FRIENDS of LYDIARD TREGOZ Report No. 38
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ISSN: 0308-6232 FRIENDS OF LYDIARD TREGOZ CONTENTS 3 A Memorial Tribute to Sir Roland Gibbs 5 Notes on the Fabric and Fittings of St.Mary’s church, and related matters 39 Notes on Rectors, Curates, and Patrons 72 An Architect for Lydiard Park 74 Swindon Borough Council Newsletter 2004 76 The Friends of Lydiard Tregoz Officers and Membership Accounts Report no. 38 The FRIENDS OF LYDIARD TREGOZ was formed in 1967 with the approval and full support of St.Mary’s Church and the Borough of Swindon. The objects of the society are to: - foster interest in the Church, the House, and the Parish as a whole. - hold one meeting in the House annually, usually in mid-May, with a guest speaker. The meeting is followed by tea in the dining room and Evensong in the Parish Church. (The meeting in 1997 was held at Battersea.) - produce annuallyReport, a magazine of articles which are concerned in the broadest way with the history of the parish, its buildings and people, the St.John family and their antecedents as well as more locally-based families, and the early years of the Sir Walter St.John School in Battersea. Copies of Report are deposited with libraries and institutions in England, Wales, and the United States of America. The offer of articles for inclusion is always welcomed by the Editor. - make occasional contributions from unexpended income towards the cost of projects in either the House or the Church. A MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO SIR ROLAND GIBBS by Brian Came Sir Roland joined the Friends in 1992 and made a notable contribution to our work, serving as Vice President from 1995 until his death on 31 October 2004. He brought to our society his warm friendship and encouragement, his wisdom in our planning, and a strong support for the Lydiard Park Project. He was a great-grandson ofCanon St.John (d.1914), who, as a grandson ofGeorge Richard, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke, had expected to succeed to the St.John titles and estates in 1899. In 1992 Sir Roland made available to the Friends the accumulation of family papers which he had acquired after the death of his elder brother. Transcriptions of these papers appeared in our Reportin 1993, 1994, and 1995. Sir Roland received a further batch of family papers from the same source in 2003, some of which were transcribed last year and the remainder will be calendared for publication. By his own wish, and with the agreement of his family, all these papers have now been placed in the custody of the Wiltshire & Swindon Record Office at Trowbridge. Friends may not immediately recognise the signal importance ofSir Roland’s characteristic generosity in making them available for study. The St.John archive was dispersed long ago: only a small part survived in the hands ofmembers of the family. Dr. Taylor was able to consult some of these family papers in the 1920s and he quoted from them in Our Lady of Batersey, but a study of every item has only now been possible and they have yielded most valuable information which has already benefited the Park Project and shed new light on the remodelling of the House in the 1740s. These family papers will be of enormous importance for future research. Roly’s only surviving sister, Mrs Anna de Zoete, also joined the Friends. There was a great bond between them, and, perhaps, it came as no surprise that she died one week after he did. It was Sir Roland’s wish that his funeral service should be in St.Mary’s church and that there should be no grand memorial service in London. It took place on 10 November. As I sat in church on that day I was deeply conscious of the fact that his great-grandfather and his grandfather sat in the church on II November 1899 when they attended the funeral of the 5th Viscount Bolingbroke. They had received two days earlier news that put in question whether Canon St.John would inherit the St.John titles and estates. It must have been a painful and embarrassing experience for them to be there. I have no idea what resentment or animosity they may have felt then and thereafter, but I felt that the peace and love that marked Sir Roland’s funeral finally laid to rest the last vestiges of any ill-feeling in the family that there may have been. The service in church was both memorable and moving. It was very much a family occasion - and his family were of the greatest importance to him. They occupied the two rectory pews inside the chancel screen. The service was conducted by Canon Bobby Miles who officiated at the marriage of Roly and Davina in 1955. Lessons and readings were read by their two sons, James and Joe, by their daughter Melissa, by granddaughter Hermione, and by grandson Eion. This last reading, from the Prologue to Chaucer’sCanterbury Tales, by Eion was particularly apt and moving: There was a Knight, a most distinguished man, Who from the day on which he first began To ride abroad had followed chivalry, Truth, honour, greatness of heart, and courtesy. He had done nobly in his sovereign’s war And ridden into battle, no man more, As well in Christian as in heathen places, And ever honoured for his noble graces. 3 He was of sovereign value in all eyes And though so much distinguished, he was wise And in his bearing modest as a maid. He never yet a boorish thing had said In all his life to any, come what might; He was a true, a perfect gentle-knight. The setting for the service was magnificent and reflected his distinguished career. Tall columns of flowers had been arranged by Heather Coulter of Malvern. Her Majesty the Queen was represented by Lieut. General Sir Maurice Johnston, Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, Roly’s successor in that office. With Roly’s death the number ofField Marshals was reduced to six, and they were represented by Field Marshal the Lord Bramall and Field Marshal Sir John Chapple. The music was superb - Bach, William Croft, and William Byrd. The organist was Peter Roper-Curzon. The singers were the Choir of the Chapels Royal, HM the Tower of London of which Roly was Constable from 1985 to 1990. The coffin bearers were members of the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, of which Roly was Colonel Commandant. At the end of the service a Bugler from the Royal Green Jackets, of which Roly was also Colonel Commandant, played the King’s Royal Corps Call, Light Division Assembly, and Reveille. In his sermon Colin Campbell spoke of Roly’s career in the Army, after Eton, which began with his entry into Sandhurst in 1939 and ended with him serving as Chief of the General Staff from 1976 to 1979. He was a front-line soldier, in North Africa, Italy, in the Normandy invasion, then he saw service in Denmark, South-East Asia, Palestine, Germany, the Gulf States, and Cyprus. The sermon commented on the great affection in which he was held, an affection which arose from his distinctive style of leadership, which also featured in the Obituary notice inThe Daily Telegraph: Gibbs had his own incomparable style of command. One of his platoon leaders could not recall ever having received a direct order from him. “Ifl were in your shoes,” Gibbs used to say during planning, “I would go about it like this.” During the middle of one battle, Gibbs was seen strolling nonchalantly along the crest of a ridge while shells were whizzingpast his head. He had brought some “goodies” with him, he told his two forward platoons as they emerged rather tentatively from cover. Delving in his bag he produced an assortment of apples and Mars Bars. In the funeral service we remembered with greatjoy the special place that his family had in his life. We remembered his distinguished professional life and the many, well-deserved, honours he received and which he wore so lightly, his skills in leadership, his encouragement of others, his wisdom, understanding, strength, guidance, and inspiration. We remembered the values by which he lived, the example he set, and the aims in life he sought to achieve. The Friends ofLydiard Tregoz were not alone in mourning his passing. He was a true, a perfect gentle-Knight. 4 NOTES ON THE FABRIC AND FITTINGS OF ST.MARY’S CHURCH AND RELATED MATTERS by Brian Came [These notes appeared in Report 25 (1992), but have been extensively revised. The greatest single source ofinformation about the church building is the monograph written by A.R. Dufty, in about 1967, which formed the basis of the guidebook,Lydiard Park and Church. I have drawn on that monograph continually in these notes, and gratefully acknowledge his scholarly help. Also, I gratefully acknowledge all that I have learned from Dennis King about the glass, from E. Clive Rouse on the wall paintings 1, from Pauline Plummer and Joe Dawes on the Triptych, and from John A. Green on the monument to the 1st Baronet. In 1994 John Heward undertook a survey of the fittings and furnishings of the church, and gave an illustrated talk to the Friends at their Annual Meeting that year. In his report to the Council for the Care of Churches, ‘The Church of St.Mary at Lydiard Tregoze, Wiltshire’ (1999) he explored his subject at depth. A considerable section is devoted to the great variety ofpews in the church, a variety which he described as ‘bewildering’.