Bell's Cathedrals: The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury Part 6

=St. Edmund's Chapel.=--The ground-plan of this chapel is curious, as it is apparently divided into two by a kind of re-entrant pier of masonry, and the easternmost part is screened off from the ambulatory by the curious tomb known by the name of the Wakeman Cenotaph, or the tomb of the starved monk (_vide_ p. 94).

In this chapel is a large aumbry, and a very perfect stone coffin which was dug up in the south ambulatory near the Trinity Chapel. The metallic sound given forth by the coffin when tapped seems to be of more interest than anything else to the ordinary visitor. Various interesting fragments of stonework are in the chapel, one being a portion of a tomb. Portions of the font formerly in the Norman chapel in the south transept are also here. Under the painted window is a piscina, more than half of which is modern work. There were, no doubt, two altars, _i.e._, one in each part of the chapel, but the dedication of the other part is not known.

At the intersections of the vaulting are some unusually interesting carved bosses. For the most part they have reference to the legend of St. Edmund, King and Martyr, viz:--

The head of the king bearing a crown. The king, bound to a tree, being shot at by Danes. A greyhound watching by the body of Lodbrog in the wood, murdered by the king's huntsman. Christ with a halo of glory, triumphing over Sin personified as a monster. St. Michael destroying the dragon. Other bosses are either floral or heraldic, the latter containing the arms of the Despensers. The boss in the centre of the roof is unique, containing a lion being attacked by various other animals, _e.g._, a horse, a ram, a monkey, wolves, etc.

There is one painted window in this chapel, which was erected in 1877 to the memory of Rev. C.G. Davies, for thirty-one years Vicar of Tewkesbury. The window is by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. In effect it is too kaleidoscopic.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo. A.H. Hughes._ THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE AND ST. EDMUND'S CHAPEL.]

Opposite to the Wakeman Cenotaph (_vide_ p. 95) is the iron grating which is the entrance to--

=The Clarence Vault.=--This vault [F] contains the remains of George, Duke of Clarence, Earl of Warwick and Salisbury, and his wife Isabelle, who was the eldest daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, commonly known as the "King-maker." The d.u.c.h.ess died at Warwick in December, 1476, from the effects, it is said, of poison.

She was buried in the vault which, as the chronicle says, was made _artificialiter_ behind the great altar, in front of the door of the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the opening of the tomb was made opposite the entrance of the chapel of Saint Edmund the Martyr.

The young Countess, after lying in the choir in state for thirty-five days, was laid in the vault on February 8th. Ten days later her husband, who had been put to death in the Tower--it matters little whether in the b.u.t.t of Malmsey wine or not--was buried beside her.

a.s.suming that the tomb was desecrated and pillaged soon after the Dissolution, and again later on in Commonwealth times, we find that in 1709 the royal remains were displaced to make room for the body of a "periwig-pated alderman" by name Samuel Hawling; and later on, in 1729 and 1753, his wife and son were interred there. The site then was lost till it was identified in 1826. In 1829 the Hawling remains were removed, and since then it has remained the Clarence Vault. In 1876 it was fitted with iron gates, and in the pavement over the vault a bra.s.s has been inserted with the inscription, composed by Mr. J.T.D.

Niblett:--

"Dominus Georgius Plantagenet dux Clarencius et Domina Isabelle Neville, uxor ejus qui obierunt haec 12 Decembris, A.D. 1476, ille 18 Feb., 1477.

"Macte veni sicut sol in splendore, Mox subito mersus in cruore."

Or in English--

"Lord George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, and Lady Isabelle Neville, his wife, who died, she on Dec. 12, 1476, he on Feb. 18, 1477.

"I came in my might like a sun in splendour, Soon suddenly bathed in my own blood."

On the bra.s.s are engraved two suns in splendour, the badge of the House of York.

The fourteenth century stone screen-work round the choir side of the ambulatory, particularly at the back of the reredos and the north-east portion adjacent to it, is very interesting work. The lower part is panelled with tracery in low relief, with the arches springing from diminutive heads. All the shafting is ornamented with a small ball-like enrichment. Above the panelling is some open tracery of beautiful design. By reference to the plan it will be seen that much of this original screen-work has been set back several feet, possibly to make room for the Clarence vault.

At the east end of the ambulatory is the arch by which entrance was formerly given to the destroyed Lady Chapel. It is now walled up, and in such a way that it is difficult to picture the appearance of the original work. However, from the battlements of the adjoining south-east chapel it is possible to see the remnants of the vaulting of the entrance to the Lady Chapel.

In the modern cast wall is a window of three lights (by Hardman) in memory of Rev. C.W. Grove, who presented most of the modern gla.s.s in the church. The subject is the Pharisee and the Publican. It is not known whether the Pharisee is intended to be a portrait of any one, but the Publican's face is said to be an excellent portrait of Mr.

Grove, and the portrait of the lady in the top light (she lacks a halo) is deemed to be an equally good picture of Mrs. Grove.

=St. Faith's Chapel.=--The site of this chapel is not known for certain, though it is supposed to have been one of the two south-east chapels.

The first and easternmost chapel is the largest of the series of chapels built round the ambulatory. It is pentagonal in form and is 28 feet by 24 feet, opening to the aisle with a richly moulded arch. The vaulting, as in all these chapels, is excellent work, but the student of such things will notice that the masons' work on the chapels on the south side is in even courses, and that the stones are better dressed than in the chapels on the north side of the choir. At the intersections of the vaulting there are some good bosses, chiefly foliage with some heads. In this chapel there are three stone coffins.

The central window (by Kempe) is to the memory of Benjamin Thomas Moore, for thirty-eight years churchwarden, who died in 1896. Though detail of a most elaborate kind fills the window, yet in appearance it is rather thin, a quality which the clear, strong light that shines upon it as a rule somewhat accentuates. In the central light is St.

Faith, to whom this chapel is often ascribed, with St. Agnes on the left and St. Cecilia on the right. There are two other windows, one of four lights and the other of three.

By standing at the entrance to this chapel the visitor will obtain a very fine and interesting set of _coups d'il_ of the different parts of the building. Towards the north there is the view of the work at the back of the altar, and St. Edmund's and St. Margaret's chapels in the background. To the north-west are the tombs at the back of the altar and sedilia; to the west is a good view of the south ambulatory and the south aisle of the nave.

The next chapel, _i.e._, the middle one of the three on this side, has no known dedication.[18] It is also pentagonal--somewhat irregular, it is true, but its length and breadth are the same--20 feet. There are two windows of three lights.

This chapel has become the museum for the storage of many interesting fragments of destroyed portions of the fabric. Some of the coloured fragments are under gla.s.s, others are grouped against the eastern wall. It is to be regretted that no list is hung up in the cases. The larger of the two cases contains in one division pieces of the broken upper part of the sedilia, all finely coloured. In the other division are fragments from the Warwick Chapel and other mutilated tombs in the choir. Most of these were found buried in the choir at the restoration in 1875. There are some iron rings which belonged to the coffin of Sir Hugh le Despenser. They were removed when the tomb was inspected in 1875.

Portions of figures of the De Clares are also in the case--one with an inverted torch, representing Gilbert de Clare, who died, the last male of his line, at the battle of Bannockburn, 1314. Three bases of figures contain inscriptions as follows:

1. Rob^s. Consull Filius Regis 2. Willelm^s. Comes Gloces^r.

3. . . . . . e Regis.

Another portion of a figure, in a blue mantle, is said to be Thomas Lord Despenser, the last Earl of Gloucester. It has upon it the arms of Despenser and Clare.

On the wall are some swords which recall the panic caused in 1803 by Napoleon's projected invasion and humiliation of England. It is difficult to see why they or the colours of the Volunteers were removed to this position from the Town Hall.

Against the eastern wall are portions of a beautiful frieze, with ball-flower ornament, and many shields bearing traces of rich colour.

There is a fine head, and a curiosity in the form of a coffin of an infant, a portion of a cl.u.s.ter of marble columns, and a figure in camelskin and leather girdle representing St. John the Baptist.

Across this chapel is the tomb of Abbot Cheltenham, who died in 1509 (_vide_ p. 95).

=The Vestry.=--The third of the chapels is the most regular in shape, and is used, as it was in monastic times, as a Vestiarium or vestry.

The arch is closed entirely by masonry, built upon the original wall which formed the outer wall of the Norman church. In the walled-up s.p.a.ce that corresponds to what is the entrance in the case of the other chapels are a fine tomb and the doorway into the vestry. A description of the tomb will be found on p. 97. The tomb of the Abbot may have been removed from a grave outside the building, but it is not known who was buried in it. Willis ascribed it to Robert Fortington, who died in 1253. A fine doorway, richly decorated, with three elaborately wrought brackets for images over it, gives access to the Clergy Vestry. The door is of oak, plated with roughly wrought metal plates, of which tradition has it that they were made by the monks out of swords and armour found in and around the precincts after the battle of Tewkesbury in 1471.

This chapel is profusely enriched with ball-flower moulding, both inside and on the side next the ambulatory. It will be noticed that the windows are small and placed, for the sake of the security of the sacristy, high up in the south wall. In the south wall is a piscina, and close by on the south-east wall must have stood an altar. The window nearer to this has richer detail than the other two. In the south-west wall a small recess is formed inside a b.u.t.tress. This may have been used as a safe for plate and other valuables in the charge of the sacristan.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (_H.J.L.J.M._) THE VESTRY DOOR, SOUTH CHOIR AISLE.]

A special staircase in the north-west corner, entered from the ambulatory, gives access to the room over the vestry. In this room, which has a fireplace, the sacristan probably slept. He was able from the windows on the stairs to see into the Vestiarium or Diaconum Magnum, and also into the choir. In fact, this view is one of the most interesting in the church. Two large square modern windows give light to this room, and a doorway in the east wall communicates with the s.p.a.ce over the vaulting of the ambulatory and chapels. The room had originally a low timbered roof, as will be seen by the holes once occupied by the beams.

There are two tombs of interest built into the wall between the vestry door and the south transept, and s.p.a.ce for them has been cut out of the original Norman solid wall. One is quite plain and simple Early English work [M], and contains the remains of Abbot Alan, a man of learning and of considerable note, as he was a friend of Thomas Becket, the great Archbishop of Canterbury. This is the only tomb of that period now surviving in the church, and it has been thought that he was the first of the abbots who was honoured with an intramural tomb.

Close to Abbot Alan's tomb is another recess which now is without its coffin. The arch is pointed and crocketed with pinnacles at the sides.

In the absence of a tomb the chief interest consists in the old encaustic tiles which have been transferred here from other parts of the building, a few of them having been found in 1875 under the then stone pavement of the choir. They are now safe here from the destroying power of the ubiquitous tourist's foot.

On the south-east tower pier is a marble tablet in Renaissance style, erected in 1890 to the memory of Mrs. Craik, the author of "John Halifax, Gentleman," who is said to have written her story whilst staying at the ancient "Bell Inn" near the Abbey gate. The memorial was designed by Mr. H.H. Armstead, R.A., and is gracefully carried out entirely in white marble. The only fault in the memorial is that there is too much work in proportion to the size of the tablet. The topmost portion above the projecting cornice is a charming piece of work, ill.u.s.trating Charity, but too high above the ordinary visitor's head to be seen or appreciated as it should, and the group rather overweights the memorial.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo by A.H. Hughes_ THE APSIDAL CHAPEL, SOUTH TRANSEPT.]

=South Transept.=--(Dimensions 40 feet 8 inches by 32 feet 10 inches.) This transept has vaulting of the same character as the other, and a large west window, rebuilt in 1820, filled with gla.s.s in memory of Thomas Collins, of Tewkesbury. Beneath this window is a deeply recessed doorway (now blocked up) which once gave access to the cloisters. In this recess are to be found some of the old tiles which formerly were in the choir. In the south wall too, like the north wall of the other transept, there are recessed Norman arches with two windows--enlarged later--under the roof. The doorway in this wall formerly communicated with the Chapter House. One of Tewkesbury's glories, the old organ, forms the north boundary of the transept. On the east side there are four large Norman arches. Of these the first is the archway which gives access to the south ambulatory, with a triangular window (of fourteenth century work) over it, occupying the position once taken by the arch of the triforium of the Norman choir.

In 1893 this window was glazed with stained gla.s.s by Rev. W.H.F.

Hepworth in memory of his mother, the subject of the window being Faith, Hope, and Charity.

To the south of this is the large arch which gives access to the Norman chapel with its early Norman groined roof. This chapel will give the student an idea of the original plan of the north transept before the alterations in 1237 and in 1246.

The east window was perforce blocked up when the ambulatory chapels were built, and to give light to the chapel the south-east window was inserted in the apse, no other position for a window being possible, as will easily be seen by reference to the plan.

An anonymous donor presented the Salviati mosaic now in the filling of the east window, but the effect is not good, as too strong a light falls upon the gold background. Probably the work will look better when the south transept is entirely glazed with coloured gla.s.s. The subject is our Lord enthroned, bearing a book in one hand, and having the other raised as in blessing. The gla.s.s in this window was formerly in the east window of the ambulatory of the choir, and was removed to its present position in 1887. It is a memorial to Mr. A. Sprowle, a former resident of Tewkesbury. The gla.s.s is by Clayton and Bell, but the window is very poor and uninteresting.

This Norman chapel[19] was at one time used as the Baptistery, and the font, now in one of the two north-east chapels, was in use here up to the time of the restoration in 1875. After this restoration the altar from the choir was transferred to this chapel, and the various guilds connected with the church subscribed towards the cost of fitting the chapel for special devotional use. It is used for the daily morning services in the week.

There are remains of a piscina in this chapel, but very much battered.

It is to be hoped that money will not be frittered away on any attempt at polychrome decoration of the ordinary kind in the chapel as has been done at Gloucester in the chapel of St. Andrew. Mr. Blunt has thrown out the suggestion as a possible ideal, but the simplicity of the present chapel is far preferable.