the world. In 1760, Dr. Thomas, to whom he was chaplain, gave him the prebend of Milton Ecclesia, in the cathedral of Lincoln: in 1763, he was presented by Dr. Greene, Dean of Salisbury, to the vicarage of Godalming; and in 1769, by Viscount Middleton, to the rectory of Peperharrow. In 1767, he was elected F. R. S. and, in 1770, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He expressly forbade his family to erect any monument for him: but such was the esteem in which he was held by his parishioners, that some of the principal of them erected a tablet (above mentioned) to his memory in the church; and some private friends placed the head-stone and inscription in the churchyard. He married Catharine, daughter of Mr. Peacock of Huntingdon, by whom he had three sons and six daughters. She survived him: and for her benefit the materials which he had collected for a History of Surrey were arranged for the press (with great additions) by William Bray, Esq. of Shire.

The church also contains an inscription, in gold letters, "to the memory of Nathaniel Godbold, Esq. inventor and proprietor of that excellent medicine, the Vegetable Balsam, for the cure of consumptions and asthmas. He departed this life the 17th day of December, 1799, aged 69 years."

At PEPERHARROW, east of Godalming, is Peperharrow Park, the magnificent seat of Viscount Middleton. It stands on a little eminence, sloping down to the Wey, which intersects the finely wooded park in its way from Farnham to Godalming. Here are many pictures by the first masters; with several original portraits; among which are, the first Lord Middleton, two members of the Brodrick family, the Emperor

184

Charles V. (by Titian,) Bishop Burnet, &c. The house was begun by the late Lord Middleton, but completed by the present nobleman.

Northward of the last mentioned place, is a neat seat called Puttenham Priory, standing in a parish of the

same name.

HASLEMERE, on the skirts of the county, where it adjoins Sussex, is a borough town, which has sent two members to Parliament from time immemorial. It has also a market on Wednesdays, and a yearly fair, granted by Richard II. to be held on the eve and of the day festival of the Holy Rood."

Haslemere being only a chapelry to Godalming, its place of public worship is a Chapel, which is a small building at the north end of the town, with a small square tower and five bells. The east window has some painted glass: the subjects of which are, St. Paul's Vision, with the words, Saul, Saul, quid perscqueris me?—Adam and Eve at the Forbidden Tree; the Resurrection; the Ark; the Virgin, Child, and Joseph at Bethlehem; and the four Evangelists.

The Church of FRENSIAM is remarkable as containing in its vestry, a huge copper cauldron, which has excited the disquisitions of even learned antiquaries, and respecting the origin of which there have been great differences of opinion. Some have maintained that it must have been brought here from Waverley Abbey (which we shall presently notice) at the Dissolution; but Salmon replies, that "the great cauldron which lay in the vestry beyond the memory of man, was no more brought thither from Waverley, than, as report any goes, by the fairies. It need not raise wonder for what use it was, there having been many in

man's

England, till very lately, to be seen; as well as very large spits, which were given for the entertainment of the parish at the weddings of poor maids: so in some places a sum of money was charged on lands for them, and a house for them to dwell in a year after marriage. If these utensils of hospitality, which drew the neighbourhood to contribute upon so laudable an occasion, had committed treason as the property of a convent, they had not been too heavy to be carried off."* Perhaps the fact of a stone coffin, now in the porch of the same church, having been really brought from Waverley, occasioned the idea of a similar appropriation to the monks of the mighty cauldron.

Frensham Great Pond is a large piece of water, three miles in circumference, in the same parish. During the winter, it is greatly frequented by wild-fowl.

The remains of the Abbey of Waverley, (which lie to the right, approaching Farnham,) Mr. Frederic Shoberl remarked to be " overgrown with venerable ivy, extending in detached portions over a surface of three or four acres. The elegance with which the buildings were finished, renders it a matter of regret that the greater part of them should have been pulled down for the materials, by the Coldhams and Mr. Child, while proprietors of the estate, The ruins of the great church prove that it must have been a spacious and magnificent structure: at present only part of the south aisle remains, with the corner-stone of the chancel, or tower. In the middle of the nave is a stone coffin, with black and yellow tesseræ, and farther eastward another, with a cross fleuri. Part of the refectory, dormitory, and cloisters, are also standing, as was in the last century, * Salmon's Antiq, of Surrey,

a large handsome chapel, and the hall, with a range of low slender pillars in the middle. In the memory of persons yet living, the windows contained a considerable quantity of painted glass, which has been gradually destroyed, and suffered to go to decay. Stone coffins and other sepulchral remains have frequently been dug up near the ruins; and in 1731 were found, in a stone loculus, two leaden dishes soldered together, containing a human heart well preserved in pickle, supposed to be that of Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester, which, on his decease at Farnham, in 1238, was buried here."

The existing Waverley Abbey is a modern seat near these ruins, the residence of John Thompson, Esq. It has a centre, ornamented with pilasters of the Ionic order and wings; and there is a double flight of steps to the principal entrance.

66

The old monastic foundation, in a charming situation on the banks of the Wey, the writer just quoted informs us, was the first Cistercian convent in England. It was founded in 1128, by William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester; and first inhabited by an abbot and 12 monks, from a foreign house, called Eleemosyna. The founder, by his charter, granted them all the land of Waverley for ever, with its appurtenances: also two acres of meadow at Helestede, (Elstead,) with free pannage for their hogs in the woods of Farnham: likewise wood for their house, both for fuel and other necessary uses. These and other benefactions were confirmed by the King, and by the bull of Pope Eugene III., which farther exempted them from the payment of tithes, and declared all such excommunicated as should molest, or unjustly take any thing from them.

From the Annals of Waverley* it appears, that, at one time, about the end of the twelfth century, there were in this abbey 70 monks, and 120 converts. From its low situation, it was several times exposed to violent inundations. In 1203, so great a famine prevailed in this part of England, that the monks were forced to repair to other religious houses for subsistence; but in the same year William de Bradwater began the foundation of the new church. In 1210, King John raised so severe a persecution against the monks of the Cistercian order, that the abbot of this house was 'obliged to withdraw secretly by night, the religious were dispersed, and the convent was plundered and left desolate. In 1278, the new church was finished, and consecrated by Nicholas de Ely, Bishop of Winchester, who treated most munificently all who resorted thither, and was, in 1280, interred in that edifice. The annals terminate with the year 1292. At the Dissolution, the clear annual revenues of this establishment were estimated at £174 8s. 3d. and, in 28 Henry VIII., the site of the abbey and all its possessions were granted to Sir William Fitzwilliam, treasurer of the household, and soon afterwards created Earl of Southampton. The estate has since passed through many hands, and was purchased by the present proprietor of the late Sir Charles Rich, Bart. who is said to have expended £4000 in improvements at this place."

Moor Park, contiguous to Waverley, was originally the seat of that celebrated statesman, Sir William Temple; and his secretary, Swift, here for some time resided, and here contracted his well-known attachment to Stella

* Gale's Ilist. Angl. Scrip. Vol. II.