THE ISLE OF WIGHT 239 



two miles distant. His vicar, one Miles Popple, 

 being after the manner of the age non-resident, the 

 curate took up his abode in the old Vicarage, a small 

 and inconvenient house which has been since pulled 

 down. A print of it, however, hangs in the vestry of 

 the parish church, while a companion picture shows 

 the interior of the church as it was before restoration 

 in 1864. There is the eighteenth - century "three- 

 decker" now rightly removed from which Legh 

 Richmond delivered his gospel to the poor. An un- 

 sightly gallery will be noticed stretching across the 

 west end of the building. The Early English nave 

 is crowded with high-backed square pews, and the 

 Oglander chapel is boarded up. In this chapel, now 

 beautifully restored, are preserved the Communion 

 chair and the Church Office-Book which Legh Rich- 

 mond used, and within the chancel rails will be noticed 

 the small font which in his time stood in the church, 

 and at which he baptized the village children. 



A tablet has lately been placed on the south wall 

 of the church by the grandchildren of Legh Richmond, 

 to commemorate his ministry at Brading; and it is 

 worth remarking that the inscription, after duly men- 

 tioning his Christian virtues, speaks of "his graceful 

 descriptions of the beautiful scenery of the Isle of 

 Wight." These descriptions are chiefly confined to 

 the corner of the island in which his ministry was 

 cast. The Annals contain no mention of the romantic 

 scenery of the Undercliff, nor of the magnificent chalk 

 cliffs of Freshwater. The beauties of Bonchurch are 

 not alluded to, nor the quiet charm of the old village 

 of Shanklin. But every detail of the country around 

 Brading was familiar to our author, and finds expres- 

 sion in his writings. Little Jane's cottage is situated 



