Part 26

Beneath the sill of a large two-light fourteenth century window in the chancel at Dersingham, Norfolk, there is a panel, 24 inches by 22 inches, and 43 inches from floor to sill, pierced with four quatrefoils. It certainly was never intended for light; nothing can be viewed through it, and the detail is much too intricate for any substance to be passed through the apertures. Any one familiar with the “sound holes” which are so characteristic of East Anglian belfries, cannot fail to be struck with the similarity between them and the little panel in question, which I suggest is also a “sound hole,” intended to indicate the place of the tinkling bell in the “hie chancell,” just as the larger panels indicate the place of the tolling bell in the high tower.

The wide internal splays to all the shuttered openings now under consideration, is evidence that the intention was for sound to go out rather than to enable any one to look in, either to watch the lights upon the altar (the church doors were always open save during divine service), or for any other purpose; nor can they have been for the purpose of showing a light to scare evil spirits away, for the medieval mind always imagined that evil spirits came out of the north, and by far the larger portion of the openings are on the south side; while the dial markings, so frequently found on the jamb between the priest’s door and the low side window, and said to be connected with it, will prove upon examination to be more recent in date, and to be dial markings and nothing else. I have found them on the south side of all ancient churches that are built of soft grained stone, but seldom on the harder and coarser grit stones.

It may fairly be asked why, if the purpose of these openings was to enable the sacring bell to be rung effectively, are they not to be found in every ancient chancel. The church at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, for instance, has no low side window, while the church at Flintham, only a little earlier in date, has one on either side of the chancel. The explanation is that the purpose could be achieved in various ways. Early in the fourteenth century when screen building set in vigorously, the rood-loft offered a convenient alternative position for a ringer with a little hand bell.[87] A bell cote or turret at the junction of the roofs of the nave and chancel, or near the porch, a bracket or beam projecting from the wall of the tower on which a bell was suspended, were all expedients variously adopted, the only essential being that the ringer, wherever he was stationed, should have an uninterrupted view of the high altar; and I think it will be found that not all the hagioscopes were made to allow an exalted personage to view the elevation of the host without the necessity of leaving his private pew, but in most cases they were made to enable the bell-ringer to see the altar and give the signal. Wherever a low side window and a bell cote are found in the same church, it will invariably be discovered that the bell cote is a later addition, and superseded the window.

Shuttered openings may be seen at the following churches:--

Barnby-in-the-Willows c. 1300 Both sides. (_a_) Basford 13th cent. S.W. Burton Joyce 14th cent. S.W. South Collingham. 14th cent. S.W. Costock 14th cent. S.W. Flintham 13th cent. Both sides. Gedling 13th cent. S.W. (_a_) Halam 14th cent. N.W. Haughton Chapel ruined S.W. Keyworth 13th cent. S.W. Laxton 14th cent. S.E. Low Marnham 14th cent. S.W. Normanton-on-Soar 13th cent. S.W. (_a_) Nuthall 14th cent. S.W. Orston 13th cent. S.W. Stanford-on-Soar 14th cent. S.W. Trowell 13th cent. N.W.

(_a_) These are built up, thus making classification somewhat uncertain.

(_b_) _Glazed Openings._--Early in the fourteenth century the screen developed into an imposing and extensive structure. Surmounting it were the images of Christ, Mary the Mother, and John. A loft about five feet wide was necessary to give access to the lamps which were kept burning before the images, to the row of lights placed along the top of the hand-rail at the great festivals, and for the purpose of veiling the images during Lent. The projection of the loft generally formed a canopy for the two altars which stood on the west side of the screen, but there is evidence that in some instances the projection was eastwards, _i.e._ into the chancel, thus necessitating a special arrangement of the fenestration, in order to get light either for general purposes, or to enable the priest to read his hours at the desk, which otherwise would be dark when thus placed under the soffit of the loft.[88]

With these facts in mind, let us examine the work at Car Colston, one of a series of beautiful churches built by a peripatetic band of masons known as the York School, and the only chancel in Nottinghamshire built by them which contains a low side window. It is evident that the rood-loft in this case projected eastwards, for the eastern face of the chancel arch is quite plain, and the mouldings on the responds are not returned, but cut off square and flush with the walling. No trace of a staircase or door for entering the loft can be found. A comparison between the work here and the chancel at Arnold--built about thirty years earlier by the same school--where a stone newel staircase leading to the rood-loft is worked in the south pier of the chancel arch, well lighted by a small aperture in the angle, leads me to conclude that a similar arrangement was adopted here, but probably the stairs in this case were formed in wood instead of stone. It would therefore be necessary to get light at this point, and the skill of the builders is manifest in the introduction of this small but beautiful window of two lights, each 7½ inches wide and 36 inches high to the springing, and 6½ feet from ground to sill. It has a sloping sill to throw the light downwards, while the absence of a rear arch and the substitution of a flat soffit indicates that it came up quite close to the floor of the rood-loft. A quadrant splay to the westward distributed the light and gave access to the rood stairs, and there was a square reveal to the eastward, because the window was separated from the priest’s doorway by a jamb only 8½ inches wide.

Wherever the rood-loft projected far into the chancel, it was necessary to obtain light beneath it; and where the original fenestration did not admit of this, a small special window was introduced for the purpose. I think it will be found that in all cases where the jambs were not originally rebated for shutters, the low side window has been inserted after the introduction of the rood-loft for lighting purposes. During the first half of the thirteenth century the lighting of churches received but little consideration. Narrow lancets with sills high above the floor were deemed sufficient, while the north wall was often built without any windows at all. When the friars came, they were supposed to know the service by heart, and manuscript sermons were unknown. But as time went on, the desire for more light was felt, and it was first met by setting the lancets in pairs, and later in triplets; and not unfrequently the small east window was taken out and fixed at the west end of the south wall of the chancel, and a new and larger east window provided (Sutton St. Ann’s). At Kneesall portions of the original lancets may still be seen in the south wall blocked up with masonry, and in their stead two beautiful three-light, square-headed windows were introduced when the chancel was extended eastwards in the fifteenth century; and a similar thing occurred at East Leake, where a portion of the lancets still remain, though now superseded by larger windows. At Burton Joyce, in addition to the shuttered opening in the chancel, there is a small lancet fixed low down in the centre of the north aisle wall. This does not command any essential feature within the church. The probability is that it was introduced to light the priest’s desk in a chantry chapel which occupied a large space on this side of the church, and contained the tombs of the dominant owners.

At a later date builders did not hesitate to insert large windows in the walls in place of the original lancets wherever light was needed for any special purpose, and in many instances the original shuttered openings were altered and converted into lights (Barnby-in-the-Willows). In some cases where chancels were entirely rebuilt, the S.W. window of the chancel was made with a low sill and a transom--an obvious development of the earlier shuttered window--but never intended for any other purpose than to give light, for both on the outside and inside the jambs are widely splayed and beautifully moulded (Wilford). In other cases the S.W. window has been kept low in conformity with ancient custom, and also probably because the S.E. window has had to be kept high up to clear the sedilia (Plumtree).

Examples of windows for lighting purposes may be found at:--

Balderton 15th cent. insertion in 13th cent. South side. Barton-in-Fabis 14th cent. S.W. Car Colston 14th cent. S.W. Cropwell Bishop 13th cent. N.W. East Bridgeford 13th cent. S.W. East Leake 13th cent. S.W. Kneesall 15th cent. insertion in 13th cent. S.W. Laneham 15th cent. insertion in 12th cent. S.W. Lowdham 13th cent. S.W. Normanton-on-Trent 14th cent. S.W. Oxton Late insertion in 12th cent. work S.W. Plumtree 15th cent. S.W. South Muskham Late insertion in 13th cent. work S.W. Sutton Bonington St. Ann’s 14th cent. S.W. Upton 14th cent. S.W. West Leake 14th cent. S.W. Wilford 15th cent. S.W.

Plumtree may be taken as a typical example of a dozen or more fifteenth century chancels having the sill of the S.W. window at a lower level than the others.

There are two examples in the county that call for special treatment, as they do not belong to either of the foregoing classes--Mansfield and Linby.

At Mansfield side chapels were added in the fifteenth century on either side of the chancel. Near to the east end of the wall on the south a narrow opening has been formed 4½ feet above the floor level, which has been described as a “leper window.” One side of this squint is formed with an ancient incised slab, and several stones with the Norman chevron moulding have been used. It does not appear ever to have been external, and in my opinion it was cut through the old wall after the chapel was built, in order to give a view between the two altars.

At Linby there is a small squint at the east side of the doorway of the north porch which has given rise to much controversy. I am of opinion that it was made to enable the ringer in the belfry under the tower at the west end of the church to see to the Top Cross in the village street, which may have been used in the elaborate service of Palm Sunday, when, after the palm branches had been blessed and distributed, the priest bearing the Blessed Sacrament went out with his attendants and took up his station at the Palm Cross. Then the choir and people came out of the church in procession with their palms to meet him at the cross and accompanied him back to the church with the singing of “Hosannas” and other appropriate anthems, in memory of our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This porch is always said to have been built in 1548, but the style of architecture indicates an earlier date; and the shields on the gable and buttresses, Strelley, Hunt, and Savage, lead me to think that it is the work of the grand-daughter and heiress of Thomas Hunt (died in 1427, seized on a moiety of the manor of Linby), who was married first to John Strelley (died 1487), and the year afterwards to James Savage.

While making this survey, I took particular notice of the relative positions of the manor-house, parsonage, and village, in relation to the church, and also the direction and lie of the main roads; but I found that none of these had any effect upon the low side window. The date of erection and the internal arrangement of the church appear to have been the sole determining factors.

THE NOTTINGHAM MINT

BY FRANK E. BURTON, F.R.N.S., J.P.

In contributing a paper upon the coins and tokens either relating to or struck in the city of Nottingham, or in the county of Nottingham, it is quite impossible for me to give a complete history or even a brief description of each coin or token, or to describe all the different dies from which they were struck in the space kindly allotted to me by the editor; but the illustrations taken from amongst those specimens in my possession should, I hope, give the reader a very good idea of what these coins and tokens are like, and although there are many varieties, these in most cases only differ in detail in wording and dates; in fact, generally some small alterations in the die.

_The Nottingham Mint._--In Saxon and Norman times this mint must have been an important one, considering that we know of eleven kings who coined silver pennies here. No coins were struck above the value of one penny, and the coinage of the whole kingdom at this period practically consisted of silver pennies.

In 924 Edward the Elder captured the town from the Danes, and afterwards rebuilt it, but we do not know if he established a mint, as no coins of his are known to have been struck at Nottingham; but the mint was in operation in the reign of his successor, Athelstan, 925–940.

According to Domesday Book there were two moneyers in Nottingham in the days of Edward the Confessor, and they paid to the King the sum of forty shillings.

This amount had been increased to ten pounds by the Conqueror when Domesday Book was written, thus showing that the Nottingham Mint was then a royal one.

One pound sterling was understood to be a pound weight of silver coined into about 240 pennies. One penny would, in Saxon times, more than pay a workman for his day’s labour, so that ten pounds was a large sum of money in those days.

When we consider that the yield from this mint and these moneyers had increased from two pounds to ten pounds, I think we may rightly assume that they were looked upon as a considerable source of income by the Exchequer.

Accepting this and knowing that such a large number of varieties of coins were struck during the long period of about 230 years, in which this mint is known to have existed, it is rather strange that these early coins should be so seldom met with, and that some should be so excessively rare. I know of no coins struck in Nottingham by any king after the reign of Stephen.

_The Newark Mint._--As far as is known, only one Saxon King is supposed to have struck money here, and only two Kings of later periods.

The first coin said to have been struck at Newark is that of King Edwy, 955–959. Although the British Museum describes it as Newark, Northamptonshire, there is little doubt that it was struck at Newark, Notts, as Newark, Notts, is the only Newark mentioned in Domesday Book.

The next two Kings who were supposed to have issued pennies were Henry I., 1100–1135, and Henry II., 1154–1189, and the place of minting Ne, short for Newark. It is questionable if any coins were struck at Newark in the reign of Henry I. It is probable that Henry I. granted a charter to the Bishop of Lincoln to coin money at Newark, as we know a charter to this effect was confirmed by Stephen, and coins of Stephen’s reign struck at Newark are known to exist.

Henry II.--It is extremely doubtful if any coins of this reign were struck at Newark.

_The Torksey Mint._--Ethelred II. (979–1016) is supposed to have struck money here, but opinions differ upon this question. Turc being short for Torksey, I am very much of opinion that these coins were struck at Torksey, for in Saxon times Torksey was probably the most important town between Nottingham and the Humber.

_The Shelford Mint._--Earl Sitric, who was killed in the battle of Ashdown, A.D. 870, is understood to have struck coins here.

The first coin illustrated is that of Athelstan, 925–940. (No. 1.)

_Obverse._ Edelnod on Snotenceham. _Reverse._ Edelnod on Snotenceham.

There is a coin of this reign in the British Museum with this same reading on the reverse, and on the obverse--Edelstan re Saxorum.

This coin is rare and extremely interesting. It does not bear the King’s name or any of his titles. Edelnod is the moneyer’s name, and he was the moneyer for Nottingham and also for Derby. It has the same reading on both sides, which is exceptional, and it is the first authenticated coin struck at Nottingham, and the only coin having the full reading Snotenceham; in all other Saxon or Norman coins struck in Nottingham by any other Kings, the name of the city is abbreviated.

This abbreviation of the name of the city often occurred in deeds of the period; in fact, we find it as late as in the charter granted by Henry II., 1155, to Nottingham, and where the name reads “Noting” and “Notingh.”

The “S” in the name of Nottingham was first dropped in the foundation charter of Lenton Priory about the year 1108.

Athelstan was the first monarch who paid any considerable attention to his coinage, and it is from his laws that we first obtain any authentic information about the mints.

In 928 he held a grand synod, at which Wulfhelme, Archbishop of Canterbury, and all the great and powerful men of the kingdom were assembled. They decided that the whole coinage of the realm should be alike, and should bear the King’s portrait only, withdrawing the privilege from the bishops, abbots, barons, &c., of having their portraits struck upon the coins.

They also agreed that money should only be minted in a town, and decided that each burg was entitled to one moneyer, but certain places, on account of their importance, were entitled to two or more. Nottingham had two, London eight, Canterbury seven, Winchester six, and Rochester three. The penalty for establishing a private mint was death. Considering that in these days Nottingham was divided into two burgs, it is extremely probable that there were two mints--one for each burg.

The names of sixty different towns are known where money was minted.

From the fact that the coin illustrated has no portrait upon it, it leads one to suppose it was struck in the early part of Athelstan’s reign before the above law was enacted.

ETHELRED II., 979–1016, issued money from Nottingham.

The sceptre first appeared on the coins of Ethelred in front of the profile, and this usage in subsequent reigns became general.

CANUTE, 1016–1035.

_Obverse._ Cnut recx. Head crowned to left with sceptre. _Reverse._ Blamiam O Sno. (No. 2.)

_Obverse._ Cnut recx a. Head to left having on a conical helmet, with sceptre. _Reverse._ Bruninc on Snoti. (No. 3.)

_Obverse._ Cnut recx a. Head to left with sceptre; on head is a conical helmet. _Reverse._ Blacaman on Sno. (No. 4.)

All the coins of this reign have the place of mintage and the moneyer’s name mentioned. The moneyer was responsible for the purity of the coins and their just weight, under various penalties--firstly, his hand was cut off, secondly, death; but in some few cases fines were imposed, as instanced in the case of Swein, who was a moneyer at Nottingham during the reign of Henry I. and Stephen. He was fined 100 shillings.

Numerous varieties of this coin are known, of which the three illustrated show two different dies and three different moneyers. It is not surprising to find coins of this monarch struck at Nottingham, as his coins bear the names of more places of mintage than those of any other reign.

HAROLD I., 1035–1040.

Two coins of this reign are known with the reading: Harold Rex and the Moneyer Blacaman or Sacgrim. The abbreviated name was Sn.

HARDICANUTE, 1040–1042.

Although this King is mostly styled Harthacnut or Harthecnut, Re or Rex, with the mint and moneyer always mentioned, in a known example struck at Nottingham the reading is “Hardacn” and on the reverse, “Plunod on Snot.”

EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, 1042–1066.

_Obverse._ Edpard Re. _Reverse._ Blaceh on snotine. (No. 5.)

On all coins the Saxon “P” is used for “W” with one or two rare exceptions.

His coins are very varied. On some of them the head is bearded. They vary exceedingly in size and weight, but all appear to have had the same nominal value.

Considering that eight different varieties of coins exist, which were struck at Nottingham, with the place of minting Sn., Sno., Snoti., Snotih, and Znot, it seems strange that they should be so seldom met with. During this reign halfpennies and farthings were first formed by cutting the pennies in two or four parts, but none are known relating to Nottingham.

HAROLD II., 1066.

_Obverse._ Harold Rex angl. Bust to left with sceptre. _Reverse._ Forna on Snotn, and Pax between two beaded parallel lines (No. 6).

Several varieties of these coins are known, but they are uncommon.

WILLIAM I., 1066–1087.

When the rule of England changed from Saxon to Norman there was no alteration in the style of the coinage, and silver pennies continued to be the sole current coin of the realm.

WILLIAM I., 1066–1087.

WILLIAM II., 1087–1100.

_Obverse._ Pillelm Rex. _Reverse._ Iitsere on Snotin. (No. 7.)

_Obverse._ Pillelm Rex. _Reverse._ Mana on Snoti. (No. 8.)

In the reigns of the two Williams the number of moneyers increased considerably and at least ten are known, and the following abbreviated readings of Nottingham are found on the coins:--Sn, Sno, Snot, Snoti, Snotin, Snotig, Snotine, Snotinc, Snotinge, Snotigne.

Many varieties of coins were struck, but it is somewhat difficult to assign the coins to their respective issuers.

HENRY I., 1100–1135.

_Obverse._ Henricus R. Front face with sceptre; at the side of the neck is a cross of four pellets. _Reverse._ Aldene on Sno. Quatrefoil inclosing cross of pellets with a star in the centre. Fleur de lis in the angles. (No. 9.)

STEPHEN, 1135–1154.

The coins of this reign are of very great interest, and more is known about them since two hoards were found--one in 1867 at the old Hall at Sheldon, near Bakewell, the other in 1880 in Rose Yard, Bridlesmith Gate, Nottingham; a large portion being of the reign of Stephen and of the Nottingham Mint, amongst them some few not previously known. During this reign money is supposed to have been much debased, but none of these debased specimens exist.

_Obverse._ Stiefne. _Reverse._ Spein on Snot. (No. 10.)

_Obverse._ Stiefne: Re. _Reverse._ Spein on Snot. (No. 11.)

_Obverse._ Stiefne: Re. _Reverse._ Spein on Snot. (No. 12.)

Swein was the moneyer, the Saxon “P” being used for “W.”