| OCR Text |
Show SHAKESPEARE'S CHURCH. Some JnlerMtln lUllot Touud Dortntr IVork of ltostorntlob. An unusual motint of public Interest Inter-est is Just now being shown In the rtoratlon work nt Holy Trinity Church, Stmtford-on-Avon. Workmen are engaged In Ufclnjr up tho floor of tho nave, sld aisles and trancepts, preparatory pre-paratory to the laying down of new block floors and pavements. Having to oxcavate gomo depth for tho purpose of filling In with concrete and comont, ome curious old vaults, quaint epitaphs epi-taphs and tombs aro being disclosed, and aro being treated with tho greatest care. A portion of tho present church dateo back nearly 700 years, and all authorities agrco that upon the same slto stood a much older church of the Saxon porlod, As ft plnoo of oepulchor the site has no doubt been In uso tor 1,000 years. The floors of, the naro, and particularly tho transepts, aro honeycombed with vaults, and It will bo necessary to lowor the crown of tho arch of many so as to excavate to tho proper depth. An lntormonts Inside churches ore not now permitted, all the vaults will moat likely bo filled In. Thoy aro not bolng entered, but In Uic course of tho work coffins, mostly of lead, are scon, and skulls and bones uro bolng turned up occasionally. Thoso nro treated with tho utmost rov-cronco rov-cronco and will bo relntorrod fn tho churchynrd. A group of vaults In tho south transept hoa. beon exposed. Thoy contain tho bodlco of the Mason family, fam-ily, tho lntormonts dating from 1G89. Tho family Is now extinct, W old Stratfordlans tell of a remarkable, yot horrible, act o self-destruction committed com-mitted by ono of the Mason family sixty or seventy years ago. Going into a hovel in the paddock at tho back of tho house, ho put togothor a gri't quantity of straw, and, lying down on top of It, ho set tho hoap on flro and wns literally roasted allro. Quaint Inscriptions aro being brought to Usht In removing tho wooden floor thai covered tho old otono paving of tho transepts, and It is satisfactory to know that nil will be carefully pro-served pro-served nnd ehown In tho "random pavement" which will border tho povs. St. James's Gazette. |
