The Antiquarian Magazine & Bibliographer; Vol. 4, July-Dec 1884Various
History
The Antiquarian Magazine & Bibliographer; Vol. 4, July-Dec 1884
Various
Archaeology -- Periodicals; Great Britain -- Antiquities -- Periodicals
The rest of the afternoon was spent by the members of the congress in
the inspection of the various objects of antiquarian interest in which
the town abounds, notably its ancient walls, which, if they are not so
strong or so ancient as those of York, are of a good and original type.
They are fairly perfect on the western and northern sides of the town,
and probably were never built on the east and south sides, where the
cliffs, rising abruptly out of the sea, were a sufficient protection.
The leading features of these fortifications were explained by Mr.
Edward Laws, a local antiquary, who has acted as local secretary to the
present congress, and has the antiquities of Tenby at his fingers’ ends.
The company also inspected several arched vaults, Gothic windows,
ornamental chimneys, and other architectural details in various houses
in the town. They also visited the local museum, where the civic
charters of Tenby and other curious specimens of antiquarian lore were
on view. These found an expounder in Mr. Walter De Gray Birch, of the
British Museum, who pronounced them far above the average in interest,
though not in good preservation. At the church the party were met by the
rector, the Rev. G. Huntington, who pointed out to them a number of fine
effigies and other monuments, especially the curiously sculptured
alabaster memorial to John and Thomas White, enterprising and opulent
merchants of the town, one of whom was of great service to Henry VII.,
when he was only Earl of Richmond, in enabling him to make his escape by
sea to France--a service for which he was afterwards rewarded by a Royal
grant of land. Amongst the other tombs that were inspected was that of
William Risam (A.D. 1633), in the attitude of prayer; that of Walter
Vaughan, of Dunraven, a noted wrecker; and, perhaps the most interesting
of all, a marble effigy of a skeleton in a recess in the wall near the
north door--probably erected by a priest as a _memento mori_. The
curious figures supporting the roof of the chancel, the ogee arch over
the western doorway, the old aumbries, the fine wooden roof, and
entrance to the rood-screen, were all much admired, as were also the
remains of a Carmelite priory adjacent to the west end of the fabric.
These were commented on by the Rector and by Mr. Loftus Brock, who gave
good reasons for believing that the church was erected in detail at
various dates, as the necessity for enlargement arose, and stated that
St. Mary’s, Tenby, was not only one of the finest of Pembrokeshire
churches, but also a very excellent example of what a town church ought
to be. Before leaving the church the Bishop moved a vote of thanks to
Mr. Brock for his valuable and most suggestive paper. The day’s
proceedings were brought to a close by a dinner at the Temperance Hall,
at which nearly a hundred sat down.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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