14 ALVECHURCH.

swearer, a nefarious pintious lyer, and a contentious person," and "hath never been heard to put up one prayer either for the Parliament or for distressed Protestants in the kingdom of Irelande except on particular times, and then it was with the limitation 'if soe be that they be of the same religion as wee 'are on.'" Of course Mr. Hollington had speedy notice to quit from Cromwell's "triers," and Master Richard Moore was introduced into Alvechurch pulpit in his stead. He was the author of "A Pearl in an Oyster Shell." At the Restoration he was ousted, and afterwards preached privately at Wetherock Hill, while his predecessor Hollington was reinstated. Wm. Worth, Prebendary of Worcester and Archdeacon, 1713, was also rector of Alvechurch. He was a collector of historical and antiquarian materials, of which Nash availed himself.

The church, before its restoration in 1861, contained interesting remains of the Norman and every subsequent style, confusedly jumbled with horrid barbarities; but very little of either now emains, as Mr. Butterfield, the architect, has rebuilt nearly the whole, except the tower. The church was reconsecrated on the 17th of May, 1861. The sum of £3,000 had been raised for its restoration, of which the Baroness Windsor gave £500, and the rector (Archdeacon Sandford) and his friends nearly £600. A portion of the ancient rood-screen, an Early English doorway, and other relics, remain. The internal proportions of the church are fine, but the tower is so stunted by the elevation of the nave roof as to require raising another stage. The monuments, brasses, and other remains in the church, are well worth careful inspection, as also are the parish registers. There was an endowed chantry to the Virgin before the Reformation. The church has 765 sittings, all free.

Joseph Smith, of Edgbaston, founded the Alvechurch bells, on the third'of which is the following couplet:

"If you w'd know when we was run,

It was March the twenty-second, 1701."