History and genealogy of Peter Montague, of Nansemond and ...

INTRODUCTION. 41
Boveney Churchyard.
The following beautiful description of the Ancient Church at
Boveney, where the ancestors of Peter Montague worshiped, and of
the ancient graveyard where their remains repose, is taken from
"The Book of the Thames," by Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall, London,
1859, and is appropriate in this place as well as worthy of preservation.
" Before we reach Windsor, however, we pass through Boveney
Lock. There was a fishery here from a very early period ; and
it is
recorded in the annals of Windsor that, in 1201, William, the son of
Richard de Windsor, gave two marks to the king, in order that the
pool and fishery in Boveney might be in the state it was wont to be
during the reign of Henry II. The men of this, and all other villages
near Windsor, were accustomed to give toll at Windsor of all their
merchandize. When Eton College was building, Boveney and
Maidenhead contributed their share of elm-tree wood for its con-
struction. The village is still but a small group of cottages, retaining
very primitive features. Let us step ashore for a brief while, to visit
yon ' wee ' church, half hidden among lofty trees : it is the Church
of Boveney, and is the last of its class we shall encounter; for,
although we may meet some more aged and many more picturesque,
there will be none along the banks of the great river that so thoroughly
represent the homely and unadorned fanes where the simple villagers,
have been taught to worship. It is very small, and of the most
primitive construction, consisting of four walls merely, the chancel
end being railed off by wood-work. The font is large and simple in
character, and there are traces of early mediaeval work in the external
walls ; the pulpit is Elizabethan, but the open seats of oak may be
much earlier ; the roof is arched, but has originally been supported
by open timber-work,—the cross-beams now alone remain. We have
engraved the interior as an example of one of our sacred edifices,
where, through many ages, sate
" The rude forefathers of the hamlet."
After inspecting the interior, and wondering why so small a church
was ever built, we returned to the churchyard, and stood for some
little time beneath the shadow of a glorious old tree, whose boughs
and foliage formed a protection against rain or sunshine. The old
withered woman who had opened the church-door followed, and
regretted the gentry should be disappointed, as there was ' nothing ta
4