An interesting question arises; when was this private chapel at Frocester Court built? (1) Was it in existence before the dissolution of the abbey of Gloucester, when the Abbot of Gloucester, as lord of the manor of Frocester, held his manor courts at the Court House? Or (2), was it built by John Huntley, who bought Frocester Court of the Court of Augmentations in 1554, and rebuilt the house (Bigland, I., 606) prior to the visit of Queen Elizabeth? Or (3), was it an addition made by Sir Robert Ducie, when he acquired the property in 1628? On the cornice of the oak ceiling in the nave, occurs the date 1637, followed by the initials E. W., which lends support to the last theory. On the whole it seems probable that the bell-gable and a small single-light window in the north wall of the existing building, which appear to belong to the Tudor style, are parts of an older chapel at Frocester Court, and that the oak ceilings of the nave and chancel which respectively bear the date 1637 and the Ducie arms are an enrichment added by Sir Robert Ducie some nine years after he purchased the property. Portions of old oak panelling, which had been worked up into pews, and are now set against the walls, are very similar in character to the existing panelling at Frocester Court, and doubtless came from there, having been erected in the private Chapel at the same time as the ceiling. The following would appear to be a fair summary of the history of the building :

Erected at Frocester Court in the Tudor period.

Ceiled with oak, and otherwise enriched by Sir Robert Ducie in 1637 (E. W. being perhaps the carver).

Given to the parish by the executors of Viscount Downe: and re-erected about 1680 on a site given by Lady Brooke near the cross roads.

Repaired and much altered, 1812.

In course of restoration, 1891.

A print of the chapel as it appeared before the alterations of 1812 occurs in Bigland's Gloucestershire. The view there given shews an east window of 3 lights, with trefoiled heads, a small single light window in the south chancel wall, and stone copings on the ridge of each gable. These features disappeared after the alterations of 1812, and the exterior was further disfigured by four massive but clumsy buttresses erected at that period to resist the thrust of the heavy roof, which had begun to spread,

and moved the wall plate to a dangerous extent. To increase the accommodation, the chancel was lengthened by several feet eastwards, and in the new east wall a window was inserted, with wooden mullions, in the worst style of carpenter's gothic. The present unsightly chancel arch, with roughly constructed brickwork, was substituted for the older work under the bell-gable, probably to secure greater openness; the chancel was filled with high pews, in elm, lined with green baize; a western gallery was put up, and the pulpit erected in the form of a "two-decked" over the reading-desk in the north window of the nave, and a poor west window was inserted to match that in the east wall of the church. The altar was put upon a new platform, with rails and some seats inserted in the walls on the north and south of it for the poor people.

During the recent repairs, the stone copings on the east wall of the nave and of the chancel, destroyed in 1812, have been restored, that on the east gable of the chancel being surmounted by a cross. A stone mullioned east window, Tudor in character, of three lights, has been substituted for the carpenters' work of 1812. The little north chancel window, which had been built up and plastered, has been re-opened, and has received internally a new stone face, where it had been destroyed. The south window of the nave has been repaired in a conservative manner, the western gallery removed, and the stone tiling on nave and chancel relaid, the latter on felt and boards. The old oak panelling has been experimentally placed against the side walls, which have been roughly pointed internally, and the font, which was broken, re-erected near the door. During the repairs, part of an old stone piscina was found in the masonry of the sill of the north window of the chancel; it is now lying just outside the principal entrance. Another discovery was a wall decoration, consisting of texts, in good bold black-letter type, with a border of conventional roses. From various indications of paint, it appears that the whole of the nave was thus decorated. Unfortunately the plaster had been almost entirely removed before this decoration was found; and what was left, mostly flaked off on any attempt to remove the various coats of whitewash and yellow-wash with which it had been coated; but a specimen has been left just over the font. We may imagine that there cannot be much decoration of this period extant, so this example is almost unique; and though rude, it is certainly interesting. About £250 has been lately raised and spent upon the

repair and furniture of the Chapel. Work remaining to be done includes coping on west gable, west window, chancel arch, south chancel window, north chancel wall (repair), restoration of ceiling, &c., &c. Altogether, not less than £200 is required. The Chapel is always open by day, and visitors are most welcome to see it.

Beverston Church.-The following account of this Church is compiled from notes taken fifteen years ago.

Beverston Church stands at some little distance from the village on the north side of the Castle, and is surrounded by a somewhat spacious churchyard. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. In plan the building consists of a nave with aisle on the south side; a chapel belonging to the lord of the manor, now used as a vestry; a chancel and a tower at the west end. In the chancel is a piscina occupying the angle which is identical in design with the one in the large chapel in Beverston Castle. The credence shelf, however, has disappeared. There is a priest's door on the south side of the chancel now, however, unused. There are several floorstones and tablets in the chancel, most of which are described in Mr. Blunt's History of Beverston. In the Berkeley chapel, on the north side of the nave, is a curious "skew" passage in the south-east corner, which evidently led into the chancel, though it is now blocked up at one end. In the nave the most notable object is an extremely fine pulpit of Edwardian date. It is of carved stone, but stands upon a modern base; a portion of the old one, however, is still preserved in the tower. The south aisle is separated from the nave by a very fine arcade supported by pillars, having some good capitals and bases; the latter being apparently left untouched in the restoration. Nor must we omit to notice a splendid window of large size in this aisle in the late decorated style. There is also a south doorway with porch, and on the opposite side the north doorway, now blocked up. It may be noted that the custom of separating the sexes at divine service was still retained here in the time of the late rector; the men sitting on the south side, and the women on the north. Outside the church, high above this northern door, several sepuchral slabs, incised with crosses of very good design, may be seen worked up amongst the masonry. The tower is a plain, uninteresting erection, plastered upon the outside, and surmounted by battlements. The lower stage seems

to be the earliest part of the church, and bears traces of Norman work; but the upper part is of Edwardian date. The windows of the belfry are of two lights, pointed and cusped exteriorly, but they are divided by a plain, square mullion inside, with the heads filled up by an equally plain tympanum. The lower windows are small round-headed ones, very deeply splayed. Somewhat curiously, there is no arch between the tower and the nave, nor does there ever appear to have been one. There was, however, until the late restoration, a doorway connecting it with the church. At present, the entrance to the power is by a door at the south side. F. L. M. R.

Cromhall Church: Nicholas Hickes' Monument.(See No. 1941, Vol. IV., p. 644.) I send you an inscription I lately copied in Cromhall Church, to supplement those given by ABHBA.

Chancel, south side.

Memoriæ sacrum Domini admodum venerabilis Nicholai Hickes, in sacrosancta Theologia Baccalaurei, olim diu Sanctæ Mariæ Magdalenæ Collegii Oxoniæ Socii, deinde ecclesiæ Cathedralis Cicestrensis Prebendarii, necnon de Charfield in agro Glocestrensi Rectoris, qui postquam in sacris apprime et indefesse elaboravit, in Christo placide obdormivit pridie Idus Septembres, anno Redemptionis 1710, et ætatis suæ 75.

Draycot Vicarage, Cheddar.

T. H. F. HICKES.

Through some mistake the above inscription was not inserted in its proper place, with the eleven others which are in the church. The mistake is the more unaccountable, the monument having been duly mentioned in No. 1190, vol. iii., p. 212.

B. H. B.

Queries and Replies.

Window Family.-On the north wall of the chancel of the Church of S. Nicholas, Gloucester, is a mural monument in memory of William Window, who died in the year 1669. I should be glad if any of your correspondents were able to tell me anything more of him or of his progenitors.

Harrow-on-the-Hill.

W. D. BUSHell.

Bristol Corporation.- The Commons Journals give the following:-"1 Nov. 1645-An Ordinance for Restitution of Richard Aldworth to be one of the Aldermen of the City of Bristol, and of Richard Vickris and Luke Hodges, late Sheriffs there, to be of the Common Council of the said City; also for Removing of Francis Creswick, now Mayor there, from the Place of Mayor of the said City, and for admitting and swearing of John Gunning to be Mayor in his Place, and for the appointing of John Herrington, Esquire, to be one of the Committee of Bristoll, was this day read the first and second time upon the Question, passed, and ordered to be sent unto the Lords for their Concurrence."

Richard Aldworth and Luke Hodges were elected M.P.'s for Bristol in January, 1646. Aldworth was Sheriff in 1627, and Mayor in 1642, and must have been removed by the King when the Royalists held the city. When was he first appointed an Alderman? also what was the year of Luke Hodges' Shrievalty, and did he ever attain to the Mayoralty? Leigh, Lancashire.

W. D. PINK.

The Lloyds of Gloucester.-Mr. William Harris, of Oakfield, Pontyberem, Llanelly, writes:-"I desire to obtain a history of the Lloyds of Gloucester, which would throw light on the family connection of the following names who are parties to an indenture made in 1690 :—

Walter Lloyd, Newparke, in the County of Gloucester.
Francis Lloyd, of Gray's Inn, Middlesex.

William Powell, of Lincoln's Inn, Middlesex.

The deed relates to landed properties in the counties of Carmarthen and Cardigan, and has come to me among many other deeds of the Lloyds of Priscedwin, a very ancient family in the county of Glamorgan, among whom the christian names of Walter and Griffith were prominent."

Can any reader assist Mr. Harris in his inquiry for particulars of this family of Lloyd. EDITOR.