Surrey: Painted by Sutton Palmer; Described by A.R. Hope MoncrieffMoncrieff, A. R. Hope (Ascott Robert Hope)
History
Surrey: Painted by Sutton Palmer; Described by A.R. Hope Moncrieff
Moncrieff, A. R. Hope (Ascott Robert Hope)
Surrey (England) -- Description and travel
On the other side of High Street, a projecting clock face marks the
Guildhall, dating from the end of the seventeenth century. This is a
place to be visited, for behind its striking exterior are treasured
several royal portraits, among them Charles II. and James II. by Lely,
also some curious carvings on the mantelpiece of the Council Chamber,
with a collection of standard measures of 1601 given by Queen Elizabeth.
The woolsacks in the town arms commemorate a former renown for the
making of cloth, also woven at surrounding villages, an industry said to
have decayed through shortcomings on the part of the manufacturers.
Aubrey asserts that Wonersh, now such a quiet village, flourished by
making blue cloths for the Canary Islands, till the greedy clothiers hit
on a trick of stretching out a web of 18 yards to 22 or 23, which led to
their losing the market.
At the top of the ascent, on the right-hand side, is the High or Trinity
Church, rebuilt in the eighteenth century, not very pleasing in itself,
but enshrining some of the old memorials, as well as later ones. One of
these, in all the absurdity of classical costume, shows the recumbent
effigy of Speaker Onslow, who so long and so worthily filled the Chair
of the House of Commons, and whose family are still Guildford's great
neighbours and patrons. The principal monument is the elaborate one to
Archbishop Abbot of Canterbury (d. 1633), erected in the old church by
his brother Sir Maurice Abbot, a Lord Mayor of London, to be beheld by
Pepys among other tombs "kept mighty neat and clean with curtains before
them." This prelate stands high among the benefactors of his native
town, though as a stalwart Puritan he has had hard things said against
him. His chief claim to remembrance is as one of the body of scholars
who translated or edited the authorised version of the Bible. Another of
"that happy ternion of brothers," as Fuller calls them, was Robert
Abbot, who by long display of learning came to be Bishop of
Salisbury--"but alas! he was hardly warm in his see before cold in his
coffin." As for George, the archbishop, "he did first _creep_, then
_run_, then _fly_ into preferment," yet to have his wings painfully
clipped after he had reached the highest post of the English Church.
Shooting deer at Bramshill Park, near what was to be the rectory of his
descendant, Charles Kingsley, this muscular Christian primate had the
ill-luck to kill a keeper. Like the keen sportsman he was, King James
made light of the accident, as one that might happen to any one; and a
jury threw the blame on the victim; but the scandal was so great that it
seemed well to grant a royal pardon to the right reverend manslayer.
Even then, three Bishops-elect, Laud among them, declined to receive
consecration at his blood-stained hands. The unfortunate Archbishop
showed himself greatly concerned; he settled a pension on the man's
widow, who with such a dowry soon got another husband; and he kept a
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