Part 23

The town lands contain not only the sixty-seven acres given for the repair and ornaments of the church, and the twenty-eight acres and a half, called French’s, given for the use of the poor, in the whole ninety-five acres and a half, which lands are particularly and separately described in the decree of Chancery of the year 1616; {127} but also the other smaller donations of lands in Lowestoft, making the whole amount one hundred and four acres, exclusive of the estate at Worlingham, in Suffolk, given by Mr. John Wilde, of Lowestoft for establishing an English Grammar school in the parish, and the lands at Whitacre Burgh, the donation of Mr. Thomas Annott, of Lowestoft, for a grammar school at Lowestoft. The above one hundred and four acres of land are put up to auction every seven years, in the presence of the minister and churchwardens, to be let on leases for the said term of seven years. The overplus of Mr. Wilde’s estate, at Worlingham, after founding and supporting the school, and fulfilling other directions mentioned in the will, he gave for such charitable purposes as the minister and churchwardens should think proper. This is further explained by a decree in Chancery in 1754, which says, “that the minister and churchwardens shall have the liberty to apply the overplus in such manner as they should think fit, for the relief of such persons as have large families, and such aged, sick, lame and impotent persons that belong to the said town, and who do not receive any relief from the parish; or to and amongst the testator’s poor relations, at the discretion of the trustees.” It is also further enjoined by the said decree, that as Lowestoft is a fishing town, the preference shall be given to those children whose fathers go fishing voyages, or any other employment about the fishery belonging to that town, as an encouragement to the said fishery. But if there be not forty boys so qualified, then any other boys belonging to the town, so as to make up that number.

The tower belonging to this church is neither large nor lofty, its height is only 120 feet, including a leaden spire of the height of 50 feet, and it is obvious to the most common observer, that both its height and size bear but little proportion to the building to which it is annexed; neither is there much resemblance between them either with respect to composition or workmanship, for in both these points the church is far superior to the steeple. These circumstances plainly denote that the tower belonged originally to the old church, and strongly indicate that the latter was a building much inferior to the present structure. Some remains of the old steeple are still visible, and are indubitable proofs of its original meanness; and also prove that when the old church was re-built by the priory of St. Bartholomew, the greater part of the tower was suffered to remain, after being strengthened and enlarged by buttresses, and ornamented with a spire, in order to give it a more modern appearance, and bring it to a nearer resemblance with the external appearance of the edifice. At this present time and for many years past, the steeple contains only one bell; but it is evident, from the appearances which still remain, that formerly it contained three. The reason generally assigned why the number was reduced, is, that the steeple was not strong enough to bear them. The weight of this bell is 17 cwt. 2 qr. 17 lbs., and has the following inscription thereon:

I tell all that do me see, Newman, of Norwich, new cast me.

The expenses paid to Mr. Newman, for new casting this bell, including the brasses, amounted to £19 12s. 7d.

The church is dedicated to St. Margaret. It may be here stated that St. Margaret was born at Antioch, and was the daughter of a heathen priest. Olybius, president of the East, under the Romans, intended to have married her; but finding she was a christian, deferred it till he could persuade her to renounce her religion: but not being able to accomplish his designs, he first put her to cruel torments and then beheaded her. She suffered in the year 278.

The patron is the Bishop of Norwich; it is valued in the King’s books at £10 1s., and by Queen Anne at £43 16s. 6d., and is thereby discharged from paying first-fruits and tenths. By the King’s books is meant the valuation of all the livings in England, taken in the reign of Henry VIII. In the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, all livings that were under £10 in the King’s books were discharged from paying the first fruits. And in Queen Anne’s reign, when a second valuation was made, all livings under the value of £50 per annum were discharged from paying first fruits and tenths, and were also entitled to Her Majesty’s bounty. Before the dissolution of the monasteries the annual value of the vicarage of Lowestoft appears to have been £44 4s. 5½d.

The principal entrance to the church is by a stately porch on the south side. In a nich on the outside, was formerly placed, as usual, the image of the saint to whom the church is dedicated. There is also a nich on each side of the former one, wherein other saints were also placed. On the ceiling of this porch is a representation of the Trinity, drawn in the same usual, but profane manner as, Blomefield says, it was on the rood-loft in Norwich Cathedral, namely, the Almighty Father represented by a weak old man, the Redeemer on the cross between his knees, and the Eternal Spirit by a dove on his breast. There are also Ancient shields, representing the crucifixion. On one of them is the cross, with the reed and spear saltyr wise; also the scourge, the nails, and on the top the scroll for the superscription. On the other, only the cross. Over this porch there is a chamber, called the Maids’ Chamber. There is a tradition that it took its name from two maiden sisters, Elizabeth and Katherine, who, before the reformation, resided in this chamber; and, by withdrawing themselves from the world, retired to the more tranquil pursuits of a recluse life. It is reported of these sisters, that they caused two wells between the church and the town, called Basket Wells, to be digged at their own expense for the benefit of the town.

The church is situated about half a mile to the west of High street; and the reason of its being erected at so great a distance from the inhabited part of the parish, is the danger it would be exposed to from the sea by a nearer situation; it is probable, that at the time the church was built, the sea approached much nearer to the bottom of the cliff than it does at present. The church is about 43 feet in height, 57 feet in breadth, and, including the chancel and steeple, 182 feet in length. It consists of a nave and two side isles, which are separated from each other by two rows of tall, handsome pillars. The building appears to be a perfect model of the churches of the more early ages of Christianity, which were divided into two principal parts, namely, the nave, or body of the church, and the sacrarium, or according to the more modern appellation, the chancel. The former part being common to the people, as the latter was appropriated to the priests and other “sacred” persons. This separation continued in the English churches till the reformation, when Bucer, at the instigation of Calvin, objected to this division, as making too great a difference between the clergy and the people in the celebration of divine service. In consequence of this objection of Bucer’s, reading desks were erected in the nave of the church, for the people’s instruction. But though the whole of the service was originally performed in the chancel, yet there were always pulpits in the nave of the church, from whence, on Sundays and holidays, the ministers instructed the people by a sermon; and at the bottom of the south-west side of the middle pillar, on the north side of the nave of the church was a stone pedestal, which, before the reformation, supported the bottom part of one of those pulpits. As all the service was performed in the chancel, so the people, during the celebration thereof, remained in the nave, and were not admitted into the former place only at the administration of the sacrament.

The side isles of those antient churches did not terminate where the chancel began, neither did they extend to the end of it, but extended only about halfway of the chancel; and that end of the north isle which reached beyond the nave was named the prothesis, or side table. {129}

In all the particulars mentioned, the church at Lowestoft bears a perfect resemblance to the antient churches; the side aisles extending exactly half way of the chancel; the end of the north isle next the chancel is made use of as a vestry; and there is the same space at the east end of the south aisle, which was used formerly for the prothesis. Before the Reformation the chancels were separated from the nave or body of the churches by screens or partitions. These screens are still remaining in some of our English churches; in Lowestoft church part of it was standing about the year 1710. The doors belonging to these screens (or holy gates as they were called in the primitive times) were always kept shut against the laity, except at the celebration of the sacrament.

There was also a rood loft in this church in the times of Popery. A few years since some bricks falling down from one of the buttresses on the south side of the church, near the chancel, discovered the stairs by which they ascended to the loft. The same has also been discovered on the north side of the church. The rood was the representation of our Saviour on the Cross, with the Virgin Mary on one side and St. John on the other; and was placed on the top of the wooden screen which formerly divided the church from the chancel. This screen, from the use above mentioned, was often called the rood-loft, a small bell, which was rung, probably, at some particular parts of divine service (as at the consecration or elevation of the host, from whence it is called the sacring, or consecrating bell), to rouse the attention of the congregation, some of whom, who sat at the south-east and north-east corners of the church, could not well see what was transacting at the high altar. This bell is different from that called the Saints’ Bell, which was hung on the outside of the church, and gave notice to those abroad when the more solemn acts of religion were performing. A small piece of stone work on the outside of the east end of the church, with a small perforation or arch in the middle, for the bell to swing in, is still standing on several of our churches.

The chancel belonging to this church is very neat and elegant. The Rev. Tanner, while vicar of the parish, opened the subscription for purchasing the impropriation, and declared that if he succeeded in his undertaking, he would expend a considerable sum in repairing and beautifying the chancel. Mr. Tanner was successful, and he strictly adhered to his promise; for he thoroughly repaired the roof, raised five free-stone steps the whole breadth of the building, leading to the communion table, wainscotted the east end entirely, as well as part of the north and south sides, and also erected the seats at the west end, and made such alterations as rendered the chancel both commodious and handsome, expending in the whole upwards of £300.

The succeeding vicar, Rev. Arrow, continued the plan of his worthy predecessor in repairing and ornamenting the chancel. He erected a new altarpiece, enclosed the communion table with handsome iron work, opened the lower part of the east window (which before was filled up with brick work), and glazed the same, which caused this window to produce a very beautiful effect when viewed from the body of the church; and from these and other alterations, he rendered the chancel truly elegant. The number of communicants at Lowestoft church on Easter day, 1789, was 122.

There was a custom amongst the primitive Christians (during the violent persecutions which raged in those early ages of Christianity) of having churches underground, in order to avoid the dreadful cruelties which a more open profession of their religion would have exposed them to. In imitation of this antient practice the more modern Christians have also had their subterranean places of worship, which were situated under the choirs or chancels belonging to their respective churches, and where they also deposited the bones of deceased persons, which places where called the under-croft, and from the latter use of them charnel-chapels. There seems to have been one of these charnel-chapels formerly under the chancel belonging to this church. The design of them was for a priest to officiate therein, and to pray for the souls of all those persons whose bones were deposited in that place; but after the reformation they ceased being used for any sacred purpose, and were made use of afterwards only as repositories for the bones that were casually dug up in the church or churchyard.

The font in the church is very antient. It is ascended by three stone steps, and on the upper step is an old inscription, almost unintelligible through corrosion. The font is surrounded by two rows of saints, each row consisting of twelve figures; but they were so much injured by Francis Jessope, when he visited the church in 1644, under a commission from the earl of Manchester, as to be almost totally defaced.

On the 12th of June, 1644, Francis Jessope, of Beccles, under a commission from the Earl of Manchester, visited this church, and took away all the brass plates from the grave stones having the inscription “Orate pro Anima, etc.” and others of the like nature, except the following: “Pray for the soul of Lady Margaret Parker, who died the First day of March, Ao. Dni. 1507. On whose soul may God be propitious.” He also disrobed the stones of many brass effigies. All the brass was sold to Mr. John Wilde, of Lowestoft for five shillings; although the quantity was sufficient to be run into a bell, which was used for a chapel. On the bell is the inscription “John Brand made me, 1644.” The stone work of the font is covered with a handsome piece of carved work erected in the year 1734 by John Postle and Edmund Gillingwater, churchwardens.

About the year 1740, the pews in the church being very old, irregular, and much decayed, the Rev. Tanner, the vicar of the parish, in order to recover it from this disgraceful state, and to ornament it with that decent arrangement of seats, so becoming a place dedicated to public worship, and so generally to be met with in other churches, first set the example of new-pewing the church by erecting (in 1746) six neat wainscot seats in the body of the church, in memory of his wife. On these seats was the following inscription: “In memory of Mary, the wife of John Tanner, and daughter of Robert and Mary Knight, 1746. Not unto us, O Lord; not unto us, but unto thy name be the praise. John Tanner, vicar, desires this to be considered as a monument and pledge of love.” In 1747 he added eight more, in grateful acknowledgment of some great mercy he had received from the Almighty. On these seats the inscriptions are “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits towards me. J. T., 1747”; the other is “In memory of Grace Symonds, sister of John Tanner, vicar, 1759.” It is supposed he thus shewed his thankfulness, for having been enabled to complete and publish the great work of learning and antiquity the “Notitia Monastica,” which his brother, the Bishop of St. Asaph, left unfinished. The town being stimulated by so pious and useful an example, undertook within a few years after, to complete what Mr. Tanner had so laudably began; for in the year 1770 the whole design of new-pewing the church was completed; and by the addition of a very elegant desk and pulpit, is become one of the neatest and best pewed churches in the county.

In the year 1778 a resolution was formed by the minister and churchwardens to erect an organ in the church, and in pursuance thereof, a large gallery was built that year, at the west end of the middle isle, for the purpose of an organ loft; and in 1780 a large chamber organ, which formerly belonged to the late Dr. North, of Shanfield, near Saxmundham, was purchased at the price of eighty pounds, and erected in Lowestoft Church, and is the first instrument of the kind ever placed there.

There was a large brass eagle in the church. It formerly stood at the west end of the middle isle, but was removed into an obscure corner. The original use of the eagle, so general, formerly, in most of the churches, was for the purpose of being used as a litany desk; which part of the Church service, after the Reformation, was read or sung, at a different time of the day, from that where morning prayers were read. Also, possibly, the great English Bible, which, in 1538, Thomas Cromwell, Lord Privy Seal, ordered to be placed open in each parish church, for everyone to have recourse to, was laid upon these eagles. The ardour with which men flocked to read this bible is almost incredible. They who could, purchased a Bible, and they who could not, crowded to read it, or to hear it read, in churches; where it was common to see little assemblies of mechanics meeting together for that purpose, after the labours of the day. Many even learned to read in their old age, that they might have the pleasure of instructing themselves from the Scriptures.

In many parts of the Church are stones with matrices, or moulds, wherein plates of brass had formerly been laid; but all are now disrobed, together with the inscriptions, during the ravages under the usurpation of Oliver Cromwell.

The churchyard belonging to the parish, was nearly square, but not so before the year 1769, for at the south-west corner there was a small piece of glebe land, about a quarter of an acre, which projected into it. The parish had formerly made application to the late Vicar, Mr. Tanner, to exchange it for a piece of equal value; but the answer he always returned was, that he had no right to make any alteration in the property of the church. However, in the year 1769, the parish made an amicable agreement for it with the Rev. Arrow, and it was enclosed with a wall and laid into the churchyard, which made it of a regular form, but the piece of ground was never consecrated. On the death of the Rev. Arrow, the Vicar, in June, 1789, the dwelling-house, of which he was the proprietor, was purchased of his executors, for £550, under the powers of an Act of Parliament, passed some years since, for the better securing the residence of the clergy. But as the Act did not authorise an incumbent to raise more than two years value upon his benefice, and that sum amounting only to £430, the deficiency was made up in the following manner: Dr. Bagot, the Bishop of the Diocese, £20, and the parish of Lowestoft £100; and accordingly the house is now settled upon the Vicars of Lowestoft for ever.

In the churchyard formerly stood a cross, some remaining fragments of the stone work which supported it were visible a few years since. On the north side of the church is a tomb belonging to the family of the Barkers; in which are interred the remains of John Barker, Esq., a native and benefactor to the town; who died at his house in Mansel street, London, the 1st November 1787, aged eighty years. He was one of the elder brethren of the Trinity House, a govenor of the London Assurance, vice-president of the Magdalen house, and one of the directors of Greenwich Hospital. His body arrived at Lowestoft on the 8th of November; and after laying in state at the Queen’s Head Inn till the next day, it was conveyed with great funeral pomp to the burial place of the family; where an elegant mausoleum has been erected, he having left by will £500 for that purpose, and also charged £1000 Bank stock, with the payment of £30 per annum for keeping the same in repair for ever; and what was not wanted of the said £30 for that use, is to be given to the poor of Lowestoft, in bread, at the church every Sunday after divine service. He also gave £200 to the poor of Lowestoft, to be given in coals, etc., immediately after his decease, which was done.

John Barker in his Will says:

I direct that my body be buried in the yard of the parish church of Lowestoft, in the County of Suffolk, in the vault wherin my late wife Elizabeth lies interred; and it is my desire that my executors hereafter named do cause a handsome tomb and monument to be erected over the said vault to our memory; but not to lay out a greater sum than £500 in erecting the same. And it is my intent, that the said vault, tomb, and monument be kept, in every respect, in perfect repair, pursuant to the provision hereafter by me made for that purpose.