“Tower of St. John’s Church” (1878) from “The Graphic”

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Tower of St. John’s Church

The Graphic (17 August 1878): 77.

Source: Hathi Digital Library Trust web version of a copy in the University of Minnesota library of “Bristol Illustrated” in The Graphic of 14 September 1878, p. 77

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“The Church of St. John the Baptist belongs to the fifteenth century. The belfry tower and spire are erected over the northern gateway of the old walled city, and having formed part of the line of the inner wall, the church has no transept, or projecting porch, being a simple oblong, pierced by eight Perpendicular windows on each side. It has also no east nor west window. The roof, of open timber work, is of fifteenth- century construction. The richly-carved communion table is, no doubt, identical with the one charged in the accounts under A.D. 1635. The crypt is of more interest than the church, and is a characteristically good specimen of such a substructure. It is lighted by a range of low windows on the north side, where is also a door from the street. It has a groined vault, the mouldings of which spring from clustered mural columns. The apex of the roof is eleven feet from the floor. The date of the crypt seems architecturally to correspond with the super- structure. It formerly served as a chapel for a religious guild, which was established in 1465 in honour of the Holy Rood, or St. John the Baptist and St. Martin.” [Continued below]

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Commentary from The Graphic continued

The Proctors’ Book among the Vestry archives contains the names of the originators of the Guild with the ordinances of the foundation. This book is of unusual interest. It begins in 1472. The Proctors, who were wealthy merchants, candidly confess at the outset that they do not understand “the cunning of writing," and therefore engage a professional scribe at the payment of a shilling a year to keep the accounts. Sir John Musty, the Vicar of St. John's in 1535, received for a “whole year's wages” only 6l., “Nicholas, our clerke,” receiving 2l. The wages of a mason at that lime were 8d. a day, or 10l. 8s. a year, more than Sir John and his clerk together received for their year's work, and after the Reformation even this 6l. was reduced to 5l. The weather-beaten statues on either side of St. John’s Gate are accounted to represent Brennus and Belinus, the legendary founders of Bristol. As far back as A. D. 1366 the name of Bristol was derived from Brunnus. King Henry VII. was met at this gate - ad portam sancti Johanni — by a pageant of “many mayden children, richly besene with girdells, beads, and ouches wher Justicia had the wordes that hereafter ensueth.” [70]

Bibliography

“Bristol Illustrated.” The Graphic (20 July 1878): 60-77. Internet Archive online version of a copy in the University of Illinois Library. Web. 16 August 2018.

Last modified 16 August 2018