The Historical Growth of the English Parish ChurchThompson, A. Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
History
The Historical Growth of the English Parish Church
Thompson, A. Hamilton (Alexander Hamilton)
Church architecture -- England
§ 13. A good concrete example of this procedure is the church of
Beckingham, five miles east of Newark-on-Trent, a building of various
periods, but chiefly of the early part of the thirteenth century. The
aisles of the nave are wide, and belong, in their present condition, to
the fourteenth century. At the end of each are distinct indications of
the former presence of an altar. The parson of Beckingham in the second
quarter of the fourteenth century was Thomas Sibthorpe, a man of some
substance, and one of the royal clerks. His benefactions to the church
of his native village of Sibthorpe and to Beckingham involved him in
some litigation, ample records of which are to be found in the Patent
Rolls. In 1332 he obtained a licence to found a chantry in the chapel
of St Mary, in the north part of Beckingham church, and by the end of
1347, he built the chapel of St Anne, on the south side of the church.
Both the existing chapels agree with one another in date; and we may
safely infer that Sibthorpe probably widened, and certainly rebuilt
both the aisles between 1332 and 1347. He evidently intended his
chapel of St Mary to be of some importance, as the chantry priest was
called the warden, and was probably intended to be the head of a small
college, such as existed at Sibthorpe. Of a chantry in the chapel of St
Anne we know nothing: Sibthorpe endowed two candles to be burned there
at certain times. An interesting feature of this fourteenth century
rebuilding is that the north and south doorways, both of late twelfth
century work, were removed to the new walls.
§ 14. The growth of chantry foundations formed the most remarkable
feature of the lay activity of the later middle ages, and is treated
in the next chapter with a view to its influence on architectural
progress. We may sum up the influence of the historical facts already
indicated upon the fabric of the parish church in the following
conclusions: (1) The origin of the parish church was the spiritual need
of the private estate. (2) The lord of the manor was the founder and
provided the fabric. (3) The work of the fabric was entrusted to local
masons. (4) In the division of expense, the rector became responsible
for the chancel and the altar from which he received his dues. (5)
The parishioners were responsible for the fabric of the nave. (6) In
churches appropriated to monasteries, the chancel was the only part of
the fabric for which the monastery was responsible, and a part of its
responsibility was usually laid upon the vicar. (7) Where the monastery
was lord of the manor, it would take its share of the building and
up-keep of the church with the other parishioners. We shall see in
a later chapter some concrete instances of manorial and monastic
influence at work upon the structure of the church.
CHAPTER II
THE CHANTRY CHAPEL IN THE PARISH CHURCH
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