St. Giles's Church, STOKE-POGIS, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. VICAR, THE REV. ARTHUR BOLD. THE Parish of Stoke-Pogis, which is in the Diocese of Lincoln, and Deanery of Burnham, is situated in the Hundred of Stoke, about two miles north-north-east from Slough. The Church is a small structure, in the Pointed style of architecture, having a wooden spire: the accompanying Plate gives a north-east view of it, shewing the porch; and, in the back-ground, the monument erected by Mr. Penn in commemoration of the poet Gray. In the north wall of the chancel of this Church, under a rudely executed arch, ornamented with pinnacles and foliage, is an ancient tomb, supposed to have been erected in memory of Sir John Molyns, Knight Banneret, and Treasurer of the Chamber to King Edward III. : he had obtained the Manor of Stoke by marriage with Egidia, the grand-daughter and heiress of Robert, Pogis. Near the Altar, on the north side, are the engraved brass figures of Sir William Molyns, Knight, and Margaret his Lady. The knight is represented in a pointed helmet, with sword and dagger, and has a lion at his feet; it appears, from the inscription, that he died on the 8th of June, 1425. Lady Margaret is habited in a boddice, mantle, and veil. On the south side of the altar is a brass figure of a lady in a shroud, in commemoration of Eleanor, daughter and heiress of William, Lord Molyns, slain at the celebrated siege of Orleans, in 1429, son of the above Sir William; and wife of Robert, Lord Hungerford, who being an active adherent to Henry VI., was taken prisoner at the battle of Hexham, and shortly afterwards beheaded at Newcastle: she was subsequently married to Sir Oliver Manyngham, Knt. George, third Lord Hastings, who attended Henry VIII. at the sieges of Therouenne and Tournay, and who died in 1544, after being created Earl of Huntingdon, was also buried here, but there is no monument to his memory. The Font is a large plain vessel, supported by a shaft with niches. Sir Edward Hastings, Baron Loughborough, erected the Chapel which adjoins this church, as a place of interment for his family, and directed by his will that tombs should be raised for such of his relations as had been buried here, and that on his own tomb should be placed his effigies in copper, gilt. There are not, however, any sepulchral memorials in this place for the family of Hastings, so that either the testator's injunctions were not complied with, or the monuments must have been removed. In the east window is a figure of Lord Loughborough, in painted glass; he is represented kneeling at a desk, on which is an open book, and as habited in armour, with a surcoat, and the George suspended at his breast; his surcoat is charged with the arms of the Hastings' family and their alliances; and on each side of his head is a shield, one inscribed with the initials E. H., and the other charged with his crest, a buffalo's head erased, sab. gorged with a ducal coronet, and armed, or; a mullet for difference. This Chapel contains a monument for Dr. Gregory Hascard, Dean of Windsor, who died in 1708; he was one of the most celebrated preachers of his time. The Church-yard was the scene of the well-known ELEGY by Gray; the following fine stanza, expressive of the thoughts arising from contemplation in this spot, is among those, with which, as Mr. Mason has recorded, that exquisite poem was originally intended to conclude; before the happy ideas of the "hoary-headed swain," and his artless narrative, had suggested themselves to the accomplished Lyrist. "Hark! how the sacred calm, that breathes around, Bids every fierce, tumultuous passion cease: A grateful earnest of eternal peace." The remains of Gray, in pursuance of his particular directions, were interred in a vault near the chancel-door, where those of his aunt and beloved mother had previously been deposited: the following inscription on the tombstone, or at least the latter part of it, was written by the Poet. "In the vault beneath are deposited, in hope of a joyful resurrection, the remains of Mary Antrobus. She died, unmarried, Nov. v. MDCCXLIX. Aged LXVI. In the same pious confidence, beside her friend and sister, here sleep the remains of Dorothy Gray, widow, the careful tender Mother of many children, one of whom alone had the misfortune to survive her. She died, March xI. MDCCLIII. Aged LXVII." John Penn, Esq., the present possessor of the Manor of Stoke-Pogis, feeling that some tribute was due to the memory of Gray, the place of his sepulture even being undistinguished by any memorial, caused a classic monument to be erected to the Poet's honour in 1799, and under the direction of the late James Wyatt, Esq., in a lawn opposite to his mansion, and nearly adjacent to the road side. This monument, as mentioned above, is shewn in the Plate. This Parish is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at 71. 178.; Lord Francis Osborn, brother to the Duke of Leeds, is the patron. The vicar is usually also the master of an hospital, which was originally founded near the Church-yard in 1557, by the above-named Lord Loughborough, for a chantry-priest and four beadsmen; after the Reformation, it was appropriated to the support of a master and poor brethren; and, in 1765, the edifice was rebuilt in a more convenient situation by the late Mr. Penn. Lend n, Pub. Sept. 1/24 by J.P.Neale 16, Bennett St Blackfriars Read & J.Le Keux. Ash near Farnham, Surry |