348 
Hotes on Tio Pieces of English stedicoal 
Embroidery preserved in the 
Churches of Sutton Penger and Hullabington, 
By W. H. St. Joun Hore. 
or m™;HE piece of medieval embroidery preserved as a desk- 
4ys hanging in Sutton Benger Church belongs to a class of 
which, though far from common, more examples exist than is 
usually supposed. 
Although the sacrilegious rapacity of Edward VI. and his Privy 
Council, during the age of robbery in the middle of the 16th 
century, spared many a cope and suit of vestments, the general 
spoliation of Church goods, as well as the subsequent ascendancy 
of the Puritan faction, made no provision for the replacement of 
such vestments as they wore out or got shabby, for there can be 
little doubt that in many places they continued to be worn. Copes 
chasubles, and other vestments, were accordingly converted into 
altar hangings, pulpit covers, herse cloths, or other uses, and in this 
manner many a beautiful piece of medieval embroidery has been 
preserved to our time. 
The piece of work at Sutton. Benger in its present state measures 
dft. 14in. in length by 2ft. 4in. in width, and is composed of ten 
vertical strips of embroidery sewn side by side. Light of the 
strips are severally made up of three panels, each representing a 
saint or prophet standing beneath a canopy. But the strips thus 
formed were found too long for their appointed place, so the upper 
panel has in every case been cut in two, and the pieces sewn on at 
the ends so as to make two more strips. This mutilation has 
1 These notes are also printed in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries 
(Dec. 8th, 1898). 
