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washed over. Amongst recorded instances of this subject, which are now effaced, a remarkable example was visible until early in the nineteenth century in the chapel at the east end of Canterbury Cathedral, called "Becket's Crown." This was a large painting, and according to local evidence it was one of a series of subjects executed by the order and at the expense of Cardinal Pole, the last Roman Catholic prelate interred at that cathedral. Another representation, which I believe is still in existence, is that at Sedgeford Church, in Norfolk. In this instance, the inscription appears, and a more remarkable peculiarity is that the Infant is portrayed with three heads. This extraordinary illustration has been supposed to denote the doctrine of the Holy Trinity certainly a strange if not unique example of such a design. The Norfolk churches were especially rich in fine examples of the Christopher legend; but unfortunately many of these have been allowed to fall into decay, and are no longer visible, though in fair condition. when discovered.1

The last representation I shall here record is the one at St. John's Church, Winchester, which is doubtless already well known to the members of the British Archæological Association from their visits in the Congress of 1893. However, I do not see any notice of the wall-paintings in their Journal of the proceedings on that occasion. It may be that, like others which have been discovered, it is not now in good condition. This I hope may not be the reason for silence, as it was a very fine example of the subject. The principal figure was 14 ft. in height, and with form and features more pleasing and artistic in drawing than most representations. The details are the usual ones, but treated with more than ordinary talent and sense of proportion and distance. This painting was discovered in 1853, and occupies the central part of the south aisle, reaching nearly from the ground to the roof.

1 Many other examples in good condition have been brought to my notice. Amongst others, the one at Chesham Parish Church, Bucks, which was discovered and preserved by Sir Gilbert Scott when restoring the church, and is a very good specimen of large size on the south wall.

The south aisle of St. John's was, apparently, appropriated to a confraternity of St. Christopher, as the north is known to have belonged to the Guild of Our Blessed Lady, this church having been, until the Reformation, largely supported by confraternities. The popular Saint was represented in several so-called brotherhoods, or guilds. In many bequests of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries his name is recorded: for instance, the Earl of Northumberland in his will, 11th July, 1511, after the usual form, asks for the prayers of blessed St. Christopher, my advowry (or advocate)", and bequeaths "Unto the brotherhood of Cristoffer of York forty pence and to the brotherhoods of St. Cristoffer holden within the Parish Church of St. Mighill in Cornhill twelve Pence."

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Of an earlier date, at Thame, in Oxfordshire, the brass inlaid altar-tomb to Rich. Quatermaine and his wife, about 1460, an inscription records one of these foundations "as a Fraternity in the worship of St. Cristofere in perpetuity," whose devout prayers they request. The lines are worth quoting, and with them I will conclude as follows: "They founded in the Church of Thame a Chantrie, 6 pore men and a fraternity in the worshipp of Seynt Cristofere to be relieved in perpetuyte. They of their alms for their soules a pater noster and Ave devoutly will say, of holy faddurs is granted the pardon of dayes forty alway-which Richard and Sibil oute of the world passed in the yere of owre Lord 1460."

WINFIELD MANOR.

By J. B. MITCHELL-WITHERS, Esq., F.R.I.B.A.

(Read at the Sheffield Congress, August 12th, 1903.)

HIS Manor House is said to have been built by Ralph, Lord Cromwell, in the reign of Henry VI, to whom he was Treasurer of the Exchequer, an office of high honour. He appears to have been a nobleman of great attainments, and, as such, we may attribute to his influence the artistic feeling which runs through the design of his house. He obtained the Manor of Winfield about A.D. 1441, through a lawsuit, in which a compromise was effected, and then appears to have built the main portion of the buildings which form the Manor House on the site of an older house. After his death on Jan. 4th, A.D. 1455, it passed to John, second Earl of Shrewsbury, to whom Cromwell had sold the reversion of the Manor, and in whose accounts are payments on behalf of this made.

Lord Cromwell appears to have been a great builder. He built the Castle of Tattershall, in Lincolnshire, and also a church there. He also probably rebuilt the church at South Winfield, or rather, rebuilt it with the exception of the chancel, which had been constructed just previous to his time; and one would, therefore, expect that here, where apparently he expected to dwell, in-for those times-comparative security, that it would be probable that he would desire a house to be designed which would contain the latest ideas in the refinement of the times. And while this building has been much mutilated by owners, who at a later date used much of the stonework for building what has been described as a square box

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adjoining, sufficient remains to show that those employed by him carried out the ideas of this great man in no mean spirit. From an artistic point of view, the remains of Winfield have always had a great fascination for me; and if my time had not been otherwise occupied I should have desired to have put before you drawings to show, from an architect's point of view, some probable restoration of this building; but knowing that many here present may have had more ample facilities to work this matter out than have fallen to my lot, I must be content to-day with giving you a general description, and trust that the plan which I have prepared, together with information I have collected from other sources, will be of some interest, and perhaps lead to further information being acquired as to the uses of the various portions of the building.

The inferior buildings apparently surrounded an outer court or bailey, from which, through a gateway, consisting of a large and a small entrance, the inner courtyard was approached, round which the more important buildings

were situated.

The massive turrets, which flanked this approach (that at the south-east being no longer in existence), appear to have been designed with the idea of affording the inhabitants an ample defence from any attack on this side; and no doubt they would feel secure from an attack from the north side, owing to the nature of the ground, the moat, and the facilities of defence which the battlements and terrace there would offer; and the inner court and its buildings, therefore, convey a sense of peaceful security which is not found in buildings of the previous century.

The main entrance from the inner courtyard to the buildings of his lordship was formed by a large porch, which is the most perfect part of the front of the building, surrounded by rich Perpendicular battlements, with shields of arms belonging to him. The entrance is surmounted by an arch, which is richly moulded, and decorated with square-leaved flowers. The ceiling of this porch was formed as a groined vault, and stone seats were on each side; beyond it was the banqueting-hall, there being a screen as usual across the end of it, over which would be the music gallery.

The hall itself must have been a fine example of its time, and had on the north side five windows, and on the south side, which faces the inner courtyard, three windows and a fine bay window, which fortunately remains in a sufficient state of preservation to attract the admiration of all interested in our art treasures. There are also two gable windows. At the further end of the hall, judging from the stonework, there must have been a daïs, as was usual at this time, when the lord and his household dined above the salt and their retainers below it. The rings from which the tapestry was hung still remain. Under the hall is a vaulted apartment, which, with its big wheel-bosses and finely-carved figure ornaments, is well worthy of notice. It is called "the crypt. The exact purpose for which it was used has been the subject of much contention. The designers do not appear to have been at much trouble to light it well, as it has only comparatively small windows facing the terrace; but by its being approached by three staircases from the building, and a fourth from the inner courtyard, I can only assume that it had some most important use.

Mr. J. D. Leader, in his book, Mary Queen of Scots in Captivity, made the suggestion that possibly it may have been the chapel, for traces of which archæologists have sought in vain.

In a book on Winfield Manor, Mr. S. O. Addy says that "the undercroft" at Winfield was the "Spence.' Here the wine, spices, fruit dishes, etc., were kept by an officer of the household called the Spencer, who was in monastic houses called the Cellarer. He may be right, but this to me seems to be a different case, and the access to this crypt on all sides- it being readily approached from the hall, the terrace, the portal, the inner courtyard, the battlements, in fact, from the buildings generally seems to indicate that it was the armoury. These, we know, were often elaborately ornamented, and no doubt would be one of the sights shown to distinguished visitors. On the outside of it, in the Elizabethan period, was erected what Turner and Parker, in their description of fifteenth-century domestic architecture, describe as a sort of cloister; and this, whilst protecting

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