120 REPORTS. 



this triple candle three separate candles were sometimes fixed on to a 

 frame. 



Their use was to carry the new fire into the choir for lighting the 

 great paschal candle. 



The remaining branches may have been part either of standing 

 candlesticks, like those in the inventories, an elaborate development 

 of which may be seen in the drawing of Abbot Islip's hearse at 

 Westminster ; ' or they may have been attached to wall sconces. The 

 dragon candlestick and that ending in a beast's head are perhaps 

 in the second category, and fitted into sconces, the other two being 

 parts of standing candlesticks. 



"We know nothing of the history of these objects beyond what has 

 been already said, but a few suggestions are possilDle. 



In the first place, the date of all is approximately the same, 

 namely, 1500 to 1520. From the circumstances of their finding they 

 were evidently intentionally hidden, probably with a view to their 

 re-use if ever, as Mr. Roger Martin, of Long Melford, said in 1580, the 

 time should serve. 



The inference is, also, that they belonged to St. Sampson's Church, 

 though of course this cannot definitely be stated. The Channel 

 Islands being more remote in the sixteenth century than now, the 

 changes of the Reformation were somewhat slow in taking effect, 

 and indeed can hardly be said to have made themselves a dominant 

 factor till 1565, when Guernsey was transferred from the diocese of 

 Coutances to that of Winchester. This may suggest a date for the 

 disuse and concealment of such church fittings, and the excellent 

 condition of all is a further proof that they never fell into un- 

 sympathetic hands. The gilding of the cross, particularly of the base, 

 is so complete, allowing for the natural tarnishing due to over three 

 centuries of disuse, that it seems likely that the cross was in use up to 

 the moment of its removal to the safe hiding-place in the haunch of the 

 tower vault. 



The last observation which I should wish to make is that the 

 cross, on the analogy of other examples, has every appearance of 

 being English work, nor is there anything in the other pieces to 

 suggest a different origin. 



We may therefora conclude, with due reservations, that we have 

 here the remains of an English-made service of latten, acquired by 

 St. Sampson's early in the sixteenth century, hidden about 1565 by an 

 adhei snt of the old faith, and fortunately preserved intact till our own 

 days, in which we may hope that their safety is definitely assured." 



Mr. Crace asked whether any other pockets of the vaulting had 

 been examined for relics of the same kind. 



Mr. Hope remarked that the series was curiously made up of 

 odd pieces, as if they had been preserved from spoliation in the hope 

 of completing the sets later. The work was almost certainly English, 

 the crown on the foot of the cross, for instance, having alternate 

 crosses and fleurs-de-lis, as on the candle-bracket in front of the grate 

 of Henry Yll.'s chapel at Westminster (formerly at Windsor). 



Mr. Barron agreed as to the provenance of the exhibit. He 

 was familiar with the products of Dinant-sur-Meuse, but recognized 

 something different in the Guernsey specimens, which were inferior to 

 Dinanderie properly so called. They could not have been made at 

 Dinant, as that town had been previously sacked by Charles the Bold. 



Mr. Yallance noted a resemblance in the foot of the crucifix to 



one from Stoke Poges illustrated in Proceedings, xxiii. 49, but did not 



feel sure that the foot exhibited originally belonged to the crucifix. 



Three lumps round the foot-rim would be visible if the candlesticks had 



1 Vettista Monuments, vol. vii. 



