1844.1 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



35t 



the vestry in the exertions they are'so creditably making. Very unjust as- 

 persions have lately been cast upon Bristol for its alleged illiberality, merely 

 from the thoughtlessness of a clever writer, who considered that she could 

 not he wrong in abusing a city with a bad name. Bristol has a, bad name, 

 and though very causelessly, tlie sooner it is retrieved the better. A Bristol 

 merchant built Redcliffe Church; another rebuilt it when decayed; by another 

 the beautiful Church of St. Stephen's was erected ; by another that of St. 

 John; St. Werburgh by a fifth ; the church and convent of St. .lames too 

 were built by private munificence ; and the names of Colston, and Spencer, 

 and Forster, and many others, might be adduced to show what has been the 

 liberality of the wealthy merchants of Bristowe, in times past ; whilst to this 

 day no town is more ready in its support of all pious and charitable purposes, 

 though it may, as yet, be behind some others in its patronage of the tasteful 

 arts. We cannot believe that any real ditficulty will be experienced, in re- 

 pairing, in the nineteenth century, when the wealth of Bristol has increased 

 twenty fold, a church, which was erected in the fifteenth by the munificence 

 of one of her sons, — 



" The mornyinge starre of Radcleve's rysinge raie, 

 A true maune, good of mynde, and Canynge hight," 

 The object is one in which the pious, and the useful, and the ornamental are 

 all united ; the church has claims every way upon the people of Bristol ; but 

 its claim as a temple worthy of the holy purpose to which it is consecrated, 

 will be sutticient, it may be hoped, to insure it against being allowed to pe- 

 rish through neglect. — Great Western Jdoertiser. 



MONUMENT IN ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH, BRISTOL. 



This Monument is a very pretty subject for antiquarian discussion. It is 

 older by a century than the church ; — it has been built into the wall probably 

 after the erection of the church, and it is composed of parts that do not ap- 

 pear to have been originally conjoined. 



Costume is not always an infallible guide in determining the period of the 

 erection of an ancient monument, as it was not uncommon for persons to be 

 represented in the dress they wore, though the fashion of that dress had 

 passed away at the time the monument was erected. It is possible, there- 

 fore, that the effigies now lying side by side, were originally so placed ; though 

 several reasons would lead to the conclusion that the male figure formed no 

 part of the original monument ; there may be a difference of 50 years in the 

 date of their costume, as well as in that of different portions of the architec- 

 tural work. 



From the manner in which this monument is built up, — the figures being 

 on separate slabs, and the table-face of the tomb being without sides or back, 

 and disjoined from the jsmb mouldings of the arch under which it is placed : 

 it is certain that we do not see the parts in their original connection. 



The male effigy is one of the few specimens of a figure not attired in ar- 

 mour. Such cumbent effigies have been hitherto considered as belonging 

 only to Royal personages, with the exception of ecclesiastics who have their 

 proper costume: but as this figure appears to be of about the year 1400, it 

 may represent some wealthy burgess of Bristol. Wealthy he must have been, 

 as sumptuary laws in Edward III.'s reign imposed restrictions upon such lux- 

 uries as armour and monumental effigies. 



The female figure is habited in the Costume of Edward III.'s reign, about 

 the year 1350. The architecture of the monument has the usual outline of 

 that period — broad and low. It consists of a flat ogee arch, tri-cusped in the 

 middle, with two smaller hanging cusps on each side — the moulding a simple 

 fillet and hollow with square flowers at intervals. It had a crocketted ogee 

 canopy, and a low crowned buttress on each side, probably similar to the 

 Berkeley monuments in our cathedral. The base is either cut away or sunk 

 under the surface, yet unopened, which is about 18 inches beneath the floor 

 of the church. There seems no reason to think that the floor of the present 

 church has been much raised. 



Under this monumental arch is no tomb, but only the face of an altar 

 tomb. This face is separated by square buttresses into six very shallow com- 

 partments, which contain mourning figures about 18 inches high — two are 

 male, three female, in ordinary dress, the sixth is much mutilated, but may 

 represent a kniglit by the canonical head dress. The square buttresses ter- 

 minate in plain shields, and at the junction of these spring trefoiled ogee ar- 

 ches with crockets and fiuials, forming canopies to the figures. 



We have described the arch and the altar tomb as far as their imperfect 

 state will permit, and have only to add that they have been charged with co- 

 lour as well as the figures recumbent on the tomb. 



As the effigies of two sous of Edward III., one in Vork Cathedral the other 

 in Westminster Abbey, are the only published specimens of figures of the 

 14th century not in armour, this male effigy deserves enquiry as to the per- 

 sonage it may represent. For the present we can only describe the figures. 

 They are, as was the custom in the middle ages, in the attitued of prayer ; 

 the hands have been placed together palm to palm, but those of the male fi- 

 gure have been broken off above the wrists. The female effigy, which is on 

 the inside, is partly built into the masonry of the wall, under a rough arch 

 of later date than the front arch of the monument. This is the longer figure, 

 and appears to be that for which the monument was erected. 



The head of the male effigy is uncoyeted— the hgir is patted in the middle 



and falls down in a single curl over the ears — the face is not that of a young 

 man, though without whiskers, and having the moustache and beard but 

 slightly marked. The dress consists of a doublet, buttoned down in front, 

 fitting close to the body and reaching to the middle of the thighs ; round 

 about the hips is an ornamental bawdrick, from which a dagger has been sus- 

 pended on the right side. This doublet has a small cape over the shoulder, 

 and leaves the neck to be covered by a loose collar ; the sleeves reach below 

 the elbow, and beneath them appears a covering for the lower arm, towards 

 the wrist closely buttoned. The legs wear close fitting hose, and the feet 

 have pointed sandals of similar material. This costume belongs to the latter 

 end of the 14th century. The feet rest upon a lion, and the head upon a 

 diamond shaped cushion with tassels. 



The head of the female effigy rests upon a square tasselled cushion, and the 

 feet, which are scarcely visible, against a dog. 



The head dress consists of a netted drapery of square form, beneath which 

 appears the hair, braided each side the cheek. The hood, or veil, falls from 

 the back of the head, and a wimple of linen encloses the chin and covers the 

 whole of the neck and shoulders, except some strips in front of the neck. 

 ITie body is habited in a surcote ; the sleeves are tight and close, up to the 

 wrist ; the hands are without gloves or ornaments. The surcote as far as the 

 hips, fits closely to the shape, but below enlarges in numerous folds ; the 

 dress is not buttoned or laced in front, but two buckles of large size are 

 placed low down the waist in front. The mantle or cloak is short, and 

 stretches round the back and shoulders, being fastened by a cordon across the 

 breast. This costume properly belongs to the date 1350, whereas the cos- 

 tume of the male figure appears to be later. The different sizes of the figures 

 and other things above mentioned, leave little doubt in the mind of the wri- 

 ter that the monument is compiled of two separate ones, which have been 

 put together in their present situation since the time of Henry VIII. 



Great Western Advertiser, 



S. C. F. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN SUBMARIME BLASTING AT S PITHEAD, 

 Lieut. Barlow, the present executive engineer officer, at Spithead, who con- 

 ducts the operations with no less zeal, intelligence, and activity, than his 

 able predecessors, has tried numerous experiments in the firing of gunpowder 

 by the voltaic battery, partly with the service charges used in breaking up 

 the timbers of the wreck, in tin cans not usually exceeding from 441b. to 

 55 lb. of gunpowder, and partly with small esperimental charges of a few 

 ounces, by desire of General Pasley, who wished to carry out Lieut. Hutchin- 

 son's ingenious plan of firing submarine charges by one conducting wire only, 

 instead of two, (See Journal, vol. vi. p. 337,J using the water of the sea to 

 complete the electric circuit. In these experiments Lieut. Barlow first found 

 that it was unnecessary to let down a piece of wire with zinc plates attached 

 to it from the voltaic battery into the water, as had been done by Lieut. Hut- 

 chinson, for the circuit was equally good when the wire alone was used ; and 

 on repeating those experiments in General Pasley s presence, the correctness 

 of this principle was sufliciently proved, but a difficulty occurred, which had 

 not been experienced before — viz., that it required two plate batteries of ten 

 cells each, to fire a charge at a distance of 200 feet, with the single wire, 

 whereas one of Prof. Danicll's batteries of eight cells only, which is inferior 

 in power to a plate battery of ten cells, had always fired submarine charges 

 instantaneously in former years by the double wire, which circumstance had 

 not been adverted to by Lieut. Barlow, as this was his first season. General 

 Pasley, therefore, concluded that the firing charges with one conducting 

 wire, instead of two, might diminish the power of voltaic electricity more 

 than had been suspected last year, when this change was introduced so very 

 late in the season, that there was not time to investigate the result of it in 

 all its bearings ; and, consequently, he directed that two conducting wires on 

 reels, the same that had failed in igniting a charge when attached singly to 

 less than a twenty cell plate battery, should be attached to one plate bat- 

 tery of ten cells, on the original principle used at Chatham and Spithead, 

 from 1838 to the middle of 1843 inclusive, so that these two wires, well in- 

 sulated, connected that battery and a charge at the bottom, without trusting 

 to the water. On adopting this arrangement, instantaneous explosion took 

 place, as soon as the circuit was completed. Thus the double metallic cir- 

 cuit was proved to be the best for firing gunpowder, whether underground 

 or under water, and will as such be exclusively used in all future explo- 

 sions ; though for the purposes of an electric telegraph, which requires 

 wires to be laid for many miles, and which needs infinitely less power than 

 is necessary for the firing of gunpowder, water or moist earth, especially 

 the former, may be used to advantage for completing the circuit, in com- 

 bination with one wire only, extending the whole length of the telegraphic 

 line. 



