It is interesting to point out that there is another Quaker meeting-house in the hamlet of Jordans, in Buckinghamshire, which is, if anything, smaller than that already referred to. It has been called the Shrine of Quakerism, for early in June every year a gathering of Quakers takes place. Here lie the remains of William Penn, one of the greatest of Quakers. At a cottage in the vicinity Milton wrote his "Paradise Lost."
[Illustration: (_Photo: R. W. Lord, Little Lever, near Bolton._)
THE FRIENDS' MEETING-HOUSE, CRAWSHAWBOOTH.
(_Containing six oak benches to accommodate sixty worshippers._)]
To revert to churches, Kilpeck Church is well worth referring to as being a lovely little place of worship. The nave is thirty-six feet by twenty, and the chancel seventeen by sixteen feet ten inches, the total length being sixty-eight feet and the average breadth about sixteen feet. It is built upon a Saxon foundation, and Saxon remains are still to be seen--notably, a "holy-water" stoup that must be one thousand or eleven hundred years old. It is not possible to do justice to this beautiful church in a few words, but the accompanying photograph will give an idea of the quaintness and beauty of the structure. The sculpture is remarkably interesting.
[Illustration: (_Photo: Poulton and Sons, Lee._)
An article on midget places of worship would be incomplete without a reference to the little lath-and-plaster church of Essex, consisting of nave, chancel, and a small turret. Hazeleigh Church, as it is named, stands in the near vicinity of Hazeleigh Hall--once the home of the Essex family of the Alleynes, one of whom founded the College of God's Gift at Dulwich. This little church has thus been described by the Rev. H. R. Wadmore, sometime curate:--
"... A little church beside a wood Securely sheltered from the sweeping blast; So quiet, so secure, it seems to be A very type of rest and all that's still."
This little church of Hazeleigh, owing to its simple character, differs but slightly from the roadside cottages. It has been styled "the meanest church in Essex," owing to its unpretentious character.
[Illustration: (_Photo: Cassell and Co., Ltd._)
(_The most primitive church in the kingdom._)]