UNSCHOLASTIC CHARACTER OF THE PRIORY INMATES.

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merely comprised "a Saxon version of a few laws;"*-and tradition hath avouched that the towns-people, their contemporaries, distinguished the canons by the ignoble appellation of "Abbey Lubbers," in allusion to their ignorance and indolence. These facts are the more remarkable, perhaps, because there is evidence that a school was, at a very early period, attached to this foundation for the use of the towns-people, "villa scilicit ipsius scolam," as appears from the confirmatory grant of the ancient rights of the Priory (vide Appendix, No. II.), given by Baldwin de Redvers, Sen., Earl of Devon.

Leges aliquot regum Saxonice:" Lelandi Coll. tom. iv. p. 149. edit. altera.

+ It appears from the "Parliamentary Writs," vol. i. p. 531, that the Priory of Christ-church was returned [anno 1297] as holding lands or rents in the counties of Somerset and Dorset, to the amount of £20 and upwards, in yearly value, either in capite or otherwise, and as such was summoned under the general writs to perform Military service in parts beyond the seas:—to muster at London on the 7th of July, 25th of Edward the First. Three years afterwards, the Priory was again returned as holding lands, &c. to the amount of £40 yearly and upwards, and as such summoned to perform Military service against the Scotch:-to muster at Carlisle, on the 24th of June, 28th of Edward the First.

During the Michaelmas Term, (vide "Placitorum Abberratio." p. 220.) in the 28th of Edward the First, the King, in full Parliament, restored to the Prior of Twynham the Hundred of Piddleton, county of Dorset, which had been seized by occasion of a trespass.

In the 33rd of Edward the First, (anno 1304) the Prior and Convent of Christ-church complained to Parliament that, whereas Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Albemarle, had granted to them the tythe of rabbits in the Isle of Wight,-yet William Russell, the King's keeper of the said Isle, refused to allow the same. The Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer were commanded to inquire into the matter, and do justice therein. Vide "Rolls of Parliament," vol. i. p. 159.

In the 2nd of Edward the Second, the Burgesses of Dorchester complained that, whereas the Prior of Christ-church held a moiety of the town of Piddleton in fee-farm, from Sir Simon de Montacute, at £20 per annum, and that he had established a market there, which was a great injury to that of Dorchester, because the merchants who formerly went to Dorchester now went to Piddleton. The Escheator was commanded to inquire into the matter. Ibid, p. 275.

Edward the Third, by letters patent, issued in the 7th year of his reign, [anno 1333], in consideration of a fine of ten marks, pardoned the Prior and Convent of Christ-church Twynham, the transgression made by their predecessors in the time of Edward the First, in receiving from Elias Doterel the advowson and demesne of the House of St. Leonard de Risshton, (Rushton, in Dorsetshire) without the royal license; and he also, restored to them the said advowson and demesne.

Chap. ELL.

DESCRIPTIVE PARTICULARS OF THE PRIORY CHURCH, AND OF ITS ARCHITECTURAL AND OTHER ORNAMENTS-PRESENT STATE OF THE EDIFICE-MATERIALSREPAIRS AND RECENT IMPROVEMENTS-EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR DESCRIBED, VIZ. TOWER; NORTH PORCH; NAVE AND TRANSEPT; CHOIR SCREEN; CHOIR; CARVINGS OF THE STALLS; POLITICAL CARICATURES; ALTAR SCREEN; CHOIR AISLES, AND CHAPELS; LADY CHAPEL; CRYPT; GRAVESTONES AND MONUMENTS- -MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES.

THIS edifice, which equally in its extent and arrangement, as in its principal details, exhibits all the magnificence of a Cathedral, stands on a pleasant spot, (the ground being slightly elevated,) near the south-western extremity of the town, at the head of Christ-Church bay. From the leads, both of the tower and the roof, it commands a most beautiful prospect, seaward, over the bay, Hengistbury Head, the English channel, and the western parts of the Isle of Wight; and on the land side, of the rich meadows surrounding the town, watered by the sinuous streams of the Avon and the Stour; of St. Catharine's Hill, and of a widely-spread reach of country, extending over great part of the New Forest.

In its general design this Church, as may be fully understood by referring to the annexed GROUND PLAN, Plate I. comprehends a nave and aisles; a transept, with chapels projecting eastward; a choir and its aisles; a Lady-chapel; a western tower, and a capacious north-porch. So much variety and grandeur, intelligence, and taste, are displayed in its architecture, that we cannot but regret the deficiency of records which prevents our ascertaining by whom, and at what exact periods, the different divisions of this noble fabric were respectively erected. With the exception, indeed, of the Norman part, the undoubted work of Bishop Flambard, and his early successors in this deanery,we are unacquainted with any historical document whatsoever that will enable us indubitably to assign any other portion of the church to any known indi

KINDS OF STONE USED IN BUILDING THE CHURCH.

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vidual; and we can scarcely affix a date to any part beyond the transept, except by inferences drawn from the style and execution of other similar buildings, of which the age is unquestionable.

In commencing the more particular details, it may be expedient to insert a few memoranda on the various kinds of stone, of which this edifice is built; and for which we are indebted to the scientific examination of Charles Lyell, Esq., F.R.S. the eminent geologist.

The foundations of the church are filled up with the ferruginous sandstone concretions of Hengistbury Head.

The stones of the Gothic entrance-porch consist, chiefly, of the fresh water limestone of the Binstead quarries in the Isle of Wight, which contain so many casts of bivalve shells. The Gothic exterior of the nave on the north side is of the same kind of material.

The projecting Norman round-tower is of fresh water limestone, containing Limneæ; which shells have left hollows in the stone where it is weathered. This limestone probably came from some of the quarries in the north-western part of the Isle of Wight, near Hendon Hill. The clustered columns are of the same limestone, but their pediments are of the Binstead stone before mentioned. The Portland oolite enters largely into the Gothic exterior east of the transept, and into the Norman round-tower. There are columns, also, in the intersected arches of Portland oolite. There are, likewise, clustered pillars of Purbeck marble at the sides of the great entrance-porch; the Purbeck limestone containing small univalves.

The only stones of foreign countries noticed, are of Caen oolite,--which appears in the Countess of Salisbury's chapel, and in the chapel erected by John Draper, the last prior of Christ-church.

For a very long period this Church, notwithstanding the highly interesting character of its architecture, underwent great dilapidation, and suffered from extreme neglect; scarcely any thing being done to it, except obliterating its sculpture by thick coatings of whitewash, and blocking up the windows instead of repairing them. Since the commencement, however, of the present century, and more especially during the respective curacies of the late Rev. William Bingley, A. M. (the well-known naturalist and antiquary) and his very estimable