The Rowe Chapel was erected in 1614 by Sir Henry Rowe, Knt, as a place of burial for his family. The Rowes were distinguished inhabitants of this parish in the 17th century; various branches of their family fixed at Hackney, Shacklewell, and Muswell-hill. From the female line of the latter branch is descended the present Marquis of Downshire, who has caused the chapel to be cased with stone and preserved as a mausoleum. Within this building are monuments to several of the Rowe family, two of whom served the office of Lord Mayor of London.

The New Church of Hackney* stands at a short distance from the site of the ancient church, on the north-east. This building was commenced in May 1792, and was consecrated on the 15th of July, 1797. The structure is generally of brick above the plinth, which has a casing of Portland stone, and there are stone imposts to the piers forming the arched recesses in which the windows and doors are placed. The plan is cru ciform, and the projecting face of the elevation in each front is finished by a triangular pediment, the cornice of which receives and terminates the covering of the roof, and being con. tinued at the eave of the building, the general uniformity of the design is retained in all parts.

There are five entrances, each of which opens to a spacious vestibule, The principal entrance is on the north, and is protected by a semi-circular Ionic portico of Portland stone. The other entrances are at the extremities of the east and west sides, and each of these has a porch corresponding with the portico, and contains a staircase leading to the gallery. The steeple rises over the vestibule at the north end of the structure, and is composed of brick with an exterior of Portland stone. This, together with the portico and porches, was added to the building in the years 1812, and 1813; and the whole was erected after the design, and under the direction of, Mr. Spiller.

The

It will be obvious that the annexed View was taken while this building was in a state of progress.

The interior of the church is equilateral, its dimensions each way being 105 feet, clear of the walls. The central area is 68 feet square. The ceiling is vaulted, and is finished in stucco. The walls are likewise stuccoed, but only few decorative mouldings or enrichments of any kind are introduced.

There is a very spacious gallery, supported by columns of the Doric order, on three sides of the church, the plan of which being partly circular an uninterrupted communication is maintained throughout; and in the western portion of this gallery is a fine and powerful organ, the gift of liberal individuals. The pulpit, reading-desk, and pews are of wainscot, and the whole of the furniture is of a neat and very respectable cha

racter.*

When the design of a new church at Hackney was first entertained by the parishioners, it was proposed to construct the building on a plan capable of seating 3000 persons; but the magnitude of this intention was afterwards curtailed, and the architect was restricted to his present limits. The building is still presumed to have capacity for accommodating upon seats the largest congregation of any church in England; the pews and open seats being sufficient to receive 2500 persons, and the aisles will admit many more. It would appear that capacious dimensions, at the least possible charge, formed the great object of request with those concerned in defraying the cost of this structure. The persons chiefly interested must therefore needs perceive cause for satisfaction-as they have a large church, and the expense of the building, as it now stands, amounted to no more than 28,000/.

The only monument within the body of the new church is a mural

It has been found that the light admitted by the large window on the east is too powerful, while the glass is transparent; and some fine painted glass is now preparing, which will at once afford a remedy to the inconvenience and a pleasing ornament to the chancel. The expense of this glass is estimated at nearly 1000%. and is to be defrayed by a private subscription, which is greatly promoted by the Reverend Dr. Watson and his friends.

a mural cenotaph, by Regnart, in memory of Henry Newcome, Captain in the Royal Navy, who died at Madras, in the year 1797. In the two vestibules on the northern side of the build, ing are preserved several monuments, removed thither from the interior of the ancient edifice. Among these venerable memorials the following demand notice :-an erection, resem bling an altar-tomb, surmounted by an obtuse arch ornamented with foliage and tracery work, is usually termed the monument of Christopher Urswick (whom we have briefly noticed as a rector of this parish, and a benefactor to the old church), Beneath the arch is the following inscription; "Christophero Urswyk, Rectore, Ao Dai 1519." On each side are the letters MIA (Misericordia). On the slab of the altar is now placed the brass effigies of Urswick, with the word "Miseri cordia" at length; and on the stone beneath the arch is, likewise, now seen a brass plate, inscribed with his epitaph in Latin. He died in 1521, in the 64th year of his age. But it is observed by Mr. Lysons that these commemorative brasses were removed from Urswick's grave-stone in the chancel; and the same writer supposes, with every appearance of correctness, that the altar and ornamental arch were not intended for a monumental purpose, but were designed for the support of the holy sepulchre during the ceremonials of Easter.* It will be observed that the date cut on the stone is two years previous

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• The representation of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem was a pageant annually exhibited in the Romish churches, between Good Friday and Easter Day and appears to have usually consisted of a temporary frame of wood, covered, perhaps, with black and furnished on the outside with tapers. The Sepulchre was watched, in imitation of the soldiers, for two nights. There are numerous instances in which table monuments were constructed in chancels, for the purpose of supporting the Sepulchre, while at the same time they commemorated some pious person deceased. See many allusions to this annual pageant in "Illustrations of the manners and expenses of ancient times in England, deduced from the accompts of churchwardens," &c.

to the decease of Urswick, as specified on the brass-plate removed from the slab over his grave. Christopher Urswick was a man of equal talent and piety. He was chaplain to Henry VII, and was employed in promoting the union between that King and Elizabeth of York. Refusing an offered bishopric, and resigning several valuable preferments, be retired to his rectory of Hackney, where he passed the decline of life in the exercise of religious offices.

A monument to David Doulben, Bishop of Bangor, who died in 1633, has a good bust of that prelate.

In the vestibule on the north-west is the monument of Thomas Wood, Esq. who died in 1649. The effigies of himself and his lady, standing before a desk and book, with sons* kneeling on one side, and daughters on the other, are represented in alto relievo on white marble. This piece of sculp ture presents a conspicuous instance of the tasteful deviation from old models partially adopted towards the middle of the 17th century. Instead of the cold inanimate figures usual with more ancient tombs, we see on this monument a welljudged diversity of attitude and expression. The grouping is good; and, while each figure is evidently oppressed by grief and intent on supplication, each evinces the prevailing feeling or sentiment in a different but natural mode.

The monument of James Sotheby, Esq. was executed by Roubiliac, and was erected to his memory, and that of several other persons of his family, by "William and Mary, the only surviving children out of seven, in the year 1750."

In a lower division of the tower of the old church are some other monuments, and mutilated parts of monumental figures and tablets, removed from the ancient building.

The rectory of Hackney constitutes a manor, known by the

name

Henry, the eldest son of Mr. Wood was created a Baronet. Thomas, the third son, near whom the sculptor has placed a mitre, was Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry.