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| Borbach Chantry, West Dean | .................................... |
Few, probably, of those who pass through Dean by road or rail are aware that, hidden in the woods a few hundred yards north of the railway station and of the modern ivy-clad church, is a 14th century building, most interesting both in itself and also because of its contents. This is a Chantry Chapel built and endowed by one Robert de Borbach in 1333. The record of its endowment, still preserved in the episcopal register at Salisbury, recites the gift by the said Robert to Sir Edward de Worthy, priest, of a yearly rent charge of a hundred shillings, the said priest to daily intercede in the Chantry "for the souls of the lord Edward, late King of England (Edward I.), grandfather of our present, King (Edward III.), and for the souls of Gilbert de Clare, late Earl of Gloucester and Hereford, and Joan his wife, John de Ingham and Marjorie his wife, and for the good estate of the venerable father the Lord Robert de Wyvyle, Bishop of Salisbury, Oliver de Ingham, Robert le Boor, and of me, Robert de Borbach, and for our souls, when we shall have departed this life, and for the souls of all the faithful dead."
In order that the Chantry priest might be the better furnished for the discharge of his office "as well in ornaments as in other utensils" the donor conferred upon the Chantry and its chaplains the following articles :- "Three suitable vestments, one missal, one chalice, one breviary, one coffer, one brass five-gallon jar, one washing basin and ewer, and one brass jug," all of which the chaplain, who received them at his induction to the Chantry, was bound at his peril to keep and repair and hand down at his death.
Among the witnesses to the deed were Sir John Grymstede and Robert Bouersham, the latter name being probably the contemporary way of spelling Beauchamp, a name still found in the parish. The names of nine chaplains are extant, covering almost a century after the foundation of the Chantry. There appears to be no record of the dissolution of the Chantry. It would be interesting to know what became of the various articles given by Robert de Borbach for the use of the priest - vestments, missal and breviary would doubtless in the course of years be worn out and disappear, but the brass jar and jug and the chalice might have been expected to survive. A chalice of so early a date would now be almost priceless, but, alas, it has been lost, and there is little hope of its recovery. The existing chalice belongs to a date more than 200 years later, the hall mark showing the date to be 1581-2.
The founder's tomb, beneath a cinquefoiled ogee recess on the south wall of the Chantry, contain no effigy or inscription.
Previous to 1868 the Chantry formed part of the parish church, with which it was connected by two semi-circular arches of brick upon square piers of the same material. This church was demolished in the year above-mentioned, and the present ivy-clad church, which is so familiar an object to all who pass through Dean, substituted for it. So far as is known, no photograph or picture of the old parish church has been preserved, but the brief notice of it in Hoare's "History of Modern Wilts" as a "poor building" is supported by a description given of it by a former Rector, the Rev. G. S. Master, in his monograph, "Collections from a History of West Dean." It had few features of interest, and its furniture and fittings were of the meanest kind. Most of what was of any architectural or archaeological interest was transferred either to the new church or to the Chantry. In the former will be found a slender pillar in the Early English style now used as a lectern, two piscenae, one of Early English date and the other of the Decorated period, and a few original encaustic tiles of curious pattern; to the latter were removed some of the memorials to members of the Evelyn family which form so remarkable, if not unique, a collection of 17th century monuments.
At the time of the building of the new church, viz., the whole Chantry was put into substantial repair. A small porch added at the cost of Mr. W.T.Evelyn Wotton Park, Surrey.
In 1927 further repairs to the Chantry were undertaken at a cost of about £120; Mr. John Evelyn, the present head of the family, contributing thereto. The earliest of the Evelyn monuments, dated 1627, is a large and costly memorial of alabaster and marble to that John Evelyn who about the beginning of the 17th century purchased the Manor of West Dean and built for himself the large mansion house, which for rather more than 200 years stood just west of the old parish church and Chantry. Mr. Evelyn and his wife, who died two years before him, are represented kneeling face to face at a fald stool beneath a double semi-circular arcade. The figures are painted, and provide a most interesting example of the dress of the period. He is clad in a civilian's gown with hanging braided sleeves, and has a ruff round his neck; she has a long flowing dress, with tight sleeves, gauntlets and ruff, and her hair plaited in a plain band upon her forehead is covered with a long and lace-edged veil. At the base, in relief, are shown the eleven members of their family, three sons and eight daughters, all kneeling and dressed similarly to their parents. Local tradition says that these eleven children were all blind, but this appears to have no better foundation in fact than that the eyes of the parents are painted while the children's eyes are not. The monument is surmounted by a shield bearing the Evelyn arms.
Built into the south wall, having previously occupied a similar position in the destroyed chancel, is a draped niche in alabaster containing a bust of pure white marble of a young lady with short curly hair, a veil thrown over her head, rich lace bodice, necklace, ear-rings and pendant, amulet, the subject of the memorial being Elizabeth Tirell, daughter-in-law of John Evelyn, who died in child-birth 1629. Another memorial, in quite different style, is that of George Evelyn, the younger, who died, six years of age, in 1641. This takes the form of a brass showing the figure of the boy with flowing hair, long dress with pudding sleeves, a vandyked collar and cuffs, and short square tippet.
The largest, and in some ways the most interesting of the Evelyn monuments, is a heavy and somewhat pretentious erection in grey and black marble to the memory of Robert Pierrpont, Earl of Kingston, who married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir John Evelyn, and in 1669 within a broad and deep recess, surrounded by a massive structure supported by Ionis columns is shown the life size heavy figure of Robert Evelyn kneeling on one knee, his hands clasped in prayer, his eyes upraised. The inscription states that he "shewn such Patience and Passive Valor in cutting off his Legg as was to Admiration," and we are led to infer that it was from this operation that he died. Above him is depicted an angel flying down to succour him. The most remarkable feature of the monument is that the recess is closed with wooden doors lined with gilt copper upon which, and upon two blocks of marble sculptured to resemble drapery and upheld by nude cherubs, is an extraordinary inscription, now obliterated in part, containing upwards of 600 words, separated in nine unequal paragraphs. On the one panel the inscription speaks of the body of the dead man, the other having reference to his soul. Perhaps the most remarkable passage is the following :-
Healthie & Sound It Pass'd thro' Italie & France. & Spaine, Un mutilated, Un Diseas'd Without ye Marks of Sin or Chance. Returnd Matchd w'h a Ladye - (Of Whom Though All Good might, Nothing must Here be said, St. UAULTS speake not ye Living but ye Dead Yet This - To Parte with Her alone I Over-Heard was Th' Expiring Grone Both Great Examples Never To Refuse In Matches What Wise Parents Chuse.)
The inscription has the initials E.P. below it, but whether these are of the widow it is impossible to say. The third son of Robert Pierrpont, Evelyn Pierrpont, became Earl of Kingston in 1690, and had a distinguished career. In 1706 he was created Marquess of Dorchester, Duke of Kingston in 1715, and became Lord Privy Seal President of the Council, one of the Lords Justices and a Knight of the Garter. The latest Evelyn monument is that to Sir John Evelyn, who died aged 84 in 1685. This takes the form of a life-size bust of grey marble contained within a niche and shut in by iron doors after the manner of the Pierrpont memorial. The inscription, however, is placed upon a tablet below and not upon the doors. The inscription, which is much shorter and not so flamboyant, suggests the same authorship as that upon the Pierrpont monument.
The key of the Chantry is available on application at the Rectory. Visitors are invited, on returning the key, to make a small contribution to the upkeep of the Chantry and of the old churchyard adjoining.
P.J.D.
From page 9 of the Salisbury & Winchester Journal, April 6th 1928
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