Bray, Berkshire, England

St Michael's church, Bray, is, according to Nikolaus Pevsner* writing in 1966, 'a remarkably large church'. One of the highlights for him was the memorial to the founder of Jesus Hospital, William Goddard (died 1609) and his wife, which has the following 'worth while' inscription:

'If what I was thou seekest to know,
These lynes my character shall show,
Those benefits that God me lent,
With thankes I tooke, and freely spent:
I scorned what plainess could not gett,
And, next to treason, hated debt;
Loved not those that stirr'd up strife:
True to my friend and to my wife.
The latter here by me I have,
We had one bed, and have one grave.
My honesty was such that I
When death came, feared not to dye.'

Of the famous Singing Vicar of Bray, David Nash Ford† writes: he 'had a well-known ballad written about him in which he promised to remain the Vicar of Bray, Sir no matter what religious denomination he had to adopt.' His preferred candate for this is 'Simon Alleyn (Vicar 1523-65) and his memorial slab lies in the middle of the nave'.


* Pevsner, Nikolaus 'The Buildings of England Berkshire' (1966) Penguin Books, page 100.
† Ford, David Nash 'Royal Berkshire History' (2005) - www.berkshirehistory.com. Nash Ford Publishing: Finchampstead