separated the Chancel from the South Chancel Aisle. To make at all a complete work, it was necessary to re-build these arches; for though brick is an excellent material, and is now constantly used in Churches for both exterior and interior work, brick plastered and whitewashed to look like stone is the worst of all things, and no builder of the middle ages would ever have tolerated so miserable an expedient Here therefore a great additional expense opened upon us. In the end, all these arches were re-built in stone, and Mr. Woodyer wisely determined to follow the plan of the North Chancel Aisle in the arrangement of the arches opposite.

Two other arches have still to be mentioned; the sculptured arch on the North side of the Sacrarium, and the arch into the tower. The former must be reserved for a fuller description hereafter. With regard to the latter, it was a great disappointment on the removal of the gallery, to find this arch of such bad design; it belongs to the latest period of Gothic architecture, and is unsightly enough. But though the temptation to re-build it was great, it was finally spared, on the score of expense.

nave.

It is well worth remarking the apparently careless way in which the great medieval builders, conscious of their strength, played with their work. Look at the different sizes of the bays on each side of the The arches next to the Chancel on both sides are not only larger than their fellows, but also do not match each other. Look also at the way they have inserted blocks of stone into the middle of the chalk, without any regard to regularity; observe also that even the great Chancel arch is not in the centre of the building And here a word or two may not be out of place on the subject of the materials which the old builders used for their works. As a general rule, all the greatest medieval structures were of stone, and they frequently brought stone from Caen in Normandy and other distant places, when the expense and difficulty of carriage must have been immense; but in a county like Berks, where there are large chalk pits, they did not object to use chalk and flint. In the best times however they seem to have been careful to import stone for all the exterior work, such as windows, doorways, &c., and in our own Church you will see that the three beautiful windows in the South Aisle and the old Norman doorway are of stone. It can hardly have been that they thought the chalk not durable enough for outside work, as in the later windows of our Church on the North side,) now removed, chalk was used, and in some of the large blocks flints might be seen cropping up. The older builders were probably led to use stone from their being able to get richer mouldings in this material. In the restoration of the Church, Mr. Woodyer made use of chalk for much of the interior work, for instance, for the hoods

* The making of brick appears to have been a lost art in England from the time the Romans left the country in the 5th Century, till the end of the 14th Century. The magnificent Church of Hull in Yorkshire is mostly of old brick of the latter period and is one of the earliest brick Churches in England. It must be confessed, that the loss of the art of brick-making was a very great gain, for to it we owe the enriching of our country with its splendid Cathedrals and Churches

of stone.

and jambs of all the windows. Chalk was obtained for this purpose out of one of the pits on the bank of the Thames. In all probability the chalk with which the Church was originally built came from the same neighbourhood. The beauty of this material is well shewn in one of the piers, which we re-built, on the North side of the Chancel. In this the veins of the chalk give almost the appearance of marble. The next difficulty was the state of the roofs; the two worst were those of the Nave and Chancel. The Chancel roof, by the addition of new wall-plates and panelling under the rafters, was sufficiently restored without being taken down; but the Nave roof was in a more decayed state, and this therefore was entirely removed. Unfortunately, the summer of 1852 was a very wet one; there were frequent thunderstorms and deluges of rain, so that for some months the Church was in a deplorable condition, and many were the lamentations over our rashness in having so pulled it to pieces. As was said before, it was quickly determined to raise the walls of the nave, and put in the clerestory, when the roof was off, and this was completed, and the new roof raised, (in which a large part of the old oak timbers was retained) by the end of the autumn. One result of raising the nave was to bring to view part of a buttress of the tower in the north angle. At first we were afraid this would be an eyesore, but Mr. Woodyer, in the true spirit of the old architects, devised a little arch to carry the buttress, and now the projection and breaking of the uniformity are rather a beauty than otherwise.

The other roofs were simply opened and repaired, and the only one which gave us any trouble was that of the South Chancel Aisle. This being very modern was in a bad style, and was only got into decent shape by running a ledge along the top of the wall, and inserting additional cross beams, so as to bring the whole into equal panels.

The restoration of an old Church is certainly a perilous undertaking, for no sooner had we advanced thus far, and got all the arches and pillars restored, than we began to dislike the look of the debased windows. There was really nothing to be said against them, except that they were unworthy of the Church, and the windows in the South Aisle put them to shame. After much deliberation, they were all doomed. It somewhat disquieted us to see them torn one after another out of the great thick walls. But the result has amply repaid us. Ultimately, all the windows in the Church, except the East window and the three in the South Aisle, were put in new, and the whole line of windows on the North side affords no mean example of modern architectural art. Before leaving the general restoration of the fabric one other point remains to be noticed. There was no

exterior door into the Vestry, and I remember it was said that the whole symmetry of the Chancel aisle would be destroyed by the insertion of a door in the last bay. But utility is an essential principle of Gothic architecture, and in this case the interruption of the formal plan of the aisle is in no wise destructive of its beauty.

INSPECTION OF THE SONNING SCHOOLS.

On Tuesday, March 23rd, I examined the Schools in Sonning and report as follows:

BOYS' SCHOOL.

"Writing, very good throughout the School; in Arithmetic the children were advanced and their sums correctly done; the reading was correct, but required expression and distinctness. The religious instruction, Prayer Book, Catechism, and Holy Scripture, quite satisfactory; discipline, excellent. The lowest class in the School did not do quite so well as the rest."

GIRLS' SCHOOL.

Writing and Arithmetic admirable all through the School. The reading of the first and second classes capable of improvement. The religious instruction, in all branches, entirely satisfactory. Needle work, very good. Discipline, excellent."

"This was my first visit to these Schools, I trust they will retain their present high character. It is evident that the Teachers in both Schools are thoroughly interested in their work, and do their utmost for the children. If this report of the Schools should be read by the parents of the children, I would entreat them to exercise a little selfdenial, and do their best to enable their children to profit by the excellent education offered them in this favoured parish.

Signed, S. STURGES, M.A.,

Diocesan Inspector of Schools."

THE BISHOP'S PRIZE.

BOYS' SCHOOL,-A, Griffiths.

GIRLS' SCHOOL,-M. A. Russell.

The following were commended as having done well in the examination :

Boys',-*J. Allnatt, W. Bradbrook, E. Dunsden, G. Webb, W. Wright.
GIRLS',-F. Rothwell, F. Bradbrook, M. Wright.

* Has had the prize in a former year.

BAPTISMS.

SONNING CHURCH.

March 30th,-Ethel Marion, daughter of Thomas Ross and Caroline Mary Finch,

Sonning

April 11th,-Henry Alfred, son of Henry and Elizabeth Fanny Marcham,

Woodley.

Alice, daughter of James and Susan Turner, Woodley.

BURIALS.

April 6th.-Alice Blandy, St. Lawrence, Reading, aged 30 years.
8th,-Thomas Moth, Sonning Eye, aged 42 years.

12th, Mary Ann Streams, Sonning, aged 61 years.
14th,-John Eggleton, Woodley, aged 2 years.

Church Services.

The Church Services at Sonning and All Saints' will be held at the same hours this month as in the month of May; see the notice in the last number of the Magazine.

THE FOLLOWING HYMNS WILL BE SUNG AT
ALL SAINTS' CHURCH.

On Wednesday, June 9th, the Festival of the Henley and Reading Church Choral Association will be held in Sonning Church. It is expected that upwards of 350 trained singers will take part in the services. The admission to the Morning Service (half-past 11 o'clock) will be by tickets only. For the Afternoon Service (4 o'clock) no tickets will be necessary. Books of the music may be had at any of the shops in Reading, price sixpence.

PENNY BANK.

Money for the Penny Bank can be paid at the All Saints' School (for the present at Playhatch), on Monday Afternoons at 4 o'clock. We hope that, by affording an easier mode of paying in than formerly, many in this district who found it inconvenient to go or send to Sonning, will now make use of the Bank. We would refer our readers to the report of the Penny Bank, published in the March number of the Magazine. Copies of the rules may be obtained at any time, by applying to the Rev. H. E. Hulton.

For many years the Bank has been extensively used in Sonning and Woodley, and we see no reason, now that the difficulty of paying in has been removed, why it should not become of equal service in the All Saints' district.