Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood: Historical, Anecdotal, Physiographical, and Archaeological, with Other MatterWalter, J. Conway (James Conway)
History
Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood: Historical, Anecdotal, Physiographical, and Archaeological, with Other Matter
Walter, J. Conway (James Conway)
Woodhall Spa (England)
The church of Langton (St. Margaret’s) is a small edifice, and, until
recently, was in a very poor condition, with no pretension to
architectural beauty in any of its features. It had been rebuilt in the
18th century, at the very worst period for such work, and so badly done
that it was almost a ruin when the writer, as rector, undertook its
restoration. Though still small, it now has several interesting
features. The pulpit, reading desk and lectern have been carved by the
Rector, in old oak, in Jacobean style, in memory of his father, who was
rector 49 years. In the chancel there is an Aumbrey containing an
ancient stoup of Barnack stone, said to have formerly been the holy water
vessel of Spalding Priory. On the Communion table is a curious old alms
dish of “lateen” metal; the device in the centre is the temptation by the
devil of our first parents; an inscription in old Dutch runs
round,—Vreest Goedt honderhovedt syn geboedt; or, Fear God, keep his
commandments. The font bowl is Early Norman, of Barnack stone,
discovered by the Rector among rubbish in some back premises in
Horncastle, and supposed to have been the font of the Early Norman church
of St. Lawrence, once existing there; the pedestal and base are fragments
from the ruins of Kirkstead. In a recess, or aumbrey, behind the west
door, is a very interesting relic, found, a few years ago, in the moat of
the old hall at Poolham, which we described in the previous chapter. We
there mentioned the remains of an oratory, or chapel, still standing in
the south-west corner of the kitchen garden at the old Hall. Some men
were employed in cleaning out the mud from the encircling moat, the
season being a very dry one, and the moat almost empty of water. This
had not been done for many years, if ever before, and the mud was some
feet thick. Below the above-named chapel ruins an object was thrown up
among the mud, which the men took to be a broken seed vessel formerly
belonging to a birdcage, but as it was curiously marked, one of them took
it home, and asked the writer to go and look at it. He did so, and,
seeing its antiquity, he obtained it for a trifle, and communicated with
the Society of Antiquaries, and other authorities, about it, with the
result that it was pronounced to be a mediæval chrismatory. It was made
of coarse tarra-cotta of a greyish buff colour, ornamented with patterns
of squares, diamonds and crosses, with a fleur-de-lys in the centre of
one side, emblematic of the Trinity. It contained in the body two square
wells about an inch deep, which were originally covered with arched
roofs, but one of these had been broken off. At each end was a spout
from the cellar. Its total length was 7 inches; its height, including
the roof, 4 inches; breadth, 3 inches. The use of the chrismatory was
this:—When a child was to be baptised, as it was brought into the church
it was sprinkled with salt, and at baptism it was anointed with oil; and
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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