A book of the west. Volume 1, Devon : $b being an introduction to Devon and CornwallBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
A book of the west. Volume 1, Devon : $b being an introduction to Devon and Cornwall
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Devon (England)
He died about 532. In Portlemouth Church, which has been barbarously
"restored," he is represented on the screen holding the church in
his hand. He is the third figure from the north. The first is partly
effaced; the second is probably his sister, Creirwy; the sixth
is Sir John Schorne, a Buckinghamshire rector, who died in 1308,
and was supposed to have conjured the devil into a boot. He was
venerated greatly as a patron against ague and the gout. There is a
jingle relative to him:--
"To Maister John Schorne, that blessed man born,
For the ague to him we apply,
Which judgeth with a bote; I beshrew his heart's rote
That will trust him, and it be I."
His shrine was at North Marston in Bucks, and was a great resort up
to the time of the Reformation. At one time the monks of Windsor
contrived to get his body removed to their church, but though they
advertised him well he did not "take on" in that quarter, and they
returned the body to North Marston. There are representations of
him on the screens of Wolborough and Alphington, and one or two in
Norfolk. The screen at Portlemouth is of a richer and better design
than is general in the county. In the "restoration" of the church
the level of the chancel has been raised to an excessive height,
so as to give a ludicrous appearance to those occupying the stalls.
But altogether the restoration has been a piece of wanton barbarity.
The carving of the screen is of a high quality. At South Huish was
another beautiful little screen. This has been saved from the hand
of desecration by being removed to the Chapel of Bowringslea, a
grand old Tudor mansion that has been carefully and conscientiously
restored by Mr. Ilbert, the proprietor.
At South Pool is a screen with arabesques on it, well restored; also
an Easter sepulchre.
Stokenham Church stands up boldly above a spring that gushes forth
and forms a pool below the churchyard wall. This, there can be
little doubt, must have at one time been regarded as a holy well.
The church within is stately, and contains a good screen with
paintings of saints on it, and a stone pulpit absurdly painted
with Freemason symbols. What stained glass there is, is mediocre.
Sherford, attached as a benefice to Stokenham, has another good
screen, with apostles painted on it. Slapton has a very fine screen,
but without paintings. The church was originally attached to a
college founded in 1350 by Sir Guy de Brian, standard-bearer to
Edward III.; the gate tower alone remains.
Some fine rocky headlands and pleasant coves are to be visited,
notably Bolt Head and Bolt Tail, and Prawle Point, with the sweet
nooks where the brooks descend to the sea, or the cliffs give
way to form a sunny, sleepy lap, lined with sand. At Bolt Tail
is a prehistoric cliff castle. At Portlemouth may be traced the
entrenchments cast up by the Parliamentarians in the siege of
Salcombe Castle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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