gladly follow the progress of the disciples of Jesus, in this part and neighbourhood, to the commencement of the present century, but we must leave the delightful theme to future writers. On the survey of the Conqueror, the village of Sheffield had not the privilege of a Christian temple, or at all events none are on record. But in the absence of a public edifice dedicated to the worship of God, we are not to suppose that the converts had no places of worship; private altars undoubtedly were prevalent, and such as felt a disposition to attend the temples set apart for that purpose, might occasionally visit Rotherham, Treeton, &c., where such edifices had then existence. Soon, subsequently to the conquest, however, the noble house of Lovetot graced the village of Sheffield with the battlements of a temple, wherein public worship and divine ordinances were regularly performed by a monk of the house of Worksop, to which one third of the perquisites arising hence, together with the patronage of the rectory was attached by the founder of the edifices at Worksop and Sheffield. The other two parts, according to Pope Nicholas' taxation, were, with the manor of Ecclesfield, &c. in the possession of the Abbot of St. Wandrelle, a noted Benedictine convent near Rouen. To that institution they continued attached until the time of Richard II., who, in the ninth of his reign, transferred them to the Carthusian house of St. Ann, at Coventry. On the event of the great survey in the 26 Henry VIII., the following return was made by the commissioners: EX RECTORIE [DE SHEFFIELD'] APPROPR' MONAST❜IO Vicaria ib'm valet in Sit' mancōnis cu' gardino x. s. lan' & agn' dec' xxxvi.s. oblac' vi. li. xviij. s. Libro pasch' iiij.li. decim' minut' et privat ij. s. viij. d. ann' per co'ibus ann'.. Smā valoris patet sup'. Repris' viz. in L: S D. In toto xiij. vi. viii. Denar' ann' solut' Archiepō Ebor' p' sinod' iiij.s. et Archino ejusdem dioc' p' expen' p' curat ib'm vii. s. vi. d. In toto p' ann' Here the learned reader will see that the net produce of the vicarage of Sheffield was £12 15s. 2d. which was made up as follows, viz. : A house with the garden L. S. D. 0 10 0 1 16 0 6 18 0 400 £13 6 8 Out of which the Vicar had to pay annually as under, viz. : Which leaves the above total of £12 15s. 2d. as the clear revenue of the vicarage. This sum, small as it may appear, was amply sufficient for the maintenance of the vicar. In 1533, the period in about which the above survey was made, it was ordered that butchers should sell their meat by weight. Beef was one halfpenny per pound; mutton, three farthings; and a fat lamb was sold for a shilling. Two years subsequently, eight bushels, or a quarter of oats, were sold for two shillings and eightpence. In 1551, eight bushels, or a quarter of wheat, were worth eight shillings, and malt five shillings and a penny. In 1553, a quart of red wine was sold for threepence; and in the following year, a quarter of rye was worth six shillings and eightpence. Hence it will be seen, that the Vicar's stipend was amply sufficient for his maintenance; and hence also it was, that we see no ordinations made by the Archbishops of York touching the support of the Vicar.. Nor had they much to pay for wages. A labourer in husbandry had by the year one pound six shillings and eightpence. The chief hind, carter, shepherd, &c. one pound per year. A common servant in husbandry sixteen shillings and eightpence. A female servant ten shillings; a child six and eightpence. From Easter to Michaelmas, the daily wages of a master mason, carpenter, bricklayer, tyler, plumber, carver, joiner, &c., were with diet fourpence, without diet sixpence. On the dissolution of the monasteries, the rectorial properties of the church, together with the patronage of the same, fell into the hands of the crown. On the 13th of April, 3d Edward VI., such portion of the rectorial property as had belonged to the Carthusian convent at Coventry, was granted to Mary, Countessdowager of Northumberland, daughter of George, the fourth earl of Shrewsbury, with reversion to her brother, Francis, the fifth earl, to be held by him and his heirs for ever in capite by the twentieth part of one knight's fee. The conditions of this grant, so far as relates to the two parts, have not been disturbed. In the 36th Henry VIII., the remaining third part of the rectorial interests in Sheffield, was in part disposed of. Robert Swift, of Broomhall, Esq., and William, his brother, amongst much other property, purchased a third-part of the tithe of Ecclesall and the two Hallams, from whom it descended to the Wilkinsons and the Gells. Through female heirs, the Wilkinsons' part is now in the hands of the Rev. Marmaduke Lawson. Another third-part thereof was in the ownership of William Wentworth, who, in the reign of Elizabeth, transferred it over to a Richard Fenton, by whom it was annexed to the manorial property. The remaining third part was, in the 18th of Queen Elizabeth, transferred to Gilbert, earl of Shrewsbury, by Roger Manners, for the sum of £856 13s. 4d., and was vested in the Norfolk family, the noble owners of this ample patrimony. But the Rev. Mr. Wilkinson purchased two-thirds of the small tithes, and annexed them to the vicarage. To return to the fabric. It was, according to the most authentic statements, about the middle of the twelfth century that the foundation of this monument of the piety of our ancestors was laid under the domination of the De Lovetots, who had the lordship between the reigns of Henry the first aud Henry the third. The ground plan of this church was originally laid out in the form of a cross, but in a subsequent re-edification, the ancient inchnography has been disregarded, and the whole building is merely rectangular, measuring in length about 240 feet, and in breadth about 130. "In the original design," says Mr. Hunter, 66 were included side isles both on the north and south, above which arose the nave with a range of clerestory windows. Perhaps (continues he,) the first change in its form was produced by the erection of the Shrewsbury chapel, which now forms the south-east angle of the building. Since that period there have been many changes, and many re-edifications, till nothing re D mains of the original fabric, except the massy pillars that support the tower, and the whole has assumed a form which never belonged to the ancient churches of this country, a parrallelogram, contained by walls of equal altitude.” The little sepulchral enclosure denominated the SHREWSBURY CHAPEL, and which was formed in the time of Henry VIII., is the depository of some memorials, at once interesting to the antiquary and the general visitor-the latter indeed is often deterred from a gratification of his curiosity by the dust and lumber which he may have to encounter within the railing. On an elaborate altar-tomb, with spiral columns at the corners, and adorned with numerous heraldic insignia, repose the cumbent effigies of the founder, George, the fourth earl of Shrewsbury, who died on the 26th of July, 1538, and was buried in the vault beneath, and his two countesses Ann, who was laid with her husband, and Elizabeth, who, although sculptured on the monument, and included in the Hic quoque jacent, was buried with her ancestors at Erith in Kent. Nearly in the centre of this chapel stands another altar tomb without effigies or inscription, but the sides of which are plentifully enriched with shields of arms: we are indebted to this blazonry and the extensive and accurate heraldic knowledge of Mr. Hunter, for the only probable conjecture as to the foundation of this memorial, which he supposed may have been erected by George, the sixth earl of Shrewsbury, for himself, and subsequently abandoned for another design, or for Francis Lord Talbot, his heir apparent, who was interred here in September, 1582. The remaining memorial is an elaborate and what must once have been a splendid monument, erected by the before-mentioned, George, the sixth earl of Shrewsbury, " in distrust of his executors." It consists of a sarcophagus, upon which is laid a sculptured representation of the earl, who died Nov. 18th, 1590. Above these was a long inscription in gilt letters, written by Fox the martyrologyst, vindicating the character of this illustrious nobleman, who had for a long period the custody of the Queen of Scots, from some contemporary imputations of familiarity with his. royal prisoner. The whole erection has been profusely ornamented with emblematic designs, military trophies, and heraldic devices; among the latter, are numerous allusions to the family matches of the earl's ancestry. In the general re-edification of the main body of the church the numerous mortuary memorials dispersed through that por tion of the fabric perished, nor does it appear that any inventory of them exists, beyond their partial enumeration in the pages of Mr. Hunter. The chancel, however, remains nearly in its pristine state. The walls, decorated with various insignia commemorative of the buried dead, and the area under foot literally paved with gravestones, charged, in many instances, with names once of account in the neighbourhood, but now, not unfrequently either absorbed into the undistinguished mass. of common life, or utterly extinct. Several of these memorials it might be interesting to notice more particularly; but want of space obliges us to pass them over. There is one monument, however, which claims a special exception-a tablet to the memory of the Rev. James Wilkinson, Vicar, (who died January 18, 1805,) surmounted by a bust from Chantrey, "the eldest born of his chisel!" This is a treasure appropriately placed in the Parish Church of Sheffield, where the sculptor, if not the man, may be said to have had his birth. Mr. Montgomery, in his eulogy on local genius, delivered at the institution of the Literary and Philosophical Society, made the following striking allusion to his bust :- "Were I a rich man, who could purchase the costly labours of such a master, I almost think that I could forego the pride of possessing the most successful effort of his later hand, for the nobler pleasure of calling my own the precious bust in yonder church." The religious services in the parochial church of Sheffield, are administered by the Vicar and three assistant ministers. The right of presentation to the living is exercised in turn by Marmaduke Lawson, Esq., of Boroughbridge, and Philip Gell, Esq., of Hopton, as the representatives of Robert and William Swyft, who had a grant of the advowson on the 15th of May, 1544, 36th Henry VIII. The latter somewhat uncommon pro vision of three officiating clergymen, who hold their situations by a right and emolument irrespective of the vicarial patronage, appears to have existed previously to the Reformation, originating in the first instance, it is probable, by voluntary contributions maintained by virtue of a pious zeal in the inhabitants for a more extensive enjoyment of religious services, than could be commanded under the ministry of a single individual, and subsequently confirmed to the town by charter and endowment, in the Reign of Queen Mary. The present vicar is the Rev. Thomas Sutton, A. M., instituted March 30th, 1805. The assistant ministers are the Revs. Matthew Preston, Edward |