Historical Description of Westminster Abbey Part 1

Historical Description of Westminster Abbey.

by Anonymous.

OF ADMISSION.

_The North and West doors are open to Visitors. Guides are in attendance, from nine until six every day, except_ SUNDAY, CHRISTMAS DAY, _and_ GOOD FRIDAY. _The Abbey is not open to Visitors after the Afternoon Service during the Winter Months._

THE SERVICES.

_On Sunday the entrance to the Abbey is by the North and South Transepts.

Divine Service at_ 8 A.M., _at_ 10 A.M., _and at_ 3 P.M.; _and from Easter to the end of July, at_ 7 P.M. _At the usual Sunday Services, and on Saint and Holy Days, at_ 10 A.M., _there is a Sermon. The Holy Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday in the month, at the_ 10 A.M. _Service, and on other Sundays (except when otherwise ordered) at_ 8 A.M.

The names of the several Chapels, beginning from the south cross, and so pa.s.sing round to the north cross, are in order as follows:--1. St.

Benedict; 2. St. Edmund; 3. St. Nicholas; 4. Henry VII.; 5. St. Paul; 6.

St. Edward the Confessor; 7. St. John; 8. Islip's Chapel, dedicated to St.

John the Baptist; 9. St. John, St. Michael, and St. Andrew. The three last are now laid together. The Chapel of Edward the Confessor stands, as it were, in the centre, and is enclosed in the body of the Church. Keep on your right, and the Chapel of St. Benedict is adjoining the Tombs-gate, in which Chapel several Deans were buried. Dean Ireland was buried in front of Camden's monument, in the same grave with Mr. Gifford, his a.s.sociate through life.

Several men intercept all persons as they approach the Abbey, to show them the Courts of Law, Westminster Hall, &c., which are open all day; persons attending to them are oft-times prevented from seeing the Church for that day, as the hours of service intervene.

WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

Of the Foundation of the Abbey.

Of the Founding of an Abbey on Thorney Island, where that of Westminster now stands, there are so many miraculous stories related by monkish writers, that the recital of them now would hardly be endured. Even the relations of ancient historians have been questioned by Sir Christopher Wren, who was employed to survey the present edifice, and who, upon the nicest examination, found nothing to countenance the general belief, "that it was erected on the ruins of a Pagan Temple." No fragments of Roman workmanship were discovered in any part of the building, many of which must undoubtedly have been intermixed among the materials, if a Roman temple had existed before on the same spot.

Nor is the dedication of the first Abbey less involved in mystery than the founding of it. The legend says that Sebert, King of the East Saxons, who died in 616, ordered Melitus, then Bishop of London, to perform the ceremony; but that St. Peter himself was beforehand with him, and consecrated it in the night preceding the day appointed by his Majesty for that purpose, accompanied by angels, and surrounded by a glorious appearance of burning lights.

That this legend continued to be believed after the building itself was destroyed, will appear by a charter which we shall have occasion to mention hereafter; and though nothing can with certainty be concluded from these fictions, yet it may be presumed, that both the ancient church dedicated to St. Paul, in London, and this dedicated to St. Peter, in Westminster, were among the earliest works of the first converts to Christianity in Britain. With their new religion, they introduced a new manner of building; and their great aim seems to have been, by affecting loftiness and ornament, to bring the plain simplicity of the Pagan architects into contempt.

Historians, agreeable to the legend, have fixed the era of the first Abbey in the sixth century, and ascribed to Sebert the honour of conducting the work, and completing that part of it, at least, which now forms the east angle, which probably was all that was included in the original plan.

After the death of that pious Prince, his sons, relapsing into Paganism, totally deserted the church which their father had been so zealous to erect and endow; nor was it long before the Danes destroyed what the Saxons had thus contemptuously neglected.

From this period to the reign of Edward the Confessor, the first Abbey remained a monument of the sacrilegious fury of the times; but, by the prevailing influence of Christianity in that reign, the ruins of the ancient building were cleared away, and a most magnificent structure, for that age, erected in their place. In its form it bore the figure of a cross, which afterwards became a pattern for cathedral-building throughout the kingdom. That politic Prince, to ingratiate himself with his clergy, not only confirmed all former endowments, but granted a new charter, in which he recited the account of St. Peter's consecration, the ravages of the Danes, and the motives which prompted him to restore the sacred edifice to its former splendour, and endow it with more ample powers and privileges. This charter concluded with solemn imprecations against all who should in time to come, dare to deface or to demolish any part of the building, or to infringe the rights of its priesthood.

Henry III. not only pulled down and enlarged the plan of this ancient Abbey, but added a Chapel, which he dedicated to the Blessed Virgin; but it was not till the reign of Henry VII. that the stately and magnificent Chapel now known by his name was planned and executed. Of this Chapel, the first stone was laid on the 24th January, 1502, and when completed was dedicated, like the former Chapel, to the Blessed Virgin. Henry, designing this as a burying-place for himself and his successors, expressly enjoined by his will, that none but those of the blood-royal should be inhumed therein.

From the death of Henry VII. till the reign of William and Mary, no care was taken to repair or preserve the ancient church. By the robberies made upon it by Henry VIII., and the ravages it sustained during the unhappy civil commotions, its ancient beauty was in a great measure destroyed; nor did their Majesties go about to restore it, till it became an object of parliamentary attention, and till a considerable sum was voted for that purpose only. This vote being pa.s.sed, Sir Christopher Wren was employed to decorate it and give it a thorough repair, which that able architect so skilfully and faithfully executed, that the building is thought at this day to want none of its original strength, and to have even acquired additional majesty by two new towers.

In 1803 the lantern of the Abbey was destroyed by fire, owing to the negligence of the plumbers, who were employed in repairing the lead flat.

This part being the junction of four long timber roofs, it was a merciful providence the whole of this much-esteemed, august, and venerable pile, had not been utterly consumed. The young gentlemen of Westminster School highly distinguished themselves by their exertions for the preservation of the church. The room is handsomely finished, and more suitable with the rest of the building than the old one.

_General Admeasurements of the Interior of the Abbey._

Ft. In.

Length from East to West 375 0 Breadth from North to South 200 0 Do. of Nave and Aisles 75 0 Height from Pavement to Inner Roof 101 0 Do. do. to the Roof of the Lantern 140 0

The new Choir, designed by Mr. Blore, Architect to the Abbey, is in the style of architecture which prevailed during the reign of Edward the Third; and executed by Mr. Ruddle, of Peterborough, in 1848.

The Dean and Sub-dean's stalls are on either side of the arch, and are alike in general design, but that of the Dean being more elaborate in ornamental detail. They are octagonal in plan, and have projecting groined canopies, with pediments springing from moulded shafts with carved caps; above the canopies rise an octagonal turret with a spire. The arch is enclosed under a triangular pediment, the s.p.a.ce between the pediment and the arch being filled with tracery; the centre of which is a cinque foil enclosing a shield bearing the arms of Edward the Confessor; the ground of this is carved, and the hollows of the pediment and arch mouldings are filled with four-leaved flower peculiar to the style.

The Canons' stalls have groined canopies with pediments, and the s.p.a.ce between the pediment and canopy filled with open tracery; the canopies spring from slender moulded shafts with carved capitals, and are separated by b.u.t.tresses terminating in pinnacles between the pediments.

The pew fronts are worked in tracery with deep mouldings, and the panels are divided into compartments by b.u.t.tresses decorated with tracery, crockets, and finials.

The caps and poppy-heads of the desk ends, and the ornamental accessories of the stall work and pews, are carved to represent the foliage of ivy, maple, oak, willow, hop, vine, &c. The carving and tracery exhibit a great variety of design, and are entirely the production of hand labour; the total number of stalls is fifty-two.

The Organ, which formerly stood in the centre, and consequently obstructed the view from west to east, was, in 1848, entirely rebuilt by Mr. Hill, New Road, London. It is placed on the north, south, east, and west sides of the screen, and has three cases. The two princ.i.p.al cases, viz., those under the north and south arches, contain, respectively, the "great" and "swell": the "solo" and part of the "pedal" organs being placed on the west side, and the small case on the east side of the screen facing the choir contains the "choir" organ. The organist sits behind the latter organ, where the manuals, or key boards, are placed. It may easily be imagined, that to connect these distinct organs with the manuals and pedals, and thus bring them under the command of the performer, was an undertaking of no ordinary difficulty. It has, however, been successfully accomplished by Mr. Hill, who has, by means of a nice mechanical adjustment, succeeded in producing a perfectly easy and light touch. The instrument is now considered one of the finest, as regards tone and construction, in the kingdom. Number of stops, fifty-five, the majority of the pedal stops, being on the great organ sound board.

The marble pavement of the choir was given by Dr. Busby, who was buried beneath it in 1695.

The length of the choir, from iron-gate to altar-rail, is one hundred and sixteen feet six inches; sacrarium, twenty-four feet six inches; altar, fourteen feet six inches; full length, from iron-gate to altar screen, one hundred and fifty-five feet six inches; breadth, thirty-five feet six inches.

The New Reredos.

The Reredos, which is recently put up, is chiefly of white and coloured alabaster from Staffordshire, but combined with a reddish spar from Cornwall: the latter material being adopted from its hardness to give greater strength to the more prominent parts, and from its deeper tone to give a variety of colour to some of the features of the work, which, if it had been made wholly of one material, would have appeared monotonous. It consists of a facade occupying the whole s.p.a.ce between two main pillars, having two doors, one on each side of the altar, giving access to the shrine behind. The doorways are arched and richly moulded, and the hollows are filled with bold carving deeply undercut. On either side of each door is a large canopied niche with pedestal, in which are figures of Moses, St. Peter, St. Paul, and David; and on the inner side of each large niche are two smaller ones placed vertically. These niches are all most elaborately wrought with tabernacle work, richly groined and surrounded with pierced tracery, carved bratishing, and complexly terminated with pinnacles, flying b.u.t.tresses, and spires, all profusely crocketed and finialed. The whole is surmounted with a carved and sculptured cornice of bold proportions. The sculpture, which lies in a large and deep hollow moulding, contains, like the side towards the shrine, fourteen subjects, but they are all scriptural. They are as follow:--1. The Annunciation; 2.

The Birth; 3. The Adoration; 4. The Baptism; 5. The First Miracle; 6.

Preaching to the Mult.i.tude; 7. Gathering the Fragments; 8. Raising of Lazarus; 9. Triumphal Entry; 10. Agony in the Garden; 11. The Crucifixion; 12. The Resurrection; 13. The Ascension; 14. The Gift of Tongues. Among these are interspersed on shields in trefoils the following monograms and emblems:--Alpha and Omega, Agnus Dei, The Chalice, I.H.C., Instruments of the Pa.s.sion, A Glorified Cross, The Descending Dove. Above the sculpture is a hollow moulding filled with richly carved foliage deeply undercut, and above all is a rich course of carved strawberry-leaf bratishing.

In the s.p.a.ce between the inner niches and above the table is a recess wherein is placed an elaborate and minutely finished picture of the Last Supper, in Venetian gla.s.s mosaic. It is of large size, and is admirably designed and executed.

The table, which is composed of black and green marble, stands on an elaborately wrought frame of cedar wood. Besides five sculptured panels, and figures of the Evangelists between pillars, it is otherwise richly carved and studded with inlays. The subjects are:--1. Adam and Eve in Paradise; 2. Their Expulsion; 3. The Crucifixion; 4. The Resurrection; 5.

The Ascension.

To complete the altar table, there has recently been added a super-altar or shelf of cedar wood, embellished with panels of foliage and monograms, richly carved and gilt. And to complete the Reredos and the mosaic picture, there has been added rich surroundings of cedar wood. Below is a base containing seven zigzag panels of eight points, filled with pictures in mosaic and enamel, and studded with gems. The pictures are, the Annunciation in the centre, and portraits of holy women of Scripture: Ruth, Anna, Elizabeth, Mary Magdalene, Martha, and Dorcas. On this base are pilasters at the ends of similar work, and between are two slender detached pillars, all supporting seven canopies of rich tabernacle work, the central one over the princ.i.p.al figure being the largest. All are profusely gilt.

The floor in front of the reredos is wholly new. That of the upper dais is composed of pleasing patterns of inlaid marble work combined with gold gla.s.s. That of the lower dais, and of the dais of the sedilia, is composed of rich and varied patterns of red, green, grey, and buff patterns, in every tone of those colours; the three large circular discs are of purple porphyry, rosso antico, similar to the slabs which decorate the shrine and the tomb of Henry the Third. The steps and bands which surround the patterns are all of Purbeck marble.

The stone seat on the south side, which was lately hidden, has now been restored to its original state and use, and the old wood canopies all forming the sedilia, have been lowered on to the seat of stone and made complete. Viewed as a whole, the rich colours of the alabaster and spar, with its delicate and intricate tabernacle work, the interesting sculpture, the glorious mosaic picture, the richly wrought table below, and the elaborate inlaid marble floor in front, all combine to give an impression of the greatest grandeur, the utmost durability, and the highest art. The whole was executed under the direction and superintendence of G. G. Scott, Esq., R.A. The mosaic picture was designed by Mr. Clayton, and executed at Venice by Dr. Salviati. The table was executed by Messr. Farmer and Brinley, the sculpture of the cornice by Mr.

Armstead, and the alabaster and marble work by the Abbey masons, Henry Poole and Sons.

It may not be uninteresting here to add that, in the exploration to which this work gave opportunity, there were discovered on the north side of the sacrarem and lower dais, about three feet below the pavement, the bases of three piers which were left here of the old Abbey of the Confessor. They are of early Norman character, and, from their position, shew that that early structure was nearly equal in size to the present structure of Henry the Third. They possess such great interest that means have been adopted so to cover them with the pavement that they can be uncovered and exposed to view.