Legends of the Isle of Wight: Godshill

[Abraham Elder, in *Bentley's Miscellany*, 1839](https://archive.org/details/sim_bentleys-miscellany_1839-07_6/page/255/mode/1up?q=godshill)

Having received a letter from Captain Nosered, of Violet Cottage, Ventnor, containing an invitation for Mr. Winterblossom and myself to spend the day with him, stating at the same time that he had a tale for me connected with that neighbourhood, very curious, and well-authenticated, which he wished to show me; as the captain was an old friend of mine, we accepted the invitation, and set out in a car together the next day.

“Pray, sir,” said I, as we went along,”what is that church that I see yonder perched up at the top of a hill?”

“ Godshill,” answered the antiquary.

“ Godshill! Pray can you inform me how it got that name? It cannot be because it is nearer to heaven than the country round it.”

“I certainly never heard that reason for it before. I always understood that it had been named Godshill in commemoration of a miracle that tradition tells us was performed at the building of the church. The story, as it is now told, and by many still believed, in the Isle of Wight, is as follows:—

“A sum of money having been given by certain pious individuals, whose names unfortunately are now lost, for the erection of a church, the religious authorities of the Island, under whose direction it was to be erected, looked out for a proper site for it. After mature deliberation, they fixed upon a spot at the foot of the steep eminence upon which the present church stands.

“Having arranged this to their own satisfaction, they sent a messenger to the proprietor of the land, informing him that the Bishop of the Isle of Wight, after a solemn consultation with a council composed of ancient and holy men, having at heart the spiritual welfare of his island flock, had at length decided upon conferring upon him the high honour and distinction of allowing the church to be built upon his land; and he begged him moreover not to be puffed up with pride thereat, but to receive the favour thus conferred upon him with all humility and gratitude.

“Now it so happened that the owner of this land was a poor franklin (a freeholder), of very limited means and a very large family, and moreover he was by no means of a religious turn of mind. In his heart he hated all priests and monks; he went to sleep at mass when he did attend it; fast-day and feast were to him alike; and as for confession, he avoided it altogether, — not because he had nothing to confess, but because he was afraid of frightening the priest if he told the truth; and where was the good of confession if he told lies.

“There were, however, occasional exceptions to this rule. There was a certain jolly wandering friar, who used to visit him occasionally and shrive him, without being too particular about trifles; and, besides, he used to hear his confession after supper, which tended to make it pass off very smoothly. Once, indeed, the friar ordered him a slight penance; but then upon that visit he found his landlord’s ale a little turned, which might in some degree have soured his temper. The franklin used to say, that a simmering mug of ale, with a roasted crab bobbing about in it, would get him absolution from any sin in the world.

“This being the character of the man who owned the land, it may easily be imagined that, although he avoided the first evil of being conferred upon him with all the humility and gratitude required of him.

“He did not, however, dare to fly in the face of his powerful self-styled benefactors. He hemmed, and hawed, and coughed, and then remarked what a splendid site for the church there was just at the top of the hill.

“He was informed that that situation had been well considered, and it was thought to be too much exposed.

“The franklin then changed his tone, and, looking down to the ground with a well-feigned humility, he said to the monk —

“‘Father, the fact is, I am a very great sinner; and if the church is built upon land belonging to me, it will be erected upon unholy ground. I pray you, father, consider this well. My neighbours on both sides are pious persons, and their land contains magnificent sites for building churches. If you build your church upon their land, it will not stand upon unholy ground; and the high honour will be conferred upon a pious person, who is worthy to be distinguished by the favour, of the bishop and his reverend council.’

“The monk replied, ‘Your being a sinner is no obstacle, but the reverse; for, when the foundation stone is laid, you will receive absolution for all your sins, be they ever so black; and as for the land being tainted with unholiness, we can consecrate that.’

“The franklin was now sorely puzzled what to say. He muttered something about the largeness of his family and the smallness of his farm, and how the spot fixed upon was the best bit of the whole, and how he might be reduced to poverty.

“The monk, however, turned a deaf ear to all this, affecting either not to hear or not to understand the drift of his argument; and so, without in the least committing himself by any hint about the possibility of compensation, he hied him back to his masters, and told them how, when he had delivered his message, the franklin bent his eyes with all humility towards the ground, and replied, that he was too great a sinner for so high an honour to be conferred upon him.

“In the due course of time the bishop’s architect came to survey the spot, and trace out the lines of the foundation, and some stones from the quarry at Binstead were piled in a heap, ready for the commencement of the building. The next morning the architect and the masons made their appearance. How great was their astonishment to find not a single stone remaining where they had placed it, and not a single peg or mark put in by the architect remaining there!

“They stood here for some time, first staring at the bare field, then looking at one another, and then staring at the ground again.

“‘Where are all the buildng stones gone to?’ said one.

“‘Where are all my pegs that marked out the lines of the foundation?’ said the architect.

“‘Where are all the stones and the pegs gone to, Master Franklin? What tricks have you been playing us, Master Franklin?’ said one of them to the owner of the field.

“The franklin looked innocence itself, then opened his eyes and his mouth, and raised up his hands in mute astonishment.

“‘It strikes me’ said one of the labourers, scratching his head, ‘that we most just have mistaken our way, and come to the wrong field.’

“‘That’s quite impossible!’ said two or three of the others, speaking together.

“While they were thus debating, the owner of the land at the top of the hill made his appearance among them.

“‘Is this fair? – is this right? — is this honourable?’ said he.

“‘What fair?— what right?’ rejoined the architect. ‘We do not understand you.’

“‘I know well,’ said the man from the top of the hill, ‘that land is oftentimes seized to erect a church upon, without compensation being given to the owner; but I ask you, is it not hard, very hard, that the foundations of a church should be pegged out, and the stones placed ready for the builder, upon my land, without my being told a word about it beforehand? Sir, I honour the priesthood and holy men as a good man ought; but not when they come like a thief in the night to plunder me of my patrimony. Fie! fie! Master Architect. What! — must you come in the night, while I am asleep, to mark out your foundations, and place your building-stones all ready to begin with? Why, if I had overslept myself, I might almost have found when I awoke my best field converted into buildings and churchyards.’

“‘What can the man mean?’ said the architect, when the little man from the top of the hill stopped to take breath.

“ Why, it is just what I thought,’ said one of the masons; ‘there must be two fields somehow or other so exactly alike, that we must have mistaken the one for the other.’

“‘I can assure you,’ said our friend the franklin, putting in his word, ‘that, although he appears a little excited at present, he is a very sensible, respectable, pious man; but what he is talking about I cannot imagine.’

“‘Look up there,’ said the little man from the top of the hill; ‘there they have already brought stones to commence a church with, and have actually begun to mark out the direction of the foundations.’

“In consequence, everybody did look up in the direction he pointed, and certainly they did perceive the tops of two heaps of stones showing themselves above the brow of the hill. The architect and his assistants immediately directed their steps there, and, to their great astonishment, they found the building-stones disposed in much the same order on the top of the hill that they had placed them in the field below.

“What was to be done? The bishop had arranged that he should come that very afternoon to lay the first stone of the church himself. There was, therefore, no time to be lost; so, without speculating further how the stones had contrived to get up to the top of a steep hill without assistance, they set themselves to work in good earnest to bring them down again; and before the appointed time for the bishop’s arrival the stones were all heaped up as they were before, the architect had pegged out the shape of the new church, and a little part of the foundation had been dug, ready to receive the first stone.

“Shortly after the hour at which the bishop was expected, a group of monks and other ecclesiastics were seen collected together in the distance waiting for him. After the lapse of about twenty minutes, the dignitary himself riding on a mule, attended by about six or seven mounted attendants, joined their inferior brethren, who were awaiting him. They now formed themselves into a procession, walking two and two, those on foot marching first, then the bishop; his mounted companions followed two and two, and a few more attendants on foot brought up the rear.

“As they advanced at a slow pace, they chanted a psalm. One half of them chanted the first verse, the other half replied to them in a higher note, while here and there their united voices swelled into a loud chorus.

“The workmen and the peasantry, who were assembled round the destined site of the new church, listened with deep devotion to the solemn notes of the holy song, now swelling loud, now dying away upon the summer wind.

“When the procession arrived at the spot, the monks on foot filed to the right and to the left, still raising their voices, and turning up their eyes towards heaven. The bishop on his mule now arrived in front, and it was expected that he would dismount and offer up a prayer for the success of their undertaking. Had he been on foot, there is no doubt but that he would have done so; but mules are animals proverbially obstinate, delighting in showing that they have a will of their own, independent of their master’s. So was it in the present instance; for the animal, instead of stopping short, as he was directed to do, continued to walk leisurely on, till at length he quickened his pace into a trot, and he had actually ascended half way up the steep hill in front before he could be brought to a full stop. At length the bishop returned crestfallen and out of humour, and having taken his appointed place, he commenced his prayer for the success of the undertaking, resting his knee upon an embroidered footstool, while the rest of the congregation knelt upon the ground. After his prayer was concluded, some masonic tools and a small silver coin were given to him. He now, with the assistance of two masons, deposited the coin, and settled down the stone upon it. They chanted a psalm; and when this was concluded, the bishop’s attendant deacon called for the franklin by name. When he had come, the bishop said, ‘Kneel down.’

“The franklin knelt.

“The bishop then, after praising him for his piety, pronounced a full absolution for all his sins, and all the ecclesiastics responded in a deep ‘Amen.’ The bishop then gave the whole assembly his parting benediction, and the ceremony was at an end.

“As the venerable fathers rode home together, they discussed and rediscussed, and commented upon the curious tale of which they had heard several versions that morning; how all the building-stones, together with the architect’s markers and pegs, had been mysteriously conveyed away from their allotted spot to the top of a steep hill in the neighbourhood. It could not have been chance. If the stones had rolled from the top of the hill down to the bottom, it would have been another thing; but stones cannot roll up a hill.

“Was it a miracle? Catholic priests in all ages of the world are supposed to be oftener preachers than believers of the miracles that take place under their own eyes; so, though the possibility of its having been a miracle was thrown out once or twice, the majority were decidedly against the opinion that a miracle had been worked in the present instance.

“Then there was a third supposition. It might have been a trick played upon them by some base reprobate. This appeared to them all to be much more unlikely than either of the two foregoing suppositions. Where could a man be found so utterly wicked as to wish to do such an action? Certainly not in the Isle of Wight, so celebrated for its piety. But even suppose such a man was found, how was it possible to imagine for a moment that he would dare to do it? The church can excommunicate as well as bless; besides, people had been burnt alive for sacrilege before; then what object could any person possibly have in doing so? It certainly could not be merely for the sake of running the chance of being burnt alive, with the addition of the curses of the church, and the execration of all mankind. Then, again, how could he possibly carry his intentions into execution, even if he was mad enough to desire it? It could have been no light labour to have carried all the stones up the hill; and it was evidently quite impossible to have done it without being observed by some of the neighbours; and what neighbour would dare to conceal such an action from the Holy Church?

“At length one of the brothers interrupted this discussion, saying, in a most solemn tone,

“‘In the blindness of your hearts, and in the eagerness of your talking, yon have altogether forgotten the most important fact of all.’

“‘What is that?’ demanded two or three at once.

“‘Had it not been for the assistance of two strong men in stopping his mule, the bishop himself would have been carried up to the top of the hill.’

“It would never have done for the other ecclesiastics to have cast any reflections upon the horsemanship of their superior; so it was absolutely necessary for them all to come to the conclusion that there was something very supernatural and wonderful in the whole affair. Thus ostensibly, at any rate, the theory of the miracle carried it hollow.

“The bishop, however, between whom and the mule similar differences of opinion, attended with precisely the same results, had frequently occurred before, could not in his heart subscribe to the proof that appeared to have convinced the rest; so he thus addressed his attendants.

“‘Brethren, however singular may have appeared what we have heard and seen this day, we ought not lightly to adopt an opinion that anything has occurred out of the common order of nature, lest other causes, simple and obvious to the unlearned, should by chance be brought to light, sufficient to account for what has happened, and thus the authority of the Church be brought into jeopardy. I will therefore order two men to be placed to watch the spot to-night, and to-morrow we will discuss this matter again, after they should have made their report.’

“One of his attendants was in consequence sent back to direct two of the workmen to remain on the spot all night, and to give them his blessing, which was accordingly done.

“A messenger from the bishop was sent to them again in the morning, to see whether all had remained quiet during the night. The account that he brought beck was, that he found the two men lying upon the ground in a helpless state, like men weary in body and oppressed with strong drink. He roused them with some trouble, and they then gave a very strange and marvellous account of what they had seen and heard during the night.

“The most extraordinary fact, however, that the messenger had to report was, that the stones had all contrived to get up to the top of this hill again; the foundation-stone had been taken away, and the trench filled up, and the turf laid smooth again.

“Upon ascending the hill, they found the building-stones bestowed in the same form they were the morning before; the lines of the foundation were in the same manner pegged out by the architect’s marks; a small portion of the foundation had been dug, and the first stone had been laid, — the identical first stone that had been laid by the bishop in another place the evening before.

“The bishop, upon hearing this, ordered the two watchers and all the other persons who had been employed the day previous to be brought before him. The account that the two watchers gave was, that about midnight they were startled by a low rumbling noise, which appeared to issue from the heaps of stones. Presently the stones were observed to move, rolling about one against another, just as if there was a large body moving about and kicking in the midst of the heap; then a little stone rolled off the top of the heap, and tumbled on the ground; but it quite made their hair stand on end to see that, instead of stopping there, it kept on rolling and rolling, —where the ground was rough it hopped and skipped, and then went on rolling again in the direction of the hill. Then out came another stone, and rolled, and skipped, and rolled like the first. In a little time, when the stones had contrived to shake themselves out of the heap, where they seemed to be very much in one another’s way, they all began rollng away together, — the little ones going faster and more nimbly than the others. The watchers said that they had some difficulty in getting out of the way, there were so many of them on the move together. A large stone, indeed, did come foul of one of them, hit him on the shin, and knocked him out of the way, nearly breaking his leg, and then went bowling on, as if it did not care whether his leg was broken or not.

“When the stones had all gone by, they determined, though they were very much frightened at the time, to follow them, and see what they would do. They overtook them at a steep pitch of the hill, which appeared to offer considerable hindrance to their ascent The little ones, indeed, were seen scrambling up without any very great difficulty; but the large heavy ones could hardly get on at all. Some of them rolled half way over, and then rolled back again, but, after one or two efforts, they generally got a roll in advance; and when they passed the steep pitch, they bowled away again merrily.

“The watchers waited until they had all passed the difficulty except one large stone, with a very awkward angle sticking out of its side, which seemed effectually to prevent its turning over at all. It contrived to turn half way over, and then rolled back again, and this it had repeated so often, that it had actually worked itself into a hole, and all its efforts to extricate itself seemed hopeless.

“The watchers consulted with one another whether it would not be an act of charity to lend the poor stone a hand, and then they knelt down and put their shoulders against its under side and gave a heave. The great awkward stone rolled over, and then kept scrambling on as if it had been just as well made as the rest of its companions.

“They followed the stones to the top of the hill to watch their proceedings there. The stones in several places were seen huddling themselves close together, and there were some others rolled up to them, and gave one hop, and jumped on to the top of them, till at length there were seen piled up in just such heaps as they lay in before down below. Then the pegs — the architect’s pegs were hopping about upon the ground like sparrows; but their wooden heads did not seem to be half so sharp-witted as the stones, for they seemed sorely puzzled where to place themselves, notwithstanding the apparent exertions of a tall wand, with a bit of coloured rag at the top of it, which kept constantly moving backward and forward, now sticking himself in at one corner, and then at another, probably much in the same way that it had previously done under the architect’s directions. But long before they had made their arrangements to anything like their own satisfaction, up hopped a spade, which banged across the ground they were marking, knocking down two or three pegs in his way without any ceremony, and began sedulously digging and throwing out the earth. It was marvellous to see how it crammed itself into the ground, and then threw out the earth, without any hand or foot to guide it.

“When it had dug a hole sufficiently large, up rolled a large flat stone, and squatted itself down in it. The stone was afterwards found to be the same identical stone that had been laid by the bishop with so much ceremony down below.

“This was the account given by the two men who had been set to watch.

“One of the other men employed now stepped forward, and said, that with regard to the bad hurt that one of the watchers had got upon his shin, he was quite certain that his companion had not received that hurt up to late in the evening before. They always worked with bare legs, and he must therefore have seen it.

“Here the bishop and his council put their heads together, and consulted a little in an under tone. It was evident that the man had received his hurt some time during the night, and not during his work hours; and it was quite incredible that he could purposely have inflicted such an injury upon himself. This was a strong piece of circumstantial evidence, and went far to prove the truth of the story. Then the account given by these two men agreed so exactly in every particular, — they were so accurate in the description of every minute circumstance, — all the different parts of the story fitted so well together, that they considered it unnecessary to hear any farther evidence upon the subject The bishop then dismissed the assembly.

“Two days after this the bishop, attended by the principal ecclesiastics and the chief inhabitants of the Isle of Wight, went in solemn procession to consecrate the new site of the church. The ceremony was very similar to the preceding one, except that the bishop recited at great length, and with some trifling alterations and additions, the wonderful miracle that had taken place upon the spot. After he had concluded his address, they raised the foundation-stone to see whether the piece of money was still lying under it.

“Great was the astonishment of all the assembly to find that it was gone, and exactly in the spot where it should have been was found the paring of a thumb-nail As soon as this was publicly announced, a loud and universal shout arose — ‘A relic! a holy relic!’ I pass over altogether, for it would be grating to the ear of every religious Protestant, the consultations that were held upon the subject, the processions that followed, the masses that were said, the adorations that were paid to this trumpery and filthy object. It is sufficient to know that the site was consecrated, the church was built, and the ground upon which it was erected has ever since been known by the name of God’s-hill.

“The franklin was highly pleased to have had all his sins absolved by the bishop himself, without the necessity of any confession; while his cows still ranged over his favourite field; and the two watchers never passed that way without partaking of the best cheer that the franklin could set before them.”