David A. H. Cleggett investigates the changes to the furnishngs of the quire over the 18th century. Featured in The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 1992-1993.

Throughout the many centuries of their silent witness to the truths of the eternal Gospel the ancient churches of this, and every land, have been altered, adapted, and often rebuilt because the faith which they shelter is a living one. If it were not so the church and churches would long since have become fossils.

Changes of fashion are grasped with enthusiasm in our homes but when it comes to reordering a church or amending its liturgy, in anyway whatever, the heavens fall in. In this regard the dean and chapter of Rochester, as elsewhere, have often been criticised for what they have or have not done. On the whole every chapter has discharged its responsibility for the fabric and good order of the churches in their care, for the time being, with varying degrees of sensitivity.

At Rochester the great age of the building has, for two centuries and more, occupied a considerable proportion of the chapter's time and energy. Rochester, it should be remembered, has never been numbered among the wealthiest foundations but with the resources available to them the chapter has usually, but not always, as we shall see, endeavoured to order the church to the best of their ability.

During the past year the decorators have been in. The plaster ceiling of the central crossing has been newly painted and considerable work has been undertaken in the Choir. In this paper the state of the Choir in the eighteenth century and its redecoration during the nineteenth will be considered.

After the arrival of a new dean in earlier times an inventory was taken of all the cathedral's fixtures. One such was ordered in December, 1725 the year following Nicholas Claget's¹ preferment to the deanery. N.B. The dean never spelt his name Claggett as has been put up on the list of priors and deans on the north wall of the presbytery.

The following extract from the Inventory² sets out the state of the choir at that time. Readers may judge for themselves if they would prefer the choir to be as it was then or as it is now.

In the Choir

Impris One hanging Brass Candlestick with ffour and Twenty Branches and a Chain consisting of Six Iron links painted.

Item One standing Brass Eagle Desk furnished with Basketts Bible³ best paper printed Annon 1717.

Item Two large Old Bibles used at early Morning Prayers.

Item Twelve Common Prayer Books for the Dean & Prebendaries & Minor Canons some of which are very much decaved.

Item Books for the Choristers all worn and Four Books viz Counter Tenor, Tenor, Bass, Treble decayed and one large Service Book for Mr. Dean & a small Gilt Anthems Book.

Item Treble, Counter Tenor, Tenor, Bass Cantoris, Three Books for the Organ.

Item Six short Folios called Tomkins.

Item Six Cushions with purple Cloth for the Dean & Prebendaries and Two Purple Cloth falls with silk fringe, and two purple velvet valours over the Stalls of the Dean & Vice Dean, and Two Bays Curtains and Two Iron Curtainrods.

Item Sixteen Cushions to Sett out for the Seats of the Dean & Prebendaries.

Item Fifteen Cushions of purple Bays in the Mayor & Aldermen & Common Councillmens Seats with five falls of the same with Silk Fringe. Fifteen Cushions ditto in the womens pews and one Great Cushion in the Archdeacons Seat.

Item In the Bishops Seat one purple velvet Cushion with a velvet fall & Silk Fringe and a Sitting Cushion of purple Bays.⁴

Item Twenty forms and apaire of purple Cloth on the Litany Desk with a Silk fringe.

Item Eight low Forms with old Matts nailed on them to Kneel on & one small one at the Litany Desk.

Item Tapistry hangings in the Choir formerly over the Altar.

Item A picture of the Inside of a Dutch Church the Gift of Dr. Couy.

Within the altar Rails

Item Upon the Table One Carpet of breaths of Crimson velvet and purple Silk boraded with Gold & Silver, Two Cushions oneside being of the said purple silk lined with red Silk, Two Common Prayer Books the Gift of Dean Ullock⁵ printed anno 1700 and a Bible & Common Prayer Book both bound with red velvet.

Item A Sett of Black Bays Coverings for the Altar.

Item An Old purple velvet Covering for the Altar.

Item Five Hassocks.

The inventory continues with details of the plate, library and other fixtures and fittings. Copes are not mentioned anywhere in the inventory which placed the chapter in breach of the canon requiring the wearing of copes during celebrations of the liturgy in cathedral and collegiate churches.

We may be thankful that the work of the Cambridge Camden Society, later the Ecclesiological Society, and the re-ordering of churches in the wake of, not as a part of, the Oxford Movement, has changed the appearance of almost every building of the national church from the dowdiness described above to that which we see everywhere today.

Remnants of the mediaeval furnishings survive in the Choir. Beneath the seats of the stalls may be seen the ancient bench dating from 1227. Parts of the east side of the pulpitum are also ancient. Before 1875 the return stalls were surmounted with canopies and one would have thought such ancient woodwork would be respected. It certainly was by Sir Gilbert Scott,⁶ who was restoring the cathedral at the time, but the chapter had other ideas. Mr. James Irvine,⁷ Scott's clerk of works, made a sketch of the ancient red and green painting on the canopies over the open arcade but could not record it properly because 'Clayton & Bells man would not hear of it (saving the wood) or stay his work of destruction⁸'. Mr. Irvine also recorded the destruction of the ancient canopy over the dean's stall which, as the Kent Archaeological society observed, had 'surmounted the Stall of the Mediaeval Bishops of Rochester and has so remained for 600 years, or more⁹’. The panel from the back of the stall, which Sir Gilbert wished to retain in situ but which the chapter ordered removed, has been placed under glass in the south choir transept.¹⁰

Not many years later an outrageous proposal by dean Hole was fortunately defeated by the united opposition of the chapter. Dean Scott¹¹ died on 2nd December, 1887 and was succeeded by Reynolds Hole.¹² By the summer of 1889 the cathedral architect, J. L. Pearson,¹³ had produced a design for dean Hole which the latter expected to become the memorial to dean Scott. Pearson's design was for, in dean Hole's words, 'substituting an open Screen of Stone for the block of masonry, &c., which now divides the nave from the choir in our cathedral, and for the removal of the organ’¹⁴ into a chamber to be built for it in the south choir aisle. This work would have also required the south wall oft he choir to have been broken through. Dean Hole, in a letter written to the Society of Antiquaries on St. John Baptist's day 1889, stated how 'disappointed' he was 'to write that Mr. Pearsons design' . .. 'has been rejected by a majority of the Chapter.’¹⁵

Had this work proceeded one of the most ancient screens in the country would have been destroyed and Rochester would have had inflicted on it a screen in the manner of the abomination of desolations which presently separates the nave from the choir in the cathedral church of Durham.

When each reader enters the cathedral he will at once be conscious that it is much more beautifully ordered than was the case in 1725 and they will also see that in this century the dean and chapter have ever striven to enhance the cathedral as a place of prayer and praise but not at the expense of the building.

I am much obliged to the dean and chapter for their permission to quote so extensively from their archives.

David A. H. Cleggett
All Souls' Day, 1992

David Cleggett is historical adviser to the Leeds Castle Foundation. He has been a member of the cathedral congregation since 1959, and is a member of the editorial board of the Friends Report, to which he has contributed a number of articles. He also contributes to the journal of the Virginia Historical Society, of which he is a member. He is a retired banker.

Footnotes

1 Claget, Nicholas, DD., preferred to the deanery of Rochester 1st February, 1724 (Le Neve, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541-1857, p.56), nominated bishop of St. David's, 1732, translated to Exeter in 1742, Claget, a member of an old Kentish family spelling its name Clagett, Claggett, Cleggett, etc., died 1747 and is buried in St. Margaret's church, Westminster.

2 The inventory quoted in this paper is among the archives of the dean and chapter in the County Archives branch office at Strood. It is entitled;

An Inventory of all the goods belonging to the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary of Rochester taken this thirteenth day of December Anno Dni 1725 and exhibited to the Rev. Mr. John Robinson (i) One of the Prebendaries and Treasurer of the said Cathedral Church by the Reverend Nicolas Claget Doctor in Divinity Dean of the said Cathedral Church. (DR/ Emf1 f7/1,2).

(i) Robinson, John, MA, presented to the 2nd prebendal stall by the 8th January, 1713/ 14, instituted by the bishop same date, installed 11th January. Died 17th April, 1754 having held his stall for forty years. Buried at Copford, Essex. (Le Neve p.63).

3 Baskett, John, (d. 1742), king's printer. His 1717, two volume, edition of the Bible is work of great typographical beauty but was carelessly printed.

4 The bishop's throne is still furnished with purple cushions.

5 Ullock, Henry, DD, presented to the deanery by the king and queen 4th April 1689, instituted by the bishop 8th April, installed 9th April. Died 20th June, 1706 and buried at Leybourne where his monument may be seen. (Le Neve p.56).

6 Scott, Sir George Gilbert (1811-1878), architect. Among his secular commissions the most famous is the Foreign Office. There are few cathedrals or major churches in the land which he did not work in.

7 Irvine, James Thomas. Between 1874-1894 Irvine was constantly at the cathedral supervising the progress of work. In the chapter archives (DRc/Emf 77/134) are the rough drawings Mr. Irvine made of all parts of the cathedral.

8 DRc/Emf 77/13.

9 DRc/Emf 64/54.

10 DRc/Emf 77/73.

11 Scott, Robert (1811-1887), lexicographer, Master of Balliol from 1854-1870. His Greek-English lexicon was a noted work occupying him constantly from 1836 until his death. Scott was a prebendary of Exeter from 1845-1866. Preferred to the deanery of Rochester, 1870.

12 Hole, Samuel Reynolds (1819-1904), vicar of Caunton, Nottinghamshire 1850-1887, prebendary of Lincoln 1875-1887, preferred to the deanery of Rochester 10th December, 1887. A noted Tractarian. Dean Hole was a great gardener and a founder of the National, later Royal, Rose Society.

13 Pearson, John Loughborough (1817-1897), architect. His magnum opus is Truro cathedral. One of the finest architects of the 19th century revival in gothic architecture. His work at Rochester included the west side of Choir screen and the underpining of the west front. Examples of his fine work may be seen in many places.
An example of his rural work is the exquisite church at South Dalton in Yorkshire.

14 DRc/Emf 64/5/5.

15 Drc/Emf 64/5/5.

Featured in The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report 1992-1993.

Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Reports

The Friends of Rochester Cathedral were founded to help finance the maintenance of the fabric and grounds. The Friends’ annual reports have become a trove of articles on the fabric and history of the cathedral.

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