"Humble it is, and meek, and very low,
And speaks its purpose by a single bell:
But God Himself, and He alone, can know
If spiry temples please Him half so well."
We have given two instances of very small churches: let us now refer
to a midget chapel. At Crawshawbooth, a village near Burnley, there
is an extremely interesting diminutive place of worship known as
the Friends' Meeting-House, an old-fashioned building covered with
ivy, and environed by a well-cared-for burial ground. It contains
half a dozen oak benches, on which the worshippers sit. Though these
benches are sufficient to provide seating accommodation for about
sixty, the attendance is rarely more than six. John Bright once
worshipped here, walking from Rochdale, a distance of twelve miles.
This quaint little place is naturally regarded with much interest by
visitors.
It is interesting to point out that there is another Quaker
meeting-house in the hamlet of Jordans, in Buckinghamshire, which
is, if anything, smaller than that already referred to. It has been
called the Shrine of Quakerism, for early in June every year a
gathering of Quakers takes place. Here lie the remains of William
Penn, one of the greatest of Quakers. At a cottage in the vicinity
Milton wrote his "Paradise Lost."
[Illustration: (_Photo: R. W. Lord, Little Lever, near Bolton._)
THE FRIENDS' MEETING-HOUSE, CRAWSHAWBOOTH.
(_Containing six oak benches to accommodate sixty worshippers._)]
To revert to churches, Kilpeck Church is well worth referring to as
being a lovely little place of worship. The nave is thirty-six feet
by twenty, and the chancel seventeen by sixteen feet ten inches,
the total length being sixty-eight feet and the average breadth
about sixteen feet. It is built upon a Saxon foundation, and Saxon
remains are still to be seen--notably, a "holy-water" stoup that
must be one thousand or eleven hundred years old. It is not possible
to do justice to this beautiful church in a few words, but the
accompanying photograph will give an idea of the quaintness and
beauty of the structure. The sculpture is remarkably interesting.
[Illustration: (_Photo: Poulton and Sons, Lee._)
KILPECK CHURCH.
(_Nave thirty-six feet by twenty._)]
An article on midget places of worship would be incomplete without a
reference to the little lath-and-plaster church of Essex, consisting
of nave, chancel, and a small turret. Hazeleigh Church, as it is
named, stands in the near vicinity of Hazeleigh Hall--once the
home of the Essex family of the Alleynes, one of whom founded the
College of God's Gift at Dulwich. This little church has thus been
described by the Rev. H. R. Wadmore, sometime curate:--
"... A little church beside a wood
Securely sheltered from the sweeping blast;
So quiet, so secure, it seems to be
A very type of rest and all that's still."
[Illustration: (_Photo: R. D. Barrett._)
CHILCOMBE CHURCH.
(_Twelve yards long._)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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