Thus in St Mary's
church, the mother church of Southampton to-day, we have only a
lifeless modern building.
Much the same fate has befallen the churches within the walls of
Southampton. The oldest, that of St John, was pulled down in the
seventeenth century, that of Holy Rood, in the High Street, was rebuilt
about fifty years ago, so was St Laurence, while All Saints was
destroyed in the eighteenth century. The only ancient church remaining
is that of St Michael, which, though not destroyed, was ruined in 1826.
It remains, however, in part, a Norman building, with an interesting
font of the twelfth century, a lectern of the fifteenth century, and a
fine tomb with the effigy of a priest in mass vestments.
The same fate which has so brutally overtaken the churches of
Southampton has, with perhaps more excuse, fallen upon the old
religious houses. The Priory of St Denys, founded by Henry I., upon
which all these churches within the walls were in a sense dependent,
has been totally destroyed, a piece of ruined wall alone remaining,
the present church of St Denys dating from 1868.
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