First Bay's Proceedings. 



119 



Henry III., dated Marlborough, in the thirteenth year of the king's 

 reign. In the seventh year of this king, His Majesty had decreed 

 at Calne " that a fair be held at Devizes once a year, viz., on the 

 vigil, the day and the morrow of St. John the Baptist, for ever/' 

 but this fair, with others, has lapsed. Another charter is dated the 

 fifth of Henry IV. (February 20th.) Another of Elizabeth, granted 

 in the first year of her reign : and there are also charters of James I . 

 and Charles I., the latter confirming the former and granting ad- 

 ditional immunities to the corporate body, by which charter it seems 

 they were governed until the passing of the Municipal Corporation 

 Act. In the seventh year of James I. it appears that a grant of 

 the fairs and markets was made to Edward Wardour, Esq. (2 7th 

 June), for forty years, under a rent of £5, and in the same year the 

 Mayor and Burgesses contracted with Mr. Wardour for the purchase 

 of his leasehold interest, and took an assignment of it. There is 

 also a curious document dated November 6th, first Henry VIII., 

 inscribed " Pardon to the Mayor and Burgesses/'' 



There were also exhibited, as municipal plate, the two maces of 

 the time of Charles I. ; the loving cup, bearing date 1620 ; a silver 

 punch-bowl and ladle, once apparently the property of the " Brittox 

 Club/'' of which little, if any, record exists, and having engraved 

 on it the names of the members : and a " grace-cup," lent by Mr. 

 G. Waylen, claiming to have been made from the famous Glaston- 

 bury thorn, and now lacquered with a strong varnish : it holds two 

 quarts, but is marked off into half-pint measures by means of eight 

 projecting pegs, one above another, in the inside of the cup. The 

 exterior is richly carved, and on the lid is a representation of " The 

 Nativity." 



On leaving the Town Hall the Members proceeded first to St. 

 John's Church, where the Rector (Rev. J. Hart Burges, D.D.) read 

 a brief sketch of its architectural features. He claimed that it was, 

 in many respects — to the architectural antiquary — one of the most 

 interesting Churches in the country. " It was originally a cruciform 

 edifice, with lofty central tower, and lantern over the intersection, 

 the nave being destitute of side aisles. The tower, the transepts, 

 and the vaulted chancel are the oldest portions of the Church, and 



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