f its proximity. The glory of the church is the monument,
in the Sackville Chapel, to Thomas Sackville, youngest son of the fifth
Earl of Dorset. There is nothing among the many tombs which we have
seen more interesting than this, although for charm it is not to be
compared with, say, the Shurley monument at Isfield. The young man
reclines on the tomb; at one side of him is the figure of his father,
and at the other, of his mother, both life-like and life-size, dressed
in their ordinary style. The attitudes being extremely natural the total
effect is curiously realistic. On the sides of the tomb, in bas-relief,
are the figures of the six brothers and six sisters of the youth, some
quite babies. The sculptor was Caius Cibber, Colley Cibber's father.
Other monuments are also to be seen in the Sackville Chapel, but that
which I have described is the finest.

Had Withyham church not been destroyed by fire, in 1663, in a "tempest
of thunder and lightning," it would now be second to none in Sussex in
interest and the richness of its tombs; for in that fire perished in the
Sackville aisle, now no more, on the northern side, other and perhaps
nobler Sackville monuments. The vaults, where many Sackvilles lie, were
not however injured. In the Sackville Chapel is a large window recording
the genealogy of the family, which is now represented by Earl De la
Warr, at the foot of which are the words in Latin, "The noble family of
Sackville here awaits the Resurrection."

[Sidenote: JOHN WAYLETT, BELL-FOUNDER]

Withyham has three of the bells of John Waylett, an itinerant
bell-founder at the beginning of the eighteenth century. His method was
to call on the vicar and ask if anything were wanted; and if a bell was
cracked, or if a new one was desired, he would dig a mould in a
neighbouring field, build a fire, collect his metal and perform the task
on the spot. Waylett's business might be called the higher tinkering.
Sussex has some forty of his bells. He cast the Steyning peal in 1724,
and earlier in the same year he had made a stay at Lewes, erecting a
furnace there, as Benvenuto Cellini tells us he used to do, and
remedying defective peals all around. Among others he recast the old
treble and made a new treble for Mayfield. It seems to have been
universally thirsty work: the churchwardens' papers contain an account
for beer in connection with the enterprise:

[Sidenote: BEER]