Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Gloucester Part 15

The history of Gloucester, commercially, is a history of progress. In Domesday Book, Gloucester is mentioned in connection with iron, the founding of nails for the king's s.h.i.+ps. As the ore was obtained locally, this branch of trade flourished till the seventeenth century.

Bell-founding was practised as early as 1350 by John Sandre, and one of his bells still hangs and rings in the cathedral tower. Cloth-making, too, was practised, but, declining in the fifteenth century, was superseded by pin-making, for which Gloucester was for many years famous. Gla.s.s-making was carried on in the seventeenth century, and the Rudhall family for several generations had a bell-foundry of wide reputation.

Elizabeth made the town a seaport, and it is one still. More than that, it is the most inland port in Britain, owing to the Berkeley s.h.i.+p Ca.n.a.l, which enables s.h.i.+ps to dispense with the awkwardness of a voyage up and down the tortuous and dangerous Severn. It is to this ca.n.a.l that Gloucester owes much of its present trade, as, by sea-going vessels, corn and timber, its staple commodities, are brought in to the many wharves in ever-increasing quant.i.ties. To the railways--the Great Western and the Midland--the town also owes much of its prosperity, and one great industry, that of railway waggon building, gives employment to many pairs of hands.

In Gloucester, or its neighbourhood, will be found the following buildings of interest:--

#Llanthony Priory.#--This was formerly an Augustinian convent, with a church attached, founded by Milo, Earl of Hereford, in 1136. It was founded as an asylum for the convenience of the priory in Monmouths.h.i.+re of the same name, which was so liable to be harried and pillaged by the Welsh. This priory was dissolved in 1539. The church was finally destroyed to make way for the s.h.i.+p Ca.n.a.l. Some remains exist in a farm, of which the masonry is good. A gateway, in the Perpendicular style, still survives.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Old Judges' House. Westgate St. Ed Burrow 1894]

#St. Oswald's Priory.#--In 909 the Princess Elfleda caused the canonised relics of King Oswald to be removed and richly entombed at Gloucester.

She also founded a college for secular priests, but later on it was converted into a priory for regular canons. (Refounded 1153.)

Attached to this priory was a chapel dedicated to St. Catherine, which, after the dissolution of the priory, served for a parish church until its destruction in the siege in 1643. On this site the present Church of St. Catherine was built in 1867-69.

The #Grey Friars# (or College of Friars minor, or Franciscans).--This building formerly stood at the east end of the Church of St. Mary de Crypt.

The #White Friars# (or College of Carmelites).--This building, which was situated without Lower Northgate Street, was founded by Queen Eleanor.

In the time of Elizabeth the college was converted into a house of correction. During the siege in 1643, it was used as a fortress.

Portions of it remain incorporated with private houses.

The #Black Friars# (or College of Friars, Preachers).--This college was established by Henry III. in 1237.

Remains of the building are still to be seen on the south side of the thoroughfare called Blackfriars.

The college was dissolved in 1538.

#St. Mary de Lode# (or St. Mary before the Abbey Gate) stands on the site of a Roman temple. The tower and chancel are all that remain of the original church, the rest being very disappointing, having been built in 1826. The low square tower formerly had a lofty spire, which was destroyed by a storm. The interior of the church has been lately restored. The pulpit is a very fine specimen of carving. In the chancel is a tomb which used to be pointed out as that of Lucius, the first British Christian King.

#St. John the Baptist# (in Northgate Street).--The original church is supposed to have been founded by King Athelstan.

The present building was built in 1734, the tower being all that is left of the old church. The communion plate was presented in 1659 by Sir Thomas Rich.

#St. Mary de Crypt# (in Southgate Street) is well worth inspection. It has two crypts--hence its name. The church is Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular, and was built by Robert Chichester, Bishop of Exeter, 1138-1155. It is cruciform in shape, and, though much restored, of great interest.

There are interesting bra.s.ses to Luke Garnon, John Cooke and his wife, and a curious squint or hagioscope. In the choir vestry is a monument to R. Raikes. On the north side is a marble monument to Dorothy Snell, by Scheemaker.

The communion plate is all early seventeenth century, and very good, though it has suffered from careless handling.

[Ill.u.s.tration: House of Robert Raikes.]

Close by is the old building of the Crypt Grammar School. The school has migrated to more open quarters.

#St. Nicholas# is situated at the bottom of Westgate Street, and, owing to alterations in the street, is much below the level of the road. The floor of the church is nearly two feet higher than it was originally.

There is much good Norman work, and some good Early English with Perpendicular insertions.

On the south door is a fine (so-called) sanctuary knocker; the door is quite unworthy of the knocker. Under the tower is some good late Jacobean panelling. In the chancel are two squints, four each side, arranged venetian-blind fas.h.i.+on. Several of the tombs are worth inspecting--viz. the Window monument in the chancel, 1659, and one to the wife of Rev. Helpe-Fox, 1657. There is a good tomb to Alderman John Walton and his wife, 1626, which, though in good preservation, is beginning to suffer from damp. There is also a bra.s.s, 1585, to Thos.

Sancky; and a slab to John Hanbury, who represented Gloucester in Parliament in 1626. A fine view of the cathedral can be got from the top of the tower. The spire was shortened after being damaged in a storm.

The chimes are worth hearing.

#St. Michael's# is situated where the four main streets meet, and near the church was formerly the Cross. The church was restored in 1885, and the monuments and tablets are all grouped together. The most interesting is a bra.s.s of 1519, to William Henshawe.

The curfew is still rung from the tower every evening.

#Remains of Old Gloucester.#--The New Inn was built in Abbot Seabroke's time by John Twynning or Twining (one of the monks), to accommodate the large number of pilgrims who came to the shrine of Edward II.

Close by, at the corner of New Inn Lane, is a beautifully carved angle post and bracket, which has been preserved for many years by being plastered over (_vide_ p. 130). The houses on the right-hand side of the lane are also old.

The Gloucesters.h.i.+re Seed Warehouse, 154 Westgate Street, does not look specially interesting, but up the pa.s.sage, which was formerly "Maverdine Lane," is a portion of the old front of the house. It is a fine specimen of domestic architecture, with very good windows, and has a distinctly Flemish look. There are some good rooms inside, with oak panelling and carving. A chimney-piece bears the text, "I and my house will serve the Lord," and it is dated 1633. The house is usually called the "Old Judge's House," but it is more famous as the house from which Colonel Ma.s.sie issued his orders in 1643 when Gloucester was besieged by Charles I. (_vide_ p. 125).

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE NEW INN.

From a Drawing by E. J. Burrow]

163 Westgate Street contains a fine panelled room (the greater part dating back from 1530-1550), which was discovered in 1890 when alterations were being made. It is shown on payment of a fee, which includes a printed description of the house. Some of the carving--such as the Royal Arms of England--seems earlier than 1520, but the arms may have been copied from an earlier doc.u.ment. Near St. Nicholas' Church is another interesting house, where Queen Elizabeth is said to have stayed in one of her many progresses through the country. The side of the house abuts curiously on the church of St. Nicholas. Inside there is a quaint overmantel, with Elizabethan carving, and E.R. in the centre panel.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CARVING AT NEW INN LANE ED J BURROW 1897]

In Southgate Street, opposite the Corn Exchange, is a well-known house with a carved front. There is an elaborate over-mantel dated 1650. It bears the arms of the Yates, the Berkeley, and the Box families.

Opposite St. Nicholas' Church is the Bishop Hooper Pharmacy. It is said to be the house where the Bishop was kept closely guarded on the night before his execution.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Remains of the Roman Wall Under 36 Westgate Sr.

Ed J. Burrow dil/94.]

The house of Robert Raikes, of Sunday School fame, is a fine house of three gables, and is well preserved.

The house where Raikes held his first Sunday School can still be seen in St. Catherine Street, Hare Lane.

The old Roman wall can be seen in several places--_e.g._ at 36 Westgate Street, at Messrs Lea & Co.'s furniture warehouse in Northgate Street, at Mr John Bellows' in Eastgate Street.

The #Gloucester Candlestick.#--One of the most interesting relics of the Abbey of Gloucester is a candlestick which is now in the museum at South Kensington. It is a remarkably fine piece of metal work, about 16 inches in height, cast by the _cera perduta_ process in very pale bronze, richly gilt and decorated. The upright stem is divided into two compartments by bosses, ornamented with the emblems of the Evangelists, and supporting a cup at the top. A triangular base supports the stem, and the whole is enriched with forty-two monsters in various grotesque att.i.tudes, wrestling and struggling with nine human beings.

Round the stem is a ribbon bearing the inscription--

ABBATIS PETRI GREGIS ET DEVOTIO MITIS ME DEDIT ECCLESIE SANCTI PETRI GLOUCESTRE.

Round the cup is a ribbon, on the outside of which a couplet is inscribed--

LUCIS ONUS VIRTUTIS OPUS DOCTRINA REFULGENS PREDICAT UT VICIO NON TENEBRETUR h.o.m.o.

Inside this same ribbon are two hexameters--

HOC CENOMANNENSIS RES ECCLESIE POCIENSIS THOMAS DITAVIT c.u.m SOL ANNUM RENOVAVIT.

After its removal from Gloucester, the candlestick was given to the Cathedral of Le Mans by Thomas de Poche or de Poce (POCIENSIS).

Subsequently it belonged to the Marquis d'Espaulart of Le Mans, and was sold to Prince Soltykoff for about 800, and finally was bought from his collection for 680 for the Museum at South Kensington.

#Bishop Hooper's Memorial# stands in the churchyard of St. Mary de Lode, and is on the actual site of the burning. This is perhaps the chief or the only interest in the memorial, as its architectural merit is almost _nil_. The inscriptions to prevent defacement are glazed over, and as the gla.s.s is broken the effect is wretched. A previous monument to the Bishop was erected at the other end of the churchyard.