By the Rev. Precentor Lear, 



239 



parish takes its name from its ancient lords, the Bishops of Win- 

 chester, who were patrons of the living and lords of the manor, 

 situate in the Hundred of Downton, till the Reformation. It then 

 passed into the hands of the present owners, the Earls of Pembroke. 

 William of Wykeham, when Bishop of Winchester, in 1379, ap- 

 pointed John of Wykeham to this rectory. There is a small brass 

 on the floor of the chancel to his memory. The communion plate, 

 which is good for its date, 1663, was given by John Earle, rector 

 of Bishopston, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury. The good John 

 Earle was rector during the Commonwealth. When he was ejected, 

 Randolph Caldecott, a Puritan pastor, took possession of the living. 

 Soon after the Restoration, John Earle was made successively 

 Bishop of Worcester and Salisbury ; and not long after this, in 

 1671, Randolph Caldecott had become a Conformist, and was 

 rightly inducted to the living. Only one remark in conclusion; 

 My learned friends will see that their love of archaeology has 

 brought them to a sequestered and retired valle) 1, removed now, as 

 it always was, from the gaze of many men. Yet here is found a 

 church, the beauty and ornamentation and richness of which would 

 do honour to many a city. The names of the noble founders have 

 passed away ; but the lessons they have taught us by this and 

 other such buildings still remain : to give the best we have to Him 

 " who seeth not as man seeth ; " and to " love the place where His 

 honour dwelleth." 



