Bishop of Chichester

“ On 30 Jan. 1288 Gilbert was elected bishop of Chichester by his brother canons. The royal assent was given on 24 June, and his temporalities were restored the same day. On 5 Sept. he was consecrated bishop by his old patron, Peckham, at Canterbury (Le Neve, Fasti Eccl. Angl. i. 241, ed. Hardy) . One of his first acts as bishop was to convoke a diocesan council at Chichester, where on St. Faith's day (6 Oct. 1289) a large body of constitutions was drawn up. The strictness and zeal shown in them were quite those of a follower of the Franciscan archbishop. ”

“ At the same date the bishop of Chichester was joined by the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishops of London and Winchester, the deans of St. Paul's, Westminster, the Chapel Royal, and Windsor, four civilians and three common lawyers, in a commission for ‘the care of perusing and suppressing all books that are printed here without public authority or are brought into this realm’ (Strype, Life and Acts of John Whitgift, 1822 edition, vol. ii. p. 504) . ”

“ With his younger brother John he proceeded from Westminster School to Christ Church, Oxford, where both matriculated on the 20th of January 1609. Henry King entered the church, and after receiving various ecclesiastical preferments he was made bishop of Chichester in 1642, receiving at the same time the rich living of Petworth, Sussex. On the 29th of December of that year Chichester surrendered to the Parliamentary army, and King was among the prisoners. ”

“ Gilbert, Bishop of Chichester, and became curate of Firle, Sussex. Four years later he was nominated by the Dean and Chapter of Chichester to the vicarage of Selmeston with Alciston, Sussex, which he held for 40 years, till his death. Bishop Durnford appointed him, in 1877, to the Chancellorship of Chichester Cathedral, but he resigned this office in 1900 and was succeeded by its present occupant, the Rev. H. M. Davey. Mr. Parish was a diligent antiquary, whose compilations included "A List of Carthusians," with biographical notes, and "The Domesday Book in Relation to the County of Sussex." ”

“ Every year the benchers of one dine with the benchers of the other; and when James I. granted the site without any rents or restrictions, such as had survived till then, his charter is addressed to the members of both societies.
Meanwhile, the Outer Temple had been leased to the Bishops of Exeter, and the land between Fickett’s Field and Lincoln’s Inn to the Bishop of Chichester. Another bishop had lodgings actually within the Temple. On the east side of Inner Temple Lane, north of the porch of the Round Church, was Ely House, with its chapel of St. Thomas of Canterbury. ”

“ An original leaning to the establishment only gradually disappeared after a close study of the points at issue between the church and the dissenters, but he was always well disposed to churchmen, and was on terms of intimacy with several of the clergy, including Edward Waddington, bishop of Chichester. ”

“ On 29 March 1673 his father took him to see Peter Gunning, bishop of Chichester, who gave him instruction and advice ‘before he received the Holy Sacrament.’ On 25 May of the same year he became a younger brother of Trinity House, and on 10 Nov. ”

“ Shortly after, he obtained a royal pardon of all errours at any time before committed by him; and not long after, upon the death of Dr. Charlton, the King nominated him Bishop of Chichester, and he was consecrated at Croydon, by Bishop Laud, and other Bishops, Aug. 24, 1628. At this solemnity it is usual for all persons to appear, to show cause, why the person elected may not be confirmed ”

“ To Council about reforming an abuse of the dyers with saundus, and other false drugs; examined divers of that trade.
23d February, 1673. The Bishop of Chichester preached before the King on Coloss. ii. 14, 15, admirably well, as he can do nothing but what is well. [Pg 87]
5th March, 1673. Our new vicar, Mr. Holden, preached in Whitehall chapel, on Psalm iv. 6, 7. This gentleman is a very excellent and universal scholar, a good and wise man; but he had not the popular way of preaching, nor is in any measure fit for our plain and vulgar auditory, as his predecessor was. ”

“ She was saying, as she emerged into the reception room:
“The man is impossible, Bishop; perfectly impossible! He has driven most of us from the Church already, and the rest will follow very soon unless you suppress him without delay. Oh, here’s Jane Chichester. Miss Chichester will agree with me, I’m sure.”
“Perfectly!” said Miss Chichester, retaining her hold on Barry’s arm notwithstanding the advent of the bishop and his caller.
“And what is Mr. Malleson’s opinion?” ”

“ The cause of death we believe to have been paralysis of the lower bowels.
If the late Bishop Gilbert was not so distinguished a prelate, or one who will hereafter be found to have so lasting a mark on the Established Church, as the Blomfields, Sumners, and Phillpotts, who have been among his contemporaries and colleagues on the Episcopal Bench, at all events he was a man who did good hard work in his day, both at Oxford and in the southern diocese, which he administered actively and effectively for more than a quarter of a century. ”

“ The principal modern buildings, besides churches and chapels, are the council house, corn exchange, market house, and museum of the Chichester Literary Society. The grammar school was founded in 1497 by Bishop Story. There is a large cattle market, and the town has a considerable agricultural trade, with breweries and tanneries. A canal connects with Chichester Harbour. ”

“ The font is a heavy circular basin resting on four shafts, in addition to the main stem, coeval with the building.—Formerly the bishops of Chichester possessed a residence here, of which vestiges seem to exist in the south wall of the church-yard, some portion of which is ancient, and which immediately adjoins the courthouse of the manor and estate belonging to the bishop. The present occupant, for the sake of the materials and of the space they covered, pulled down other more considerable remains of the old episcopal mansion, which included walls of unusual thickness. ”

“ He fled from his diocese, was arrested, degraded, and died in prison. The Archbishop of Glasgow and Bishop Knox of Raphoe, himself a Scotchman, hastened to London to secure the appointment of one of their countrymen as his successor; but Chichester wrote that though he would not say that Scotchmen were not good men, he could aver that they were "hot-spirited and very griping" and "such as were not fit for these parts." [25] Several attempts were made to arrest Dr. Eugene Matthews or MacMahon, who had been transferred (1611) by the Pope from Clogher to the Archbishopric of Dublin. ”

“ Of this activity and enterprise there are many evidences in proof, both documentary and structural. The documentary evidence indicating the activity which prevailed after this date is sufficient to show at least that much was being done; but it does not often indicate in precise terms what is that particular portion of the building to which it primarily refers. Early in the thirteenth century (1207) the king gave Bishop Simon de Welles (1204-1207) his written permission to bring marble from Purbeck for the repair of his church at Chichester. ”

“ In an arched recess in the wall nearer to the library is the tomb and effigy of Bishop Storey (25) . Close to this are two memorials of the sixteenth century. On the west side of the north transept are the monuments of Bishops Henry King, Carleton, and Grove.
The Stained Glass in the cathedral is all modern, and most of it is of the worst possible kind. It is bad in design and crude in colour, and much of it is not really stained glass at all, but a painted substitute. The only really good window in the building is that at the east end of the south choir aisle in S. Mary Magdalen's chapel. ”

“ The large one (14) under the south window is Langton's tomb and effigy (d. 1336) . The new one nearest to the singing school is a memorial and effigy of Mr. John Abel Smith, of Dale Park, who represented Chichester in the House of Commons. On the east wall is another tomb of Tudor date (15) , with niches for sculpture. The tomb next to the back of the choir-stalls (16) is that of Bishop Richard de la Wych. The two panels in relief (17) , in the south aisle of the choir are works of about the twelfth century (see page 105) . ”

“ Many, as priests living in their parishes, were married men.
After the consecration of Eadberht and his installation as Bishop of Selsea, the cathedra, or episcopal chair, was occupied successively by twenty prelates. The period during which these held office, including the few intervals when for a time the see remained vacant, extended over about three hundred and seventy years. Little is known of these bishops further than that their signatures are to be found attached to various charters. These were all called Bishops of the South Saxons. ”

“ We are obliged, therefore, to be satisfied with the fact that the work begun about 1088 was consecrated by Bishop Ralph de Luffa, in 1108, and it is possible even now to see the stone which commemorates that ceremony embedded in the walling of the present church. Unfortunately no more than about six years had passed since this, the first, dedication, when a fire occurred which burnt part of the fabric. Ralph was still living, and began at once to repair the damage that had been done; and the king (Henry I.) gave him much help by encouraging his endeavour. ”

“ April 3 was set apart in the calendar as Richard's day, and very pleasant must have been the observance in the Chichester streets. In 1297 we find Edward I. giving Lovel the harper 6s. 6d. for singing the Saint's praises; but Henry VIII. was to change all this. On December 14th, 1538, it being, I imagine, a fine day, the Defender of the Faith signed a paper ordering Sir William Goring and William Ernely, his Commissioners, to repair to Chichester Cathedral and remove "the bones, shrine, &c., of a certain Bishop —— [Pg 422] which they call S. Richard," to the Tower of London. ”

“ His conduct as a conqueror was alleged to be harsh and exacting. He banished the Bishop of Havana to Florida for appointing clergy without his approval, and he exacted contributions from the merchants which the government at home denied his right to levy. ”

“ In November 1408 Chicheley was back at Westminster, when Henry IV. received the cardinal archbishop of Bordeaux and determined to support the cardinals at Pisa against both popes. In January 1409 Chicheley was named with Bishop Hallum of Salisbury and the prior of Canterbury to represent the Southern Convocation at the council, which opened on the 25th of March 1409, arriving on the 24th of April. Obedience was withdrawn from both the existing popes, and on the 26th of June a new pope elected instead of them. Chicheley and the other envoys were received on their return as saviours of the world ”

“ Mary's Hospital in North Street; and the remains of the monastery of the Grey Friars in the Priory Park. Young Chichester now plays cricket where of old the monks caught fish and performed their duties. It was probably on the mound that their Calvary stood; the last time I climbed it was to watch Bonnor, the Australian giant, practising in the nets below, too many years ago.
Like all cathedral towns Chichester has beautiful gardens, as one may see from the campanile. There are no lawns like the lawns of Bishops, Deans, and Colleges; and few flower beds more luxuriantly stocked. ”

“ It lies in a plain at the foot of a spur of the South Downs, a mile from the head of Chichester Harbour, an inlet of the English Channel. The cathedral church of the Holy Trinity was founded towards the close of the 11th century, after the see had been removed to Chichester from Selsey in 1075. The first church was consecrated in 1108, but fires in 1114 and 1187 caused building to continue steadily until the close of the 13th century. ”

“ The best thing left to us in Chichester, apart from the Cathedral and its subject buildings, is, I think, St Mary's Hospital, a foundation dating from the time of Henry II., which possesses a noble great hall, and a pretty Decorated chapel, with old stalls, which is still used as an almshouse. It stands upon the site of the first Franciscan house established in Chichester. In 1269 the Friars Minor left this place and moved to the site of the old Castle. There they built the church of which the choir still remains, a lovely work ruined at the dissolution and used as the Guildhall. ”

“ About a hundred and fifty years later, Youlston, with other manors, was granted to 'John Chichester and Margaret his wife and their heirs for ever, at the annual rent of a rose, at the feast of St John the Baptist.'
Sir John Chichester was among the most zealous Protestants in suppressing the rising that broke out in the West in 1549. After the insurrection was crushed, 'it was declared that the rebels used the church bells in every parish to excite the people. ”

“ Chichester is a perfect example of an English rural capital, thronged on market days with tilt carts, each bringing a farmer or farmer's wife, and rich in those well-stored ironmongers' shops that one never sees elsewhere. But it is more than this: it is also a cathedral town, with the ever present sense of domination by the cloth even when the cloth is not visible. Chichester has its roughs and its public houses (Mr. Hudson in his Nature in Downland gives them a caustic chapter) ; it also has its race-week every July, and barracks within hail; yet it is always a cathedral town. ”

“ For the stranger was a parson too by his dress—a tall, elderly man with gray side-whiskers and a hard, square mouth like the slit of a letter-box. The clergy are always curious about one another by a sort of freemasonry, and Parson Chichester knew every beneficed clergyman in the diocese and most of the unbeneficed. But who could this be? And what might be his business at Meriton, of all places? ”