NEWTON CHURCH

CHURCH PLATE

The Reformation of the 16th century, while in some senses proving a vitalising movement, had one sinister effect : it gave the earlier sovereigns of the Tudor dynasty a golden opportunity to aggrandise themselves at the expense of the Church; and Henry VIII's claim to be supreme Head of the Church, revised in 1534: was made the convenient excuse to despoil the sacred institution of much treasure. For ages, the church had been the object of covetous eyes and the protest against iniquitous Papal exactions became the signal for the Tudor monarchy and under them, the landed gentry, to indulge their rapacious desires. Henry VIII's tool in this sordid business was Thomas. Cromwell, who struck at Papal domination by dissolving the monasteries; and the crafty statesman won the allegiance of the landed gentry to the Protestant cause by lavish distributions among them of Church property. The monasteries at Margam and Neath were dissolved, and their properties, mcluding lands at Newton Nottage,confiscated. When it is remembered that the shrine of St. Thomas á Beckett at Canterbury was robbed of wealth, in gold, silver, and precious stones, to over a million and a quarter pounds, it is not surprising that humbler altars such as that at Newton were ransacked. The canons of Llandaff Cathedral, among whom was Henry Morgan, some-time a Rector of Newton, deemed it wise to forestall the official robbers by breaking up the shrine of Teilo, the founder, and sharing the plunder.

As the wealthier edifices were stripped, without satiating the royal greed, ordinary parish churches were made the target of the king's service; and in the closing years of Edward VI, (he died at the age of 15), his Council decreed that "owing to the King's need of money, Commissioners should be sent into every shire to take into the Kmg's use such church Plate as remained." His successor, Queen Mary, sought to stem the tide of greed, despatching commissioners who were empowered to restore all chalices, cups, patens and crosses that had been stolen ; but her death prevented the consummation of her purpose. All the considerable wealth of Newton Church, some of which had been given by earlier and more sympathetically disposed rulers, was lost , part of it may have been rescued by the Turberville family, and secretly used by them in services at Sker Farm Chapel. Not until the accession of Elizabeth was a degree of sanity and justice restored. The moderating Queen ordered enquiries to be made "whether the clergy minister in any profane cups, bowls, dishes, or chalices, heretofore used at Mass or else in a decent communion cup, provided and kept for the same purpose only . . . " "whether you have in your church a decent pulpit and communion table, furnished and placed as becometh, with a comely communion cup, with a cover." The clergy was directed "to minister the Holy Communion in no chalice nor any profane cup or glass, but with a communion cup of silver and with a cover of silver, appointed also for the ministration of the communion bread."

(1) One of the most treasured belongings of Newton Church is such a vessel, probably bestowed by royal decree about 1580; stamped with four crowns, possibly emblematic of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, Ireland, and France (though the last possession of England in France had been lost during the reign of Mary). It stands 9¼ ins. high, has a diameter at the top of the bowl of 3½ins , that of the base being of a similar dimension, and weighs nearly 11 ozs. (troy).

The chalice had a shallow wide bowl, but the communion cup has the form of an inverted truncated cone, slightly bell shaped. The cover, used for a paten, has a deep sunk platter, narrow brim, with a rim to fit into the cup, and a foot to serve as a handle.This cup is still in use in Newton Church.

(2) A second chalice, also used in the church, has three parts a cup, stem and base. The cup or bowl is quite plain ; its stem, in the middle, swells into a bulb, called the knop, which has six short arms or projections, each embossed to present, in the whole, the word JESUS, and a CROSS. Its base is hexagonal, which prevents the vessel from rolling, if by accident, it becomes inverted. Handwrought, and beautifully fashioned, it is of the following dimensions . Height 8ins , diameter of bowl 4ins ; each side of the hexagonal base is 2½ins.; weight is 17.33oz troy. The inscription reads : A.D.M.G. dd, John Elias, Churchwarden, 1927. [A D.M.G. represent Ad. Dei Majorem Gloriam- To the Greater Glory of God].

(3) The Ciborium, which is used only to contain the Host, was designed, together with the chalice (2), by the famous artist-craftsman Omar Ramsden. It has an arched cover, and the whole vessel has details similar to the second chalice described above. Diameter of bowl, 4½ins ; of base, 5½ins. ; height of cup, 7½ins. ; diameter of cover, 4¾ins.; Total height, 9 ins.; Weight, 21ozs. Inscription : A.D.M.G. dd Reginald et Kathlein Elcock, Jan.1927.

(4) The flagon. When the cup, in the Holy Communion, was restored to the laity, larger chalices had to be used, and it became customary to place, on the credence table, a flagon containing the wine about to be consecrated. In 1603, It was enacted that this wine had to be held "in a clean and sweet standing pot, a stoup of pewter if not purer metal."

The Rev. R. W. and Mrs. Gordon, in 1882, presented this flagon around the bowl of which, in an engraved belt, is beautifully worked, "Glory to God on High."

Height, 11 ins.; the bowl has a diameter of 4ins.; the base of 3½ins., and weighing 14½ozs.

(5) The handsome paten, shown in the centre of the illustra tion, has the inscription : "The Gift of Madam Anne Louhger to the Church of Newton-Nottage, 1772."

This lady was one of the three daughters and co-heiresses of Richard Lougher, Lord of Tythegstone, the last of his line. Diameter of plate, 9¼ins.; height, 3ins.; Diameter of base, 3.62ins.; weight 14¼ozs.

(6) The upper paten illustrated is 5½ inches in diameter, and weighs 5½ozs. On it is inscribed : A.D.M G. dd Thomas David Hopkins, Jan. 1927.

(7) Shown separately are the cover and base of the Wafer Box, a memorial gift :

"A.D.M.G. In pious Remembrance of Clara Jane Huln Waddle.
Presented to the Church of St. John's."

Its shape is that of a square of 3½ inch side, height 1.375 inch, and weighs nearly 8¼ ozs.

(8) Two collection plates complete the set; each has a diameter of 7 inches and a weight of 5½ ozs. "I.H.S." is engraved thereon, and the inscription reads : given in Memory of John Bailey, May 11th, 1872."

All of the above plate are of silver, and the total weight is about 7lbs. 1oz. (Troy).

Image : Church Plate

[Last Updated : 11 Nov 2002 by Gareth Hicks]