{Part 3}
The bad state of the roads in
the Middle Ages was the cause of much
inconvenience, and since they were entirely dependent
on individual
effort, their maintenance was regarded
as a work of mercy. Bequests for the purpose were therefore
common, and occur in the wills under consideration. John Sowthow (1504)
left a remnant of money "to the ways"; Alice
Hampkyn (1517) left 13s. 4d. "for the highways of Fyngryngho"; similarly, John
Obre (1522) left 20s. "to the repair of the highway between
Fyngryngho and Colchester"; and John Sowthow (1530) left 10
marks "to the repair of the highway
from Fyngryngho church to Weststrete house." A bequest by John Cowper (1524) of 26s. 8d. "to the repair of the steps" is somewhat puzzling.
The same term occurs in the will of Thomas Beriff, dated 1563 (P.C.C. Chayre 40), who left money for the "mending of highwaies, bridges
and the steepes" in Brightlingsea. Evidently
"the steps" were connected with the water-side, and Dr. E. P. Dickin has suggested[1] that
they might have been the steps of a quay or stepping-stones across
a fleet.
Bequests to the parish church
were numerous and, as is frequently the
case, these and kindred items throw a fresh light
on its history. Naturally, its needs in connection with repair and upkeep were remembered: William Webbe
(1502) left 26s. 8d. for its reparation; Agnes
Hankyn (1505), John Hankyn (1506), and
Alice Hampkyn (1517), left the residue
of their goods to the church, the earlier bequest being for repairs; John Feryer (1504) left 20s. for
two stocks, i.e. two separate
funds to provide for certain expenses, and also ordered
his son to pay 10s. to the church "in shorttyng of dettes"; and Gonor Dorell (1513) desired certain proceeds to be disposed of for such things in the church as the vicar
should deem of most profit.
The following references to various
images, each with its attendant
light, occur:
1400. Lamps of St. Mary, St. Michael
and St. Katherine.[2]
1505. The
painting of the image of Our Lady of Pity.
1508. Light
before Our Lady of Pity.
1508. Light before St. Anthony.
1509. Two tapers of a pound apiece, to be kept burning before Our Lady for ever.
1524. A tabernacle and image of Our Lady in it,
to be set in the chapel of Our
Lady; and a candle, of half a pound, to be kept perpetually
before the said image.
A testator also left 10s.
in 1504, for lights in the church.
In addition to the above there would have been, according to the invariable rule, an image of the patron saint near the high altar; and no doubt one of the images of Our Lady also stood in the chancel, probably at the north end of the altar. "Our Lady of Pity" was the group called the Pieta
, and represented the Blessed Virgin seated, with the dead body of her Divine Son on her lap, a conception very popular in this country
during the century
preceding the Reformation.[3] The
tabernacle, or·canopy of tabernacle work, and image of Our Lady ordered to be
set in the chapel of Our Lady, gives us the hitherto unknown
dedication of the south chapel.
This chapel is some decades
later than the south aisle,[4] and was added c.1360, when the chancel
was rebuilt.
Images in two neighbouring
churches are also mentioned, namely, at Langenhoe:
1506. Lights before Our Lady and St. Clement.
and Donyland:
1508. Repair of the image of Our Lady.
The certificate of the church goods
at Fingringhoe in Edward VI.'s reign is unfortunately lost, so it is interesting to know that the parish was provided with some exceptionally rich vestments. In 1504 John Sowthow left the large sum of 20 marks, i.e. something like £200 in modern money, to buy a cope of
"tyssu," or cloth of gold, to match the chasuble
already in possession of the church.
The "church box" is also referred to in the same will.
We learn from the will of John
Hankyn (1506) that a Gild of St. Peter,
hitherto unrecorded among the Religious Gilds of Essex,[5] existed in the parish.
The following is
a list of the clergy mentioned, generally as witnesses, in the various wills.
The vicars are given by Newcourt;[6]
the other names are those of curates
and clergy of uncertain
status:
1502-3. Sir Richard Pyngull (alias Pyngyll,
vicar).
1504. The parson
of Donyland.
1504-5. Sir John Wodward
alias
Woodward), vicar.
1505-18. Sir John Webbe, vicar.
1505-6. Sir John Well,[7] curate.
1506-7. Sir John Parke.
1521. Sir James Tunstall.
1522. Leonard Richardson, priest.
1524-29. Sir Richard
Warde, curate.
1532. Sir Richard
Saye, vicar.
1539-51. Sir (or Mr.) Nicholas
Gladman, vicar.
[1] History of Brightlingsea
(1913) p 166.
[2] Emblems of these saints and of St. Anthony, together with a winged heart
pierced by a word, suggestive of Our Lady of Pity, are carved on an oak curtain-beam, which has recently been erect ed at the Entrance t o t he south
chapel.
[3] See E. Peacock, ‘Our
Lady of Pity’, Archaeological Journal, vol xlviii (1891) pp 111-116.
[4] The foundations of the original east wall of the so uth aisle were revealed in July, 1930, when a step was being laid down at the entrance to the
south chapel. Two or
three fragments of stained glass were also found among the debris.
[5] See EAT vol xii pp.
280-290; vol xv p98; vol xvi pp. 59, 307
[6] Repetorium, vol ii,
pp. 266-267.
[7] Probably a
transcriber’s error for ‘Webbe’.
No comments:
Post a Comment