Crayford Church

( 319 ) CRAYFORD CHURCH. BY MAJOR ALFRED HEALES, F.S.A. THE church is situated near the termination of a ridge of hill, and therefore occupies a conspicuous position from most points of view. It takes its name, like four other parishes, from the little Elver Cray, which, rising from the chalk at Orpington, has doubtless in the course of thousands of years formed the Cray Valley. Crayford is the last of these parishes before the stream loses its individuality in the Darent and Thames. The river is nowhere more than a mere rivulet, though its title of "Ford" shews that it must at one time have attained here a higher rank among streams than it now possesses. The name of the church and parish was not, however, originally "Crayford;" in Domesday Book it is called " Erhede; "* at that date there were here a church and three valuable mills, and within, certainly, a century later, it is spoken of as " Erde vel Earhethe."f One must admit that the sound of this name raises much doubt as to the identity of the locality, and whether the neighbouring church with, the parish of Erith was not the locality referred to, hut the topographical authorities are definitely of opinion that Erhede, Erde, Earhethe are names for the church and parish now called Crayford; and it is not necessary for me to investigate and enter upon a dissertation on this point when our subject is rather the personal history of the church. The dedication is to St. Paulinus, first Bishop of York, and subsequently Bishop of Rochester; who died A.D. 64>4>, and was buried at Rochester; we hear nothing but good of him. Another St. Paulinus was Bishop of Treves, who, after contending valiantly for the faith, died A.D. 360. There was also a Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, who has the credit of introducing great hells into ecclesiastical use. But knowing what one does of the affection in early times for local * Larking's Kent Domesday, p. 11. f Hearne, Textus Boffensis, 228-31. 320 CRAYFORD CHUROH. saints, and in the absence of any reason to the contrary, we may fairly assume that the dedication is to St. Paulinus of York. The orientation of the building corroborates, as far as it goes, this theory: the inclination of the chancel is 10° and the nave 15° south of east. Theoretically the orientation would he, for St. Paulinus of York (10th October) 10 south of east; St. Paulinus of Treves (31st August) 13| north of east. . The internal dimensions of the church, in feet and inches, are as follows: The double nave 62: 6 x 42:8. Chancel 32:5 x 18:3." North chantry 17:9 x 10:4 South chantry 16:3 x 25:3. Tower 11:8 x 10:3. Extreme length 110 : 1 . Extreme width 55 : 8. As to the history of the structure we have no information except what we can gather for ourselves from a careful inspection of it. When the church was visited by that indefatigable ecclesiologist, Sir Stephen Glynne, prior to the year 1840, all the antiquity visible was limited to an indication of Decorated work in the chancel window, and the rest of the building appeared to. be Perpendicular.* But in 1862 a socalled "restoration" took place, when, upon the walls being stripped of plaster, there appeared the outlines of blocked windows of Norman date, which, judiciously, were not covered up again, and we can see for ourselves that the outer walls, north and south, are clearly of good and somewhat early Norman date. These windows were very narrow at the outer face, and splayed to a few inches at the inner face of the wall; they are set rather high up, which generally indicates an early date. We may fairly assume that the present structure of the nave was erected not later than 1150. Next is the south doorway, small and absolutely plain, but for an external hoodmould; from its form it may be assigned to about a century later. There is in the tower a two-light window, of a design not uncommon in the Early Decorated period; the indication of Decorated work which Sir Stephen Glynne noticed in the chancel, may very probably have been of the same date, "but, whatever it was, it was swept away at the "restoration." On the other hand, it is to be noted, as a corroboration of his opinion, that during these modern works a piscina and triple sedilia were discovered in the south wall of the chancel, and, so far as in their present state they afford any indication, _ * Glynne, Chwches of Kent, page 323. The Frefaoe notes that, unless otherwise stated (which is not the oase here), the ohurch notes of whioh the volume consists were made between 1829 and 1840. I \^x^\ w \ 1 I CQ I • • I 1 11 2 t ta i i M tz* S CEAYFOBD CHUEOH. (Scale, 84 feet to 1 inch.) N Norman "Windows—blocked (their sixe is sheum by nicies in the wall, or a marh in the window cill), B D Blocked Doorways. s Sedilia. 3? Fisoina. D Draper Monument. TWIN NAVES. 321 they seem to he of Decorated date. They are terribly mutilated, for all projections were hacked away, and the hollows were built up and plastered over; this was probably done in obedience to some such injunction as that of Dr. Bentham, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield in 1565, to dam up all manner of hollow places in the chancel and church.* It is stated that a small plaster (probably clunch) capital, which had evidently been turned in a lathe, was discovered at the time of the " restoration ;"f it has since disappeared, but presumably was the capital of one of the shafts which separated the sedilia. We now come to an extremely remarkable feature in the church, viz.: that the body, instead of consisting of a nave and aisles, or a simple nave, is divided into two equal parts by an arcade running down the centre and terminating just above the point of the chancel arch. This plan, though not absolutely unique, is very nearly so; the only other instances I have met with in England being at Caythorpe in Lincolnshire, and Hannington, Northamptonshire. J Rare examples occur abroad: at Soborg, in Zealand, there is one of four bays, vaulted, and probably of quite Early English date; and another, which was of early date, formerly-existed at Aarkirkeby in the Danish island of Bornholm prior to the " restoration" of that church, whether vaulted, or not does not appear.§ It is quite possible that one or two examples of late Gothic date may be found in city churches on the Continent, where the peculiarity of plan may he accounted for by the difficulties of the site, but there is no such reason in. the example above mentioned. Besides these, there is another type in very common use in Gottland; and., as I am informed by Mr. Seddon, a similar instance in the ruined church of St. Aldhelm in the Island of Portland; and, I think, not unfrequently in crypts under Cathedral choirs; but the object in these cases was palpably to assist in sustaining the weight of stone vaulting, while in the cases I first referred to, the pillars are very light, * The distinction of chancel and church, as here made, and also in the order of the Vioar-General in reference to Cray ford-Churoh, as mentioned later, is noteworthy, sinoe it affords an illustration of the meaning of Canon Ixxxii of 1603 directing the Commandments to be set up at the east end of the ohurch, i.e, the nave, not the ohanoel. t The Ecclesiologist, 1862, p. 68. t Caythorpe Churoh is cruoiform, with oeutral tower oapped by one of the splendid orooketted spires for whioh the county is celebrated. The twin naves are rather Early Deoorated, and the tower a little later; the arches of very wide span, and springing from very light pillars. Hannington is entirely Early Deoorated; arohes light and lofty; the ohancel aroh, on whioh they abut, has had to be fortified by a strong beam baoking its eastern face. § BornhohnsJce Kirher s Hans J. Holm, Kjobenhavn, imp. fol., 1878, pits. 1, 32. 8. VOL. XVIII. T 322 CRAYFORD CHURCH. and the arches of large span, fit only for the duty they have to perform, which is to carry a few feet of wall and the ridge of the roof. It will be at once apparent that, the arrangement is bad, structurally, since the thrust of the arch, or half arch, is met only hy the transverse wall which forms the chancel arch; architecturally, as necessitating a very low chancel arch, of unsightly form, as it usually is; and. ecclesiastically, from the practical inconvenience of the arrangement. Whatever may have been the reason which led to theadoption at Crayford of this very rare arrangement, there seems reason to believe that it is not original, nor even of early date, such as the arcade itself would lead one to assume. The arcade consists of four arches of large span, and an additional half arch at the east end, which does not follow the same curve, and looks rather awkward; these arches, which are recessed and moulded with a wave mould on the chamfer plane, rest on rather slender pillars, being a cluster of four combined in a bold wave-like form, and are unusually low for large arches, and rendered more so by the bases resting on a well-defined plinth. The west respond has only the shaft carrying the inner member of the arch, and the wave moulding of the outer member is carried down to the ground.- The form of shaft and arch moulding is such as were most usual in Late Decorated and Early Perpendicular work. The caps and bases are rather spreading, and change from semicircular to semi-octagonal, and the general appearance is that of rather Late Perpendicular, but not so as will be seen in the accompanying cut. Cap. and Base of Nave Piltaps. Nave Arch. The facts bearing upon the question as to the date of the arcade, as we see it, are these: CRAYFORD CHURCH (ST. PAULINUS), SHEWING THE CENTRAL ARCADE. CRAYFORD CHURCH. 323 When the church was " restored " there was found in the west wall of the double nave the remains of a doorway, five feet wide, just at the spot where is the west respond of the arcade, shewing conclusively that the arcade was built at a later date; hut, in absence of knowledge of the date of the doorway, it is quite possible it may have been Norman. At what precise date Sir Stephen Glynne visited the church we unfortunately do not know, except that it must have been between 1829 and 1840 ; the arcade then existed as now. In the outer wall of the north aisle there is a very small doorway which one would assume to have opened to the staircase which led to the rood-loft hy a passage crossing the aisle; a not unusual arrangement, of which an example occurs at Chislehurst. The date is very late, as were most rood-staircases. Now it is quite clear that with a very low chancel arch, and the half arch abutting on it just over the apex, there could have been no rood-loft there. On the other hand, it is possible that the staircase led on to the roof; but as against this suggestion there is nothing to indicate that the roof had a parapet. One little independent puzzle is presented by the position of this doorway, but not affecting the present question; the cill is at some height from the floor of the church, and, beside that, the ground has risen (as we learn from the partly buried exterior of the north doorway), so that the cill must have been fully six feet above the original ground-level, much too high to be entered without a flight of steps, and much too low for an upper rood-doorway. If we look to proportion of parts, we find that the chancel is 18 feet 3 inches wide; a corresponding nave would be about 21 or 22 feet, and supposing aisles about 9 feet 6 inches (ample for an early aisle), and allowing for the thickness of the arcade, the entire width amounts to 42 feet 8 inches, which is the actual width of the present double nave. Another indication of the division into nave and aisles is afforded by the position of the tower, which opens by an arch into just that part of the building where the south aisle would have been situated. Prior to the rebuilding of the premises eastwards there was, over the arch leading into it, a small lancet window; an unusual position in any case, but almost absolutely exceptional unless to light an aisle. The east wall of the tower shews that the roofing has not been always as it is now, and perhaps gives some indication of an aisle roof. As regards the chancel arch we are left in some doubt. The present broad, unsightly arch is clearly modern, and above it we see another, apparently without pretension to T 2 324 CRAYFORD CHURCH. antiquity, and it may in fact be only a discharging arch to take off the special strain to which that part is put.* The haK arch which ends the nave arcade eastwards does not look like an original work. It is stated that at the "restoration" the stonework, especially about the chancel arch, shewed strong indication of having been subject to the action of a violent fire, but that is not very plain now. The shafts of the pillars shew remains of their having been painted red. Some of the beams of the roof bear date 1630. All the facts bearing upon the question have been thus carefully stated, so that the reader may form his own opinion; but to the writer there seems little doubt that originally the body of the church consisted of a nave and aisles, and that the present arcade was wrought in the Late Decorated period; beyond that point seems a matter of conjecture. Supposing that the severe fire occurred not long prior to 1630, and thereby the arcade was too much damaged to suffice for the double row of arches, and the expedient adopted of reconstructing a central, single arcade with the remains; this would perhaps also account for the shortness of the pillars which we have noticed. Some foundations were discovered running across the east end of the north aisle, and then running eastward toward the jamb of the chancel arch, and would appear to indicate that the aisle was originally shorter, and thus the awkward half arch would have been unnecessary. But there is no tradition of any recent great fire. On each side of the chancel, opening into it by a broad arch, and westward into what in the ordinary division of the body of the church into nave and aisles, would be the corresponding aisles, is a chantry chapel. That on the north, now called "Draper's Chapel" from the name of subsequent possessors, is probably that which originally belonged to its founder, John Marshall. Respecting the foundation we learn from a Return made to the Court of Augmentation by William Hyde, the Auditor or Particular Surveyor appointed to report upon the several rates of certain lands, tenements, rents and hereditaments lately belonging as well to colleges, chantries, free-chapels, guilds, fraternities, obits, lights, lamps, and other like things given to the King's Majesty, Edward VI., by force of an Act * For all information as to faots whioh beoame apparent at the time of the "restoration " of the ohurch, and the treatment it then received, I am indebted to the former Rector, now the Venerable the Arohdeacon of Maidstone, and his very interesting pamphlet on the history of the ohuroh; but the restoration of the church took place in 1862, rather before his time. CRAYFORD CHURCH. 325 of Parliament made in the first year of his reign ;* as also to colleges, chantries, etc., given to the late King of famous memory, Henry YIII., by an Act made in his xxxvijth year ;f and respectively sold, upon bargains concluded and agreed, by Sir Walter Mildmay, Knight, one of the General Surveyors of the Court of Augmentations and Revenues of the King's Majesty's Crown, and Roberbe Kellwaye, Esquire, Surveyor of the Liveries in the King's Court of Wards and Liveries. The Commission was issued under the great seal and dated at Westminster 37th April in the King's second year (1548). The Auditor or Particular Surveyor was appointed to supervise what had been done by the General Surveyor. In this case the report was made on the 29th September in the King's second year (1548). It states that one John Marshall, late owner of a messuage and thirteen acres of marsh and meadow-land in Crayford Marsh, built an aisle (or chapel) adjoining to the church; and afterwards, by his will, gave six shillings and eightpence, out of the profits of the marsh land yearly, to be bestowed on the repair of his aisle for his own ease, and that of his heirs and assigns, owners of the said messuage for all time to come. He also directed that ten shillings further out of the said profits should be yearly distributed to the poor in bread and cheese. And he directed that the residue of such profits should be applied yearly to the finding of one obit there for ever. The annual value of the land was now estimated at twenty shillings. Very probably it was the father of this John Marshall, who is styled John Marchall the elder, Citizen and Mercer of London, who by his will, dated 12th January 1488, bequeathed to his son " all suche implementes and stuff of howshold as I have w*in my greete place in the parissche of Crayford in the Countie of Kent."J With this land, which had lately been in the occupation of John Leonarde, Esq., the Commissioner sold two other small parcels, one being a croft in Crayford called Brokescrofte, situated at a gate called Le Parsonage Gate, in the same occupation, at a rental of sixpence, and another in the same locality, lying in the upper end of the marsh and late in occupation of Elizabeth Goldesmyth, widow, at a rental of seven shillings. Brokescroft had been subject to an annual charge payable to the King as of his manor of Newbury, which was extin- * Act of Parliament, 1 Edw. VI., Sec. 6 and 7 (1547). t Act, 37 Hen. VIII.; Colleges and Chantries given to the King. (1545.) X Will of John Marohall, the elder. Prerogative Court of Canterbury Home, 28. 326 CRAYFORD OHURCH. guished at the present sale, and there was a charge of three shillings and fourpence paid for the defence or repair of the Thames wall to the bailiff of the marsh for the time being in pursuance of the statute. The annual value of the whole amounted to twenty-seven shillings and sixpence, and after deducting the last-mentioned charge left a net income of twenty-four shillings and twopence. The property was estimated to be worth twenty-four years' purchase, and was sold to John Leonarde on the 9th July in the same year for £29.* The huge marble monument, which now covers almost the whole of the east wall of this chapel, commemorates William Draper, who died in 1650, and his wife Mary, daughter of Richard Cresheld, who died in 1652; he is habited as a civilian, but with sword; they are represented as lying on shelves, one above the other, on their right sides, with head supported by hand and elbow, and furnish excellent examples of the wooden type of monument for which the period, was famous. In pursuance of the Act 1 Edward VI., above referred to, a large body of Commissioners was appointed by Letters Patent, dated 14th Eebruary 1548, to ascertain what properties had come and grown to the hands and possession of the King in consequence of the dissolution of colleges, chantries, free-chapels, brotherhoods, fraternities, guilds, etc., within the County of Kent and the Cities of Canterbury and Rochester. Their report was to the following effect:— 1. An obit-land was given to the church by the Will of John Marshall (as mentioned in the account of salesf) inorder to keep a yearly obit for ever. The land was worth 20s. per annum, out of which was payable a rent-charge of 3s. 4d., and to the poor there 9s.-, so there was left 7s. 8d. clear. 2. Lamp-land given to the church by the Will of Robert WodefordJ to the finding of a lamp within the said church for ever. The yearly value of the land was 6d. 3. Obit-land given to the church by the same Will, to keep ah obit there for ever. The annual value of the land was 7s., charged with a payment of 2s. to the poor there, leaving 5s. clear. 4. Obit rents given and bequeathed to the same church by the several Wills of Richard Welsshe, John Bygge, Alex- * Augmentation Office, Sales of Colleges and Chantries. t The present Return somewhat precedes the other in point of date, but on account of the Chantry -Ohapel the later reoord, that of sale, was mentioned earlier than these obits. % There was formerly a monument in the ohuroh to Robert Woodford and Joan his wife, 1489 (Weever, Funeral Monuments, p. 835). CRAYFORD CHURCH. 327 ander Oharyte, Geoffrey Bulbeck, and Henry Isake, to keep their several obits in the said church for ever. The annual value of these rents was 20s. 8d., charged with 6s. to the relief of the poor, leaving 14s. 8d. remaining clear.* The font subsisting up to the time of the " restoration " is described by Glynne as a plain octagon; the present font is enriched with coloured marbles, and presents a good type of design. The Inventory of Church GoodsJ made by the Commissioners on 19th November 1552-f mentions three great bells of bell-metal hanging in the steeple. Until recently there subsisted in their place one bell with a black-letter inscription, dated 1615, another dated 1624, and three dated 1672. These latter were in 1876 converted (no doubt with a considerable addition of metal) into a peal of eight, cast by Mears, and presented by the family of the late Mr. David Evans of Shenstone, in this parish, to his loving memory and the Glory of God.J The Inventory made in November 1552 refers to one which had been taken about three years previously, since which time the parishioners had sold a chalice and paten of silver parcel-gilt, weighing lif ounces, and a large number of vestments and similar articles, comprising vestments (or chasubles) of blue velvet, blue and. black satin of Bruges, black velvet and purple damask, and others of dornyx, being nine in all; copes of blue silk, green silk, white, purple, and two others of damask, and others of crimson velvet, satin, and dornyx, being nine in all; one altar-frontal and canopy of crimson velvet, and others of crimson satin and black velvet, being nine in all; also a banner cloth with four little silver knobs at the corners, and three streamer cloths, four corporax cases, and a few other things which complete the list. These articles were sold in the interval between the two visits of the Commissioners, and the proceeds, amounting to £23 14s. Id., had been partly invested in the purchase of a (smaller) cup of silver, weighing 8£ ounces, and the residue was spent in the repair of the church and in making a new clock in the steeple. There had also been purchased a new (reading) desk, and a new (altar) table and a linen cloth for the same. All the rest of the things mentioned in the first Inventory were reported to have been stolen at various times. * Augmentation Offioe, Chantry Certificates, Kent,.150. t Inventory of Church Goods, printed in Archceologia Cantiana, and edited by Canon Soott Robertson, Vol. VI I I , pp. 135,136. % Stahlsohmidt, Church Sells of Kent, p. 288. 328 CRAYFORD CHURCH. At the time of the second Inventory the church possessed, in moveable goods, the chalice above referred to (no paten is mentioned); 1 old cope of green silk, and 3 surplices; 3 great bells of metal in the steeple; 3 banner staves, 1 Bible, 1 book of the Paraphrasis of Erasmus, and a pillow (cushion) of green silk.* One of the Commissioners was Sir Percyval Harte, Knight, an ancestor of the Hart-Dyke family; Thomas Harman, Esquire, and Erancys Goldsmith, gent., were the churchwardens. The chalice purchased in the middle of the sixteenth century has disappeared, and the earliest plate which the church now possesses consists of the following articles: A chalice made in 1634-5 and measuring 8J inches high, with diameter of 4 inches at mouth and foot; bell-shaped bowl, with knop on stem and plain mouldings on foot; a flagon, made in 1637-8, with maker's mark P.O., measuring 10| inches high. An hexagonal paten on four feet, and a small salver of the same form on three feet, made respectively in 1738-9 and 1740-1, both of which were the gift of Madam Short on the 29th September 1740, as the inscriptions record.f Of monumental remains, Crayford can shew but very few ancient examples. Outside the church, on the north side, is about half of a stone coffin-lid, diminishing from head to foot, but so mutilated or weather-worn, that traces, only, of a cross can be discerned on the top; it may perhaps be of Early English date. Then, longo intervallo, come the Draper monument, and what is evidently but part of the mural monument of Blanche Marlar, now without date, and adhering to the north wall of the chancel. But in Weever's time several other monuments subsisted, and were duly noted by him in his invaluable work; J he mentions the following: I. 1400-1437. Roger Apleton, one of the auditors of their Most Serene Highnesses Kings Henry V. and VI. and Johanna the wife of Henry IV., and Katherine the wife of Henry V., Queens of England, and of the Principality of all Wales, the Duchy of Cornwall, and County of Chester, who died in the year 1400. § And Agnes his wife Domina de Holbury, who died in 1437. " Cum venerit dies Domini, in misericordia ejus egrediemur." * The pillow answered the purpose of the modern book desk for the office book. t These are fully desoribed by Canon Scott Robertson, in a series of Papers on the Churoh Plate of Kent, in Archceologia Cantiana, Vol. XVL, pages 332, 388,426,427,432. " X Weever, Funeral Monuments, page 335; the book was published in 1631. § Weever has evidently made some error in this date, probably it Bhould be 1430. CRAYFORD CHURCH. 32 9 H. Henry Ellam, one of the auditors, and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of Roger Apleton. Died 1479. Evidently he succeeded his father-in-law in the official position. I I I . John Ellam, one of the auditors, who died in 1481. " Vite probitas, mortis despectio." IV. Robert Woodford, who died in 1489, and Johanna his wife. We may fairly assume that it was he who gave land to the church for providing a lamp there in perpetuity, mentioned in the report of the Augmentation Office Commissioners in 1548. The unsettlement of Church discipline (even more than of doctrine), which was occasioned by the Ecclesiastical crisis happening in the later years of King Henry VIII.'s reign, required the lapse of the greater part of a century before discipline again made itself apparent, and even then it lasted but a few brief years. An indication that the Church's rule had been re-established here at Crayford is furnished by a record included in Cardwell's Documentary Armals.* It would appear that some question had arisen between the Rector and some of the parishioners, as to the order to be observed by the latter upon and after communicating, which occasioned a visit to the church by Archbishop Abbot personally. The result was that on the 8th July, 1633, the Vicar- General, Sir Nicholas Brent, having, on the previous 21st May, heard the parties interested, and after mature deliberation, and in the presence of Thomas Pane, Clerk, the then incumbent parson of Crayford, and Thomas Andrews and John Ludlowe, churchwardens, and Joseph Bingham, Thomas King, and John Kettle, parishioners, and others then and there present, did order :— " That the parishioners and inhabitants of Crayford, and others, intending thereafter to receive the Holy Communion there, shall repair unto the two ascents or foot-paces in the chancel before the Communion Table, and there, mats being laid upon the said two ascents or foot-paces to kneel upon, and on either side above the said steps to kneel upon (if by reason of the number of communicants it seems requisite— the two ascents or foot-paces being first filled), they shall in decent and reverent manner, humbly kneeling on their knees, receive the Holy Communion and Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and then return to their seats in the church, and other companies to follow in like manner."t * Cardwell's Documentary Annals (No. oxxxvii.), vol. ii., p. 174. j- A few months later, Laud being then Arohbishop, the King iu Counoil deoided the oase of the Churoh of St. Gregory by St. Paul, London, and 330 CRAYFORD OHURCH. Near the same date, viz., on 25th March 1632, the Rector (who signs his name Vane) notes that he had granted a licence to eat flesh (in Lent) to Mr. George Marler, gent., and Elizabeth his wife, upon the necessity thereof for the recovery and conservation of their healths, testified by their physician, Dr. More. In the previous Advent he had granted a similar licence to Anne Vane. On 8 March 1663 (after the restoration of the monarchy) a similar licence was granted by John Vates to Mary Kipps, being very sick. The earliest volume of the Parish Register is headed thus: " Ab initio regni serenissimse principis Elizabethse; registru' Parochise Crayford in com. K." Erom this commencement until the end of January 1576-7 the writing is good and regular, and the name of each month was always put as a separate or sub-heading. Very probably this part of the register was a transcript of a former volume or loose memoranda, in obedience to the injunctions issued by the Queen in her first year, with reference to the keeping of a parish register, in which she followed the precedent set by King Henry VIII. in 1538, Edward VI. in 1547, and Cardinal Pole in 1557* The form of entry differs from that usually adopted. Instead of the date of baptism, it gives the date of birth; for marriage the entry runs that A. B. " duxit in uxorem " CD.; instead of the date of burial, it very generally gives the date of death. When the first change of handwriting happened, the division into months ceased, and the three classes of entries were for a short time recorded separately; the writing was very inferior and the ink bad; and from the middle of May 1599 till 1602 the register was kept very irregularly and badly in every way. In 1602 the old character of handwriting gave way to the modern form. In 1607 the surnames were for a short time engrossed, so as to catch the eye readily, but that lasted only a short time; after which, in 1610, the writing became abominable, though improved in 1623. Eive years later the first volume ends. The second volume begins irregularly and in bad writing. In 1653 we find this entry of the appointment of a Registrar, pursuant to the Act of the Republican Parliament :f— ordered the altar to be placed at the east end of the ohanoel, altar wise, like that in the Cathedral. Ibid. (No. clx.), ii., p. 185. * Burns, Parish Registers; Edition 1829, page 20. t Act passed in 1653, cap. vi., directing that a Register be chosen, on approval of a Justice of the Peaoe, who was to enter in a vellum book all births, burials, and marriages, with their publications (the latter to be subscribed by a J.P.) (Soobell, Acts and Ordinances of Parliament, p. 237). CRAYFORD CHURCH. 331 Whereas accordinge to the latte Acte of Chusings of Redgesters in everye parish the inhabitants of the pish of Craford have chose'n Will. Lithell to execute the said Acte for the faithful! performinge of the same law, I do hereby accordinge to the scertificate of the gish confirm the said Will. Lithell in the said place of Register; as given under my hande the time aforesaid; JOHN TWISLBTON. John Twisleton was a Justice of the Peace, resident at Dartford. The entries at this period were always of births, not baptisms, till 1662, and not numerous. As regards marriages there are a few notes of the publication of banns, but no mention of the actual marriage; the same form continues as late as 9th March 1661-2. Erom about 1560, for some time, the condition of the individual buried is frequently recorded; thus we have Labourer, Widow, Gentleman, Mason, Veoman, Tanner, Lymer, Merchant or Citizen of London, Esquire, Beggar, Wayfarer (peregrinus). A few entries may be extracted:— 1560. Obiit senex quidam nomine Artbar. Obiit filia cujusdam peregrini. Obiit quidam lactanons londinensis. 1561. Obiit quidam peregrinus per lapsum ex arbore (? fruitpicking). Nata fuit et sepulta Johanna filia Thomse Daysy. 1597. Quedam paupercula nomine Christina sepult. 14° Januarii. 1599. Lewes, spurius, sepultus fuit 3° Maii. A few entries evidently relating to persons of more than usual importance are written in a much more conspicuous style, of which we may take an example or two :— Memorandu' quod vndecimo die Junii anno do'i 1572 Will's Bridges in comit. Lancastrise duxit Mariam filiam et inheritricem Gulielmi Owtred huius parochiee, quse quide' nuptise celebratse fueriut in ecclesia apud Parningha' permissu Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi. 1602. Thomas Seimour, Baron', filius secundus Comitis Hertfordiensis obiit Octavo die mensis Augusti, . . . . horam secunda' post meridiem; sepultus est autem vicesimo quinto die mensis eiusdem A'o 1602. 1605. Sir Erauncis Gouldsmithe, knighte, was buried in the Ohappell belonging to his howse the 9 of Aprill 1605. (Ee-entered on top of next page.) Of the Rectors of the parish we find few notices. At the end of the first volume is this entry:— " The articles of Religion agreed . . . . convocation 1562 332 CRAYFORD CHURCH. were red ovr . . . . Thomas Blayne in the p'sh church of . . . . al's Crayford after M'ning praier on . . . . day the 22th of M'che 1599 and assent and consent publiquely p'tested to the same on . . . . being Inducted the 22th of M'che, before . . . . easter even." (Attested by the signatures of Samuel Goldsmith, Edmd Balam, and others, and by William Heyes who adds his Notarial paraph.) On 20th January 1577 William Barker, Rector, was buried. Apparently he was succeeded by Robert Jordan, Minister, whose daughter Annable was baptized 1 Sept. 1582. In 1632, on 25th March, was baptized. Erancis, daughter of Thomas Eane, parson of the parish. At the end of the volume it is recorded (apparently as an important event) that Mr. Waverly, Master of Arts of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Chaplain to the Lord Chamberlain to his Majesty, preached at this parish church of Crayford this last Sunday in Advent, being the 20th December 1635. The surnames of the persons recorded in the earlier registers comprise many unusual names; amongst which (as I am informed by Archdeacon Smith) are still surviving in the parish and neighbourhood, Bemunton (now Benton), Eranklen, Judd, Royle, Sampson, Stathard, and Sturgye (at Dartford); others are Bestlot, Corby, Daysy, Dericke, Erankton or Eranton, Gamon, Garnish, Gaston, Goodborow, Harling, Hoggard, Huddleston, Lowlar, Marborough or Marbury, Menticote, Mulcaster, Newball, Perisson, Sagnell, Sharew, Stawghton or Stilton, Stokyar, Whathowe, and Woodden. Amongst the less common Christian names we may note: Abacus or Abaeuc, Augustine, Benedict, Clement, Geoffrey, Lancelot, Lewis, Marons, and Tomson, the latter being an early example of a surname being thus used. Also, among females, are Aloisia, Annable, Barbara, Chrispina, and Christiana. In conclusion I have to acknowledge my very sincere thanks due to the Rev. J. P. Alcock, the present Rector of Crayford, for the ready facilities he has afforded me for the examination of the Church-plate, and the Register Books, and the Ohurch itself; and also to record my obligation to the Venerable B. E. Smith, now Archdeacon of Maidstone, the late Rector, for all the information he has so readily given as to the " restoration " of the Church, and other matters.