Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 1.djvu/36

 NOTES AND QUERIES. no> s. i. JAX. 9, 1904.

Ihe funds to be voted by Parliament for that purpose. The rector, churchwardens, and others were called together, and the pro- posals submitted were agreed to, it being then thought that better days were in store for this somewhat desolate-looking spot. But a change in the Government was made, and Mr. Layard became Ambassador at Madrid, and at the Office of Works Mr. Acton Smee Ayrton reigned in his stead. It is common knowledge that the ideas of the latter gentle- man upon the subject of art and embellish- ments generally were, to say the least of them, peculiar, the ultimate outcome of the negotiations being that the plan as proposed Iby his predecessor was indefinitely shelved, -all interested in the matter, just as it was ^before. No one was more vexed at the turn things had taken than Dr. Farrar, who in one of his best-remembered sermons spoke in no measured terms of the iniquity of the offence of leaving in such a neglected state what might be a beautiful and restful spot, and pointedly asked if it were not time that something should be done, so that the '*' generations of Westminster people might rest again under the green turf. There were some people who, in advocating the restora- tion of the churchyard to something like order and decency, wished the stone pyra- mids placed at intervals between the railings to be removed. I am pleased to be able to put upon record that one powerful voice was raised for their retention. Sir Reginald Palgrave protested against any removal, declaring that they had remained landmarks through a long series of years, and should continue to mark the boundary of the church- yard, no matter what was done in the way of beautifying or improvement.
 * and the place remained, to the annoyance of

The late Mr. T. C. Noble, a well-known and frequent contributor to ' N. & Q ,' wrote in the Builder of 27 August, 1881, as follows :

" After a long series of years there is some chance now of its being made a more pleasing place to look at than it has hitherto been. About an- acre in extent, its dilapidated appearance has long been an eyesore both to the church and the Abbey au- thorities; but as the only way of remedying the evil was by obtaining something like 3,000/., the amount required to plant and ornament the grounds, that step could not be readily taken."

This was certainly the position of affairs, but in that year Dr. Farrar, the rector of St. Margaret's, decided to make a great effort to improve matters, and an influential committee was formed to take the matter in hand, and it is pleasing to record that its labours in the end were crowned with success. I have been permitted to see the

minutes of this committee, and as they have passed into private hands, and may, and not improbably will, in the course of time get further alienated, I think it advisable that some portions of them should be preserved in the pages of ' N. & Q.'

The General Committee was as here given : Canon Farrar, Chairman ; the Dukes of Buc- cleuch and Westminster, the Lord Chancellor, the Speaker, Lord Richard Grosvenor, M.P., Lord Henry Scott. M.P., the Right Hon. W. H. Smith, M.P., Sir Rutherford Alcock, Sir Henry Hunt, the Dean of Westminster, Archdeacon Jennings, and Canon Prothero ; Messrs. J. H. Puleston, M.P., Herbert Gladstone, M.P., Edward Easton, J. F. Bateman, F.R.S., G. Brown, W. D. Barnett, J. M. Hora, Stewart Helder, Harry W. Lee, J. L. Pearson, R.A., G. F. Trollope, T. J. White, and J. Hockridge ; the Rev. E. A. Browne, the senior curate of St. Margaret's, Hon. Secretary. The first meeting was held on 18 June, 1881, in the vestry room of the church, the rector being in the chair. A proposition was made by the Speaker, and seconded by Sir Rutherford Alcock, that " the concession of ground (as indicated on a plan laid before the Com- mittee) be made to the Metropolitan Board of Works." The next proposition was moved by Mr. W. H. Smith and seconded by Mr. J. F. Bateman, that " Sir Rutherford Alcock and Messrs. Helder, Easton, Barnett, White, Trollope, and Lee do constitute a sub-com- mittee to draw up a petition for a faculty to carry out improvements in the churchyard, and to consider details to be laid before the next meeting of the General Committee." Further propositions were made that sub- scriptions be invited to supplement the grant of H.M. Office of Works, and that a special appeal be made to members of both Houses of Parliament to contribute to the Improve- ment Fund.

The report of the sub-committee appointed at the first meeting was duly presented, and as it is of much interest and of some im- portance, it is here given in extenso :

"That it appeared to them that the simplest plan for carrying out the proposed improve- ment is

"Firstly: To sink the gravestones in situ suffi- ciently deep to admit of the ground over them being covered with turf, the surface being reduced to the level of the north entrance to the Abbey, and to deposit the surplus within the boundaries or the churchyard. For this purpose levels have been taken, so as to have an accurate 'profile' of the churchyard, and some of the stones have been raised to ascertain the condition of the ground underneath. The sub-committee have the pleasure to report that the conditions were found to be most favourable to the undertaking, both in the churchyard generally