Bell's Cathedrals: The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury Part 9

6. Clare and Despenser, quarterly, impaling Burghersh (Sir Edward Despenser, K.G.).

The iron railings were probably removed as being an inconvenience when the ugly rows of pews, which took up the whole of the choir and presbytery, were placed in the chancel in 1796.

The Lady Isabelle, after completing this tomb, married the cousin of her first husband, who was also a Richard Beauchamp. He died in Rouen in 1439, but his body being brought home by his countess, was buried in the n.o.ble Beauchamp Chapel at Warwick, which is a further development of that at Tewkesbury. She died in London in the same year on St. John the Evangelist's Day, as the inscription on the Warwick Chapel sets forth, and at her own request was buried at Tewkesbury, in the following January. All traces of her handsome marble tomb have disappeared, but the site of her grave was identified at the restoration of the choir in 1875. The site is marked (8) in the plan.

To the east of the Warwick Chantry is the chapel [B] known as the =Founder's Chapel=. Fitz-Hamon, as already stated on p. 13, was buried in the Chapter House, but Abbot Forthington removed his body to this site in 1241.

The open screen-work, which was erected in 1397 by Abbot Parker, is an excellent specimen of early Perpendicular work. It is extremely light and graceful. The cresting of oak-leaves is finely wrought; below it is a frieze ornamented with roses.

It is unfortunate that the bra.s.s has disappeared from the marble top of the tomb.

On the cornice there used to be the following inscription:

"In ista capella jacet Dnus Robertus, Filius Hamonis hujus loci Fundator."

The fan-tracery of the ceiling is a beautiful piece of work, and shows traces of its former decoration with colour and gold. There is fan-tracery at Gloucester, where it is thought to have originated, which is essentially the same as this. This specimen is one of the most beautiful in every way.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo. D. Gwynne._ CHANTRY OF THE FOUNDER, FITZ-HAMON.]

Brackets to support an altar remain in part, and there are faint traces of a fresco painting on the east wall, which is said to have represented scenes in the life of St. Thomas a Becket.

The easternmost panel of the chapel on the south side has been restored; the rest has been very little touched. Restoration was necessary because no access to the chapel could be obtained when the choir was all pewed, and the eastern end was ruthlessly cut away. Some of the cresting on the north side is also new.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo. A.H. Hughes._ THE DESPENSER MONUMENT.]

=The Despenser Monument.=--Still further to the east is the tomb [C]

of Sir Hugh Despenser, who died in 1349, and his widow, who died ten years later, having in the interval married Sir Guy de Brien, the tomb to whose memory is close at hand. This tomb is full of interest, and consists of a richly panelled base with trefoil arches (each of which must once have contained a statuette), in three sets of two each to correspond with the open tracery in the tier above.

On the tomb is a slab on which are two rec.u.mbent figures, carved in white alabaster. The knight is clad in armour, viz., a spherical bascinet, with a camail of chain-mail. His jupon is charged with his arms. The s.h.i.+rt is also of chain-mail, while the arms and legs are protected by plate armour. His head is resting upon a tilting helmet, his feet upon a lion. The Lady Elizabeth, who was a daughter of William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, has a dog at her feet, and is robed in a long flowing dress, which, with the square head-dress, is characteristic of the time of Edward III.

The Decorated canopy is in two parts, viz., the arched portion which covers the two figures, and the tabernacle work in four tiers above.

Three arches of marvellously delicate work support the arched roof, which is like fan-vaulting on a diminutive scale; the ribs have been indicated by colour.

The tabernacle work tapers very gradually, and forms a charming finish to one of the finest tombs to be seen anywhere. Trefoil-headed arches are used throughout the design, but with such consummate skill that no feeling of sameness is aroused. Of straight lines there are many, but of stiffness there is none. Formerly the whole work was painted with red, green, and gold, traces of which are to be seen on the side next to the choir and underneath the canopy.

The tomb is more perfect on the choir side than on the other.

Of the statues that formerly formed part of the canopy or canopies, no traces are left, but it is evident that they were removed with unusual care.

This tomb was formerly ascribed to George, Duke of Clarence, and also to Thomas Despenser. The arms on the tabard, however, settle the question definitely. If further confirmation be required apart from the style of the architecture and the arms, Leland writes: "Hugo le Despenser tertius ... sepultus est apud Theokesbury juxta summum altare in _dextera_[26] parte." Of the Lady Elizabeth he says: "Sepulta est juxta Hugonem maritum apud Theokesbury."

=Trinity Chapel.=--On the south side of the choir in the bay opposite to the Founder's Chapel is the Trinity Chapel [K], the building of which is ascribed to Elizabeth, Lady de Burghersh, the widow of Edward, Lord Despenser. Lord Despenser died at Cardiff in 1375, and was buried before the door of the vestry, near the presbytery. His widow, who died many years later (1409), was buried beside her chapel in the choir.

[Ill.u.s.tration: (_H.J.L.J.M._) THE TRINITY CHAPEL.]

The tomb has many beauties, of which the chief is the fan-tracery.

Much damage has ruthlessly been done to the niches and canopies at the side.

A curious feature in the chapel is the figure of Lord Despenser under a canopy on the top of the chapel, kneeling in prayer, with his face turned towards the high altar. The canopy is very rich, supported by four slender shafts, and further enriched with carved pinnacles. The figure is probably unique, in such a position.[27] It is represented as wearing the martial equipment that was usual towards the end of the fourteenth century.

This chapel may have been built by the same builders as the Founder's Chapel on the opposite side of the choir, but some variety of treatment is very noticeable. The cresting is different in scale on the two sides (portions of it are modern insertions). Owing to the non-correspondence of the panelling in the lowest portion with the open work in the next tier, it has been thought that the upper portion is slightly later in point of date than that upon which it is built.

The chapel derives its name from its dedication to the Trinity as well as to St. Mary. At the east end of the chapel are traces of mural painting. Some of these represent the symbols of the Trinity, others the coronation of the Virgin Mary.

Other tombs of interest in the church will be found in making the circuit of the ambulatory. The first of these is the tomb of _Sir Guy de Brien_ [D]. It has a central position in the stone screen-work which separates the chapel of St. Margaret from the north ambulatory.

Sir Guy married Elizabeth, the widow of Hugh, Lord Despenser. The tomb is very similar in design to the Despenser tomb over against which it is placed. The knight is represented at full length, clad in his armour, with a lion at his feet. A vault-like canopy, still showing traces of the blue paint with which it was decorated, rises over the effigy. The monument is very lofty in proportion to its width, is full of rather heavy detail, and, though worthy of careful inspection, will not bear comparison with the Despenser tomb opposite.

The knight's lady elected to be buried in the tomb of her second husband, Lord Hugh Despenser, who, like Sir Guy, was a liberal benefactor to the Abbey.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Photo. A.H. Hughes._ THE "WAKEMAN CENOTAPH."]

Three panels facing the aisle have s.h.i.+elds with arms upon them. The central s.h.i.+eld bears the arms of Sir Guy de Brien, and the other two bear his arms and those of the Montacutes, his wife having been Elizabeth Montacute.

The next chapel, that of St. Edmund, contains, lying across the eastern half of the entrance, a magnificent tomb which goes by the name of the _Cenotaph of Abbot Wakeman_ [E]. It is not known when the tomb was built, but it is apparently earlier than Wakeman's time, who was abbot from 1531 to the dissolution of the monastery in 1539.

Certainly Wakeman is not buried here, for he became the first bishop of Gloucester, and was buried at Forthampton.

The tomb is peculiarly beautiful, and consists of a slab supported by a rich piece of open or pierced work, in the pattern of which may be seen three crosses. Upon the slab rests a representation of the corpse of a monk undergoing the process of decay, and being devoured by various lizards, snails, &c. It is rather a gruesome subject for contemplation, reminding one of some of the drawings in the Dance of Death at Basle. Immediately over the body, in the centre of the tomb, is a ma.s.sive ogee arch, richly foliated, from which descends a rather c.u.mbrous pendant--itself ogee in form--which divides the main arch into equal parts, or arches, with rounded heads. These arches are again subdivided into two smaller round-headed arches, full of very fine carved work.

The front of the tomb, as seen from the ambulatory, is composed of a very fine arch which springs from the piers at the side. Its lower edge is foliated, and the spandrils are enriched with quatrefoils.

At the top of all is a projecting canopy in three main sections--a portion of the rest is gone--all of very delicate and intricate carved work.

In the south ambulatory in the middle one of the three chapels there is a tomb to _Richard Cheltenham_ [I], who was abbot from 1481-1509.

It is a table tomb in the Perpendicular style, with very rich tracery enriched with quatrefoils and s.h.i.+elds. A depressed arch forms a canopy, in the spandrils of which are the abbot's initials R.C. and his pastoral staff.

Almost opposite to this is a depressed arch which supports a ma.s.s of delicate work decorated with vine-leaves and grapes. Over this are many canopied niches (much mutilated). The images they once contained have been destroyed. Under the arch is now a coffin of Purbeck marble, with a cross on the lid, and the inscription "_Johannes Abbas hujus loci_."

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

It is generally a.s.sumed that this is the coffin of John Cotes, who died in 1347. The tomb [H] is supposed to be that referred to by Leland as that in which some of the remains of Hugh Despenser the younger, the Earl of Gloucester who was hanged and quartered in Hereford in 1326--just three months before the murder of Edward II. in Berkeley Castle--were interred. Close to this tomb, but more to the east, is a fifteenth century tomb, presumably that of an abbot, but his name is unknown.

To the east of the door of the chapel which is now used as a vestry, is another tomb of an unknown abbot. The coffin lid bears a rich floriated cross, with a representation of an abbot at the one end, and that of a lamb at the other. The arch over the tomb is crocketed, and is enriched with a profusion of ball-flower ornament in the moulding.

The finial is very heavy, though beautifully wrought to represent birds and foliage. At the spring of the arch is the very curious figure of a devil. Two pinnacles[28] at the sides have most grotesque faces at the corners instead of the conventional foliage. This idea has been adopted in the decoration of the tomb-recesses in the nave in Bristol Cathedral.

On the western side of the vestry door is a beautiful Early English tomb. The lid of the Purbeck marble coffin is inscribed "Ala.n.u.s, Dominus Abbas" along the moulded edge, and a similar inscription is to be read at the right-hand end, "HIC IACET DOMINUS ALa.n.u.s ABBAS." This is the tomb of Alan, who was made Abbot here in 1187, after having previously been Prior at Canterbury. He was one of the most distinguished of the Abbots of Tewkesbury: he had known Thomas a Becket, and indeed wrote his biography. This tomb is no doubt the oldest monument in the church. The arch over it is a moulded trefoil arch, surmounted by a plain canopy of very simple and formal design. The top of the coffin bears a very beautiful cross.

Further westward, near to the south transept is a thirteenth century recessed arch, with pinnacles at either side and a decorated arch. The tomb has been removed. The floor has been laid with fragments of old encaustic tiles removed from other parts of the building.

=Organs.=--The church has two organs, both of which are noteworthy, viz., the old organ in the choir, of which the interest is historical, and the Grove organ in the north transept, the chief interest in which, apart from its tone, is the perfection of its many modern mechanical contrivances.

The organ in the choir was brought to Tewkesbury in 1737 from Magdalen College, Oxford, and was placed on the then existing screen, where it remained till 1875. It was built by John Harris, the grandfather of Rene or Renatus Harris, for Magdalen College, Oxford. By Cromwell's orders it was removed to Hampton Court, and is said to have been played upon there by Milton, who was Cromwell's Secretary. In 1660 the organ went back to Oxford, and was repaired in 1672. In 1690 Renatus Harris contracted, for 150, to put it into thorough repair, and make it "an extraordinary instrument and the best old organ in England." In 1736-37 the Magdalen College organ was sold to the then organ committee of Tewkesbury.

Sixty years later (1796) a sum of 186 18_s._ 2_d._ was spent in painting the case, in repairs, and in the addition of a swell organ; and in 1848 it was enlarged by Willis at a cost of 322 15_s._ 8_d._ Little of the original work remains, with the exception of some of the diapasons, the princ.i.p.al, and the tin pipes in the choir front. The old organ is in constant use for ordinary evening services, and for the services on Sunday mornings and afternoons. For the Sunday evening services the Grove organ is generally used. Sometimes the two organs are used together.

The Grove organ is a very fine instrument, but it is more fitted for a concert-room than for the accompaniment of ordinary church music. It was given, as the bra.s.s tablet sets forth, _"To the greater glory of G.o.d, and to commemorate the Jubilee of the Queen in 1887."_ The specification is as follows:

CHOIR ORGAN (CC to C in alt^o., 61 notes).

1. Spitzflote 8 ft.