pair of birds pecking at foliage. A pair of heads, both of which are upside down with the tops of their heads towards the door. These two could possibly be female. It is not obvious why they are upside down unless it was a mistake in the workshop and the workmen on-site simply assembled the blocks. A pair of birds, both seem to be hanging upside down. A single medallion containing what looks like the upside-down head of a cat. A single medallion containing the head of a beast (bull? dog?) which is smaller than the griffin on the other side and in scale with the rest of the carving. Description of the inner orders Second order Figure-of eight motif with diagonal links, except the central pair which has no link. Evidence of restoration and some renewal. The archivolt resembles a rope or vine round a beam or branch.s6 Third order 18 near-square blocks of foliage, some with grotesques starting with a griffin in the western corner but, in this case, the head appears masculine. There is also a griffin in the eastern corner, this time with a beak instead of a human head. As in the uppermost rank, no two grotesques are alike and several have humanoid faces. The type, but perhaps not the quality, can be compared with figures in the middle voussoir of the Rochester west portal. 57 Fourth order Narrower than either the one above or the one below it and, like the 136 PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE, FABRIC & HISTORY figure-of-eight pattern, the same motif runs throughout. The design is fairly simple with crossed branches or sticks in front of more foliage. Or could this be another version of a bound vine? There is nothing similar on the west portal at Rochester. Fifth (innermost) order The innermost archivolt with its stylised flat heads is described by Musset as 'original'. Stone calls them 'flat straps on a thin roll, the final geometric and devitalised evolution of the beakheads'. Zarnecki disagrees and suggests that, although there are many examples of beakheads on Romanesque arches in England, these do not include Patrixbourne. The resolution no doubt lies in the definition used by each writer of 'beakhead' .58 The style is certainly reminiscent of beakheads, albeit it in a form that might be described today as 'minimalist'. Description of the supports and columns from the outer to the inner columns Flat with small sundials used to mark mass times. Round with capital with foliage decoration unlike the decoration on the upper part of the portal. The easternmost capital has a small beast mask in its centre licking two curls of foliage. This is a derivative of a wellknown type that can be traced back to the late tenth century and which appears throughout Romanesque Europe.59 Round, broader than 2 or 4 and without a capital. Round Flat The bases of the columns are fairly standard with three square bases and two columns on each except the one nearest the door. BIBLIOGRAPHY Boase, T. S. R., 1953, English Art 1000-1216, Oxford, p. 206. Hasted, E., 1798, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, Canterbury, p. 723. Heales, A., 1898, The Records of Merton Priory, London. Kahn, D., 1982, 'Romanesque Sculpture in Kent', unpublished PhD thesis, London University, pp. 122, 142-6, 156-60, 301-2. Livett, G. M., 1909, 'Architectural Notes on Patrixbourne Church, Archaeologia Cantiana, xxvm, 307-9. Musset, L., 1985, Angleterre romane, vol. I, St Leger, pp. 218-19. Newman, J., 1983, North East and East Kent, The Buildings of England, N. Pevsner (Gen. ed.). 137 MARY BERG Rigold, S. E., 1969, 'Patrixbourne Church', in 'Proceedings of Summer Meeting, Canterbury, 1969', Archaeological Journal, 126, 214. Rigold, S. E., 1979, 'The Distribution of Early Romanesque Towers in Minor Churches, Archaeological Journal, 136, I 09. Sanders, I. J ., 1960, English Baronies, Oxford, p. 135. Scott-Robertson, W. A., I 882, 'Patrixbourne Church and Bifrons', Archaeologia Cantiana, XIV, 171-2. Stone, L., 1955, Sculpture in Britain: the Middle Ages, Harmondsworth, p. 86. Surville, A., 1906, L 'Ancienne Baronnie de la Lande-Patry, Fiers, p.12. Surville, A., 1913, La Lande-Patry. Son Histoire. Ses Legends, Fiers, p.10. Tatton-Brown, T., I 993, 'Historical and Archaeological Survey: Patrixbourne, St Mary', unpublished report for Canterbury Diocese. Zarnecki, G., 1953, Later English Romanesque Sculpture, London, p. 40. NOTES 1 Mostier, A. du., Neustria Pia (Rouen, 1663), p. 916. 2 London, British Library, Cotton Cleopatra, C. vii. (Merton Priory Cartulary), ff. 213-217, and A. Heales, The Records of Merton Priory (London, 1898). 3 T. G. Godfrey-Faussett, 'The Saxon Cemetery at Bifrons', Archaeologia Cantiana, x ( 1876), 98-300. A number of burial sites were found, including one about a quarter of a mile away from Patrixbourne church. 4 English versions of French names have been used for the Patrick family because those are used in the translations of the contemporary records and in commentaries. 5 Musset, L., Acres caennaises (Caen, 1961), no. 14, p. 107. 6 Pipe Roll, 31 Henry 1, ed. J. Hunter (London, 1844), p. 66. 7 The mound or motte is still discernible. The lane leading round the motte is called Rue Guillaume Patry. 8 Red Book of the Exchequer, ed. H. Hall (London, 1896), pp. 135, 197. !ngelram Patrick paid fifteen knights' fees in respect of his tenancies. 9 Regesta Reg um Anglo-Norman11orum : The Acta of William I ( 1066-1087), ed. D. Bates (Oxford, 1998), no. 205, p. 646. On p. 644, Bates refers to William Patrick as one of three witnesses who are 'obscure characters' who do not aid the dating. See also (in Bates), no. 53. p. 253; no. 59, p. 278; no. 61, p 29 I. All grants/confirmations to Caen: 52 to Saint-Etienne 1080/lx 1083, grant by William Patrick confirmed, 59 to La Trinite I 082, William Patrick's lordship referred to, 61 to La Trinite 1066x 1083, William Patrick witness; Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum. 1066-1154, vol. 2, eds. C. Johnson and H. A. Cronne (Oxford, 1956), no. 1593, p. 228 and no. 1183, p. 142 respectively. IO F. Barlow, Thomas Becket (London, 1997), pp. 260-1. 11 Canterbury Cathedral Archives, DCc Cart Amiqua, p. 39 and p. 40, undated ?ut Ingelram was Lord of Patrixbourne from 1174 until J 190/1. The charters also provide an early inclusion of 'Patrick' in the place name (Patrichesburne). 12 Ingelram Patrick's seal bears a close resemblance to that of William de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, made around 1180 and that of Philip of Alsace. Both these are seals are illustrated in Heslop, 'Seals as Evidence for Metalworking in England in the Later 138 PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE, FABRIC & HISTORY twelfth Century' in Art and Patronage in the English Romanesque, ed. S. Macready and F. H. Thompson (London, 1986), pp. 52 and 57, Pl. XXV. 13 Sanders refers to Maud and Joan as Ingelram's sisters, but it is clear from medieval sources that they were his daughters because their husbands are reported to be sons-in-Jaw. 14 W. Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, 6 vols. (London, 1840), 4 (ii), p. I O 12. Boudet, 'Le Prieure de Beaulieu', p. 2 (see note 39). 15 Comparing the church with the celebrated Anglo-Saxon one at Barton-on-Humber, Kahn suggests that the position of the tower projecting from the middle of the south aisle indicates that the original plan was similar. The lower two stages of the tower at Barton have been dated to the latter part of the tenth century. 16 H. M. and J. Taylor, Anglo-Saxon Architecture, 3 vols (Cambridge, 1965-78), I, p. 56. Aldington, Cheriton, Lyminge, St Margaret's at Cliffe, West Stourmouth and Willesborough are among those identified. For Whitfield see also, 'A Victorian photograph of Whitfield Church (pre-restoration)', Archaeo/ogia Cantiana, CXX (2000), 381-5. 17 Called the Isaak chapel by Hasted, and also the chapel of Saint John. The Isaacs were the manorial lords of Hode and Howletts from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. 18 Livett suggests that originally a single sloping roof covered both the nave and the aisle and that the aisle wall was later raised. 19 Exceptions to this rule are St Margaret's at Cliffe where the door is at the west end, and Cintheaux where the door is towards the west end of the south aisle. 2° For example, Barfreston, Castle Hedingham (Essex) and St Dunstan, Canterbury. 21 Until the mid-nineteenth century there was an additional, rectilinear window in the centre of the south aisle wall but this was part of a nineteenth-century programme of alterations. 22 For example, Barfreston, Castle Hedingham (Essex) and Brabourne (the last in the north rather than the south wall). 23 This view is not supported by Livett who thought the arches contemporary with the north aisle. 24 Permission was given in 1875 to 'raise the chancel'. However, the roof level seems largely unaltered, implying that the floor was raised. 25 The top of the arch has been repaired. The current church architect, Andrew Clague, suggests that one of the reasons for building the Bifrons Chapel may have been to provide structural support for the arch. In that case, it is possible that there was a bu11ress on the north side, which was removed when the north aisle was built in the nineteenth century. 26 A. W. Clapham likens the Irish gables, which he calls pediments, to Anglo-Saxon work rather than Anglo-Norman in Romanesque Architecture in Western Europe (Oxford, 1936), p. 155. 27 Romanesque parallels for this include: a portrait of Thomas Becket, Cambridge, Trinity College MS B.5.5, fo. 130v: and work commissioned by Henry de Blois (British Museum Catalogue nos. 277a and b). 28 Kahn, D., Canterbury Cathedral and its Romanesque Sculpture (London, 199 J ), p. 2 I, suggests that these are apostles. Musset agrees, but Philip McAleer, 'The Significance of the West Front of Rochester Cathedral', Archaeologia Cantia,w, XCIX ( 1983), 139-158 (at 141) writes that the lintel comprises eight interlocked stones which do not quite fit into place implying that it may have been reused and may indeed have had twelve figures originally. 29 There is some dog-tooth work on the water tower at Canterbury Cathedral dated to I I 50-60 by Kahn, p. 73. 139 MARY BERG 3° Kahn, D. 'Le decor de l'oculus dans la fa􀄆ade romane anglaise', Cahiers de civili· sat ion medievale, 34 ( 1991 ), 341-347 (at 343). Some recent investigations, so far unpublished, have raised the possibility that the wheel window was originally in an earlier building closer to the castle. Kahn believes that the wheel window itself is older than either of those at Barfreston and Patrixboume, presumably on stylistic grounds; she also suggests, rather controversially, that such circular windows are based on an Anglo-Saxon tradition. 31 The cat masks 'swallowing' the spokes are reminiscent of elements of decorated initials in eleventh· and twelfth-century manuscripts. Examples include: Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B. 3. 4, f.l., and Lambeth Palace Library, MS 3, f. 286, known as the Lambeth Bible. There is a reused capital (now a water stoop) showing a similar cat's head in foliage at Castle Hedingham and one of the capitals on the north door at Cintheaux is also a cat mask. 32 Circular windows of this size and type are found on the Continent in transepts, for example at St Etienne (Beauvais, with twelve 'spokes') and Notre Dame-en-Vaux (Chalons-en-Champagne). Or they are at the west end, of which there are many examples in Italy, for example at San Pietro at Bovara in Umbria and San Giusta in the Abruzzo. 33 Kahn. reports the find of a fragment of an animal devouring a column very much like the beads at Barfreston in a Canterbury garden in 1984. ('Le decor de l'oculus', p. 345.) There is evidence that the window was originally incorrectly set at Barfreston, although no similar account of nineteenth-century restoration exists for Patrixboume. Could it be that both windows were moved from other locations and reused? At present there are no measurements of either window but it would be interesting to compare them in detail to see if they may at one time have been a pair. 34 G. Zarnecki, 'The Transition from Romanesque to Gothic in English Sculpture', Studies in Western Arr. ed. Ida E. Rubin (Princeton. 1963). 35 A good example is Cintheaux where the door is on the south side and where there is also a priest's door. The Marmion family had the church built in the middle of the twelfth century (Musset, p. 31 ). The Patricks were acquainted with the Marmions. In the first half of the twelfth century at least two documents were witnessed by both William Patrick and Roger Mannion in Normandy (Regesta Regum AngloNormannorum. /066-1154, ed. H.W.C. Davis, p. 39). Later in the same century, the Tesson family founded an abbey at Fontenay near Caen and Ingelram Patrick and Geoffroy Marmion were among the donors (P. Carel, Etude sur l'ancienne abbaye de Fontenoy pres Caen (Caen, 1884), pp. 41 and 42). 36 Saint Mary's Priory at Beaulieu is now a farm (see Map 1 ). The remains of the priory church in one of the present buildings show that it was of good quality. The priory was abolished in 1772. 37 D. Power, 'King John and the Norman Aristocracy', in King John: New Interpretations, ed. S. D Church (Woodbridge, I 999), 135. Jean de Preaux took Philippe Auguste's side against King John in the struggle for Normandy. Jean's younger brother, Pierre, was loyal to King John and they fought on opposite sides at the siege of Rouen in 1204. Pierre remained loyal to King John and founded a priory in his honour in the Channel Islands. 38 The Great Roll of the Pipe, Kent 9 John Michaelmas 1207, ed. A. Mary Kirkus (Pipe Roll Society, 1946), p. 36. The land given to them by Jean de Preaux was returned to the 'Prior et canonici de Patrikeburc'. 39 Boudet, M., 'Le Prieure de Beaulieu', unpublished typescript (Rouen, 1952), PP· 9-10. 4° Calendar of the Close Rolls 4, Edward Ill 1333-1337, (HMSO, London, 1898), P· 160. 140 PATRIXBOURNE CHURCH: MEDIEVAL PATRONAGE, FABRIC & HISTORY 41 Calendar of the Fine Rolls 9, Edward III 1337-1344 (HMSO London, 1915) , pp.161-3. 42 Calendar of the Fine Rolls 9, Richard ll 1377-1383 (HMSO London. I 926), pp. 276, 268. 43 Calendar of the Patent Rolls 4, Richard II 1383-91, (HMSO, London. 1902). p. 258. Dated June 7: 'Licence for good service in the wars of the late king and of the king to Richard Altryncham to acquire from the prior and convent of Beaulieu in Normandy the manor of Patryngburn, co. Kent, for sixty years, on condition that after acquiring it he render to the king as much yearly as is now rendered at the Exchequer therefor'. 44 Calendar of the Patent Rolls 4, Henry IV 1408-14 I 3 (HMSO London, 1909), pp. 139, 140, dated 26 October 1409. In exchange for the manor, the priory was to give Altryncham 'for life a chamber with a privy and a chimney within their priory', or a yearly rent of 40s. 45 Unfortunately, the Merton Priory records beyond the end of the fourteenth century have not survived. 46 Tatton-Brown suggests that the fifteenth-century rebuilding included a five-bay crown-post roof on the nave, the west window (with its gable above), two western buttresses, the two-light window in the south-west aisle and the south-east chapel. 47 There are a number of examples of windows in this style in Kent, including the south wall of the nave of Canterbury Cathedral and the east window at Goodnestone (near Faversham). 48 The style of these two southern windows is fairly common in the area - for example at Sturry and Barham - and they may have been produced by a local workshop in the mid-fifteenth century. 49 Tatton-Brown suggests that a perpendicular window with a square hood-mould, judged by Livett to be fifteenth-century, was replaced when a fireplace and chimney were put into what was then the Conyngham 'pew' in the nineteenth century. The remains of a flue are still to be seen on the outside above that window. 50 Davis, W. G., The Ancestry of Mary Isaac c. 1549-/613 , privately printed (Portland, USA, 1955). John Isaac II was the son of John Isaac I (born c. 1350) who bought a house and land at Patrixbourne and Bridge for I 00 marks in 1378. 51 J. Philipot, Vil/are Cantianum, including an Historical Catalogue of the HighSheriffs of Kent (London, 1659), p. 266, gives the inscription on their tomb (no longer to be seen}: 'Orate pro animabus Johannis lzaak, armige, et Ceceliae uxoris eius, qui obit .... Anno Domini 1443'. 52 The tomb was presumably removed when the Conynghams requisitioned the chapel for use as their family pew. The tomb seems unusually low, but the floor of the chapel was raised. 53 Their arms appear in the cloister twice, once alone and once impaled. John Isaac I made a donation before he died (sometime between 1399 and 14 I 9). 54 John Isaac Ill joined the rebellion led by Jack Cade in 1450 and was among those subsequently pardoned by the king. He was probably about thirty years old at that time and was to become sheriff of Kent and keeper of Canterbury castle in 1460. (Calendar of the Patent Rolls 5, Henry VJ 1446-1452 (HMSO London, 1909), p. 340 and Calendar of the Fine Rolls 19, Henry VI 1453-1461 (HMSO London. 1939). p. 290). Reaffirmed sheriff of Kent and keeper of the castle in the following year when Edward IV became king (Calendar of the Fine Rolls 20, Edward IV 1461-1471 (HMSO London, 1949 p. I 0). 55 There is an initial in the Dover Bible with a crowned head reminiscent of this figure. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 4, fol.139r. C. M. Kauffmann, Romanesque Manuscripts 1066-1190 (London, 1975), no. 69. 141 MARY BERG 56 The inner archivolt of the Prior' s Door at Ely has a bound vine as its pattern, but the work is far superior to that at Patrixbourne. 57 Kahn writes, 'The leaf forms at Patrixbourne are crisper and spikier than those at Rochester,' but that both relate to France'. She cites Berzy-le-Sec near Soissons and Saint Etienne at Beauvais. 58 Henry, F. and G. Zarnecki, 'Romanesque arches decorated with human and animal heads', Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 20, 1957, pp. 1-47. 59 There are many examples in manuscripts of which a classic example is British Library, Harley 2904, a Psalter of late tenth-century date: E. Temple, Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts 900-1066 (London, I 976), ill. 141. In England, there are examples in metal work (e.g. the Alfred Jewel) and stone (e.g. Deerhurst and Old Sarum). Zarnecki writes that 'it appears across Romanesque Europe from France to the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem'(' 1066 and Architectural Sculpture', p. 99, pl. 20). 142