ON MILTON ABBEY CHURCH. 83' 



mark off tlie clerestory from the lower portion of the choir, as is 

 almost invariably the case in buildings of the Pointed Style, and 

 this, I think, must certainly be considered a defect. It may 

 next be noticed that the arches on each side are not continuous, 

 but are interrupted in four places by masses of solid masonry. 

 This was, no doubt, the original construction, and it has been 

 conjectured that such a departure from general custom took place 

 for the purpose of giving the choir a more secluded and retired 

 character. The reredos, or stone screen behind the altar, and 

 the dwarf Avindow above, owe their existence to the Lady 

 Chapel, which, until the Eeformation, stood eastward of the 

 choir. The only part of the reredos which remains in its original 

 state is its lowest division, which is formed of Ham-hill stone 

 and painted over. The upper part is composed of plaster of 

 Paris, designed by James Wyatt, the man who did all he could 

 to ruin the interior of Salisbury Cathedral. There is reason to 

 believe that the original screen contained figures in stone in two 

 rows, the upper one representing Moses and the Prophets, while 

 the lower one was occupied by our Lord and the Apostles. It is 

 not known by whom it was put up, for although there is an 

 inscription upon it dated 1492, that only commemorates the men 

 by whom it was painted, William of Middleton, the abbot, 

 and Thomas Wilken, vicar of the parish, of whom it records : — 

 "Qui hoc altare ad Dei laudem suis honorifice sumptibus 

 depinxerunt." This, I take it, refers not to the original con- 

 struction, but to its subsequent coloring and ornamentation. 

 Anyhow, it was ultimately destroyed, most probably during the 

 time of Cromwell, all but the lowest compartment, and event- 

 ually Lord Milton employed "Wyatt, while he was engaged on 

 Salisbury Cathedral, to fill up the vacant space with the design 

 which is now before you. "When I first came here, nearly 40 

 years ago, the oldest inhabitant of the parish, John Ham, 

 brewer and glazier, used to tell me about the old town and the 

 many changes that had happened in the place since he was a 

 boy, and from his account it appeared that Lord Dorchester was 

 a man of very fastidious taste, and "Wyatt had again and again 



