Chapter V: Part 5

The distribution of lychgates in various districts is most unequal. Thus nearly every one of the twenty-four churches of the Deanery of Woodleigh, Devonshire, is said to possess a lychgate. An instance, which may safely be pronounced unique, is that of Troutbeck, Westmorland, where there are, or were, no less than three stone lychgates to one and the same churchyard.

LYCHGATE]

Lychgates are constructed, it goes without saying, of the most convenient native material available. Thus, the Welsh examples illustrated are of indigenous stone; whereas in Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Kent, and other districts in which freestone is not available, the lack of it is amply compensated by the development of the resources of timber. Kent, though deficient in churchyard crosses, may justly claim to rival, if not indeed to surpass, the other counties of England in respect of the admirable lychgates which it contains. The handsomest stands at Beckenham (Figs. 205-207), on the south side of the old churchyard. The gate is of the shed variety, but the roof-ridge, instead of running the whole length from end to end (as it does at Lenham in the same county (Figs. 220, 221, and 222), at Ashwell, Hertfordshire (Figs. 215-218), Hayes (Fig. 200) and Heston (Figs. 213 and 214) in Middlesex, Morwenstow in Cornwall (Fig. 219), Isleham in Cambridgeshire (Figs. 223-225), and Goring in Oxfordshire (Fig. 226)), is hipped, with very charming result. But hipping alone is not enough to ensure full æsthetic effect. One has only to compare two examples of hipped roofs, viz., that at Beckenham, already named, and the not dissimilar instance at Staple (Figs. 208, 209), in the same county, to realise what very different artistic values two gates, based on one identical motif, may possess. The Beckenham lychgate is far superior to the other, no doubt because of the excellent proportions of its parts. The old drawing, by Buckler (Fig. 206), shows that at one time the large oblique struts were wanting; a deficiency which altered the whole appearance of the lychgate, tending, as it did, to make the roof look heavy and ill-balanced. The large struts, however, had been supplied by 1871. The pronounced tilt of the roof toward the eaves, by means of sprockets (see the section drawings, Fig. 207), gives additional character to this beautiful lychgate. At the present day it cannot, unfortunately, be seen to proper advantage, because of the intrusive presence of a modern brick wall, abutting close up against either end of the gate, and concealing its lower part. The roof is now tiled, but it is believed that it was originally thatched, or shingled. The difference of effect produced by varying the number of bays is illustrated by comparing the lychgates of West Wickham (Figs. 211, 212) and Beckenham, both of one bay each; those of Isleham, Staple, Lenham, and Ashwell, all of two bays each, and that of Anstey with its three bays. As to the last-named, Buckler's amazingly incorrect draughtsmanship in the right hand lower corner fortunately does not avail to disguise the sturdy dignity and grand outline of this magnificent example.

At Ashwell, Hertfordshire, the timber lychgate, which forms the south-west entrance to the churchyard, probably dates from the fifteenth century. The three standards carrying the horizontal lintel are so much more massive at the top than at the bottom that they must certainly have been cut from tree trunks inverted, like the angle spurs used in the construction of ancient timber-framed houses. The windbrace in the roof, and the engrailed vergeboard under the end gable should be noticed.

The lychgate which forms the western entrance to the churchyard at Lenham, Kent, comprises two passage ways, each having a four-centred arch of timber overhead. The narrower gate, that on the south, has the head cambered out of a single piece of oak to the four-centred outline. The northern, the wider gate, has the head built together of two pieces, shaped to the requisite form. The supporting struts and braces are much worn with age and weather, but happily unrestored. The roof is tiled. The main part of the timberwork is of the fifteenth century, says Mr E. C. Lee, except the roof, the rafters of which, built into the adjoining house, are "very poor and rough.... The strutting at A is bad in construction, all the strain being thrown on the pins." There is a tradition that this gate was brought hither from Canterbury some time about 1770; but it is, in all probability, without historical basis, as also are many other traditions of a similar kind.

The lychgate at Pulborough, Sussex (Fig. 236), is an example of a pyramidal roof, and may be contrasted with the cross-ridged construction of the lychgates at Clun in Shropshire (Fig. 235), or Monnington-on-Wye in Herefordshire (Fig. 237). All three are square on plan, and built of timber. The ornamental wood-patterning at Clun is closely allied to the typical domestic work of Shropshire and Cheshire, only in this instance it is open instead of being filled in between with wattle and daub.

Some lychgates belonging to the shed type are of composite materials, partly masonry and partly timberwork. To this class belong the gates at Pattingham, Staffordshire (Fig. 234), with its timber-framed gables in the long roof; Llanfillo, Brecknockshire (Fig. 229), and Clodock, Herefordshire (Fig. 228). The last-named is of uncommon character, having timber posts supplemented by masonry pier-walls, with recesses, like niches, in their inner sides. The stone piers are each 8 ft. 8 in. long by 2 ft. thick, and the clear opening between them is 7 ft. 4 in. wide. The roofing is of stone slates. It is believed to have been erected in 1667.

To judge of the respective effects produced by timberwork on the one hand, and stonework on the other, one has only to compare the porch-like lychgates of Rustington, Sussex (Fig. 230), and Boughton Monchelsea, Kent (Fig. 231), with those of Talyllyn (Fig. 232) and Llandrillo-yn-Rhos (Fig. 233). It happens that the date of the construction of the last-named is known, viz., 1677. Otherwise, both this one and Talyllyn are so rude in construction, and so conspicuous for the absence of architectural detail, that it would be rash to attempt to assign a more precise date to either of them than some period subsequent to Queen Elizabeth's reign.

"It is difficult," says Herbert North in _The Old Churches of Arllechwedd_, "to conjecture the date of the local lychgates." Of six specimens, past and present, noted by him in Carnarvonshire, every one bore, or bears, a date some time within the eighteenth century. The lychgate of Llanrug is dated 1718; Caerhun and Llanfaglan, 1728; the old gate, now demolished, at Dolwyddelan, was dated 1736; the gate at Bettws-y-Coed is dated 1756, and Llanrhychwyn, 1762. In one case only, that of Dolwyddelan, the parish accounts show clearly that the work executed in the year specified was of the nature of repairs to an already existing structure. With regard to the other lychgates, however, there is no way of determining whether they were repaired merely, or built afresh at the dates recorded on them. With one exception, the lychgate of Bettws-y-Coed, where there is on the east side, over the gateway, a fine curved beam, 10 in. square, of really medieval aspect, internal evidence is of little avail, because the structures themselves are of quite plain and simple character, devoid of any distinctive architectural feature whatever. It is, however, a very extraordinary coincidence if occasion arose for all the six lychgates to require repairing within a space of less than fifty years. One can scarcely be rash, then, in assuming that, in the majority of instances, these lychgates were built at the actual dates respectively inscribed upon them.

LYCHGATE BUILDING]

LYCHGATE, FROM THE CHURCHYARD]

LYCHGATE]

LYCHGATE]

LYCHGATE]

PLAN AND SECTIONS OF LYCHGATE]

LYCHGATE]

LYCHGATE]

LYCHGATE]

LYCHGATE, ELEVATION AND SECTION, SHOWING ROOF CONSTRUCTION]

LYCHGATE, PLAN AND END ELEVATION]

LYCHGATE]

LYCHGATE, FROM WITHIN THE CHURCHYARD]

LYCHGATE DETAILS]

LYCHGATE, SECTIONS AND GROUND PLAN]

LYCHGATE]

LYCHGATE]

LYCHGATE]

LYCHGATE, WITH COFFIN SLAB]

LYCHGATE]

LYCHGATE]

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

_Vetusta Monumenta_, Vol. I., 1747; Vol. II., 1789; and Vol.
III., 1796. Folio. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of
London.

These miscellanies contain a number of plates, dating from 1728,
and letterpress descriptions of ancient stone crosses.

"An Essay towards a History and Description of Ancient Stone
Crosses" in _The Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain_, by
JOHN BRITTON, F.S.A. Vol. I., 4to. London, 1807.

"Village Crosses" (Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, and
Bedfordshire) in _The Ecclesiologist_, pp. 89-90, February 1844.

"Ancient Crosses" in _The Ecclesiologist_, pp. 298-300, August
1845.

"Crosses in Village or Churchyard," pp. 186-190 of _A Handbook
of English Ecclesiology_. Cambridge Camden Society, 1847.

_Ancient Stone Crosses of England_, by ALFRED RIMMER.
London, 1875.

"Concerning Crosses," by FLORENCE PEACOCK, in _Curious
Church Gleanings_, edited by William Andrews, F.R.H.S. London
and Hull, 1896.

"Early Sculptured Stones in England," Parts I. and II., by
Bishop G. F. BROWNE, in _The Magazine of Art_. Vol.
VIII. Cassell & Co., 1885.

_The Cross in Ritual, Architecture, and Art_, by the Rev. G.
S. TYACK, 1896.

"Churchyard Crosses," by AYMER VALLANCE, in _The
Burlington Magazine_, No. 186, Vol. XXXIII., September 1918.

_Wayside Crosses_ (a pamphlet), prepared under the direction of
the Advisory Committee of the Wayside Cross Society. London,
Chiswick Press, 1917.

"Market Crosses and Halls," by WALTER H. GODFREY,
F.S.A., in the _Architectural Review_ for September 1919.

_The Early Christian Monuments of Cheshire and Lancashire_, by
J. ROMILLY ALLEN, F.S.A.(Scot.), December 1893.

"Some Cheshire Crosses," by the Ven. Archdeacon EDWARD
BARBER, M.A., F.S.A., in _Memorials of Old Cheshire_.
London, 1910.

_Old Stone Crosses of the Vale of Clwyd and Neighbouring
Parishes_, by the Rev. ELIAS OWEN, M.A. London,
Oswestry, and Wrexham, 1886.

"Cornish Crosses" in _The Ecclesiologist_, pp. 217-219, November
1849.

_Ancient Crosses and other Antiquities in Cornwall_, by J.
T. BLIGHT, F.S.A. London and Penzance, 1872.

_Old Cornish Crosses_, by ARTHUR G. LANGDON, with an
Article on their Ornament by J. Romilly Allen. Truro, 1896.

"Pre-Norman Cross Fragments at Aspatria, Workington, Distington,
Bridekirk, Gilcrux, Plumbland, and Isell," by the Rev. W. S.
CALVERLEY, F.S.A., in _Transactions of the Cumberland and
Westmoreland Antiquarian and Archæological Society_. Vol. XI.
Kendal, 1891.

_The Runic Roods of Ruthwell and Bewcastle_, by JAMES KING
HEWISON. 4to. Glasgow, 1914.

_The Ancient Crosses of Dartmoor_, by WILLIAM CROSSING.
London and Exeter, 1887.

"Three Pre-Norman Crosses in Derbyshire," by G. LE BLANC
SMITH, in _The Reliquary_, July 1904.

_The Old Stone Crosses of Dorset_, with an Introduction and
Descriptive Article, by ALFRED POPE. Collotype
Illustrations. London, 1906.

_Notes on the Old Crosses of Gloucestershire_, by CHARLES
POOLEY, F.S.A., London, 1868.

_The Ancient Crosses of Stortford_, by J. L. GLASSCOCK,
1905.

"The Ancient Crosses of Lancashire," by HENRY TAYLOR,
F.S.A., first published serially, in seven parts, in
_Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian
Society_, and republished in separate form under title of "The
Ancient Crosses and Holy Wells of Lancashire." Manchester, 1906.

"The Crosses of Lancashire," by the Rev. P. H.
DITCHFIELD, M.A., F.S.A., in _Memorials of Old Lancashire_.
Vol. II. London, 1909.

_Manx Crosses_, by P. M. C. KERMODE. London, 1907.

"Parish of Kirk Maughold," comprises an illustrated account of
the Standing Cross in _The Manx Archæological Survey_, Fourth
Report. Douglas, Isle of Man, 1915.

_St Paul's Cross: the most Famous Spot in London_, by JOHN
B. MARSH, 1892.

_Chapters in the History of Old St Paul's_, by W. SPARROW
SIMPSON, London, 1881; and _St Paul's Cathedral and Old
City Life_, by the same, London, 1894,

contain much information concerning Paul's Cross.

"Paul's Cross," being Chapter VIII. of Methuen's _Little Guide
to St Paul's Cathedral, London_, by GEORGE CLINCH, 1906.

"The Early History, Form, and Function of Paul's Cross," by
W. PALEY BAILDON, F.S.A., in _Proceedings of the
Society of Antiquaries_, 2nd May, 1918.

"Early Christian Sculpture in Northamptonshire," by J.
ROMILLY ALLEN, F.S.A.(Scot.), in _The Associated
Architectural Societies' Reports and Papers_.

_The Stone Crosses of the County of Northampton_, by
CHRISTOPHER A. MARKHAM, F.S.A. London and Northampton,
1901.

"The Missing Termination of Queen Eleanor's Cross at
Northampton," by R. C. SCRIVEN, in _The Associated
Architectural Societies' Reports and Papers_. Vol. XVIII.
Lincoln, 1886.

"Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England, and the Monuments Erected
to her Memory," by JAMES GALLOWAY, A.M., M.D., in
_Historical Sketches of Old Charing_. London, 1914.

_An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Old Stone Crosses
of Somerset_, by CHARLES POOLEY, F.S.A. London, 1877.

"Crosses of Somerset," an Appendix to Pooley's work, was
contributed by E. H. BATES HARBIN to _Notes and Queries
for Somerset and Dorset_. Vol. XV., Part 118. Sherborne, 1917.

_The Old Stone Crosses of Somersetshire_, by ALEX.
GORDON, in two parts, in _The Reliquary_, October 1895 and
July 1896.

"Wolverhampton Cross Shaft," by Professor W. R.
LETHABY, in _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries_.
Vol. XXV., N.S., pp. 158-159.

"Pre-Norman Cross Shaft at Nunburnholme, Yorkshire," by J.
ROMILLY ALLEN, in _The Reliquary_.

INDEX TO TEXT

_N.B._--Items in italics refer to the subject of LYCHGATES, while all other items refer to CROSSES.

_See also Alphabetical List of Illustrations at the commencement of
the Book_

Abingdon Cross, 110

"Actes and Monuments", 15, 18

Alexander of Abingdon, 95

Angle-pedestals, 43

Anglican Runes, 32

_Ashprington Lychgate_, 164

_Atherington Lychgate_, 164

Banbury Cross, 24

Battle, John of, 95

Baxter, Richard, 16

_Berrynarbor Lychgate_, 164

_Bettws-y-Coed Lychgate_, 168

Bishop's Lydeard, 14

Bishop's Stortford, 18

Boundary Crosses, 13

Brackley, Northants., 16

Bradshaigh, Sir William, 24

_Caerhun Lychgate_, 168

_Caerwys (Flints.) Lychgate_, 165

Calvary, 42

Cavities in Base or Steps, 14

Ceremonial Functions, 21

Charing Cross, London, 18

Cheapside Cross, London, 18

Chester High Cross, 18, 25, 158

Constantine, Emperor, 1

Cornish Type, 27

Crown Steeples, 137

Crucifixion, 34

Dane's Cross, Wolverhampton, 37

Demolitions by Parliamentary Visitors, 16

_Derwen Lychgate_, 165

Diamond-pointed Step, 42

Distribution of Remaining Crosses, 9

"Dives et Pauper", 1

_Dolwyddelan Lychgate_, 168

Dowsing's "Journal", 16

Dunstable, Eleanor Cross, 101

Eglwyscummin, Carmarthenshire, 15

Eleanor Crosses, 94-108

" Plans, 95

" Royal Account Rolls, 95

Eleanor Cross, Dunstable, 101

" St Albans, 101

" Stony Stratford, 101

" Woburn, 101

Eleanor of Castile, 94

Elizabeth, Queen, 106

Evangelistic Symbols, 34

Fyfield, Berks., 16

Gallows, The Cross used as, 25

Hardley, Norfolk, 13

Head of Cross, Varieties of Form, 47

Henry VI., 41

" VIII., 41

Hire of Labourers at Cross, 26

Iconoclastic Movement, 15

Ipswich, Preaching Cross, 152

Jeanne d'Arc, 7

Jews' Cross, Oxford, 19

Knop, Treatment of, 46

Launde, Sir Robert, 102

Leek, Staffs., 37

Liverpool, Cross formerly at, 16

_Llanfaglan, Lychgate_, 168

_Llanrhychwyn Lychgate_, 168

_Llanrug Lychgate_, 168

London, Crosses at, 18, 102

" Minor Preaching Crosses, 120

" Paul's Cross, 113-120

_Long Compton Lychgate_, 164

Louth, Lincs., 25

_Lychcrosses_, 165

_Lychgates_, 164-168

" _Classification of Types_, 164

" _Construction_, 165

" _Distribution of_, 165

" _Materials Used_, 165

_Lychseats_, 165

_Lychstones_, 165

Lyme, Dorset, 25

Margaret of Anjou, 41

Market Crosses, 2, 125-157

" General Intent of, 125

" Tolls, 128

Melton Mowbray, 18

Menhirs, 27

Mercian Type, 34

Monoliths, 1, 27

Monmouth, Duke of, 25

Netheway, John, 7

Nevill's Cross, Durham, 22

Niche in Head, 161

" Socket or Shaft, 9

Outdoor Processions to Cross, 9

Oxford, Jews' Cross, 19

"Palm Crosses", 13

" Sunday Ceremonials, 13

Paul's Cross, London (see London), 113-120

Pecocke, Bishop of Chichester, 116

_Penshurst Lychgate_, 164

Percy's Cross, 41

Peterborough, 26

"Poor Soul's Light", 163

Preaching Crosses, 2, 113-124

Processionate to Cross, 9

Proclamations from Crosses, 25

Ravensworth "Butter Cross", 22

Reding in Eboney, Kent, 7

Regensburg, Bavaria, 163

Rhuddlan, 26

Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, 32

St Albans, Eleanor Cross, 101

" Preaching Cross, 101

St Cwyfan's Stone, 35

St Patrick, 27

Sacrilege and Profanity, 15

Sanctuary Crosses, 21

Scarborough, Butter Cross, 111

Sedgemoor, Battle of, 25

Shaft-on-Steps Type, 42

Shaft Treatment, 44, 45

Smithfield, Cow Cross, 18

Socket, Treatment of, 45

South Littleton, Worcestershire, 15

Statues of Eleanor Crosses, 96

Steps, Treatment of, 44

Stony Stratford, Eleanor Cross, 101

Thornhill, Sir James, 154

Tolls of Market Cross, 128

_Turnstile Lychgates_, 164

Unclassified Varieties of Crosses, 158

Wansford, Northants., 21

"Weeping Crosses", 26

Whitford, Flintshire, 34

_Whitford " Lychgate_, 165

Wigan Cross, Lancs., 24

William de Bley's Constitution, 13

Wither, Joan, 7

Woburn, Beds., Eleanor Cross at, 101

Wolsey, Cardinal, 118

_Woodleigh (Derwen), Deanery of, Lychgates_, 165

Wynken de Worde, 1

_Printed in Great Britain at_ THE DARIEN PRESS, _Edinburgh_

Transcriber's Notes:

1. Obvious spelling and punctuation errors have been corrected.

2. Page 116, paragraph 2, the name Robert Hawke has been corrected to
Robert Hawle "Robert Hauley (Haule or Hawle)" - records at
Westminster Abbey.

3. Superscripts are represented using the caret character, e.g. D^r.

4. Italics are shown as _text_.

5. In the TOPOGRAPHICAL LIST OF SUBJECTS ILLUSTRATED, the page number
that pertains to the bracketed lines, is always at the bottom
bracket.

End of Project Gutenberg's Old Crosses and Lychgates, by Aymer Vallance