Cathedrals -- England; England -- Description and travel
aisles and the piers of the tower as we now see them. Perhaps the
oldest thing in the church is the doorway in the north aisle which
would seem to be Norman, but Street tells us that this "is a curious
instance of imitation of earlier work, rather than evidence of the
doorway itself being earlier than the rest of the church."
Within, the church is delightful, increasing in richness of detail
eastward towards the chancel where nothing indeed can surpass the
beauty of the arcade, so like the work at Westminster, borne by
pillars of Purbeck, its spandrels filled with wonderfully lovely,
delicate, and yet vigorous foliage. Here are two brasses, one of 1408
to John Lambarde, the rector in Chaucer's day, the other of 1530 to
Sir John Dew. In the north aisle we may find certain ancient paintings
the best preserved of which represents the Madonna and Child.
The north aisle of the chancel is not at one with the church; it was
built in the early sixteenth century by the Wilshyre family as their
Chantry. Here lies Sir John Wilshyre, Governor of Calais in the time
of Henry VIII. The glass everywhere is unfortunately modern.
One leaves Stone church with regret; it is so fair and yet so
hopelessly dead that one is astonished and almost afraid. Less than a
mile along the road, to the north of it one passes Ingress Abbey,
where once the nuns of Dartford Priory had a grange. The present
house, once the residence of Alderman Harmer, the radical and
reformer of our criminal courts, was built of the stone of old London
Bridge.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account