“Britannia is directing the young seamen’s attention to their great example, Lord Nelson. On the die of the pedestal which supports the hero’s statue are figures in basso-relievo, representing the Frozen Ocean, the German Ocean, the Nile, and the Mediterranean. On the cornice and in the frieze of laurel wreaths are the words, Copenhagen, Nile, Trafalgar. The British Lion sits on the plinth, guarding the pedestal.”
In the South transept: Lord Cornwallis, by Rossi, commemorates his Indian career. He appears in his mantle of the Garter, with an allegorical female figure of the Eastern Empire and a male figure representing an Indian river.
At the east side of the south transept is the entrance to the Crypt, sombre, dimly lighted and sepulchral. In the centre a circle of pillars surrounds the tomb of Nelson, whose remains lie in a plain tomb under a black-and-white sarcophagus (Sixteenth Century), which was made for Cardinal Wolsey’s monument and confiscated with his other possessions. Through a grating here the dim light from the far-away dome sifts down upon England’s great admiral. To the left of Nelson lies Collingwood, and, to the right, Cornwallis. Not far away we come to the simple tomb of Arthur, Duke of Wellington, a great block of porphyry on a granite base.
In the east recess of the south-choir-aisle is the grave of Sir Christopher Wren marked by a plain black marble slab. On the wall is the celebrated inscription: “Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice.” Then comes Painters’ Corner with Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West, Lawrence, Turner, Landseer, Millais, Leighton and others.
We have yet to make the ascent of St. Paul’s. The way is long and grows more tedious and steeper as we ascend. It will be well to stop at the Stone Gallery (200 feet high), for although the Golden Gallery, at the top of the dome, is a hundred feet higher, the view is not so distinct. The Stone Gallery is safe, and delightful views are to be had in the spaces between the balustrades. The view extends from Harrow on the north-west, to the Crystal Palace, Shooter’s Hill and Greenwich Observatory in the south-east. The tourist will, however, take more pleasure in looking over the territory covered by the Great Fire of 1666 and all the Wren steeples (there are thirty at least) that rise through the mists below us. Here we again think of Sir Christopher’s genius and remember again his epitaph: “If you wish an estimate of his genius, look around.” It is interesting, too, to trace Fleet Street, Cheapside and the other great arteries of traffic and travel, to look at the Thames and understand its peculiar windings and to view from this height the grim old Tower half a mile below London Bridge—the oldest building in England and the most romantic. Without the Tower of London and without St. Paul’s what would London be? Westminster Abbey is the church of the King and the government; St. Paul’s is the church of the citizens, the church that, as we have seen, has been a central point for the stirring events of the City of London. Whenever the traveller thinks of London, he sees its majestic dome rising above London Bridge or Ludgate Hill, or Cheapside, purple in the mists, golden in the sunlight—the emblem of London’s antiquity and its present immensity.
“I always endow St. Paul’s Cathedral with life and human nature and sympathy. I cannot well explain what early associations and chances have made St. Paul’s a more living influence to me than the much grander and nobler Westminster Abbey; but so it is and I feel as if St. Paul’s were a living influence over all that region of the metropolis which is surveyed by its ball and its cross. But in another sense it is unlike other buildings to me. It is not one long-lived, long-living cathedral; it is rather a generation of cathedrals. Westminster Abbey takes us back in unbroken continuity of history to the earlier days of England’s budding greatness. Westminster itself, nevertheless, was only called so in the beginning to distinguish it from the earlier East Minster, which was either the existing St. Paul’s or a cathedral standing on Tower Hill. It would seem, then, that St. Paul’s rather than Westminster Abbey ought to represent the gradual movement of English history and English thought and the growth of the metropolis. But observe the difference. Westminster Abbey has always since its erection been sedately watching over London. It has been reconstructed here and there, of course—repaired and renovated, touched up and decorated with new adornments in tribute of grateful piety; but it is ever and always the same Westminster Abbey. Now observe the history of St. Paul’s. St. Paul’s has fallen and died time after time, and been revived and restored. It has risen new upon new generations. It has perished in flame again and again, like a succession of martyrs, and has come up afresh and with new spangled ore flamed in the forehead of the morning sky. St. Paul’s is a religious or ecclesiastical dynasty rather than a cathedral. It has been destroyed so often and risen again in so many different shapes, that it seems as if each succeeding age were putting its fresh stamp and mint-mark on it and so commending it to the special service of each new generation.”—(J. McC.)
ST. SAVIOUR’S, SOUTHWARK
Formerly the Collegiate Church of St. Saviour; and St. Mary Overie, Southwark.
Special features: Central Tower; Choir-Screen; Tomb of John Gower; Harvard Window; Windows to Elizabethan Dramatists.
Although St. Saviour’s, Southwark, is one of the oldest buildings in London, it is one of the youngest of cathedrals in England, having been formally inaugurated as a Cathedral by King Edward on July 3, 1905. It was recently restored at a cost of £40,000. Parts of the Norman nave, dating from the Twelfth Century, were incorporated by Sir Arthur Blomfield in the new nave built in 1891-1896.
St. Saviour’s stands on the south or Surrey side of London in the Borough, a district of very little interest in comparison with London north of the Thames; but very rich in historical associations. After crossing London Bridge we find this church on our right on a lower level than the road, which sunken situation prevents a good view of the venerable pile. Adjoining the church is the Borough Market for fruit and vegetables and west of it in Park Street, close to Southwark Bridge, is Barclay’s Brewery on the site of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Going down Borough High Street we pass the site of the old Tabard Inn, from which Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims started on their journey; and still lower down the street, the successor to the White Hart, where Mr. Pickwick found the immortal Sam Weller. In the vicinity the Marshalsea prison stood until the middle of the Nineteenth Century, within the sound of St. Saviour’s bells.
St. Saviour’s is now almost the only remaining landmark of “Old Southwark.”
Its early history is lost in legend. Stow, on the authority of Linstede, the last of the priors, attributed the building of the original London Bridge to the profits made by a ferryman here, who left his money to his daughter Mary. He tells the story as follows:
“East from the Bishop of Winchester’s house, directly over against it, standeth a fair church called St. Mary-over-the-Rie, or Overie; that is, over the water. This church, or some other in place thereof, was, of old time, long before the Conquest, a house of sisters, founded by a maiden named Mary; unto the which house and sisters she left, as was left to her by her parents, the oversight and profits of a cross ferry, or traverse ferry over the Thames, there kept before that any bridge was built. This house of sisters was after by Swithun, a noble lady, converted into a college of priests, who in place of the ferry built a bridge of timber, and from time to time kept the place in good reparations; but lastly, the same bridge was built of stone; and then in the year 1106 was this church again founded for canons regular by William Pont de la Arch, and William Dauncey, Knights, Normans.”
Modern historians have made a few corrections in this statement, particularly as regards the person who changed the nunnery into a college of priests. This was not a “noble lady,” but St. Swithun, Bishop of Winchester (832-856) (see page 46). It became a monastery of the Augustinian order in 1106, and the Norman knights who aided in its foundation also built the new Norman nave. After a severe fire that occurred early in the Thirteenth Century, when much of Southwark was destroyed, the church suffered greatly. Repairs were, of course, necessary; and the Bishop of Winchester, who took charge, rebuilt the nave in the lighter Early English style and also the choir and retro-choir.
Another fire in the reign of Richard II. occasioned other repairs in the new Perpendicular style which was continued by Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester (1405-1447), who restored the south transept. The Cardinal was the son of John of Gaunt and Catherine Swynford. In this church he married his niece Jane Beaufort to James I. of Scotland in 1423, with whom the royal poet fell in love during his imprisonment at Windsor.
After the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1536 St. Mary Overy, which had already been united with St. Mary Magdalene, was now combined with St. Margaret’s and in the year of Linstede’s surrender to Henry VIII. (1540) the three parishes were united under the name of the Collegiate Church of St. Saviour.
St. Saviour’s was several times repaired and altered in the Eighteenth Century, and then fell into neglect.
The East End is an enlargement or addition to the choir. It consists, as we see, of four bays separated by buttresses and surmounted by gables. Each gable is lighted by a triplet of lancet windows. Larger windows of the same general style light the bays below. At the north-east corner is a short hexagonal stair turret. Above the Lady-Chapel rises the East End or gable of the choir. This has also a three-light lancet window, with a small circular window with seven cusps above. On the north-east corner the turret is capped by a pinnacle. Above rises the venerable square tower—St. Saviour’s best feature.
The Tower at the intersection of the nave and transepts was partly built by Bishop Fox in the Perpendicular style.
“At the intersection of the nave, transepts and choir, rises a noble tower, thirty-five feet square and one hundred and fifty feet in height, resting on four massive pillars adorned with clustered columns. The sharp-pointed arches are very lofty. The interior of the tower is in four stories, in the uppermost of which is a fine peal of twelve bells. Externally the tower, which is not older than the Sixteenth Century, somewhat resembles that of St. Sepulchre’s Church, close by Newgate. It is divided into two parts, with handsome pointed windows, in two stories, on each front; it has tall pinnacles at each corner, and the battlements are of flint, in squares or chequer-work.”—(E. W.)
The South transept, like the north transept, was built in the Decorated style in the first half of the Fourteenth Century, but was rebuilt by Cardinal Beaufort. It has been restored in the style of his time, and the window of five lights is Transitional in style from Decorated to Perpendicular.
We enter by the Doorway at the south-west, the principal entrance to the Cathedral.
“In all probability the door was placed in this position when the Norman nave was built by Bishop Giffard (circa 1106); but its character was altered by Peter de Rupibus, a century later, to bring it into harmony with the rest of his Early English work, when he remodelled the nave in that style.
“The porch that we now have agrees in its main features with the drawings taken of the earlier one before it was destroyed. A deeply recessed and acutely pointed arch is divided into two by a central shaft, with moulded base and foliaged capital. The jambs contain five shafts on each side, which differ from that in the centre, in that they are of Purbeck marble, and banded, in pleasing contrast to the plain stone of their own bases and capitals, and of the (unbanded) central shaft. In the tympanum of the double doorway thus formed, there is a pointed arcading, consisting of a central arch and two smaller arches on either side. The deep soffit of the arch in which this elegant arcading is enclosed, is adorned with a series of quatrefoil panels.”—(Geo. W.)
On entering we get a fine view of more than two hundred feet.
The Nave was rebuilt in 1890-1897 and is a reproduction of the Early English nave in nearly every detail. As we look down the long vista we are reminded of Salisbury. Here, however, we have the magnificent screen and the handsome East window above it. The clerestory is lighted by plain lancet windows, enclosed in an elegant arcading.
Walking down the north aisle of the nave we soon come to the most interesting monument in the Cathedral—the tomb of John Gower, who died in 1408, eight years after his friend Chaucer, to whom the window above (1900) is appropriately enough a memorial and bears the latter’s portrait.
“He had been a liberal benefactor to the Church, and founded a chantry in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist, where he was eventually buried. The chapel and chantry are no more, but the monument marks the spot, having been restored in 1894 to its first position. It is in the Perpendicular style, and consists of an altar-tomb, with a dado, ornamented by seven panels in front, on which lies the effigy of the poet, surmounted by a canopy of three ogee arches, with an inner order of five cusps, and terminating in crocketed pinnacles. There is a pilaster set angle-wise at each end, banded at the separate divisions of the monument, and also rising into crocketed pinnacles. There are similar pinnacles between the arches of the canopy. Behind the canopy is a screen, divided into open panels of three trefoil-headed lights. The cornice at the top is modern, and the hands and nose of the figure are restorations.
“The poet is represented lying on his back, with his hands joined in prayer, and his head resting upon the three volumes on which his fame depends, the Speculum Meditantis, Vox Clamantis, and Confessio Amantis. He is vested in a long dark habit, buttoned down to the feet, after the manner of a cassock, the ordinary dress of an English gentleman at the time. There is a garland of four roses round his head, and at his feet a lion couchant. The SS. collar adorns the neck, with a pendant jewel, on which a swan is engraved—the device of Richard II., to whom Gower was Poet Laureate. On the wall of the canopy, at the foot of the tomb, there is a sculptured and coloured representation of the poet’s own shield of arms, crest and helmet. On the back wall of the recess, above the effigy, there were formerly three painted figures, representing Charity, Mercy, and Piety, each bearing a scroll with an invocation, in Norman-French, for the soul of the departed. After undergoing repainting more than once, with modifications, the figures were scarcely recognisable in 1832, when the monument was repaired, but the figures were unfortunately obliterated. The inscription along the ledge of the tomb, which had also been destroyed, is now replaced: ‘Hic jacet I. Gower, Arm. Angl: poeta celeberrimus ac hoc sacro benefac. insignis. Vixit temporibus Edw. III., Ric. II., et Henri IV.’”—(Geo. W.)
Now we have reached the North Transept, supposed to have been originally a chapel dedicated to St. Peter. It is now used as a sort of museum for the relics and antiquities of the church—old bosses, chests, stone-coffins, etc. The large north window was unveiled in 1898 to commemorate doubly the Prince Consort and Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Its four lights depict Gregory the Great, King Ethelbert, Stephen Langton and William of Wykeham.
Passing to the tower we can now look upward as far as the floor of the bell-ringers. The bosses on the new oaken roof date from the Fifteenth Century. From it hangs a fine Chandelier of 1680.
The South Transept was rebuilt by Cardinal Beaufort, whose arms we see on a pier by the transept door. The great south window of five lights, described by Sir Arthur Blomfield, the designer, as “transitional between Flowing Decorated and Perpendicular,” is filled with modern glass. The design is a “Tree of Jesse.”
Returning now to the Choir we pause here to study it in detail. It was built by Peter de Rupibus in the Thirteenth Century, and is Early English. It consists of five bays. The piers are alternate circular and octagonal, with plain capitals and well-cut base mouldings. Four arched openings occur in each bay of the triforium. Corbels with sculptured heads occur on the arches of the south side.
The Altar stands on a platform and above it rises the wonderful Screen, erected by Bishop Fox in 1520. It almost fills the entire eastern end of the choir.
“The screen is about thirty feet in height, and extends to the main arcades on either side. Three tiers of canopied niches, ten in each tier, divided down the centre by a Perpendicular series of three large niches, all occupied by statues, made up a composition which was at once ‘a thing of beauty’ and an object lesson on the Incarnation. The total number of niches (thirty-three) suggested a mystic reference to the years of our Lord’s earthly life, while the image of the Pelican ‘in her piety,’ here and there, besides being a reminder of Bishop Fox (whose peculiar device it was), also typified the sacrament of the altar. The original materials of which the screen was built are quoted as ‘Caen and fire-stone,’ for which Mr. Wallace substituted stone from Painswick in Gloucestershire, as more easily obtained and agreeing in colour with the old work.
“The doors on each side will be noticed, with their depressed ogee headings, which indicate that this screen is of somewhat later date than the corresponding one (also by Bishop Fox) at Winchester. Another indication to the same effect has been detected in the grotesque carvings in the spandrels, which are here of a humorous character, whereas at Winchester the minor decorations are entirely sacred, e.g., the Annunciation and Visitation.”—(Geo. W.)
The East Window above contains three lancets, the glass representing the Crucifixion in the centre with St. John on one side and the Virgin on the other. It is placed in a quintuple arcade. The prevailing colour is blue.
On the north side of the choir under the first arch we notice the Monument of Richard Humble, a good specimen of the Jacobean period. Here, under an arched canopy, Richard Humble is kneeling before an altar, with his two wives behind him. The second one wears a conical hat.
The Retro-Choir, now called the Lady-Chapel, was erected by Peter de Rupibus. It is one of the best examples of Early English extant. Six slender columns support the groined vault. If we look at it from the south-east corner we gain a good view showing the altar on the north side and the tomb of Bishop Andrews (died 1626) on the west, an example of the Renaissance style, with a painted effigy. This Bishop of Winchester (who often visited St. Saviour’s, the most important church in his diocese after the Cathedral of Winchester) was buried in a little chapel east of the retro-choir. The “Bishop’s Chapel,” as it was called, was destroyed in 1830 and the body of Bishop Andrews was transferred to its present place.
Of the windows in the Retro-Choir the most admired is the one in the north side of three lights containing figures of Charles I., Thomas à Becket and Archbishop Laud. The tracery is in the Decorated style.
Walking along the north-choir-aisle we pass the effigy of a knight and soon come to the most conspicuous monument in this aisle, that of John Trehearne, servant to Queen Elizabeth and “Gentleman Portar” to James I. On the top of the tomb are Trehearne and his wife with big ruffs. They proudly hold a tablet which is a eulogy of Trehearne’s remarkable qualities. Their four children kneel on a bas-relief below. It is a very interesting example of Seventeenth Century mortuary art.
A door leads from the north-choir-aisle into the Chapel of St. John the Divine, now famous for the Harvard Window in its eastern wall.
“Henceforth the chapel will be associated with the name of John Harvard, who was born in the parish, and baptised in the church on 29th November, 1607, and its restoration is intended to take the form of a memorial to that great and good man.
“The first practical step in this direction was taken by the Hon. Joseph H. Choate, who manifested great interest in the ancient fabric while he was American Ambassador, and presented the east window to the chapel in commemoration of John Harvard, founder of the renowned university which bears his name. The window, unveiled by Mr. Choate on Monday, 2nd May, 1905, is of three lights, transomed, as designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield and Sons, the glass being made in America under the supervision of Mr. Charles F. McKim, the famous American architect. The design is by Mr. John La Farge. In the central light of the lower division the Baptism of Christ is depicted, attendant angels occupying the sides. The upper division contains the arms of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where John Harvard was educated, and of the Harvard University, with its mottoes, Veritas and Christo et Ecclesiae. The base bears the inscription, ‘In memory of John Harvard, founder of Harvard University in America, baptised in this church, Nov. 29, 1607.’
“The window is a noteworthy example of modern work, and the treatment of the familiar subject is distinctly original, in which respect, as well as in colouring, it presents a very striking contrast to the other windows, especially to those of mediæval character, throughout the church. Perhaps it is fortunate that it occupies an isolated position in the chapel, where the brilliance and peculiarity of the colouring are seen to full advantage without detriment to the other windows.”—(Geo. W.)
We again find our way back to the tower and into the south-aisle of the nave for the particular purpose of looking at the windows representing the Elizabethan players and dramatists, associated with the Southwark theatres. Some of them, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger and Edmund Shakespeare, are buried here. The first of this series of windows is a memorial to Edward Alleyn (1566-1626); next to Francis Beaumont (1585-1616); next to John Fletcher (1579-1625); next to Philip Massinger (1583-1639); next to Shakespeare, who lived not far from his theatre, the Globe, in the parish of St. Saviour’s Church.
WESTMINSTER ABBEY
Dedicated to St. Peter. Church of a Benedictine Monastery.
Special features: Edward the Confessor’s Chapel; Shrine of the Confessor; the “Poets’ Corner”; Henry VII.’s Chapel.
Westminster Abbey, though not a cathedral, is, perhaps, the most famous church in England. It is, however, visited on account of its historical associations rather than because of its architecture. Yet architects know full well that it is the equal of Salisbury, Lincoln, Ely, or Canterbury. In it all British sovereigns have been crowned since the days of the Conqueror and in it rest the remains of the nation’s most honoured dead.
According to tradition, in the Seventh Century, Siebert, King of the East Saxons, built a church to St. Peter on what was then Thorney Island. It became known as Westminster.
Dunstan established a Benedictine monastery here; but the Abbey that we know was begun by Edward the Confessor in 1050. This King died soon after the Choir was finished in 1065, and was buried there. We gain an idea of his church from the Bayeux tapestry, which depicts Edward the Confessor’s funeral. Some portions of it remain below the present Choir.
During William Rufus’s reign the transepts and first bay of the nave were finished.
Henry III. determined to build a new church in the French style; and this was begun in 1245 and completed as far as the fourth bay of the nave in 1269. It is the most finished production of the first half of the Thirteenth Century in England.
Henry III. also built a Lady-Chapel, afterwards destroyed by Henry VII. for his exquisite chapel—the most perfect example of Perpendicular work. During the reign of Richard II. the old nave was reconstructed.
To many, the exterior of Westminster Abbey is not as impressive as St. Paul’s. It is disappointing in size and somewhat too narrow for its height. It is only when we enter and see the superb architecture and impressive monuments that its grandeur and solemnity grow upon us, notwithstanding the fact that the black-gowned vergers conducting parties of tourists from tomb to tomb and chapel to chapel, in business-like fashion, do all they can to dispel reverence by rattling off stories of Queen Hanne and ‘Enery VII., not always with unimpeachable accuracy.
“The West Front is flanked by two towers 225 feet high, built by Wren and finished by his pupil Hawksmoor, about 1740. In the centre of the front is the great Perpendicular window, beneath which is a row of niches. The entrance porch has a groined roof. The nave is remarkable for its length and height. On the north side we notice that there is a wealth of buttresses. Strong buttresses support the aisle walls, and from these flying-buttresses stretch across to the walls built on the central arcade. The four eastern buttresses comprise the part of the church finished by Henry III.; the rest of the nave, with the exception of Wren’s towers, was built during the last half of the Fourteenth Century and the beginning of the Fifteenth. The figures in the niches are modern.”—(P. H. D.)
The North Front is new, designed by Sir G. Scott and Mr. Pearson.
“It is a very elaborate work and much of it is beautiful; but it does not seem to harmonise with the rest of the building. There is a large rose-window; on each side tall buttresses crowned with turrets and covered with niches. There is an arcade of open-work below and then some deeply-recessed Early English windows, and below three doorways under one string-course, the centre one having a high gable. The door is divided by a pier having a finely-carved figure of the Virgin and Child. The tympanum is divided into three panels. In the highest is Our Lord in glory surrounded by angels and below him are the Twelve Apostles, while in the lowest tier are figures representing Art, History, Philosophy, War, Legislation and Science, with the builders of the Abbey, Edward the Confessor, Henry III. and Richard II. The niches are filled with figures of persons in some way connected with the Abbey. The Choir is in the form of an apse, with radiating chapels, planned on the model of the French chevet, according to the taste of Henry III., which he had cultivated during his sojourn in France. The Lady-Chapel at the east end, commonly called Henry VII.’s Chapel, is one of the noblest examples of the best Perpendicular work in the kingdom, and ranks with St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and King’s College, Cambridge. The monastic buildings are on the south side of the Abbey.”—(P. H. D.)
The ground plan is French, with a French chevet and chapels radiating from the Choir, and not only in the plan but in the narrowness and height of the bays of the Choir and in the tracery of the windows. French characteristics declare themselves. The nave is bordered with aisles. Beyond the Choir rises the central tower; and on either side the north and south transepts. The latter is known as the “Poets’ Corner.” Beyond comes the altar, around which many tombs crowd closely; and beyond them the North and South Ambulatory. Beyond again runs a circle of chapels. Then beyond this apse a flight of steps leading to Henry VII.’s Chapel, also crowded with tombs.
The Cloisters and Chapter-House lie on the south side of the Abbey; and on the right of the chief or West entrance, we find the famous Jerusalem Chamber, Jericho, and the Dining-Hall and Court—all part of the old Palace and demonstrating to strangers from over-sea the close connection between the religious and civic life of the British nation.
“One never enters the Abbey Church without a thrill of admiration for the daring genius who raised those lofty vaults. That they were the first of their kind in England is almost certain, but the name of their designer does not seem to have been preserved. It is more likely that he was an Englishman who had studied in France, than that he was a Frenchman. Certain it is that though the plan, if not all the design, is purely French, the arrangement of the chapels being in fact peculiar to Westminster amongst English churches, the workmanship is very superior to that in any contemporary building on the Continent.”—(W. J. L.)
The Nave is the loftiest in England. It is two feet higher than that of York Minster.
“The view of the interior is very impressive. Standing at the west end of the nave we cannot fail to admire the magnificent beauty of this noble shrine. This nave of twelve bays, with its clustered columns, its beautiful triforium, and its lofty and firmly proportioned roof soaring to the height of 101 feet, is very striking. A close inspection will show the difference between the piers of the portion finished by Henry III. and the newer work of the Fourteenth Century. The tracery of the triforium openings is very fine. The choir-screen which crosses the nave at the eighth pier, is modern, and also the pulpit. The west window is Perpendicular, and has some Georgian glass containing figures of the Patriarchs. Much architectural beauty has been sacrificed for the sake of ponderous monuments, but many of these have much interest and for many visitors will prove the most attractive features of the Abbey.”—(P. H. D.)
The general effect of the interior has changed little since Washington Irving wrote his sympathetic essay on England’s Walhalla:
“I pursued my walk to an arched door opening to the interior of the Abbey. On entering here the magnitude of the building breaks fully upon the mind, contrasted with the vaults of the cloisters. The eye gazes with wonder at clustered columns of gigantic dimensions with arches springing from them to such an amazing height; and man wandering about their bases shrunk into insignificance in comparison with his own handiwork. The spaciousness and gloom of this vast edifice produce a profound and mysterious awe. We step cautiously and softly about as if fearful of disturbing the hallowed silence of the tomb; while every footfall whispers along the walls, and chatters among the sepulchres, making us more sensible of the quiet we have interrupted.
“It seems as if the awful nature of the place presses down upon the soul, and hushes the beholder into noiseless reverence. We feel that we are surrounded by the congregated bones of the great men of past times who have filled history with their deeds and the earth with their renown.
“I passed some time in Poets’ Corner, which occupies an end of one of the transepts, or cross aisles of the Abbey. The monuments are generally simple; for the lives of literary men afford no striking themes for the sculptor. Shakespeare and Addison have statues erected to their memories, but the greater part have busts, medallions and sometimes mere inscriptions.
“From Poets’ Corner I continued my stroll towards that part of the Abbey which contains the sepulchres of the kings. I wandered among what once were chapels, but which are now occupied by the tombs and monuments of the great. At every turn I met with some illustrious name, or the cognizance of some powerful house renowned in history. As the eye darts into these dusky chambers of death, it catches glimpses of quaint effigies: some kneeling in niches, as if in devotion; others stretched upon the tombs, with hands piously pressed together; warriors in armour, as if reposing after battle; prelates, with crosiers and mitres; and nobles in robes and coronets, lying as it were in state. In glancing over this scene, so strangely populous, yet where every form is so still and silent, it seems almost as if we were treading a mansion of that fabled city, where every being had been suddenly transmuted into stone.”
The West Window dates from the reign of George II., whose arms are in the centre. It contains twenty-four large and fourteen small compartments depicting Moses, Aaron and the patriarchs.
The North-west Tower, also called Belfry Tower, has been called the “Whigs’ Corner,” on account of the monuments there. The glass in the window is old. The south-west, or Baptistery Tower, used to contain the font (now in Henry VII.’s Chapel). Here are also many monuments and busts. The stained glass window, in memory of George Herbert and William Cowper, was the gift of Mr. G. W. Childs, of Philadelphia.
The nave pulpit was placed here in 1862; and though the inner stone-work of the Choir-screen is of the Thirteenth Century, what is visible is modern.
“The splendid arcade which forms the Triforium is one of the greatest glories of Westminster, for it is filled with tracery similar in every respect to the best window tracery of the Early English period. Above the triforium comes the grand tier of windows composing the clerestory. Each is divided by a single central mullion which, in the older portions, terminates with two plain arches surmounted by a circle foliated in six divisions, and in the newer portions with trefoil-headed arches surmounted by a circle divided into only four parts. The fine vaulting, of which the rib-work is enriched with sculptured bosses at its points of intersection, completes the centre of the nave in such a fashion that its decorative effect is in complete harmony with the richness of the arch mouldings.”—(C. H.)
The aisles are greatly disfigured by the innumerable monuments. Much beautiful sculpture has been cut away to make room for them. The north aisle has one doorway; the south aisle has three, two of which lead into the Cloisters and the third (the most western one) into the Deanery. Above it is the Abbot’s Pew, an oaken gallery built by Abbot Islip early in the Sixteenth Century.
The most important monument in the north aisle is that of Ben Jonson, with the famous inscription “O rare Ben Jonson.” In the south aisle lies Major John André.
The Transepts of Westminster Abbey contain some of the most beautiful work that can be found anywhere.
The North Transept is entered by the famous Solomon’s Porch. It consists of four bays and is bordered with aisles. The eastern aisle is divided into three chapels—St. Andrew, St. Michael and St. John the Evangelist—all of which are filled with monuments.
“The transept end consists of five stages, of which the lowest is composed of four obtusely pointed arches, two of them being doorways. The spandrels are very richly sculptured. In the second compartment is an arcade of six trefoil-headed arches springing from clustered columns. Above this arcade are six lancet windows on slender columns. The soffits of the arches are decorated with sculpture and at both ends there are statues in niches. The fourth stage is a continuation of the triforium arcade. There are three arches, each enclosing two trefoiled arches, with a cinquefoiled circle between them. It is possible that there were once windows in this compartment, but these have been filled up. The transept end is completed by a great rose-window filled with modern stained glass representing the Apostles and Evangelists. Here we find the celebrated Censing Angels.
“The triforium is the place from which we can best see those famous sculptures known as the ‘censing angels.’ The artist who placed these figures in the north and south transepts must have had a genius which brought him nearer to the great Greek sculptors of the Periclean period than any who has lived since their time. What must the central statues have been like to be worthy of such accessories? Perhaps if one had to select the best public statue in England, it would be impossible to overlook the angel on the north transept on the western side. He appears to be literally hovering in the air, or rather—for this the sculptor has most marvellously expressed—he is supposed to be swinging his censer in the presence of his Lord, and to be floating in a sea of light, which forces him to bow his head and avert his face from its dazzling effulgence.”—(W. J. L.)
Among the monuments in the north transept the most interesting are to Admiral Vernon, George Canning, D’Israeli, Gladstone, Sir Robert Peel, William Pitt and Warren Hastings.
The South Transept is popularly known as the Poets’ Corner, a name given by Goldsmith. It is so crowded with tombs and cenotaphs that the architectural features are rarely noticed. It is not uniform with the north transept though both are of Henry III.’s reign, Early English merging into Decorated. A door in the south wall leads into the Chapel of St. Faith, long used as a vestry and now as a chapel for private prayer.
The most interesting tomb here is that of Geoffrey Chaucer, who for years lived in a house in the monastery garden pulled down to make room
for Henry VII.’s Chapel. It is a small altar-tomb supposed to date from 1451, with a canopy of Purbeck marble of later date. The memorial window above dates from 1868. Here lie Dryden, Francis Beaumont, Browning, Tennyson and Edmund Spencer among others; and a bust of Longfellow was placed here in 1884.
“The Choir, which has been the scene of so many solemn and memorable services, has no ancient woodwork. The stalls were erected about the middle of the last century. The altar and reredos are modern. There are some large figures, and a mosaic of the Last Supper. Here the coronations of our monarchs take place. The pavement is interesting, as it was brought from Rome by Abbot Ware in 1268, and beneath it he rests with other abbots of Westminster. The sedilia are Thirteenth Century work, and were decorated with paintings. The figures of King Siebert, the first founder, and of Henry III., the munificent re-founder, remain. Above the base of the tomb of Anne of Cleves, one of Henry VIII.’s many wives, is a remarkable painting of Richard II., and behind it some ancient tapestry.”—(P. H. D.)
On the north side of the sanctuary three ancient tombs harmonise perfectly with their architectural surroundings. The most westerly is that of Aveline of Lancaster, who died about 1273, a wealthy heiress, daughter of the Earl of Albemarle, who was married in the Abbey in 1269 to Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, younger son of Henry III. A single cusped arch with a high gable in the spandrel of which is a trefoiled panel forms the canopy. Two dogs are at the feet of the effigy draped in flowing mantle. The tomb is Early Decorated. Next comes the tomb of Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke (died 1323). The Earl, in full armour, rests his feet on a lion couchant. Beyond is the tomb of Edmund Crouchback (died 1296). The effigy of the Earl in chain armour lies under a triple canopy, richly ornamented. The aisles are crowded with tombs and monuments. The aisles of the choir are filled with tombs and monuments.
Behind the altar is situated the Confessor’s Chapel containing the famous Shrine of Edward the Confessor.
“When we enter St. Edward’s Chapel, or the Chapel of the Kings (Capella Regum), we find ourselves in what may fairly be described as the most important part of the Abbey, alike from the ecclesiastical and historical points of view. The chapel is distinguished from the rest of the church by its superior height above the ground. In the centre is the Confessor’s shrine, around which are the tombs of five Kings and six Queens of England. The entrance is by some wooden steps through a small space between one of the columns and Edward I.’s tomb. The chapel is separated from the sanctuary by a Fifteenth Century screen, which, though much mutilated, is still beautiful. The sculptures deal with the life and visions of the Confessor.”—(C. H.)
The Confessor’s Shrine, though mutilated, is the most important monument in the Abbey. The present tomb was finished in 1269 at the instance of King Henry, and was the work of one Peter, a Roman citizen. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries the body of the King was removed and the golden ornaments of the tomb disappeared; but in Queen Mary’s time Abbot Feckenham had the body re-interred, the shrine repaired and the wooden superstructure erected. James II. had the old coffin enclosed in another case. This remains still within the shrine.
On the north side of the shrine is the Tomb of Henry III., of two stages, in the upper one of which the body rests. An effigy in gilt bronze rests on the top. Next is the tomb of Edward I. On the other side (east) lies Eleanor of Castile (died 1290) in a tomb of Purbeck marble, the sides of which are embellished with trefoiled heads, a fine example of Gothic, probably designed by Torel. Immediately behind the Confessor’s Shrine comes the Chantry of Henry V. (where an altar once stood). It is a splendid piece of ornate Perpendicular work, with elaborate sculptured figures representing St. George, St. Denys and the story of the hero’s life—his fights, coronation and court. The effigy is mutilated. Above the tomb hang the monarch’s shield, saddle and helmet, which were carried in his funeral procession.
The next tomb is that of Queen Philippa of Hainault, Queen of Edward III., who died in 1369. Next comes Edward III. (died 1377) and next that of Richard II. and his first wife, Anne of Bohemia. Next, Siebert’s Tomb, consisting of an arched recess in the wall and supposed to contain the body of the legendary founder of the Abbey. It dates from 1308. Next comes the tomb of Anne of Cleves.
In this chapel stand the Coronation Chairs. The one on the left was made in the reign of Edward I. to enclose the stone of Scone, supposed to be the stone on which Jacob slept at Beth-el. The chair was once painted and jewelled. The other chair was made for the coronation of William and Mary. Between these hang the sword and shield of state of Edward III., used at his and all other coronations.
The little Chapel of St. Benedict is closed to the public. Under an arch is an altar tomb of four children of Henry III. and four of Edward I.
Then comes St. Edmund’s Chapel, filled with tombs; then St. Nicholas’s Chapel, separated from the ambulatory by an embattled stone screen (Perpendicular), probably erected in the reign of Henry IV. On the other side of the steps leading to Henry VII.’s Chapel is St. Paul’s Chapel, corresponding with St. Nicholas’s Chapel. Next we find the Chapel of St. John Baptist with the Chapel of St. Erasmus forming the entrance. The doorway, dating from the reign of Richard II., is beautiful, a low arch, supported by clustered pillars. Next to this comes Islip’s Chapel, screened off and vaulted by Abbot Islip (died 1532), to hold his own tomb. The abbot’s rebus, an eye with a slip of a tree grasped in a hand, or a man slipping from the branch of a tree, occurs frequently inside and outside the chapel. In the upper part of Islip’s chapel are preserved the remarkable collection of wax-works.