35t 



NEWLAND CHUECH. 



[By the Rev. William Bagnall-Oakelet, M.A., Lecturer of Jones's 

 Almshouses, Newland.] 



Upon their return to Newland, the Rev. William Bagnall-Oakeley received 

 the members upon alio^hting from their carriages, and from the steps at the base of 

 the Cross in the churchyard, read to the assembled party the following paper on 

 " Newland Church " : — 



Newland Church differs in one respect from the generality of the old 

 Churches of Gloucestershire, for while most of them bear traces of their Norman 

 origin, and were gradually added to in different styles as years rolled on, this 

 church appears to have been built as we now see it, with a few trifling additions. 

 It is evident, however, that it took many years to complete, as the base and 

 windows of the tower are of a Decorated period, while the battlements are Early 

 Perpendicular. 



The absence of earlier work is easily accounted for by the fact, that, while 

 the great Norman Church-building movement was in progress, Newland was still 

 a dense forest ; and it was not until the reign of Edward I. that the parish was 

 formed out of all the assarts, which had been made, or that should hereafter be 

 made in the Forest, and that had not already been united to any existing parish. 

 It is the mother Church of Coleford, Bream, and Clearwell. These parishes 

 originally formed part of Newland, and were only provided with Chapels for their 

 religious services. There is no mention of Newland in Domesday. King Edward 

 I. gave the advowson of the Church (ecclesiam de nova, ternv— Church of Newland) 

 to the Bishop of Llandaff, and on the 9th February, 1304-.'), he granted him licence 

 to appropriate it to himself and to his successors for ever. The tithes of the 

 assarted lands were given to the Church in 133G, and the great tithes remained in 

 the see of Llandaff \mtil recent date. The Bishop of Gloucester now has the 

 patronage of the living. 



The Church of Newland is dedicated to All Saints, but wlietlier this was 

 the old dedication is uncertain. 



This noble Church consists of nave, chancel, two nave aisles, two chancel aisles 

 or chantry chapels, a chantry chapel in the south aisle, porch, and grand tower. The 

 nave is .57ft. 9in. long, by 29ft. Sin. wide, the aisles are each 2r)ft. wide, and the 

 chancel 43ft. long. The styles of architecture are Decorated and Perpendicular. 

 The pillars of the arcades, five in each aisle, are octagonal. There is a very fine 

 example of a Decorated window of four lights in the west end of the tower, in 

 which remains of some of the old glass may be seen. Another window of about 

 the same period stands in the east end of the Clearwell Chapel. These windows 

 g^ve the date of the building, which was about the end of the 14th century. A 

 Perpendicular window of rather uncommon example is in the east end of the 

 Gage Chapel, which, until the restoration in 1862, was hidden by a modern 

 vestry ; most of the other windows have been renewed, or are modern. 



