Rood Screen and Loft in Llanwnog Church: East Side.

(Photograph by Mr. J. Owen.)

state leads one to feel regret that those who were responsible for its preservation in time past should have so far forsaken their trust as to have allowed much of the very beautiful detail that adorned it to be removed, leaving what was once rich and varied in outline now little else than skeleton framing. Owing, in all probability, to a constructional defect in the south wall of the nave, the effect of the screen on the west front is somewhat marred by a deflection in the longitudinal beam.

"By comparing the details of Llanwnog Screen with those of the Newtown Screen, it will at once be observed what a strong resemblance they bear to each other. The treatment of the foliage and enriched portions generally is unquestionably the work of the same craftsman, and too much cannot be said in praise of the singularly conscientious style in which the work has been executed; the thoroughgoing crispness and vitality given to multitudinous complex geometric forms, combined with perfectly harmonious treatment, render these screens of paramount excellence. What, for instance, can excel the cornices from the Newtown Screen, or the openwork ornament which originally must have crowned the rood-loft? The delicacy with which they are carved is no less striking than the skill in which the requisite light and shade are maintained."

If, however, the treatment of the foliage and enriched portions generally is unquestionably the work of the same craftsman as the Newtown Screen, as Mr. Walker mentions, then the presence here of the Tudor flower and the rose, and the perpendicular openings on the eastern face of this loft, show conclusively that the Newtown Screen could not be of the early date to which he assigns it. The width of the rood-loft is six, not seven, feet, and the flooring is altogether gone, and shows the tracery and ribs of the vaulted panelling beneath. The bosses at the intersections of this panelling are formed, some of foliage and some of letters, most of which appear to be repetitions of I.H.S.; M. (? Maria); and W.

Two semi-dragons are carved on the lowest band of tracery, one holding in its mouth the stem of a vine branch, the other bending its head on its breast. The panels of the undervaulting are in two patterns: the

6TH SER., VOL. III.

8

upper consisting of a number of foliated circles, the lower of a network of vesicas relieved with inner cusps.

NEWTOWN.

This rood-loft stood in the old church until the church was taken down in 1856, and it extended across both the nave and the aisle. The Terrier of 1791 describes it as the "partition between the church and chancel, faced with various old carved work in wood, painted and guilt (sic), said to have been brought from the Monastery of Abbey Cwmhir, in Radnorshire, at its dissolution."

The Rev. John Parker, c. 1830, made some beautiful drawings of its exquisite details, but unfortunately did not make a sketch of the whole as it then stoodas he did in so many other cases-so that we cannot tell exactly what it looked like. But, happily, Mr. W. Basil Jones' saw it in position, and thus described it in the Archæologia Cambrensis, 1854, 2nd Ser., vol. v. :

"This is an extremely elaborate specimen of its class, rich with carving and with gold and colour. It runs across both nave and aisle, and is divided into two compartments by one of the wooden piers. The projecting arched canopy, which formed the rood-loft, is not so divided, but forms a single piece. It is now set upright on the top of the screen, and the open parapet, which originally surmounted it, is now fixed behind and concealed by it. The whole is of the Latest Perpendicular, but bears no marks of cinquecento."

From this it is evident that the loft had been previously tampered with, and its form altered; and when it was removed from the old to the new church, further mutilation took place. The lower portion below the open arcade has disappeared altogether; and in order to fit it in as a reredos and sort of dado on the three walls of the small apsidal chancel in the new church, the supporting pillars were shortened, so that it should not interfere with the east window, and the

1 Afterwards Bishop of St. David's, 1874-1897.

central opening widened, so as to enclose the Holy Table. The record of its removal was inscribed on a brass plate attached to it in its new position :-"This screen was removed from the old Parish Church, and restored, and put up in its present form, at the expense and under the direction of the Rev. J. P. Drew, of Milford, by the skill and labour of John Jones, Carver, Parker's Lane, in the year of our Lord, 1856. John Edwards, M.A., Rector; J. P. Drew, W. A. Cooper, Churchwardens."

In this position it stood in 1870,

when Mr. David Walker, Architect, of Liverpool, made a careful drawing and description of it for the Montgomeryshire Collections of that year :

"The length of the screen, as now fixed, is 32 ft. 4 ins., being about ten feet less than when in its original position across the nave (and aisle) of the old church. The moulded supports under the lower cornice have also been reduced almost four feet in height. The upper portions remain unaltered. The carving and panels are in an excellent state of preservation;

1 Nothing is now known of this plate.

and, although dark with age, still bear the tool-marks as fresh as when cut. The enriched and interlaced cornices have traces of colour-vermilion and gold-with which it was at one time decorated, the effect of which, when standing as a rood, must have been considerably heightened by the light through the perforations of the exceedingly rich and varied panelling. The cornices are carved in a remarkably free and characteristic manner; the top cornice represents a conventional treatment of the leek, the middle cornice the vine, and the lower entwined palm leaves; the execution of the work is such that deep relief is obtained, whilst the tendrils and stems are delicate and well under-cut. The variety of the panels is very curious, some of the designs being particularly quaint and very few alike; the hand of the artist is apparent in every line, and it is gratifying to find that so excellent and interesting a monumental remain has escaped mutilation; the date of the work is evidently that of the first half of the fourteenth century."1

This date differs by more than a hundred years from that of Mr. Basil Jones, and, of course, involves a much earlier style; but we ourselves, judging from some features of the design, and from evidence supplied by comparison with Llanwnog, think that Mr. Basil Jones was right; and we rather wonder at Mr. Walker's satisfaction with the non-mutilation-unless, of course, he meant it by contrast with what might have been.

When, in 1875, the small apse was, in its turn, taken down to make way for the present chancel, the roodloft was once more removed, and this time the uprights disappeared; and it has not been replaced. It now lies in the cellars at the rectory, where all that can be said for it is that it is in safe keeping from wind and weather. Mr. Fishbourne, when rector, had some hope of replacing what was missing, and putting it up again in the church; and a meeting of the parishioners was held to consider the matter, when it was decided to obtain the opinion of Mr. Kempson, Architect, of Llandaff and Hereford, the designer of the beautiful new reredos at Berriew. Mr. Fishbourne, however, was himself removed soon afterwards to Gresford, and the

1 Mont. Coll., 1870, vol. iii, p. 212.