228 JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
aisles of the mother church of St. Andrew in the evenings, addressed 
to his loving and beloved auditors of the town of Plymouth, the 
learned and fervent persuasions of Aaron Wilson, Doctor of Divinity, 
Archdeacon of Exeter, and Vicar of Plymouth, were not wanting 
in the mornings. 
The two pastors were close friends and fellow-workers in full 
sympathy with each other, and regarded with veneration and re- 
spect by their hearers. To us the spectacle of the evening lecture 
in St. Andrew's Church would appear strange ; each hearer in those 
days brought his own candle or lamp, and fixed it in some part of 
his pew most convenient to himself, and the effect of the dimly- 
lighted church must have been picturesque. First oil lamps, and 
later still the gas of our day, have abolished the taper or candle ; 
but within living memory the primitive mode of lighting is remem- 
bered in some of our Cornish towns, and I have seen the lantern, 
which was carried to and from church, and fixed on the seat during 
services, cherished as a relic. 
The efforts for building the new church were successful, and gifts 
flowed in. In 1634 the Coney Yard, then Gayer's Yard, was 
given and dedicated by John Hele of Wembury, Esquire. The 
Coney Yard, or Gayer's Yard, was not, however, the site finally 
decided upon; for it was situated. Mr. Worth has ascertained, in 
the south part of the town. The actual site was given by William 
Warren, vintner, of Plymouth. Mr. Worth has found among the 
Corporation records the deed, dated 21st August, 1665, by which 
Warren conveys to the Mayor and Commonalty a close, piece or 
parcel of land, containing by estimation one acre, near adjoining to 
a place called " Hampton Shute," whereon Charles Church was 
built. The following day the Mayor and Commonalty grant by 
deed to William Warren and the heirs of his body lawfully 
begotten in consideration of his gift a piece of land for burial, 
eight feet from east to west and six feet from north to south, 
next "adjoining to the east and north walls of the place now com- 
monly called the chancel in Charles Church," and also a seat four- 
teen feet six inches from east to west, and three feet six inches 
from north to south, " to hear divine service and the word of God 
preached." As soon as the Act was obtained, in 1640, private 
subscriptions must have been made, and the building commenced. 
The troubles of the civil war and the struggle between the King 
and Parliament were fast approaching, but the builders went on, 
