Antiquaries in the Age of Romanticism: 1789-1851 - Queen Mary ...

the Blessed Virgin and the four Latin Fathers, which are worked into the pulpit’, thus marking ‘a
new era’ in antiquarianism. 87 It is difficult to see from this account what, beyond taste, had
changed.
For Roman Catholics, including John Milner and A W N Pugin, however, the use of
historic objects, down to the reuse of individual ancient stones, in ecclesiastical interiors was
redolent of religious significance, as will be discussed in the next chapter. Why this was not
apparently the case for Anglicans in a moot point. The social confidence of the established
church and its avowed catholicity may be factors. Whatever the reason, the use that Sara Losh
made of such fragments in an Anglican church marks her out as unusual. While occupying the
familiar role of squire, or patron to the parish, in command of considerable resources and
building at exactly the same time as Lord Ongley and Lord Brougham, she nevertheless used
antiquities sparingly. Those which she did introduce were subsumed in the larger symbolic
programme of the whole and were imbued with personal as much as historic significance. Thus,
perhaps uniquely, she brought the ethos of the private antiquarian interior into an Anglican
church.
Among the few antiquities bought for the church is the medieval asperges bucket,
brought back from Normandy. 88 A few other items were similarly private, individual purchases.
The others were gifts from relatives. They include the Italian carved panels that comprise the
backs of the chairs that serve as chancel stalls. 89 Depicting the nativity these panels are described
by Drew as ‘ebony’, which is possible although it seems more likely that they were made of oak
that has been washed with the ubiquitous stain. 90 The panels retain their discrete identity, the
chairs making in effect frames for them. Perhaps the most interesting antique fragments in the
church, however, are the pieces of medieval glass. These were brought back from France by
Losh’s cousin William. Drew, who assumes the glass was salvaged from the French Revolution,
is puzzled about this as William was only a child at the time. Londsdale, however, describes the
87
Yonge, John Keble’s Parishes, p.92.
88
Lonsdale, The Loshes of Woodside, describes the interior of the church. There is also a list of ‘Contents’ in Drew,
‘Sara Losh and the “Chapel of Ease”’, Chapter 3. I have relied on these and my own observations.
89
These chairs have been stolen since 2000, when I first visited Wreay and so further inspection was not possible.
90
Drew, ‘Sara Losh and the “Chapel of Ease”’, p.40.
195