Chapter IV (4)

St. Edmund’s Church, in Fishgate Street, was founded in the reign of William I. It comprises a nave, chancel, south aisle, and tower with one bell. The arches of the nave are nearly flat, and the sub-arches are carried on shafts with moulded caps. The rectory, valued in K.B. at £4 6s. 3d., and now at £165, was augmented in 1726 with £200 given by Rev. W. Stanley and Rev. R. Corey, and from 1726 to 1819 with £1000 of royal bounty. The Rev. T. Taylor is the incumbent.

_St. James_.

St. James’ Church, in Cowgate, includes Pockthorpe in its parish, and was a well endowed rectory till 1201, when it was appropriated to the Cathedral Priory. It is now a peculiar of the Dean and Chapter. The Rev. A. D. Pringle, incumbent.

_St. Paul_.

St. Paul’s Church, in the square called St. Paul’s Plain, is an old dilapidated building with a small round tower, the upper part of which was octagonal, but was rebuilt about 1819 of white brick with stone coping. It has some decorated windows, but is chiefly in the perpendicular style. There is a north aisle, and at the east end a parclose, the two screens of different patterns, but both in the same perpendicular style. The perpetual curacy was certified at only £2, but was augmented from 1745 to 1749 with £200 of Queen Anne’s bounty, and is now worth £150. The Dean and Chapter are patrons, and the Rev. Bell Cooke is incumbent.

THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT.

_St. Stephen_.

The parish of St. Stephen’s, on the south side of the city, is extensive and populous. The streets present some good shops and places of business. The principal streets are Rampant Horse Street, St. Stephen’s Street, and Surrey Street. The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital is at the top of St. Stephen’s Street, and the far-famed Norwich Union Fire and Life Office is in Surrey Street.

The church, at the west end of Rampant Horse Street, is a handsome edifice of the late perpendicular style, of the 16th century, with a nave and clerestory, two aisles, a chancel, two small chapels, and a square tower. The nave is divided from the aisles by fluted columns with pointed arches. The windows are large and numerous, and that at the east end is filled with stained glass representing the life of the Virgin Mary, and dated 1610. This church was founded before the Norman Conquest, but has been all rebuilt at different periods, the chancel about 1520, and the nave in 1550. The roof is a fine specimen of open timber-work, and is richly carved. The tower stands on the north side of the church, and beneath it is the porch. In 1859, the interior was thoroughly restored at a cost of £1500, and a new carved pulpit and a reading desk were put up at the same time. Under the superintendence of Mr. Phipson, the county architect, ten new windows have been lately inserted in this church, five on each side. They are in the perpendicular style corresponding to the style of the building. They are glazed with cathedral glass and a ruby border. There is also a new window over the south door of the chancel. It is glazed with painted glass of a geometrical pattern, put in by the London firm that produced the work in the large western window, representing the death of St. Stephen. That window cost £300. The benefice is a discharged vicarage, valued in K.B. at £9, and now at £212. It was augmented from 1715 to 1812 with £1000 of royal bounty. The Dean and Chapter are patrons. The Rev. C. Baldwin, vicar.

_St. John Sepulchre_.

St. John Sepulchre is a large church at the top of Ber Street, dedicated to St. John the Baptist and the Holy Sepulchre, and founded in the reign of Edward the Confessor. It consists of a nave, chancel, a sort of transept chapel on each side, and a lofty tower with five bells and a clock. The font is octagonal and is ornamented with angels, lions, &c. The east window is of three lights filled with stained glass, the centre light presenting a figure of St. John the Baptist. The window is in memory of the Rev. Samuel Stone, M.A., incumbent of this parish, who was a great friend of the poor, and died in 1848. Here is a fine mural monument of the Watts family. The rood-stair turret still remains, and in the south side of the chancel is a fine consecration cross. The living is a perpetual curacy, certified at £9 1s., and now valued at £144. It was augmented from 1737 to 1812 with £1600 of royal bounty. The Dean and Chapter are patrons. The Rev. W. T. Moore, incumbent.

_St. Michael at Thorn_.

This part of the city includes the parish of St. Michael at Thorn, so called from the “thorns” formerly growing in the neighbourhood, of which there is one now in the churchyard. The Rev. A. Davies is incumbent of the parish. The church is remarkable for its antiquity.

_All Saints_.

At the bottom of Ber Street we may turn to the left into the parish of All Saints, where the church stands in an open space called All Saints’ Green. The church is a small structure, having a nave, chancel, porch, and tower containing three bells. The chancel contains some decorated windows, but the other portions of the church are perpendicular. The east window is modern and filled with poor stained glass, but there are some fragments of ancient stained glass, containing heads of bishops, &c., in the windows of the aisles. The font is octagonal and in the perpendicular style. There are three monuments with merchant’s marks upon them. The rectory, valued in K.B. at £3 14s. 7d., is consolidated with St. Julian, valued in K.B. at £5. The joint benefices are now worth £300 per annum. They were augmented with £300 of Queen Anne’s bounty in 1769 and 1810, and with £200 given by John Drinkwater, Esq., and £500 given by S. Thornton, Esq., in 1800. The Rev. C. F. Sculthorpe, M.A., is patron, and the Rev. G. S. Outram is incumbent.

_St. John Timberhill_.

St. John’s Timberhill, at the north end of Ber Street, was founded soon after the priory of Norwich, to which it was appropriated, and it was dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It has a nave, chancel, south porch with parvise, and two aisles with chapels at their east ends. That on the north, a part of which is now used for the vestry, was called our Lady’s Chapel. There is a hagroscope or squint on the south side of the chancel, and near it is a small decorated piscina. The font is circular and Norman. The whole building needs restoration. The square tower fell down on August 20th, 1784, and damaged the west end of the church. Its foundations still remain, but the bells were sold to pay for the repairs. The perpetual curacy was augmented from 1738 to 1813 with £1000 of royal bounty, and valued in 1835 at £31. The Dean and Chapter are patrons. The Rev. S. Titlow, M.A., has been the incumbent since 1831.

_Chapel Field_.

There is yet left unnoticed a small district lying south of St. Giles’, and which is generally known as Chapel Field. Near this field once stood a college called St. Mary in the Fields, founded about the beginning of the 13th century by John Le Brun. Soon after its establishment its benefactors were so numerous that in a short time it became a very noble college, having a dean, chancellor, precentor, treasurer, seven prebendaries, and six chaplains. Miles Spencer, the last dean, persuaded the college to resign its revenues for small pensions, after he had obtained a grant of the whole for himself from Henry VIII. at the dissolution. The property afterwards passed through several hands, and the field is now the property of the corporation. It has recently been enclosed by a massive palisade, and much improved as a place of recreation; and a large Drill Hall has been built at the north-west corner for the use of the Volunteers. The Drill Hall was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1866.

THE HAMLETS.

_Heigham_.

The hamlets have, of late years, been greatly increased in extent and population, and are likely to leave the old city in the shade. Heigham, on the west side of the city, has become a town, with two churches, and another about to be built, three chapels, and several large schools. Since 1801, the population has increased from 544 to 15,000 souls. Many new streets have been laid out between the Dereham and Earlham Roads; long rows of new houses have been built, and are nearly all occupied. The National School-house, on Dereham road, was built in 1840 at a cost of £1000, and is attended by about 270 children.

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The CITY JAIL, an ugly building, stands in this hamlet at the corner of St. Giles’ Road. It was built in 1827 from a design by Mr. Philip Barnes, of Norwich, at a cost of £30,000. The front elevation is massive and is supported by Tuscan columns. The whole building encloses an area of 1 acre 2 roods 34 poles, and contains 114 cells. The house of the governor stands in the centre and commands a view of the entire prison, which is well ventilated and supplied with water pumped by the tread-wheel.

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The NEW WATER WORKS are in this hamlet, and supply the city with water from the river Wensum. After filtration the water is forced up by steam power to the distributing reservoir at Lakenham, at a height of 134 feet above the level of the river at Carrow Bridge, whence it flows by gravitation to all parts of the city and the suburbs. The present company has a capital of £60,000 in £10 shares, and was incorporated under an act of parliament passed in 1850, the powers of which have been enlarged by subsequent acts, so that wholesome and pure water is now constantly supplied at very low terms. Excellent provision has also been made for a plentiful supply for extinguishing fires, by fixing hydrants at every 100 yards.

_Bishop Hall’s Palace_.

[Picture: Bishop Hall’s Palace]

The OLD PALACE, where the celebrated Bishop Hall resided, (now known as the Dolphin Inn,) is in this hamlet. Here he retired after his expulsion from the bishop’s palace by the republican party in 1644. The house, which is fast going to decay, displays the peculiarities of the domestic architecture of the time of James I. The front presents two projecting bays, one on each side of the door, which afford a light to the lower and upper rooms. The doorway deserves a passing notice, and some curiously carved heads will be found in the interior, as well as the remains of an ancient piscina in the wall at the entrance. There is a large parlour on the right hand, wainscotted all round from the floor to the ceiling.

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The NEW WORKHOUSE was erected in 1859 at an expense of £33,000 exclusive of £680 paid for about nine acres of land. It is an extensive range of brick buildings in the Tudor style of architecture, having room for about 1000 inmates, but it has never had so many as yet, though the number is increasing every year. The debt on the building was £22,000, and will be gradually paid off by instalments.

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The NEW CEMETERY. The greatest improvement effected in Norwich during the present century was the closing of all the churchyards for burials, and the opening of a new cemetery for the dead. It was opened in 1856 and is pleasantly situated on high ground next the Earlham Road; the whole area being divided into two parts, one side being consecrated and the other unconsecrated. The whole comprises 35 acres of land prettily laid out and planted. It was formed at a cost of £7000 by the Burial Board. There are entrances from the Earlham and Dereham Roads. The two principal chapels are of early English architecture with porches and apsidal terminations. There is also a small chapel for the use of the Jews.

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The long contemplated division of this extensive hamlet into three parishes, has at length been carried into effect. The old church of St. Bartholomew is to be the parish church of the new parish of that name on the north side next the river. The estimated population is 5,600. The Rev. J. G. Dixon is rector. The central part of the hamlet, lying between the Dereham and Earlham Roads, with a population of 4,400, is to form the new parish of St. Philip; but a church has not been yet built. The third parish, the incumbency of which is retained by the Rev. C. T. Rust, includes all that part of Heigham which lies between Earlham Road and the boundary of St. Stephen’s. The population is about 6,400. The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, in Essex Street, is the parish church. The church of St. Bartholomew stands on an eminence above the Wensum, and is a small structure in the perpendicular style, with a nave, south aisle, north porch, chancel, and a square tower, in which are three bells. It has a mural monument to the pious Bishop Hall, who was buried here in 1656. The living is a rectory valued in K.B. at £6 13s. 4d., and now at a little over £200. Trinity Church, near Unthank’s Road, was built by subscription, and consecrated in August 1861, to supply the great want of church accommodation which had long been felt in this part of the hamlet. It is a large building in the decorated style, and consists of nave, transepts, and apsidal chancel, with a tower containing one bell, and surmounted by a slated spire 120 feet high. The total cost was £7000.

In 1861, an ancient lead coffin, containing the remains of a female skeleton, was discovered about four feet below the surface on a chalk pit at Stone Hills, Heigham. It was perfectly plain, and appeared to have been formerly enclosed in an outer case of wood, and was probably of the Roman period. Near it were found two bronze torque rings of a twisted pattern, encrusted with a fine green patina, and evidently of the Anglo-Saxon period.

_Hellesdon_.

Hellesdon, adjoining Heigham, is a small and pretty village on an eminence two miles north-west of the city, but the parish is partly in Taverham hundred. It adjoins the river, which is here crossed by a cast-iron bridge, built by the corporation of Norwich in 1819. The common was enclosed in 1811. The Bishop is lord of the manor and owner of a great part of the soil.

_Earlham_.

Earlham is a very pleasant village, situated at the end of the Earlham Road. The ivy-mantled church is a very ancient building of small size. The hall, situated in a park, is associated with the honoured name of Gurney, and will long be an object of deep interest. Amongst other members of that distinguished family who resided here was the deservedly esteemed Joseph John Gurney, who often entertained many of the celebrities of his day. It was here that Wilberforce, Chalmers, and a host of worthies, well known to fame, visited one of the happiest of the homes of England, where the sterling character of Thomas Fowell Buxton was formed and matured, and where he met with the partner of his future life. It was the birthplace of Elizabeth Fry the philanthropist, of whom there is yet no monument in this city.

_Eaton_.

The hamlet of Eaton, two miles south-west of Norwich, is in the vale of the Taas. The manor is about 1300 acres, and belongs to the Dean and Chapter, but the soil is let to a number of lessees, many of whom have handsome houses in the Newmarket Road, one of the finest approaches to the city. Indeed, this road may be called the “west end” of Norwich. Eaton church is dedicated to St. Andrew, and is a long ancient building covered with thatch, and having an embattled tower with three bells. It was originally a Norman structure, but it appears to have been rebuilt in the early English period, and to have been considerably altered in the 15th century. About two years ago the church was thoroughly restored at a cost of about £400, when a number of beautiful mural paintings were discovered, some of them well preserved. The living is a vicarage not in charge, valued at £87, and augmented in 1732 with £200 given by the Earl of Thanet, and £200 of Queen Anne’s bounty.

_Lakenham_.

Lakenham is the next hamlet on the south side of the city, and the roads to it are favourite walks of the citizens. Caister is an adjoining village, where may be seen extensive remains of a Roman camp, built before Norwich existed. The configuration of the camp may still be traced as a parallelogram, enclosing an area of 32 acres, sufficient for a force of 6000 men. On the western side, which was washed by the Taas, formerly stood the water gate, with a round tower, where vessels used to unload. A very large number of Roman coins have been dug up here. Returning to the hamlet of Lakenham, we ascend a hill called Long John’s Hill. Lakenham church stands on high ground above the river Taas, and is a small structure dedicated to St. John the Baptist and All Saints. It has a tower with three bells. The benefice is a vicarage united to Trowse Newton, and with it valued at £261, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter, and incumbency of the Rev. Alfred Pownall, M.A.

St. Mark’s Church, in Lakenham, was consecrated September 24th, 1844, and is a neat structure in the perpendicular style, comprising a nave without aisles, and an embattled tower with turrets, pinnacles, and three bells. It was built by subscription at a cost of £4000, and contains 900 sittings, most of which are free. The interior has commodious galleries, and is neatly fitted up. Ladies presented the communion table, plate, books for divine service, font, &c. The population in this hamlet has increased from 428 in 1801 to 4866 in 1861. The perpetual curacy, valued at £150, is in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter. The Rev. N. T. Garry, M.A., is incumbent.

_Trowse-Millgate_, _Carrow_, _and Bracondale_.

Trowse-Millgate, Carrow, and Bracondale, extend southward from King Street to the river Yare, opposite Trowse Newton. They form one hamlet, though each division had formerly a parochial chapel. Miss Martineau owns the greater part of the soil, and lives at Bracondale Lodge, a handsome mansion with delightful pleasure grounds. The late P. M. Martineau collected here many remnants of Gothic architecture in 1804, and used them in the erection of a lofty arch and an edifice, representing a small priory with windows filled by stained glass.

_Thorpe_.

The hamlet of Thorpe, one of the most delightful suburbs of the city, lies on the south-east side, opposite Foundry Bridge, and extends to Mousehold Heath. It contains many handsome villas, which are mostly surrounded by gardens. Many of the city gentry reside in this pleasant hamlet, which now contains about 3000 inhabitants. The church, dedicated to St. Matthew, was built in 1852 at a cost of £2300, for an ecclesiastical district, comprising that part of Thorpe parish within the city liberties, containing about 2500 inhabitants. It is a neat structure in the Norman style of architecture, from a design by Mr. Kerr, formerly architect of this city. It consists of a nave, transepts, and apsidal chancel, and is a unique structure. The five windows of the chancel are filled with stained glass. The rector of Thorpe is patron of the perpetual curacy, valued at £130, which is now held by the Rev. George Harris Cooke, M.A., who has a handsome parsonage house, erected in 1863 at a cost of £1400, in the Tudor style.

The road from the Foundry Bridge to Thorpe village is a favourite walk of the citizens. Thorpe lodge (the entrance to which is guarded by couchant lions, and is a conspicuous object on the left,) was the residence of the late John Harvey, Esq., “a fine old English gentleman,” who was a great promoter of manufactures, and of aquatic sports. Its present proprietor and occupant is Donald Dalrymple, Esq. The old hall, the name by which the manor house is now known, stands at the entrance to the village. It was formerly the country seat of the bishops. Adjoining are the remains of a chapel, now used as a coach house and stable. On the south side of the river, which was once reached by the ferry boat, stands the village of Whitlingham, where the citizens formerly resorted by thousands in the summer months. The grounds in this locality present a pleasing variety of hill and dale, wood and water, and the view from the White House includes the windings of the “bonny Yare,” the opposite village of Thorpe, the spire of the Cathedral rising above the distant hills, and the frowning aspect of the old Norman Castle. The whole of the land here now belongs to R. J. H. Harvey, Esq., M.P., who has greatly improved an estate of 2000 acres next the river. He has often thrown the grounds open to the citizens.

The Rosary Burial Ground, in Thorpe hamlet, was established in 1819 by the late Rev. Thomas Drummond, for the use of Dissenters. Being aware that many of the burial grounds attached to their chapels are held on leases under the corporation, he urged the necessity of a general cemetery on freehold land, so securely vested in trust that it could not be converted to other uses at any future time. The Rosary occupies eight acres of land in a good situation. It is divided into sections separated by plantings of trees or shrubs, and contains a small chapel. It is not consecrated, and ministers of any denomination may officiate at funerals. In this beautiful resting-place for the dead are deposited the remains of many of the worthiest of the Norwich citizens.

_Pockthorpe_.

Pockthorpe was originally part of Thorpe, but when severed in the time of the Conqueror, with the parishes of St. James and St. Paul, took the name of Paucus Thorpe or Little Thorpe, corrupted into Pockthorpe. The place is apparently wedded to poverty, with no Divorce Court to grant it relief. It is chiefly inhabited by poor weavers or spinners, who still adhere to an old pastime, the rearing of pigeons, as appears from many coops at the broken windows. The brewery here is an old well-established concern, and sends out about 100,000 barrels of beer yearly.

NONCONFORMISTS’ CHAPELS.

The OLD MEETING HOUSE, Colegate Street, was erected in 1693 by the Independents, a congregation of which body had existed in Norwich since the Commonwealth. They had originally assembled in a brewery in St. Edmund’s, and afterwards in the “west granary” of St. Andrew’s Hall. Mr. Bridge, the first pastor, who was incumbent of St. George’s, Tombland, seceded from the church in the reign of James II., and sat in the Westminster Assembly of Divines. The building is a large structure of red brick, fronted with four Corinthian pilasters. It contains sittings for 700 persons, and has spacious schoolrooms adjacent. The Rev. John Hallett is the present minister.

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PRINCE’S STREET CHAPEL (Independent) was erected in 1819. It is a handsome building of white brick, and has been enlarged and almost rebuilt at a cost of £2000, under the superintendence of Mr. Boardman, architect, of this city. It will now accommodate 1000 persons. The new front presents an elevation in the modern Italian or composite style, with seven windows of ornamental design. The roof has been raised and new windows inserted, eight on each side. New galleries have been erected with cast-iron columns, and ornamental iron front. A new apse has been added, and a vestry or retiring room at the back. The whole interior has been reseated with plain open benches. The entrances, staircase, hall, and avenues, are laid with tessellated tiles. At a short distance from the chapel there is a spacious schoolroom, with class rooms on each side. The Rev. G. S. Barrett is the present minister.

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THE CHAPEL IN THE FIELD, (Independent) opened in 1858, is a handsome edifice with two imposing spiral turrets. Its arched interior has a fine effect, increased by the introduction of four painted windows in the apse. The building affords sittings for 900 persons. Adjoining are spacious schoolrooms in a similar style of architecture. The Rev. Philip Colborne is the present minister.

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THE TABERNACLE (Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion) is situate near St. Martin’s at Palace. It was built by the Calvinistic Methodists, under Mr. Wheatley, in 1772, at a cost of £1752. In 1775, the Tabernacle was sold to the Countess of Huntingdon, who visited Norwich in the following year, and vested the building in trust with four clergymen and three laymen of the same connexion to appoint ministers whose preaching and sentiments are according to the articles and homilies of the church of England. It contains 1000 sittings. The Rev. Burford Hooke is the present minister. There is also another chapel of the same connexion on the Dereham Road, of which the Rev. John Joseph James Kempster is the minister.

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ST. MARY’S CHAPEL (Baptist) was originally erected in 1714, but was rebuilt in its present style in 1811 and enlarged in 1838. Rev. Joseph Kinghorn was pastor from May 20th, 1791, till his death, on September 1st, 1832. Rev. William Brock was pastor from 1833 to 1848, when he resigned his charge and went to London, where he preaches at Bloomsbury chapel. Since 1849, the Rev. G. Gould has been the pastor. Spacious schoolrooms adjoining the chapel are now in course of erection.

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ST. CLEMENT’S (Baptist) was erected in 1814 and contains 900 sittings, and there is a spacious schoolroom adjacent. The celebrated Mark Wilks was once the pastor. The present minister is the Rev. T. Foston.

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EBENEZER CHAPEL (Baptist), on Surrey Road, was built in 1854, the minister being the Rev. R. Govett, who some years since seceded from the established church.

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THE GILDENCROFT (Baptist), in St. Augustine’s, formerly occupied by the Society of Friends, was erected in 1680. There is a spacious burial ground attached, in which lie the remains of Joseph John Gurney, Mrs. Opie, and other eminent Friends. The Rev. C. H. Hosken is the minister.

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ORFORD HILL CHAPEL (Baptist) was opened as a chapel in 1832. The Rev. J. Brunt is the present minister.

There are also Baptist Chapels in Cherry Lane, (Rev. W. Hawkins); this was formerly a Wesleyan Chapel in which the Rev. John Wesley preached; Priory Yard, (Rev. R. B. Clare); Pottergate Street, (Rev. H. Trevor); and Jireh Chapel, Dereham Road, (no regular pastor).

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THE PRESBYTERIANS recently purchased St. Peter’s Hall, in Theatre Street, as a place of worship. The hall contains about 700 sittings, which are generally all occupied. The Rev. W. A. Mc Allan was ordained minister in 1867, and he preaches with great success to large congregations.

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WESLEYANS. The Revs. John and Charles Wesley paid their first visit to this city in 1754, but their followers had no settled place of worship here till 1769, when they built a small chapel in Cherry Lane, where the late Dr. Adam Clarke was stationed in 1783, and began to display that vast genius which afterwards astonished the religious world. The Wesleyan Methodists have two chapels, one a very spacious edifice in Lady Lane, and the other, just finished, in Ber Street.

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The UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCH has two chapels. That in Calvert Street was erected by the Wesleyan Methodists in 1810, and is a large brick edifice with about 1200 sittings, and two houses for the ministers. The other is in Crook’s Place, Heigham, and was opened in 1839, and contains 800 sittings.

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THE PRIMITIVE METHODISTS have chapels on St. Catherine’s Plain, Cowgate Street, and Dereham Road. The first named, called Lakenham Chapel, was built in 1835, and contains 600 sittings. The second, in Cowgate Street, was built about 20 years since, and contains 300 sittings. The third, on Dereham Road, was built in 1864, on the site of a smaller one, at a cost of £1316, raised by subscription. Sunday schools are connected with all these chapels.

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THE UNITARIANS occupy the OCTAGON CHAPEL, St. George’s, a handsome building, of the shape implied by its name. It is surmounted by a dome, supported by eight Corinthian pillars. It was erected in 1756, on the site of the old Presbyterian Meeting-house. Dr. John Taylor, and Dr. Enfield (compiler of the Speaker) preached in this chapel. Rev. D. H. Smyth is the minister.

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THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS have a meeting-house in Upper Goat Lane, a fine white-brick structure, with Doric portico, and lighted by a dome lantern.

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The ROMAN CATHOLICS have two chapels. In the last century there was a chapel connected with the palace of the Duke of Norfolk on the site of the present Museum, but it was lost when that property was sold by him. The Roman Catholics raised a subscription and built their present chapel in St. John’s Maddermarket in 1794. It is merely a plain building, but the altar is very handsome. It contains sittings for about 600 people. The services here are carried out with great solemnity, and with a strict adherence to the ritual of the Church of Rome. There is generally a large congregation at divine service. The Rev. Canon Dalton is the officiating priest. He resides near the chapel in a very ancient building that was occupied by the City Sheriff in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The chapel in Willow Lane, called the Chapel of the Apostles, is a handsome building, erected in 1828. The windows are of stained glass, and the interior decorations are very striking. This chapel is served by Fathers of the Society of Jesus, commonly called Jesuits. It is the custom of that order to change the officiating clergy every few years. The Rev. Mr. Lane of the order was a contemporary of the Rev. Mr. Beaumont, the first priest of St. John’s chapel, during the greater part, if not all, of that gentleman’s lengthened ministry of 62 years, and died about the same time. The congregation is generally larger than at St. John’s Chapel.

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FREE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. The Dutch Church, in St. Andrew’s Hall, originally the Conventual Church of the Black Friars, was granted to the Walloon congregation; but they now have service only once a year, when a sermon is preached in Dutch and afterwards in English. During the rest of the year the place is used by the Free Christian Church—Rev. J. Crompton, minister.

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THE FRENCH CHURCH, Queen Street—originally the parochial church of St. Mary Parva, and afterwards a cloth exchange—was granted, in 1637, to the French Protestant refugees. It is now occupied by the receivers of the doctrines enunciated by Emanuel Swedenborg. Mr. E. D. Rogers, leader.

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THE JEWS—who were formerly very numerous in this city—have a handsome synagogue in St. Faith’s Lane, erected in 1849, at a cost of £1600. Rev. S. Caro, minister.

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The CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH (Irvingites) occupy a building in Clement Court, Redwell Street. The present minister is the Rev. Arthur Inglis, B.A.

Since the 17th century Nonconformists have increased from a few hundreds to 10,000 in this city.