Historical Description of Westminster Abbey Part 3

In this Chapel lies interred Abbot CROKESLEY, who died July 18, 1258.

On the right, on leaving this Chapel, is a fine bust of RICHARD TUFTON, third son of Sir John Tufton, Bart., and brother of Nicholas E. Thanet. He died October 4, 1631.

III.--Chapel of St. Nicholas.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_Begin on your Left._

1. Lady Cecil, 1591.

2. Lady Clifford, 1679.

3. Countess of Beverley, 1812.

4. d.u.c.h.ess of Somerset, 1587.

5. Westmoreland Family, 1618.

6. Baron Carew, 1470.

7. Nicholas Bagenall, 1688.

8. Lady Burleigh, 1589, and the Countess Oxford, 1588.

9. Dudley, Bishop of Durham, 1483, and Lady St. John, 1614.

10. Daughter of Christopher Harley, Amba.s.sador of France: her heart in the Urn, 1665.

11. Lady Ross, 1591.

12. Marchioness of Winchester, 1586.

13. d.u.c.h.ess of Northumberland, 1776.

14. Philippa, d.u.c.h.ess of York, 1433.

15. Sir George Villiers, and his lady, Countess of Buckingham, 1605 and 1632.

16. Sir Humphrey Stanley, 1505.

On the left, as you enter this Chapel, is a monument erected for LADY CECIL, a Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth, and daughter of Lord Cobham, who having married Sir Robert Cecil, son of William Lord Burleigh, Treasurer of England, died in childbed two years after, viz. in 1591.

Next is a monument on which a long inscription in English is fairly written, setting forth the descent and marriage of Lady JANE CLIFFORD, youngest daughter of the Duke of Somerset, and wife of Charles, Lord Clifford and Dungarvon, who died Nov. 23, 1679, aged forty-two.

On a small tablet is this inscription, with the motto--"_Esperance de Dieu_. ISABELLA SUSANNAH, wife of Algernon Percy, Earl of Beverley, died Jan. 24, 1812, aged sixty-one."

On a gravestone in front of this monument, engraved on bra.s.s, is the figure of Sir HUMPHREY STANLEY, knighted by Henry VII., for his gallant behaviour under his cousin, Lord Stanley, at the battle of Bosworth Field.

He died March 22, 1505.

Near this is the monument of ANN, d.u.c.h.ess of Somerset, wife of Edward, Duke of Somerset, brother of Henry VIII.'s third wife, Queen Jane Seymour, and uncle to Edward VI., and sometime Regent during his minority, but afterwards disgraced; accused of treasonable and felonious practices against the King and Council, tried by his Peers, acquitted of treason, but condemned of felony in levying armed men contrary to law, for which crime he was sentenced to be hanged; but, in respect to his quality, was beheaded on Tower Hill, Jan. 22, 1551. She died April 16, 1587, at Hanworth, aged ninety.

On the right, Sir GEORGE and Lady ELIZABETH FANE, who are represented kneeling on each side a desk. She was the daughter of Robert, Baron Spencer, of Wormleighton, and wife of Sir George Fane, of Buston, in Kent, remarkable, says her inscription, for her ancient descent, but more for her own virtues. She died in 1618, aged twenty-eight.

Beneath this is an ancient monument placed over Nicholas, Baron Carew, and the Lady MARGARET, his wife, daughter of Lord John Dinham, and, it is thought, mother of Sir Nicholas Carew, beheaded in Henry VIII.'s time, for holding a correspondence with Cardinal de la Pole. He died December 6, 1470, she December 13, the same year.

In the front of this is a pyramid erected to the memory of NICHOLAS BAGENALL, a child of two months old, overlaid by his nurse, the 7th of March, 1688.

Next to this is one of the most magnificent monuments in the Abbey, erected by the great Lord Burleigh to the memory of MILDRED, his wife, and their daughter Lady ANN, Countess of Oxford. On this tomb is a Latin inscription, explaining the figures, and setting forth their respective virtues and accomplishments, particularly those of Lady Burleigh, who, says the inscription, "was well versed in the sacred writers, and those chiefly of the Greeks, as Basil the Great, Chrysostom, Gregory, n.a.z.ianzen, &c." She gave a scholarship to St. John's College, in Oxford, legacies to the poor of Romford, where she was born, and to those of Cheshunt, where she lived, and left money at both places to be distributed every year to poor tradesmen. She died, after being forty years married, April 4, 1589, aged sixty-three. Her daughter Ann married, at fifteen, Edward Vere, Earl of Oxford, and died June 5, 1588, seventeen years after, leaving three daughters.

Next to this is a monument to the memory of WILLIAM DE DUDLEY, alias SUTTON, son of John, Lord Dudley; he was Archdeacon of Middles.e.x, Dean of Windsor, and, in 1476, Lord Bishop of Durham. On the tomb was inlaid a bra.s.s figure, in episcopal vestments. He died in 1483.

The effigy of Lady St. JOHN lies in this recess. She was daughter of Sir William Dormer, and widow of John, Lord St. John, of Bletsoe. She died on the 23rd of March, 1614.

Near this is a pyramid to the memory of ANNA SOPHIA HARLEY, a child of a year old, daughter of the Hon. Christopher Harley, Amba.s.sador from the French King, whose heart, as appears by the inscription, he caused to be enclosed in a cup, and placed upon the top of the pyramid. She died in 1601.

The next is a monument to the memory of Lady WINIFRED, married first to Sir Richard Sackville, Knt., and afterwards to John Paulet, Marquis of Winchester. The Latin epitaph imports, that she was descended of ill.u.s.trious parents, and married first a gentleman of an ancient house, whose ancestors were renowned before the Conqueror's time; that her second husband was of n.o.ble blood; and that being severed from both by death, her soul will rejoice in Christ for ever. She died in 1586.

Above is an ancient monument to the memory of Lady ROSS, daughter of Edward, Earl of Rutland. She died April 11, 1591.

Next to this is a monument to the memory of the late d.u.c.h.ess of NORTHUMBERLAND. The figures on each side are Faith and Hope; and those above are two weeping Genii over her urn, mourning for her loss. The inscription, after reciting her Grace's ill.u.s.trious descent and t.i.tles, concludes with her character, who, "having lived long an ornament of courts, an honour to her country, a pattern to the great, a protectress to the poor, ever distinguished for the most tender affection for her family and friends, she died December 5, 1776, aged sixty, universally beloved, revered, and lamented. The Duke of Northumberland, inconsolable for the loss of the best of wives, hath erected this monument to her beloved memory."--_Read, sculptor._

Against the screen is a Gothic monument with the effigy of a lady in robes, very antique. The lady, by the inscription, appears to be PHILIPPA, second daughter and co-heiress of John, Lord Mohun, of Dunstar; married first to Sir Walter Fitzwalter, Knt., secondly to Sir John Galofre, Knt., and lastly to Edward Plantagenet, Duke of York, who was slain in the battle of Agincourt, 25th of October, 1415. She died in 1431, without issue.

In the middle of the Chapel is a fine monument to the memory of Sir GEORGE VILLIERS, who died Jan. 4, 1605, and his lady, MARY BEAUMONT, created Countess of Buckingham in 1618. She died on April 19, 1632, aged sixty-two, whose son, by the favour of James I., was advanced to the dignity of the Duke of Buckingham.--_Stone, sculptor._

KATHARINE VALOIS, Queen of Henry V., who died at Bermondsey Abbey, Southwark, in January, 1437, was buried in the Chapel of our Lady at the east end of the Abbey, where she remained till her grandson, Henry VII., built his chapel, when her remains were placed near to her husband in a chest, and finally deposited under Sir George Villiers' tomb in 1776.

In this Chapel lies interred, THOMAS SPRAT, Bishop of Rochester, and Dean of Westminster, who died May 20, 1713. Also his son, THOMAS SPRAT, Archdeacon of Rochester, who died May 10, 1720, aged forty-one. Also many other persons of distinction, of the Percy, Seymour, and Burleigh families, which we have not s.p.a.ce to insert.

At the door of this Chapel was buried that great and learned antiquary, Sir HENRY SPELMAN, who died in 1641.

On leaving this Chapel, opposite to you, there is affixed to the corner of Henry V.'s Chantry, a bust with Latin inscription, to the memory of Sir ROBERT AITON, Knt., who, in the reign of James I., was in great reputation for his writings, especially in poetry. He died in 1638.

On the right, against the screen of the Chapel of St. Nicholas, is a monument erected to the memory of Sir THOMAS INGRAM, Knt., Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Privy Councillor to Charles II. He died February 13, 1671.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CENTRE, HENRY VII'S CHAPEL.]

IV.--Chapel of Henry the Seventh.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Gates are Bra.s.s.]