On the floor-level the arcading is practically uniform, with the exception of one column.[13] Above, on the north, south, and east sides is arcading, and still higher in each side are two round-headed window openings.

This spacious apartment owes the form of its curious floor to the vaulting of the lantern-space in the time of Sir Guy de Brien, whose arms are found in the lierne-vaulting which supports the floor. The room was cleared and improved in 1887, when the hanging ringing-chamber was removed, and the floor and ceiling put in good order. The ringing-floor is on the next stage, and the belfry is the floor above.

The clock was erected as a Jubilee memorial in 1887, at a cost of over L200. It is built on the lines of the clocks at Westminster and Worcester Cathedral, and chimes the so-called "Cambridge quarters" as arranged by Dr. Crotch. Small though the clock looks from the level of the churchyard, it must be remembered that it is the massive tower that dwarfs it—the diameter of the face is in reality 8 feet.



Nothing is known of the place of origin of the pre-Reformation bells, but, arguing from the proximity of Gloucester, it may be assumed that out of the eight bells weighing 14,200 lb. or more, some may have been cast by John Sandre, of Gloucester.

The eight bells were bought from the King's Commissioners for L142, i.e., at the rate of 5 lb. for a shilling. They may have been bought to sell again, as the number was soon reduced to four. In 1612 a fifth bell was added, as a rhyme on the cover of the baptismal register (1607-1629) tells us:

"William Dixon and Thomas Hoare Made us that bell which wee ring before, Which men for that good deede praie we they maie thrive, For we having but four bells, they made them five; And out of the grownde this bell they did delve The 24th of Julie, Anno Dom. 1612."

Near the arcaded passage in the room in the tower are some memoranda of the changes possible with five bells, rudely engraved in the stonework.

In 1632 the peal was recast and a sixth bell was added, and in 1679 the two newest bells were recast. Two new bells were added in 1696. In 1797 the great or tenor bell was recast. From the time when the bells were overhauled and tuned at Gloucester, in 1837, no further alteration has been made. The present peal is about 500 lb. less in weight than the peal in use at the time of the Dissolution.

From the top of the tower a fine view is to be obtained—Cheltenham, and Gloucester, with its beautiful Cathedral tower, on the south, the Malvern Hills on the west, the Cotswolds on the east and north-east. The Severn and the Avon wind through the landscape, and on the far horizon may be seen the distant hills of Wales.

The old shafting has been chipped away on the west face of the stonework opposite to the north-east tower pier. As one turns round the corner into the north ambulatory or choir aisle, it will be noticed that on the wall is a monument by Flaxman to Lady Clarke; it is small and unobtrusive, but the sculpture is thoroughly good and worthy of a great artist.

On the right hand opposite is the Warwick Chapel (p. 83), of which the glory in part has departed, viz., the decoration in colour and in gold, and much of the architectural detail.

St. James' Chapel.[14]—This chapel (dimensions 28 feet by 24 feet), which opens on to the north transept of the north ambulatory, was from 1576 up to 1875 walled off from the rest of the church and used as premises for the "Free Grammar School of William Ferrers, citizen and mercer of London." The school ceased to be held here about forty years ago, but the inserted masonry and brickwork was not removed till the restoration of 1875 and following years, when the chapel was restored by the Freemasons of the county. From the time that the chapel ceased to be a school it fell into a bad state of repair, and was open to the sky before the recent restoration, when the present roof of timber, covered with lead—the only wooden roof in the church—was erected and the stonework repaired.

There seems no doubt that this chapel was originally a Norman apse with a vaulted chamber[15] above, like that in the sister transept, and that it was enlarged in the thirteenth century by Prior Henry Sipton. This is distinctly stated in Annals to have been done in the case of the chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas in 1237. No trace remains of any of the work of Prior Sipton owing to the later works carried out in this chapel. The nave of a Lady Chapel was built on the north side of the north transept, and its chancel (the existing northern part of the choir vestry) was carried out to the east, this portion of the chapel being quite detached, as the windows (now blocked up) in the upper part of the south wall plainly show. Access for the laity was given by a door in the nave portion, while the monks had an entrance through the adjoining chapel, which may, after its rebuilding in 1237, have contained two altars, one to St. James and another to St. Nicholas. This theory of the two altars in this chapel would account for much of the confusion in the naming of the chapel by subsequent writers. The vaulting of this chapel is at first sight a difficult problem to solve, as the eastern side is divided into two equal parts, while the western side is divided into two unequal parts. A pillar seems to have stood in the centre, if the lists of noblemen buried (after the battle in 1471) in the two chapels are trustworthy. When the fourteenth century Lady Chapel at the east end of the church was built, the raison d'etre of the Early English Lady Chapel ceased, and the chapel entrances were enlarged to their present form. Any distinctive features that they had in the way of wall decoration were lost either at the Dissolution, when part was pulled down, or during the subsequent use of the eastern chapels as a schoolroom.

Passing through into the adjoining chapel on the north, which was probably the chancel of an Early English Lady Chapel, the visitor will note the great contrast between this and the adjacent chapel. It is very much richer in its ornament, and though it has been terribly mutilated, much work of surpassing interest is still left to us. The north wall contains the remains of a trefoil-headed arcade of great beauty, the spandrils of which show richly carved foliage, the effect of which was further heightened by the application of colour. Of the arcading eleven capitals remain, but only three pillars and bases, the rest having been cleared away.



In the wall of the present west end is a window decorated with a moulding consisting of two series of chevrons, completely undercut, pointing laterally in contrary directions.[16] Numerous interesting remains of Early English mason's work are in the chapel, and many have been built into the wall on the east side, the most important being remains of a fine altar-piece in Purbeck marble.

There is a window on the east side containing four lights, the subjects, beginning from the north side, being as follows:—(1) The mythical Saxon founders, Oddo and Doddo, A.D. 715. (2) The Norman founders, i.e., Fitz-Hamon and Sibylla. (3) Earl Robert, 1089-1123. (4) The Countess of Warwick, 1439. The figures are based on the MS. Chronicle of the Abbey, belonging to Sir Charles Isham of Lamport. This window, the tracery of which is new, is by Bourne of Birmingham, and forms a memorial to a former churchwarden, John Garrison, who died in 1876. The tracery contains the red and white roses of the rival houses of Lancaster and York, appropriately enough, seeing that under the floor, in front of the altar to St. James, are interred the remains of Lord Edmund, the Duke of Somerset, Lord Thomas Courtenay, the Earl of Devon, Sir Richard Courtenay, Lord John Somerset, and Sir Humphrey Hadley, who were beheaded after the battle of Tewkesbury. Sir Thomas Tresham, who also was beheaded at the same time, was buried before a pillar between the altars of St. James and St. Nicholas.

The whole of this part of the chapel was once the choir or chancel of the detached Early English Lady Chapel which was erected early in the thirteenth century. The Annals of Tewkesbury record that in 1239 the Church of Tewkesbury with a greater altar was dedicated in honour of the glorious Virgin Mary. The word Church might mean this Early English Lady Chapel, which with its nave and chancel would be a model church, although somewhat small in size; but the words majore altari are generally taken to mean the large slab of Purbeck marble now in its place in the choir as an altar slab.

Lady Chapels were not invariably at the east end of the main building. At Bristol there was and is still an elder Lady Chapel which at one time was detached from the main building.

The floor in these chapels is that which was formerly in the choir up to the time of the restoration of the church.

St. Margaret's Chapel.—This is one of the series of the fourteenth century chapels which surrounds the ambulatory of the choir.

An old altar-cloth which was given by Anne, Countess of Coventry, in 1731 to the church was removed to this chapel after the restoration of the building.



A very fine screen of stonework separates this chapel from the ambulatory, the tomb of Sir Guy de Brien (late Decorated—erected in 1390) forming part of the screen.[17] Sir Guy was the third husband of the Lady Elizabeth Despenser who is buried in the tomb on the other side of the ambulatory. In the panelling are the arms of Sir Guy, who was also Lord Welwyn, and those of his wife, who was by birth a Montacute. This knight served Edward III. as standard-bearer at Crecy in 1346, and was a great benefactor to the Abbey. He is credited with the vaulting of the tower, as his arms occur in the bosses there.

The vaulting, which springs from engaged shafts, is excellent work, like that in the other chapels, and the bosses are worth notice. In the central boss in the ceiling the Coronation of the Virgin is represented, and surrounding it are heads of lions and of men.

An aumbry, lavabo, and piscina are all worthy of study.

St. Edmund's Chapel.—The ground-plan of this chapel is curious, as it is apparently divided into two by a kind of re-entrant pier of masonry, and the easternmost part is screened off from the ambulatory by the curious tomb known by the name of the Wakeman Cenotaph, or the tomb of the starved monk (vide p. 94).

In this chapel is a large aumbry, and a very perfect stone coffin which was dug up in the south ambulatory near the Trinity Chapel. The metallic sound given forth by the coffin when tapped seems to be of more interest than anything else to the ordinary visitor. Various interesting fragments of stonework are in the chapel, one being a portion of a tomb. Portions of the font formerly in the Norman chapel in the south transept are also here. Under the painted window is a piscina, more than half of which is modern work. There were, no doubt, two altars, i.e., one in each part of the chapel, but the dedication of the other part is not known.

At the intersections of the vaulting are some unusually interesting carved bosses. For the most part they have reference to the legend of St. Edmund, King and Martyr, viz:—

The head of the king bearing a crown. The king, bound to a tree, being shot at by Danes. A greyhound watching by the body of Lodbrog in the wood, murdered by the king's huntsman. Christ with a halo of glory, triumphing over Sin personified as a monster. St. Michael destroying the dragon. Other bosses are either floral or heraldic, the latter containing the arms of the Despensers. The boss in the centre of the roof is unique, containing a lion being attacked by various other animals, e.g., a horse, a ram, a monkey, wolves, etc.

There is one painted window in this chapel, which was erected in 1877 to the memory of Rev. C.G. Davies, for thirty-one years Vicar of Tewkesbury. The window is by Heaton, Butler and Bayne. In effect it is too kaleidoscopic.



Opposite to the Wakeman Cenotaph (vide p. 95) is the iron grating which is the entrance to—

The Clarence Vault.—This vault [F] contains the remains of George, Duke of Clarence, Earl of Warwick and Salisbury, and his wife Isabelle, who was the eldest daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, commonly known as the "King-maker." The Duchess died at Warwick in December, 1476, from the effects, it is said, of poison. She was buried in the vault which, as the chronicle says, was made artificialiter behind the great altar, in front of the door of the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the opening of the tomb was made opposite the entrance of the chapel of Saint Edmund the Martyr. The young Countess, after lying in the choir in state for thirty-five days, was laid in the vault on February 8th. Ten days later her husband, who had been put to death in the Tower—it matters little whether in the butt of Malmsey wine or not—was buried beside her.

Assuming that the tomb was desecrated and pillaged soon after the Dissolution, and again later on in Commonwealth times, we find that in 1709 the royal remains were displaced to make room for the body of a "periwig-pated alderman" by name Samuel Hawling; and later on, in 1729 and 1753, his wife and son were interred there. The site then was lost till it was identified in 1826. In 1829 the Hawling remains were removed, and since then it has remained the Clarence Vault. In 1876 it was fitted with iron gates, and in the pavement over the vault a brass has been inserted with the inscription, composed by Mr. J.T.D. Niblett:—

"Dominus Georgius Plantagenet dux Clarencius et Domina Isabelle Neville, uxor ejus qui obierunt haec 12 Decembris, A.D. 1476, ille 18 Feb., 1477.

"Macte veni sicut sol in splendore, Mox subito mersus in cruore."

Or in English—

"Lord George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, and Lady Isabelle Neville, his wife, who died, she on Dec. 12, 1476, he on Feb. 18, 1477.

"I came in my might like a sun in splendour, Soon suddenly bathed in my own blood."

On the brass are engraved two suns in splendour, the badge of the House of York.

The fourteenth century stone screen-work round the choir side of the ambulatory, particularly at the back of the reredos and the north-east portion adjacent to it, is very interesting work. The lower part is panelled with tracery in low relief, with the arches springing from diminutive heads. All the shafting is ornamented with a small ball-like enrichment. Above the panelling is some open tracery of beautiful design. By reference to the plan it will be seen that much of this original screen-work has been set back several feet, possibly to make room for the Clarence vault.

At the east end of the ambulatory is the arch by which entrance was formerly given to the destroyed Lady Chapel. It is now walled up, and in such a way that it is difficult to picture the appearance of the original work. However, from the battlements of the adjoining south-east chapel it is possible to see the remnants of the vaulting of the entrance to the Lady Chapel.

In the modern cast wall is a window of three lights (by Hardman) in memory of Rev. C.W. Grove, who presented most of the modern glass in the church. The subject is the Pharisee and the Publican. It is not known whether the Pharisee is intended to be a portrait of any one, but the Publican's face is said to be an excellent portrait of Mr. Grove, and the portrait of the lady in the top light (she lacks a halo) is deemed to be an equally good picture of Mrs. Grove.

St. Faith's Chapel.—The site of this chapel is not known for certain, though it is supposed to have been one of the two south-east chapels.

The first and easternmost chapel is the largest of the series of chapels built round the ambulatory. It is pentagonal in form and is 28 feet by 24 feet, opening to the aisle with a richly moulded arch. The vaulting, as in all these chapels, is excellent work, but the student of such things will notice that the masons' work on the chapels on the south side is in even courses, and that the stones are better dressed than in the chapels on the north side of the choir. At the intersections of the vaulting there are some good bosses, chiefly foliage with some heads. In this chapel there are three stone coffins.

The central window (by Kempe) is to the memory of Benjamin Thomas Moore, for thirty-eight years churchwarden, who died in 1896. Though detail of a most elaborate kind fills the window, yet in appearance it is rather thin, a quality which the clear, strong light that shines upon it as a rule somewhat accentuates. In the central light is St. Faith, to whom this chapel is often ascribed, with St. Agnes on the left and St. Cecilia on the right. There are two other windows, one of four lights and the other of three.

By standing at the entrance to this chapel the visitor will obtain a very fine and interesting set of coups d'oeil of the different parts of the building. Towards the north there is the view of the work at the back of the altar, and St. Edmund's and St. Margaret's chapels in the background. To the north-west are the tombs at the back of the altar and sedilia; to the west is a good view of the south ambulatory and the south aisle of the nave.

The next chapel, i.e., the middle one of the three on this side, has no known dedication.[18] It is also pentagonal—somewhat irregular, it is true, but its length and breadth are the same—20 feet. There are two windows of three lights.

This chapel has become the museum for the storage of many interesting fragments of destroyed portions of the fabric. Some of the coloured fragments are under glass, others are grouped against the eastern wall. It is to be regretted that no list is hung up in the cases. The larger of the two cases contains in one division pieces of the broken upper part of the sedilia, all finely coloured. In the other division are fragments from the Warwick Chapel and other mutilated tombs in the choir. Most of these were found buried in the choir at the restoration in 1875. There are some iron rings which belonged to the coffin of Sir Hugh le Despenser. They were removed when the tomb was inspected in 1875.

Portions of figures of the De Clares are also in the case—one with an inverted torch, representing Gilbert de Clare, who died, the last male of his line, at the battle of Bannockburn, 1314. Three bases of figures contain inscriptions as follows:

1. Rob^s. Consull Filius Regis 2. Willelm^s. Comes Gloces^r. 3. . . . . . e Regis.

Another portion of a figure, in a blue mantle, is said to be Thomas Lord Despenser, the last Earl of Gloucester. It has upon it the arms of Despenser and Clare.

On the wall are some swords which recall the panic caused in 1803 by Napoleon's projected invasion and humiliation of England. It is difficult to see why they or the colours of the Volunteers were removed to this position from the Town Hall.

Against the eastern wall are portions of a beautiful frieze, with ball-flower ornament, and many shields bearing traces of rich colour. There is a fine head, and a curiosity in the form of a coffin of an infant, a portion of a cluster of marble columns, and a figure in camelskin and leather girdle representing St. John the Baptist.

Across this chapel is the tomb of Abbot Cheltenham, who died in 1509 (vide p. 95).

The Vestry.—The third of the chapels is the most regular in shape, and is used, as it was in monastic times, as a Vestiarium or vestry. The arch is closed entirely by masonry, built upon the original wall which formed the outer wall of the Norman church. In the walled-up space that corresponds to what is the entrance in the case of the other chapels are a fine tomb and the doorway into the vestry. A description of the tomb will be found on p. 97. The tomb of the Abbot may have been removed from a grave outside the building, but it is not known who was buried in it. Willis ascribed it to Robert Fortington, who died in 1253. A fine doorway, richly decorated, with three elaborately wrought brackets for images over it, gives access to the Clergy Vestry. The door is of oak, plated with roughly wrought metal plates, of which tradition has it that they were made by the monks out of swords and armour found in and around the precincts after the battle of Tewkesbury in 1471.

This chapel is profusely enriched with ball-flower moulding, both inside and on the side next the ambulatory. It will be noticed that the windows are small and placed, for the sake of the security of the sacristy, high up in the south wall. In the south wall is a piscina, and close by on the south-east wall must have stood an altar. The window nearer to this has richer detail than the other two. In the south-west wall a small recess is formed inside a buttress. This may have been used as a safe for plate and other valuables in the charge of the sacristan.



A special staircase in the north-west corner, entered from the ambulatory, gives access to the room over the vestry. In this room, which has a fireplace, the sacristan probably slept. He was able from the windows on the stairs to see into the Vestiarium or Diaconum Magnum, and also into the choir. In fact, this view is one of the most interesting in the church. Two large square modern windows give light to this room, and a doorway in the east wall communicates with the space over the vaulting of the ambulatory and chapels. The room had originally a low timbered roof, as will be seen by the holes once occupied by the beams.

There are two tombs of interest built into the wall between the vestry door and the south transept, and space for them has been cut out of the original Norman solid wall. One is quite plain and simple Early English work [M], and contains the remains of Abbot Alan, a man of learning and of considerable note, as he was a friend of Thomas a Becket, the great Archbishop of Canterbury. This is the only tomb of that period now surviving in the church, and it has been thought that he was the first of the abbots who was honoured with an intramural tomb.

Close to Abbot Alan's tomb is another recess which now is without its coffin. The arch is pointed and crocketed with pinnacles at the sides. In the absence of a tomb the chief interest consists in the old encaustic tiles which have been transferred here from other parts of the building, a few of them having been found in 1875 under the then stone pavement of the choir. They are now safe here from the destroying power of the ubiquitous tourist's foot.

On the south-east tower pier is a marble tablet in Renaissance style, erected in 1890 to the memory of Mrs. Craik, the author of "John Halifax, Gentleman," who is said to have written her story whilst staying at the ancient "Bell Inn" near the Abbey gate. The memorial was designed by Mr. H.H. Armstead, R.A., and is gracefully carried out entirely in white marble. The only fault in the memorial is that there is too much work in proportion to the size of the tablet. The topmost portion above the projecting cornice is a charming piece of work, illustrating Charity, but too high above the ordinary visitor's head to be seen or appreciated as it should, and the group rather overweights the memorial.



South Transept.—(Dimensions 40 feet 8 inches by 32 feet 10 inches.) This transept has vaulting of the same character as the other, and a large west window, rebuilt in 1820, filled with glass in memory of Thomas Collins, of Tewkesbury. Beneath this window is a deeply recessed doorway (now blocked up) which once gave access to the cloisters. In this recess are to be found some of the old tiles which formerly were in the choir. In the south wall too, like the north wall of the other transept, there are recessed Norman arches with two windows—enlarged later—under the roof. The doorway in this wall formerly communicated with the Chapter House. One of Tewkesbury's glories, the old organ, forms the north boundary of the transept. On the east side there are four large Norman arches. Of these the first is the archway which gives access to the south ambulatory, with a triangular window (of fourteenth century work) over it, occupying the position once taken by the arch of the triforium of the Norman choir. In 1893 this window was glazed with stained glass by Rev. W.H.F. Hepworth in memory of his mother, the subject of the window being Faith, Hope, and Charity.

To the south of this is the large arch which gives access to the Norman chapel with its early Norman groined roof. This chapel will give the student an idea of the original plan of the north transept before the alterations in 1237 and in 1246.

The east window was perforce blocked up when the ambulatory chapels were built, and to give light to the chapel the south-east window was inserted in the apse, no other position for a window being possible, as will easily be seen by reference to the plan.

An anonymous donor presented the Salviati mosaic now in the filling of the east window, but the effect is not good, as too strong a light falls upon the gold background. Probably the work will look better when the south transept is entirely glazed with coloured glass. The subject is our Lord enthroned, bearing a book in one hand, and having the other raised as in blessing. The glass in this window was formerly in the east window of the ambulatory of the choir, and was removed to its present position in 1887. It is a memorial to Mr. A. Sprowle, a former resident of Tewkesbury. The glass is by Clayton and Bell, but the window is very poor and uninteresting.

This Norman chapel[19] was at one time used as the Baptistery, and the font, now in one of the two north-east chapels, was in use here up to the time of the restoration in 1875. After this restoration the altar from the choir was transferred to this chapel, and the various guilds connected with the church subscribed towards the cost of fitting the chapel for special devotional use. It is used for the daily morning services in the week.

There are remains of a piscina in this chapel, but very much battered. It is to be hoped that money will not be frittered away on any attempt at polychrome decoration of the ordinary kind in the chapel as has been done at Gloucester in the chapel of St. Andrew. Mr. Blunt has thrown out the suggestion as a possible ideal, but the simplicity of the present chapel is far preferable.

Immediately above it is a large vaulted room, similar in shape, but less lofty, open to the transept. Its roof shows traces of having been at one time elaborately painted with frescoes, and the room formerly communicated with the original Norman triforium of the choir. This room has at various times had absurd names given to it, perhaps the most absurd being that of the Nun's Prison. As Mr. Blunt in "Tewkesbury and its Associations" says, there are many people who cannot hear about monks without immediately thinking of nuns. It would seem that the room communicated with the dorter or dormitory, and was designed for invalid monks, who from it might hear mass sung in the church without going downstairs. In the south-east corner of the transept a staircase gives access to this chamber, and communicates with the triforium of the transept, the clerestory of the choir, the vaulting of the ambulatory as well as that of the tower.

Before 1875 a gallery filled up the south transept and two bays of the south aisle, and communicated by means of the organ screen with the similar gallery in the north transept.

In the west wall is a recess, formerly a doorway of Early English work. On the south wall is a brass tablet from the choir pavement, to the memory of Prince Edward.

At the corner of the south transept and the south aisle is a curious recess in the masonry hidden by a curtain.

At the extreme east end of the south aisle, near the niche or recess just mentioned, is a rudely carved head which no doubt served as a cresset.

THE CHOIR.

This part of the building is usually entered from the south ambulatory by the entrance opposite to the door of the clergy vestry. The screen-work at this entrance to the choir was in a ruinous state in the early part of this century, and has been most carefully repaired, and in part renewed.

It is a choir of great beauty, and though at first sight small and low, its proportions are admirable in every way, the length being almost exactly twice the breadth.

From the centre of the eastern tower-piers to the back of the altar the choir measures 63 feet, but the total length from the present oak-screen to the altar is 103 feet. The breadth in its widest part is 33 feet.[20]

The upper part of the choir was reconstructed in the early part of the fourteenth century in its present polygonal form, the Norman pillars being carried up three feet, and fitted on the choir side with Decorated capitals.

The curious effect of the carrying up of the columns will be seen from the fact that the arches which spring from the Decorated capitals do not correspond in pitch with the vaulting in the ambulatory. The latter springs from the original Norman capitals on the columns in the choir (see illustration, p. 52).

The moulding of these arches of the choir is exceedingly rich, and the outer ones on the north side contain a double moulding of quatrefoil flower ornament.

The easternmost arch is somewhat stilted; the bare wall thus left exposed having originally been concealed by the reredos, or at any rate decorated in some way.

In these alterations to the choir here the Norman triforium had to be sacrificed; and those who wish to see on a larger scale what the original triforium was like must study that at Gloucester. In fact the two choirs alone will form the basis of much interesting study, the Gloucester choir having been left comparatively intact below the clerestory, and veiled over with richly wrought Perpendicular stonework.

The windows and the roof are of about the same date, i.e., early fourteenth century; the roof is anticipatively Perpendicular. A great feature of the choir is the skilful way in which the work of different times has been so effectively combined, and brought into a harmonious whole.



It is interesting to compare the ground-plans of Gloucester and Tewkesbury, and to see how the two originally Norman choirs have been treated. At Gloucester the apsidal formation has been destroyed, traces only of it being left under the present reredos, but there the actual removal of Norman work stopped. The Norman piers of the choir and presbytery and the Norman triforium of the choir are all there, though they are partly concealed by the later Perpendicular casing. The choir at Tewkesbury has lost its distinctively Norman character, as nearly all the original outside wall of the church to the east of the tower was removed, but it has retained its apsidal formation.



Beautiful as the choir is, it owes much of its effect to its vaulted roof, which is a fine specimen of early Decorated work. The vaulting ribs spring from small engaged shafts, which are carried up the face of the wall from the main piers, and then radiate from very ornate capitals over the vault. A fine colour effect must have been presented by the original ceiling painted and frescoed.

The bosses are less elaborate and less varied than those in the choir at Gloucester, but are well carved, consisting for the most part of vine-leaves delicately treated. All this roof was colour-washed in 1828, when so much restoration was done in the church.

The suns[21] in the centre are supposed to have been put up by command of Edward IV. after the battle of Tewkesbury. The suns were a device which was appropriated by the Yorkists after the downfall of the Lancastrian party. Those in the tower vaulting are modern copies of these original suns. The modern painting of the vaulting is subdued in tone.

The vault of the tower is a lierne vault, and from the occurrence of the arms of Sir Guy de Brien, once quartered with those of Montacute (i.e., of his wife), the vaulting has been credited to his exertions. The Despenser fret is to be found twice.

In front of the altar-rails is the large boss from which used to hang the sanctuary lamp, the sacred flame of which was kept ever trimmed and bright, as a sign that "the house was evermore watching to God."

Altar.—The Purbeck marble altar is supposed by some to have been the altar mentioned in the Abbey Chronicles of 1239, but any Early English features have been destroyed beyond recognition. It is reputed to be the largest altar in England, but, at any rate, it may be said to be the longest. Originally set up in its present situation, it seems to have been buried in the choir by the monks, perhaps by some who were not so mercenary as the rest. Sixty-eight years afterwards it was found, and its purpose being recognised, it was set up in the middle of the choir as a Communion table. In 1730 it was transferred to the aisle, the churchwardens' accounts stating that 12s. was paid for so doing, and that 2s. 6d. was given "to the men that did it for working all night." The "large entire blue stone" was then cut into two lengthwise, and was further desecrated by being converted into seats for the north porch.[22] Earl Beauchamp, at his own expense, had the two slabs restored to their original use. Considering what the marble has gone through, its size has been well maintained. In 1607 it was 13 feet 8 inches by 3 feet 6 inches by 7 inches; and now it is 13 feet 6 inches by 3 feet 5 inches by 5 inches. It is supported by a massive framing of oak.



Sedilia.—These are on the south side in the canted bay of the apse. These sadly mutilated remains of a once glorious work are especially interesting. Originally they were decorated with rich colour and gold, much of which still in parts remains. The canopy of tabernacle work has been ruthlessly destroyed, together with the major part of the easternmost section. All the shafting is very richly moulded with a great number of diminutive mouldings, principally ogee and hollow. Foliage work of rare beauty and representations of grotesque animals form the greater part of the ornament. There are interesting remains of diaper work in the wall which forms the back. The plinth and seats are probably modern work. At the top are placed some pieces of battlement work, of which there is a great amount in different parts of the building. It seems a pity that the remains of the sedilia which lie elsewhere in the church cannot be placed together in position here—not "restored," but honestly pieced as well as may be done with care and patience.

The north-east pier that supports the tower bears a plain corbel, supporting what is supposed to be the remains of an oak case for the Saunce-bell or Sanctus-bell.

Tiles.—During the wholesale restoration of 1875 and following years some old tiles were found, after the pattern of which the present tiles were made. The fashion of paving buildings of the age of Tewkesbury Abbey with glazed and glossy machine-made tiles, all cut mathematically true, is much to be deprecated. Time has done much, and will do more, to remove the glaze, but nothing will ever remove the stiff printed look of the pattern. The black patches of tiles are rather heavy in appearance, but the pavement looks better so than it would if broken up with streaky slabs and squares of glaring white marble incised with more or less pictorial designs relieved with a background of black cement. The choir of Tewkesbury in this respect has fared better than that of Gloucester, though a little more might have been made of the graves of the illustrious dead who are known to have been buried underneath.

Windows of the Choir.—These fourteenth century windows are the chief glory of the choir. There are seven in all, and though they have suffered much from wilful damage and neglect, there are perhaps no others in England containing quite so much glass of the same date, and in such good condition as a whole.[23] Every one must rejoice that in 1828 lack of funds prevented these windows from being thoroughly restored.

The windows nearest to the tower have four lights each, and the tracery is comparatively simple though flowing and free. The next two on either side of the choir are slightly more elaborate and contain five lights each, while the east window is quite different from the rest. It has five lights, and the head of the window contains a fine Catharine-wheel.

In the north-west window (i.e., immediately over the Warwick Chapel) are—1. Fitz-Hamon; 2. Robert Fitzroy; 3. Hugh le Despenser; 4. Gilbert de Clare (third), the tenth Earl of Gloucester. In the south-west window, i.e., the one exactly opposite to the last mentioned, are—1. Gilbert de Clare (the first of the name); 2. Lord de la Zouch; 3. Richard de Clare; 4. Gilbert de Clare (the second). These knights are all in armour, and are valuable as giving accurate representation of the armour and knightly gear of their time. Above the knights are represented canopies, and in the heads of the windows are scrolls of vine-leaves.

The bodies of the De Clares lie below the choir pavement, almost in a line with these two windows.

The other windows on either side contain Scripture subjects, many of them very fragmentary: Daniel, David, Abraham, Jeremiah, Solomon, and Joel are, however, easily to be found.

The east window represents the Last Judgment. In the centre Christ is depicted with uplifted hands, on which are the stigmata of the Passion. The side lights, from their unsymmetrical arrangement, would seem to have been rearranged, or rather disarranged, at some time. The Apostles would naturally be grouped on either side, in the outer lights. The other two lights represent St. John and the Blessed Virgin. Of these figures the heads, which are modern, were put in (free of charge) in 1828 by a London glass-painter named Collins. In the five panels below the figures are groups of persons arising from their graves; one group represents an angel disputing with the evil one for the possession of three persons bound with a chain. At the bottom are armorial bearings.

In the floor of the choir there are graves in which many notable persons, who made their mark in history, were buried.

Exactly under the central point of the vaulting of the tower is the site of the grave of Prince Edward, son of Henry VI. and Margaret Anjou. He died on the 4th of May, 1471, and with him the last hope of the Red Rose party was finally crushed.

A modern brass, with a Latin inscription which was composed by Mr. J.D.T. Niblett, records that "Hic jacet Edwardus princeps Walliae, crudeliter interfectus dum adhuc juvenis Anno Domini 1471, mensis Maii die quarto. Eheu, hominum furor: matris tu sola lux es, et gregis ultima spes,"—or in English, that "Here lies Edward, Prince of Wales, brutally murdered while but a youth, in the year of our Lord 1471, on the 4th of May. Alas! the madness of men. Thou art the only light of thy mother, and the last hope of the flock." Holinshed writes that the body of the Prince "was homelie interred with the other simple corpses in the church of the monasterie of the blacke monks in Teukesburie." Another MS., which gives a list of noblemen slain in the battle of Tewkesbury, states more definitely that he was "buried in the midst of the convent choir in the monastery there." Traces of a coffin-lid were found near the north-west pier of the tower, and from other evidence it was taken to be the tomb of the young prince, and this would give more colour to Hall's statement that he "was buried without any solemnity among some mean persons in the church of the black friars in Tewkesbury."

In 1796, when several alterations were made in the church, a brass plate was inserted in a stone over a tomb in the choir supposed to be that of the Prince. This tablet is now on the wall of the south transept. It runs:

"NE TOTA PEREAT MEMORIA EDWARDI PRINCIPIS WALLIAE POST PROELIUM MEMORABILE IN VICINIS ARVIS DEPUGNATUM CRUDELITER OCCISI HANC TABULAM HONORARIAM DEPONI CURABAT PIETAS TEWKESBURIENSIS ANNO DOMINI MDCCXCVI."

Or in English: "That the memory of Edward, Prince of Wales (brutally murdered after the famous battle fought in the fields close by), perish not utterly, the piety of the people of Tewkesbury had this memorial tablet laid down, A.D. 1796." This tablet is mentioned in the accounts for that year, and the cost is put down at L10; but perhaps this included the composition of the Latin inscription, and the stone in which the plate was inserted. This pietas Tewkesburiensis still survives, as flowers are annually laid upon the site of the grave. Before this there was, according to Dingley, who wrote in 1680, a "fair tombstone of grey marble, the brass whereof has bin pickt out by sacrilegious hands, directly underneath the Tower of this Church, at the entrance into the Quire, and sayed to be layd over Prince Edward, who lost his life in cool blood in the dispute between York and Lancaster, at which time the Lancastrians had the overthrow."

Another grave under the tower was that of the Duke of Warwick, who is sometimes said to have been created and crowned King of the Isle of Wight by Henry VI. He died at the age of twenty-one, and was buried, at his own request, between the stalls in the choir. At the time the choir was repaved in 1875 a grave of stone filled with rubble was found, together with some bones of a man of herculean size. These, no doubt, were those of the Duke who was buried here in 1446. The large marble slab that formerly covered the grave disappeared early in this century, but the brasses that were originally in it had been taken away long before. Cecily the Duchess of Warwick, a daughter of the Earl of Salisbury, was buried in the same place in 1450.

Further eastward, in a line with the Warwick Chapel, are the graves known as those of the De Clares.

The first is a stone with an inscription running round the edge, in old French, as follows: "Ci git Maud de Burgh la veuve comitisse de Gloucestre et Hertford, que mourust le 2 juillet l'ann grace 1315. Nous cherchons celle que est a venir." This slab, which is of large size, covers a well-wrought stone grave, and must have contained a very handsome brass, judging by the matrix. The next grave contains the remains of the Lady Maud's husband, Gilbert de Clare, the third of that name, the tenth Earl of Gloucester and Earl of Hertford. Though young in years he had a wise head, for Edward II. made him his regent when he himself was fighting in Scotland, and later again in 1313 when fighting in France. Gilbert de Clare the third was killed at Bannockburn in 1314, and was laid to rest next to his father. The tablet gives his arms, and the inscription runs: "Gilbertus tertius nomine Glocestrie et Hertfordie comes decimus ultimus, obiit 23 Junii, 1314, proelio occisus, Scotus gavisus." Which being freely translated is: "Gilbert, the third of the name, tenth and last Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, died on June 23, 1314. He was slain in battle, to the joy of the Scots."

The tomb next to this is that of his father, Gilbert the second, usually known as the Red Earl. He married the Princess Joan of Acre, a daughter of Edward I. This Earl was at first an important figure in the revolt of the Righteous Earl, Sir Simon de Montfort; but later, having changed his views and his side, was an important factor in his former leader's final overthrow at Evesham in 1265. Fragmentary remains only of a coffin assumed to be his were found in 1875. His tablet says: "Gilbertus secundus, cognomine Rufus, comes Glocestrie octavus, et Hertfordie septimus, obiit septimo Decembris, anno domini 1295. Vir strenuus et fortis cui deerat timor mortis. Ora et pugna." Or in English: "Gilbert the second, surnamed the Red, eighth Earl of Gloucester and seventh of Hertford, died the 7th of December, A.D. 1295. A stout and brave man, who had no fear of death. Pray and fight."

In the next grave lies Gilbert de Clare, the first who bore the double title. His interest to us consists in the fact that his seal is one of those attached to Magna Charta, and he took a considerable part in the Barons' struggles against King John. He died in Brittany, but was buried here by his own wish. Very little of his coffin remains.

The tablet to him says: "Gilbertus de Clare, nomine primus, comes Glocestrie sextus et Hertfordie quintus, obiit 25^o Octobris, anno domini 1230. Magna Carta est lex, caveat deinde rex"; i.e., "Gilbert de Clare, the first of that name, sixth Earl of Gloucester and fifth of Hertford, died October 25th, A.D. 1230. Magna Charta is law, let the King henceforth beware."[24]

The next grave is that of Richard, the second of that name, the son of Earl Gilbert. He is usually believed to have been poisoned at the table of Peter de Savoy at Emersfield in Kent. To his memory a most gorgeous tomb was set up in the Choir, composed of marbles, precious stones, mosaic, gold and silver, and bearing a large image of the Earl in silver on the top. Weever, in "Funeral Monuments," gives the epitaph:

"Hic pudor Hippoliti, Paridis gena, sensus Ulyssis, AEneae pietas, Hectoris ira jacet."

And he translates it:

"Chaste Hippolite, and Paris fair, Ulysses wise and sly, AEneas kind, fierce Hector, here jointly entombed lye."

The brass tablet says: "Ricardus de Clare, comes Glocestrie septimus and Hertfordie sextus, obiit 15^o Julii, anno que domini 1262. Dum petit crucem sic denique petit lucem"; i.e., "Richard de Clare, seventh Earl of Gloucester and sixth Earl of Hertford, died July 15th, A.D. 1262. While he seeks the cross, he seeks thereafter light." This alludes to his having been a Crusader. Richard de Clare's entrails were buried at Canterbury, and his heart at Tonbridge, at which place he had founded a monastery of Austin Friars.

Despenser Graves.—Between the graves of the De Clares and the steps of the altar are the Despenser graves. The grave on the north side nearest to the Fitz-Hamon or Founder's Chapel is that of Richard Despenser. His brass runs: "Ricardus le Despenser baro octavus, et Burghersh baro quintus, obiit anno domini 1414, dum adhuc adolescens. Flos crescit et mox evanescit"; or in English: "Richard, eighth Baron Despenser and fifth Baron Burghersh, died A.D. 1414, whilst still a youth. A flower grows and soon passes away."

He was married to Elizabeth Nevill, daughter of the Earl of Westmorland, but, dying at Merton at the age of 19, left no family. He was the last of the male line of the Despensers, and is buried next to his father, Thomas le Despenser, who was laid to rest in the central grave of the three. His record on the brass is: "Thomas le Despenser, baro septimus, et Gloucestriae comes tertius decimus et ultimus crudeliter interfectus 15^o Januarii, anno domini 1400. Cibell angau na cywillydd." This being translated means: "Thomas, seventh Baron Despenser, and thirteenth and last Earl of Gloucester, was brutally killed on the 15th of January, A.D. 1400. Rather death than dishonour."

He had married Constance, daughter of the Earl of Cornwall and niece of the Black Prince. Being attainted in 1399 after the deposition of Richard II., whom he had faithfully served, he was deprived of both his titles and executed at Bristol in 1400. His grave was under the lamp which burned before the altar. In 1875 no trace of his grave was found, but there is a fragment of a statue in the "museum" in which he is clad in a blue mantle, wearing the badge of the Garter.

The third and southernmost of the Despenser graves is that of Isabelle, Countess of Warwick, Abergavenny, Worcester, and Albemarle. The inscription on her brass is: "Mementote dominae, Isabelle le Despenser, Comitissae de Warwick, quae obiit, anno domini 1439, die Sancti Johannis Evangelistae. Mercy, Lord Jesu"; i.e., "Remember the lady Isabelle le Despenser, Countess of Warwick, who died A.D. 1439, on St. John the Evangelist's Day. Mercy, Lord Jesu." This lady was the daughter of Thomas le Despenser, next to whom she lies here, and though she was given in marriage to Richard Beauchamp when she was only eleven years old, she is chiefly known from the title of her second husband, who was her first husband's cousin. Her grave was identified in 1875, and her remains were found enclosed in a shroud and in a tomb of solid masonry, 7 feet by 2 feet 5 inches, by 2 feet 5 inches. The covering slab had a cross incised with the words "Mercy, Lord Jhu" (Jesu). The top of the slab had traces of mortar upon it, pointing to the fact that her tomb was built immediately over it. We know from the chronicle that it was a "very handsome marble tomb, exquisitely carved." It was a table tomb bearing an effigy of the Lady Isabelle upon it, clad in a plain linen garment. At the head stood St. Mary Magdalen, at the right stood St. John the Evangelist, and at the left stood St. Anthony. At the foot of the tomb was an escutcheon with her arms and the arms of the Earl of Warwick, impaling the arms of Clare and Despenser.

In each of the two easternmost piers that support the tower (on the north and south sides) will be seen a round-headed doorway, which gave access to the choir from the aisles. They were walled up at an early date, as they were probably too narrow for processional use.

Since the restoration of the choir the old stalls of the monks have been collected from the various places in the church to which they had been removed, and placed in their present position across the arches of the tower, eleven on the north side and twelve on the south. Those on the north have lost most of their misericordes, and all the canopy work. Those on the south side are more perfect, and the backs are in better preservation, though the plain panels have been removed.

In the majority of the misericordes the carving, originally fanciful, has suffered at the hands of bigots. It is only possible to conjecture what the stalls were like in monastic times, but they were probably, though less elaborate, similar to those at Gloucester. As carvings they cannot be compared with those at the Priory Church of Great Malvern.

THE TOMBS AND CHANTRIES.

One of the chief glories of Tewkesbury consists in the series of historic tombs and chantries which encircle the choir and presbytery and the surrounding ambulatory. It may safely be asserted that in no church, with the single exception of Westminster Abbey, can such a noble collection of sepulchral monuments be found. They are well worthy of detailed study, and for that reason have been grouped together in one section. It is not possible to examine or describe them adequately from the ambulatory only, and the most important are best viewed from the choir or presbytery, whence access to the chantries is obtained.

All these tombs have suffered terrible mutilation at the hands of fanatics and bigots, but it is surprising to find how much of what was really fine pierced work, almost as delicate as lace, has survived the zeal of the destroyers. Close inspection will show that a considerable amount of repair and refitting has been done in places. It must have been a task of great difficulty, and involved that "infinite capacity for taking pains" of which we hear so much but find so seldom; and considering the date (1825) at which this piece of genuine restoration was done, more praise must be given to the restorer. Had it not been undertaken then it might have been done later, and certainly not so lovingly, and possibly not so well.

Warwick Chapel.—This beautiful piece of work [A in the plan] is a chantry chapel, erected in 1422 by Isabelle le Despenser, to the memory of her first husband, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Abergavenny and Worcester, or, as the chronicle calls him, Ricardus de Bello Campo. It is situate, as will be seen from the plan, under the westernmost arch of the north side of the choir. An inscription, which is only legible here and there, runs round the moulding: "Mementote dne Isabelle le Despenser, Cometisse de Warrewyk, quae hanc capellam fundavit in honorẽ bte Marie Magdalene, et obiit Londiniis apud Mnẽs aõ dni MCCCCXXXIX. die Scti Jhis Evngste. Et sepulta est ĩ choro ĩ dextra patris sui: cuj. ame ppitietur Deus. Amen" (i.e., "Be mindful of the Lady Isabelle Despenser, Countess of Warwick, who founded this chapel to the honour of St. Mary Magdalen, and died in London in the Minories, A.D. 1439, on St. John the Evangelist's Day. And was buried in the choir on the right hand of her father. On whose soul may God have pity. Amen").

The chapel was dedicated in the names of St. Mary Magdalen, St. Barbara, and St. Leonard just two years after Richard Beauchamp had died.

This Richard Beauchamp, after whom in truth the chapel should be called, had shown his bravery at Agincourt in 1415, and in 1420 been made Earl of Worcester. He was slain at the siege of Meaux, in France, in 1421. In Dyde's "History of Tewkesbury" it is spoken of as "Mary Magdalen's Chapel, now commonly called 'Spenser's Chapel." It may have been designed to surpass in glory the chantries previously existing in the building, and if so, the Countess, who was only twenty-one years of age, spared no expense in causing this beautiful work to be made.

The chapel consists of two parts or stories, the lower of which has a door into the north aisle as well as into the choir. The lowest portion or base on either side consists of figures of angels, much mutilated, bearing shields.

The chantry has two roofs, both with fine vaulting, formerly richly painted, but the lower roof only covers the western half of the chapel. The pendent bosses have been destroyed. At the top the canopy work is so delicately sculptured that it resembles lace.

The lower ceiling, extending over half the chapel, consists of large and small circles. Of these, the larger ones are ribbed with sixteen ribs, while the smaller ones are quatrefoils, each member being composed of a trefoil with an elegantly carved cusp. Between these smaller circles are still smaller ones composed of quatrefoils. This ceiling is supported by two slender shafts. Along the exposed front of the ceiling are four double cinquefoil arches, between which were three busts. Of these, one only, viz., an angel with a scroll, remains.

In the upper storey of the chapel the ceiling is made up of hexagons and octagons, the intervening space being filled up with circles, trefoils of irregular shapes, though symmetrically disposed, and quatrefoils. The points of the pendant have been ruthlessly destroyed.



Of this chantry Mr. Knight wrote: "There can be but one opinion on the praise which belongs to the exquisiteness of finishing by which the several parts of it are distinguished; the entablature, wedged between two of the old pillars of the choir, and appearing to rest upon light columnar buttresses of singular beauty, give us an assemblage of filigree and fretwork, which may vie with the finest specimens of similar workmanship in the kingdom: the elegant palm-leaved parapet, which occurs in the division between the storeys,—the numerous escutcheons blazoned in their proper colours,—the niches, and pedestals, under their respective canopies, once ornamented with figures which fanaticism has dislodged,—the slender shafts supporting a higher apartment, probably the rood-loft, in the inside of the fabric, from whence half-figures of angels are seen to issue,—the pendants dropping, like congelations in a grotto, from a roof adorned with the most delicate tracery spread over it like a web,—these and a countless multitude of minuter beauties, almost distract attention, and overwhelm the judgment with their different claims to notice."

Some have thought the upper portion was intended to serve as a private pew for the Lady Isabelle. To this the difficulty of access may well be urged as a valid objection. Others have thought that the upper part was a rood-loft. Others again have thought that the half-roof was a platform upon which a kneeling figure (in imitation of that in the Trinity Chapel) was placed.[25] By her will the Lady Isabelle gave instructions that her statue was to be placed on the right hand of her father in the choir, and that it was to represent her entirely naked (i.e. without any state robes), with her hair cast backwards; with St. Mary Magdalen (one of the saints to whom the chapel was dedicated) laying her hands across: with St. John the Evangelist on her right side and St. Anthony on her left. At her feet there was to be an escutcheon, bearing her arms impaled with those of her late husband—who had died just three months before her—supported by two griffins; and at the side there were to be statues of poor men and women in humble apparel with their beads in their hands. From the Abbey Register this part of the lady's last will and testament seems to have been carried out; but nothing remains of these added figures or of the tomb. The chapel is less perfect on the south, or choir side, than on that which faces the north aisle.

The appearance of the chantry when first finished, with all its rich colour and profuse gilding, must have been very rich. Some have thought it too elaborate and overweighted with ornament, but we may well call it one of the most glorious specimens of its time.

Among the heraldic decorations are to be found the chevrons of the Clares, and the arms of the deceased Earl. On the outside are to be traced the arms of the royal ancestors of Isabelle, of the Clares, and of the Despensers.

The arms upon the chapel are given in "Neale's Views of Tewkesbury" as follows:

On the side of the chapel next the choir, over the door—

1. France and England, quarterly, King Edward III.

2. Castile and Leon, quarterly, and Peter, King of Castile and Leon.

3. France and England, quarterly, Edmund of Langley, Duke of York.

4. France and England impaling Castile and Leon—for Isabelle of Castile, Duchess of York.

5. Clare quartering Despenser (Thomas Despenser, Earl of Gloucester).

6. Clare quartering Despenser and impaling France and England (Constance, the mother of the foundress of the chapel).

On the side next to the aisle—in the basement or lowest portion and in the first division, three angels bearing shields—(1) as 1 above; (2) destroyed but presumably as 2 above; (3) as 3 above.

In the second division, two angels bearing shields—(1) as 4 above; (2) as 5 above.

In the third division, two angels bearing shields—(1) France and England quarterly in chief.

The arms on the fascia and over the door are, in each compartment, three:

1. The royal arms of England.

2. The arms of the Clares, Earls of Gloucester.

3. Clare impaling England (Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, and John, afterwards King of England).

4. Despenser (Hugh, Lord Despenser).

5. Despenser impaling Clare (Eleanor, Countess of Gloucester, wife of Hugh, Lord Despenser).

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 noble 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 brass 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.



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.



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 recumbent 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 shirt 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.



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.



Three panels facing the aisle have shields with arms upon them. The central shield 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 massive ogee arch, richly foliated, from which descends a rather cumbrous 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 shields. 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 mass 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."



It is generally assumed 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 "Alanus, Dominus Abbas" along the moulded edge, and a similar inscription is to be read at the right-hand end, "HIC IACET DOMINUS ALANUS 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 L150, 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 L186 18s. 2d. 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 L322 15s. 8d. Little of the original work remains, with the exception of some of the diapasons, the principal, 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 brass tablet sets forth, "To the greater glory of God, 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. Spitzfloete 8 ft. 2. [*]Viole Sourdine 8 ft. 3. [*]Lieblich Gedacht (w) 8 ft. 4. Gemshorn 4 ft. 5. [*]Zauber Floete 4 ft. 6. Flautina 2 ft. 7. Clarionet 8 ft.

Accessory Stops.

1. Ventil. 2. Octave Coupler. 3. Pneumatic Piston, acting on No. 1 off and on. 4. Swell to Choir. 5. Tremulant.

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

1. Violone 16 ft. 2. Great Open Diapason 8 ft. 3. Small Open Diapason 8 ft. 4. Claribel (w) 8 ft. 5. Octave 4 ft. 6. Flute Octaviante 4 ft. 7. Quint Mixture, 12, 15. 8. [+]Great Mixture (4 ranks), 19, 22, 26, 29. 9. [+]Tromba 16 ft. 10. [+]Trumpet 8 ft.

Accessory Stops.

1. Sub-Octave Choir to Great. 2. Swell to Great. 3. Solo to Great. 1. Ventil Flue to Quint Mixture. 2. Ventil Flue Great Mixture and Reed. Two Pneumatic Pistons acting on Ventil placed beneath the keys as in the Choir. Three Composition Pedals.

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

The swell-box is made in three thicknesses, each of one inch. Between each thickness is a layer of felt.

1. Flauto Traverso 8 ft. 2. Open Diapason 8 ft. 3. [*]Viole d'Orchestre 8 ft. 4. [*]Voix Celeste 8 ft. 5. Geigen 4 ft. 6. [+]Mixture—3 ranks, 15, 19, 22. 7. [+]Contra Posaune 16 ft. 8. [+]Horn 8 ft. 9. Oboe 8 ft.

Accessory Stops.

Octave Coupler. Ventil Flues to Geigen, Mixture, and Reeds. Two Pneumatic Pistons acting on Ventils, as in the Great Organ. Tremulant. Three Composition Pedals.

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

1. Harmonic Flute 8 ft. 2. [*]Violoncello 8 ft. 3. [+]Tuba 8 ft. 4. Voix Humaine (metal, enclosed in a Swell-box) 8 ft.

Accessory Stops.

Octave Coupler. Tremulant. Two Ventils, two Pneumatic Pistons, as in the other manuals.

PEDAL ORGAN (CCC to F, 30 notes).

1. [*]Harmonic Bass (w) 32 ft. 2. Great Bass (w) 16 ft. 3. [*]Dolce Bass (w) 16 ft. 4. Great Flute (w) 8 ft. 5. [+]Bombarde 16 ft.

[*] Stops thus marked are of novel construction, being fitted with prolongement harmonique. [+] Stops marked thus are on heavy wind. w Stops marked thus are of wood.

Pedal Couplers: 1. Choir to Pedals. 2. Great to Pedals. 3. Swell to Pedals. 4. Solo to Pedals.

Manual Couplers: 1. Choir Octave. 2. Swell Octave. 3. Solo Octave. 4. Choir Sub-Octave to Great. 5. Swell to Great. 6. Solo to Great. 7. Swell to Choir.

The Tremulants are set in action by one pedal, or by the use of the draw-stops, separately or collectively.

Pneumatic action is applied to the Organ throughout, except to the Choir Organ, which is direct action.

* * * * *

Church Plate.—The oldest pieces of plate are two silver chalices, one dated 1576, the other 1618. There is also a paten of the latter date. A flagon weighing 54 ounces was given to the church by the bachelors and maidens of the borough in 1688, and another was given in 1724. Curiously they are both fitted with whistle-handles. There are also two cut-glass cruets, said to be of the fifteenth century.

The Church Registers.—These date from 1559, containing baptisms to 1598 and marriages to 1574, but are copies on parchment of an older register (on paper) now lost. Another register, on paper, dates from 1595, and contains baptisms down to 1610, marriages to 1629, and burials to 1608. Thenceforward, with few exceptions, the registers are complete. The register of baptisms, 1607-1629, contains a quaint composition:

"Lo, heare thou maiest with mortall eie beholde Thy name recorded by a mortall wighte; But if thou canst looke but spiritualie Unto that God which gives such heavenly sighte Thou maiest behold with comfort to thy soule Thy name recorded in the heavenly roule. And therefore praie the Register of heaven To write thy name within the booke of life; And also praie thy sinns maie be forgeven, And that thou maiest flee all ceare and strife: That when thy mortall bodies shall have end, Thy soule maie to the immortal bliss ascende. "Per me, GUILIELMUS PARKE, 1609."

Arms of the Abbey.—The arms are gules, within a border argent, a cross engrailed or, and are so given by Willis in his Seals of Parliamentary Abbeys, and by Tanner in Notitia Monastica. In Sir Charles Isham's copy of the Registrum Theokusburiae, in a window in the choir, and also on the old organ the border is omitted. It is also a disputed point whether the Abbot was a mitred prelate or not. Fuller, in his Church History, is in doubt about it, while Bishop Godwin admits that some of the Abbots sat in Parliament. The Abbots, without enjoying any prescriptive right, were summoned to Parliament in the reigns of Henry III., Edward I., and Edward II., and the last Abbot (Wakeman) was certainly summoned as a mitred Abbot. It may be that the Abbot received the dignity in the time of Abbot Strensham, who died in 1481.

Old Tiles.—In the Founder's Chapel (1397) are some tiles containing the arms of Fitz-Hamon (a lion rampant), impaled with the arms of the Abbey, a cross engrailed, and showing the head of a crosier above the shield in the centre. In the Warwick chantry there is to be seen a set of tiles with the arms of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Worcester, in whose honour the chapel was built. The arms are a fess between four crosslets with a crescent for difference. There are also some in the Trinity Chapel, showing the arms of the Despensers, impaled with those of Burghersh. Other tiles found in the church at different times give the arms of De Clare, Despenser, Berkeley, De Warrenne, De Bohun, Corbet, and De la Zouch.

ABBOTS OF TEWKESBURY.

Giraldus (1102-1109), previously Abbot of Cranbourn, was the first Abbot of the Benedictine foundation. Deprived by Henry I. in 1109.

Robert I. (1110-1124). In his time the greater part of the Abbey as it stands was finished, and dedicated in 1123.

Benedict (1124-1137).

Roger (1137-1161).

Fromundus (1162-1178). No new Abbot was instituted till—

Robert II. (1182-1183).

Alan (1187-1202). His tomb is in the south ambulatory of the choir. He was a friend of Thomas a Becket, having previously been Prior of St. Saviour's, Canterbury.

Walter (1202-1213), previously Sacrist of the monastery. He was succeeded by—

Hugh (1214), who had been the Prior. Dying in a year, his successor was Bernard, but the latter was never instituted.

Peter (1216-1231) was a monk from Worcester.

Robert Forthington (1232-1254), or Robert III. had previously been Prior. A tomb ascribed to him is in the south ambulatory.

Thomas de Stokes (1254-1275) had been Prior of St. James, Bristol.

Richard de Norton (1276-1282).

Thomas Kempsey (1282-1328).

John Cotes ( -1347).

Thomas de Legh (1347-1361).

Thomas Chesterton (1361-1389).

Thomas Parker, or Pakare (1389-1421).

William Bristow, or de Bristol (1421-1442).

John de Abingdon (1442- ), who was probably identical with

John de Salis, or Galys.

John Strensham, or Streynsham ( -1481). He was Abbot at the time of the Battle of Tewkesbury.

Richard Cheltenham (1481-1509).

Henry Beoly, or Bealy (1509- ), was Abbot in 1526.

John Walker (d. 1531).

John Wich, Wyche, or Wakeman (1531-1539). This ecclesiastic was the last Abbot of Tewkesbury. He, unlike the Abbot of Gloucester, seems to have been in no wise unwilling to surrender his Abbey. In return he obtained a pension of L266 13s. 4d., and also the house and park at Forthampton. When, later, Gloucester was made a bishopric, he was the first bishop. He was buried at Forthampton.

FOOTNOTES:

[7] In point of actual size the Tewkesbury piers are 30 feet 8 inches high, and 6 feet 3 inches in diameter; while the piers at Gloucester are 30 feet by 6 feet. Those at Malvern are considerably less in height.

[8] This boss represents the Virgin as being present at the Table.

[9] The ball-flower here as well as that in the vestry differs from that in the neighbourhood, as there is a curious little side-twist or kink in it.

[10] Mr. W.H. St. John Hope's description of this quoted in extenso in "Gloucester" (Cathedral Series) is most interesting, and should be carefully studied.

[11] Letters in brackets refer to the plan at the end.

[12] This Transept was used from 1813-17 as a temporary National School.

[13] The columns are, with the exception of one which is round, roughly hexagonal.

[14] In some plans this chapel is ascribed to St. Nicholas.

[15] The arch of this chamber shows distinct traces of fire, not mentioned in any records, and the staircase to the tower, which then communicated with this chamber, shows traces for a short distance on the stonework.

[16] The same moulding is found at Durham in the doorway from the nave into the cloisters, but there it is much mutilated; it is also found at St. Joseph's Chapel, Glastonbury, and in various forms in the West of England.

[17] It is not quite certain whether Sir Guy is actually buried here.

[18] It is generally considered to be that dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The other altar in this chapel may have been dedicated to St. George, though the chapel of the latter was probably one of those in the nave.

[19] The dedication of this Norman chapel, like that of several others here, is not known.

[20] The choir at Gloucester is 140 feet long and 33 feet wide.

[21] The sun was a favourite badge of Edward IV., and is said to have been adopted in consequence of the appearance of three suns before the battle of Mortimer's Cross. It appears upon some of his coins.

[22] The altar-stone at Gloucester was at one time used to pave the south porch, and is now in the crypt.

[23] The safety of the old glass has been ensured by a protective external window of rolled glass let in the mullions from the outside. This was done in 1889.

[24] This Gilbert de Clare is said to have had a copy of Magna Charta and the Charta de Foresta made and deposited in the Abbey.

[25] The floor of the upper part was never flat, and was in all probability never intended for use.

[26] Heraldically speaking.

[27] Henry VII. left instructions in his will that a kneeling effigy of himself should be placed on the top of the Confessor's shrine at Westminster.

[28] The western pinnacle was carved locally in 1825-8, and is a very careful piece of work.



DEERHURST.





DEERHURST.

Deerhurst, or Deorhurst—the wood or grove of wild beasts, as its etymology implies—lies close to Tewkesbury, and the visitor to the latter must on no account omit to pay a visit to the older building. It may be reached by a pleasant walk through meadows on the left bank of the Severn, by the road or by a path across the fields.

The Priory church of Deerhurst is one of the oldest buildings of any importance that yet remain in use in England. Its exact date is more or less a matter of conjecture, but it seems certain from documentary evidence, which is still accessible, that in the ninth century the Abbey or Priory was in a prosperous condition—the document referred to above being a grant of lands in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire to the Abbey in 804. No earlier authentic evidence than this exists, though a lapsus calami of Leland (who credits the Venerable Bede with an acquaintance with Deerhurst about the year 700) would seem to give it an earlier date. From the earliest time Deerhurst—situated where it is, so near that great highway the Severn, and occupying a position on the direct line of traffic by road between Worcester and Gloucester, must have had an important part to play. Legend has it that Edmund Ironside and Canute, intent on fighting a duel after Essendune, met at Olney in 1016, but settled matters without coming to blows, and later tradition affirms that this meeting took place in the meadow—once an island or eyot, hence its present name—called the Naight.

Tradition, again, has it that the Abbey suffered from the Danes, and this seems likely enough, seeing that they were encamped at Cirencester for fully a year. Werstan, one of the monks who escaped from the Danes, is said by Leland to have founded a cell at Malvern, and was later murdered by the Danes in his own chapel there. In the windows of Malvern Priory he is described as "Sanctus Werstanus Martir," but little else is known about him.

The Abbey, though small, was richly endowed with land, and is said to have been possessed of nearly forty thousand acres. Its wealth in landed property was the cause of its being transferred by Edward the Confessor in 1054-56 to the great French Abbey of St. Denis; and what was not so transferred was mostly given by the King, together with the Manor of Pershore and other possessions, to his Abbey of St. Peter at Westminster, which was then building.

The Abbey lost its importance when it became an alien priory, and its landed possessions, which had once surpassed those of the abbeys at Gloucester and at Winchcombe, were dwarfed to very scanty dimensions. It suffered, too, in prestige, having become a priory, and was constantly being harried by successive monarchs.

We find that the Conqueror confirmed the grant of the Abbey of Deerhurst to St. Denis, but that King John confiscated its revenues. In 1225 Pope Honorius III. by a Bull approved that the Priory should be perpetual and conventual. In virtue of this the Prior could claim not to come into the King's hands, but it was many years before this claim was barely recognised. In this same year the Prior was again in possession of the Priory and its lands; but in 1250 (temp. Henry II.), the Priory was sold to Richard, Duke of Cornwall, who seems to have driven out the monks and destroyed the greater part of their buildings. Later in the same reign, 1260, the Abbot of St. Denis again got possession of the Priory.

In 1295 Edward I. took possession of all the existing alien priories for the sake of the revenue they would bring into his exchequer. Edward III.[29] again despoiled the monks of what was theirs, and his grandson, Richard II., followed in his steps.

The Priory had a respite from such continued harryings with the accession of Henry IV. (1399). This king took possession of it as an alien Priory, but immediately handed it over to William Forester, the then Prior, with the stipulation that in the event of a war with France the King should receive a sum of money equal to that which in time of peace would be paid to the Abbey of St. Denis. With halcyon days like these the Priory set about rebuilding what had been destroyed, and works were undertaken—much of which is standing at the present time.

Henry V. by charter in 1419 confirmed the policy of Henry IV. in giving the Prior all the rights and privileges enjoyed by William Forester, and Henry V. acknowledged the claim of the Priory to be conventual and perpetual, and as such, not to come into the King's hands. However, one king proposes, another disposes. Henry VI. in 1463, while confirming all existing rights, made the Priory a denizen priory with the same status as all other similar English foundations. But this change was followed by yet another in four years' time. Henry VI. being the founder of Eton College, and King's College, Cambridge, was in want of funds, and he relieved the pressure on his exchequer by appropriating the possessions of the Priory, and handing part of them to his royal College at Eton, and part (in 1422) to the already rich Abbey at Tewkesbury. Much litigation followed with Eton, and in 1469 the Priory was united and annexed by Carpenter, Bishop of Worcester, to the monastery at Tewkesbury, with the stipulation that the "Abbot of Tewkesbury was to find and maintain there one monk in priest's orders, to be called Prior or Warden, four other monks, and one secular priest daily to perform divine service in that priory."

The independence of Deerhurst was now at an end, and little is heard of it again. At the Dissolution, like many of the Tewkesbury possessions, it became private property, the site, the buildings and the tithes being conveyed to George Throgmorton, a local personage, who became the lay impropriator. The tithes passed later into the hands of the family of Cassey, of Wightfield Court; but the lands became the property of the Coventry family, and at the end of the seventeenth century gave the title to Viscount Deerhurst, the fifth Baron. At the Dissolution Deerhurst became a curacy, and remained so till 1682, the advowson then being transferred from lay hands to those of the Bishop of Worcester.

EXTERIOR.

Of the exterior of the church there is not much to be said. The chief feature is the Tower. It has been reduced in height, probably at the time that the steeple was blown down in 1666, but no churchwardens' accounts of that date remain. It is 70 feet high, 21 feet 8 inches from east to west, and 14 feet 4 inches from north to south, with a slight batter to the walls, which at the base are 32 inches in thickness. For about 35 feet or so the masonry is Saxon work, but has been subsequently severely handled, especially on the west side. The east side contains a wall-plate of early date, and more of the interesting early work. The upper part is later work, having ashlar quoins at the four angles.

The entrance door is a Pointed arch of the fourteenth century date inserted within the earlier round-headed arch, of which the outer edges have considerably crumbled away. Above the arch is a piece of stonework, similar to one above the long, narrow window, considered by some to be a mutilated carved head, but with more real likeness to a broken mechanical contrivance for hoisting up weighty goods into the upper part of the tower. On the right of the entrance door is the door which now gives entrance to the belfry. In many parts of the exterior there are traces of the coarse herring-bone work so prevalent in Saxon masonry. At the north-west and south-west angles of the aisles are gargoyles, that at the north-west corner being the better preserved.

The church was rough-cast all over in the early part of this century, but was restored in 1861-62 to practically its present appearance. Part of the tower, that to the west, has a battlement, while the rest has a low gabled roof. The windows in the belfry are decorated in character, but much of the masonry near them seems to be re-used stone from other parts.

By obtaining entrance to the farmyard upon which the east end abuts, traces of the original apsidal termination may be seen. It is much to be regretted that the church precincts are so built upon that examination is difficult.

INTERIOR.

The western entrance is situate in the tower front, and by three doorways gives access to the nave.

The Nave.—The nave of the present church measures 60 feet by 21 feet, including what was the original choir, which was under the central tower, and which, from the plan, must have been 20 feet in length. The nave proper would be 38 feet by 21 feet, making allowance for the thickness of the choir arch wall. It is more than probable that the wall which separated the choir from the nave was in character like the present eastern wall, with a spacious and lofty arch spanning the opening, which gave access to the apsidal eastern end. Traces of such an arch were found at the restoration of the church in 1861-62. As was the case at Tewkesbury, Gloucester, and elsewhere, the nave was the parish church, and the choir and the rest of the building eastwards the private chapel of the Priory. Small though the original nave was—for the present aisles are later additions—it was, if the walls are of the original height, unusually lofty for a church of its date. The original nave had transepts, as shown in plan on page 118, with a room, probably a sacristy, to the east of the north transept and a similar room or a chapel at the east of the south transept.

On either side of the nave the original walls have been pierced, and an arcade of three good Early English arches was inserted in the thirteenth century. It will be noted that the easternmost of the three arches on each side is slightly wider in span than the other two. All the capitals differ in their details. Over these arches on either side is a triangular opening about 18 feet from the floor level, similar to the opening in the west end of the nave. The edges of these openings are left quite square, i.e., there is no splaying.

The clerestory windows are, for the most part, early fifteenth century, and replaced the early windows, which may have been of circular form.

At the west end of the nave there are several very curious features. The arch of the doorway is a plain, round-headed arch with its edges left quite square, and the impost is plain with the exception of a hollow immediately below the abacus. In height the doorway is 10 feet, and in width 5-1/2 feet, and it leans slightly to the north. Above this doorway, in the corners of the west wall, are two impost members or brackets, similar to those in the chancel, which may have been intended to support the floor joists of a chamber or gallery at this end of the nave. Not far above these brackets is a triangular opening similar to those in the north and south walls of the nave, and through which, from the room in the tower, a view is obtained of the nave generally. It is on the same level as those in the nave. To the right of this is a blocked-up round-headed doorway, which once gave access from the room in the tower on this level to a gallery at the east end of the nave. The jambs are each of two similar blocks of stone.



Above this, in the centre of the upper part of the west wall of the nave, is perhaps the most curious architectural feature of the church. It is a two-light window, each light having a head formed of an isosceles triangle. The outer jambs, as also the broad central massive pier, are slightly fluted, and in some of these flutings is a bar in relief. On the church side the bars are inserted in the upper part of the hollow; on the tower side they are in some cases at the top, in others in the lower half.

The following dimensions show how massive is this piece of primitive work. The sill on which the window is built is of stone concealed by plaster. Each light in its widest part is 18 inches, 13 inches between the plinths on the sill. The plinths are 14 inches in thickness, and that of the central pier is 21 inches. The central pier itself is a trifle shorter than the jambs, 1 foot 8 inches, but this difference is made up by a much more massive impost, the central impost being 9 inches thick as compared with 8 inches in the case of the others. Each impost is, as it were, in square-edged layers, each layer overhanging the one below it. The head of each opening is formed of two single stones so cut that they meet at an angle of about 30 degrees. These stones are 11-1/4 inches in thickness, and 3 feet 6 inches long on the outside edges. In the angle between the two portions of the window they measure 3 feet 1-1/2 inches. They are carried right through the wall, with a plain label almost square in section.

Above the window, resting on the label points is an oblong block of stone which is thought at one time to have been painted, as no inscription can be traced.

Near the tower end is a portion of the Perpendicular timbered roof, and the rest of the roofing of the nave and chancel is modern work designed upon the basis of the older example.

The South Aisle was added in the twelfth century. The south wall of the south transept was continued to the west, the greater part of the west wall of this transept being removed, a segmental arch being inserted exactly where the oak-screen is now. The wall from the original south-east corner of the tower was carried southwards to meet the new wall mentioned above. Next, the solid walls of the nave were pierced with three unequal openings, and, from the piers thus left, arches were carried across the new south aisle to the new south wall of the church, and the walls of the inner porch seem to have been pierced with arches about the same time, one being also made to span the space from the extreme end of the original wall of the nave to the new south-east corner of the tower. A turret and staircase seem next to have been made outside the church in the angle thus made by the new works, but the plan seems to have been soon altered by the carrying out of the west wall of the aisle till it was flush with the west front. The then external doorway into the turret became an internal one, but has been blocked up, access to the tower staircase being obtained by the narrow door in the west front. The remains of Transitional Norman work in the south aisle are scanty, but of extreme interest.