CONQUEROR'S SHOW

Hokitika Guardian, 17 July 1933, Page 8

CONQUEROR'S SHOW

STOItY OF BATTLE ABBEY.

HITORIC RELIGIOUS HOUSE

LONDON, June 9.

Battle Abbey, in Sussex, is a centre Of historic interest', and it is one of the places best t hotvii 'to ■' archaeologists. Three “fcrucial iuombhts”' in its dtaina were' referred to by the Bishop of Chichester on Mky 27, whthi life 1 officiated at A special Service s find hallovviiig ceremony, 'following festhratfoh 'after 1 a fire two ’ years' ago! 1 - Battle Abbey lias for 11‘ yeats heoirtVsed as" : 'H girls’ sclipol. There was a : great ’a'ssenibly of notable people on ’the 1 obOasioii, a tablet' unveiled 1 by ' Princess 'Alice, Cburii&fe of Atlrloiie, with whom was the Earl of Athlone. :r ‘ ' ’ M

As ' su.mifiaVis'cd by' the' bishhp, here are 'the three outstaridiiig moments in the history of Battle Abbey:—(].) The fulfilment • of William“ the 'Conqueror's vow that if, God gave him’victory over the Saxons lie would build ah abbey to St- Martin; (2) A' day in 1538 “ivhich : by a strange chance coincides with’ this very 27th of May’—tVhc'n ‘Cromwell cattle riding up to the gate demanding the’surrender of the abbey and of'all its wealth . That day saw the first step i i* the tfansforiiVation of the ilbbot’s houeb 1 ‘inter A great ' private iViarisibn. J Fbur mote centuries were destined 1 W'ViasS 'before the' next (arid third) hfitical -Went took’ places when the abbey was tf'afe'forme'd into h school. It was Battle Abbey, in its roriclitiov’ls of a. school which was being reopened. . .. :.

NEW POINTS OF INTEREST. The work Of restoration, was 'carried out under the direction of Sir Harold Briikspehr and many new points of interest have The principal of these ate: The'piscina !of the abbot’s chapel, with doorways and a wall staircase leading to the chapel from the cloister;' one of tlie original'‘windows of the sub-vault of the abbot’s great charnber, ’ with dorivays of entrance to a secb'nd Wall staircase; ,a second chi}, pel off the ‘ great chamber, with its original east 'window,' witli ’an arched recess for the ‘altar’ and a 'window betWebh the.' chapet' aheX great chambet; the abbot’fi kitchen, ’with' a large fireplace,'W great drain;‘beneath' and va.fi••bfis 'doorivays to different' parts of. fhe house. The testorkiiott lias''been car.'ried'out' npin the linos of "fhe. original Or the "hlietatichs made '/in;, tlie sixteenth ‘century," and, in spite of-‘the lirb" and tlie ' altefations made 1 fstome hundreds 'of ‘ yehrs ago, Battle Abbey is accepted to-day as Hie liest biample anywhere of ah ’abbot’s house in a EenOdictine mbn'asfe'fy. • ' There ' ’were severST picturesque touches About tlie cefemony, which included the blessing ‘ of "the foiir\ hew hbuSe bahiiefs and’tlie Hallowing of tho newly-discovered chapel by the bishop. Atofrc pail of the’service a -Workman stepped forward to the dais and said in a clear voice: “Right reverend father—l speak'for "those who have' laboured with their hands in the remaking' of that which Was marred or destroyed in this noble building. We have given, of our best, and our‘hope is that our work may ‘prove sound;” Then one of the pupils, in thb tussoro silk frock of the school uniform', asked the bishop> for a benediction upon the housei and the school.

NEED FOR RELIGIOUS FAITH. In the course of his address the Bishop of Chichester said: “As you Wander through tlie cloisters or up the staircase bo 'the abbot’s hall—-as you pass kcross tho lawns—or. look out over the’ distance—Saxon and Norman, peasant and king, festival 'and fair and 100 pictures of war and peace* life and death, ’ may rise bofoie you. So steeped is Battle Abbey soil in the history of thd : English people. “But—for you in particular—there is something more than that. As the third foundation, never forget that tho birth of Rattle Abbey was a king’s vow to Almighty God and that the stones on which this fabric is raised af the stones of a religious house. Any education which is worthy of tho n’ame must be instinct with religion; and I think that what England needs, and’humanity needs at this moment more , than any other thing, is 'a religion's faith.

Science is useless to us unless we have ho thing to do with good or evil, with the satisfaction of human desires. It cannot provide a faith for the modern world. It can only provide the me'ans for achieving what we want to -achieve. Science is useless to use unless we have a faith that can use it. And the faith tif England, by which it has lived and achieve, is Christianity.