By J. U. Powell, M.A. 



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repeated in the village, that the church was consecrated, and there- 

 fore presumably dedicated, by Thomas Becket. Now at first sight 

 this seems unlikely, because Becket was not Archbishop till 1162, 

 thirty years after the date of this document which speaks of St. 

 Peter's church there. But it was not uncommon for a church to be 

 named long before it was consecrated. Thus at Horningsham (Beg. 

 Osmund., i., 313) the Church in 1224 is called "de beato Johanne 

 Baptista non dedicata " ; yet Horningsham chapel had been founded 

 before 1156 ; and at Knook in 1226 was a chapel " in honore beatae 

 Marine Magdalene, non dedicata." Oral tradition, therefore, here fills 

 up a gap in the documents. There are some other features of interest 

 in these traditions. They are as follows : — that Thomas Becket 

 consecrated Longbridge Church ; and that he visited Crockerton 

 " Eevel," coming through Southleigh Wood, " dressed like a gentle- 

 man, and going back dressed like a beggar, because he had spent 

 all his money at the Eevel." The Kev. W. H. Hutton, in a note 

 to his Bampton Lectures for this year, has suggested to me that 

 this story is a reminiscence of the story told of Becket and the 

 King (See Stephen's Materials for the Life of Becket, vol. 3, 24 (Bolls 

 Series) : — " One day when he was riding in London with the King, 

 they met a poor old man. ' Do you see,' said the King, ' this poor 

 ill-clad man ? It would be charity to give him a thick warm cape.' 

 The King pulled Becket's red cloak off, and Becket struggled to 

 keep it, but let the King have it for the old fellow, who went off 

 rejoicing, while the followers offered Becket their cloaks." The first 

 thing to notice is that this "Bevel" is a "changed feast." Not only 

 had the popularity of Becket in many cases caused the re-dedication 

 of Churches to him, but after the translation of his remains on 

 July 7th, 1220, to a shrine in Canterbury Cathedral, that day 

 became the popular festival in his honour. There is an exact 

 parallel to the case of Longbridge in that of Wymondham, in 

 Norfolk, where the old day of the parish fair was altered from St. 

 Alban's day to the morrow of the translation of the remains of 

 Thomas Becket. 1 In the same way, the old Longbridge festival 

 on St. Peter's day, June 29th, must have been altered to the first 

 1 Arnold Forster, Studies in Church Dedication, I., 357. 



