Bell's Cathedrals: The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury Part 7

Immediately above it is a large vaulted room, similar in shape, but less lofty, open to the transept. Its roof shows traces of having been at one time elaborately painted with frescoes, and the room formerly communicated with the original Norman triforium of the choir. This room has at various times had absurd names given to it, perhaps the most absurd being that of the Nun's Prison. As Mr. Blunt in "Tewkesbury and its a.s.sociations" says, there are many people who cannot hear about monks without immediately thinking of nuns. It would seem that the room communicated with the dorter or dormitory, and was designed for invalid monks, who from it might hear ma.s.s sung in the church without going downstairs. In the south-east corner of the transept a staircase gives access to this chamber, and communicates with the triforium of the transept, the clerestory of the choir, the vaulting of the ambulatory as well as that of the tower.

Before 1875 a gallery filled up the south transept and two bays of the south aisle, and communicated by means of the organ screen with the similar gallery in the north transept.

In the west wall is a recess, formerly a doorway of Early English work. On the south wall is a bra.s.s tablet from the choir pavement, to the memory of Prince Edward.

At the corner of the south transept and the south aisle is a curious recess in the masonry hidden by a curtain.

At the extreme east end of the south aisle, near the niche or recess just mentioned, is a rudely carved head which no doubt served as a cresset.

THE CHOIR.

This part of the building is usually entered from the south ambulatory by the entrance opposite to the door of the clergy vestry. The screen-work at this entrance to the choir was in a ruinous state in the early part of this century, and has been most carefully repaired, and in part renewed.

It is a choir of great beauty, and though at first sight small and low, its proportions are admirable in every way, the length being almost exactly twice the breadth.

From the centre of the eastern tower-piers to the back of the altar the choir measures 63 feet, but the total length from the present oak-screen to the altar is 103 feet. The breadth in its widest part is 33 feet.[20]

The upper part of the choir was reconstructed in the early part of the fourteenth century in its present polygonal form, the Norman pillars being carried up three feet, and fitted on the choir side with Decorated capitals.

The curious effect of the carrying up of the columns will be seen from the fact that the arches which spring from the Decorated capitals do not correspond in pitch with the vaulting in the ambulatory. The latter springs from the original Norman capitals on the columns in the choir (_see_ ill.u.s.tration, p. 52).

The moulding of these arches of the choir is exceedingly rich, and the outer ones on the north side contain a double moulding of quatrefoil flower ornament.

The easternmost arch is somewhat stilted; the bare wall thus left exposed having originally been concealed by the reredos, or at any rate decorated in some way.

In these alterations to the choir here the Norman triforium had to be sacrificed; and those who wish to see on a larger scale what the original triforium was like must study that at Gloucester. In fact the two choirs alone will form the basis of much interesting study, the Gloucester choir having been left comparatively intact below the clerestory, and veiled over with richly wrought Perpendicular stonework.

The windows and the roof are of about the same date, _i.e._, early fourteenth century; the roof is antic.i.p.atively Perpendicular. A great feature of the choir is the skilful way in which the work of different times has been so effectively combined, and brought into a harmonious whole.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo A.H. Hughes._ THE CHOIR, LOOKING WEST.]

It is interesting to compare the ground-plans of Gloucester and Tewkesbury, and to see how the two originally Norman choirs have been treated. At Gloucester the apsidal formation has been destroyed, traces only of it being left under the present reredos, but there the actual removal of Norman work stopped. The Norman piers of the choir and presbytery and the Norman triforium of the choir are all there, though they are partly concealed by the later Perpendicular casing.

The choir at Tewkesbury has lost its distinctively Norman character, as nearly all the original outside wall of the church to the east of the tower was removed, but it has retained its apsidal formation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo. W.G. Bannister._ THE CHOIR VAULT.]

Beautiful as the choir is, it owes much of its effect to its vaulted roof, which is a fine specimen of early Decorated work. The vaulting ribs spring from small engaged shafts, which are carried up the face of the wall from the main piers, and then radiate from very ornate capitals over the vault. A fine colour effect must have been presented by the original ceiling painted and frescoed.

The bosses are less elaborate and less varied than those in the choir at Gloucester, but are well carved, consisting for the most part of vine-leaves delicately treated. All this roof was colour-washed in 1828, when so much restoration was done in the church.

The suns[21] in the centre are supposed to have been put up by command of Edward IV. after the battle of Tewkesbury. The suns were a device which was appropriated by the Yorkists after the downfall of the Lancastrian party. Those in the tower vaulting are modern copies of these original suns. The modern painting of the vaulting is subdued in tone.

The vault of the tower is a lierne vault, and from the occurrence of the arms of Sir Guy de Brien, once quartered with those of Montacute (_i.e._, of his wife), the vaulting has been credited to his exertions. The Despenser fret is to be found twice.

In front of the altar-rails is the large boss from which used to hang the sanctuary lamp, the sacred flame of which was kept ever trimmed and bright, as a sign that "the house was evermore watching to G.o.d."

=Altar.=--The Purbeck marble altar is supposed by some to have been the altar mentioned in the Abbey Chronicles of 1239, but any Early English features have been destroyed beyond recognition. It is reputed to be the largest altar in England, but, at any rate, it may be said to be the longest. Originally set up in its present situation, it seems to have been buried in the choir by the monks, perhaps by some who were not so mercenary as the rest. Sixty-eight years afterwards it was found, and its purpose being recognised, it was set up in the middle of the choir as a Communion table. In 1730 it was transferred to the aisle, the churchwardens' accounts stating that 12_s._ was paid for so doing, and that 2_s._ 6_d._ was given "to the men that did it for working all night." The "large entire blue stone" was then cut into two lengthwise, and was further desecrated by being converted into seats for the north porch.[22] Earl Beauchamp, at his own expense, had the two slabs restored to their original use. Considering what the marble has gone through, its size has been well maintained.

In 1607 it was 13 feet 8 inches by 3 feet 6 inches by 7 inches; and now it is 13 feet 6 inches by 3 feet 5 inches by 5 inches. It is supported by a ma.s.sive framing of oak.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo D. Gwynne._ THE SEDILIA.]

=Sedilia.=--These are on the south side in the canted bay of the apse.

These sadly mutilated remains of a once glorious work are especially interesting. Originally they were decorated with rich colour and gold, much of which still in parts remains. The canopy of tabernacle work has been ruthlessly destroyed, together with the major part of the easternmost section. All the shafting is very richly moulded with a great number of diminutive mouldings, princ.i.p.ally ogee and hollow.

Foliage work of rare beauty and representations of grotesque animals form the greater part of the ornament. There are interesting remains of diaper work in the wall which forms the back. The plinth and seats are probably modern work. At the top are placed some pieces of battlement work, of which there is a great amount in different parts of the building. It seems a pity that the remains of the sedilia which lie elsewhere in the church cannot be placed together in position here--not "restored," but honestly pieced as well as may be done with care and patience.

The north-east pier that supports the tower bears a plain corbel, supporting what is supposed to be the remains of an oak case for the Saunce-bell or Sanctus-bell.

=Tiles.=--During the wholesale restoration of 1875 and following years some old tiles were found, after the pattern of which the present tiles were made. The fashion of paving buildings of the age of Tewkesbury Abbey with glazed and glossy machine-made tiles, all cut mathematically true, is much to be deprecated. Time has done much, and will do more, to remove the glaze, but nothing will ever remove the stiff printed look of the pattern. The black patches of tiles are rather heavy in appearance, but the pavement looks better so than it would if broken up with streaky slabs and squares of glaring white marble incised with more or less pictorial designs relieved with a background of black cement. The choir of Tewkesbury in this respect has fared better than that of Gloucester, though a little more might have been made of the graves of the ill.u.s.trious dead who are known to have been buried underneath.

=Windows of the Choir.=--These fourteenth century windows are the chief glory of the choir. There are seven in all, and though they have suffered much from wilful damage and neglect, there are perhaps no others in England containing quite so much gla.s.s of the same date, and in such good condition as a whole.[23] Every one must rejoice that in 1828 lack of funds prevented these windows from being thoroughly restored.

The windows nearest to the tower have four lights each, and the tracery is comparatively simple though flowing and free. The next two on either side of the choir are slightly more elaborate and contain five lights each, while the east window is quite different from the rest. It has five lights, and the head of the window contains a fine Catharine-wheel.

In the north-west window (_i.e._, immediately over the Warwick Chapel) are--1. Fitz-Hamon; 2. Robert Fitzroy; 3. Hugh le Despenser; 4.

Gilbert de Clare (third), the tenth Earl of Gloucester. In the south-west window, _i.e._, the one exactly opposite to the last mentioned, are--1. Gilbert de Clare (the first of the name); 2. Lord de la Zouch; 3. Richard de Clare; 4. Gilbert de Clare (the second).

These knights are all in armour, and are valuable as giving accurate representation of the armour and knightly gear of their time. Above the knights are represented canopies, and in the heads of the windows are scrolls of vine-leaves.

The bodies of the De Clares lie below the choir pavement, almost in a line with these two windows.

The other windows on either side contain Scripture subjects, many of them very fragmentary: Daniel, David, Abraham, Jeremiah, Solomon, and Joel are, however, easily to be found.

The east window represents the Last Judgment. In the centre Christ is depicted with uplifted hands, on which are the stigmata of the Pa.s.sion. The side lights, from their unsymmetrical arrangement, would seem to have been rearranged, or rather disarranged, at some time. The Apostles would naturally be grouped on either side, in the outer lights. The other two lights represent St. John and the Blessed Virgin. Of these figures the heads, which are modern, were put in (free of charge) in 1828 by a London gla.s.s-painter named Collins. In the five panels below the figures are groups of persons arising from their graves; one group represents an angel disputing with the evil one for the possession of three persons bound with a chain. At the bottom are armorial bearings.

In the floor of the choir there are graves in which many notable persons, who made their mark in history, were buried.

Exactly under the central point of the vaulting of the tower is the site of the grave of Prince Edward, son of Henry VI. and Margaret Anjou. He died on the 4th of May, 1471, and with him the last hope of the Red Rose party was finally crushed.

A modern bra.s.s, with a Latin inscription which was composed by Mr.

J.D.T. Niblett, records that "Hic jacet Edwardus princeps Walliae, crudeliter interfectus dum adhuc juvenis Anno Domini 1471, mensis Maii die quarto. Eheu, hominum furor: matris tu sola lux es, et gregis ultima spes,"--or in English, that "Here lies Edward, Prince of Wales, brutally murdered while but a youth, in the year of our Lord 1471, on the 4th of May. Alas! the madness of men. Thou art the only light of thy mother, and the last hope of the flock." Holinshed writes that the body of the Prince "was homelie interred with the other simple corpses in the church of the monasterie of the blacke monks in Teukesburie."

Another MS., which gives a list of n.o.blemen slain in the battle of Tewkesbury, states more definitely that he was "buried in the midst of the convent choir in the monastery there." Traces of a coffin-lid were found near the north-west pier of the tower, and from other evidence it was taken to be the tomb of the young prince, and this would give more colour to Hall's statement that he "was buried without any solemnity among some mean persons in the church of the black friars in Tewkesbury."

In 1796, when several alterations were made in the church, a bra.s.s plate was inserted in a stone over a tomb in the choir supposed to be that of the Prince. This tablet is now on the wall of the south transept. It runs:

"NE TOTA PEREAT MEMORIA EDWARDI PRINCIPIS WALLIae POST PRLIUM MEMORABILE IN VICINIS ARVIS DEPUGNATUM CRUDELITER OCCISI HANC TABULAM HONORARIAM DEPONI CURABAT PIETAS TEWKESBURIENSIS ANNO DOMINI MDCCXCVI."

Or in English: "That the memory of Edward, Prince of Wales (brutally murdered after the famous battle fought in the fields close by), perish not utterly, the piety of the people of Tewkesbury had this memorial tablet laid down, A.D. 1796." This tablet is mentioned in the accounts for that year, and the cost is put down at 10; but perhaps this included the composition of the Latin inscription, and the stone in which the plate was inserted. This _pietas Tewkesburiensis_ still survives, as flowers are annually laid upon the site of the grave.

Before this there was, according to Dingley, who wrote in 1680, a "fair tombstone of grey marble, the bra.s.s whereof has bin pickt out by sacrilegious hands, directly underneath the Tower of this Church, at the entrance into the Quire, and sayed to be layd over Prince Edward, who lost his life in cool blood in the dispute between York and Lancaster, at which time the Lancastrians had the overthrow."

Another grave under the tower was that of the Duke of Warwick, who is sometimes said to have been created and crowned King of the Isle of Wight by Henry VI. He died at the age of twenty-one, and was buried, at his own request, between the stalls in the choir. At the time the choir was repaved in 1875 a grave of stone filled with rubble was found, together with some bones of a man of herculean size. These, no doubt, were those of the Duke who was buried here in 1446. The large marble slab that formerly covered the grave disappeared early in this century, but the bra.s.ses that were originally in it had been taken away long before. Cecily the d.u.c.h.ess of Warwick, a daughter of the Earl of Salisbury, was buried in the same place in 1450.

Further eastward, in a line with the Warwick Chapel, are the graves known as those of the =De Clares=.

The first is a stone with an inscription running round the edge, in old French, as follows: "Ci git Maud de Burgh la veuve comitisse de Gloucestre et Hertford, que mourust le 2 juillet l'ann grace 1315.

Nous cherchons celle que est a venir." This slab, which is of large size, covers a well-wrought stone grave, and must have contained a very handsome bra.s.s, judging by the matrix. The next grave contains the remains of the Lady Maud's husband, Gilbert de Clare, the third of that name, the tenth Earl of Gloucester and Earl of Hertford. Though young in years he had a wise head, for Edward II. made him his regent when he himself was fighting in Scotland, and later again in 1313 when fighting in France. Gilbert de Clare the third was killed at Bannockburn in 1314, and was laid to rest next to his father. The tablet gives his arms, and the inscription runs: "Gilbertus tertius nomine Glocestrie et Hertfordie comes decimus ultimus, obiit 23 Junii, 1314, prlio occisus, Scotus gavisus." Which being freely translated is: "Gilbert, the third of the name, tenth and last Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, died on June 23, 1314. He was slain in battle, to the joy of the Scots."

The tomb next to this is that of his father, Gilbert the second, usually known as the _Red Earl_. He married the Princess Joan of Acre, a daughter of Edward I. This Earl was at first an important figure in the revolt of the Righteous Earl, Sir Simon de Montfort; but later, having changed his views and his side, was an important factor in his former leader's final overthrow at Evesham in 1265. Fragmentary remains only of a coffin a.s.sumed to be his were found in 1875. His tablet says: "Gilbertus secundus, cognomine Rufus, comes Glocestrie octavus, et Hertfordie septimus, obiit septimo Decembris, anno domini 1295. Vir strenuus et fortis cui deerat timor mortis. Ora et pugna."

Or in English: "Gilbert the second, surnamed the Red, eighth Earl of Gloucester and seventh of Hertford, died the 7th of December, A.D. 1295. A stout and brave man, who had no fear of death.