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54 KIPLING'S SUSSEX
" Rector Frewen," Mark Gerrad; and " Lord Keeper Coventry and his fair wife," by Jansen. Here, too, is a curious finger-organ, by Schmidt; a wheel barometer, made use of by Archbishop Frewen; the ruthless Oxenbridge's spur; and Queen Elizabeth's green silk shoes. The Church, dedicated to St. Mary, has a Norman tower, crowned by a turret with a stone spire. There are brasses for Robert Penford, rector, d. 1518, and Nicholas Tufton, d. 1538. The mausoleum of the Frewen family was erected in 1846, from Smirke's designs; the stained-glass window is by Wille-ment, and the bust of A. Frewen by Behnes.
The present rector, Rev. A. Frewen Aylward, is a descendant in direct line of John Frewen, rector of Northiam in 1585. There are references to this family in Kipling's " Gloriana." Also in this story Gloriana gave the Norgem parson a text for his sermon—" Over Edom have I cast out my shoe." As Queen Elizabeth was a little hazy in regard to the parson's name, I consulted the list of Rectors which is hung up in Northiam Church tower. I found that in 1576 the incumbency was held by John Withers or Withens, but the spelling of the name was uncertain—hence Elizabeth's haziness, and Rudyard Kipling's uncertainty! |
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