St Leonard's Church, Hythe

( 403 ) ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. BY CANON SCOTT ROBERTSON. HYTHE is the modern name of this member of the Cinque Ports; of old, its name was written Hethe (in Domesday Book it is Hede), and at one period we read often of it as " Hith," or " Hithe " ; but it has now for a century or more been written " Hythe." The Church of St. Leonard has now for many years been a parish church, with a duly inducted Vicar of its own j but for several centuries it was merely a chapel, appendant to Saltwood Church, although its parishioners were entitled to receive in it all the religious rites that are connected with an ordinary parish church. Its incumbent was legally called the " Parish Chaplain " ;* he was not instituted nor inducted, as to a benefice ; but each rector of Saltwood was inducted to the rectory of the Church of Saltwood with the Chapel of St. Leonard of Hethe. It had a " cemetery" or churchyard, and there are extant the wills of many persons who directed that they should be buried " in the Chapel of St. Leonard at Hethe," or in the " cemetery of the Chapel of St. Leonard at Hethe." f Notwithstanding its ecclesiastical dependence, it was actually a far nobler and more handsome building than the mother Church of Saltwood. The architect who designed its magnificent chancel (between A.D. 1200 and A.D. 1230 probably) was not permitted to complete his design. He planned vaulting of stone for the high * In 1474 Thomas Honywode by will bequeathed 3s. 4d. to Master Jobn Merifield, the Parish Chaplain. About A.D. 1538 the priest who served in St. Leonard's Chapel was paid £6 13s. 4d. per annum by the rector of Saltwood, as we learn from the Valor Fcclesiasticus, p. 40. t In 1464 John Pecchyng, and in 1486 Henry Mersh and John Lows (son of Thomas Lows), desired to be buried "in cimiterio Capellse Soi Leonardi de Hethe." In 1472 William Howgyn, and in 1488 Richard Lambisfelde, desired to be buried in " Capella Sci' Leonardi de Hethe." In 1486 William Lunce bequeathed to the Chapel of St. Leonard at Hethe a cope of the value of £10. To the torch in the Ohapel of St. Leonard at Hethe, R. Lambisfelde left 6s. 8d. by his will made in 1488. To the "works " of the Chapel of St. Leonard at Hethe, or to the repair of its fabric, Thomas Honywode in 1474 bequeathed 20s.; Wm. Hawkyn Is., and Henry Mersh 6s. 8d., in 1486; and Rio. Lambesfelde 6s. 8d. in 1488. D D 2 404 ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. chancel of St. Leonard, and for the side chancels of St. Mary and St. Katharine, but he could not carry out this costly plan. He was not able even to complete the north wall of St. Leonard's chancel so fully as he did the south wall. Not until the present Vicar (the Eev. T. G. Hall) took the matter in hand was that design carried to completion, which the architect conceived six hundred and fifty years ago. Mr. Hall, with the support of his parishioners and the help of other friends, has been enabled to cause the triforium to be formed in the north wall, and the vaulting to be constructed over all three of the chancels under the direction of Mr. Pearson, E.A. The " restoration" of the church had previously been carried out under the direction of the late Mr. G. E. Street. Hasted, in his History of Kent, viii., 249—251, gives much fuller details respecting this handsome church than was his custom. As many of the facts he mentioned, a century ago, possess considerable interest now, I shall quote his description of Hythe Church :— "The Churoh, which is dedicated to St. Leonard, is a fine handsome building, consisting of three isles, a north and south cross, and three chancels, with a tower steeple at the west end, in which are six bells and a clock. The Church stands on the side of a high and steep hill, a considerable height above any of the town, having a very large churchyard adjoining, mostly on the west and north sides, in the middle of which is a large open well of water, under a cove of the quarry stone. " There is a very handsome flight of many stone steps up to the Church, given by Wilham Glanville, representative [in Parliament] in 1729. The room over the porch at the entrance is the Town Hall, where the Mayor and other members of it are yearly chosen. " The Tower, built in the room of the old one which suddenly fell down in 1748, was rebuilt and the Church repaired by a Brief. It is a very fine one, of excellent masonry of quarry stone, with ashlar quoins and ornaments, and has four turrets on the top. • " The middle isle has, not long since, been paved with Portland stone, and new pewed. There are two galleries ; one built at the charge of the parish in 1750; the other by Hercules Baker and William Glanville, representatives, in 1734. In the middle hangs a handsome brass branch. This isle has a row of small upper windows, on each side, being an upper story in the choir fashion. #" The south cross, at the time the tower was new built and the churoh re- . paired, was taken down by the family of Deedes and rebuilt by them, with a vault of its full size underneath, for their burial, which was finished in 1751 at their own charge; for this and for appropriating to themselves and servants four pews in this isle, they obtained a faculty. This cross-isle, or chancel, is paved with Portland stone, and is separated from the south isle by an iron railing. In it are several monuments of the Deedes' family." [As a fact, no faculty was obtained.'] " On the west side of the north cross there appears on the outside to have been an antient doorway, the arch over it being circular, with zig-zag ornaments, etc The ground on the outside is nearly up to the spring of the aroh, and there are no appearances of it on the inside. " The three chancels are very antient indeed, muoh more so than the isles, from whioh there is ascent to each; the pillars in them are inolustered with small ones of Bethersden marble, and both the arohes and windows very beautiful and lofty. The middle or high chancel has a grand approaoh, having eight SOUTH SIDE or ST. LEONAED'S OHUECH, AT HYTHE. r 4; ( I Is in 111 MS OTOV opn*out* NOETH SIDE oi- ST. LEONARD'S OHUECH, AT HYTHB. (Before Mr. Pearson's work of Eestoration.) ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. 405 steps to it from the middle isle, and three more towards the altar. The windows are very light and lofty, espeoially the three at the east end, which are remarkably elegant. There are round the upper part of it, and on the south side, small double arches and Bethersden pillars, similar to those on the sides of the choir in Canterbury Cathedral. The whole is new paved with Portland stone. " The north chancel, which, as well as the opposite one, has a rise of steps from the isle, has no inscription in it. The pillars of both these chancels have an unusually large base, of near three feet high, and about five feet square, upon the surface of the pavement " In this church are numbers of monuments and memorials, among others for the family of Deedes, for the Masters and Collinses. Memorials for Isaac Rutton, lieutenant of Dover Castle, ob' 1683; for Henry Estday, gent., ob' 1610; for Robert Kelway, A.M., rector of Hope, etc., ob' 1759. An inscription on brass for John Bredgman, the last bailiff and the first mayor of Hythe, ob' 24 Elizabeth, 1581. For several of the Knights, arms, a chevron between 3 birds; and a monument for Robinson Bean, gent., ten times mayor here, etc., etc." This comprehensive description by Hasted gives the reader a general idea of what the church is like. Our plate shewing the exterior, both from the north-east and from the south-east, will render more definite the impression upon the reader's mind. We will now proceed to a minute architectural survey of the church. THE NORMAN CHURCH. Many traces of the original Norman Church still remain. In the north arcade of the nave, the arched heads of two Norman windows, with parts of their jambs, visible above the eastern arches of the arcade, shew that the old Norman north wall of the nave was not pulled down when the arches of the north aisle were pierced (in the fourteenth century, perhaps). The North Transept (probably dedicated to St. Edmund the King and Martyr) has fragments of an early-Norman arch, in the exterior of its eastern wall.* It still retains a tall narrow doorway, of late-Norman work, in its western wall. Hasted mentions that 100 years ago the top of the doorway's wellmoulded arch was visible outside, but no trace of it could be seen within. This was remedied during the restoration carried out under Mr. Street's guidance. The shafts in the outer door-jambs are "banded," which is a sure token of the work having been done late in the Norman period of architecture. A large part of the walls of this transept may be Norman. The north-east coign is so, undoubtedly. The but- * It is very difficult, now, to interpret these Norman fragments, but probably they are the remains of the entrance to a small Norman ohancel of St. Edmund's transept ohapel. On the outside there now stand steps leading down to the new heating apparatus. Over these steps we discern Norman masonry, 3 feet wide at bottom, upon a level (I suppose) with the floor of the transept inside. About 8 feet above this Norman masonry there is a bit; of Norman impost moulding. This stands north of the arch which is still indicated, inside the transept chapel, by the stops of the north and south jambs of an opening in the east wall, beneath part of the modern east window of this transept. 406 ST. LEONARD'S CHUROH, HYTHE. tresses may have been added late in the style, or at the period of transition, to which probably the window in the west wall belongs. A late-Norman arch with few mouldings (seen in our Plate of the Interior) gives access to the south transept from the south aisle. This chapel, probably dedicated to St. James, came eventually into the possession of the Deedes' family, by whom it was rebuilt (as Hasted tells us) in 1751. These traces of the Norman Church lead us to believe that in the twelfth century St. Leonard's Chapel (for Hythe was then a chapelry attached to the parish of Saltwood) had been so far developed that it possessed, at least, a nave with south aisle, a north transept, and probably a short chancel with south chantry. The round turret containing a staircase outside the northwest pier of the chancel-arch is curious, and it has the appearance of great antiquity, but it is very doubtful whether it could have existed in the Norman period. Probably it was added later. Early in the thirteenth century, perhaps while Cardinal Stephen Langton was Archbishop, and therefore Lord of Saltwood and Hythe, great improvements were planned in this church. The Norman chancel was entirely swept away; so were the Norman arches between the nave and the two transepts; probably also the small Norman apse or chancel of the north transept (St. Edmund's chapel) was then replaced by something larger, although still small as the proportions of the transept required. The Norman south arcade of the nave was also swept away, and replaced by lofty pointed arches with hood mouldings. Probably, the Norman north wall of the nave was still left standing, with its Norman windows in use, for another century. THE VAULTED PROCESSION PATH. The architect, whoever he may have been, was bold and original. He proposed to carry his new chancel to the furthest boundary of the churchyard eastward. If this were done, the rule of the Church so strongly insisted upon in mediaeval times would be broken. Whenever buildings were erected upon a churchyard near its edge it was always stipulated that room must be left for the Procession Path around the church* * When permission was granted, in A.D. 1370, for the buildings of the College of Cobham tobe erected on the south side of the parish churohyard, this stringent proviso was inserted in the licence "dum tamen via processionalis, ex parte australi ecclesie predicte consueta, in perpetuo in futurum pateat... . et per edificia prediota . . . non impediatur via antediota." Archceologia Cantiana, II., 224. * iMmm VAULTED PROCESSIONAL WAY, BENEATH THE EAST END OF THK CHANCEL OF ST LEONARD'S CHURCH, AT HYTHR : WITH SKTU.T.R AND BONES STORF.D THF.RPIIN. ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. 407 At Wrotham in Kent, when the architect's plan required the church to be lengthened so far, westward, that its tower stood upon the western boundary of the churchyard, he solved the question of the Procession Path by making the lowest part of the tower a strongly vaulted passage or open arched way, through which the frequent ritual processions could pass, with cross carried erect; priests, choristers and people solemnly chanting their Litanies.* At Hythe, the architect's plan required exactly the reverse of what was done at Wrotham. Here, his plan carried the chancel of the church out to the extreme eastern boundary of the churchyard. How then could the Procession Path be maintained, and kept open, as required for priests, choristers, and people walking solemnly in procession, chanting their Litanies? The bold and ambitious architect of this church was perfectly equal to the occasion. He said, " I will build a beautiful, vaulted, arched-way of stone, beneath the extreme east end of my chancel, and not only shall I thus maintain for you a Procession Path, but I shall at the same time add greatly to the grandeur and beauty of your church by causing the chancel, thus elevated, to be approached by a tall flight of steps, just as the choir of Canterbury Cathedral is approached." This he did. That he had done so, however, was not known to Hasted, nor to the following generation of Hythe people. Not until the present vicar, Mr. Hall, called in Mr. Pearson's aid, was it discovered that about 14 feet of earth, which had accumulated at the north-eastern part of the churchyard, had completely covered up the beautiful northern doorway of that line vaulted Procession Path.f The original * Relics of these Mediaeval Processional Litanies survive in our " LITANY" in the English Boole of Common Prayer. The rubrio orders it to be used after Morning Prayer on Wednesdays and Fridays as well as on Sundays. These were ancient Procession Days. In the autumn of 1403, orders were issued to every incumbent in the kingdom that processions and prayers were to be made for the king against Owen Glendower, in every parish, on the fourth and sixth feria (i.e., Wednesday and Friday) each week (Register of Jno. Bottlesham, Bp. of Rochester, fol. 38a). Exactly similar orders were issued, in March 1424-5, for prayers for the king, and similar processions for blessing upon his majesty were asked for everywhere, on the same day, of each week (Bishop Langdon's Rochester Begister, fol. 46a). For the preservation of the procession path in the churchyard at Stone, near Dartford, John Bokeland in Jan. 1473-4 desired that his " exeoutors . . . . do pave the procession way, from the chancel door unto the west door, with paving tiles " (Arch. Cant., III. , 106). In Denne's History of Bochester, published by Fisher in 1772, we read (pp. 204-5), " As solemn processions were judged to be an essential part of religious service; and as the district allotted the parishioners [of St. Nicholas, Rochester] was very confined, the monks consented that they should, after walking round the north-east side of St. Nicholas Church, enter into the cathedral at the door of the north cross, and pass out of it again at the north door leading into the churchyard." t As this Prooessional Way would be in constant use, until the Reformation was fully established, I feel confident that nothing would have been permitted to obstruot free passage through it, with oross ereot in solemn procession, before 408 ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. architect, who never was permitted to complete the vaulting of his three chancels, had yet made, beneath, every preparation for supporting their vaulting. Against the east wall's exterior, he placed five strong buttresses of stone; against the outer wall of the north chancel, two (which differ in details), and against that of the south chancel three buttresses (two are alike, but the westernmost is smaller than they). As the building extended to the extreme edge of the churchyard, the architect constructed through each of the five eastern buttresses an archway just large enough to admit a man to pass through it. The northern arch seems to have had a door fitted to it. The buttresses around this chancel resemble those at the southeastern portion of Canterbury Cathedral. HIGH CHANCEL OF ST. LEONARD. Of the interior of the beautiful Early English chancel, its elevation, and its general character, some idea can be obtained from our Plate representing the interior of the Church. The use of Bethersden marble for many of the slender shafts, in the jambs of arches, and clustering around piers, produces an admirable effect. The dog-tooth moulding is introduced richly the Reformation. Consequently, I believe that the large collection of human skulls and bones, now stored there, could not have been placed within this Procession Path until after the Reformation, in the sixteenth century. Mr. Hall, on pp. 333-6 of Archceologia Cantiana, XVIII., has fully and clearly described the scientific theories respecting these human remains. He tells us that no mention is made of them until after the period of the Great Rebellion. Leland, Lambard, and Kilburn say nothing about them. Mr. Brome of Cheriton is the first writer who alludes to them, and he wrote in the last quarter of the seventeenth century. "Whatever their antiquity or history may be, they cannot fail to be of interest to every one who sees them. As I had been informed that in some of these skulls there was a frontal suture, or a continuance of the sagittal suture through the frontal bone, which usually disappears from the skulls of adult Englishmen, I asked my friend, Mr. Randall Davis of Hythe, surgeon, to examine these crania, with reference to this particular matter. His very interesting reply reads thus:—"I have examined the 723 skulls whioh are to be seen, and find that only 36, or about 5 per cent., have such a sagittal suture. Of these 36 skulls, 3 were those of children, and a fourth was that of a young person who had not out the wisdom teeth. "Of the three children's skulls, one has also the transverse suture, well marked; thus shewing a constitutional tendency to late union of the sutures. Another of the three has an injury, probably inftioted before death. " One skull, of the 36 whioh have a sagittal suture, that of an adult, has certainly been buried. "There are only 10 (of the 753) skulls which have injuries, that were certainly inflicted before death; all of these are on the anterior half of the cranium ; and in nearly every case each of these 10 skulls shews several injuries. None of these has the sagittal suture (except that of the child above mentioned). " Among the skulls there is immense diversity of size and shape. " I am myself unable to distinguish, with any certainty, between a male and female skull, but Mr. H. B.. Maokeson tells? me that Professor Owen said many of these skulls were those of females," V S- 1 CHURCH OF ST. LEONARD, AT HYTHE, KENT. SHEWING PARTS OF THE NAVE, AND OP BOTH TRANSEPTS, THE HIGH CHANCEL, AND THE ENTRANCES TO THE SIDE CHANCELS. ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. 409 around the eastern lancets of the central and south chancels and in the arches of the south arcade. The arcades north and south of the chancel, each of two bays, are not exactly alike, nor are the central piers, with their clustering shafts. The central pier on the south side has a square base, and its upper portion forms a bench on which several persons may sit. The plan of the base of the opposite pier is octagonal. The triforium in each wall (original on the south; new, on the north side) consists of four round-headed arches, having beneath each of them two pointed arches. They resemble those in the triforium of Canterbury Cathedral, which were erected in 1178. Above the triforium is a clerestory, having three single-light wiudows on each side of the chancel. Above the apex of the chancel arch is an open arched doorway (shewn iu our Plate) in the middle of the passage that runs round three sides of the chancel. The stairs, by which this passage is approached, are in the circular turret that stands close to the north pier of the chancel arch. This turret stair leads first to the door of the rood loft, seen above the pulpit at the north side of the chancel arch. It is then continued up to the passage that runs through the thickness of the walls of the chancel. The reredos, seen behind the communion table, is a very beautiful piece of sculpture by Armitage, generously presented by a former curate of this parish, the Rev. Claude Brown. It represents the entombment of our Lord. Although designed by Mr. Street, it is quite unfit, in its present mounting, for the place it occupies. Its top interferes with the view of the three glorious eastern lancets ; and the curtains beside it hide a string course, of carved sunken panels, which the original architect intended to be kept in sight. This string course of sunk panels resembles that which adorned the outer south wall of the refectory, at Christ Church Priory in Canterbury. That string course is still visible in the northern alley of the cloisters there; the date of its execution is believed to be circa A.D. 1226. Similar strings appear upon two stages of the western tower of this church, and a similar string course adorns the eastern wall of the chancel of Minster Church, in Thanet. The sedilia and the piscina of this high chancel of St. Leonard, are beautiful examples of Early English work. Tbe eastern lancets were filled with coloured glass some years ago, in memory of a native of Hythe, Alderman Pinnis of London, who served the office of Lord Mayor in 1856-7. The glass is not considered fit for the position it occupies, and I believe that a faculty has been obtained for its removal. 410 ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. FEATURES IN THE DECORATED STYLE. In the fourteenth century, when much was done in almost all our churches, there seems to have been little needed at St. Leonard's in Hythe. It is certain, however, that the singular little half arch, between the north transept's west wall and the north arcade of the nave, was then inserted. It probably gave much more room and more light in this portion of the church, although, at its erection, it would appear that a small window in the east end of the north wall was blocked up. The arch adjacent to it in the nave arcade (the third arch from the west wall) is also of the fourteenth century. It is higher than the two nave arches that stand westward of it, and they may have been pierced earlier in the same century. The broad shallow mouldings on the bases and caps of the roughly octagonal piers of these arches ought to be noticed. Two windows in the north wall were inserted in the fourteenth century. They were each of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoil above them. The westernmost of them still remains in situ, the other has been renewed. The tomb-canopy in the north wall of the north transept is of the early part of the" fourteenth century, or it may be of the end of the preceding century, I am not sure which date it belongs to. It is 9-cusped, each triangular cusp having a round moulding along its projecting edges, and another at its base. The hood mould surmounting all is a "roll moulding," characteristic of the Decorated period. East of this tomb-canopy stands an arched aumbry, the slight ogee in its arch proves it to he also of the Decorated style. In the east wall of this north transept, beneath the existing modern window, are moulded stones which formed parts (near the bases) of the jambs of a simple Early English, or early Decorated arch about 8 feet wide. It may have formed at one time a chancel arch; and later perhaps merely a recess for an altar. An Early English piscina stands immediately south of the site of this arch. What was the original treatment, in the twelfth century, of this eastern wall of the north transept it is impossible now to determine, but there remain, on the exterior (close beside tbe site of the northern jamb of the arch just mentioned, and north of it), traces of early Norman work. These may have formed part of a Norman pier or jamb of an arch. Of the Decorated style, used in the fourteenth century, we find further examples in the east end of the south aisle of the choir or chancel. The plain aumbry north of the east window of St. Mary's (?) chantry here, and the beautiful piscina with its trefoilheaded arch, are good examples of this style. Probably also two ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. 411 brackets (one large and square on the north side, and the other smaller and semi-octagonal on the south) were inserted beneath this east window (to flank.the altar of St. Mary) in the fourteenth century. ST. MARY'S CHANCEL. At the eastern end of the south aisle of the chancel (now somewhat obscured by the organ) are three exquisite, lancet windows (two in the south wall, and one in the east wall) having their rere-arches trebly cusped, and the cusps adorned with dogtooth mouldings. In the south wall remains a handsome piscina of the Decorated period ; opposite is a plain aumbry of the same period with a plain ogeed arch. Prom old wills of parishioners, and from the parish records, we know that there were images of St. Mary the Virgin in other chapels of this church ; but the chief one was here. Here also stood, in 1412,* " the great chest " (probably containing vestments and other valuable things). In 1460, Agnes Newhonse desired to be buried before the image of St. Mary in the chapel of the Virgin here (or else, before the great rood). She left 12d. to the light of St. Mary in this chapel; and ten years later John Honywode left 20d. to the same light. Towards making a window " ultra altarem " in this chapel, Henry Herman bequeathed 6s. 8d. in 1482; probably at that time the eastern lancet was filled with coloured glass. At the present time we find here the stone slab (unusually well sculptured with leaves and roses) commemorating Elizabeth, wife of Robinson Bean, and daughter of John Knight. She died on the 22nd of January 1680-1, aged 58. Her sole daughter and heiress Ann died January the 12th, 1679-80, aged twenty-two. The coloured glass in the east window of this chancel was inserted in memory of Henry Mackeson, who died on the 9th of March 1860, aged 87, and of his wife Mary Jane, who died in November 1852, aged 81. On the north wall is a memorial brass thus inscribed :— "In a vault near this place are interred the remains of Mary Jane, 3r d daughter of Henry Mackeson and Mary Jane his wife, who died 22 June 1809, aged 5 years and 7 months." It also commemorates Elizabeth, their eldest daughter, born at Deal, 1 March 1799, who died at Tunbridge Wells, 16 July 1862. She was buried in the churchyard of St. Paul, Rusthall. Also William Mackeson of Hythe, who died at Bath in 1821, aged 47, and Harriet his wife, who died at Canterbury in 1855, aged 79. Also Charles William, their eldest son, who died in 1819, aged 19; Thomas, their 5th son, a Lieutenant R.N., who died at Malta in 1837, aged 28; William Laurence, their 7th son, Lieutenant in the * Archceologia Cantiana, X., 248. 412 ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. 19th Bengal Native Infantry, who died in 1842, aged 26; Julius Arthur, their 8th son, who died in 1847, aged 29; Erederick, their 4th son, Lieutenant- Colonel in the Bengal Native Army, a Commander of the Bath, who was Commissioner of Peshawur-, and died of a wound in 1853, aged 46; he is commemorated by a monument in Canterbury Cathedral, and by another at Peshawur. In the westernmost window of the north wall there is coloured glass, inserted by Mrs. Ann Bell, in memory of Lieut.- General William Robert Haliday, formerly Commandant of the School of Musketry, who died Peb. 12, 1878, in his 70th year. CHAPEL or ST. JAMES. The south transept was rebuilt by the family of Deedes in 1751, but it is now open to all. Its southern window, of three lights, contains handsome modern glass, hy Clayton and Bell, representing the Transfiguration of our Blessed Lord. Above that window there is a small lancet in which are painted six shields, hearing the arms of six esquires of the Deedes family impaling those of their respective wives, viz., arms of the families of, 1 (top) Harrison; (2) Drake; (3) Denew; (4) Bramston j (5) Bridges ; (6) Taylor; at the base of the light is the family motto, "Facta non Verba" (Deeds not words). TJpon the walls of this transept are five long marble monumental tablets, commemorating the Deedes family. Beneath the large south window is a modern inscribed brass plate which states that within the Deedes' family vault, beneath this transept, lie the bodies of twenty-eight members of that family; their names are as follows, Henry Deedes, ob. 1715, and his wife Margaret (nee Harrison), ob. 1706, with their children, William, Abraham-Harrison, and Margaret. Julius Deedes* ob. 1750, and Elizabeth Deedes (nee Drake), oh. 1755, and their only child Julius, ob. 1741, s.p. Julius Deedes,f ob. 1753, and Dorothy Deedes (nee DenewJ), ob. 1754; with their daughter Mary. WilUam Deedes,^ ob. 1793, and Mary Deedes (nee Bramston of Skreens), ob. 1792, with their children, Caroline, Anne, and Thomas. William Deedes,\\ ob. 1834, and Sophia Deedes (nee Bridges), with their six daughters. William Deedes,^ ob. 1862, and Emily Octavia Deedes (nee Taylor of Bifrons), ob. 1871, with their daughters Emily and Sophia. * Eldest son of Henry and Margaret. t Son of Wm. Deedes, M.D. (of Canterbury, who was buried at Aldington in 1738). This Julius was a Prebendary of Canterbury, Reotor of Great Mongeham, and of Dimchuroh. t Widow of Richard Ibbetson, D.D.; granddaughter of Sir Abraham Jaoob. § Eldest son of Prebendary Julius Deedes. He was born in the Archbishop's Palace at Canterbury in 1733. || Eldest son of William and Mary. He was of the Middle Temple, and resided at St. Stephen's, Canterbury. f Eldest son of William and Sophia. He was M.P., for East Kent, 1845-62. ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. 413 Another tablet of brass at the north end of this transept's east wall records that there lie buried in Saltwood churchyard John Deedes, of the Inner Temple, who died in 1885, and Major George Deedes (of Hilhurst) lately of the 17th Regiment, who died in 1883; they were brothers of William, the M.P. for East Kent, 1845-62, and were the 5th and 6th sons of William Deedes by his wife Sophia, nee Bridges. Above this brass is a marble tablet commemorating Lieut- Colonel Henry Deedes (third son of William and Sophia), who died in 1848, on board the Bellerophon, as he was going with his regiment (the 34th) from Malta to Gibraltar. The memory of an earlier member of the Deedes family is preserved by the inscription on a tablet, north of the chancel arch, seen above the pulpit in our Plate, on the south-west face of the turret which contains the stone stair that leads to the triforium and roof, and from which access to the ancient rood loft (when it existed) was obtained through a doorway, still to be seen above this tablet. The inscription tells us that Julius Deedes, Esq., was thrice Baron in Parliament for the Port of Hythe, and as often Mayor; Captain of the Trained Band, and Major of this division. He left three sons (William, Henry, and Julius) and two daughters (Sarah and Margaret) by his wife Anne, daughter of Robert Bate, of Lydd, esquire. He died Sept. 3rd, 1692, set. 58. She died Peb. 2nd, 1697, set. 58. The Bates' arms, sable, a chevron between 3 right hands open, are impaled with Deedes. The original residence of the Deedes' family in Hythe stood next door to the present vicarage, at the foot of the ascent to the south porch of the church. ST. KATHERINE'S CHANCEL. This we believe to have been the north chancel. There was naturally a light burning before the image of St. Katherine at the altar dedicated to her in this chancel. To that light of St. Katherine, Harry Butter bequeathed a few pence in 1486. In the same chancel there was an image of St. Mary the Virgin, " to garnish" which John Hunte in 1513 bequeathed 6s. 8d. A fraternity met periodically to hold service in this chancel; and in 1487 John Clerke bequeathed 8d. to the fraternity of St. Katherine here. Tiles were laid as a floor to this chancel, in 1412, to the extent or value of 20d.* "' Beneath the east window's string course a consecration- • * Archceologia Cantiana, X., 243. 414 ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. cross is still visible—no doubt, the chocolate-coloured paint has been renewed at some time. A doorway has been inserted in the south wall, which separated St. Leonard's altar-space from that of St. Katherine. On its north face it is square-headed, but on the south its head is a Tudor arch. Here are memorials of (i) Elizabeth Lott, who died in 1798 ; (ii) John Collyns (son of Giles Collyns), who had two wives, and had issue by them both; these armorial bearings are shewn :— quarterly 1 and 4, vert, a wyvern, or; 2 and 3, argent, 3 pales azure, on a canton a fleur-de-lis; (iii) Robinson Bean, gent, (ten times Mayor of Hythe), who died in 1703. The memorial of Giles Collyns (father of John above named), stands on the north wall of the altar-space in the high chancel of St. Leonard. It states that he married Margaret, daughter of John Tailor. The lancet windows in this north chancel are curiously unlike each other. The easternmost in the wall has two lancets under one arch—next to it, and like it between the external buttresses stand two separate lancets, each with a hood of its own; the westernmost wiudow is a single lancet, very near to and west of the smaller exterior buttress, and having its apex higher than any of the others. Its external hood-string is carried horizontally along the wall, at a level 9 to 12 inches higher than the strings of the other chancel windows in the same wall. I consider that the peculiar treatment of this lancet indicates the existence at an early period of a small chancel to the north transept of St. Edmund, which must have projected some distance eastward. ST. EDMUND'S CHAPEL. That St. Edmund the King and Martyr was highly honoured, in Hythe, we gather from the fact that a fair was, in the Middle Ages, held in this town upon St. Edmund's Day. It is evident from the town records that St. Edmund's Chapel, in this church, was closely connected with the municipality. We learn from those records that, in 1367, the bailiff and the twelve jurats assembled, for deliberation, in this church of St. Leonard; and in 1370 we are told distinctly what part of the church they appropriated. They sat in the chancel* of the • Chapel of St. Edmund King and Martyr. Sundays as well as other days were made use of for these solemn meetings. In 1412 the whole town was scandalized by a piece of sacri- * Historical MSS. Commission, Fourth Report, p. 436b. ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. 415 lege. A candlestick which stood before the image of St. Edmund had been stolen by John Sherwynd ! In the same year, the sum of 4s. 2d. was expended upon the repair of the arch of the north door, its hinges and its bolts. No doubt this was the door which the jurats used when they assembled in St. Edmund's Chapel. John Honywode, in 1470, and Thomas Honywode, in 1474, by their wills, directed that they should be buried in the Chapel of St. Edmund in this church at Hethe. The former bequeathed money in order that two priests should daily celebrate for his soul in St. Edmund's Chapel. At the present time, in this North Transept there are many memorials—amongst them are tablets for (i) Capt. Robert Finnis, who, commanding the ship Queen Charlotte, on Lake Erie, died in 1813, aged twenty-nine; (ii) the sons of Colonel John Finnis; (iii) Capt. Richard Hart, of the 78th Regt., who died in 1863, aged eighty-one; also Hannah his wife, who died in 1854, and their son and heir Capt. Henry Douglas Hart, of the 39th Madras Native Infantry, who was killed by a mutinous sepoy, in 1858, aged thirty-five; (iv) Robert Finnis, who died in 1832, aged seventy-nine, and Elizabeth Quested his wife, with her father and her sister. Robert and Elizabeth Finnis were the parents of Alderman Thomas Quested Finnis, in whose memory the great eastern lancets were filled with coloured glass, some years ago. THE NAVE. Under the south-west window near the door of entrance is a large memorial brass affixed to the wall, which was erected in 1883 by Mr. Edward Mackeson, to his father and mother, brother and sister. His father was Captain Thomas Mackeson, of the Hon. East India Company's Service, who resided for many years in Hythe, but died at Weston near Bath, on the 28th of October, 1854—his widow Mary, died abroad in 1874. Their son Lumsden Mackeson, a Barrister-at-Law, died on the 18th of July, 1870; and their only daughter, Mrs. Mary Louisa Hamilton, died on the 14th of November, 1882. Beneath this large modern brass stands a small strip inscribed, " Here lyes buryed the body of Henry Est-day, Gent., who died upon the 18th day of September, in the yeere of Christ 1610." Mr. George Wilks, the learned Town Clerk of Hythe, in his valuable history of " The Barons of the Cinque Boris, and the Parliamentary representation of Hythe" (page 51), says that John Esday, who was elected M.P. for Hythe in November 1554 was probably an ancestor of this Henry Est-day. 416 ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. The south-eastern window in the south wall of the nave has been filled with coloured glass (made by Heaton Butler and Bayne) representing the Centurion coming to our Blessed Lord to intercede for his servant's life. This window was erected by brother officers of the School of Musketry and friends in Hythe in memory of Maximilian Dudley Digges Dalison, of the Scots Guards, who was killed in action at Hasheen, in Egypt, March 20th, 1885. He was a gallant young officer who had been on the Staff at Hythe School of Musketry, the eldest son of Maximilian Dalison, Esq., of Hamptons, near Tunbridge. The Queen gave apartments in Hampton Court Palace to his widow, a sister of Sir Henry Beresford Pierse, of Yorkshire. It is highly probable that his father's family seat, Hamptons in West Peckham, derived its name from a descendant of William Hampton, who several times was M.P. for Hythe between 1366 and 1374. Beneath this window, a memorial brass affixed to the wall commemorates John Bredgman (alias Bridgman) who was M.P. for Hythe in 1563, as Mr. G. Wilks tells us (at page 51) of his "Barons of the Cinque Ports," and who being the last Bailiff of Hythe, obtained from the Crown Hythe's Charter of Incorporation for a Mayor and Jurats, and also the grant for an annual fair. The brass plate has inscribed around its outer edges these words, " Here lyeth ye body of John Bredgman, Jurat of this Town and Porte of Hethe, ye laste Bayly and fyrste Mayor of ye same, who departed ye 3 of December, A0 1581, and in ye 24 yere of ye Reign of oT Sovereign Laidye Queen Elizabeth." In the centre of the brass are these verses (engraved two in one line, looking like four lines only) :— " Whylst he did live whioh heare doth lie, three sutes gatt of y" Crowne, The mortmaine, fayer, and mayralltie, for Heythe, this auntient towne And was him self the Baylye last, and Mayer fyrste by name Though he be gone, tyme is not paste to preayse God for y° same." In the nave at present the modern pulpit is a very prominent object, and a work of art. It is circular, of pure white stone, carved with arcading above a panel, all round. In the panel round the base is a ring of mosaic inserted to the memory of two brothers:— Major-General W. J. King, aud Lieutenant- General Richard T. King, R.A. The mosaic represents the four Evangelistic symbols, with Alpha and Omega, and in the midst-of all. the sacred monogram IHC; with these symbols are the words " Blessed are the peace-makers." The ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. 417 arched panels of the pulpit are to be filled with mosaic figures of the Apostles in memory of various persons. Already inserted are figures of—i. N.E., St. Barnabas (a memorial of Thomas Judge); ii. St. Paul (of Thomas Denne) ; iii. (of Eliza Judge) St. John; iv. (of Lieut. R. Levinge) St. James; v. (of Katherine Denne) St. Peter; vi.. (of Colonel R. H. Travers) St. Andrew; vii. St. Bartholomew. These representations of figures of saints, in mosaic, on the pulpit, close to the chancel arch, lead us to mention that before the Reformation there appeared under the centre of that arch, a huge crucifix, called the rood or the great cross, representing our Blessed Lord hanging upon the cross. This rood stood on the middle of a broad loft, called the rood loft, which formed the top of a wooden screen that stretched across the east end of the nave close to the chancel arch. From the doorway still visible (above the Deedes' monument, which is above the pulpit) on the north side, access to the rood loft was obtained, when one had mounted the rood stair in the round turret. The screen and the rood-loft were generally painted with bright colours, red and blue being predominant. In 1472 William Howgyn, by his will, left 6s. 8d. towards painting " the greatest cross" and the rood-loft here. At certain seasons, handsome clothes or curtains were hung about the rood, and in Lent a vail or cloth was placed over the crucifix. In 1513 John Hunt of Hythe bequeathed £4 to buy a cloth for the rood of this church. Before this rood, or holy cross, or great cross, as it was variously called, a light was kept always burning. To maintain such a light, money was required. This was given by various parishioners. Thus in 1470 John Honywode, by his last will, bequeathed 20d. for the light of a lamp burning before the Great Cross; to the same purpose, in 1472, William Howgyn bequeathed 12d. Richard Lambisfelde in 1488 left 12d. to the light of the Holy Cross. Not only before the rood, or holy cross, was a light always kept burning. When money to defray the cost could be obtained, lights were similarly kept burning before images of other saints. In this church, we find that lights were also burned before representations of—i., the Holy Trinity ;* ii., St. Leonard ;f * To the Light of the Holy Trinity bequests were left, in 1470 by John Honywode, in 1472 by Wm. Howgyn, and in 1508-9 by William John. t To the Light of St. Leonard, John Honywode in 1470 left 20d. He likewise bequeathed 5 marks (£3 6s. 8d.), for painting tho crest and tabernaole of St, Leonard; and in 1474 Thomas Honywode left 6s. 8d. to the High Altar of St. Leonard. VOL. xvnr. E E 4 1 8 ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. iii., St. John the Baptist (the senior image) ;* iv., Corpus Christi;t v., St. Katherine ;J vi., St. James ;§ vii., St. Mary in the Chapel of St. James ;|| viii., St. Mary in the Chancel of St. Mary ;^[ ix., St. Mary of the Assumption ;** x., St. Christopher ; t t and xi., Our Lady in St. Katherine's Aisle.JJ The description of one representation of St. John the Baptist as " senior," at once suggests that there must have been a "junior" figure also. This seems really to have been the case. I t would appear that at Bilsington there was a well-known image of St. John the Baptist; so, in 1488, Richard Lambisfelde, by will, bequeathed 12s. in order that Thomas Chirche should make, for Hethe Church, an image exactly similar in shape and colouring to the Bilsington St. John. Connected with this church was a Fraternity or Brotherhood of St. John, to which, in 1513 John Hunt, by his will left 1 lb. of wax. Not far off, stood the Almshouse of St. John the Baptist, for the poor of Hythe; to which almshouse in 1486 William Lunce bequeathed 13s. 4d. (equivalent to one mark). There may have been other Lay Fraternities (besides those of St. Katherine and St. John) connected with this church, but we do not know the name of any other. In 1474, Thomas Honywode bequeathed " 12d to every Fraternity of the Chapel of St. Leonard at Hethe." The regular fee in Hythe, as elsewhere, for a priest saying mass for a soul departed was about 4^d. per day. William Lunce in 1486, and William Bryght in 1492, bequeathed each 10 marks (£6 18s. 4d.), for a priest to "sing for their souls" for a whole year. In 1474, Thomas Honywode left 20 marks that a priest might sing mass for his soul during two years. These masses for the dead, accumulating as they did year by year, necessitated the erection of many altars, in order that various * To the Light of St. John the Baptist senior, John Honywode in 1470 bequeathed 20d. t To the Light of Corpus Christi, Agnes Newhouse in 1460 left 12d., John Honywode in 1470 left 20d., and Harry Butter in 1486 left 8d. t To the Light of St. Katherine, Harry Butter left a bequest. § To the Light of St. James, Wm. Howgyn left 12d. in 1472, and so did Thomas Leyght in 1476. John Hokbyn also mentioned this light in his will. || To the Light of St. Mary in the Chapel of St. James, Thomas Leyght left 12d. in 1476. IT To the Light of St. Mary in the Chancel of St. Mary, Agnes Newhouse left 12d. in 1460, and John Honywode 20d. in 1470. ** To the Light of St. Mary of the Assumption, Ric. Lambisfelde left 12d. in 1488. f t To paint and make St. Christopher, 40s. were bequeathed by Will™ Lunce in 1486. This was but a- renewal of the figure, as, in 1476, Thomas Leyght desired that he should be buried before the image of St. Christopher. JJ To garnish Our Lady in St. Katherine's aisle, John Hunt left 6s. 8d. in 1513. ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. 419 priests might be "celebrating" at one time in the same church. This necessity caused the enlargement of churches, even in very small parishes, where there were wealthy parishioners who could bequeath money thus to provide masses to be said for their souls. The Reformation, which abolished these superstitious ceremonies, enabled the area within the walls of each church to be utilised for worship by the living, instead of being occupied mainly by priests saying masses for the dead. ORDINATIONS HELD IN HYTHE CHURCH. I t was not unusual, in the Middle Ages, for bishops and archbishops to hold their ordinations in the Parish Churches of towns and villages. As St. Leonard's at Hythe enjoyed all the usual privileges of a Parish Church, although it was appendant to the mother church at Saltwood, it enjoyed this privilege also. On Ember Saturday in September 1282, Archbishop Peckham held a large ordination in this church, when no less than fifty-two young men were admitted to some degree of Holy Orders. His grace ordained nine to the Priesthood, twelve to be Deacons, fourteen to be Subdeacons, and seventeen to be Acolites. In those days, the legal " privilege of clergy " induced many to seek the minor orders, of " first tonsure," " acolite," or " subdeaeon," who never went any further. On the Ember Saturday at Whitsunstide, in 1288, Archbishop Peckham again held an ordination in this church, when he admitted eleven to Priest's Orders, ten to be Deacons, eleven to be Subdeacons, and seventeen to be Acolites. Testimony to the looseness of proceeding in those days, and a reminder of the great improvement which the Reformation brought, is found in the fact that one of the eleven young men who were admitted to the order of Subdeacons, by Archbishop Peckham, in this church, at Whitsuntide 1288, was already Rector of Luddenham. These minor Orders were all abolished at the Reformation; and the Laity may well be thankful that, in the English Reformed Church, there cannot be instituted to the incumbency of any parish those who are not in Priest's Orders; which implies that the Parish Priest must be at least twenty-four years of age. This benefit, conferred upon parishes by the Reformation, and that also of freeing the area of the Parish Church from occupation by the altars of Mass-Priests, celebrating for the souls of the departed, are two causes for thankfulness, which in these days men scarcely recognize. For another ordination held here, this church was un- E E 2 420 ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH, HYTHE. donbtedly indebted to the fact of its being appendant to the church of Saltwood. This ordination took place on the 27th of March 1456, when Archbishop Bourghchier was primate. His grace did not himself officiate, for he and his two immediate predecessors in the See of Canterbury found it needful to provide a suffragan bishop to perform such duties. Consequently, at that Eastertide, in 1456, Richard Bishop of Ross,* officiated at the small ordination held in this church. Only five candidates were ordained, and of them Peter Renek, rector of Burmarsh (Broghmerssh), was the only Kentish Parish priest. He was then admitted to Priest's Orders. The reason for holding the ordination here was, simply, that the Bishop of Ross (who acted as suffragan to Archbishops Stafford, Kemp, and Bourghchier), was then rector of Saltwood, and was probably in residence there at the time. THE TOWER. Although this tower is said to have fallen down in 1748, I believe that only the upper part could have fallen. If the whole tower fell, the lower part of it must have been rebuilt with the old materials, so carefully that the masonry looks like earlier work. It has Early English projecting string-courses between its stages, and the mouldings of those strings are deeply undercut. Beneath each of them, on two sides of the tower, runs a string-course of sunk panels, similar to that, in the interior, upon the east wall of the chancel. If we compare an imitation string-course seen upon the south transept, which was rebuilt by Mr. Deedes, we at once detect a difference. On the south side of the tower the under-string is plain and not carved. The tower-buttresses are diagonal, at the angles of the tower. Inside, the lower stage of the tower is octagonal. Within it there is an old, ironbound chest, curiously painted. * The record in Archbishop Bourghchier's Register, fol. 135b, is as follows:— Ordines celebrati, in Capella de Hith, ab ecclesia de Saltwode dependente, Sabbato Sancto Pasche, viz: xxvij"10 die mensis Marcii, Anno Domini Millesimo ccccmo quinquagesimo sexto, per venerabilem patrem Dominum Ricardum Rossensem Episcopum, auotoritate Reverendissimi in Christo patris et Domini, Domini Thome Dei gracia Cantuar. Arohiepiscopi, tocius Anglie primatis, Apostolice Sedis Legati. Accolitus et Subdiaconus, Prater Willelmus Champyown, canonicus Sci. Augustini de Langdon, Cant, diocesis. Diaconus, Robertus Norton, Cantuar. dioc, ad titulum Domus See. Trinitatis de Motynden, eiusdem diocesis. Presbiteri, Will3 Exhall, Sarum. dioc, per litteras dimissorias, ad titulum beneficii sui, eiusdem diocesis; Prater J ones. Langdon, ordinis predicatorum Cantuar.; Petrus Renek, Cantuar. diocesis, ad titulum beneficii sui de Broghmerssh, eiusdem diocesis. I may mention that on the next folio of the Register (136") the same Richard, Bishop of Ross, is in two entries styled "Patrem Dominum, Dominunt Ricardum," etc.