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//    EX  BEBLIOTHECA 

Conpptioiiis  Sanctiniini 


s^x 

0 


JIEDKMPTOPJ8 

nctum  |8a 

TOIIONTO,  CAN. 


lit)  <§>nnctum  JSatritmm  I 

2  .l,.^..'1 


JOHN  M.  KELLY  LIBRARY 


Donated  by 

The  Redemptorists  of 
the  Toronto  Province 

from  the  Library  Collection  of 
Holy  Redeemer  College,  Windsor 


University  of 
St.  Michael's  College,  Toronto 


ECCLESIASTICAL  ANTIQUITIES 


OF 


its 


BY 


ALEXANDER  WOOD,  M.A.  Oxo*. 

OF  THE   SOMERSET  AKCH^EOLOGICAL  SOCIETY. 


1 0,  who  the  ruine  sees,  whom  wonder  doth  not  fill 
With  our  great  fathers'  pompe,  devotion,  and  their  skill.' 


LONDON:  BURNS  AND  OATES, 

Portman  Street  and  Paternoster  Row. 


HOLY 


LONDON: 

110BSON  AND  SONS,  PRINTERS,  PANCRAS  ROAD,  N.W 


TO 


GENERAL  T.  L.  KANE, 

OF  KANE,  PENNSYLVANIA, 


ARE  DEDICATED  IN  GRATEFUL  REMEMBRANCE  OF 
MUCH  THOUGHTFUL  KINDNESS. 


HOLY 


PREFACE. 


THE  pages  here  presented  to  the  reader  demand  little 
by  way  of  preface.  A  work  exclusively  devoted  to  the 
Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  the  Metropolis  has  long 
been  a  desideratum.  But  when  we  proposed  to  our 
selves  to  supply  this  deficiency,  many  difficulties  pre 
sented  themselves. 

It  is  simply  impossible  for  a  writer  who  has 
only  his  leisure  time  to  devote  to  historical  in 
quiries  to  compete  with  those  who  have  their  whole 
time  at  command.  At  first  sight  it  may  appear 
that  it  is  merely  a  question  of  time — that  the 
work  is  done  slowly  in  the  one  case,  quickly  in  the 
other.  But  it  is  not  so.  If  a  man  has  turned  his 
efforts  to  attain  mastery  over  any  one  subject,  he  has 
probably  crippled  them  when  he  would  address  him 
self  to  another,  though  his  natural  taste  for  it  may 
be  keen  and  strong  as  ever.  His  thoughts  do  not 
run,  his  words  do  not  flow.  What  is  interesting  to 
him  he  fails  to  make  interesting  to  a  reader.  He  can 


vi  Preface. 

but  state  what,  under  other  circumstances,  he  might 
have  enforced  and  illustrated  ;  his  range  is  narrower ; 
he  can  but  catch  here  and  there  at  the  system  that 
should  have  been  the  basis  of  the  whole.  He  sees 
too  minutely  objects  in  the  foreground,  whilst  the 
distance  is  obscure ;  he  misses  the  bearing  of  a  fact, 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  mistakes  the  exception  for  the 
rule.  He  is  now  over-cautious,  now  over-bold. 

So  sensible  have  we  been  of  these  disadvan 
tages,  that  the  hesitation  we  felt  has  been  a 
serious  impediment  to  the  progress  of  the  work. 
We  would  present  it  to  the  reader  as  architectural 
and  antiquarian  only.  History  is  cognisant  of  the 
past  and  the  present ;  our  task  is  concerned  with 
the  past  alone.  Of  what  the  present  is,  we  cannot 
be  but  sensible ;  and  in  turning  our  thoughts  to  the 
subject  of  antiquities  we  may  find  the  consolation 
the  Roman  historian*  thought  to  extract  from  the 
pages  of  history  —  freedom  '  from  the  sight  of  the 
evils  our  age  these  many  years  has  seen,'  and  from 
the  '  care  that,  if  insufficient  to  divert  the  writer's 
mind  from  truth,  may  yet  serve  to  fill  it  with  anxiety.' 
To  no  reflecting  historian  can  this  be  the  '  reward  of 
his  labour;'  to  the  antiquarian  and  architectural 
*  Livy.  liber  i.  4. 


Preface.  vii 

writer  it  may.  He  has  to  do  merely  with  the  rem 
nants  of  history,  with  the  drift  of  time.  As  Bacon 
says  :*  '  Antiquitates,  seu  historiarum  reliquiae,  sunt 
tanquam  tabulae  naufragii,  cum,  deficiente  et  fere 
submersa  rerum  memoria,  nihilominus  homines  in- 
dustrii  et  sagaces,  pertinaci  quadam  et  scrupulosa 
diligentia,  ex  genealogiis,  fastis,  titulis,  monumentis, 
numismatibus,  nominibus  propriis  et  stylis,  verborum 
etymologiis,  proverbiis,  traditionibus,  archivis,  et  in- 
strumentis  tarn  publicis  quam  privatis,  historiarum 
fragmentis,  librorum  neutiquam  historicorum  locis 
dispersis  :  ex  his,  inquam,  omnibus  vel  aliquibus, 
nonnulla  a  temporis  diluvio  eripiunt  et  conservant.' 

°  De  Augmentis  Scientice,  lib.  ii.  c.  6. 


ITINEBAKY. 


FIRST  WALK 

Holborn,  Holborn-viaduct,  Giltspur-street,  West  Smithfield, 
Smithfield-bar,  St.  John's-lane,  St.  John's-square,  Clerk  - 
enwell-close,  Great  Aylesbury-street,  St.  John's-street, 
Great  Sutton  -  street,  Whitecross  -  street,  Charterhouse - 
square,  Aldersgate-street,  Fore-street,  London-wall,  Win 
chester-street,  Austin  Friars,  Old  Broad-street,  Worm 
wood-street,  Bishopsgate-street,  Spital-square,  Cornhill, 
Leadenhall-street,  Billiter-street,  Hart-street,  Crutched 
Friars,  Seething-lane,  Great  Tower-street.  (Pages  1-60.) 

SECOND  WALK. 

Great  Tower-hill,  Postern-row,  Little  Tower-hill,  Upper  East 
Smithfield,  Nightingale  -  lane,  Burr-street,  Lower  East 
Smithfield,  St.  Katharine's  Wharf,  Lower  Thames-street, 
London-bridge,  Tooley-street,  Bermondsey-street,  Magda 
len-street,  College-street,  Crucifix-street,  returning  by 
London-bridge.  (Pages  61-99.) 

THIRD  WALK. 

Upper  Thames-street,  Dowgate,  Walbrook,  Bucklersbury. 
Soper  -  lane,  Queen  -  street,  Cheapside,  St.  Martin's  -  le- 
Grand,  Aldersgate-street.  (Pages  100-126.^ 

FOURTH  WALK. 

Newgate,  Old  Bailey,  Ludgate-hill,  St.  Paul's-churchyard, 
Watling-street,  Bread-street,  Cannon-street,  Trinity-lane, 
Fish-street,  Knightrider's-street,  St.  Andrew's-hill,  Earl- 
street,  Chatham-place.  (Pages  127-181.) 

FIFTH  WALK. 

Fleet-street,  the  Strand,  Charing-cross,  Spring-gardens,  St. 
James's-park,  Whitehall.  (Pages  182-215.) 


Itinerary. 


SIXTH  WALK. 

Westminster,  and  by  Westminster-bridge  to  Lambeth.  (Pages 
216-270.) 

SEVENTH  WALK. 

The  River — by  Chelsea,  Fulham,  Hammersmith,  Chiswick, 
Barnes,  Mortlake,  Brentford,  Isleworth,  Richmond,  Twick 
enham,  Teddington,  Kingston,  Hampton- court,  returning 
by  Kensington.  (Pages  271-315.) 

EIGHTH  WALK. 

Tyburn,  Duke-street,  Manchester-square,  Manchester-street, 
George-street,  Charles-street,  Spanish-place,  Marylebone, 
High-street,  York-gate,  Regent's-park  [St.  John's-wood- 
road,  Maida-hill-road,  Edgware-road,  Kilburn,*  Verulam- 
place,  Hall-place,  Circus-road,  St.  John's-wood-terrace,  Ave 
nue-road],  Primrose-hill,  Gloucester-road,  Mornington- 
road,  Hampstead-road,  Harrington-square,  Charles-street, 
Clarendon-square,  Phoenix-street,  Church-row,  Old  St. 
Pancras-churchyard,  Pancras-street,  King's-cross  [Pen- 
tonville  -  road,  High  -  street  (Islington*),  Holloway  -  road, 
Crouch-end] ,  Hornsey,  Finchley,  Highgate,  Upper  Hol 
loway,  Hampstead,  Hampstead-road,  Tottenham-court- 
road,  St.  Giles's-in-the-fields,  High-street  (St.  Giles's), 
Lincoln's  -  inn  -  fields,  Holborn,  Castle-street  (Holborn) . 
(Pages  316-365.) 

NINTH  WALK. 

Stepney,  Old-road,  World's-end,  Bow-common  (by  the  side 
of  Regent's-canal),  Mile-end-road,  Bow-road,  Poplar  (ac 
cessible  by  rail  from  Bow),  Bromley  (on  the  Tilbury  line), 
Hackney  (by  rail  from  Bow),  Mare-street,  Cambridge- 
heath-road,  Bethnal-green-road,  Bishopsgate-street,  Old- 
street.  (Pages  366-382.) 

*  We  are  bound  to  mention  Kilburn  Priory,  but  the  site  is  not 
worth  a  visit.  Nor  is  there  anything  to  be  seen  at  Islington ;  so 
that  the  best  way  is  to  go  from  King's-cross  to  Finsbury-park, 
and  visit  Hornsey,  &c.,  from  there. 


EXTRACT  FROM  FITZ STEPHEN'S  DESCRIPTION 
OF  LONDON. 

AMONGST  the  noble  Cities  of  the  World,  honoured  by  Fame, 
the  City  of  London  is  the  one  principal  Seat  of  the  Kingdom 
of  England,  whose  Renown  is  spread  abroad  very  far;  but 
she  transporteth  her  Wares  and  Commodities  much  farther, 
and  advanceth  her  Head  so  much  the  higher.  Happy  she  is 
in  the  Wholesomeness  of  the  Air,  in  the  Christian  Religion, 
her  Munition  also  and  Strength,  the  Nature  of  her  Situation, 
the  Honour  of  her  Citizens,  the  Chastity  of  her  Matrons. 

There  is  in  the  Church  of  St.  Paul  a  Bishop's  See, 

it  was  formerly  a  Metropolitan,  and  as  it  is  thought,  shall  re 
cover  the  said  Dignity  again,  if  the  Citizens  shall  return  back 
into  the  Island ;  except,  perhaps,  the  Archiepiscopal  Title  of 
St.  Thomas  the  Martyr,  and  his  bodily  Presence,  do  perpetu 
ate  this  Honour  to  Canterbury,  where  now  his  Reliques  are. 
But  seeing  St.  Thomas  hath  graced  both  these  Cities,  namely, 
London  with  his  Birth,  and  Canterbury  with  his  Death ;  one 
Place  may  alledge  more  against  the  other,  in  Respect  of  that 
Saint,  with  the  Accession  of  Holiness.  Now,  concerning  the 
Worship  of  God  in  the  Christian  Faith  :  There  are  in  London 
and  in  the  Suburbs  13  greater  Conventual  Churches,  besides 

126  lesser  Parish  Churches It  hath  on  the  East  Part 

a  Tower  Palatine,  very  large  and  very  strong ;  whose  Court 
and  Walls  rise  up  from  a  deep  Foundation :  the  Morter  is 
tempered  with  the  Blood  of  Beasts.  On  the  West  are  two 
Castles  well  fenced.  The  Wall  of  the  City  is  high  and  great, 
continued  with  seven  Gates,  which  are  made  double,  and  on 
the  North  distinguished  with  Turrets  by  Spaces.  Likewise 
on  the  South,  London  hath  been  enclosed  with  Walls  and 
Towers,  but  the  large  River  of  Thames,  well  stored  with  Fish, 
and  in  which  the  Tide  ebbs  and  flows,  by  continuance  of 
Time,  hath  washed,  worn  away,  and  cast  down  those  Walls. 
Farther,  above  in  the  West  Part,  the  King's  Palace  is  emi 
nently  seated  upon  the  same  River  ;  an  incomparable  Build 
ing,  having  a  Wall  before  it.  and  some  Bulwarks :  It  is  two 
Miles  from  the  City,  continued  with  a  Suburb  full  of  People. 

Everywhere    without  the   Houses    of  the   Suburbs,  the 
Citizens  have  Gardens   and  Orchards  planted  with  Trees, 


xii      Fitzstepheris  Description  of  London. 


large,  beautiful,  and  one  joyning  to  another On  the 

North  Side  are  Fields  for  Pasture,  and  open  Meadows,  very 
.pleasant ;  among  which  the  River  Waters  do  flow.  .  .  .  Very 
near  lieth  a  large  Forest,  in  which  are  Woody  Groves  of 

wild  Beasts There  are  also  about  London,  on  the 

North  of  the  Suburbs,  choice  Fountains  of  Water,  sweet, 
wholesome,  and  clear,  streaming  forth  among  the  glistening 
Pebble  Stones  :  In  this  Number,  Holywell,  Clerkenwell,  and 

Saint  Clement's  Well,  are  of  most  Note Without  one 

of  the  Gates  is  a  certain  Field,  plain  both  in  Name  and  Situ 
ation  [Smithfield] I  think  there  is  no  City  that  hath 

more  approved  Customs,  for  frequenting  the  Churches,  for 
honouring  God's  Ordinances,  observing  of  Holidays,  giving 
Alms,  entertaining  Strangers,  Confirmation  of  Contracts, 
making  up  and  celebrating  of  Marriages,  setting  out  of 
Feasts,  welcoming  the  Guests;  and,  moreover,  in  Funeral 
Rites,  and  Burying  of  the  Dead. 

Moreover  almost  all  Bishops,  Abbots,  and  Noblemen  of 
England,  are,  as  it  were,  Citizens  and  Freemen  of  London. 

There  they  have  fair  Dwellings London,  instead  of 

common  Interludes  belonging  to  the  Theatres,  hath  Plays 
of  a  more  holy  Subject ;  Representations  of  those  Miracles 
which  the  holy  Confessors  wrought,  or  of  the  Sufferings 
wherein  the  glorious  Constancy  of  Martyrs  did  appear  .... 
in  the  Times  of  Christianity,  it  brought  forth  the  noble 
Emperor  Constantine,  who  gave  the  City  of  Rome  and  all 
the  Imperial  Arms  to  God,  and  to  St.  Peter,  and  Silvester 
the  Pope,  whose  Stirrup  he  refused  not  to  hold,  and  pleased 
rather  to  be  called,  Defender  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church, 
than  Emperor  any  more.  And  lest  the  Peace  of  our  Lord 
the  Pope  should  suffer  any  Disturbance,  by  the  Noise  of  secu 
lar  Affairs,  he  left  the  City,  and  bestowed  it  on  the  Pope, 
and  founded  the  City  of  Constantinople  for  his  own  Habita 
tion.  London  also  in  these  latter  Times  hath  brought  forth 
famous  and  magnificent  Princes :  Maud  the  Empress,  King 
Henry  the  Third,  and  Thomas  the  Archbishop,  a  glorious 
Martyr  of  Christ,  than  whom  no  Man  was  more  innocent,  or 
more  devoted  to  the  general  Good  of  the  Latin  World. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  ANTIQUITIES  OF 
LONDON. 


fmi  SHsIh. 

FROM  HOLBORN  TO  ALL  HALLOWS  BARKING. 

'  For  first  I  frayned  the  freres,  and  they  me  full  tolden, 
That  all  the  fruyt  of  the  fayth  was  in  her  foui-e  orders, 
And  the  cofres  of  Christendom,  and  the  keie  bothen 
And  the  lock  of  byleve  lyeth  locken  in  her  hondes.' 

ON  our  ecclesiological  survey  of  London  we  shall 
start  from  Holborn,  which  the  eminent  reviver  of 
Gothic  architecture,  Pugin,  has  chosen  as  the  site 
on  which  one  would  best  stand  to  form  an  estimate 
of  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  glory  of  the  metropolis  : 
'  Where  we  now  behold  the  city  of  London,  with  its 
narrow  lanes,  lined  with  lofty  warehouses  and  g]oomy 
stores,  leading  down  to  the  banks  of  the  muddy 
Thames,  whose  waters  are  blackened  with  foul  dis 
charges  from  gas-works  and  soap-boilers,  while  the 

B 


2       Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

air  is  darkened  with  the  dense  smoke  of  chimneys 
rising  high  ahove  the  parish  steeples,  which  mark 
the  site  of  some  ancient  church  destroyed  in  the 
great  conflagration,  it  is  difficult  to  realise  even  the 
existence  of  those  venerable  and  beautiful  fabrics 
where  the  citizens  of  London  assembled  in  daily 
worship.  .  .  This  great  and  ancient  city  was  inferior 
to  none  in  noble  religious  buildings ;  and  in  the  six 
teenth  century  the  traveller  who  approached  London 
from  the  west,  by  the  way  called  "  Oldbourne,"  and 
arriving  at  the  brow  of  the  steep  hill,  must  have  had 
a  most  splendid  prospect  before  him. 

'  To  the  right,  the  parish  church  of  St.  Andrew,  ris 
ing  most  picturesquely  from  the  steep  declivity,  and 
surrounded  by  elms,  with  its  massive  tower,  decorated 
nave,  and  still  later  chancel.  On  the  left,  the  exten 
sive  buildings  of  Ely  House — its  great  gateway,  embat 
tled  walls,  lofty  chapel  and  refectory,  and  numerous 
other  lodgings  and  offices,  surrounded  by  pleasant 
gardens,  as  yet  unalienated  from  the  ancient  see  after 
which  it  was  called — must  have  presented  a  most  vener 
able  and  ecclesiastical  appearance.  Further  in  the 
same  direction  might  be  perceived  the  gilded  spire 
of  St.  John's  Church  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  Norman 
towers  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Priory.  Immediately  be 
low  was  the  Fleet  river,  with  its  bridge,  and  the  masts 
of  the  various  craft  moored  along  the  quays.  At  the 
summit  of  the  opposite  hill,  the  lofty  tower  of  St.  Sepul- 


Holborn. 


chre's,  which,  though  greatly  deteriorated  in  beauty, 
still  remains.  In  the  same  line,  and  over  the  embat 
tled  parapets  of  the  New  Gate,  the  noble  church  of 
the  Greyfriars,  inferior  in  extent  only  to  the  cathe 
dral  of  St.  Paul,  whose  gigantic  spire,  the  highest  in 
the  world,  rose  majestically  from  the  centre  of  a  cru 
ciform  church  nearly  seven  hundred  feet  in  length, 
and  whose  grand  line  of  high  roof  and  pinnacled  but 
tresses  stood  high  above  the  group  of  gabled  houses, 
and  even  the  towers  of  the  neighbouring  churches. 
If  \ve  terminate  the  panorama  with  the  arched  lantern 
of  St.  Mary-le-Bow,  the  old  tower  of  St.  Michael, 
Cornhill,  and  a  great  number  of  lesser  steeples,  we 
shall  have  a  faint  idea  of  the  ecclesiastical  beauty  of 
ancient  London.' 

We  shall  confine  our  attention  fon  the  most  part 
to  the  structures  that — marred  and  defaced  it  may  be 
— are  yet  genuine  survivors  of  the  gigantic  catastrophe 
that  laid  London  low.  If  the  holy  and  beautiful 
houses  that  were  once  the  chief  ornaments  of  the 
city  have,  in  many  instances,  been  burned  with  fire, 
those  that  yet  remain  are  well  worthy  of  the  earnest 
attention  of  the  ecclesiologist. 

Holborn  (the  bonrne  in  the  hole  or  hollow)  derives 
its  name  from  a  stream  that,  rising  at  Holborn -bars — 
close  by  Brook-street — ran  down  to  Holborn-bridge,  a 
stone  structure  that  spanned  the  Fleet. 

The  original  establishments  of  the  Templars  and 


4       Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


of  the  Dominicans  were  in  Holborn.  The  Templars 
came  to  England  about  the  beginning  of  Stephen's 
reign,  and  founded  the  Old  Temple  on  the  site  of  the 
present  Southampton  Buildings.  When  some  old 
houses  were  removed  on  this  site  a  century  ago,  the 
remains  of  the  Templar  church  were  discovered.  It 
was  circular  and  built  of  Caen  stone. 

The  Dominicans'  or  Blackfriars'  house  was  near 
Lincoln's -inn.  The  community  resided  here  fifty-five 
years,  till  in  1276  Gregory  Eoksley,  Mayor,  assigned 
them  a  piece  of  ground  in  the  ward  of  Castle  Baynard. 

Gray's-inn,  or  the  Manor  of  Portpoole,  four  mes 
suages,  four  gardens,  the  site  of  a  windmill,  eight 
acres  of  land,  ten  shillings  of  free  rent,  and  the  ad- 
vowson  of  the  chantry  of  Portpoole,  were  sold  by  Lord 
Gray  of  Wilton  to  Hugh  Denny,  his  heirs  and  as 
signs,  in  1505.  The  manor  then  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  prior  and  convent  of  East  Sheen,  in 
Surrey,  who  leased  it  to  law-students.  This  lease  was 
renewed,  when,  at  the  dissolution,  Gray's-inn  passed 
into  the  possession  of  the  Crown. 

St.  Andrew1  s ,  Holborn,  was  sufficiently  far  west 
to  escape  the  fire,  but  has  been  rebuilt  by  Wren.  As 
the  lower  part  of  the  tower  still  remains  from  the 
former  structure,  we  shall  include  this  church  in  our 
survey.  The  date  of  the  foundation  of  the  church  is 
^uncertain.  In  1297  it  was  given  by  Gladerinus,  a 
priest,  to  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  St.  Paul's,  on  con- 


.  Andrew  s. 


dition  that  the  abbot  and  monks  of  St.  Saviour's,  at 
Bermondsey,  should  hold  it  of  them.  The  church 
contained  four  altars,  if  not  more.  The  steeple  was 
commenced  in  1446,  but  not  completed  until  1468,  in 
which  space  of  time  the  north  and  south  aisles  were 
rebuilt.  The  tower  reached  the  height  of  one  hun 
dred  and  ten  feet ;  recapped  and  set  off  with  pine 
apples  at  the  corners,  its  Gothic  origin  is  not  yet 
wholly  obscured.  It  may  be  classed  with  that  of  St. 
Clement  Danes  in  the  Strand,  a  church,  like  St. 
Andrew's,  too  far  west  to  be  injured  by  the  fire,  though 
subsequently  rebuilt.* 

The  locality  through  which  we  are  passing  sug 
gests  to  memory  the  following  narrative  of  the  days 
of  the  persecution  of  Catholics.  Thomas  Holford,  or 
Acton,  a  Catholic  priest,  who  had  already  made  a 
hairbreadth  escape,  was  apprehended  in  Cheshire  in 
1587 ;  and,  after  confinement  there,  was  carried  by 
two  pursuivants  to  London.  Here  he  was  kept  at  the 
Bell  or  the  Exchequer  Inn  in  Holborn,  it  is  not  cer 
tain  which.  He  thus  effected  his  escape  :  he  rose  at 
five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  pulled  a  yellow  stocking 
over  one  of  his  legs,  wearing  his  white  boot  hose  on 


0  St.  Andrew's,  Holborn,  2d  of  Elizabeth:  ''In  the  first  and 
second  year  of  her  Majestie's  reign,  all  the  altars  and  superstitious 
things  set  up  in  Queen  Marie's  days,  were  now  again  (to  God's 
glory)  pulled  down'  (Nicholl,  Loud.  Red.  vol.  ii.  187).  1st  Ed 
ward  VI. :  '  36s.  were  received  from  brass  taken  from  the  tombs.'1 


6       Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

the  other,  and  so  attired  walked  up  and  down  his 
apartment.  His  keepers  had  been  drinking  hard  the 
night  before  ;  hut  one  of  them  now  looked  up,  and  see 
ing  the  prisoner  so  employed,  fell  asleep  again.  The 
priest  descended  to  the  hall,  where  he  encountered 
the  tapster,  whose  inquiries  he  succeeded  in  diverting, 
and  went  by  the  Conduit  in  Holborn  to  Gray's-inn- 
fields.  Here  he  divested  himself  of  his  stocking  and 
boot  hose.  Between  ten  and  eleven  at  night  he  found 
his  way  to  Mr.  Davis,  a  priest,  some  eight  miles  from 
London.  The  wayfarer  was  famished  with  hunger, 
whilst  his  feet  and  legs  were  torn  by  briers  and 
streaming  with  blood.  The  family  with  whom  Mr. 
Davis  was  residing  showed  all  needful  hospitality. 

It  were  well  that  the  narrative  ended  here ;  but 
we  learn  that  in  the  following  year  (1588)  Mr.  Holford 
came  to  London  to  buy  clothes,  when  his  steps  were 
dogged  by  Hodgkins,  the  pursuivant,  who  appre 
hended  him  at  his  tailor's.  He  had  just  said  Mass  at 
Mr.  Swithin  Wells',  near  St.  Andrew's,  Holborn.  He 
was  executed  on  the  28th  August  at  Clerkenwell. 

There  is  a  sequel  to  this  chronicle  of  blood.  Mr. 
Edmund  Genings,  a  priest,  agreed  with  Mr.  Polydore 
Plasden,  who  had  been  a  fellow-collegian  of  his  at 
Rheims,  that  they  should  say  Matins  together  on  the 
octave  of  All  Saints,  and  afterwards  celebrate  at  Mr. 
Swithin  Wells'  house.  Mr.  Genings  had  proceeded  as 
far  as  the  consecration,  Mr.  Plasden  and  Mr.  White, 


Ely  Chapel. 


another  priest,  assisting  him,  when  Topcliffe,  the  well- 
known  priest-catcher,  and  other  officers  burst  in.  Mr. 
Genings  was  taken  in  his  vestments,  and  with  the 
rest,  some  ten  in  number,  carried  to  Newgate.  Mr. 
Wells,  who  had  not  been  present,  was  imprisoned  on 
his  venturing  to  expostulate  with  Justice  Yonge.  All 
were  sentenced  to  be  executed  at  Tyburn,  with  the 
exception  of  Mr.  Wells  and  Mr.  Genings,  who  were 
to  suffer  in  Gray's-inn-fields  before  Mr.  Wells'  door. 
Mrs.  Wells  was  reprieved,  to  her  sorrow,  and  died 
in  prison.  At  the  scaffold,  Mr.  Genings,  like  St. 
Andrew,  joyfully  saluted  the  gibbet  prepared  for  him. 
His  sufferings  were  great,  as  the  rope  was  cut  im 
mediately  ;  and  as  he  was  dismembered  he  cried  out, 
'  0,  it  smarts!'  Mr.  Wells  answered,  'Alas,  sweet 
soul,  thy  pain  is  great  indeed,  but  almost  past ;  pray 
for  me  now,  most  holy  saint,  that  mine  may  come.' 
When  it  came  to  his  turn  he  urged  Topcliffe  to  use 
dispatch,  adding,  '  I  pray  God  make  you  of  a  Saul  a 
Paul,  of  a  persecutor  a  Catholic  professor.'  At  the 
date  of  these  occurrences,  Gray's-inn-fields  still  had 
the  character  the  name  indicates.* 

Crossing  the  street  from  St.  Andrew's  and  pro 
ceeding  a  little  further  east,  we  come  to  Ely  Chapel, 
Ely-place,  Holborn,  the  sole  remaining  relic  of  the 
town  residence  of  the  Bishop  of  Ely.  It  was  founded 

:;?  These  narratives  will  be  found  in  Challoner's  Missionary 
Priests. 


8       Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


by  the  Bishop  John  de  Kirkely,  who  died  at  the 
close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  was  added  to  by 
his  successor,  William  de  Luda,  who  furnished  three 
chaplains  for  the  service  of  this  chapel,  dedicated  to 
St.  Etheldreda,  the  patroness  of  Ely.  John  de  Ho- 
tham  made  further  additions  in  1336 ;  and  Thomas 
de  Arundel  rebuilt  the  whole  in  1374,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  the  chapel.  The  last-named  added  the  gate 
house.  The  remains  of  the  palace  were  swept  away 
towards  the  end  of  the  last  century ;  the  chapel  alone 
remains. 

The  east  front  of  the  chapel — the  only  part  that 
can  be  now  seen  to  advantage  externally — has  a  win 
dow  of  six  lights.  The  head  is  filled  with  geometric 
tracery.  On  each  side  of  this  window  is  a  trefoil- 
headed  niche.  A  trefoiled  circle  fills  the  gable. 
Formerly  there  were  turrets  with  pinnacles  at  the 
angles  of  this  front.  The  west  window,  which  can 
only  be  viewed  internally,  is  of  even  better  design 
than  the  eastern.  The  side  windows  have  lost  their 
tracery.  On  the  south  side  is  a  beautiful  doorway. 
There  are  no  buttresses. 

John  of  Gaunt  died  at  Ely-place  in  1399.  It  does 
not  come  within  our  scope  to  relate  the  later  history 
of  Ely-place,  eventful  though  it  is.  There  is  a  draw 
ing  of  Ely-place  in  Pugin's  Contrasts.  The  once 
rural  situation  of  Ely-place  is  indicated  by  the  name 
of  Field-lane  leading  to  Saffron-hill,  and  the  vines 


St.  Sepulchres. 


that  long  flourished  in  this  locality  have  left  their 
name  to  Vine-street.  Yet  another  fruit  flourished 
at  Ely-place  : 

'  Gloucester.  When  I  was  last  in  Holborn, 

I  saw  good  strawberries  in  your  garden  there : 
I  do  beseech  you  send  for  some  of  them. 
Ely.     Marry,  and  will,  my  lord,  with  all  my  heart.'0 

The  Mystery  of  Christ's  Passion'  was  ( performed 
at  Elie  House  in  Holborne,  when  Gundomar  (the 
Spanish  Ambassador)  lay  there,  on  Good  Friday  at 
night,  at  which  there  were  thousands  present. 'f  Some 
of  the  victims  of  the  *  Fatal  Vespers'  at  Hundsdon 
House,  Blackfriars,  were  buried  in  ground  belonging 
to  Count  Gundomar  and  used  as  a  place  of  interment; 
'  Lady  Web  was  one,  the  Lady  Blackstone's  daughter 
another,  and  one  Mistris  Udal  a  third. '1 

Crossing  the  Holborn  -  viaduct,  we  reach  St. 
Sepulchre's,  Snow-hill.  Though  St.  Sepulchre's  was 
external  to  the  walls,  it  fell  a  victim  to  the  fire,  and 
has  been  rebuilt,  with  the  exception  of  the  outer 
walls  of  the  aisles,  the  tower  (since  remodelled)  and 
the  beautiful  porch  with  its  parvise,  built  by  one 
of  the  Pophams,  Chancellor  of  Normandy  and  trea 
surer  of  the  king's  household ;  the  foundation  dates 
from  1100.  The  church,  previous  to  the  fire,  was 

*  Shakespeare,  Richard  III.  act  iii.  scene  4. 

•j*  Prynne's  Histriomasti.TC,  p.  117. 

J  From  a  rare  pamphlet  in  the  writer's  possession. 


io    Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

wholly  of  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The 
south  porch,  groined  with  bosses,  is  of  two  bays,  and 
lighted  on  the  eastern  side  by  two  windows  of  two 
lights  each  with  perpendicular  tracery. 

If  a  restorer  could  be  found  to  disengage  old  from 
new  in  this  porch,  he  would  leave  a  jewel  in  the  head 
of  this  most  uncouth  church.  Conservative  restora 
tion  would  also  find  an  appropriate  field  for  its  exer 
cise  in  the  chapel  we  visited  and  admired  in  Ely- 
place. 

St.  Sepulchre's  belonged  to  St.  Bartholomew's, 
Smithfield.  A  brotherhood  was  established  at  St. 
Sepulchre's  in  honour  of  the  Immaculate  Conception, 
in  Kichard  II. 's  time. 

On  Corpus  Christi,  May  24th,  1554,  the  Sacra 
ment  was  carried  about  in  procession  through  St. 
Sepulchre's  parish  and  Smithfield.  A  man  named 
West,  a  joiner,  it  is  recorded  by  Machyn  in  his  Diary, 
tried  to  snatch  the  monstrance  from  the  hands  of  the 
priest,  and  drew  his  dagger  in  the  scuffle  that  ensued. 

Harpsfield,  the  Archdeacon  of  London  and  Bon- 
ner's  chaplain,  imprisoned  after  Elizabeth's  succes 
sion  for  refusing  the  oath  of  supremacy,  retired  to 
the  house  of  a  priest  in  St.  Sepulchre's  parish,  dying 
here  in  1579. 

Giltspur  or  Knight-riders'-street  (names  that  tell 
us  of  mediaeval  tournaments)  brings  us  to  one  of  the 
finest  buildings  on  our  list — St.  Bartholomew  the 


The  Grey  Friars.  1 1 

Great,  West  Smithfield.  But  we  must  delay  for  a 
moment.  As  we  pass  beneath  the  western  wall  of 
Christ's  Hospital,  we  may  recall  the  history  of  the 
religious  house  that  formerly  occupied  this  site  (the 
market-place  of  St.  Nicholas,  Farringdon  Within). 
The  Grey  Friars  dates  from  Christmas  1220,  when  it 
was  founded  by  John  Ewen,  a  mercer,  a  lay  brother 
of  the  order,  Brother  Henry  de  Cervise  being  ap 
pointed  guardian.  In  1306  the  church  was  rebuilt 
on  a  larger  scale,  and  dedicated  to  St.  Francis ;  Mar 
garet,  daughter  of  Philip  the  Hardy,  second  Queen 
of  Edward  I. ;  Philippa,  Queen  of  Edward  III. ;  and 
Elizabeth,  the  Queen-mother,  contributing  largely  to 
the  expense.  There  were  chapels  of  our  Lady,  the 
Holy  Apostles,  and  All  Saints.  Gilbert  de  Wyke, 
John  Latmestre,  Walter  de  Burgo,  and  Matthew 
Gayton  were  among  those  who  entered  the  fraternity. 
The  nave  was  rebuilt  by  John  de  Bretagne,  Duke  of 
Kichmond,  who  also  provided  the  hangings  and  vest 
ments,  and  a  gold  chalice  for  the  high  altar.  Gilbert 
de  Clare,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  gave  twenty  great 
beams  for  the  roof  from  his  forest  at  Tunbridge. 
This  church  was  inferior  in  extent  to  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral  alone  of  metropolitan  churches.  It  was 
300  feet  in  length,  89  in  breadth,  and  64  feet  2  inches 
from  the  ground  to  the  roof.  The  ceiling  of  the 
church  was  painted.  The  Lord  Mayor,  William 
W^alleys,  built  a  large  portion  of  the  earlier  church. 


1 2     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 


The  chapter-house,  dormitory,  refectory,  infirmary, 
and  original  library  were  built  by  William  Porter, 
George  Bokesley,  Bartholomew  de  Castello,  Peter  de 
Haliland,  and  Roger  Bond. 

The  mendicant  orders  were  honourably  distin 
guished  by  their  zeal  for  literature.  Richard  de 
Bury,  Bishop  of  Durham,  says  of  them  in  his  Philo- 
liUion  :*  '  When,  indeed,  we  happened  to  turn  aside 
to  the  towns  and  places  where  the  aforesaid  mendi 
cants  had  convents,  we  were  not  slack  in  visiting 
their  chests  and  other  repositories  of  books ;  for 
there,  amid  the  deepest  poverty,  we  found  the  most 
exalted  riches  treasured  up ;  there,  in  their  satchels 
and  caskets,  we  discovered  not  only  the  crumbs  that 
had  fallen  from  the  Master's  table  for  the  little  dogs, 
but,  indeed,  the  shew-bread  without  leaven,  the  bread 
of  angels  containing  all  that  is  delectable.'  The 
celebrated  Mayor,  Richard  Whittington,  our  London 
Canynge,  rebuilt  the  library  in  1429,  and  supplied 
it  with  desks  and  seats  for  students.  This  library 
was  129  feet  in  length,  by  31  in  breadth.  It  was 
wainscoted  all  about,  and  had  '  twenty-eight  desks 
and  twenty-eight  settles  of  wainscot.'  Whittington 
gave  400L  for  books,  and  for  the  '  writing  out  of 
Brother  Doctor  de  Lyra's  works  in  two  volumes,  to 
be  chained  there,  one  hundred  marks.' 

The  Earl   of  Richmond,   the   Countess   of  Pem- 
*  Cit.  John  Hill  Burton,  The  Book-Hunter,  <£c.  p.  190. 


Interments. 


broke,  the  Lady  Margaret  Segrave,  the  Countess  of 
Norfolk,  and  man}7  others  were  among  the  benefac 
tors.  William  Taylor,  shoemaker  to  King  Henry 
III.,  supplied  the  Grey  friars  with  means  for  supply 
ing  the  convent  with  'water-course  and  conduit-head.' 

In  the  church  were  buried  four  queens:  the  above- 
named  Margaret,  wife  of  Edward  I. ;  Isabel,  wife  of 
Edward  II.  (a  great  benefactor),  Joan  of  the  Tower, 
his  daughter,  wife  of  David  Bruce,  King  of  Scotland; 
and  Isabel,  wife  of  Sir  William  Fitzwarren,  at  one 
time  Queen  of  the  Isle  of  Man.  Beside  these  were 
buried  four  duchesses,  four  countesses,  one  duke,  two 
earls,  eight  barons,  thirty-five  knights,  and  other 
persons  of  distinction. 

In  the  choir  were  nine  tombs  of  alabaster  and 
marble  with  iron  rails,  one  high  tomb  in  the  nave 
was  coped  with  iron,  and  there  were  140  gravestones 
of  marble  inlaid  with  brass  effigies. 

The  Priory  was  dissolved  in  1538,  and  granted 
by  Henry  VIII.  to  his  Chancellor,  Sir  Thomas  Aud- 
ley,  from  whose  hands  it  passed  into  those  of  the 
Corporation  of  London.  Brother  John  Chapman,  the 
guardian,  and  twenty-five  friars  were  expelled.  Henry 
VIII.  made  the  Greyfriars  a  store  for  French  prizes, 
and  sold  or  destroyed  the  monuments,  but,  '  touched 
with  remorse,'  restored  the  church  to  worship.  The 
church  perished  in  the  fire  of  1666.  The  nave  occu 
pied  the  site  of  the  present  playground  of  Christ's 


1 4     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

Hospital,  the  choir  that  of  Christ  Church,  Newgate- 
street.  With  the  present  parish  of  Christ  Church  are 
consolidated  those  of  St.  Nicholas  in  the  shamhles  and 
St.  Ewen  in  Newgate-market.  There  are  some  scanty 
remains  of  the  cloister  of  this  one  of  the  earliest  and 
the  most  important  Franciscan  house  in  England. 
A  sketch  shows  two-light  perpendicular  windows, 
with  buttresses  between  and  deep  arches  below.  The 
site  of  the  Greyfriars  has,  we  believe,  been  purchased 
by  a  railway  company.* 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Franciscans,  Cor 
deliers,  or  Grey  Friars,  owe  their  origin  to  St.  Fran 
cis  of  Assisi  in  Umbria — '  Tutto  Seraftco  in  ardore,' 
as  Dante  describes  him.  Their  founder's  choice 
of  holy  poverty  as  his  bride  determined  the  cha 
racter  of  the  order.  Wherever  they  settled  —  at 
London,  at  York,  at  Lynn,  at  Bristol,  at  Oxford, 
at  Warwick  —  the  Franciscans  reared  their  mon 
astery  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  towns,  or  herded 
with  the  unprotected  multitude  outside  the  city- 
walls.  Their  London  house  was  situated  among  the 
slaughter-houses  of  the  quarter.  'There,'  says  Stow, 
'is  Stinking-lane  so  called,  or  Chick-lane,  at  the 
east  end  of  the  Grey  Friars'  Church,  and  there  is  the 
Butchers'  Hall.'t 

*  There  are  interesting  notices  of  the  Greyfriars  in  St.  Francis 
and  the  Franciscans  (Burns  and  Gates). 

f  Cf.  Dr.  Pauli's  Pictures  of  Old  England;  chapter  on  the  men 
dicant  orders. 


Holy  Poverty.  15 


'  He  was  not  yet  much  distant  from  bis  rising, 
When  his  good  influence  'gan  to  bless  the  earth. 
A  dame  to  whom  none  openeth  pleasure's  gate, 
More  than  to  death,  was,  'gainst  his  father's  will, 
His  stripling  choice :  and  be  did  make  her  his 
Before  the  spiritual  court,  by  nuptial  bonds, 
And  in  his  father's  sight :  from  day  to  day, 
Then  loved  her  more  devoutly.     She,  bereaved 
Of  her  first  husband,  slighted  and  obscure, 
Thousand  and  hundred  years  and  more,  reinain'd 
Without  a  single  suitor  till  he  came. 

.'        .         .     Not  to  deal 
Thus  closely  with  thee  longer,  take  at  large 
The  lover's  titles,  Poverty  and  Francis. 

.        .        .     The  season  conie,  that  he, 
WTio  to  such  good  had  destined  him,  was  pleased 
T'  advance  him  to  the  meed,  which  he  had  earu'd 
By  his  self -humbling,  to  his  brotherhood, 
As  their  just  heritage,  he  gave  in  charge 
His  dearest  lady;  and  enjoin'd  their  love 
And  faith  to  her.'° 

Bossuet  makes  Francis  thus  address  his  bride  :  '  My 
dear  Poverty,  low  as  is  thine  extraction  according  to 
human  judgment,  I  esteem  thee  as  my  Master  hath 
wedded  thee.'  A  happy  repetition  of  the  thought  of 
Dante. 

In  the  Franciscan  as  in  the  Dominican  order 
(besides  the  professed  friars  and  nuns)  was  a  Ter 
tiary  or  third  order  of  penitence,  including  persons 
of  both  sexes  and  of  all  ranks  of  life.  Queen  Ka 
tharine,  the  consort  of  Henry  VIII.  (a  penitent  of 
Friar  Forest),  was  a  Franciscan  Tertiary.  John 
0  Cary's  Dante  :  Paradise,  canto  si. 


1 6     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L ondon. 

Genings,  the  younger  brother  of  the  Father  Gen- 
ings  mentioned  above,  was  the  restorer  of  the  Fran 
ciscan  province.  He  received  the  seal  from  Father 
Stanney.  The  community,  first  assembled  at  Grave- 
lines,  was  transferred  to  Douay,  where  the  Convent 
of  St.  Bonaventure  was  established.  In  16*29,  Father 
Genings  became  provincial,  and  in  the  following 
year  the  first  chapter  was  held  at  Brussels. 

St.  Bartholomciv  the  Great,  West  Smithfield,  was 
founded  by  Kahere,  minstrel  to  Henry  I.,  who  was 
the  first  canon  and  prior.  Eepenting  the  sins  of  his 
early  life,  Rahere  went  on  pilgrimage  to  Rome.  He 
was  there  attacked  by  sickness,  and  under  its  influence 
made  a  vow  that,  if  he  recovered,  he  should  found  a 
hospital  for  the  sick  poor.  On  his  return  to  England, 
it  is  related  that  St.  Bartholomew  appeared  to  him 
in  a  vision,  and  bid  him  build  a  church  in  Smithfield. 
Rahere  had  to  obtain  the  royal  consent,  as  the  spot 
thus  pointed  out  was  the  king's  market.  The  site  of 
the  church  was  a  marsh,  for  the  most  part  covered 
by  water,  save  where  the  common  gallows  stood.  The 
Elms  in  Smithfield  continued  to  be  a  place  of  execu 
tion  for  some  centuries  after  the  erection  of  the  Aus 
tin  canons'  house.  Rahere  used  his  popular  manner 
and  powers  of  persuasion  to  the  best  effect,  and  the 
church  arose,  in  spite  of  all  difficulties,  by  contribu 
tions  supplied  by  all  classes  of  the  people.  The  king 
granted  the  priory  many  privileges.  The  Cottonian 


St.  Bartholomew  the  Great. 


MS.  relates  that  numerous  miracles  were  wrought  in 
the  monastery  during  Kahere's  life,  and  that  even 
after  the  holy  founder's  death  the  blind  had  their 
sight  restored  and  the  sick  were  made  whole  by  a 
visit  to  the  place. 

Matthew  Paris  gives  a  singular  account  of  a  con 
flict  between  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  with  his 
attendants  and  the  sub-prior  and  canons  of  St. 
Bartholomew's,  who  denied  the  archbishop's  right 
to  visit  their  church.  This  occurred  a  hundred 
years  after  the  foundation.  '  Boniface,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  in  his  visitation  came  to  this  priory, 
when,  being  received  with  procession  in  the  most 
solemn  wise,  he  said  that  he  passed  not  upon 
the  honour,  but  came  to  visit  them.  To  whom 
the  canons  answered,  that  they,  having  a  learned 
bishop,  ought  not,  in  contempt  of  him,  to  be  visited 
by  any  other  ;  which  answer  so  much  offended  the 
archbishop,  that  he  forthwith  fell  upon  the  sub- 
prior,  and  smote  him  on  the  face,  saying,  "  Indeed, 
indeed !  doth  it  become  you  English  traitors  so  to 
answer  ?"  Thus  raging  (with  oaths  not  to  be  recited), 
he  rent  into  pieces  the  rich  cope  of  the  sub-prior,  and 
trod  it  under  his  feet,  and  thrust  him  against  a  pillar 
of  the  chancel  with  such  violence  that  he  had  almost 
killed  him.  But  the  canons,  seeing  their  sub-prior 
thus  almost  slain,  came  and  plucked  off  the  arch 
bishop  with  such  force,  that  they  overthrew  him  back- 


1 8     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu ities  of  L ondo n. 

wards,  whereby  they  might  see  he  was  armed  and 
prepared  to  fight.  The  archbishop's  men,  seeing 
their  master  down,  being  all  strangers  and  their  mas 
ter's  countrymen,  born  at  Provence,  fell  upon  the 
canons,  beat  them,  tore  them,  and  trod  them  under 
foot.  At  length  the  canons,  getting  away  as  well  as 
they  could,  ran,  bloody  and  miry,  rent,  and  torn,  to  the 
Bishop  of  London,  to  complain  ;  who  bade  them  go  to 
the  king  at  Westminster  and  tell  him  thereof;  where 
upon  four  of  them  went  thither ;  the  rest  were  not 
able,  they  were  so  sore  hurt,  But  when  they  came 
to  Westminster,  the  king  would  neither  hear  nor 
see  them.  In  the  mean  season  the  whole  city  was 
in  an  uproar,  and  ready  to  have  rung  the  common 
bell,  and  to  have  hewed  the  archbishop  into  small 
pieces ;  who  was  secretly  crept  to  Lambeth,  where 
they  sought  him,  and,  not  knowing  him  by  sight, 
said  to  themselves,  "  Where  is  that  ruffian,  that 
cruel  smiter  ?  He  is  no  winner  of  souls,  but  an 
exacter  of  money,  whom  neither  God  nor  any  lawful 
or  free  election  did  bring  to  this  promotion ;  but  the 
king  did  unlawfully  intrude  him  ;  being  unlearned,  a 
stranger  born,  &c."  ; 

Literary  disputations  were  held  in  the  church 
yard  of  St.  Bartholomew's,  which  was  also  the  scene 
of  a  cloth  fair  of  world-wide  reputation.  A  court 
of  '  Pie-powder'  was  held  for  the  speedy  settlement 
of  the  disputes  that  arose  during  the  '  fair.'  The 


Black  Friars  and  Canons. 


monastery  was  suppressed  in  the  thirteenth  year 
of  Henry  VIII.  The  bells  were  sold  to  St.  Sepul 
chre's  and  the  church  demolished,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  the  remaining  fragment,  termed  in  the  grant 
to  Sir  Kichard  Eich  '  that  part  of  the  said  church 
of  the  late  said  monastery  or  priory  which  remains 
raised  and  built.'  During  Queen  Mary's  reign, 
St.  Bartholomew's  was  endowed  for  'Black  Friars,' 
who  began  to  rebuild  the  nave.  They  were  ejected 
in  the  first  year  of  Elizabeth,  who  made  a  second 
grant  of  the  church  and  monastery  to  the  same 
Sir  Kichard,  then  Lord  Rich,  ancestor  of  the  Earls 
of  Warwick  and  Holland.  Canonbury,  Islington, 
was  the  canons'  country  house,  and  remained  in 
their  hands  till  the  dissolution.  Prior  Bolton's  re 
bus — a  bolt  or  arrow  for  the  cross-bow,  and  tun — 
appears  on  the  '  old  monastic  tower'  and  park  walls 
at  Canonbury.  Prior  Bolton  is  considered  by  some 
to  have  been  the  architect  of  Henry  VII. 's  Chapel  at 
Westminster. 

The  Austin  or  Black  Canons,  who,  as  we  have 
seen,  were  the  first  occupants  of  St.  Bartholomew's, 
came  to  England  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  Their 
order  was  founded  in  the  pontificate  of  Alexander 
II.  In  England  they  had  170  houses  as  import 
ant  as  they  were  numerous.  We  have  only  to  men 
tion  Grisborough,  Bolton,  Bridlington,  Newstead, 
Kenilworth,  Bristol,  and  Walsingham  to  convey  a 


2  o     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquitics  of  L ondon. 

lively  impression  of  the  dignity  and  splendour  of 
the  order.  Their  costume — from  which  their  name 
was  derived — was  a  hlack  cassock  with  cloak  or 
hood. 

At  the  entrance  to  what  is  now  the  churchyard, 
formerly  the  nave  of  St.  Bartholomew's,  is  a  very  rich 
first-pointed  doorway,  with  four  shafts  on  either  side 
and  three  rows  of  dog-tooth  moulding.  Nothing  now 
remains  of  the  monastic  buildings,  though  beautiful 
fragments  of  the  cloisters  existed  as  late  as  1815. 
Middlesex-passage  led  under  one  compartment. 

The  choir  has  six  bays  with  a  triforium,  a  clere 
story,  and  an  apse,  round  which  the  aisles  are  con 
tinued  in  an  ambulatory. 

There  is  a  brick  tower  of  the  seventeenth  century 
at  the  west  end  of  the  south  aisle.  The  four  grand 
arches  that  supported  the  great  lantern  remain. 
Opening  into  each  transept  a  large  arch  springs  from 
clustered  columns  ;  that  which  formerly  led  into  the 
nave,  and  that  opening  to  the  choir,  spring  from 
sculptured  corbels.  The  arches  east  and  west  are 
circular,  the  north  and  south  are  pointed.  The  lan 
tern  resting  on  these  arches  was  oblong,  and  pointed 
arches  are  employed  north  and  south  as  of  narrower 
span.  This  incidental  use  of  the  pointed  arch  is  in 
teresting.  A  signal  instance  of  such  intermixture 
occurs  at  Kelso  in  Scotland,*  and  in  the  round  of  the 

0  See  Billings'  Barojiial  and  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  Scotland. 


The  Choir.  it 


Temple  Church.  In  the  spandrels  of  these  arches 
are  lozenge  -  shaped  panels  containing  ornaments 
similar  to  the  Greek  acanthus.  A  chapel  stood  to 
the  east  of  the  south  transept,  which  gave  access  to 
it.  Norman  remains  of  the  south  transept  are  seen 
in  Whichelow's  sketch  (1-803).  Whichelow  also  gives 
a  sketch  of  the  ruins  of  the  monastery. 

Entering  the  choir,  we  find  it  separated  from  its 
aisles  by  two  piers  and  a  series  of  pillars.  These 
have  the  usual  cushion-shaped  caps.  The  arches  are 
adorned  by  the  billet  moulding,  carried  in  some  in 
stances  along  the  cap  of  the  columns  underneath  till 
it  meets  the  descending  moulding  of  the  next  arch. 
The  arches  of  the  triforiuni  include  the  entire  bay, 
and  are  subdivided  into  four  smaller  arches  resting 
on  engaged  shafts.  These  are  equal  in  height,  and 
the  vacant  space  between  them  and  the  enclosing  arch 
is  left  plain.  The  clerestory  has  recessed  pointed- 
headed  windows.  Vaulting  shafts  are  carried  through 
the  clerestory  and  triforium.  The  present  roof  (of 
timber)  is  divided  into  compartments  by  a  tie-beam 
and  king-post.  The  aisles  have  plain  quadripartite 
vaulting.  The  east  end  was  till  lately  partitioned  off 
as  a  charnel-house.  J.  T.  Smith  in  his  etching  of 
1810  shows  part  of  the  apse  with  fine  Norman  work 
with  Roman  vaulting.  The  east  end  of  St.  Bartho 
lomew's  bore  the  traditional  name  of  '  Purgatory.' 
The  partition,  now  removed,  between  this  and  the 


2  2     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L  ondon. 

rest  of  the  church,  probably  erected,  in  part  at  least, 
by  Prior  Bolton,  was  found  some  forty  years  ago  to 
be  painted  in  water-colours  of  a  bright  red,  spotted 
with  black  stars.  May  we  conjecture  these  last  to 
have  been  of  tarnished  metal  ?  Falstaff  says  (Henry 
IV.  part  ii.  sc.  1),  '  A  pretty  slight  drollery,  or  the  story 
of  the  Prodigal,  or  the  German  hunting  in  water- work, 
is  worth  a  thousand  of  these  bed-hangings  and  these 
fly-bitten  tapestries.'  A  chamber  in  the  palace  at 
Winchester  was  painted  green  with  gold  stars.*  We 
are  probably  near  the  mark  in  supposing  that  Prior 
Bolton  built,  as  was  common  in  his  age,  an  altar- 
screen  (or  reredos),  subsequently  extended  so  as  to 
cut  off  the  ambulatory  from  the  aisles,  and  that  when 
the  ancient  burial-ground  of  the  priory  was  disturbed, 
its  contents  were  thrown  into  this  place.  Valeat 
quantum.  At  the  east  end  of  the  south  aisle  is  the 
old  vestry,  similar  in  character  to  the  aisles,  and  pro 
bably  of  the  same  early  date.  One  of  the  openings 
of  the  triforium  is  occupied  by  a  bay  or  oriel.  It 
communicated  with  the  priory  to  the  south,  so  that 
the  prior  could  unobserved  watch  his  monks  in  choir. 
It  bears  Bolton's  rebus.  Bolton  was  prior  from  1506 
till  1532.  But  enough  has  been  said  '  of  Prior  Bol 
ton,  with  his  bolt  and  ton.'t 

To  the  north  of  the  choir  is  the  monument  of 
Kahere,  with    the    simple  inscription :     '  Hie  jacet 

*  Cf .  Godwin's  Churches  of  London.  f  Ben  Jonson. 


St.  Bartholomew  the  Less.  23 

Raherus :  primus  Canonicus,  etjprimus  Prior  hujus 
ecclesiae.'  The  prior  lies  beneath  a  triple  canopy, 
with  an  angel  at  his  feet,  and  attendant  monks  with 
open  books  at  his  side.  This  monument  is  said  to 
have  been  repaired  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  All 
the  figures  are  coloured.  There  are  small  perforated 
openings  behind.  To  the  south  of  the  church  was 
the  cloister,  some  hundred  feet  square,  with  the  re 
fectory  to  the  north,  near  the  transept  of  the  church. 
The  cloister  was  of  stone,  with  chalk  and  rubble  be 
tween  the  arches  of  the  groining.  There  was  a 
smaller  cloister,  as  at  the  '  Grey  Friars ;'  here  occu 
pied  by  the  stables  and  offices  of  the  prior's  lodg 
ing. 

Enclosed  by  the  modern  hospital  building  is  St. 
Bartholomew  the  Less.  Rahere  associated  with  him 
self  Alfune,  the  builder  of  St.  Giles's,  Cripplegate, 
in  erecting  a  hospital  for  the  sick  poor  in  the  imme 
diate  vicinity  of  St.  Bartholomew  the  Great.  The 
remaining  church  of  St.  Bartholomew  the  Less  was 
the  chapel  of  the  hospital.  The  tower  and  \vest  bays 
of  the  aisles  remain.  There  is  an  altar-tomb  of  Wil 
liam  Markby,  of  London,  gentleman,  and  Alicia  his 
wife,  1439.  There  were  formerly  two  brass  effigies  in 
the  habit  of  pilgrims,*  with  an  inscription  that  ran  : 

0  For  an  account  of  medieval  pilgrims  see  Rock's  Church  of  our 
Fathers,  vol.  i.  pp.  432-445 ;  and  Cutts'  Scenes  and  Characters  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  pp.  157-175. 


24     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

'  Behold  how  ended  is 

The  poor  pilgrimage 
Of  John  Shirley,  Esquire, 

And  Margaret  his  wife,'  &c. 

The  date  is  1456.  Shirley  was  a  traveller  and  literary 
collector.  There  was  a  monument  to  Sir  Robert 
Greuil,  who  'Passed — to  God  Almight'  12th  April 
1308,  ending,  '  Jesu  for  his  mercy  rejoice  him  with 
his  grace.'  At  the  entrance  is  a  niche  with  the  figure 
of  an  angel  bearing  a  shield ;  beneath  are  the  arms  of 
Edward  the  Confessor  and  of  England. 

Smithfield,  or  Smoothfield,  is  rendered  remark 
able  by  many  historical  occurrences  of  which  it  was 
the  scene ;  for  the  executions  of  Wallace  on  St.  Bar- 
tholomew's-eve,  1305,  for  that  of  the  '  gentle  Mor 
timer,'  and  for  the  death  of  Wat  Tyler  at  the  hands 
of  Sir  William  Walworth.  '  The  king  stood  towards 
the  east  near  St.  Bartholomew's  Priory,  and  the  com 
mons  towards  the  west  in  form  of  battle.'  Tjder's 
rebellion  is  thus  mentioned  by  Spelman  in  his  History 
and  Fate  of  Sacrilege:*  'Though  the  attempts  of 
rebels  and  traitors  be  usually  suppressed  by  the  power 
of  the  prince  ;  yet  that  notorious  rebel  Wat  Tyler  and 
his  confederates  prevailed  so  against  King  Richard 
II.,  that  neither  his  (the  king's)  authority  nor  the 
power  of  the  kingdom  could  resist  them  ;  inasmuch 
as  they  became  lords  of  the  City  and  Tower  of  Lon- 

0  Page  165,  edition  of  1698. 


Smithficld.  25 


don,  and  had  the  king  himself  so  far  in  their  dispo 
sition,  as  they  got  him  to  come  and  go,  to  do  and 
forebear  when  and  what  they  required.  But  after 
they  had  spoiled  and  hurnt  the  Monastery  of  St.  John's 
of  Jerusalem,  beheaded  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  done  some  other  acts  of  sacrilege,  their  fortune 
quickly  changed,  and  their  captain,  Wat  Tyler,  being 
in  the  greatest  height  of  his  glory  (with  his  army  be 
hind  him  to  do  what  he  commanded,  and  the  king- 
fearfully  before  him,  not  able  to  resist),  was  upon  the 
sudden  wounded  and  surprised  by  the  Mayor  of  Lon 
don,  his  prosperous  success  overturned,  and  both  he 
and  they  (whom  an  army  could  not  earst  subdue)  are 
now  by  the  act  of  a  single  man  utterly  broken  and 
discomfited,  and  justly  brought  to  their  deserved  exe 
cution.' 

In  Smithfield  Latiraer  preached  at  the  burning  of 
Friar  Forest ;  and  here  the  bloody  scenes  under  Mary 
took  place.  '  Doctor  John  Forest,  a  Friar  Observant' 
(that  is,  a  reformed  Franciscan),  'was  apprehended  for 
that  in  secret  confession  he  had  declared  to  many  of 
the  king's  subjects  that  the  king  was  not  supreme  head 
of  the  Church,  &c.  Upon  this  point  he  wras  examined, 
and  answered  that  he  took  his  oath  with  his  outward 
man,  but  his  inner  man  never  consented  thereunto. 
Then  being  further  accused  of  divers  heretical  opin 
ions,  he  submitted  himself  to  the  punishment  of  the 
Church.  .  .  But  when  his  abjuration  was  sent  him  to 


2 6     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L  ondon. 

read,  he  utterly  refused  it :  whereupon  he  was  con 
demned  ;  and  afterwards  on  a  pair  of  new  gallows,  set 
up  for  that  purpose  in  Smithfield,  he  was  hanged  by 
the  middle  and  armpits,  quick,  and  under  the  gallows 
was  made  a  fire,  wherewith  he  was  burned  and  con 
sumed  on  the  22d  day  of  May  1538.  There  was  a 
scaffold  set  by  the  prisoner,  whereon  was  placed  Sir 
Eichard  Gresham,  Lord  Mayor  of  the  City,  the  Dukes 
of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  the  Lord  Admiral,  Lord  Privy 
Seal,  and  divers  others  of  the  council,  besides  a  great 
number  of  citizens  and  others.  Also  a  pulpit  was 
there  set,  in  which  Hugh  Latimer,  Bishop  of  Wor 
cester,  preached  a  sermon  confuting  the  friar's  errors 
and  moving  him  to  repentance  :  but  all  availed  not ; 
so  that  in  the  end,  when  the  bishop  asked  him  what 
state  he  would  die  in,  the  friar  with  a  loud  voice  ans 
wered  and  said,  that  if  an  angel  should  come  down 
from  heaven,  and  teach  him  any  other  doctrine  than 
he  had  received  and  believed  from  his  youth,  he 
would  not  now  believe  him  ;  and  that  if  his  body 
should  be  cut  inch  after  inch,  or  member  after  mem 
ber,  burnt,  hanged,  or  what  pains  soever  should  be 
done  to  his  body,  he  would  never  turn  from  his  old 
profession ;  more,  he  said  to  the  bishop  that  seven 
years  past  he  durst  not  have  made  such  a  sermon  for 
his  life. 

'And  so  he  was  hanged  and  burnt,  as  afore  is 
shown ;  and  a  huge  great  image  named  Darvell  Gat- 


St.  Johns,  ClerkenwelL  27 

herm  [the  figure  of  a  saint]  having  been  brought  out 
Wales  to  this  gallows  in  Smithfield,  was  there  burnt 
with  the  said  Friar  Forest.'* 

Leaving  Smithfield  by  Smithfield-bars,  and  pro 
ceeding  by  St.  John's-lane,  we  reach  the  gateway  of 
St.  John's,  ClerkenwelL 

Clerkenwell  derives  its  name  from  one  of  the 
three  wells  that  were  to  be  found  in  the  suburbs  of 
the  ancient  London.  The  two  others  were  Holy  well 
(fons  sacer),  Shoreditch,  and  St.  Clement's  Well 
(fons  Sancti  dementis).  The  parish  clerks  of  Lon 
don  used  to  resort  to  Clerkenwell,  and  act  scenes 
from  Scripture. 

The  priory  was  the  great  establishment  of  the 
'  Knights  Hospitallers,'  who  took  up  their  abode  here 
in  HOO.f  The  founders  were  Jordan  Briset  and 
Muriel,  his  wife.  The  church  was  dedicated  in  1185 
by  Heraclius,  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  then  present  in 
England  on  a  mission  from  the  Holy  See.  The  high 
altar  was  dedicated  to  St.  John  the  Baptist,  and  two 
other  altars  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  St.  John  the 
Evangelist.  The  original  buildings  were  burnt.  The 
remaining  fragments  date  from  the  rebuilding,  which 
was  not  completed  till  1504  by  Prior  Dowcra.  The 
last  prior,  Sir  William  Weston,  died  of  grief  on  the 

*  Stow's  Chronicle. 

f  For  a  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  order  see  the  Knights  of  St. 
John  (Burns  and  Gates). 


2  8     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L  ondon. 

day  of  the  suppression  of  the  priory,  the  Ascension, 
1540.  He  was  buried  in  the  parish  Church  of  St. 
James,  Clerkenwell.  In  1539  fifty-seven  surrenders 
of  monastic  houses  were  made ;  hut  it  was  in  the  fol 
lowing  year,  as  we  have  seen,  that  the  suppression  of 
St.  John's  took  place.  It  was  by  the  operation  of  a 
special  act  that  the  ruin  of  the  priory  was  effected. 
In  Edward  VI. 's  time  the  greater  part  of  the  church 
and  the  great  gilt  campanile  were  blown  up  by  gun 
powder,  and  the  materials  applied  to  building  the 
Protector  Somerset's  house  in  the  Strand.  Cardinal 
Pole  enclosed  the  choir  and  some  side  chapels,  and 
Sir  Thomas  Tresham  was  appointed  prior.  Two 
etchings  by  Hollar  show  the  church  as  left  by  Cardi 
nal  Pole.  A  sketch  by  Whichelow  (1804)  shows  the 
gable  of  the  church  standing.  The  interior,  from  a 
mezzotint  (no  date),  shows  fine  late  Norman  arcades, 
with  caps  resembling  those  in  the  choir  at  Ripon. 
From  this  and  an  old  facsimile  plan,  there  seems  to 
have  been  a  nave,  a  single  aisle,  and  elongated  choir, 
and  there  are  indications  of  a  tower  at  the  eastern 
extremity  of  the  aisle,  which  was  to  the  north  of  the 
nave.  Of  the  church  only  the  east  wall  and  the  crypt 
remain.  The  latter  is  middle  pointed,  with  octagonal 
piers  and  groined  arches. 

The  gateway  is  inferior  to  others  of  perpendicular 
date  in  London.  It  is  groined. 

The  Prior  of  St.  John's  was  the  first  Baron  of 


Clerkenwell  Nunnery.  29 


England.     Prior  Dowcra  granted  a  lease  of  Hampton 
Court  to  Cardinal  "VVolsey. 

The  nunnery  at  Clerkenwell  (of  Benedictine  or 
Black  Nuns),  on  the  site  of  the  parish  church  of  St. 
James  and  the  close  (fourteen  acres  in  extent),  was 
of  much  the  same  date  as  St.  John's  Priory.  The 
founder  was  also  Jordan  Briset.  The  church  of  this, 
St.  Mary's,  nunnery,  or  of  the  Assumption  (Beatae 
Marias  de  fonte  Clericorum),  hecame  parochial  at  the 
Reformation,  when  the  monuments  were  rudely  scat 
tered  about.  The  remainder  of  the  nunnery  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  who  employed 
the  materials  in  building  a  mansion  (Albemarle  or 
Newcastle  House)  to  the  north  of  the  church.  Isa 
bel  Sackville,  the  last  prioress,  died  in  the  twelfth 
year  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  aged  ninety-one.  She 
was  related  to  the  Dorset  and  Buckhurst  families, 
who  provided  for  her  in  her  old  age.  She  even  ma 
naged  to  maintain  three  of  her  nuns  :  Mary  Lee,  Ann 
Rivers,  and  Theresa  Shaxton.  '  Isabel  Sackville  was  a 
nun  in  Clerkenwell  Priory  in  the  days  of  Henry  VII. 
She  was  then  young,  beautiful,  and  devoted  in  her 
study  of  cures  for  ailing  children.'  So  long,  and 
through  so  many  changes,  did  the  prioress  live.  We 
know  the  list  of  her  predecessors  in  office  from  the 
foundation  of  the  house :  Ceciliana,  Amergd,  Ha- 
weisia,  Cleonora,  Alisia,  Cecilia,  Margery  Whatville, 
Isabell,  Alice  Oxeney,  Annice  Marcy,  Denys  Bras, 


30     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

Margery  Bray,  Joan  Lewknor,  Joan  Fulham,  Katha 
rine  Braybrooke,  Lucy  Attewood,  Joan  Viene,  Mar 
garet  Bakewell,  Agnes  de  Clifford,  Katharine  Green, 
Isabel  Hussey,  Isabel  Sackville.  Part  of  the  cloister 
and  the  nuns'  hall  long  remained. 

By  Great  Sutton  and  Whitecross  streets  we  reach 
the  Charterhouse  (Chartreuse),  to  the  west  of  the 
upper  end  of  Aldersgate-street.  It  derives  its  name 
from  the  twenty-four  '  Carthusians'  (the  prior  and 
convent  of  the  house  of  the  '  Salutation  of  the  Mother 
of  God')  established  here  in  1370  by  Sir  Walter 
Manny,  Knight  of  the  Garter  in  the  reign  of  Edward 
III.  The  site  was  a  pesthouse  field,  and  was  pur 
chased  by  Sir  Walter  as  early  as  1349. 

Belonging  to  the  Charterhouse  was  the  '  Pardon 
Churchyard,'  for  the  interment  of  felons  after  execu 
tion.  They  were  brought  in  the  '  priory  cart'  of  St. 
John's,  Clerkenwell — a  close  cart  covered  with  black, 
with  a  plain  white  cross  thwarting.  In  front  was 
a  St.  John's  cross ;  within  was  a  bell  that  rang  as  the 
cart  went  on  its  melancholy  errand,  to  give  warning 
to  the  passers-by. 

Sir  Walter  had  entertained  the  design  of  found 
ing  a  college  for  a  dean  and  twelve  secular  priests 
as  early  as  1360,  and  obtained  a  bull  from  Clement 
VI.  His  design  was  frustrated  by  the  French  wars, 
in  which  he  bore  so  prominent  a  part.  Sir  Walter 
was  aided  in  his  later  foundation  for  Carthusian 


The  Carthusians.  3 1 

monks  by  a  bequest  of  Michael  de  Northbury,  Bishop 
of  London. 

The  Carthusians  derived  their  name  from  the 
Chartreux,  a  wild  tract  near  Grenoble  in  Dauphiny, 
whither  their  founder,  St.  Bruno,  retired.  St.  Bruno 
was  a  native  of  Cologne,  and  a  canon  of  Rheims  ; 
who,  to  avoid  the  corruption  he  saw  around  him, 
fixed  his  retreat,  with  the  permission  of  the  Bishop 
of  Grenoble,  in  this  barren  solitude.  To  the  rule 
of  St.  Benedict,  enjoining  poverty,  chastity,  obedi 
ence,  and  daily  labour,  the  Carthusians  united  the 
observance  of  an  almost  perpetual  silence,  of  fast 
ing  for  eight  months  out  of  the  twelve,  of  complete 
abstinence  from  flesh-meat,  and  a  seclusion  at  meal 
times  from  each  others'  society,  save  on  certain 
festivals.  Study  and  manual  labour  were  enjoined 
upon  them.  '  These  holy  men/  writes  Peter  of  Clugni 
to  Pope  Eugenius,  '  feast  at  the  table  of  wisdom ; 
they  are  entertained  at  the  banquet  of  the  true  Solo 
mon  ;  not  in  super stitions,  not  in  hypocrisy,  not  in 
the  leaven  of  malice  and  wickedness,  but  in  the  un 
leavened  bread  of  sincerity  and  truth.' 

In  England  the  Carthusians  had  nine  houses : 
Eppworth,  in  Lincolnshire ;  Belleval,  Notts ;  Hen- 
ton  and  Witham,  in  Somersetshire ;  Sheen,  in  Surrey ; 
Coventry,  in  Warwickshire  ;  Kingston  and  Mount- 
grace,  in  Yorkshire  ;  and  the  London  Charterhouse. 

The  last  prior  before  the  dissolution,  John  Hough- 


3  2      Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

ton,  with  the  Carthusian  priors  of  Axholme  and  Bel- 
leval,  Augustine  Webster,  Robert  Lawrence,  John 
Hale  (the  Vicar  of  Isle  worth),  and  Richard  Reynolds 
— aBrigetine  monk  of  Syon — were  found  guilty  of  high 
treason,  for  refusing  to  acknowledge  the  king's  su 
premacy;  and  executed  at  Tyburn,  May  4th,  1535. 
Influenced  by  threats,  they  had  in  the  first  instance 
taken  the  oath,  with  the  condition  that  their  submis 
sion  was  only  so  far  as  was  lawful.  '  Thus,'  says 
Maurice  Chaney,  one  of  the  community,  '  we  were 
delivered  from  the  belly  of  this  monster,  this  im- 
manis  ceta,  and  began  to  rejoice  like  him  under  the 
shadow  of  the  gourd  of  our  own  houses.  But  it  is 
better  to  trust  in  the  Lord  than  in  princes,  in  whom 
there  is  no  salvation  :  God  had  prepared  a  worm 
that  smote  our  gourd,  and  made  it  to  perish.'  The 
Carthusians  were  soon  informed  that  their  accept 
ance  of  the  oath  with  a  qualification  was  a  mere  eva 
sion.  They  were  tried  and  condemned.  Houghton 
and  the  priors  were  executed  in  their  vestments. 
'  Such  a  scene  as  hanging  priests  in  their  vestments 
was  never  before  known  to  Englishmen.  The  faces 
of  these  men  did  not  grow  pale,  their  voices  did  not 
choke ;  they  declared  themselves  liege  subjects  of 
the  king,  and  obedient  children  of  Holy  Church, 
giving  thanks  that  they  were  held  worthy  to  suffer 
for  the  truth.'* 

0  Fronde's  History  of  England,  vol.  ii.  p.  359. 


The  Charterhouse.  33 

The  prior's  head  was  set  on  London-bridge,  and 
one  of  his  limbs  over  the  gateway  of  the  Charterhouse. 
All  the  monks  were  subsequently  executed,  starved  in 
prison,  or  dismissed  from  the  house.  There  were  thirty 
professed  fathers,  and  eighteen  lay-brothers.* 

In  the  series  of  Zurbaran,  and  in  that  painted  by 
Vincenzio  Carducho  for  Chartreuse  of  Paular,  there 
are  subjects  from  the  history  of  the  English  Car 
thusian  martyrs. 

The  chapel  is  situated  at  the  end  of  a  small 
cloister.  The  ante-chapel  and  choir  probably  formed 
the  whole  original  structure.  The  common  hall,  con 
nected  with  the  refectory  and  cloisters  (of  late  brick 
work)  of  the  Carthusian  lay-brothers,  is  late  third 
pointed ;  fragments  of  late  work  in  Caen  stone  and 
flint  exist  about  the  kitchen.  The  gateway  forming 
the  entrance  from  Charterhouse-square  is  a  third- 
pointed  arch,  surmounted  by  a  pent-house  supported 
by  lions.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Sir  Thomas 
More  was  for  four  years  an  inmate  of  the  Charter 
house,  following  the  religious  life,  though  not  bound 
by  any  engagement.! 
*. 

°  For  their  history  see  Troubles  of  our  Catholic  Forefathers, 
pp.  3-26. 

•j-  Mr.  Seebohm,  in  his  Oxford  Reformers,  says  More  turned 
'  in  disgust  from  the  impurity  of  the  cloister'  (p.  151).  This  is  Mr. 
Seehohm's  version  of  Erasmus'  statement  that  More  « preferred 
chastity  as  a  layman  to  unchastity  as  a  priest.'  He  doubted  his 
own  vocation ! 


34     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

Archdeacon  Beydell  asked  that  the  Charterhouse 
might  be  put  to  some  '  better  use,  seeing  it  was  in  the 
face  of  the  world.'  Henry  VIII.  granted  it,  June  12th, 
1542,  to  John  Bridges  and  Thomas  Hall,  for  their 
joint  lives,  in  consideration  of  the  safe  keeping  of 
the  king's  tents  and  pavilions,  which  had  been  then 
for  some  time  there.  Father  Chaney  describes  with 
horror  the  uses  to  which  the  church  was  put.  On 
April  14th,  1555,  the  Charterhouse  was  granted  to 
Sir  Edward,  afterwards  Lord  North,  who  turned  the 
convent  into  a  palace,  made  the  chapel  a  dining- 
hall,  and  demolished  the  greater  part  of  the  cloister. 
His  son  Roger,  Lord  North,  sold  it,  May  31,  1565, 
to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  for  2500L  The  Duke's  son 
Thomas,  Earl  of  Suffolk,  sold  it  in  1611  for  13,OOOL 
to  Thomas  Sutton,  the  founder  of  the  Charterhouse 
School. 

The  Hermitage,  at  the  corner  of  Monkwell-street, 
St.  James's  Chapel,  or  the  *  Hermitage  in  the  Wall,' 
belonged  to  the  Cistercian  House  of  Grarendon,  in 
Leicestershire ;  a  monastery  munificently  restored  in 
our  own  day.  Two  monks  were  stationed  in  the 
London  house,  and  gave  its  name  to  the*vell  (Monk- 
well). 

We  pass  Aldersgate-street,  so  called  from  Alders- 
gate,  one  of  the  four  northern  gates  of  the  City,  on 
our  way  to  St.  Giles's,  Cripplegate,  originally  founded 
in  1090,  and  built  by  Alfune.  St.  Giles's  was  burnt, 


L  o  ndo  n-w  all.  3  5 


with  the  exception  of  the  tower,  in  1545.  St.  Giles's, 
Cripplegate,  had  its  'bos  of  clere  water/  as  St. 
Michael  le  Quern  its  conduit.  Even  in  Saxon  times 
beggars  resorted  to  Cripplegate  to  be  healed  by  relics 
of  St.  Edmund. 

Willoughby  House,  in  this  neighbourhood,  was 
the  residence  of  Baroness  Catherine  Willoughby 
D'Eresby,  who,  in  Queen  Mary's  time,  dressed  her 
dog,  named  by  her  after  Bishop  Gardiner,  in  a  rochet. 
She  had  to  retire  abroad  with  her  husband,  Thomas 
Bertie. 

Henry  V.  founded  a  brotherhood  of  St.  Giles  in 
Whitecross-street.  In  Redeross- street  was  the  Jews' 
burial-place.  Both  of  these  streets  run  parallel  with 
Aldersgate-street  to  the  east,  without  Cripplegate. 
In  Redcross-street  was  the  residence  of  the  mitred 
Abbot  of  Ramsay,  among  the  pleasant  orchards  and 
gardens  in  which  this  quarter  abounded. 

Where  Sion  College  now  stands — in  London- 
wall — was  Elsing's  Spital  or  Hospital,  founded  by 
William  Elsing  in  1329  :  the  hospital  afterwards  be 
came  a  priory  dedicated  to  St.  Mary. 

An  anchorite  lived  near  the  church  of  All  Hal 
lows,  London-wall  (probably  in  the  churchyard,  as 
at  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster). 

The  reader  of  the  Morte  d' Arthur  will  remem 
ber  several  references  to  anchorites  and  anchoresses 
that  occur  in  that  volume.  Several  of  our  ancient 


3  6     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L  ondon. 

churches  exhibit  traces  of  their  occupancy  hy  an 
chorites.  The  regulations  of  the  life  of  female  re 
cluses  of  this  kind  were  prescribed  by  Bishop  Poore's 
'Ancien  Kiewle,'  still  extant.  Kecluses  made  the 
following  profession  :  '  I,  brother  (or  sister)  N.,  offer 
and  present  myself  to  serve  the  Divine  Goodness  in 
the  order  of  Anchorites,  and  I  promise  to  remain, 
according  to  the  rule  of  that  order,  in  the  service  of 
God  from  henceforth,  by  the  grace  of  God  and  the 
counsel  of  the  Church.'  After  Mass  and  Communion, 
the  recluse  was  conducted  to  the  cell,  usually  on  the 
north  side  of  the  chancel,  that  was  to  be  his,  or  her, 
future  home. 

At  Moorfields  heretics  were  interred. 

As  we  pass  along  London-wall  we  may  describe 
its  course.  The  wall  of  London  started  from  the 
Tower  and  ran  to  Aldgate — the  Old  Gate.  Through 
Bishopsgate  the  Bishop  of  London  went  to  hunt  at 
Stepney.  Between  Aldgate  and  Bishopsgate  there 
was  an  open  ditch,  two  hundred  feet  broad,  without 
the  wall  (Houndsditch).*  Camomile-street  and  Worm 
wood-street  are  names  that  indicate  the  presence  of 
waste  land  within  the  city  enclosure.  London-wall  is 
the  continuation  of  Houndsditch.  Here  the  '  arrant 

°  New  Houndsditch  were  almsliouses  for  the  bed-ridden  poor 
who  were  visited  by  devout  persons,  especially  on  a  Friday.  The 
beds  were  placed  close  by  the  windows.  On  the  window-sills  linen 
cloths  were  spread,  and  strings  of  beads,  to  show  '  that  there  rested 
a  bed-ridden  patient,  who  could  now  do  nothing  but  pray.' 


Carpenters  Hall.  37 


fen,'  as  Pennant  calls  it,  of  which  Finsbury,  Moor- 
fields,  Moorgate-street,  and  Moor-lane  remind  us,  was 
with  the  wall  itself  sufficient  protection.  Here  on 
the  Artillery-ground  the  bowmen  assembled.  At  the 
extremity  of  the  fen  to  the  west  was  the  Barbican,  that 
sheltered  Aldersgate.  In  Castle-street,  the  church 
yard  of  St.  Giles's,  Cripplegate,  and  again  opposite  St. 
Alphege  near  Sion  College,  are  considerable  remains 
of  the  wall  that,  by  Newgate  and  the  Old  Bailey, 
passed  to  Ludgate,  where  its  western  side  was  pro 
tected  by  the  Fleet.  Baynard's  Castle  formed  the 
angle  of  the  wall  to  the  south.  Dowgate  and  Billings 
gate  were  gateways  in  the  wall,  that  now  followed  the 
course  of  the  river,  and  passed  onwards  to  the  Tower. 

London,  which  we  now  for  the  first  time  enter,  was 
a  dun,  or  hill-fortress  built  on  three  heights — Tower- 
hill,  Cornhill,  and  Ludgate-hill. 

Carpenters'  Hall  belongs  to  a  company  incorpo 
rated  in  the  seventeenth  year  of  Edward  IY.  At  the 
west  end  of  the  hall  are  four  distemper  paintings  of 
that  age,  representing  '  Noe  building  the  Ark,'  '  Josias 
ordering  the  repairs  of  the  Temple,'  '  St.  Joseph  and 
the  Holy  Child  at  work'  (the  latter  is  gathering  up 
the  chips),  and  '  Our  Lord  teaching  in  the  Syna 
gogue  ;'  this  last  subject  is  in  allusion  to  the  ques 
tion,  if  He  were  not  4  the  son  of  the  carpenter.' 

Austin  Friars,  on  the  west  side  of  Old  Broad- 
street,  City,  next  claims  our  attention.  It  was  founded 


3  8     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu ities  of  L ondon. 


by  Humphrey  de  Bohun,  Earl  of  Hereford  and  Essex, 
called  the  '  Good,'  in  1253,  and  with  its  precincts  and 
gardens  stretched  as  far  north  as  London-wall.  The 
church  was  rebuilt  by  another  Humphrey  Bohun,  in 
1354.  The  windows  and  part  of  the  walls  and  but 
tresses  existing  are  of  this  church ;  but  there  was  a 
later  and  unrecorded  rebuilding  about  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  The  church  of  1354  consisted  of 
nave,  aisles,  transept,  porch,  choir,  with  chapels  of 
SS.  John,  Mark,  James,  and  Thomas,  chapter-house, 
and  cloister.  The  central  spire,  '  a  most  fine  spiral 
steeple,  high,  tall,  and  straight,'  as  Stow  describes  it, 
was  probably  ajieche. 

The  buildings  and  site  were  granted  in  lots  to 
various  persons  at  the  dissolution,  and  finally  came 
into  the  hands  of  Lord  St.  John,  afterwards  Marquis 
of  Winchester.  The  church  was  occupied  as  a  store 
of  captured  French  prizes.  Blackfriars,  Henry  filled 
with  dried  fish,  Austin  and  Grey  Friars  with  wine. 

The  nave  of  ten  bays  is  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  in  length  by  eighty  in  breadth ;  the  piers  are 
lofty  and  clustered.  There  is  no  clerestory,  and  the 
aisles  have  separate  gables,  and  are  of  nearly  equal 
height  and  breadth.  The  windows,  of  flowing  tracery, 
are  similar,  with  the  exception  of  the  central  west 
window,  which  is  dissimilar  to  the  rest.  It  has  six 
lights,  whilst  the  rest  have  only  four.  On  the  south 
side  of  the  west  doorway  are  two  small  niches. 


Austin  Friars.  39 

The  Marquis  of  Winchester,  notwithstanding 
the  earnest  request  of  the  mayor  and  citizens,  pulled 
down  the  choir  and  steeple  at  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  sold  the  tombs  for 
1QQL  'Both  that  goodly  steeple  and  all  that  east 
part  of  the  church  have  lately  been  taken  down,  and 
houses  (for  one  man's  commodity)  raised  in  the  place, 
whereby  London  hath  lost  so  goodly  an  ornament, 
and  times  hereafter  may  more  talk  of  it.'  The  west 
end  of  the  church  was  granted  to  fugitive  Protestants, 
and  finally  to  the  Dutch.  Austin  Friars  has  been 
recently  restored  by  Messrs.  lanson  and  Lightly, 
architects. 

There  were  buried  here,  Edmund,  brother  of  Ri 
chard  II. ;  Humphrey  Bohun,  the  founder ;  Richard, 
Earl  of  Arundel,  beheaded  in  1397  ;  the  Earl  of  Ox 
ford,  beheaded  in  1463 ;  the  barons  slain  atBarnet;* 
and  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  beheaded  in  1521. 

The  order  of  Austin  Friars  was  established  in  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  There  existed  at 
that  period  various  small  communities,  and  many 
hermits  and  solitaries,  whom  Pope  Innocent  IV.  formed 
into  an  order,  under  the  rule  of  St.  Augustine,  the 
Ermiti  Augustini  or  Austin  Friars.  They  wore  a 
black  gown  with  broad  sleeves,  with  a  leather  belt, 
and  a  black-cloth  hood.  They  had  forty-five  houses 

°  After  the  battle  Warwick's  body  was  taken  to  London,  and 
lay  naked  three  or  four  days  in  St.  Paul's. 


40     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

in  England — at  Breadsall,  Atherstone,  Lynn,  London, 
and  elsewhere. 

The  image  of  '  our  Lady  of  Ipswich,'  a  great  ob 
ject  of  mediaeval  devotion,  was  at  the  Reformation 
seized,  and  brought  by  sea  from  Ipswich  to  London, 
by  Lawrence,  an  agent  of  Cromwell.  In  London, 
Thacker,  Cromwell's  steward,  took  it  to  his  house 
near  Austin  Friars  and  hid  it  in  a  cupboard  :  with 
the  image  he  obtained  two  gold  necklaces,  four 
crystals,  two  silver  slippers,  a  gold  image  of  our  Lady 
in  a  silver  tabernacle  (probably  an  offering  at  the 
shrine),  and  a  little  reliquary  of  gold  and  crystal. 
Soon  after  the  image  was  burnt  at  Chelsea. 

Bishopsgate  derives  its  name  from  Erconwald, 
Bishop  of  London.  Erconwald  was  the  son  of  Anna, 
King  of  the  East  Angles.  Bishopsgate  gives  its 
name  to  one  of  twenty-six  wards  of  the  City  of 
London.  The  defence  of  Bishopsgate  was  intrusted 
in  time  of  war  to  the  Easterlings,  the  Germans  of 
the  Hanseatic  league,  in  return  for  the  privileges 
they  enjoyed.* 

Between  Bishopsgate  and  Moorfields  stood  the 
Hospital  of  St.  Mary  of  Bethlem,  founded  in  1247 
by  Stephen  Fitz-Mary,  Sheriff  of  London,  for  a  prior,. 

0  A  law  of  Ethelred  enacted  '  that  the  Emperor's  men,  or  Eas 
terlings,  coming  with  their  ships  to  Billingsgate,  shall  be  accounted 
worthy  of  good  laws.'  They  paid  toll  at  Christmas  and  Easter,  of 
two  gray  cloths,  one  brown  cloth,  ten  pounds  of  pepper,  five  pairs 
of  gloves,  and  two  vessels  of  vinegar. 


St.  Etkelburgas.  41 


canons,  brethren,  and  sisters,  subject  to  the  visita 
tion  of  the  Bishop  of  Bethleni.  Of  a  peculiar  order, 
they  wore  a  black  habit,  with  a  star  on  the  breast. 
The  houses  belonging  to  this  hospital  were  alienated 
in  1403. 

The  church  of  St.  Botolph,  Bishopsgate,  was  not 
injured  by  the  fire,  but  has  been  rebuilt.  The  year 
after  Elizabeth's  accession,  at  Bartholomew-tide,  the 
rood,  with  the  figures  of  SS.  Mary  and  John,  and 
the  church  books  were  burned  in  the  churchyard. 
The  churchyard  cross  was  removed  at  the  same  time. 
This  was  the  date  of  the  general  destruction  of  church 
furniture  in  London. 

St.  Ethelburga's,  Bishopsgate  -  street  Within,  is 
dedicated  to  the  daughter  of  Ethelbert  and  Bertha, 
the  first  Christian  King  and  Queen  of  Kent,  and 
wife  of  Edwin  of  Northumbria.  Kobert  Kilwardeby 
held  the  living  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  cen 
tury.  The  advowson  was  vested  in  the  prioress 
and  nuns  of  St.  Helen's,  Bishopsgate.  This  church 
is  small,  and  closely  surrounded  by  houses.  It 
has  a  small  clerestoried  nave  of  four  bays,  and  a 
narrow  south  aisle.  There  is  a  pent-house  over  the 
western  door.  At  the  west  end  of  the  church  is  a 
small  tower  that  formerly  supported  a  shingled  spire. 
The  whole  is  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

St.  Helen's  the  Great,  to  the  east  of  Crosby- 
square,  Bishopsgate,  is  of  very  early  foundation.  It 


42     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

is  dedicated  to  the  mother  of  Constantine,  born,  it 
is  said,  at  Colchester  in  Essex.  In  1010,  Alwyne, 
Bishop  of  Elmham,  a  see  afterwards  transferred  to 
Norwich,  removed  King  Edmund  the  Martyr's  re 
mains  from  St.  Edmundsbury  to  London,  and  de 
posited  them  in  St.  Helen's  till  East  Anglia  was  free 
from  the  incursions  of  the  Danes.  Another  account, 
however,  says  that  St.  Gregory's  was  the  resting- 
place  of  the  martyr.*  It  will  be  remembered  that 
Edmund,  who,  on  his  resignation,  succeeded  Offa  as 
King  of  East  Anglia,  was  defeated  and  made  prisoner 
by  the  Danes,  who  demanded  his  apostasy  from  the 
Christian  faith.  On  his  refusal,  he  was  tied  to  a  tree 
and  shot  to  death  by  arrows,  November  20th,  A.D.  870. 
St.  Edmundsbury  received  his  hallowed  remains.! 
The  church  of  Greensted,  in  Essex,  is  supposed  to 
have  been  erected  in  1009,  as  a  temporary  resting- 
place  for  the  body  of  St.  Edmund  on  its  way  to 
London.  Its  nave  is  formed  of  chestnut-trees,  ar 
ranged  as  in  a  stockade,  as  was  the  case  in  the  origi 
nal  church  at  Bury. 

0  His  name  is  commemorated  by  one  London  church,  St.  Ed 
mund  the  King,  Lombard-street. 

f  The  Abbot  Samson,  well  known  to  the  readers  of  Mr.  Car- 
lyle's  Past  and  Present,  claimed  toll  of  the  London  merchants  who 
frequented  the  fair  at  Bury,  on  the  plea  of  Edward  the  Confessor's 
grant  of  such  toll  to  the  Monastery.  For  two  years  the  Londoners 
withheld  their  custom  from  the  fair.  A  compromise  was  at  length 
agreed  to. 


St.  Helens  the  Great.  43 

In  1180,  Kanulph  and  Robert,  his  son,  granted 
St.  Helen's  to  the  canons  of  St.  Paul's.  These 
gave  leave  to  William  Fitzwilliam,  a  goldsmith,  to 
found  a  priory  of  Benedictine  nuns,  dedicated  to  the 
Holy  Cross  and  St.  Helen.  The  priory  was  much 
increased  by  William  Basing,  Sheriff  of  London,  in 
1308.  At  his  visitation  in  1493,  the  state  of  the 
convent  would  appear  to  have  been  a  cause  of  some 
anxiety  to  Kentwode,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's.  He  re 
commends  that  some  discreet  woman  should  shut  the 
doors  of  the  cloister,  &c. ;  that  the  nuns  should  not 
give  rise  to  suspicions  by  repairing  to  certain  portions 
of  the  precincts ;  that  they  should  not  dance  and  revel 
except  at  Christmas  and  other  legitimate  times  of 
recreation.  The  buildings  of  the  convent  have  wholly 
disappeared.  They  were  granted  to  Richard  Crom 
well.  The  modern  St.  Helen's-place  occupies  the 
site.  The  modern  Leathersellers'  Hall  is  where  the 
refectory  stood.  An  engraving  (no  date)  shows  a  fine 
crypt  existing  under  this  hall,  at  right  angles  to  the 
church,  with  a  central  row  of  columns  and  vaulting. 
Another  single  crypt,  finely  vaulted  in  one  span  on 
carved  corbels,  with  an  early  English  triplet  at  the 
«nd  (between  the  crypt  mentioned  above  and  the 
church),  is  shown  in  a  drawing  entitled  '  Ancient 
Crypt  beneath  the  Nuns'  Hall,  part  of  the  Convent  of 
St.  Helena,  destroyed  1791.'  Other  sketches,  and 
especially  one  without  date,  show  extensive  remains, 


44     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu ities  of  London. 

perhaps  of  the  refectory,  with  lancets,  at  right  angles 
with  the  buildings  mentioned  ahove,  and  parallel  with 
the  church. 

The  church  is  mostly  third  pointed.  It  is  sepa 
rated  into  two  nearly  equal  aisles  by  columns  with 
pointed  arches.  At  the  east  end,  a  transept  extends 
from  the  south  aisle,  beyond  which,  to  the  east,  is 
the  chapel  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  arches  in  the 
central  group  differ  considerably.  The  choir  consists 
of  two  irregular  bays.  There  is  no  chancel  arch. 
The  nave  arcade  is  of  lofty  clustered  piers  with  drop 
arches.  In  the  south  chapel  is  a  small  priest's  door 
way.  The  north  aisle  was  appropriated  to  the  nuns. 
What  is  known  as  the  'nuns'  grating'  remains,  and 
gave  a  view  of  the  altar  from  the  crypt  (infirmary  ?) 
beneath  the  refectory.  It  is  a  series  of  oblique 
apertures  opening  to  the  church  through  the  base 
of  a  canopied  altar  (tomb?).  There  are  examples  of  a 
similar  arrangement  at  Burgos  Cathedral  and  at  St. 
Patrice,  Eouen.  The  door  remains  that  gave  access 
from  the  crypt  to  the  church.  A  square-headed 
window  placed  high  may  have  served  the  same  pur 
pose  as  Prior  Bolton's  oriel  at  St.  Bartholomew's, 
and  given  the  prioress  a  view  of  the  church.  The 
original  stalls,  with  misereres,  remained  till  lately  in 
this  aisle,  but  have  been  removed  to  the  parochial 
choir.  There  is  in  St.  Helen's  a  brass  of  a  man  and 
his  wife,  1470 ;  of  a  lady,  1490 ;  Thomas  Williams 


Crosby  Hall.  45 


and  his  wife,  1495.  To  the  south  of  the  chancel  is 
the  altar-tomb  of  Sir  John  Crosby,  the  builder  of 
Crosby  Hall,  and  Agnes  his  wife.  Sir  John's  effigy 
has  an  alderman's  cloak  over  the  plate-armour.  With 
him  and  his  wife  are  buried  their  three  children, 
John,  Margaret,  and  John.  Sir  John  Crosby  was 
Mayor  of  the  Staple  of  Calais.  He  died  in  1475. 

Crosby-place  stands  on  the  site  of  certain  tene 
ments  let  to  the  founder  by  Alice  Ashfield,  prioress 
of  St.  Helen's,  for  ninety-nine  years. 

It  does  not  properly  fall  within  the  scope  of  this 
work  to  give  a  description  of  Crosby  Hall.  We  may 
mention,  however,  that  it  was  the  dining-apartment 
of  the  large  mansion  known  as  Crosby-place,  built  by 
Sir  John  Crosby  about  1470.  At  that  time  the  man 
sion  completely  enclosed  Crosby-square.  All  that  now 
remains  is  to  the  north  and  west.  To  the  north  are 
two  apartments,  to  the  west  the  great  hall.  The  hall 
is  fifty-five  feet  in  length  by  about  half  as  much  in 
width.  It  is  forty  feet  high.  It  is  the  finest  and  an 
almost  unique  example  of  the  London  domestic  archi 
tecture  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  roof  is  of  chest 
nut.  It  is  elliptical  in  form.  It  is  divided  into  ob 
long  compartments  by  trusses  with  pendents,  three 
to  each  truss.  The  construction  may  be  best  ex 
plained  by  saying  that  from  each  pendent  four  half- 
arches  spring.  The  arches  here  run  from  end  to  end 
as  well  as  across  the  hall.  The  hall  is  lighted  from 


46     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu ities  of  L ondon. 

the  sides,  near  the  ceiling,  by  twelve  simple  but  very 
beautiful  windows,  of  two  lights  each.  The  semi- 
octagonal  oriel,  at  the  north-west  corner,  has  window,- 
lights  on  three  sides.  It  is  divided  horizontally  by 
two  transoms.  The  two  north  rooms  had  a  similar 
bay-window,  but  with  a  band  of  solid  wall  intervening 
between  the  upper  and  lower  lights.  Both  stories  of 
this  bay-window  were  vaulted.  Crosby  Hall-place  is 
thrice  mentioned  in  Shakespeare's  Richard  III.  (act  i. 
sc.  2,  act  i.  sc.  3,  and  act  iii.  sc.  1).  This  frequent 
mention  is  readily  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  by  an 
assessment  of  the  fortieth  year  of  Elizabeth,  we  find 
Shakespeare  to  have  been  an  inhabitant  of  the  parish 
of  St.  Helen's.  Crosby  Hall  was  then  in  the  possession 
of  the  Dowager  Countess  of  Pembroke,  '  Sydney's 
sister,  Pembroke's  mother/  On  the  removal  of  the 
neighbouring  church  of  St.  Martin  Outwich,  it  in 
intended  to  remove  to  St.  Helen's  the  monuments/' 
an  altar-tomb  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  an  altar 
of  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth,  on  which  the  gild 
ing  remains,  the  brasses  of  John  Bohun,  rector,  1459y 
and  Nicholas  Wotton,  rector,  1482.  The  name  '  Out 
wich'  is  that  of  two  brothers  who  endowed  the  rectory 
in  1387. 

Beyond  Bishopsgate,  to  the  east  of  Norton  Fol- 
gate,  is  Spitalfields,  the  place  of  sepulture  of  Pioman 

0  For  this  information  we  are  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  the 
Rector  of  St.  Helen's. 


Spitalfields.  47 


London,  and  where  many  cinerary  urns  have  been 
discovered.  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  in  his  Hydriotaphia , 
or  Urn  Burial,  mentions  that  many  coins  were  found 
in  the  urns  discovered  at  '  Spitalfields  hy  London, 
which  contained  the  coins  of  Claudius,  Vespasian, 
Commodus,  Antoninus,  attended  with  lachrymatories, 
lamps,  bottles  of  liquor,  and  other  appurtenances  of 
affectionate  superstition.'  The  fields  in  this  locality 
belonged  to  the  priory  and  hospital  of  St.  Mary 
Spital,  founded  for  canons  regular  of  St.  Augustine, 
by  Walter  Brune,  Sheriff  of  London,  and  his  wife 
Rosia,  in  1197,  to  the  honour  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
the  Virgin  Mary,  by  the  name  of  'Domus  Dei  et 
Beatae  Mariae,  extra  Bishopsgate.'  It  was  in  the 
parish  of  St.  Botolph,  Bishopsgate.  Spital-square 
marks  the  site. 

The  priory  was  famed  for  its  pulpit-cross,  where 
the  mayor  and  aldermen  attended  on  G-ood  Friday 
and  during  Easter  week.  The  sermon  that  pre 
pared  the  way  for  Evil  May-day*  was  preached  at 
St.  Mary  Spital.  We  read  in  Holinshed :  ( There 
was  a  broker  in  London,  called  John  Lincoln,  which 
wrote  a  bill  before  Easter,  desiring  Dr.  Standish, 
at  his  sermon  at  St.  Mary  Spital,  the  Monday  in 
Easter  week,  to  move  the  mayor  and  aldermen  to 
take  part  with  the  commonalty  against  the  strangers. 

°  So  at  Ghent  the  fatal  fray  between  the  weavers  and  fullers 
gave  its  name  to  den  quaden  Maendag,  or  Evil  Monday. 


4$     Ecclesiastical  Antiqzdties  of  London. 

The  doctor  answered,  that  it  became  not  him  to  move 
any  such  thing  in  a  sermon.  From  him  he  departed, 
and  came  to  a  canon  in  St.  Mary  Spital,  a  doctor  in 
divinity,  called  Doctor  Bele,  and  lamentably  declared 
to  him  how  miserably  the  common  artificers  lived, 
and  scarce  could  get  any  work.  .  .  .  "  Well,"  said  the 
doctor,  "  I  will  do  for  a  reformation  of  this  matter  as 
much  as  a  priest  may  do ;"  and  so  received  Lincoln's 
bill,  and  studied  for  his  purpose.  .  .  .  When  Easter 
came,  and  Doctor  Bele  should  preach  the  Tuesday  in 
Easter  week,  he  came  into  the  pulpit,  and  there  de 
clared  that  to  him  was  brought  a  pitiful  bill ;  .  .  . 
then  he  began,  Coelnm  Cocli  Domino,  terrain  autem 
deditfiliis  hominum;  and  upon  this  text  he  intreated 
that  this  land  was  given  to  Englishmen,  and  as  birds 
would  defend  their  nest,  so  ought  Englishmen  to 
cherish  and  defend  themselves,  and  to  hurt  and  grieve 
aliens  for  the  common  weal.  And  upon  this  text 
Pugna  pro  patria,  he  brought  in  how  by  God's  law  it 
was  lawful  to  fight  for  their  country;  and  ever  he 
subtly  moved  the  people  to  rise  against  the  strangers 
and  break  the  king's  peace,  nothing  regarding  the 
league  between  princes  and  the  king's  honour.'  There 
were  112  beds  'well  furnished  for  the  reception  of 
the  poor'  at  the  dissolution. 

Holy  well -street,  now  High -street,  Shoreditch, 
derived  its  -name  from  a  well,  '  sweet,  wholesome, 
and  clear,'  Stow  describes  it ;  to  the  west  of  which 


Shorcditch.  49 


stood  the  priory  of  the  Benedictine  Nuns  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist. 

Shoreditch  has  been  said  to  derive  its  name  from 
the  circumstance  of  Jane  Shore's  hody  having  been 
cast  into  a  ditch  here.  It  really  owes  its  designation 
to  Sir  John  de  Soerdich,  lord  of  the  manor.  The 
Roman  military  road,  called  by  the  Saxons  Eald  or 
Old- street,  the  highway  from  Aldersgate  to  the  north 
east  of  England,  before  the  erection  of  Bishopsgate, 
ran  east  to  a  cross  before  Soerdich  church,  whence 
the  high-road  ran  north  to  Kingsland,  Tottenham, 
Ware,  and  Waltham. 

Sybilla  Newdigate,  of  the  old  Warwickshire  family 
of  that  name,  many  of  whom  we  find  heads  of  religious 
houses,  was  the  last  prioress  of  Holywell.  Like 
Catherine  Bulkley,  the  Superior  of  the  nunnery  at 
Godstow  in  Oxfordshire,  the  prioress  of  Holywell 
endeavoured  to  oppose  the  monastic  inquisitors.  She 
consequently  received  no  pension,  and  is  supposed 
by  Dr.  Whyte  to  have  perished  from  want.  The 
nuns  of  Holywell  gave  protection  to  young  women, 
who,  but  for  their  assistance,  might  have  fallen  into- 
a  bad  way  of  living  in  the  metropolis. 

Near  the  end  of  Bishopsgate,  towards  Leadenhall- 
street,  was  a  stone  building  covered  with  a  semi 
circular  arch,  constructed  of  small  pieces  of  chalk  in 
the  shape  of  bricks,  ribbed  with  stone.  It  is  supposed 
to  have  been  a  chapel. 

E 


50     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

In  Cornhill  are  the  churches  of  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Michael.*  Stow  relates  that  in  the  fifteenth  year 
of  Henry  III.,  Geoffrey  Russel,  who  was  implicated 
in  a  murder  in  St.  Paul's  churchyard,  took  refuge 
in  St.  Peter's,  '  and  would  not  come  out  to  the  peace 
of  our  lord  the  king.'  In  1243,  one  of  the  priests 
of  St.  Peter's  was  murdered  hy  Walkelin,  vicar  of  St. 
Paul's.  The  roof  of  the  church  and  glazing  were 
completed  in  the  reign  of  King  Edward  IV.  The 
rectory  passed  from  the  Nevils  to  Sir  Richard  Whit- 
tington  and  others,  who  in  turn  conveyed  it,  in  1411, 
to  the  Lord  Mayor  and  commonalty. f  Wren's  steeple 
of  St.  Michael  resembles  the  old  one  (1421).  The 
old  steeple  was,  however,  of  three  stories  only,  instead 
of  four  as  is  the  case  with  the  present  steeple.  The 
old  steeple  and  the  angle  turrets  all  terminated  in 
spires  surmounted  by  crosses.  Over  the  doorway 
was  an  ogee  canopy.  Above  this  was  a  window  of 
five  lights  with  a  transom,  and  intersecting  tracery 
in  the  head.  There  were  two  windows  of  two  lights 
on  each  face  of  the  belfry  stage.  These  windows  were 
also  transomed.  Above  each  was  a  gable  like  that 

0  Stow's  Survey  (Strype),  book  ii.  pp.  138,  143. 

"}•  William  of  Kyngston,  in  1375,  left  by  will  means  to  provide 
two  torches  'to  serve  for  the  lifting  of  the  Body  of  Christ  every 
day  at  the  Mass  celebrated  on  his  behalf  and  that  of  his  family  at 
the  altar  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  to  find  one  lamp  perpetually 
burning  every  day  and  night  before  the  High  Cross  in  the  Churcli 
of  St.  Peter's.' 


St.  Andrew  s  Undershaft.  51 

over  the  great  west  window  of  York.  Around  the  tower 
was  a  battlemented  parapet.  The  corner  turrets  were 
of  great  height.  Their  staircases  were  lighted  by 
very  numerous  windows.  The  whole  composition  is 
curious  and  highly  original,  though  it  must  be  pro 
nounced  defective  in  point  of  beauty,  which  the  upper 
part  of  Wren's  design  possesses  in  an  eminent  de 
gree. 

St.  Andrew' sUndersha/t,  Lcadenhall-street  (1520- 
1532),  derives  its  name  from  a  May-pole  that  over 
topped  the  church  tower.  The  parish  is  united  to 
that  of  St.  Mary  the  Virgin,  *  St.  Ursula  and  the 
Eleven  Thousand  Virgins,'  a  church  formerly  situated 
on  the  west  side  of  St.  Mary-street,  now  St.  Mary 
Axe,  familiar  to  Dickens's  readers  as  the  habitat  of 
the  mythic  'Pubsey  and  Co.' 

Bevis  Marks  was  a  house  belonging  to  the  abbots 
of  Bury. 

At  St.  Augustine  Papey,  at  the  north  end  of  St. 
Mary  Axe,  was  a  brotherhood  of  threescore  priests, 
who  were  employed  in  singing  dirges  at  solemn 
funerals.  It  was  founded  in  1430,  by  William  Oliver, 
William  Barnable,  and  John  Stafford,  chantry  priests 
in  London. 

The  church  of  St.  Catherine  Cree,  a  corruption 
of  Christ  Church,  stood  in  the  precincts  of  the  Austin 
canons'  priory  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  Christ  Church, 
Aldgate,  founded  by  Matilda,  Queen  of  Henry  L,  at 


5 2     Ecclesiastical  A  nhquities  of  L ondon. 

the  suggestion  of  Archbishop  Anselm,  A.D.  1108, 
Duke's-place  stands  on  the  site  of  the  priory.  In 
1115  or  1125,  it  is  uncertain  which,  the  barons  of 
London  who  held  the  English  Cnichten  guild  or 
Portsoken  (franchise  at  the  gate),*  which  lay  at  Aid- 
gate  without  the  walls  of  the  City,  and  extended  to 
the  river,  bestowed  it  upon  the  church  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  and  themselves  assumed  the  habit.  The 
prior  thus  became  an  alderman  and  wore  the  alder 
man's  livery,  though  altered  in  shape.  Stow,  in  his 
childhood,  saw  the  prior  of  his  day  in  this  costume. 
Holy  Trinity  was  the  richest  priory  in  England,  and 
was  in  consequence  the  first  dissolved.  It  was  given 
by  Henry  VIII.  to  Sir  Thomas  Audley.  Two  gate 
ways  and  other  portions  long  remained,  among  them 
ruins  of  the  south  transept  of  the  church.  The 
architecture  appears  to  have  been  Komanesque.  A 
water-colour  by  F.  Nash  shows  a  double  gateway  of 
early  fourteenth-century  work ;  the  same  gateway 
was  etched  by  J.  T.  Smith  in  1790.  The  parishes 
of  St.  Mary  Magdalen,  St.  Michael,  St.  Catherine, 

°  This  guild  dates  from  King  Edgar's  time,  when  thirteen 
knights  besought  of  the  king  possession  of  land  lying  waste  to  the 
east  of  the  city,  with  the  liberty  of  a  guild  for  ever.  The  king 
granted  their  request  on  condition  that  they  should  prove  victorious 
in  three  combats  fought  in  East  Smithfield — one,  the  just  or  foot 
combat ;  the  second  underground,  of  what  nature  we  know  not ; 
the  third,  a  water-tilt.  They  were  successful  in  all  three.  The 
memory  of  the  Cnichten  guild  is  curiously  preserved  by  '  Nightin 
gale-lane'  (Cnichten  Guild-land). 


St.  Catherine  Cree.  53 

and  the  Trinity  were  united,  and  the  parishioners  of 
St.  Catherine  repaired  to  the  conventual  church. 
.Subsequently  a  chapel  was  built  for  their  convenience 
in  the  churchyard  of  the  priory,  in  which  one  of  the 
Austin  canons  said  Mass.  From  1414  the  chapel 
was  maintained  by  the  parishioners.  A  third-pointed 
pier  is  all  that  remains  from  the  former  church.  The 
churchyard  was  a  favourite  scene  for  dramatic  ex 
hibitions.  Hans  Holbein,  the  painter,  who  died  in 
the  Duke  of  Norfolk's  house  in  the  priory  of  Christ 
Church,  was  buried  in  St.  Catherine's  Cree. 

We  read  of  the  '  All  Souls'  Gild  :'  '  On  All  Souls' 
Day  the  brethren  met  for  their  devotions  at  the 
church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  as  the  seven-o'clock  bell 
rang.  Thence,  with  a  grave  demeanour,  they  walked 
to  the  chapel  over  the  charnel-house  in  St.  Paul's 
churchyard,  telling  their  beads  as  they  went  along, 
and  pouring  out  their  prayeys,  vultu  cordiali,  for  liv 
ing  and  dead.' 

A  portion  of  St.  Michael's  Church,  supposed  to 
have  been  built  by  the  first  prior,  long  existed  at  the 
corner  of  Fenchurch-street,  Leadenhall-street,*  and 
Aldgate  High-street.  It  consisted  of  a  roof  with  de 
corated  groining,  built  with  square  bricks,  chalk,  and 

*  In  1419  Leadenliall  was  erected  as  a  Grenier  cTAbondance. 
A  chapel  was  erected,  and  endowments  were  bestowed  for  the 
maintenance  of  brethren  and  sisters,  and  of  sixty  priests  to  cele 
brate  Mass  every  market  day. 


54     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


stone,  and  supported  by  two  handsome  pillars.  St. 
Michael's  may  possibly  have  been  the  crypt  of  the 
priory  church.  An  engraving  published  in  1815 
shows  an  irregular  plan. 

At  St.  Stephen  Colcman,  Fenclmrcli-street,  there 
was  a  guild  of  St.  Nicholas,  which  '  the  gode  men  of 
Coleman-street,  in  nourishing  of  love  and  charity 
among  them,  and  in  help  to  them  that  falle  into  po- 
verte,  begon  in  the  yere  MCCCLXIX.' 

The  Minories,  parallel  to  the  walls  between  Aid- 
gate  and  the  Tower,  is  so  called  from  the  Minoresses, 
a  convent  of  Nuns  of  the  order  of  St.  Clare,  founded 
by  Blanche  of  Navarre,  wife  of  Edmund,  Earl  of  Lan 
caster,  in  1293.  Sketches  dated  1797,  after  the  fire 
of  that  year,  show  extensive  ruins  of  apparently  per 
pendicular  character.  They  are  conventual,  not  those 
of  the  church.  The  building  is  said  to  have  been 
constructed  of  Caen  stone  and  chalk  ;  the  timber,  oak 
and  chestnut.  A  late  sketch  (1803)  shows  some  other 
unimportant  remains.  The  Minoresses  had  three 
other  houses  in  England  :  Brusyard,  Suffolk ;  Denny 
and  Waterbeck  in  Cambridgeshire. 

St.  Olave's,  Hart-street,  Mark-fane,  is  one  of  the 
churches  that  escaped  the  fire,  but  was  much  patched 
in  the  seventeenth  century.  There  are  three  churches 
dedicated  to  St.  Olaf  or  Olave  of  Norway,  in  London. 

'  On  the  west  side  of  this  portion  of  the  walls/ 
says  Pennant,  speaking  of  Goodman 's-fields  and  the 


All  Hallows  Staining.  55 


Minories,  '  stood  the  house  of  the  Crutched  or  Crossed 
Friars,  Fratres  Sanctce  Crucis.'  Crutched  Friars*  is 
at  the  south-east  extremity  of  Hart-street.  KalpL 
Hosiar  and  William  Sabernes,  two  citizens,  gave  the 
friars  a  house  in  1298.  The  founders  entered  the 
order. 

These  monks  were  instituted  or  reformed  in 
1169,  by  Gerard,  prior  of  Sta.  Maria  di  Morello, 
Bologna.  They  carried  an  iron  and  afterwards  a  sil 
ver  cross,  and  wore  a  gray  changed  to  a  blue  robe, 
with  a  red  cross.  There  was  a  house  of  the  order 
founded  at  Colchester  in  1244.  Henry  VIII.  granted 
the  house  to  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  the  elder,  who  de 
stroyed  it,  and  built  a  fine  mansion  with  oak  carved- 
post  and  plaster  work,  the  interior  equally  rich.  On 
its  site  rose  at  a  later  day  the  Navy  Office.  The 
refectory  wras  made  into  a  glass-house,  the  first  set 
up  in  England. 

All  Hallows  Staining  (recently  demolished)  was 
one  of  eight  churches  of  the  same  dedication  in  Lon 
don.  The  name  '  Staining'  (from  stane  or  stone) 
probably  indicated  that  this  was  the  first  church  built 
of  stone,  as  distinguished  from  wood,  in  the  metro 
polis.  The  high  altar  was  dedicated  to  '  All  Hallows.' 

0  Stow's  Survey  (Strype),  book  ii.  p.  74.  There  were  in  the 
Crutched  Friars'  Church  two  confraternities  of  the  Dutch  who 
seem  to  have  settled  in  this  neighbourhood;  one  of  the  Holy  Blood 
of  Wilsuak  in  Saxony,  the  other  of  St.  Katharine. 


5  6     Ecclesiastical  A  n tiqu  ities  of  L  ondon . 


It  had  carved  tabernacle  work,  drapery  of  red  Bruges 
satin,  with  a  representation  of  the  Ascension,  a  silver- 
gilt  crucifix  with  statues  of  St.  John  and  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  There  was  another  with  the  same  figures, 
plated  with  silver,  and  gilt.  The  five  sacred  wounds 
were  indicated  hy  so  many  precious  stones.  At  the 
base  a  piece  of  crystal  was  inserted,  through  which 
might  be  read  the  name  '  Jesus.'  There  was  a  statue 
of  St.  Katharine,  before  which  a  lamp  was  constantly 
kept  burning.  The  rood-loft  bore  a  great  crucifix  ; 
on  it  were  twenty-two  tapers  of  great  size.  The 
priests  were  vested  in  red  damask  with  gold  leaves, 
red  velvet  embroidered  with  gold  roses,  white,  green, 
and  crimson  satin.  We  find  such  entries  as  these : 
*  Paid  unto  Goodman  Chafe,  broiderer,  for  making  a 
new  mitre  for  the  bishop  (the  boy-bishop)  against  St. 
Nicholas'  night,  2s.  Sd. ;'  *  paid  for  the  lining  of  a 
pair  of  wings,  and  a  crest  for  an  angel  on  Palm  Sun 
day,  Sd.9 

All  Halloius  Barking,  at  the  east  end  of  Thames- 
street,  adjoining  the  Tower,  is  the  most  complete 
mediaeval  parish  church  in  London.  The  church  be 
longed  to  the  Benedictine  convent  of  St.  Ethelburga, 
Barking,  in  Essex,  founded  in  675  by  Erconwald,  son 
of  Anna,  King  of  the  East  Angles,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  London.  Eichard  I.  built  a  fair  chapel  here,  which 
was  magnificently  endowed  by  several  of  his  succes 
sors  on  the  throne.  Edward  I.  placed  in  this  chapel 


All  Hallows  Barking.  57 

an  image  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  who,  he  said,  ap 
peared  to  him  in  his  sleep,  and  told  him  that  if 
he  visited  her  image  five  times  a  year  and  kept  the 
chapel  in  repair,  he  should  prosper  in  all  his  under 
takings,  and  particularly  in  the  conquest  of  Wales  and 
Scotland.  An  indulgence  of  forty  days  was  granted 
to  all  who,  after  true  confession,  should  visit  the 
chapel,  to  whose  lights,  repairs,  and  ornaments  they 
were  expected  to  contribute,  and  who  should  there 
pray  for  the  soul  of  Eichard,  whose  '  lion  heart'  lay 
beneath  the  high  altar.  The  shrine  of  '  Our  Lady  of 
Barking'  was  much  frequented  down  to  the  Eeforma- 
tion.  John,  Earl  of  Worcester,  obtained  a  license 
from  King  Edward  IV.  to  found  a  brotherhood  for  a 
master  and  brethren,  to  whom  he  gave  part  posses 
sion  of  the  alien  priories  of  Tooting-Beck  and  Oke- 
burn.  The  alien  priories  it  will  be  remembered, 
were  dissolved  by  statute  2  Henry  V.  Eichard  III. 
rebuilt  the  King's  Chapel,  and  established  a  college 
consisting  of  a  dean  and  six  canons.  The  college 
was  dissolved  in  1548,  and  its  site  turned  first  into 
a  garden  and  then  into  a  '  storehouse  of  merchants' 
goods.'  The  shrine  of  '  Our  Lady  of  Barking'  must 
be  distinguished  from  that  of  '  Our  Lady  of  Graces' 
by  the  Tower,  Eastminster  or  New  Abbey,  founded 
by  Edward  III.  in  1349,  in  consequence  of  a  vow  he 
had  made  during  a  storm  at  sea.  We  are  unable  to 
say,  however,  whether  it  was  to  the  image  of  Our  Lady 


58     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

at  New  Abbey,  or  at  All  Hallows  Barking,  that  refer 
ence  is  made  by  Sir  Thomas  More,  who,  speaking  of 
the  affability  of  Henry  VIII.,  says,  '  He  is  so  cour 
teous  to  all,  that  every  one  may  find  somewhat  where 
by  he  may  imagine  that  he  loves  him  ;  even  as  do  the 
citizens'  wives  of  London,  who  think  that  our  Lady's 
image  near  the  Tower  doth  smile  on  them  as  they 
pray  before  it.' 

William  Collis  became  vicar  of  All  Hallows  Bark 
ing,  in  1387.  The  vicarage  continued  in  the  gift  of 
the  lady  abbess  and  nuns  of  Barking  till  1546. 

The  church  consists  of  three  parallel  aisles  of  six 
bays  each,  three  of  them  in  the  chancel,  the  others  in 
the  nave.  A  west  tower  of  brick  was  added  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  pillars  and  arcades  are  of 
different  periods ;  the  pillars  towards  the  west,  early 
pointed,  or  even  Komanesque ;  whilst  the  arches  are 
late  early  pointed;  both  pillars  and  arches  in  the 
chancel  are  very  late  third  pointed.  The  windows 
are  all  late  and  poor ;  the  east  window  has  a  circle  in 
the  head,  but  is  not  of  earlier  date  than  the  rest. 
There  is  a  shield,  with  a  circular  inscription  in  French 
to  William  Tongue,  1400 ;  a  brass  to  John  Bacon, 
merchant  of  the  Staple,  and  his  wife,  1437  ;  between 
the  figures  is  a  heart,  inscribed  '  Mia,'  and  scrolls 
with  legends ;  and  another  to  John  Kulche,  1498. 
This  effigy  represents  a  man  with  long  hair  and  with 
his  hands  clasped.  He  wears  a  close-fitting  gown, 


Summary. 


lias  a  pouch  at  his  girdle  and  a  rosary  on  his  arm. 
To  the  north  of  the  chancel  is  a  canopied  altar-tomb 
of  Purbeck  marble,  crowned  with  leaves.  The  soffit 
of  the  canopy  has  groining  and  pendents.  Above 
the  tomb  and  below  the  canopy  are  two  groups  of 
figures,  the  one  a  father  with  three  sons,  the  other  a 
mother  with  four  daughters;  from  the  man's  mouth 
issues  a  label  with  the  inscription, 

'  Ego  resurgam  et  in  carne  videbo  te  Jesum, 
Deum  salvatorem  meum ;' 

from  the  woman's, 

'  Qui  Lazaruin  resuscitasti  a  inonumento  fetidum, 
Dona  nobis  requiem.' 

At  the  south  side  of  the  church  is  a  smaller  monu 
ment  of  the  same  material,  and  a  representation  of 
our  Lord's  Resurrection.  Tradition  points  out  the 
stone  of  the  high  altar  embedded  in  the  pavement. 

From  the  elevated  ridge  that,  extending  south  and 
east  from  Highbury,  formed  the  eastern  boundary  of 
the  extensive  swamps,  a  lake  in  winter,  to  the  north 
of  the  city,  ran  a  stream,  the  Langburn,  towards  Fen- 
church  on  the  west,  dividing  to  the  east  in  streamlets 
that  flowed  to  the  Eatcliffe  marshes.  Between  these 
branches  wras  situated  a  cluster  of  churches,  the  Mino- 
ries,  Crutched  Friars,  St.  Botolph's  before  Aldgate, 
the  priory  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  St.  Mary  Spital,  the 
church  and  hospital  of  St.  Katharine,  and  the  abbey 
of  our  Lady  of  Graces. 


6  o     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu  ities  of  L ondon. 

On  the  ridge,  between  the  upper  course  of  the 
Langburn  and  the  Thames,  were  the  churches  of  St. 
Peter  in  the  Tower,  All  Hallows  Barking,  St.  Dun- 
stan's  in  the  East,  St.  Magnus,  London-bridge. 

Some  of  these  we  have  visited ;  others  we  shall 
reach  in  due  time. 


Seomir  SSalh, 

THE  TOWER. 

'  Not  in  vain  embodied  to  the  sight, 
Religion  finds  e'en  in  the  stem  retreat 
Of  feudal  sway  her  own  appropriate  seat.' 

IN  Henry  VIII. 's  reign  a  royal  dockyard  was  con 
structed  at  Deptford,  and  a  large  store-house  erected. 
Here,  in  all  probability,  the  Harry  Grace  de  Dieu  was 
constructed.  Her  commander,  Sir  Thomas  Spert, 
Comptroller  of  the  Navy,  founded  at  Deptford,  under 
royal  patronage,  a  guild  '  to  the  honour  of  the  Blessed 
Trinity  and  St.  Clement'  concerning  '  the  cunning 
and  craft  of  mariners,  and  for  the  increase  and  aug 
mentation  of  the  ships  thereof.'  For  many  years  the 
Trinity  Board  sat  at  Deptford,  but  afterwards  removed 
to  Great  Tower-street.  Henry  YIII.'s  was  a  time  of 
great  naval  activity  throughout  the  British  islands, 
the  gallant  exploits  of  Sir  Andrew  Barton  and  of 
Admiral  Sir  Andrew  Wood,  of  Largo,  having  roused 
the  valour  of  the  English  seamen.  In  1511,  James 
IV.  of  Scotland  'buildit  a  great  schipe  called  the 
Micheall,  quhilk  was  ane  verrie  monstruous  great 


6  2     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu ities  of  L  oncton . 


schip  ;  for  this  schip  tuik  so  meikle  timber,  that 
schoe  wasted  all  the  woods  in  Fife  except  Falkland 
Wood.'* 

Those  who  suffered  for  their  adherence  to  the  faith 
of  their  fathers  on  Tower-hill  are  very  numerous,  far 
too  numerous  for  record  in  a  work  like  this. 

The  last  persons  who  suffered  death  on  Tower- 
hill  were  the  Scottish  lords,  Balmerino  and  Lovat, 
for  their  part  in  the  rising  of  1745.  Lord  Lovat 
desired  the  attendance  of  Mr.  Baker,  the  chaplain 
of  the  Sardinian  ambassador,  and  declared  that  he 
died  in  the  faith  of  the  Roman.  Catholic  Church  ; 
'  that  he  adhered  to  the  rock  upon  which  Christ 
built  His  Church ;  to  St.  Peter,  and  the  succes 
sion  of  pastors  down  from  him  to  the  present  time ; 
and  that  he  rejected  all  sects  and  communities  that 
were  rejected  by  the  Church. 't  It  is  a  singular  and 
interesting  circumstance  to  remember  that  the  faith 
Lord  Lovat  thus  confessed  he  had  learnt  from  the  lips 
of  Bossuet. 

In  the  *  White  Tower'  is  what  used  strangely  to 
be  called  '  Caesar's  Chapel.'  It  is  dedicated  to  St. 
John  the  Evangelist.  It  is  at  the  south-east  corner 
of  the  tower,  and  occupies  the  height  of  two  stories, 
the  gallery  being  on  a  level  with  the  upper  apartments, 
the  floor  with  those  beneath.  It  was  built,  with  the 

0  Lindsay  of  Pitscottie's  Chronicle. 
•j*  See  Burton's  Life  of  Lovat,  ad  finem. 


•S*/.  Peter  ad  Vincula.  63 

rest  of  the  *  White  Tower,'  by  Gundulph,  Bishop  of 
Rochester,  in  107§.  The  chapel  terminates  in  an 
apse,  round  which  the  aisle  passes,  as  does  also  the 
gallery.  There  is  no  clerestory.  The  lower  arcade 
is  supported  hy  pillars,  the  upper  by  piers.  The  roof 
of  the  nave  and  upper  gallery  is  a  half  cylinder  or 
wagon  vault ;  the  aisle  has  intersecting  groinings, 
springing  on  the  outer  side  from  pilasters,  the  in 
tervals  between  which  are  recesses  to  furnish  addi 
tional  space.  Henry  III.  gave  directions  for  the  repair 
and  adornment  of  St.  John's.  The  apse  windows  were 
to  represent — the  central,  '  A  little  Mary  holding  her 
child ;'  two  others,  '  The  Holy  Trinity  and  St.  John 
the  Evangelist.'  A  chaplain  received  a  yearly  stipend 
of  fifty  shillings  for  saying  Mass  at  St.  John's. 

Raymond  Lully  relates,  that  in  the  secret  chamber 
of  St.  Katharine,  in  the  Tower  of  London,  he  per 
formed  before  Edward  I.  the  experiment  of  transmut 
ing  crystal  into  adamant,  of  which  the  king  made 
little  pillars  for  the  tabernacle  of  God. 

The  precincts  of  the  Tower  contain  another  chapel 
of  surpassing  historical  but  of  little  architectural  in 
terest,  that  of  St.  Peter  ad  Vincula,  or  St.  Peter's 
Chains.  It  occupies  the  site  of  a  more  ancient  chape! 
erected,  it  is  conjectured,  in  the  time  of  Henry  I.  It 
was  large,  and  had  stalls  for  the  king  and  queen.  A 
letter  of  Henry  III.  commands  *  that  the  figure  of 
Mary  with  her  shrine,'  and  the  images  of  St.  Peter, 


6  4     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu  ities  ofL  on  don. 

St.  Nicholas,  and  St.  Katharine,  and  the  beam  beyond 
the  altar  of  St.  Peter,  and  the  little  cross  with  its 
images,  be  coloured  anew  with  good  colours.  An  image 
of  St.  Christopher  '  holding  and  carrying  Jesus'  was 
to  be  made  and  painted  for  the  church.  Also  on  *  two 
fair  tables,'  before  their  altars,  were  to  be  painted 
'  the  stories  of  the  blessed  Nicholas  and  Katharine/ 
whilst  '  two  fair  cherubim  with  a  cheerful  and  joyous 
countenance  were  to  stand  on  either  side  of  the  rood.' 
There  was  to  be  '  a  marble  font,  with  pillars  well  and 
handsomely  wrought.'  Behind  the  church  there  was 
from  an  early  period  a  hermitage,  in  which  a  recluse 
dwelt,  supported  by  the  king's  charity — '  the  reclu- 
sory  or  hermitage  of  St.  Peter.'  it  is  elsewhere  called, 
that  of  St.  Eustace.  It  was  in  the  king's  gift,  and 
might  be  occupied  by  a  member  of  either  sex. 

St.  Peter's  consists  of  a  chancel,  nave,  south  aisle 
of  five  bays,  and  a  small  bell-tower.  Internally,  the 
nave  and  aisle  are  separated  by  five  depressed  arches 
springing  from  clustered  columns.  '  There  is  no  sadder 
spot  on  the  earth  than  that  little  cemetery.  Death  is 
there  associated,  not,  as  in  Westminster  Abbey  and 
St.  Paul's,  with  genius  and  virtue,  with  public  venera 
tion  and  imperishable  renown ;  not,  as  in  our  humblest 
churches  and  churchyards,  with  everything  that  is 
most  endearing  in  social  and  domestic  charities  ;  but 
with  whatever  is  darkest  in  human  nature  and  in 
human  destiny — with  the  savage  triumph  of  implaca- 


Illustrious  Dead.  65 


ble  enemies,  with  the  inconstancy,  the  ingratitude, 
the  cowardice  of  friends,  with  all  the  miseries  of  fal 
len  greatness  and  of  blighted  fame.  Thither  have  been 
carried,  through  successive  ages,  by  the  rude  hands 
of  gaolers,  without  one  mourner  following,  the  bleed 
ing  relics  of  men  who  had  been  the  captains  of  armies, 
the  leaders  of  parties,  the  oracles  of  senates,  and  the 
ornaments  of  courts.  Thither  was  borne,  before  the 
window  where  Jane  Grey  was  praying,  the  mangled 
corpse  of  Guildford  Dudley.  Edward  Seymour,  Duke 
of  Somerset  and  Protector  of  the  realm,  reposes  there 
by  the  brother  whom  he  murdered.  There  has  moul 
dered  away  the  headless  trunk  of  John  Fisher,  Bishop 
of  Eochester  and  Cardinal  of  St.  Vitalis,  a  man  worthy 
to  have  lived  in  a  better  age.  .  .  .  Not  far  off  sleep  two 
chiefs  of  the  great  house  of  Howard — Thomas,  fourth 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  Philip,  eleventh  Earl  of  Arundel. 
Here  and  there,  among  the  thick  graves  of  unquiet 
and  aspiring  statesmen,  lie  more  delicate  sufferers  : 
Margaret  of  Salisbury,  the  last  of  the  proud  name  of 
Plantagenet,  and  those  two  fair  queens  who  perished 
by  the  jealous  rage  of  Henry.'* 

Among  the  illustrious  dead  buried  in  St.  Peter's 
are  the  martyred  prelate,  Fisher,  mentioned  above, 
and  Sir  Thomas  More.  There  is  some  doubt  about 
More,  as  his  body  is  said  to  have  been  claimed  by  his 

0  Macaulay's  History  of  England  (Popular  Edition),  vol.  i. 
p.  297. 

F 


66     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

daughter  Koper,  and  reinterred  in  the  chancel  of  old 
Chelsea  Church,  where  he  had  caused  a  vault  to  he 
constructed  some  time  previous  to  his  death.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  is  known  that  Bishop  Fisher's 
body,  first  buried  at  All  Hallows  Barking,  was  removed 
by  Margaret  to  lie,  according  to  his  request,  near  her 
father's. 

The  Beauchamp  Tower  probably  derives  its  name 
from  Thomas  de  Beauchamp,  Earl  of  Warwick,  con 
fined  here  previously  to  his  banishment  to  the  Isle  of 
Man,  in  1397.  It  consists  of  two  stories,  reached  by 
a  circular  staircase  and  narrow  passages.  On  the 
left  hand,  on  entering,  is  the  inscription,  '  My  hope  is 
in  Christ,'  by  Walter  Paslew,  who  may  have  been  of 
the  same  family  as  John  Paslew,  Abbot  of  Whalley,  in 
Lancashire,  who  was  apprehended  and  executed  for 
the  part  he  took  in  the  '  Pilgrimage  of  Grace.'  Over 
the  door  of  a  cell  is  the  name  Robart  Tidir,  beneath 
which  is  I.H.S.  In  the  state  prison  above,  to  the 
left,  is  the  name  of  Marmaduke  Neville,  to  the  right 
of  which  are  the  Peverel  arms,  the  name  '  Peverel,'  a 
crucifix,  and  a  bleeding  heart.  A  shield  bears  the 
inscription  in  Italian  translated  thus,  '  Since  fortune 
hath  chosen  that  my  hope  should  go  to  the  wind  to 
complain,  I  wish  the  time  were  destroyed ;  my  planet 
being  ever  sad  and  unpropitious.  William  Tyrrel, 
1541.'  This  was  the  William  Tyrrel  who  wrote  two 
letters  to  the  Prior  of  St.  John's,  Clerkenwell,  in 


Beaiichamp  Tower.  67 

1534.  Over  the  fire-place  is  the  inscription,  *  The 
more  suffering  for  Christ  in  this  world,  the  more 
glory  with  Christ  in  the  next.  Thou  hast  crowned 
him  with  honour  and  glory,  0  Lord  !  In  memory 
everlasting  He  will  be  just.  Arundell,  June  22d, 
1587.'  This  is  the  Earl  of  Arundell  who  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  died  at  the 
age  of  forty  in  the  Tower,  not  without  suspicion  of 
having  been  poisoned.  It  is  related,  that  on  one 
occasion,  a  '  Protestant  standing  by  the  Earl,  whilst 
in  time  of  his  recreation  he  was  engraving  with  his 
knife  ye  sign  of  the  Holy  Cross  in  a  stone  of  the  wall 
of  his  chamber,  and  seeing  him  to  have  hurt  his  hand 
a  little  by  the  accidental  slipping  of  the  knife,  said 
thus  :  "  Your  lordship  by  this  may  see  how  soon  the 
Lord  doth  hinder  this  unlawfull  work  you  were  in 
hand  withall."  "Nay rather,"  answer'd  the  Earl,  "you 
may  mark  how  quickly  the  devil  hath  apply'd  himself 
to  frustrate  so  good  an  action."  '  This  trivial  anecdote 
is  worth  mention,  as  it  enables  us  to  see  one  of  the 
prisoners,  and  one  of  those  who  has  left  most  traces 
of  his  presence — for  there  are  three  inscriptions  by 
his  hand  in  the  Beauchamp  Tower — actually  at  work.* 
But  we  must  hasten.  There  are  other  records  of 

0  Very  interesting  notices  of  the  Tower  will  be  found  in  Father 
Gerard's  Life,  prefixed  to  his  Narrative  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot. 
The  anecdote  given  above  will  be  found  in  the  Life  of  Philip 
Howard,  Earl  of  Arundel,  edited  by  the  late  Duke  of  Norfolk, 
p.  129. 


6  8     Ecclesiastical  A ntiqu ities  of  L ondon . 

Catholic  sufferers,  as  '  Typping,  stand  and  bere  thy 
cross,  for  thou  art  Catholyke,  but  no  worce,'  &c. ;  of 
'John  Store,  Doctor,  1570,'  Chancellor  of  Oxford, 
executed  at  Tyburn  in  that  year  ;  of  '  Henrye  Cockyn, 
1574,'  the  agent  of  the  Bishop  of  Eoss,  the  constant 
adherent  of  Mary  of  Scotland  ;  of  Edmund  Poole  (Ihs. 
Dio  semin  in  lachrimis  in  exiltitiane  meter — so  it  is 
spelt),  great-grandson  of  George,  Duke  of  Clarence  ; 
of  '  Thomas  Hooper,  1570;'  of  Thomas  Fitzgerald  ; 
and  of  Adam  Sedbar,  last  Abbot  of  Joveval,  executed 
at  Tyburn  with  the  Abbots  of  Whalley  and  Jawley, 
June  1537.  There  is  a  rebus  of  Thomas  Abel,  chap 
lain  to  Catherine  of  Arragon,  and  an  inscription  by 
Laurence  Cooke,  Prior  of  Doncaster ;  and  the  name 
occurs  of  Inggram  Percy,  son  of  Henry,  Fifth  Earl  of 
Northumberland.  The  name  '  Page'  is  that  of  the 
priest  harboured  by  Mrs.  Line.*  There  are  inscrip 
tions  by  '  John  Colleton,  Prist,'  Vicar-General  to  the 
Bishop  of  Chalcedon,  and  by  '  Eagremond  Eadclyffe,' 
son  of  the  Earl  of  Sussex. 

To  the  east  of  the  Tower  stood  the  collegiate 
church  and  hospital  of  St.  Katharine,  t  founded  in 
1148  by  Maud  of  Boulogne,  the  wife  of  Stephen,  for 
the  repose  of  the  souls  of  her  children,  Baldwin  and 
Matilda,  and  for  the  maintenance  of  a  master,  bre 
thren,  sisters,  and  other  poor.  In  1273,  Eleanor, 

c  See  Challoner's  Missionary  Priests,  vol.  i.  p.  395. 
t  See  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  694. 


St.  Katharines.  69 

widow  of  Henry  III.,  refounded  the  hospital  by  her 
charter,  for  a  master,  three  brethren,  chaplains, 
three  sisters,  ten  beadswomen,  and  six  poor  chorister 
scholars.  The  beadswomen  were  to  pray  for  the  souls 
of  the  foundress,  her  progenitors,  and  of  the  faithful 
generally.  Philippa,  queen  of  Edward  III.,  was  an 
eminent  benefactress.  She  appointed  an  additional 
chaplain,  and  granted  a  new  charter  and  statutes. 
The  brethren  were  to  wear  '  a  strait  coat,'  and  over 
that  a  black  mantle  with  'the  sign  of  the  holy 
Katharine.'  Green  clothes  or  those  entirely  red,  or 
any  striped  clothes  'as  tending  to  dissoluteness,'  were 
not  to  be  used.  The  clerks  were  to  have  shaven 
crowns.  The  curfew-bell  was  to  ring  home  at  night 
the  brethren  and  sisters.  The  queen  contributed  to 
the  rebuilding  of  the  collegiate  church  in  1340.  Here 
her  husband  founded  a  chantry  for  the  repose  of  her 
soul.  The  hospital  remains  to  the  present  time 
under  queenly  patronage.  The  mastership  is  a  valu 
able  sinecure.  Henry  VI.  granted  the  hospital  a  fair, 
to  be  held  on  Tower-hill,  for  twenty-one  successive 
days  annually. 

The  hospital  buildings  consisted  of  a  church  with 
chapter-house  and  cloister,  a  court-room  with  resi 
dentiary  houses  for  the  members  of  the  foundation,  a 
hall,  and  a  schoolroom.  The  church,  originally  built 
in  1148,  and  enlarged  in  1273,  was  removed  in  1340, 
when  the  whole — with  the  exception  of  the  choir — 


70     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

was  rebuilt  under  the  supervision  of  Thomas  de  Beck- 
ington,  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  master  at  the  time. 
William  de  Erldesby  built  the  choir  some  thirty  years 
later  (1369).  The  style  was  middle  pointed.  There 
was  a  nave  of  nine  bays,  a  choir  of  eight ;  the  cloisters 
and  chapter-house  stood  to  the  south.  Numerous 
chantry  chapels  surrounded  the  choir.  The  church 
was  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  length,  by  sixty 
feet  in  breadth.  Hollar's  etching  (1660)  shows  it 
fairly  perfect.  Later  engravings  (1780)  show  the 
fine  interior.  Both  the  church  and  the  hospital  were 
demolished  in  1825,  to  make  way  for  St.  Katharine's 
Dock. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  choir  roodscreen,  at  St. 
Katharine's,  were  four  stalls  with  canopies  at  either 
side ;  other  nine  stalls  faced  north  and  south.  Frag 
ments  of  these  have  been  preserved  in  the  chapel  of 
the  modern  hospital  in  the  Kegent's-park.  They  were 
third  pointed  in  style ;  the  most  interesting  portions 
of  the  remaining  work  are  two  bench-ends  with  heads 
of  Edward  III.  and  of  Philippa. 

The  only  ancient  monument  preserved  is  the  tomb 
of  John  Holland,  Duke  of  Exeter  (1441),  whose  effigy 
and  those  of  his  two  wives  rest  on  an  altar-tomb 
under  a  rich  canopy.  The  duke  was  a  great  bene 
factor  and  founded  a  chantry,  and  bequeathed  '  acuppe 
of  byrell  garnished  with  gold,  perles,  and  precious 
stones,  to  be  put  in  the  sacrament.' 


Guild  at  St.  Katharine 's.  7 1 

An  engraving  shows  the  cloisters  of  wooden  posts 
of  very  late  character,  with  buildings  over,  taken  clown 
in  1755. 

On  the  hexagonal  pulpit  are  four  views  of  the 
ancient  hospital. 

There  was  at  St.  Katharine's  a  '  fraternity  of  the 
guild  of  our  glorious  Saviour  Christ  Jesus,  and  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  and  Martyr  St.  Barbara.'  The  bead- 
roll  runs  :  '  First  ye  shall  pray  especially  for  the  good 
estate  of  our  sovereign  lord  and  most  Christian  and 
excellent  prince,  King  Henry  VIII.  and  Queen  Cathe 
rine,  founders  of  the  said  guild  and  gracious  brother 
hood,  and  brother  and  sister  of  the  same.  And  for 
the  good  estate  of  the  French  Queen's  Grace,  Mary, 
sister  to  our  said  sovereign  lord,  and  sister  of  the 
said  guild.  Also,  ye  shall  pray  for  the  good  estate  of 
Thomas  Wolsey,  of  the  title  of  St.  Cecilia  of  Rome, 
priest  cardinal  and  legatus  a  latere  to  our  Holy  Father 
the  Pope,  Archbishop  of  York  and  Chancellor  of  Eng 
land,  brother  of  the  said  guild.  Also,  for  the  good 
estate  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  and  my  Lady 
his  wife.  Also,  for  the  good  estate  of  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk  and  my  Lady  his  wife.  The  Duke  of 
Suffolk.  Also,  for  my  Lord  Marquis  ;  for  the  Earl  of 
Shrewsbury  ;  the  Earl  of  Northumberland ;  the  Earl 
of  Surrey;  my  Lord  Hastings;  and  for  all  their 
Ladies,  brethren  and  sisters  of  the  same.  Also,  for 
Sir  Richard  Chomley,  Knt. ;  Sir  William  Compton, 


7  2,     Ecclesiastical  A ntiquities  of  L ondou. 

Knt. ;  Sir  William  Skevington,  Knt. ;  Sir  John 
Digby,  Knt.,  &c.  &c.  ;  and  for  all  their  Ladies, 
brethren  and  sisters  of  the  same,  that  be  alive,  and 
for  the  souls  of  them  that  be  dead ;  and  for  the 
masters  and  wardens  of  the  same  guild,  and  the 
warden  collector  of  the  same.  And  for  the  more 
special  grace  every  man  of  your  charity  say  a  Pater 
noster  and  an  Ave.  And  God  save  the  king,  the 
master,  and  the  wardens,  and  all  the  brethren  and 
sisters  of  the  same.' 

East  of  East  Smithfield  was  a  Cistercian  abbey, 
founded  by  Edward  III.  in  1349.*  It  was  called  the 
'  Abbey  of  Graces'  (or  favours).  This  house  was  sub 
ject  to  Beaulieu.  Edward  founded  it  partly  in  ful 
filment  of  a  vow  made  during  a  storm  at  sea  ;  partly, 
as  is  seen  in  Eichard  II. 's  charter,  in  gratitude  for 
many  graces  and  deliverances  from  perils  by  sea  and 
land,  due  to  the  clemency  of  our  Lord  Christ,  through 
the  intercession  of  His  ever-blessed  Mother.  It  may 
have  been  here  that  the  image  of  our  Lady  stood, 
to  which  Sir  Thomas  More  alludes  in  the  passage 
mentioned  above.  In  a  deed  of  gift,  dated  1376,  Wil 
liam  of  Wykeham,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  bestowed 
the  manor  of  Poplar  upon  the  abbey  of  St.  Mary  de 
Graces,  near  the  Tower. 

The  Cistercians  were  called  '  White  Monks'  from 
their  dress,  a  white  cassock ;  over  which  they  wore  a 
*  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  v.  717. 


6Y.  Dunstan  in  the  East.  73 

black  cloak  when  without  the  walls  of  their  convent. 
Cardinal  Vitry  says  of  them,  '  their  fasts  are  con 
tinual,  from  the  Feast  of  the  Exaltation  of  the  Holy 
Cross  till  Easter;  and  they  exercise  hospitality  to 
wards  the  poor  with  extraordinary  charity.' 

Retracing  our  steps,  we  pass  the  Tower  and  reach 
London-bridge  by  Thames-street.  On  the  way  we 
catch  a  glimpse  of  the  mural  crown  of  St.  Dunstan 
m  the  East;  a  form  imitated  by  Wren  from  St. 
Nicholas,  Newcastle.*  Carter  said,  '  the  church  of  St. 
Nicholas  has,  like  St.  Dunstan's,  a  tower ;  but  so 
lofty,  and  of  such  a  girth,  that,  to  compare  great 
things  with  small,  our  London  piece  of  vanity  is  but 
a  molehill  to  the  Newcastle  mountain.' 

The  following  is  a  curious  notice  of  an  occur 
rence  at  St.  Dunstan's  : 

'  In  the  year  1417,  and  on  the  afternoon  of  Easter 
Sunday,  a  violent  quarrel  took  place  in  this  church, 
between  the  ladies  of  the  Lord  Strange  and  Sir  John 
Trussel,  Knt. ;  which  involved  the  husbands,  and  at 
length  terminated  in  a  general  contest.  Several  per 
sons  were  seriously  wounded,  and  an  unlucky  fish 
monger,  named  Thomas  Petwarden,  killed.  The  two 
great  men,  who  chose  a  church  for  their  field  of  battle, 

0  There  are  other  specimens  at  St.  Giles',  Edinburgh,  and 
King's  College,  Aberdeen.  Another  example  existed — till  recently 
— at  Linlithgow,  and  the  Church  of  Haddington,  the  '  Lamp  of 
Lothian,'  was  once  similarly  crowned. 


74     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

were  seized,  and  committed  to  the  Poultry  Compter  ; 
and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  excommunicated 
them.  On  the  21st  of  April  that  prelate  heard  the 
particulars  at  St.  Magnus'  Church ;  and  finding  Lord 
Strange  and  his  lady  the  aggressors,  he  cited  them 
to  appear  before  him,  the  Lord  Mayor,  and  others,  on 
the  1st  of  May,  at  St.  Paul's,  and  there  submit  to 
penance  ;  which  was  inflicted  by  compelling  all  their 
servants  to  march  before  the  rector  of  St.  Dunstan's 
in  their  shirts ;  followed  by  the  lord  bareheaded,  and 
the  lady  barefooted,  and  Kentwode,  Archdeacon  of 
London,  to  the  church  of  St.  Dunstan ;  where,  at  the 
hallowing  of  it,  Lady  Strange  was  compelled  to  fill 
all  the  sacred  vessels  with  water,  and  offer  an  orna 
ment  value  10L,  and  her  husband  a  piece  of  silver 
worth  5L' 

Eood-lane,  Billingsgate,  is  so  called  from  a  rood 
that  stood  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Margaret  Pattens, 
during  the  rebuilding  of  the  church.  At  the  rood 
offerings  were  presented  for  that  object. 

St.  Mary  at  Hill  had,  before  the  ^Reformation, 
seven  altars,  each  with  its  chantry  priest;  and  three 
brotherhoods  were  attached  to  the  church.  Of  the 
furniture  of  the  church  Malcolm  gives  us  such  items 
as  altar  cloths  of  russet  cloth  of  gold ;  curtains  of 
russet  sarsenet,  fringed  with  silk;  a  suit  of  red  satin, 
fringed  with  gold,  consisting  of  three  copes,  two  cha 
subles,  two  albs,  two  stoles,  two  amytes  (or  amices), 


Old  London  Bridge.  75 

three  fanons  (or  maniples),  and  two  girdles.  There 
was  another  suit  of  white  cloth  of  gold ;  yet  a  third 
of  red  cloth  of  Lucchese  gold.  There  were  vestments 
of  red  satin,  embroidered  with  lions  of  gold  ;  and  of 
black  velvet,  powdered  with  lambs,  moons,  and  stars  ; 
canopies  of  blue  cloth  of  bawdekin,  with  '  birds  of 
flour  in  gold  ;'  and  of  red  silk,  with  green  branches 
and  white  flowers,  powdered  with  swans  between  the 
branches  ;  copes,  streamers,  and  mitres,  for  the  boy- 
bishop  and  his  company  '  at  Saint  Nicholas-tide.'* 

The  oldest  London-bridge  was  of  wood,  and  stood 
near  St.  Botolph's  wharf.  It  was  constructed  by 
Isambard  de  Saintes.  Between  1176  and  1209  a 
stone  bridge  was  constructed  near  the  present  site, 
under  the  superintendence  of  Peter  de  Colechurch, 
chaplain  of  the  church  of  St.  Mary  Colechurch,  in 
the  Poultry.  It  consisted  of  twenty  arches;  had  a 
drawbridge  for  the  larger  vessels ;  a  gateway  at  each 
end ;  and  in  the  centre  a  chapel  t  with  a  crypt,  dedi 
cated  to  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  in  which  Peter 
de  Colechurch  was  buried  in  1205.  The  chapel 
stood  on  the  ninth  pier  from  the  north  on  the  east 
side.  It  had  an  entrance  from  the  river  by  a  wind- 

*  At  the  Reformation  the  ornaments  of  this  church  were  sold. 
Amongst  them  a  '  tabernacle  over  the  vestry  door.'  In  1555  we 
find  an  account  of  money  spent  '  on  the  rood,  Mary  and  John, 
the  patroness,  the  tabernacle  of  the  patroness,  painting  the  patro 
ness,  and  refreshing  the  tabernacle.' 

f  As  at  Wakefield,  Lucerne,  and  elsewhere. 


7  6     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

ing  stair,  as  well  as  from  the  bridge.  The  pier,  larger 
than  the  others,  is  shown  in  Norden's  engraving;  and 
a  view  of  the  chapel  is  engraved  by  Virtue,  but  with 
out  giving  his  authority. 

The  bridge  rested  on  piles,  and  its  construction 
took  thirty-three  years.  The  river  is  said  to  have 
been  drawn  off  by  a  trench  from  Battersea  to  Kedriffe 
during  this  undertaking.  Houses  were  subsequently 
built  on  each  side,  with  void  places  at  intervals,  and 
chain-posts  for  the  security  of  passengers.  Tyler  and 
Cade  entered  London,  in  1381  and  1450  respectively, 
by  this  bridge.  On  its  gate-houses  were  exhibited 
the  heads  of  Lewellyn,  of  Sir  William  Wallace,  of 
Hugh  Despencer,  of  Sir  Thomas  Percy  (after  Shrews 
bury),  of  Cade,  and  of  More  and  Fisher.  His  daugh 
ter  Koper  contrived  to  purchase  More's  head.  The 
hair  is  said  by  Cresacre  to  have  assumed  after  death 
a  golden  hue.  Margaret  Koper  directed  that  her 
father's  head  should  be  buried  with  her.  Her  re 
quest  was  complied  with ;  and  it  is  now  placed  in 
a  small  niche,  enclosed  by  an  iron  grating,  in  the 
'  Eopers'  Vault '  at  St.  Dunstan's,  Canterbury.  A 
strange  and  painful  story,  if  true,  is  told  of  Ann 
Bullen.  It  is  said  that  Fisher's  head  was  carried  to 
her  before  it  was  placed  on  the  City  gate.  She  said, 
'  Is  this  the  head  that  hath  so  often  exclaimed  against 
me  ?  I  trow  never  more  shall  it  do  me  harm.'  It  is 
added  that  she  struck  the  mouth,  and  that  one  of  the 


Bishop  Fishers  Head.  77 


teeth  protruding  inflicted  upon  her  a  scar  that  was 
never  effaced.  The  narrative  is  given  in  Bayley's 
Life  of  Fisher.  She  had  indeed  spurned  off  the  heads 
of  her  opponents  like  footballs,  as  More  prophesied  ; 
hut  as  her  own  was  so  soon  to  fall  on  the  scaffold,  it 
is  to  he  hoped  that  this  trait  is  undeservedly  related 
of  her. 

'  The  next  day  after  his  [Fisher's]  burying,  the 
head,  being  parboyled,  was  pricked  upon  a  pole,  and 
set  on  high  upon  London-bridge,  among  the  rest  of 
the  holy  Carthusians'  heads  that  suffered  death  lately 
before  him.  And  here  I  cannot  omit  to  declare  unto 
you  the  miraculous  sight  of  this  head,  which,  after  it 
had  stood  up  the  space  of  fourteen  dayes  upon  the 
bridge,  could  not  be  perceived  to  wast  nor  consume  : 
neither  for  the  weather,  which  then  was  very  hot, 
neither  for  the  parboyling  in  hot  water,  but  grew 
daily  fresher  and  fresher,  so  that  in  his  life-time  he 
never  looked  so  well ;  for  his  cheeks  being  beautified 
with  a  comely  red,  the  face  looked  as  though  it  had 
beholden  the  people  passing  by,  and  would  have 
spoken  to  them  ;  which  many  took  for  a  miracle,  that 
Almighty  God  was  pleased  to  shew  above  the  course 
of  nature,  in  this  preserving  the  fresh  and  lively 
colour  in  his  face,  surpassing  the  colour  he  had  being 
alive,  whereby  was  noted  to  the  world  the  innocence 
and  holinesse  of  this  blessed  father,  that  thus  inno 
cently  was  content  to  lose  his  head  in  defence  of 


7  8     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

his  Mother,  the  Holy  Catholique  Church  of  Christ. 
Wherefore  the  people  coming  daily  to  see  this  strange 
sight,  the  passage  over  the  bridge  was  so  stopped 
with  their  going  and  coming,  that  almost  neither  cart 
nor  horse  could  passe  :  and,  therefore,  at  the  end  of 
fourteen  daies,  the  executioner  was  commanded  to 
throw  downe  the  head,  in  the  night  time,  into  the 
Kiver  of  Thames,  and,  in  the  place  thereof,  was  set 
the  head  of  the  most  blessed  and  constant  martyr, 
Sir  Thomas  More,  his  companion  and  fellow  in  all 
his  troubles,  who  suffered  his  passion  on  the  6th  of 
July  next  following.' 

A  tournament  was  held  on  London-bridge  in  1359. 

At  the  south  end  of  London-bridge  is  the  church 
of  St.  Mary  Overy  (over  the  Khe  river),  commonly 
known  as  St.  Saviour's,  Southivark.*  It  was  the 
church  of  a  house  of  Austin  canons,  founded  or  re 
newed  by  William  Pont  de  1'Arch  and  William  Daun- 
cey,  knights,  Normans,  in  1106.  St.  Mary's  was  at 
first  a  nunnery,  built  by  Mary,  daughter  of  Audrey  the 
ferry-man,  by  means  of  profits  arising  from  the  ferry 
where  London-bridge  now  stands.  When  a  vault  was 
found  in  the  centre  of  the  choir,  an  old  foundation 
wall  was  discovered  on  the  site  described  by  Stow 
as  that  of  the  '  House  of  Sisters,'  where  he  says  that 
Mary  was  buried.  Aldgod  was  the  first  prior.  De 
stroyed  by  fire  in  1213,  the  priory  was  rebuilt  by 
0  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  169. 


Restoration.  79 


Peter  cle  Kupibus,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  guar 
dian  of  Henry  III.  Bartholomew  Linsted,  the  last 
prior,  surrendered  to  Henry  VIII.  in  1540,  and  got  a 
pension  of  100L  per  annum.  Kickman  says  that  St. 
Mary  Overy  is  well  worth  attention  on  account  of  its 
fine  interior,  as  a  choice  example  of  what  he  calls 
'  early  English.'  Nothing  now  remains  but  the  choir 
and  transept  of  the  church.  The  nave  may  he  sought 
for  by  him  who  should  seek  the  Santa  Casa  in  Dal- 
matia  or  at  Nazareth.  Has  it,  then,  been  removed  ? 
No,  it  has  been  translated — into  the  churchwarden's 
Gothic  of  1840.  Still  St.  Mary  Overy  is  the  second 
church  in  the  metropolis*  and  the  first  in  Surrey,  sad 
as  is  the  '  counterfeit  presentment  of  two  brothers.' 
'  Have  you  eyes,'  the  functionaries  might  have  been 
asked,  '  and  batten  on  this  moor  ?  .  .  What  judgment 
would  step  from  this  to  this  ?  .  .  What  devil  was  it 
that  thus  hath  cozened  you  at  hoodman-blind?'t 

Bishop  William  Giffard,  the  builder  of  the  adjoin 
ing  palace  of  the  Bishops  of  Winchester,  was  a  great 
benefactor  to  the  priory.  |  Alexander  Fitzgerald  gave 
two  weys  of  cheese  annually,  his  grandson  Henry  a 
field  of  wheat.  Hamelin,  Earl  of  Warren,  and  Isa- 

°  '  This  spacious  and  specious  church  (for  well  it  deserves 
those  epithets) ,'  Stow. 

•{•  Hamlet,  act  iii.  sc.  4. 

J  Giffard  was  the  founder  of  Waverley  Abbey,  Surrey,  the  first 
Cistercian  house  in  England,  and  of  the  Austin  Canons'  Priory, 
Tannton. 


8c     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

bella  his  Countess,  presented  the  churches  of  Kirces- 
field,  Becheswurde,  and  Leghe  to  the  priory. 

The  priory  was  greatly  injured  in  the  great  fire 
of  1212.  At  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  cen 
tury,  in  answer  to  an  application  on  the  part  of  Ed 
ward  I.  for  the  admission  of  an  old  servant  of  his 
into  their  number,  the  canons  state  that  their  pro 
perty  was  insufficient  for  their  own  maintenance,  and 
that  they  were  unable  from  the  state  of  their  funds 
to  build  the  tower  of  their  church.  In  1273,  Walter, 
Archbishop  of  York,  granted  an  indulgence  to  all  who 
should  aid  in  the  restoration.  In  1837,  the  priory 
made  a  rule  confining  the  boy-bishop  to  the  bound 
aries  of  his  own  parish. 

In  1402,  William  of  Wykeham,  the  celebrated 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  finding  his  infirmities  increase 
upon  him,  nominated  two  of  the  fellows  of  New  Col 
lege,  his  foundation  in  Oxford,  Dr.  Nicholas  Wyke 
ham  and  Dr.  John  Elmes,  his  coadjutors.  He  could 
no  longer  hold  his  ordinations,  nor  could  he  conse 
crate  the  five  bells  presented  by  the  king  to  the  chapel 
of  New.  He  resided  in  the  last  years  of  his  life  at 
South  Waltham,  near  St.  Mary  Overy,  where  his  fa 
ther,  mother,  and  sister  lay  buried.  He  contributed 
to  the  repairs  of  St.  Mary's,  and  especially  to  that 
of  the  roof  over  the  vault  where  his  parents  lay. 
This  work  was  not  completed  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
and  its  execution  devolved  upon  his  executors. 


The  Choir,  St.  Savioitrs.  8 1 

In  1406,  Edmund  Holland,  Earl  of  Kent,  was 
married  at  St.  Mary  Overies,  to  Lucia,  eldest  daugh 
ter  of  Barnaby,  Lord  of  Milan.  Henry  IV.  gave 
away  the  bride  at  the  church  door,  and  conducted 
her  to  the  banquet  at  Winchester  Palace.  The  prin 
cess  left  6000  crowns  to  the  canons  for  Masses  for 
her  husband's  soul  and  her  own.  Cardinal  Beau 
fort's  hat  and  arms  recall  his  elevation  to  the  see  of 
Winchester  two  years  previous  to  the  event  just  men 
tioned,  that  is  in  1404,  the  year  of  Gower's  death. 
It  is  said  that  the  cardinal  contrived  to  put  his  niece, 
Jane  Beaufort,  in  the  way  of  James  I.  of  Scotland, 
whom  Henry  IV.  kept  in  easy  imprisonment  at  Wind 
sor.*  The  marriage  banquet  took  place  at  the  cardi 
nal's  palace. 

The  priory  was  dissolved  in  1539.  The  site  was 
granted  to  Sir  Anthony  Brown.  It  is  to  Linsted,  the 
last  prior,  that  the  account  of  the  foundation  is 
due. 

The  Choir  (1208)  is  of  fine  proportions,  the  pil 
lars  and  arches,  as  at  Chichester  and  Boxgrove,  re- 

°  '  And  therewith,  cast  I  down  mine  eye  again 
Where  as  I  saw  walking  under  the  tower 
Full  secretly,  new  comen  her  to  pleyne, 
The  fairest  or  the  freshest  younge  flower 
That  e'er  I  saw,  methought,  before  that  hour ; 
For  which  sudden  abate,  anon  astart 
The  blood  of  all  my  body  to  my  heart.' 

The  King's  Quhair. 
G 


8  2     Ecclesiastical  A ntiquities  of  L ondon. 

taining  the  Romanesque  equilibrium,  instead  of 
being  elevated  at  the  expense  of  the  triforium  and 
clerestory  as  at  Westminster.  It  is  of  five  bays. 
On  the  south  side  there  are  only  vaulting  shafts  at 
tached  to  the  pillars,  corbels  supplying  the  place  of 
the  shafts,  that  appear  on  the  east  and  west  faces  of 
the  pillars  to  the  north.  This  arrangement  has  pro 
bably  been  adopted  for  the  better  admission  of  light. 
The  screen  at  the  east  covers  two  arches  that  led  from 
the  choir  to  the  Lady  Chapel,  which,  like  the  '  Nine 
Altars  '  at  Durham,  has  its  greatest  length  north  and 
south.  It  had  four  altars  coeval  with  the  structure ; 
it  is  very  similar  to  the  choir  of  the  Temple  Church. 
In  Queen  Mary's  reign,  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Win 
chester,  employed  the  Lady  Chapel  as  a  consistorial 
court. 

The  choir  was  dedicated  by  Bishop  Bronescombe, 
August  28,  1261.  The  altar- screen  was  erected  by 
Bishop  Fox  of  Winchester,  the  founder  of  Corpus 
Christi  College  in  Oxford.  In  the  reredos  is  his 
favourite  device,  the  Pelican  in  her  piety.  The 
dimensions  are  fifty-five  feet  by  twenty-four.  This 
screen  should  be  compared  with  those  at  Christ- 
church,  Hants ;  of  St.  Alban's  Abbey ;  and  of  Win 
chester  Cathedral,  and  with  the  east  ends  of  the 
chapels  of  New  and  Magdalen  Colleges  in  Oxford. 

The  chapel  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen  was  founded  by 
Peter  de  Rupibus,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  guardian  of 


Tower  and  Nave.  83 

Henry  III.  The  Bishop's  and  St.  Mary  Magdalen's 
Chapels  were  demolished,  August  1830,  and  a  new 
east  end  built  by  G.  Gwilt. 

Cardinal  Beaufort  made  great  repairs  in  1400, 
especially  in  the  south  transept.  The  modern  win 
dow  of  the  south  transept  is  the  restoration  of  one 
discovered  in  the  ruins  of  Winchester  palace.  It  pro 
bably  belonged  to  the  hall.  The  transept  was  restored 
by  K.  Wallace,  1829-30. 

The  Toiver,  of  two  stories  above  the  level  of  the 
roof,  has  four  windows  on  each  face.  It  is  battle - 
mented  with  pinnacles  at  the  angles. 

The  walls  of  the  Nave  were  of  rubble  faced  with 
ashlar  and  flint.  The  style  was  first  pointed.  The 
original  builder  was  Bishop  Giffard,  1106.  There 
were  seven  bays.  The  columns  were  circular,  with 
Purbeck  shafts  attached.  The  triforium  had  two 
of  its  arches  simply  pointed  and  of  equal  breadth 
with  those  below ;  elsewhere  were  foliated  triplets. 
The  clerestory  windows  were  single  lancets ;  in  the 
choir  there  are  triplets  with  the  centre  lancet 
glazed. 

In  1469  a  wooden  roof  was  added  to  the  nave. 
Whilst  the  arches  leading  into  the  transept  have 
jamb-shafts,  those  leading  into  nave  and  choir  die 
into  the  wall.  A  Norman  doorway  remained  in  the 
north  aisle.  The  great  south  porch,  though  muti 
lated,  was  a  valuable  example  of  early  pointed.  A 


84     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

dedication  cross  yet  remains,  though  hidden,  at 
St.  Saviour's  on  the  eastern  pier  of  the  prior's 
entrance. 

Dedication  crosses  were  usually  placed  externally 
in  England.  In  the  Archaologia,  vol.  xxv.  pp.  243, 
276,  it  is  stated  that  the  crosses  carved  in  various 
parts  of  churches  mark  spots  touched  with  chrism  by 
the  bishop.  They  occur  at  Salisbury  Cathedral ; 
Edindon,  Wilts  ;  Cannington,  Somerset ;  and  Brent 
Pelham,  Herts.  There  is  one  on  a  Norman  pier  at 
New  Shoreham,  Sussex. 

The  Cloisters  lay  to  the  north. 

The  tomb  of  Gower  in  the  south  transept  (1402) 
has  an  effigy  with  a  canopy.  It  has  been  removed 
from  St.  John's  Chapel  at  the  east  end  of  the  church, 
in  which  Gower  founded  a  chantry.  The  tomb  was 
repaired  and  coloured  in  1832  at  the  expense  of  the 
first  Duke  of  Sutherland.*  The  monument  stands 
at  present,  in  strange  variance  with  mediaeval  tradi 
tion,  north  and  south.  The  hair  is  long  and  curling, 
auburn  in  colour,  the  beard  small  and  pointed.  On 
the  head  is  a  chaplet  like  a  coronet ;  the  habit  is 
purple  damasked  to  the  feet :  under  the  head  three 
books  are  placed ;  these  are  probably  his  own  three 
works.  At  the  back  of  the  monument  are  three  in 
scriptions,  each  originally  supported  by  a  virgin 

*  The  Stafford  family  is,  however,  descended  from  the  Gowers 
of  Stitenham  in  Yorkshire,  not  from  the  Kentish  Gowers. 


G Giver's  Monument.  85 

crowned  ;  the  first  is  Charity,  with  the  lines  that  have 
heen  thus  translated  : 

'  In  Thee,  who  art  the  Son  of  God  the  Father, 
Be  he  saved  that  lies  under  this  stone. ' 

The  second  is  Mercy,  with  the  lines  : 

'  0  good  Jesus,  show  Thy  mercy 
To  the  soul  whose  body  lies  here.' 

The  third  is  Pity,  with  the  lines  : 

'  For  Thy  pity,  Jesu,  have  regard, 
And  put  this  soul  in  safe  keeping.' 

Charity,  Mercy,  and  Pity  are  in  red  letters ;  the 
couplets  are  in  black,  with  the  exception  of  the  initial 
letters.  Beneath  runs  another  inscription,  thus 
rendered  : 

'  His  shield  henceforth  is  useless  grown, 

To  pay  Death's  tribute  slain  ; 

His  soul's  with  pious  freedom  flown 

Where  spotless  spirits  reign.' 

On  the  front  of  the  monument  is  the  following : 
'  Here  lies  John  Grower,  Esquire,  a  celebrated  Eng 
lish  poet,  also  a  benefactor  to  the  sacred  edifice  in 
the  time  of  Edward  III.  and  Richard  II.'  On  the 
band  of  purple  and  gold,  with  fillets  of  roses,  that 
encircles  the  head  we  read  '  Merci  Isu.'  At  the  poet's 
feet  are  his  arms  and  a  helmet,  with  a  red  hood  bor 
dered  with  ermine  ;  above  is  his  crest — a  dog.  This 
monument  should  be  compared  with  that  of  Rahere 
at  St.  Bartholomew's. 


8  6     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L  ondon. 

The  houses  in  Doddington-grove,  Kennington, 
rest  on  earth  removed  from  the  '  cross-bones  burial- 
ground  at  St.  Saviour's,  Southwark.' 

Not  only  is  the  nave  of  St.  Saviour's  to  the  last 
degree  faulty  in  itself,  but  it  has  externally  '  blasted 
its  wholesome  brother,'  the  remaining  portion  of  the 
ancient  fabric,  by  its  juxtaposition.  Enough,  how 
ever,  has  been  said  in  its  condemnation  by  Pugin 
and  others,  and  there  is  good  reason  to  hope  that  it 
may  be  removed  at  an  early  date  and  replaced  by  a 
worthier  structure. 

Hollar,  in  his  etching  of  1647,  shows  the  nave 
lower  than  the  choir.  A  water-colour  by  Whichelow 
(1803)  represents  the  gateway  which  stood  at  the 
west  end  of  the  church.  It  is  of  simple  perpendicu 
lar  character.  By  the  same  artist  there  is  an  interior 
of  the  refectory — a  corn-store — showing  a  tie-beam 
roof. 

We  may  here  relate  the  little  that  is  known  of  the 
life  of  Gower.  The  date  of  his  birth  was  probably 
between  1320  and  1330.  He  was  of  a  rich  county 
family,  and  owned  property  in  the  south  of  London 
and  its  neighbourhood.  He  designated  himself  an 
Esquire  of  Kent,  and  held  manors  in  several  coun 
ties.  He  would  appear  to  have  been  precise  in  his 
business  habits,  every  change  resulting  from  the 
falling  in  of  leases  and  mortgages  being  registered 
by  him  in  the  rolls  of  Chancery.  He  is  not  known 


Gower  the  Poet.  87 

to  have  entered  into  the  service  of  his  country,  either 
as  a  soldier  or  in  parliament.  From  his  learning 
it  may  be  supposed  that  he  was  a  member  of  one  or 
other  of  the  Universities.  The  rising  of  the  peasants 
and  villeins  in  1381  would  appear  to  have  been  the 
one  fact  in  contemporary  history  that  arrested  his 
attention.  It  arose  in  his  own  county,  Kent,  and 
the  panic  it  caused  him  served  to  fix  or  develop  his 
conservatism.*  His  disgust  with  the  weak  policy  of 
Kichard  II.  threw  him  into  the  arms  of  Kichard's 
political  opponents,  probably  with  Gloucester,  cer 
tainly  with  Derby,  afterwards  Henry  IV.,  to  whom  he 
owed  the  order  of  the  Silver  Swan,  the  badge  of 
Lancaster,  that  we  see  sculptured  on  his  monument. 
He  married  Agnes  Groundolf  on  the  25th  January 
1397.  The  ceremony  was  performed  by  William  of 
Wykeham,  Bishop  of  Winchester.  It  is  interesting 
to  find  two  such  names  as  those  of  Gower  and 
Wykeham  in  conjunction.  The  Gowers  do  not  ap 
pear  to  have  had  any  children. 

It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance,  as  evidencing  his 
political  change,  that  Gower,  who  began  his  Confessio 
Amantis  at  the  suggestion  of  Richard  II.,  wThom  he 
met  on  the  Thames  between  Westminster  and  Lon 
don,  dedicated  the  second  edition,  with  a  different 
prologue  and  epilogue,  to  the  Earl  of  Derby.  It  is  in 

°  Cf.  Pauli's  Pictures  of  Old  England — chapter  on  Gower  and 
Chaucer. 


8  8     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu ities  of  London. 

his  earlier  Latin  work,  the  Vox  Clamantis,  that  he 
endeavours  to  describe  the  causes  that  led  to  the  rise 
of  the  villeins. 

The  Speculum  Meditantis,  written  in  French, 
commends  hy  precepts  and  examples  fidelity  in  mar 
riage.  In  the  English  Confessio  Amantis,  a  con 
fessor  consoles  an  unfortunate  lover  by  tales  and  dis 
quisitions.  For  the  last  four  or  five  years  of  his  life 
Gower  was  blind,  '  condemned,'  as  he  says,  '  to  suffer 
life  devoid  of  light.'  In  his  will  he  wrote  :  'I  leave 
my  soul  to  God  my  Creator,  and  my  body  to  be 
buried  in  the  church  of  the  Blessed  Mary  de  Overy, 
or  Overes,  in  a  place  expressly  provided  for  it.'  A 
tablet  beside  Gower's  monument  bore  the  inscription 
1  that  whosoever  prayeth  for  the  soul  of  John  Gower 
he  shall,  so  often  as  he  so  doth,  have  an  "  M  and  a  DM 
days  of  pardon.' 

The  transition  is  easy  from  the  '  moral  Gower'  to 
his  contemporary  and  friend  : 

'  Him  that  left  half  told 
The  story  of  Cambuscan  told, 
Of  Camball  and  of  Algarsife, 
And  who  had  Canace  to  wife ; 
That  owned  the  virtuous  ring  and  glass, 
And  of  the  wondrous  horse  of  brass 
On  which  the  Tartar  king  did  ride.'* 

The  Tabard,  f  quarter   of  a  mile  from  London- 

0  II  Penscroso.  f  Misnamed  Talbot. 


Canterbury  Bells.  89 


bridge,  on  the  south  side  of  Borough  High-street,  is 
the  Tabard  of  Chaucer,  whose  Canterbury  Tales  are 
the  most  splendid  illustration  of  mediaeval  England. 
Chaucer's  pilgrims  started  in  spring,  which  seems  to 
have  been  a  very  usual  time  for  going  on  pilgrimage, 
on  account  of  the  season  of  Lent.  The  '  Pilgrims' 
Eoad'  may  still  be  traced  across  Kent  from  Lon 
don  to  Canterbury.  Travelling  in  companies,  pil 
grims  had  a  watchword,  or  rather  gathering  cry. 
They  also  wore  a  distinctive  badge.  Prayers  were 
said  and  beads  told,  and  the  weariness  of  travel  was 
relieved  by  music,  song,  and  the  relation  of  tales. 
Before  reaching  a  town  pilgrims  drew  up  in  line, 
and  walked  through  the  streets  in  procession.  They 
sang  and  rang  hand-bells,  whilst  a  bagpipe  player 
preceded  them.  In  the  continuation  of  Chaucer's 
tales  it  is  related  that  the  pilgrims  on  their  arrival  at 
Canterbury  put  up  at  the  Chequers,  a  well-known 
inn,  where  the  host  of  the  Tabard  in  South wark  or 
dered  their  dinner.  They  then  went  to  the  cathedral, 
to  make  their  offerings  at  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas. 
The  knight  and  the  more  distinguished  pilgrims  went 
immediately  to  make  their  devotions ;  but  of  the  others, 
some  wandered  about  the  nave,  whilst  the  miller  and 
his  companions  had  a  discussion  about  the  arms  repre 
sented  on  the  painted  windows  of  the  church.  Sum 
moned  by  mine  host,  however,  even  these  loiterers 
repaired  to  their  devotions.  They  knelt  before  the 


90     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

shrine,  told  their  beads,  and  kissed  the  relics,  which 
a  monk  of  the  monastery  pointed  out  and  named  to 
them.  At  noon  the  pilgrims  went  to  dinner ;  but  be 
fore  leaving  the  church  each  obtained  his  pilgrim's 
sign.  Women  were  frequently  pilgrims  ;  at  St.  Bar 
tholomew's  the  Less  we  have  seen  the  effigies  in 
pilgrim  attire  of  Shirley  and  his  wife  ;  and  the  wife  of 
Bath  in  Chaucer  had  made  extensive  pilgrimages  : 

'  Thrice  had  she  heen  at  Jerusalem, 
And  hadde  passed  many  a  strange  stream  ; 
At  Rome  she  hadde  been,  and  at  Bologne, 
In  Galcie,  at  St.  James,  and  at  Cologne.' 

The  pilgrims  on  their  return  home  presented  them 
selves  at  the  church,  on  which  they  frequently  be 
stowed  relics  and  other  memorials  of  their  pilgrimage, 
or,  keeping  them  in  their  own  possession,  had  them 
buried  by  their  side  when  they  came  to  die. 

The  characteristic  mark  of  the  pilgrim  returning 
from  Canterbury  was  the  ampulla  or  small  bottle  of 
lead  and  pewter  containing  a  drop  of  the  blood  of 
'  the  holy  blissful  martyr'  mingled  with  water — the 
far-famed  '  Canterbury  water.'*  The  ampulla  was 
hung  by  a  thong  about  the  pilgrim's  neck.  It  was 
thin  and  flat,  with  an  open  mouth  like  a  purse,  for 
receiving  the  water,  again  closed  after  its  admission. 
Above  were  two  loops  for  the  ribbon  that  passed  round 
the  neck.  On  one  side  was  a  representation  of  St. 
*  See  Rock's  Church  of  our  Fathers,  vol.  iii.  p.  423. 


Bishop  Gardiner.  91 

Thomas  in  pontificals,  on  the  other  of  his  shrine. 
Round  the  outer  edge  ran  the  leonine  rhyme : 

'  Optimus  egrorum 
Medicus  fit  Thoma  bonomm. ' 

St.  Thomas  a  Waterings,*  on  the  Old  Kent-road,  is 
mentioned  by  Chaucer : 

'  And  forth  we  riden  a  litel  more  than  pas, 
Unto  the  Watering  of  St.  Thomas, 
And  then  our  host  began  his  hors  arrest.' 

Between  St.  Saviour's  and  the  river  stood  the  town 
house  of  the  Bishops  of  Winchester,  f  who  were  lords 
of  the  manor  of  South wark.  It  had  a  wharf  and  a 
landing-place  from  the  river.  Bishop  Gardiner  of 
Winchester  lived  here  in  much  state,  surrounded  by 
pages  of  noble  birth,  whose  education  he  superin 
tended.  Roger  Ascham  speaks  of  Gardiner's  kindly 
consideration  for  men  of  learning,  in  which  he  was 
never  swayed  by  religious  or  party  considerations.  In 
one  of  his  last  sermons  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  Gardiner 
deplored  his  conduct  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  '  I 
was  awfully  in  error  in  my  past  conduct.  Let  me 
impress  on  you,  good  people,  that  Catholicity  and 
the  Papacy  can  never  be  severed  by  any  earthly 
power ;  they  will  remain  united  together  to  the  end 

0  St.  Thomas  a  Waterings  was  a  place  of  execution :  it  was 
here  that  the  Franciscan  Father  Jones,  and  a  layman,  John  Rigby, 
suffered  in  1598  and  1599  respectively. 

f  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  i.  204. 


9  2     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqnities  of  London. 

of  time.'  During  his  last  illness  Gardiner  sorrowed 
much  for  the  part  he  had  taken  against  the  Holy  See. 
'  I  too/  he  said,  '  have  denied  my  Lord,  with  Peter  ; 
but  I  have  not  learned  to  weep  bitterly  with  Peter.' 

His  funeral  was  marked  by  great  magnificence. 
Over  the  coffin  was  placed  his  portrait,  representing 
him  as  wearing  his  mitre.  Around  the  bier,  riders 
were  disposed  bearing  sixty  burning  torches,  followed 
by  two  hundred  mourners.  At  St.  George's,  SoutJt- 
wark,*  they  were  joined  by  the  priests  and  clerks, 
who  came  forth  with  cross  and  incense,  as  did  those 
of  every  parish  all  the  way  to  Winchester,  where  he 
was  buried. 

In  Tooley  (St.  Olave's)  Street,!  made  famous  by 
Canning,  was  the  inn  of  the  priors  of  Lewes,  in 
Sussex.  A  Norman  crypt  remained  till  recently. 

St.  Thomas's,  Southwark,l  on  the  north  side  of 
the  street  of  that  name,  was,  before  the  dissolution, 
the  church  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Thomas,  founded 
as  an  almonry  by  Richard,  Prior  of  Bermondsey,  in 
1213,  and  made  a  house  of  '  canons  regular'  by  Peter 
de  Eupibus,  Bishop  of  Winchester.  The  spacious 
St.  Thomas's  Hospital,  at  the  south  end  of  West- 

°  St.  George's  belonged  to  the  Abbey  of  Bermondsey,  '  by  the 
gift  of  Thomas  Arderne,  and  Thomas,  his  son,  in  the  year  1122' 
(Stow).  Bishop  Bonner,  who  died  in  the  Marshalsea  prison,  in 
1569,  was  secretly  buried  at  St.  George's. 

•j-  See  Mr.  Richard  Thomson's  Chronicles  of  London  Bridge, 
pp.  25,  27,  28,  266.  J  Stow's  Survey  (Strype),  iv.  20. 


The  Cluniacs.  93 


minster-bridge,  is  a  memorial  of  this  ancient  house. 
In  1436  the  hospital  of  Sandon  at  Eslier  was  united 
with  that  of  St.  Thomas. 

Alwyn  Child,  a  citizen  of  London,  founded  a 
Cluniac  monastery  of  monks  from  La  Charite  on  the 
Loire,  at  Bermondsey,  in  1082.*  Bermondsey  be 
came  an  abbey  in  Richard  II. 's  reign. 

The  Cluniacs  derived  their  name  from  Clugni, 
in  Burgundy,  where  Odo,  an  abbot  in  the  tenth 
century,  reformed  the  Benedictine  rule.  Their  habit 
was  the  same  as  the  Benedictine.  The  order  was 
introduced  into  England  in  1077,  when  a  Cluniac 
house  was  established  at  Lewes,  in  Sussex,  under  the 
protection  of  Earl  Warenne,  the  Conqueror's  son-in- 
law.  In  the  eleventh  century  the  abbey  of  Clugni 
was  at  the  height  of  its  reputation  under  Peter  the 
Venerable  (1122-1156). 

From  the  18th  of  September  till  Lent,  the  Clu 
niacs  had  one  meal  only  a  day,  except  during  the 
octaves  of  Christmas  and  the  Epiphany,  when  they 
had  an  extra  meal.  Still  eighteen  poor  were  fed 
daily  at  their  table. 

There  were  never  more  than  twenty  Cluniac  houses 
in  England,  nearly  all  of  them  founded  before  the 
reign  of  Henry  II.  Until  the  fourteenth  century  all 
the  Cluniac  houses  were  priories  dependent  on  the 

0  For  a  detailed  history  of  this  abbey  see  Dugdale's  Monasticon 
(Ellis),  v.  85. 


94     Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

parent  house  of  Clugni.  The  prior  of  St.  Pancras, 
Lewes,  was  the  high-chamberlain,  and  frequently  the 
vicar-general  of  the  Abbot  of  Clugny,  and  exercised 
the  functions  of  a  Provincial  in  England.  The 
English  houses  were  all  governed  by  foreigners,  and 
the  monks  were  oftener  of  foreign  than  of  English 
extraction.  In  the  fourteenth  century,  however,  there 
was  a  change ;  many  of  the  houses  became  denizen, 
and  Bermondsey  was  made  an  abbey. 

During  the  French  war  of  Henry  V.'s  time  the 
English  Cluniacs  were  cut  off  from  their  spiritual 
chief,  and  those  who  maintained  their  connection 
with  Clugny  had  to  resign  their  monasteries  into  the 
king's  hands.  An  embassy  was  sent  to  Henry  from 
Clugni  in  1457,  and  had  an  audience  at  St.  Alban's 
of  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  of  Lord  Grey  de  Kuthyn, 
and  of  Henry's  secretary.  They  sought  to  gain  pos 
session  of  their  estates  in  England,  and  power  to  main 
tain  free  intercourse  with  their  dependent  houses. 
Their  request,  however,  was  refused.  We  learn  of 
this  occurrence  from  a  MS.  of  John  of  Wheathamp- 
stead,  thirty-third  Abbot  of  St.  Alban's. 

Katherine  de  Valois,  queen  of  Henry  V.,  died  at 
Bermondsey  Abbey,  in  January  1437,  and  was  buried 
in  the  Lady  Chapel.  When  her  grandson,  Henry 
VII.,  built  his  chapel  at  Westminster,  he  had  her 
remains  removed  and  placed  near  those  of  her  hus 
band.  Elizabeth  Woodville  came  to  Bermondsey  as 


Bermondsey.  95 


a  visitor,  who  was  in  reality  a  prisoner,  being  sent 
hither  by  Henry  VII,  whom  she  had  in  some  degree 
contributed  to  raise  to  the  throne.  Bacon  thinks  that 
Elizabeth  died  at  Bermondsey  in  1492.  She  desired 
in  her  will  to  be  buried  beside  her  husband,  Edward 
IV ,  at  Windsor,  a  wish  that  was  carried  into  effect.* 
An  indenture  was  executed  between  Henry,  the  City 
of  London,  and  the  Abbots  of  Westminster  and  Ber 
mondsey,  some  time*  after  the  death  of  his  queen,  who 
was,  it  will  be  remembered,  the  daughter  of  Elizabeth 
Woodville,  by  which  the  Abbot  and  monastery  of 
Westminster  were  to  pay  annually  3L  6s.  Sd.  to  the 
monks  of  Bermondsey,  for  holding  an  anniversary 
there  on  the  6th  of  February  for  the  good  estate  of 
the  king,  and  for  the  national  prosperity,  for  the  souls 
of  his  late  queen  and  those  of  the  royal  children,  for 
his  father  the  Earl  of  Richmond  and  his  progenitors, 
and  for  his  mother,  Margaret,  Countess  of  Eichmond, 
after  her  death.  Curiously  enough,  there  is  no 
mention  of  Elizabeth  Woodville.  The  abbot  and 
convent  of  St.  Saviour's  at  Bermondsey  were  to  pro 
vide  at  every  anniversary  a  hearse,  with  tapers  to 
burn  during  the  Placebo,  Dirige,  with  nine  lessons, 
Lauds,  and  Mass  of  Requiem. 

Bermondsey  was  surrendered  by  Robert  de  Whar- 
ton  to  Henry  VIII.    He  was  pensioned  333L  6s.  8d., 

0  '  She  was  foundress  of  Queens'  College  in  Cambridge'  (Bacon's 
Henry  the  Seventh). 


9 6     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

and  made  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph.  The  monastery 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Sir  Robert  Southwell, 
Master  of  the  Rolls,  who  sold  it  with  its  appurten 
ances  to  Sir  Thomas  Pope,  the  founder  of  Trinity 
College,  Oxford.  Sir  Thomas  pulled  down  the 
church  and  the  greater  part  of  the  other  buildings, 
and  erected  a  private  residence  ;  then,  as  having 
completed  his  share  in  the  work  of  destruction,  re- 
conveyed  the  whole  to  Sir  Robert  Southwell. 

All  that  recalls  this  once  extensive  monastery  is  to 
be  found  in  such  names  as  Crucifix-lane,  Cross-lane, 
St.  Saviour's  Dock,  the  Long-walk,  the  Grange-walk, 
the  Base -court -yard — now  Bermondsey- square — 
Bear-yard,  once  King  John's-court,  and  a  fragment 
of  wall  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen. 
This  church  is  the  modern  substitute  for  one  belong 
ing  to  the  monastery,  probably  served  by  the  monks 
for  the  use  of  their  retainers.  An  ancient  salver  of 
silver  of  Edward  II. 's  time,  preserved  in  this  church, 
with  a  representation  of  a  castle  and  a  knight  kneel 
ing  before  a  lady  who  places  his  helmet  on  his  head, 
is  probably  a  relic  of  the  monastery. 

The  cross  of  St.  Saviour's  was  found  in  the 
Thames  in  1117,  and  to  its  power  was  attributed  the 
liberation  of  William,  Earl  of  Morton,  in  the  follow 
ing  year.  In  1140,  the  earl  assumed  the  monastic 
habit  at  Bermondsey. 

On  St.  Matthew's-day,  1558,  the  Rood  of  Grace, 


Legend  of  London-bridge.  97 

from  Boxley  in  Kent,*  was  destroyed  at  St.  Paul's 
Cross,  and  the  Rood  of  Bermondsey  was  taken  down 
immediately  afterwards.  It  is  supposed,  however,  to 
have  been  preserved  in  front  of  a  building  adjoining 
the  abbey  gateway,  which  shared  in  the  demolition  of 
that  structure.  The  abbey  gateway,  with  an  arch, 
postern,  and  turret  of  brickwork,  is  drawn  in  Pen 
nant's  London. 

As  we  return  to  the  City  by  London-bridge,  we 
may  relate  a  legend  of  the  old  bridge.  A  pedlar  of 
Swaffham  in  Norfolk  saw  one  night,  in  a  dream,  a 
figure  that  said  to  him,  '  Rise,  and  go  to  London- 
bridge,  and  there  shalt  thou  find  a  treasure.'  The 
pedlar  failed  to  obey,  and  next  night  he  saw  the  same 
figure,  and  was  bidden  to  delay  no  more,  but  to  depart 
immediately.  Still  the  pedlar  hesitated,  and  yet  again 
the  same  figure  appeared  and  bade  him  instantly  be 
gone.  This  time  he  obeyed,  and  taking  his  dog  with 
him,  set  forth  for  London.  Up  and  down  the  bridge 
he  wandered  a  whole  day,  and  no  one  appeared,  till 
towards  dusk  a  man  came  up  and  asked  the  cause 
of  his  protracted  promenade.  Reluctantly  the  pedlar 
disclosed  his  name,  and  met  from  his  new  acquaint 
ance  with  ready  sympathy  for  his  bootless  quest; 
for,  the  stranger  related,  he  had  himself  been  made 
the  victim  of  a  similar  hoax.  He  had  once  been  told  to 

0  For  the  real  character  of  this  rood  see  Pugin's  Ecclesiastical 
Architecture,  p.  145. 

H 


9 8     Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

go  to  Swaffham  in  Norfolk,  to  the  house  of  a  pedlar 
who  dwelt  hard  by  the  church,  and  there,  in  a  corner  of 
the  garden,  he  should  find  gold.  He  had  not  obeyed 
the  command,  nor  did  he  intend  to  do  so,  and  the 
pedlar  had  better  follow  his  example,  and  trouble 
himself  no  more.  The  pedlar  replied,  that  he  should 
not  come  again  to  London-bridge  in  search  of  trea 
sure.  He  was  as  good  as  his  word.  He  returned 
with  his  dog  to  Swaffham,  and,  unlike  the  London 
lackpenny  in  Lydgate,*  found  that  his  visit  to  the 
metropolis  had  been  of  great  advantage  to  him,  for 
he  discovered  in  his  garden  a  large  vessel  full  of  gold. 
With  part  of  this  treasure-trove  he  built  the  parish 
church  of  Swaffham.  There  the  pedlar  and  muzzled 
dog  may  still  be  seen  carved  on  the  seats  and  on  the 
basement  moulding  of  the  tower,  t 

In  1429,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  had  a  narrow  es 
cape  from  drowning  on  his  way  in  his  barge  from  St. 
Mary  Overy  in  attempting  to  pass  London -bridge. 

A  certain  Parker  was  drowned  in  shooting  London- 
bridge,  in  November  1623.  His  niece,  whom  he  was 
conveying  to  a  convent  abroad,  perished  with  him. 
From  one  of  his  brothers  he  had  charge  of  a  son,  from 
another  of  a  daughter,  both  of  whom  he  was  to  place 
in  religious  houses.  He  took  his  nephew  with  him 
to  what  are  known  as  the  '  fatal  Vespers'  at  Hunsdon 

•-'  '  For  lack  of  mony,  I  cold  not  speed.' 
j-  Cf.  Neale's  Hieroloyus,  pp.  113-115. 


St.  Magnus,  London-bridge.  99 

House,  Blackfriars,  when  his  nephew  perished.  Parker 
himself  escaped,  but  was  heard  to  say  '  that  God  saw 
him  not  fit  to  die  amongst  such  martyrs.'  Some  ten 
days  later  he  was  drowned  with  his  niece,  as  above 
related.* 

At  the  church  of  St.  Magnus,  London-bridge,  a 
guild  of  our  Lady,t  'de  Salve  Regina,'  was  estab 
lished  in  Edward  III.'s  reign.  Here  was  a  chantry, 
where  the  '  Salve  Regina'  was  sung  every  evening. 
Five  wax-lights  burned  at  St.  Magnus,  in  honour  of 
the  '  five  principal  joys  of  our  Lady.'  The  people 
of  the  parish  contributed  to  the  maintenance  of  the 
service  and  lights. 

0  From  a  rare  pamphlet  (previously  quoted)  in  the  writer's 
possession. 

•f  The  following  is  interesting :  at  Lede,  near  Ghent,  there  is 
a  '  monstrance  of  English  workmanship,  parcel-gilt,  with  statuettes 
of  our  Lord  crucified,  with  St.  Mary  and  St.  John,  Christ  crowned 
with  thorns,  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  St.  Edward  the  Confessor 
and  two  angels ;  on  its  case  is  this  inscription :  Sacram  hanc 
pyxidem  pro  expositione  Augustissimi  Sacramenti  Ex  Anglia  in 
Artesiam  (Artois)  tempore  Begins  Elizabeth®  translatam,  Primae 
Beatissimre  Virginis  Matris  Sodalitati,  Post  Anglias  Conversionem 
Londini  erigendae  dono  dedit  P.  S.  Clare.  A.D.  1691.'  W.  H.  S. 
Weale's  Belgium,  &c.,  p.  224. 


ffifcirir 

THE  CITY. 

'  But  now  behold, 

In  the  quick  forge  and  working-house  of  thought, 
How  London  doth  pour  out  her  citizens, 
The  mayor  and  all  his  brethren,  in  best  sort, 
Like  to  the  senators  of  antique  Rome.' 

ON  our  way  to  St.  Paul's,  the  next  object  of  high 
ecclesiological  interest  on  our  path,  we  pass  '  Dow- 
gate'  or  'Downegate' — one  of  the  twenty- six  wards  of 
London — so  called  from  the  rapid  descent  to  the 
river.  Skinners'  Hall  is  the  modern  representative 
of  an  ancient  building.  The  Skinners'  Company 
was  incorporated  in  1327.  In  1409  there  was  a  play, 
lasting  eight  days,  acted  at  Skinners'  Hall,  represent 
ing  Scripture  history,  from  the  Creation  downward,  in 
a  series  of  tableaux.* 

St.  Michael,  Paternoster  Royal,  or  St.  Michael's, 
College-hill,  is  a  church  in  the  Tower  Royal  (granted 
by  Edward  III.  to  the  canons  of  St.  Stephen's,  West 
minster,  according  to  Stow).  Strype,  however,  quotes 

*  Near  Skinners'  Hall  was  Jesus  Commons,  a  college  of  priests. 
Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  1457. 


St.  James,  Garlickhithe.  101 

the  grant  by  Kichard  III.  to  tlie  Duke  of  Norfolk,  in 
which  the  Tower  Eoyal  is  spoken  of  as  a  messuage  in 
the  parish  of  St.  Thomas  Apostle.  At  St.  Michael's, 
Whittington  founded  a  college  of  St.  Spirit  and  St. 
Mary,*  with  a  master,  four  fellows,  masters  of  arts, 
clerks,  '  conducts,'  and  choristers,  and  bestowed  upon 
it  the  rights  and  profits  of  the  church.  Whittington' s 
coffin  was  robbed  of  its  leaden  enclosures  by  Mountan, 
the  incumbent  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  The  body 
was  reinterred  with  fresh  coverings  in  Queen  Mary's 
time.f 

A  brotherhood  was  established  in  1375,  in  the 
church  of  St.  James,  Garlickhithe,  in  this  vicinity, 
'  in  worship  of  God  Almighty  our  Creator,  and  His 
Mother  St.  Mary,  and  All  Hallows,  and  St.  James 
Apostle.' 

At  Downgate  was  the  Steelyard,  the  factory  and 
emporium  of  the  merchants  of  the  German  Hanseatic 
league.  Near  the  only  bridge  of  the  City,  the  '  Ex 
change,'  and  St.  Paul's,  this  '  aula  Teutonicorum' 
had  a  wharf  on  the  river-side,  and  was  in  itself  an 
imposing  structure.  It  has  been  compared  to  the 
Arthurshof  at  Dantzic,  and  the  Eumeny  at  Soest.j 
Towards  Thames-street  it  was  piled  high  in  many 
stories,  as  were  German  civic  buildings.  It  had  three 

*  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  738. 

t  Stow's  Survey,  iii.  5. 

{  Dr.  Pauli's  Pictures  of  Old  England,  p.  190. 


t  o  2   Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

round-headed  gateways  clamped  with  iron,  and  bear 
ing  above  them  inscriptions — of  welcome  to  the  visitor; 
of  warning  to  those  who  infringed  discipline  ;  whilst 
a  third,  badly  supported  by  scriptural  authority, 
pointed  out  the  reward  and  the  benefits  of  gold. 

On  the  24th  November  1554,  Cardinal  Pole,  on  his 
way  from  Brabant,  came  to  London  from  Gravesend 
by  water,  with  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  Lord  Mon 
tague,  the  Bishops  of  Durham  and  Ely  (Tonstall  and 
Goodwich),  Lord  Paget,  Sir  Edward  Hastings,  the 
Lord  Cobham,  and  many  others,  in  barges.  They 
passed  London-bridge  between  twelve  and  one  o'clock. 
Opposite  the  Steelyard  they  were  met  by  Gardiner, 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  the  Chancellor,  in  his  barge ; 
and  Lord  Shrewsbury,  whose  house  was  at  Cold- 
harbour  close  by,  had  also  his  barge  with  the  Talbot. 
The  oarsmen  were  in  blue  and  scarlet.  From  the 
Steelyard,  the  party  proceeded  to  Whitehall,  where 
Philip  of  Spain  met  the  cardinal,  embraced  him,  and 
led  him  through  the  hall.  Before  the  cardinal,  as 
before  his  predecessor  Augustine,  was  carried  the 
cross,  whilst  Lord  North  preceded  the  king  with  a 
sword.  They  entered  the  queen's  chamber,  where 
Mary  saluted  Pole,  who  then  reembarked  and  pro- 
ceded  to  Lambeth.  There  is  much  interest  in  this 
narrative,  by  one  probably  himself  an  eye-witness  of 
Pole's  landing,*  of  the  simple  and  dignified  coin- 
*  Machyn's  Diary,  Nov.  24,  1554. 


Fishmongers  Guild.  103 

mencement  of  an  undertaking  that  failed  so  dis 
astrously  in  the  end. 

The  London  Fishmongers  were  divided  into '  Stock- 
fishmongers'  and  '  Salt-fishmongers.'  Thames-street 
was  '  Stock-fishmonger-row/  and  the  old  fish  market 
of  London  was  'above-bridge/  not,  as  at  the  present 
day,  at  Billingsgate.  The  earliest  charter  of  the 
Company  is  a  patent  of  the  87th  of  Edward  III. 

Sir  William  Walworth^  was  a  member  of  the  Fish 
mongers'  Guild.  By  the  statutes  of  the  Fishmongers' 
Guild,  it  was  ordained  that  on  the  Sunday  after  the 
Festival  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  before  their  meal, 
the  members  should  be  all  present  in  the  church  of 
St.  Peter's,  f  Cornhill,  in  their  livery,  there  to  hear  a 
solemn  Mass  of  Kequiem  for  all  the  souls  of  the 
brotherhood  and  all  Christian  souls,  at  which  Mass 
the  priest  of  the  brotherhood  was  to  rehearse  and 
recommend  from  the  pulpit  to  their  prayers  all  the 
brethren  and  sisters  and  all  Christians ;  and  this 
same  Sunday  they  were  to  hold  a  feast  according 
as  it  was  arranged  by  the  wardens  of  the  brother 
hood. 

The  priest  said  his  Mass  daily  with  the  special 

*  Sir  William  Walworth  founded  the  CoUege  of  St.  Michael, 
Crooked-lane,  Candlewick  Ward,  for  a  master  and  nine  chaplains  to 
celebrate  Mass. 

f  St.  Peter  was  the  patron  of  the  Fishmongers,  as  St.  Mary 
(Mother  of  the  Agnus  Dei)  of  the  Drapers,  St.  Dunstan  of  the 
Goldsmiths. 


1 04  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 


orison  Dens  qui  caritatis,  or  a  memento  for  the 
living,  and  Deus  veniae  largitor  for  the  dead,  except 
on  solemn  festivals,  when  his  doing  so  was  optional ; 
and  every  feria  Placebo  and  Dirlgc  after  noon,  with 
the  lessons  and  the  same  special  prayer  for  the 
brethren  and  sisters  departed  ;  and  every  Monday  and 
Friday  a  Mass  in  requiem  ;  and  every  Monday,  Wed 
nesday,  and  Friday  the  seven  penitential  psalms  and 
litany  for  living  and  dead. 

Machyn  records  that  on  the  16th  February  1557 
was  buried  Master  Pinnock,  fishmonger,  of  the 
brotherhood  of  Jesus,  with  eleven  branched  candle 
sticks  and  twelve  great  torches.  Twelve  poor  men 
had  good  black  gowns.  There  were  four  great  tapers 
borne  in  the  procession  ;  there  were  a  great  number 
of  clerks  and  priests ;  then  came  the  mourners,  and 
after  them  the  brotherhood  of  Jesus  to  the  number 
of  twenty-four,  with  black  satin  hoods  having  I.H.S. 
on  them  ;  and  after  these  th&  Company  of  the  Fish 
mongers  in  their  livery,*  whose  mourning  attire  the 
black  satin  hoods  probably  were. 

We  pass  by  Walbrook,  one  of  the  city  wards,  to 
the  Poultry  and  Cheap  side.  Stow  is  careful  to  ex 
plain  that  '  Walbrook'  is  not  so  called  from  '  Galus,' 
a  Koman  Captain,  slain  by  Asclepiodatus,  and  thrown 
therein,  as  some  have  fabled !  We  fail  to  see  why  any 

*  Or  special  dress  :  hence  Livery  Companies. 


Bucklersbury.  105 


one  should  have  so  thought,  save  on  Bottom's  plea — 
'  some  man  or  other  must  present  Wall.'*  The  Wall- 
brook  drained  Finsbury  and  Moorfields,  and  flowed 
from  the  city  wall  by  Lothbury  and  Bucklersbury  to 
the  Thames.  At  Budge-row,  a  corruption  of  Bridge- 
row,  there  was  a  bridge  over  the  Wall-brook.  Hard 
by  was  the  church  of  St.  Anthony,  better  known  as 
St.  Antholin's.]- 

Bucklersbury  has  its  name,  in  all  probability, 
from  the  buckler-makers,  though  Stow  says  it  was 
'  so  called  of  a  manor  and  tenements  pertaining  to 
one  Buckle  who  there  dwelt  and  kept  his  courts.' 
We  may  illustrate  the  more  probable  derivation  : 
Cheapside  (from  chepe  or  market),  Eastcheap,  Corn- 
hill,  Grace  (or  Grass)  Church,  Fenchurch-street  (the 
old  haymarket),  Woolchurch,  Sopers'-lane,  Loth 
bury  (or  Lattenbury),  Sermon  (Shiremongers',  or  bul 
lion-clippers')  lane,  Coleman  (or  charcoal-burners') 
street,  and  Trump  (or  trumpet-makers')  street ;  the 
Poultry,  Vintry,  Fish-street,  Bread-street,  Milk-street, 
Leaden  (or  Leathern)  hall,  Leather -lane,  Silver- 
street,  Goldsmiths' -row,  all  indicate  the  localities 
once  occupied  by  various  trades.  At  Bucklersbury 
was  the  residence  of  Sir  Thomas  More  previous  to 

*  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream,  act  iii.  sc.  1. 
f  This  church  is  soon  to  be  removed.     St.  Antholin's  was  the 
first  church  in  which  the  Protestant  service  was  used. 


106  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


his  removal  to  Chelsea,  and  here  his  daughter  Mar 
garet  Roper  was  born.* 

St.  Anthony's  Hospitalf  in  Threadneedle  (Three- 
needle)  street  was  a  cell  of  St.  Anthony's  at  Vienne, 
subsequently  becoming  an  hospital  '  for  a  master, 
two  priests,  one  schoolmaster,  and  twelve  poor  men.' 
Sir  Thomas  More  was  educated  in  this  school.  The 
Jews  had  a  synagogue  in  the  '  Old  Jewry.'  The  men 
dicant  friars  of  the  sack,  whose  house  was  in  the  same 
quarter,  complained  that  their  Jewish  neighbours 
made  so  much  noise  at  their  worship  that  they  (the 
friars)  '  could  not  make  the  body  of  the  Lord  in  peace.' 
The  Jews  were  expelled  in  1291,  and  went  farther 
east,  towards  Aldgate.  In  1305,  Robert  Fitzwalter, 
banner-bearer  of  the  City,  begged  the  mendicant 
friars'  house  of  the  City,  and  obtained  his  request. 
There  was  another  Judaismus  or  Jewry  near  the  Tower. 
Maitland  conjectures  near  what  was  afterwards  called 
Hangman's  Gains  (a  corruption  of  Hammes  and 
Guisnes,  many  refugees  from  those  places  settling 
there  in  Queen  Mary's  time).  The  eastern  Jewry 
was  within  the  liberties  of  the  Tower  and  exempt 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  City.  In  1279,  the 
eighth  year  of  Edward  I.,  the  king,  at  the  arch 
bishop's  request,  issued  a  writ  to  the  mayor  and 

*  To  the  west  of  Bucklersbury  are  the  sites  of  the  churches  of 
St.  Pancras,  Soper-lane,  and  St.  Benet  Sherehog,  destroyed  in  the 
fire,  and  not  rebuilt.  f  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  766. 


Guildhall.  107 


sheriffs  of  London  for  the  apprehension  of  certain 
persons  '  qui  recesserunt  ab  imitate  Catholicse  Fidei.' 
But  it  was  found  that  they  had  taken  refuge  in  Juda- 
ismo  (in  the  Jewry).  The  archbishop  then  wrote  to 
the  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  the  chancellor,  saying 
that  the  fugitives  were  '  in  Balliva  Majoris  et  vice- 
comitatis  Londonensis,  sub  custodia  et  potestate  con- 
stabularii  Tunis,  ubi  ingredi  non  possunt,  ut  dicifcur, 
sine  speciali  mandate.'  As  the  Jews  came  to  Eng 
land  in  great  numbers  at  the  Conquest,  they  would  na 
turally  seek  protection  under  the  shadow  of  the  Tower. 
The  Old  Jewry  may  have  had  a  similar  origin,  as  a 
Saxon  palace  would  appear  to  have  stood  in  Wood- 
street,  and  the  Jews  settled  in  the  vicinity  may  have 
obtained  the  same  protection  from  the  Saxon,  that 
those  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Tower  gained  from 
the  Norman  monarch. 

Guildhall  was  built  by  subscription  and  begun  in 
1411,  the  twelfth  year  of  Henry  IV.  Before  that 
date  the  courts  were  held  in  Aldermanbury.  In 
Richard  I.'s  time,  the  Crown,  for  an  annual  payment 
of  4:001.,  renounced  civil  and  judicial  power  over  Lon 
don,  Middlesex,  and  Southwark.  Two  sheriffs  were 
elected  by  the  City,  and  nominated  by  the  sovereign. 
In  1189,  we  first  hear  of  a  Mayor  of  London  :  Henry 
FitzAlwyn  is  the  first  on  record.*  He  held  office 

*  The  portreeve  was  the  Saxon  official.  The  Conqueror's  charter 
runs :  s  William  the  king  greets  William  the  bishop,  and  Godfrey 


io8  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


twenty-three  years.  Then  came  annual  elections. 
The  Lord  Mayor — the  City  king — presided  over  his 
Court  of  Aldermen,  the  peers  of  the  civic  constitution. 
The  lower  house  was  elected  from  the  freemen. 

Externally  Guildhall  is  at  the  present  moment 
undergoing  a  transformation,  on  the  effect  of  which  it 
would  be  premature  to  pass  judgment.  Internally  it 
has  been  brought  back  to  what  may  be  supposed  to 
have  been  its  ancient  condition.  It  has  been  con 
jectured,  with  sufficient  probability,  that  the  nave  of 
Winchester  was  copied  at  Guildhall.  If  the  walls  were 
richly  painted,  and  the  light  from  the  storied  win 
dows  thrown,  as  in  Whittington's  time,  on  a  floor  of 
*  hard  stone  of  Purbeck,'  a  really  fine  effect  might  be 
obtained.  The  side  walls  are  divided  at  intervals  by 
wall  pillars  of  bold  projection,  whilst  each  bay  so 
formed  is  further  marked  from  side  to  side  into  five 
vertical  divisions,  by  mullions  which  at  the  time  of  the 
erection  of  Guildhall  had  passed  from  the  windows 
to  the  walls  of  buildings.  The  hall  is  153  feet  in 
length  by  48  in  breadth. 

Henry  Garnet,  superior  of  the  English  Jesuits, 
was  brought  to  trial  at  Guildhall,  March  29th,  1606. 
He  was  condemned,  and  remained  a  prisoner  under 
sentence  at  the  Tower  for  five  weeks  previous  to  his 
execution. 

the  portreeve,  and  all  the  burgesses  in  London  both  French  and 
English. ' 


Gil ildhall  College.  i  o  9 


In  1410,  it  was  ordained  that  a  '  Mass  of  the 
Holy  Ghost'  should  be  sung  solemnly  every  year  on 
the  day  of  the  Lord  Mayor's  election,  in  the  chapel 
of  Guildhall. 

The  chapel  or  college  of  St.  Mary  and  All  Saints' 
adjoined  Guildhall  to  the  south  and  east.*  It  was 
founded  in  1368  by  three  citizens,  Adam,  Francis, 
and  Henry  de  Frowick,  for  a  warden,  seven  priests, 
three  clerks,  and  four  choristers,  and  rebuilt  in  1431, 
in  the  mayoralty  of  John  Walls,  grocer.  Its  site  is 
now  in  part  occupied  by  the  City  library.  '  The 
vi.  day  of  May,  1554,  was  a  goodly  evyn-song  at  Yeld- 
hall  College,  by  the  masters  of  the  clarkes  and  ther 
felowshype  of  clarkes  with  synging  and  playng.  The 
morrow  after  was  a  great  mass  at  the  same  place,  by 
the  same  fraternity,  when  every  clerk  offered  a  half 
penny.  The  mass  was  sung  by  divers  of  the  Queen's 
chapel  and  children ;  and  after  mass  done,  every 
clerk  went  their  procession  two  and  two  together, 
each  having  a  surples  Tsurplice]  and  a  silk  cope,  and 
a  garland ;  after  them  iiii.  xx  standardes  stremars, 
and  baners ;  and  evere  on  that  bare  them  had  a  nobe 
[alb]  or  else  a  surples ;  and  ii.  and  ii.  together ;  then 
came  the  wates  playng,  and  then  be-twyn  xxx.  clarkes 
a  qwre  syngyng  Salve  festa  dyes ;  so  ther  wher  iiii. 
qweres.  Then  came  a  canepe  [canopy]  borne  by  iiii. 
of  the  masters  of  the  clarkes  over  the  Sacrament, 
*  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  1457. 


i  io  Ecclesiastical  Antiqinties  of  London. 

with  a  xii.  stayff-torchys  horning  [burning]  up  Sant 
Laurens-lane,  and  so  to  the  further  end  of  Chep, 
then  back  a-gayn  up  Cornhylle  .  .  .  unto  Sant  Al- 
browse  Chyrche  [St.  Ethelburga's] ;  and  there  they 
did  put  off  their  copes  and  so  to  dener  every  man.'* 

The  crypt  of  Guildhall  is  vaulted  with  four-cen 
tred  arches  of  good  character ;  were  it  cleansed, 
repaired,  and  properly  lighted,  it  might  become  a 
valuable  adjunct  to  the  hall  above.  If  the  heavy 
blocks  of  building  that  flank  the  exterior  of  Guild 
hall  were  removed,  the  hall  shown  in  its  full  pro 
portions,  and  the  court  we  would  thus  form  envi 
roned  by  a  cloister  similar  to  that  of  the  Exchange 
at  Antwerp,  f  with  a  sculptured  group  or  a  fountain 
in  the  centre,  the  City  magnates  might  found  a  claim 
to  the  respect  of  the  enlightened,  at  the  centre  of 
their  domain,  they  hardly  establish  by  their  annual 
progress  to  Westminster.!  The  Earl  of  Cornwall,  in 
Edward  III.'s  time,  gave  Singer  Hall,  in  Queen-street, 
Cheapside,  to  the  Abbot  of  Beaulieu,  Hants. 

At  St.  Mary-le-Bow§  Wren  used  the  arches  of  the 
old  church  to  support  the  modern  structure.  They 

°  Grey  Friars'  Chronicle. 

f  The  model  followed  in  the  old  London  Exchange,  built  by  an 
architect  of  Antwerp,  Hendrickx,  in  1566. 

|  The  progress  dates  from  the  mayoralty  of  John  Norman,  in  1454. 

§  In  the  immediate  vicinity  were  the  churches  of  St.  Matthew, 
Friday-street,  St.  Mildred,  and  All  Hallotvs,  Bread-street,  St. 
Margaret  Moyses,  St.  Peter  Colechurch,  St.  Martin  Pomary,  All 
Hallows,  Honey-lane. 


Bow  Bells.  1 1 1 


are  of  Norman  date,  and  to  them  the  church  owes 
its  name ;  as  does  the  '  Court  of  Arches'  held  here. 
Stow  illustrates  the  hestowal  of  this  name  hy  the 
designation  of  '  S  t  rat  ford -le -Bow,'  so  called  from  the 
bridge  built  there  by  Maud,  the  queen  of  Henry  I. 
Fitzosbert — the  English  Rienzi — defended  himself  in 
Bow  steeple,  circa  1190.*  In  1284,  Ducket,  a  gold 
smith,  who  had  wounded  a  certain  Ralph  Crepin, 
took  refuge  in  Bow  church,  and  slept  in  the  steeple. 
Some  acquaintances  of  Crepin  found  him  there  and 
slew  him,  placing  the  body  as  if  he  had  committed 
suicide.  The  account  given  seemed  satisfactory  as  to 
the  mode  of  the  goldsmith's  death,  and  he  was  buried 
as  was  customary  in  cases  of  suicide.  But  a  boy  made 
his  appearance,  who,  it  seems,  had  entered  the  tower 
with  him.  The  boy  told  who  the  murderers  were — 
one  of  them  a  woman — and  in  consequence  of  this 
information  they  were  apprehended  and  executed. 
For  a  time  the  church  was  closed  and  the  windows 
filled  with  brambles.  The  Common  Council  ordained 
in  1469  that  '  Bow  bell'  should  be  rung  nightly  at 
nine  o'clock,  as  the  signal  of  cessation  from  labour. 
In  1472,  John  Donne,  mercer,  left  by  will  to  the  par- 

*  Fitzosbert  (alias  William  Longbeard)  undertook  to  separate 
the  '  humble  and  faithful'  from  the  '  proud  and  perfidious,'  '  the 
elect  from  the  reprobate,  as  the  light  from  the  darkness.'  He  was 
followed  to  Bow  church  by  a  woman  whom  he  loved.  Fire  was 
applied  to  the  steeple.  Wounded  and  half  suffocated,  Fitzosbert 
was  carried  to  the  Tower,  and  thence  to  execution. 


1 12,  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

son  and  churchwardens  two  tenements  in  Hosier-lane, 
for  the  maintenance  of  Bow  bell.  It  rang  too  late  in 
the  estimation  of  the  'prentices  of  Cheap,  who  com 
posed  the  distich  : 

4  Clarke  of  the  Bow  Bell  with  the  yellow  lockes, 
For  thy  late  ringing,  thy  head  shall  have  knockes.' 

The  clerk  followed  suit : 

'  Children  of  Cheape,  hold  you  all  still, 
For  you  shall  have  the  Bow  Bell  rung  at  your  will.' 

Cockney,  or  native  of  Cocaigne,  the  land  of  gas 
tronomy,  was  an  epithet  applied  to  such  Londoners 
as  were  born  within  sound  of  Bow  bell.  It  belongs 
in  its  strictness  to  Sir  Thomas  More,  born  in  Milk- 
street  hard  by.  In  1512,  additions  were  made  to  the 
upper  part  of  Bow  steeple,  when  the  arches  and  lan 
terns,  five  in  number,  one  at  each  corner  and  the  fifth 
in  the  centre,  were  completed  with  Caen  stone.*  It 
was  designed  to  glaze  the  lanterns.  The  balcony  in 
the  tower  of  the  present  St.  Mary-le-Bow  is  a  me 
morial  of  the  seldam  or  shed  erected  by  Edward  III. 
for  himself,  the  queen,  and  the  nobles  to  survey  the 
joustings  in  Cheap.  Although  granted  to  mercers 
by  Henry  IV.,  the  shed  wras  every  now  and  again 
employed  by  our  sovereigns,  who  came  hither  to  wit- 

°  The  old  silver  seal  of  the  parish  represents  the  steeple  as  it 
stood  before  the  fire.  Some  trace  of  its  design  maybe  observed  in 
that  masterpiece  of  Wren — the  present  tower  and  spire.  A  yet 
earlier  steeple,  constructed  of  wood,  was  blown  off,  and  nearly  sank 
out  of  sight  in  the  mud ! 


Ckeapside.  113 


ness  the  great  '  watches  '  on  the  even  of  St.  John-  the 
Baptist  and  of  St.  Peter  at  midsummer.  Henry  VIII. 
came  disguised  as  a  yeoman  to  this,  the  King's  Head 
in  Cheap,  on  St.  John's-even,  1510.  But  gaiety  has 
long  given  way  to  business  cares  here  as  elsewhere  in 
the  City. 

Near  Bow  church  was  the  '  Standard  in  Cheap,' 
where  Wat  Tyler  had  Richard  Lyons  and  others  be 
headed  in  1381 ;  and  Jack  Cade,  the  Lord  Say,  the 
high-treasurer  of  England,  in  1450.* 

Two  conduits  stood  in  Cheapside.  The  Great 
Conduit  conveyed  sweet  water  by  leaden  pipes  from 
Paddington.  Built  originally  in  1285,  it  was  rebuilt 
and  enlarged  by  Thomas  Ham,  one  of  the  sheriffs,  in 
1479.  There  is  a  representation  of  it  in  Pugin's 
Contrasts.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  architect  of  the 
drinking-fountain  between  Guildhall  and  St.  Law 
rence,  Jewry,  did  not  reproduce  this  ancient  design. 
The  Little  Conduit  stood  on  the  site  of  the  Cross,  to 
the  east  of  the  church  of  St.  Michael  le  Quern  (ad 
bladum),  at  the  extreme  east  end  of  Paternoster-row, 
in  Cheapside.  f  The  Cross  was  taken  down  and  the 
Conduit  built  in  1390.  The  Conduit  was  destroyed 
in  the  great  fire. 

On  the  site  of  Mercers'  Hall,  to  the  north  of  Cheap- 

*  Lord  Say's  head  was  fixed  on  a  spear ;  his  body  was  tied  to 
the  tail  of  a  horse,  and  dragged  to  St.  Thomas  a  Watering. 
f  Leland,  the  antiquary,  was  buried  at  St.  Michael's. 


1 14  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

side,  was  a  hospital  of  St.  Thomas  Aeon  or  of  Acre,* 
founded  twenty  years  after  his  death  by  Agnes,  sister 
of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket,  and  her  husband,  Thomas 
Fitz-Theobald  de  Hellis.  William,  an  Englishman, 
chaplain  to  Kadulph  de  Diceto,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's, 
vowed  that  if  he  could  enter  Acre  under  siege,  he 
would  found  a  chapel  to  St.  Thomas  the  Martyr. 
His  desire  was  fulfilled ;  he  built  the  chapel,  ob 
tained  ground  for  a  churchyard,  became  prior  of  his 
foundation,  and  buried  pilgrims  in  the  churchyard. 
So  Kichard  I.  founded  a  military  order  after  the  cap 
ture  of  Acre  in  honour  of  St.  Thomas  the  Martyr. 
These  circumstances  explain  why,  when  Thomas 
Fitz-Theobald  de  Hellis  and  his  wife  built  a  chapel 
and  hospital  '  on  the  rule  of  St.  Austin,'  on  the  estate 
of  Gilbert  a  Becket,  father  of  St.  Thomas,  '  dedicated 
to  the  worship  of  God  Almighty  and  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  and  of  the  said  glorious  Martyr,'  it 
was  known  as  St.  Thomas  Aeon  (of  Acre). f  On  All 
Saints,  Christmas-day,  St.  Stephen,  St.  John  the 
Evangelist,  the  Circumcision,  Epiphany,  and  the 
Purification,  the  Mayor  and  Corporation  visited  St. 
Thomas's,  whence  they  went  to  Vespers  at  St.  Paul's. 
Henry  VIII.  granted  the  church,  cloisters,  &c.,  to 
the  Mercers.  They  were  burnt  in  the  great  fire. 
The  Cross  in  Cheapside  was  one  of  the  nine  erected 

*  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  645. 
t  Cf.  Milman's  St.  Paul's,  165-167. 


Death  of  Bishop  Stapleton.  115 

by  Edward  I.,  on  every  spot  where  the  body  of  his 
Queen  Eleanor  rested  on  the  way  from  Hardeby,  near 
Lincoln,  to  her  interment  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
The  appearance  of  the  Cross  in  Cheapside  is  well 
known.  It  was  built  by  '  Master  Michael,  of  Canter 
bury.'  It  was  rebuilt  in  1441,  on  the  old  model,  in 
the  mayoralty  of  John  Hatherly.  It  was  gilt  in 
1552,  against  the  coming  of  Charles  V.,  but  fell  a 
victim  to  Puritan  violence  in  1643  ;  leaving  North 
ampton,  Geddington,  and  Waltham  to  show  us  what 
royal  affection  and  the  best  art  of  the  middle  age 
could  do.* 

In  1327,  Edward  II.  committed  the  custody  of 
London  to  Walter  Stapleton,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  Lord 
High  Treasurer.  A  letter  from  the  queen,  addressed 
to  the  citizens — imploring  them  to  rise  in  defence  of 
the  country — was  fastened  to  the  Cross  in  Cheapside. 
In  the  queen's  name  the  Bishop  of  Exeter  demanded 
the  City  keys  from  the  Lord  Mayor.  The  citizens 
seized  the  Lord  Mayor,  and  raised  the  cry,  '  Death  to 
the  queen's  enemies  !'  The  deed  followed  quickly  on 
the  word.  They  killed  Marshall,  a  servant  of  the 
younger  Despencer :  plundered  Stapleton's  palace, 
seized  him  on  his  return  from  a  ride  in  the  fields, 
dragged  him  to  Cheapside,  and  led  him  to  execution 
with  two  of  his  servants.  He  had  been  building  a 

*  The  places  where  the  body  of  St.  Louis  rested  on  the  way  to 
St.  Denis  were  similarly  indicated. 


1 1 6  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

tower  on  the  Thames,  and  thither  his  dead  body  was 
dragged  and  cast  into  the  water. 

Wood-street,  Cheapside,*  is  conjectured  by  Stow 
to  derive  its  name  either  from  the  material  of  the 
houses,  or  from  Thomas  Wood,  sheriff  in  1491,  who 
built  the  houses  in  Cheap  called  Goldsmiths'-row, 
with  figures  of  woodmen  ;  doubtless  in  allusion  to  his 
own  name. 

In  St.  Michael's,  Wood-street,}  was  buried  the 
head  of  James  IY.,  who  fell  at  Flodden  in  1513. 

'  The  body,'  Stow  says,  ' was  clossed  in  lead  and 
conveyed  ...  to  London,  and  so  to  the  monastery  of 
Sheen  [Eichmond] ,  in  Surrey ;  where  it  remained  for 
a  time,  in  what  order  I  am  not  certain.  But  since 
the  dissolution  of  that  house,  in  the  reign  of  Ed 
ward  VI.,  Henry  Gray,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  being  lodged 
and  keeping  house  there,  I  have  been  showed  the 
same  body,  so  lapped  in  lead  close  to  the  head  and 
body,  thrown  into  a  waste-room,  amongst  the  old 
timber,  lead,  and  other  rabble.  Since  the  which  time 
workmen  there,  for  their  foolish  pleasure,  hewed  off 
his  head :  and  Lancelot  Young,  master  glazier  to 
Queen  Elizabeth,  feeling  a  sweet  odour  to  come  from 
thence,  and  seeing  the  same  dried  from  all  moisture, 
and  yet  the  form  remaining,  with  the  hair  of  the  head 

0  Cowper  and  Wordsworth  have  given  poetical  celebrity  to 
Cheapside. 

f  The  patronage  of  this  church  belonged — before  the  Reforma 
tion — to  the  Abbey  of  St.  Alban's. 


After  Flodden.  1 1 


and  beard  red,  brought  it  to  London  to  his  house  in 
Wood-street,  where  for  a  time  he  kept  it  for  the 
sweetness,  but  in  the  end  caused  the  sexton  of  that 
church  to  bury  it  amongst  other  bones  taken  out  of 
their  charnel.' 

'  View  not  that  corpse  mistrustfully, 
Defaced  and  mangled  though  it  be  ; 
Nor  to  yon  Border  castle  high 
Look  northward  with  upbraiding  eye  ; 

Nor  cherish  hope  in  vain, 
That,  journeying  far  on  foreign  strand, 
The  Royal  Pilgrim  to  his  land 

May  yet  return  again. 
He  saw  the  wreck  his  rashness  wrought ; 
Reckless  of  life,  he  desperate  fought, 

And  fell  on  Flodden  plain  : 
And  well  in  death  his  trusty  band, 
Firm  clench'd  within  his  manly  hand 

Beseem'd  the  monarch  slain.'* 

Maiden-lane  is  so  called  from  a  sign  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  t 

St.  Allan's,  on  the  north  side  of  Love-lane,  and 
east  side  of  Wood-street,  is  related  by  Matthew  of 
Paris  to  have  been  King  Offa's  chapel.]:  An  ancient 
tower,  described  as  belonging  to  Athelstan's  palace, 
still  stood  by  it  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

*  Scott's  Marmion. 

f  St.  Mary  Staining,  Wood-street,  stood  on  the  north  side  of 
Oat-lane.  It  was  destroyed  in  the  great  fire,  and  not  rebuilt.  The 
advowson  of  the  rectory  belonged  to  the  prioress  and  convent  of 
Clerkeiiwell. 

I  Offa  was  the  founder  of  the  Abbey  of  St.  Albau's.  See  Mr. 
Freeman's  Old  English  History,  pp.  78-87. 


1 1 8    Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

St.  Martin -le- Grand,*  Aldersgate,  on  the  site  of 
the  present  Post-office,  was  a  collegiate  church 
founded  by  Ingelric,  Earl  of  Essex,  and  his  brother 
Gerard,  in  1036.  William  the  Conqueror  gave  it  a 
charter  in  1068.  It  had  the  right  of  sanctuary ;  and 
prisoners  on  their  way  from  Tower-hill  to  execution 
at  Newgate  sometimes  made  their  escape,  and  availed 
themselves  of  the  shelter  of  St.  Martin's.  In  Henry 
VI. 's  reign  a  soldier,  who  was  being  taken  from  New 
gate  to  Guildhall,  was  rescued  by  his  companions,  who 
issued  from  Panyer-alley,  Newgate-street,  and  hurried 
him  to  the  shelter  of  St.  Martin's.  Sir  Thomas  More 
says  that  Miles  Forest,  one  of  the  murderers  oi  the 
princes  in  the  Tower,  '  rotted  away'  in  the  sanctuary 
of  St.  Martin's.  William  of  Wykeham  became  Dean 
of  St.  Martin's  May  5th,  1360.  He  had  previously 
been  in  succession  Rector  of  Pulham,  in  Norfolk,  and 
Prebendary  of  Flaxton,  in  the  church  of  Lichfield. 
He  rebuilt  the  cloisters  and  the  body  of  the  church. 

Goldsmiths'  Hall  belonged  to  an  ancient  com 
pany,  incorporated  in  the  first  year  of  Edward  III.'s 
reign,  t  Henry  Fitz-Alwyn,  first  Mayor  of  London, 
belonged  to  this  guild. 

St.  Dunstan  was  chosen  by  English  goldsmiths 

*  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  1323. 

f  The  charters  of  this  reign  are  the  first  enrolled.  They  were 
bestowed  in  succession  on  the  goldsmiths,  linen  armourers  (now 
Merchant  Tailors),  skinners,  grocers,  fishmongers,  drapers,  hatters, 
and  vintners. 


Goldsmiths'  Hall. 


as  their  patron,*  as  we  learn  from  Capgrave  that  he 
was  skilful  in  metal-work;  or  as  in  the  English 
Legendes  of  the  Sayntes,  '  Then  used  he'  (St.  Duu- 
stan)  '  to  werke  in  goldsmythes  werke  with  his  own 
hondes.'  High  in  the  reredos  of  their  hall,  the  Lon 
don  Goldsmiths  had  a  silver-gilt  image  of  St.  Dun- 
stan,  set  with  gems.  The  walls  were  hung  with  arras, 
on  which  were  representations  of  his  history;  the 
drawings  for  which  were  made  in  London,  and  sent 
to  Flanders  to  be  wrought.  Their  loving-cup,  with 
St.  Dunstan  on  the  top,  was  very  rich.  A  light  was 
kept  burning  in  the  church  of  St.  John  Zachary  in 
honour  of  St.  Dunstan.  There  was  a  chapel  of  St. 
Dunstan  in  the  cathedral  church,  with  an  image  of 
the  saint.  The  curtain  was  of  blue  buckram ;  the 
wardens'  gowns  were  of  velvet.  On  St.  Dunstan's- 
eve  the  aldermen  of  the  guild  assembled  in  their  velvet 
gowns  and  cloaks,  and  the  rest  of  the  company  in 
their  second  livery,  at  Goldsmiths'  Hall.  Four  chap 
lains  preceded  them  to  the  cathedral.  At  the  close 
of  their  year  of  office,  the  out-going  wardens  (as  those 
of  the  other  civic  guilds)  went  with  garlands  on  their 
heads  to  their  hall,  where  the  election  of  the  new 
wardens  took  place. f  On  the  heads  of  the  newly  - 

0  St.  Eligius,  or  Eloy,  was  the  patron  of  the  French  goldsmiths. 
Under  his  patronage  they  placed  their  hospital  at  Paris. 

f  All  the  companies  were  under  the  control  of  the  chief  magis 
trate  of  the  City,  who  fined  and  imprisoned  the  wardens  at  his  plea 
sure. 


20  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


elected  officers  the  garlands  were  then  placed.  Every 
guild  had  one  or  more  funeral  palls  (her -se- cloths). 
On  St.  Dunstan's-day,  after  dinner,  the  whole  livery 
of  Goldsmiths  went  to  the  general  obit  and  dirge  for 
all  the  brethren  and  sisters  of  the  company,  with  the 
chaplains  before  them.  The  beadle  was  to  see  that 
the  best  herse-cloth  and  wax  were  provided  by  the 
almsmen.  These  almsmen  or  '  allowsrnen'  had  on 
being  admitted  to  swear  that  they  would,  unless 
prevented,  be  present  every  Wednesday  and  Friday 
at  St.  John  Zachary's  church  by  eight  o'clock,  at  the 
Mass  of  Drew  Barentyne's  priest.  There  they  were 
to  pray  for  the  good  estate  of  all  the  brethren  of  the 
craft,  whether  living  or  dead.  They  had  also  to 
come  weekly  to  the  Goldsmiths'  Mass  at  St.  John 
Zachary's  in  their  blue,  and  to  every  obit  in  their 
black  gowns.  In  the  Goldsmiths'  guild-books,  in  re 
lation  to  keeping  their  obits,  there  is  the  copy  of  an 
agreement  made  (A.D.  1369)  between  their  wardens 
and  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  the  cathedral,  for 
the  maintenance  of  a  chantry  in  the  chapel  of  St. 
Dunstan,  for  the  soul  of  John  Hyltoft,  goldsmith 
of  London.  Hyltoft  had  bequeathed  ample  means 
to  the  brotherhood  for  this  object. 

The  collegiate  church  and  precincts  of  St.  Martin  - 
le-Grand  were  granted  by  Henry  VII.  to  Westminster 
Abbey,  and  until  the  passing  of  the  Reform  Bill  in 


St.  Anne  and  St.  Agnes.  1 2 1 


1832,  the  inhabitants  of  this  district  voted  at  the 
Westminster  elections. 

The  church  of  St.  Anne  and  St.  Agnes,  to  the 
north  of  the  Post-office — formerly  known  as  St.  Anne- 
in-the-Willows,  with  which  St.  John  Zachary  is  now 
incorporated — was  in  the  gift  of  the  Dean  of  St. 
Martin's.  There  was  in  it  a  monument  with  this 
curious  inscription  : 

'  Qu        an        tris        di        c        vul        stra 
os      guis         ti         ro    um         nere        vit 
H          san      Chris      ini      t  nmn         la' 

When  each  syllable  of  the  first  and  third  lines  is 
read  with  the  corresponding  syllable  of  the  inter 
mediate  line,  we  make  the  following  distich  : 

'  Quos  anguis  tristi  diro  cum  vulnere  stravit, 
Hos  sanguis  Christ!  miro  turn  munere  lavit.' 

St.  Leonard's,  Foster-lane,*  was  built  by  the  Dean 
of  St.  Martin -le-Grand  about  1236,  for  the  inhabitants 
of  the  sanctuary. 

A  tomb  bore  this  epitaph  : 

'  When  the  bells  be  merrily  rung 
And  the  Mass  devoutly  sung, 
And  the  meat  merrily  eaten, 
Then  shall  Robert  Traps,  his  wife,  and  children  be  forgotten.' 

Aldersgate,  so  called,  Stow  says,  from  its  antiquity, 

*  A  parish  now  incorporated  with  Christ  Church,  Newgate  - 
street.     Before  the  Reformation  it  belonged  to  Westminster. 


122  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

gives  its  name  to  one  of  the  wards  of  London.  The 
gate  stood  across  the  street  between  '  Bull  -and  - 
Mouth'  (Boulogne-Mouth)  street  and  Little  Britain, 
the  town  house  of  the  Dukes  of  Bretagne.  The  ward 
is  divided  into  Aldersgate  Within  and  Aldersgate 
Without,  Aldersgate -street  lying  external  to  the  gate. 
St.  Botolph's  church  stood  near  Aldersgate,  as,  it  has 
been  remarked,  did  the  other  churches  dedicated  to 
the  same  saint — by  Aldgate,  Bishopsgate,  and  Bil 
lingsgate  respectively.  St.  Botolph's,  Aldersgate, 
passed  to  St.  Peter's,  Westminster,  as  an  appurten 
ance  of  the  royal  chapel  of  St.  Martin -le- Grand. 
As  a  spacious  outlet  from  the  narrow  confines  of  the 
City,  Aldersgate-street  came  to  contain  many  houses 
of  the  nobility.  '  Trinity-court'  was  so  called  from  a 
brotherhood  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  founded  in  1377. 
It  must  not  be  supposed  that  these  were  '  Friars  of 
the  Holy  Trinity'  or  Maturines,  so  called  from  their 
house  near  St.  Maturine's  in  Paris,  whose  work  was 
'  the  redemption  of  captives.' 

They  were  simply  a  guild  or  brotherhood  founded 
in  1373,  in  honour  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament.*  They 
were  to  maintain  thirteen  wax-lights  burning  around 
the  '  Easter  sepulchre'  at  St.  Botolph's,  and  to  find 
a  chaplain.  On  Trinity  Sunday  they  heard  Mass  in 
honour  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament  and  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  and  made  their  offerings. 

*  Cf.  Hone's  Ancient  Mysteries,  pp.  77-89. 


Holy  Trinity  Brotherhood.  123 

A  window  exhibited  a  significant  symbol  of  the 
Trinity.  «Pater  non  est  Filiug 

V  / 

e  st  est 

X     / 

non  Deus         non 

est  est 


Spiritus  Sanctus.' 

The  brotherhood  had  tenements  in  Aldersgate- 
street,  the  Barbican,  Lamb-alley,  Fenchurch-street, 
and  Long-lane.  They  owned  the  *  Saracen's  Head' 
and  the  '  Falcon  on  the  Hoop'  Brewery. 

The  steps  of  the  sepulchre  may  have  been,  as  they 
have  been  described  in  many  places  during  the  Mid 
dle  Ages,  hung  with  black,  with  a  candle  on  each  step, 
whilst  persons,  dressed  as  soldiers,  kept  watch  till 
Easter-day,  when  the  Sacrament  (sometimes,  at  least, 
enclosed  in  the  breast  of  an  image  of  our  Lord  hold 
ing  the  Cross  in  His  hand,  as  the  Kesurrection  is 
usually  represented)  was  borne  to  the  altar  by  two 
priests,  who  offered  incense  whilst  the  choir  sang 
'Christus  Resurgens.'*  The  chaplain  had  to  say  his 
'  Mass'  by  five  o'clock,  summer  and  winter,  making 
before  Mass  a  special  mention  of  the  Trinity.  Be 
sides  his  duties  to  the  guild,  he  was  bound  to  assist 
the  priests  of  St.  Botolph's.  On  the  Sunday  after  All 
Souls'-day,  the  chaplain  read  from  the  pulpit  the 
0  See  Kock's  Church  of  our  Fathers,  iii.  102. 


1 2 4   Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L ondon. 


names  of  the  brothers  and  sisters.  At  night  a  'Dirge' 
was  said,  and  the  day  following  a  'Requiem  Mass/ 
for  the  departed  members  of  the  guild.  Each  bro 
ther  and  sister  was  bound  to  attend  and  present  the 
accustomed  offerings,  or  incur  the  penalty  of  '  one 
pound  of  wax.'  In  Henry  V.'s  reign,  Richard  Der- 
liam,  Bishop  of  Llandaff,  was  master  of  the  brother 
hood.  The  rich  citizens,  in  Chaucer's  poem,  were 
members  of  a  guild  :* 

'  An  haberdasher,  and  a  carpenter, 
A  weaver,  dyer,  and  a  tapiser, 
Were  all  yclothed  in  a  livery 
Of  a  solemn  and  great  fraternity. 
Full  fresh  and  new  their  gear  ypiked  was, 
Their  knives  were  ychased  not  with  brass, 
But  all  with  silver  wrought  full  clean  and  well ; 
Their  girdles  and  their  pouches  every  deal, 
Well  seemed  each  of  them  a  fair  burgess, 
To  sit  in  a  Guildhall  upon  the  dais, 
Every  for  the  wisdom  that  he  can, 
Was  shapely  for  to  be  an  alderman. 
For  chattels  hadden  they  enough  and  rent, 
And  eke  their  wives  would  it  well  assent ; 
And  eke  certainly  they  were  to  blame, 
It  is  full  fair  to  be  ycleped  madame, 
And  for  to  go  to  vigils  all  before, 
And  have  a  mantle  loyally  ybore.' 

*  The  Saddlers'  Guild  is  the  earliest  on  record.  They  had 
their  alderman,  chaplain,  four  eschevins,  and  elders.  The  canons 
of  St.  Martin-le-Grand  were  bound  to  offer  two  Masses,  one  for  the 
living,  the  other  for  the  departed  members  of  the  fraternity.  On 
the  death  of  a  member,  the  alderman  gave  eightpence  for  the  toll 
ing  of  the  bell  of  St.  Martin's.  Next  came  the  Woollen  Cloth 


Prophecy.  125 

The  Barbican  was  so  called  from  a  Burg-kenniny 
or  watch-tower,  detached  from  the  fortification  of  the 
City.  To  the  east  stood  '  the  Red  Cross,'  near  which 
was  the  Jews'  burial-place,  the  only  one  they  possessed 
in  England  till  1177,  the  twenty-fourth  of  Henry  II.* 

Jewin-street,  in  the  same  locality,  anciently  called 
Leyrestowe,  was  granted  by  Edward  I.  to  William 
de  Monteforte,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's.  This  is  the  De 
Monteforte  who  appeared  as  representative  of  the 
clergy  at  Westminster  in  that  king's  reign,  to  resist 
his  demand  upon  them  of  a  moiety  of  their  income, 
as  a  subsidy.  No  sooner  had  De  Monteforte  begun 
to  speak  than,  seized  by  apoplexy  or  the  victim  of 
heart-disease,  he  fell  dead  at  the  king's  feet. 

A  strange  occurrence  of  the  Reformation  epoch 
may  be  noted  here.  Sounds  were  heard  to  issue 
from  the  wall  of  a  house — that  was  uninhabitated  at 
the  time  —  in  Aldersgate-street.  Persons  present 
amongst  the  crowd  that  assembled  undertook  to 
explain  the  meaning  of  these  sounds  to  the  by 
standers.  When  the  crowd  cried  out,  '  God  save 
Queen  Mary  !'  there  was  no  reply ;  but  when  the 
cry  was,  '  God  save  the  Lady  Elizabeth!'  a  shrill 
voice  answered,  '  So  be  it.'  The  Sibyl  pronounced 


Weavers'  Guild,  on  which  a  charter  was  bestowed  by  Henry  II. 
King  John  expelled  them  from  the  City  in  1201. 

*  The  Botanic  Garden  is  the  site  of  the  Jews'  burial-place  at 
Oxford. 


126  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

the  Mass  '  Idolatry,'  and  passed  an  unfavourable 
judgment  upon  confession  and  other  Catholic  prac 
tices.  War,  famine,  pestilence,  and  earthquake 
were  predicted  after  the  usual  manner  of  such  im 
postors.  The  magistrates,  finding  the  tumult  increase 
daily,  sent  workmen  to  demolish  the  wall.  A  young 
girl  then  crept  out,  who  confessed — upon  examina 
tion — that  she  had  been  instructed  in  her  part  by  the 
reformed,  and  bribed  to  its  performance. 


ST.  PAUL'S. 

'  From  each  carved  nook  and  fretted  bend 
Cornice  and  gallery  seem  to  send 
Tones  that  with  seraph  hymns  might  blend. 
Three  solemn  parts  together  twine 
In  harmony's  mysterious  line  ; 
Three  solemn  aisles  approach  the  shrine.' 

NEWGATE  was  built  in  the  twelfth  century,  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  I.  or  Stephen,  and  repaired  in  1422 
by  the  executors  of  Sir  Ei chard  Whittington. 

Beyond  Newgate  is  the  Old  Bailey  (ballium  or 
vallum),  an  open  space  between  the  outer  wall  and 
the  advance  entrance  to  the  City.  The  wall  here 
turns  to  the  south  and  runs  along  the  ridge  of  Lud- 
gate-hill.  Its  protection  to  the  west  was  the  Fleet, 
which  flowed  along  the  ditch,  the  Fleet-ditch. 

On  Candlemas-day,  1601,  the  pursuivants  appre 
hended  Mrs.  Line,  a  widow,  at  whose  house  Mr. 
Page,  a  priest  (who  has  left  the  inscription  '  In  God 
is  my  hope,  Page,'  on  the  walls  of  the  Beauchamp 
Tower),  was  preparing  to  say  Mass.  Mr.  Page  made 
his  escape  for  the  time  ;  but  Mrs.  Line  was  brought 


1 2  8   Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

to  the  Old  Bailey  before  Lord  Chief-Justice  Popham, 
and  condemned  to  he  executed  at  Tyhurn  for  having 
harboured  a  seminary  priest ;  a  sentence  carried  into 
effect  on  the  27th  of  February.  Soon  after  Mr.  Page 
was  apprehended,  brought  for  trial  before  the  same 
judge,  condemned,  and  thrust  into  the  dungeon  in 
Newgate  called  '  Limbo,'  till  his  execution  at  Ty 
burn.* 

Ludgate,  Fleet-gate,  or  Flood-gate  was  strength 
ened  in  1215,  when  the  barons  entered  London  and 
threw  down  the  Jews'  houses,  employing  their  ma 
terials  in  the  works  at  this  gate. 

Ludgate  became  a  prison  in  Kichard  II. 's  time. 
It  seems  to  have  been  a  place  of  honourable  confine 
ment. 

Agnes  Foster,  widow  of  the  mayor  of  that  name, 
enlarged  it  at  her  own  expense  in  1454.  An  inscrip 
tion  asked  '  All  devout  persons  to  pray  for  the  souls 
of  Stephen  and  Agnes  Foster.'  A  chapel  was  at 
tached  to  Ludgate.  Kobert  of  Gloucester  relates  that 
St.  Martin's,  Ludgate,  was  founded  in  the  seventh 
century  by  Cadwallo,  a  British  prince  : 

'  A  church  of  Sent  Martyn  liuyng  he  let  rere, 
In  whiche  yat  men  should  goddys  seruyse  do, 
And  sing  for  his  soul  and  all  Christen  also. ' 

°  Challoner's  Missionary  Priests,  vol.  i.  395.  The  modern  New 
gate  was  partly  burnt  and  the  prisoners  rescued  in  the  Lord  George 
Gordon  Eiots.  The  reader  will  remember  the  striking  scenes  of 
Barndby  Eudge. 


St.  Martins,  Ludgate*  129 

The  old  church  would  appear  to  have  had  numer 
ous  chapels,  and  was  well  furnished  with  plate,  vest 
ments,  and  paintings.  We  find  Robert  de  Sancto 
Albano  rector  of  St.  Martin's  in  1322.  In  1437,  the 
church  was  rebuilt.  The  Mayor  and  Commonalty  of 
London  granted  the  rector  a  lease  of  a  piece  of  ground, 
twenty-eight  feet  long  and  twenty-four  wide,  on  which 
to  build  the  steeple.  There  were  two  porches  on  the 
south  side  of  the  church  towards  Ludgate-hill.  For 
merly  the  patronage  of  St.  Martin's  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  abbot  and  convent  of  Westminster.  The  de 
dication  is  worth  observing  in  this  connection,  as  it 
was  probably  to  them  that  the  erection  of  St.  Martin- 
in-the-Fields  was  due.  Queen  Mary  granted  St.  Mar 
tin's  to  the  Bishop  of  London  in  1553.* 

In  St.  Paul's  churchyard,  before  the  west  front  of 
the  cathedral,  Garnet,  superior  of  the  English 
Jesuits,  suffered  death,  May  3d,  1606,  the  Invention 
of  the  Cross.  At  the  place  of  execution  he  made 
the  sign  of  the  Cross  with  '  In  nomine  Patris  et 
Filii  et  Spiritus  Sancti,'  and  said,  '  Adoramus 
te,  Christe,  et  benedicimus  tibi,  quia  per  sanctam 
crucem  tuam  redemisti  mundum ;'  then,  '  Maria  Mater 
gratiae,  Mater  misericordiae,  tu  nos  ab  hoste  protege  et 
hora  mortis  suscipe;'  then,  '  In  manus  tuas,  Domine, 

*  The  curious  Greek  inscription  on  the  modern  font  is  to  be 
read  on  the  font  of  St.  Sophia,  Constantinople ;  Notre  Dame  des 
Victoires,  Paris ;  and  elsewhere.  It  is  a  palindrome. 

K 


130  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

commendo  spiritum  meum,'  which  he  repeated  twice 
or  thrice ;  then,  '  Per  crucis  hoc  signum  [blessing 
himself]  fugiat  procul  omne  malignum.  Infige  crucem 
tuam  in  corde  meo,  Domine ;'  then  returned  again 
to  '  Maria  Mater  gratiae,  Mater  misericordiEe,  tu  nos 
ab  hoste,'  &c.  Then  he  told  the  hangman  he  was 
ready.* 

Within  the  circle  formed  by  St.  Martin-le-Grand, 
the  Grey  Friars  (backed  by  the  priory  of  St.  Bar 
tholomew),  the  Hermitage-in-the-Wall,  Elsing  Spital, 
and  the  Blackfriars,  a  site  we  have  not  yet  visited, 
rose  the  great  cathedral  with  its  cluster  of  smaller 
churches,  St.  Augustine,  St.  Gregory,  St.  Martin, 
Ludgate,  St.  Andrew-  by  -the  -Wardrobe,  St.  Anne,t 
Blackfriars,  St.  Bennet,  Paul's  Wharf.  Around  the 
cathedral  were  the  dwellings  of  the  bishop,  dean, 
and  canons. 

In  314,  Restitutus,  Bishop  of  London,  attended 
the  Council  of  Aries  ;  and  at  Ariminium,  the  Bishop 
of  London  was  present.  The  Saxon  invasion  extin 
guished  the  light  of  Christianity  until,  on  the  con 
version  of  Ethelbert,  Mellitus  was  sent  on  his  all- 
important  mission,  and  the  convert  king,  Sebert, 
erected  the  first  churches  of  London  and  of  West 
minster.  Sebert' s  sons  apostatised  and  persecuted 

*  See  Challoner's  Missionary  Priests,  vol.  ii.  p.  40,  and  Father 
Gerard's  Narrative,  p.  295. 

f  Now  united  with  St.  Andrew -by -the-Wardrobe. 


Necessity  of  Baptism.  1 3  i 

Christians,  their  defection  being  followed  by  that 
of  their  people,  who  fell  into  paganism  for  forty 
years. 

'  He,'  says  Bede,*  '  departing  to  the  everlasting 
Kingdom  of  Heaven,  left  his  three  sons,  who  were 
yet  pagans,  heirs  of  his  temporal  kingdom  on  earth. 
Immediately  on  their  father's  decease  they  began 
openly  to  practise  idolatry  (though,  whilst  he  lived, 
they  had  somewhat  refrained),  and  also  gave  free 
license  to  their  subjects  to  worship  idols.  At  a 
certain  time  these  princes,  seeing  the  Bishop  [of 
London,  Mellitus]  administering  the  Sacrament  to  the 
people  in  the  church,  after  the  celebration  of  Mass, 
and  being  puffed  up  with  rude  and  barbarous  folly, 
spake,  as  the  common  report  is,  thus  unto  him  : 
Why  dost  thou  not  give  us  also  some  of  that  white 
bread  which  thou  didst  give  unto  our  father  Saba 
[Sebert] ,  and  which  thou  dost  not  yet  cease  to  give 
to  the  people  in  the  church  ?  He  answered,  If  ye 
will  be  washed  in  that  wholesome  font  wherein  your 
father  was,  ye  may  likewise  eat  of  this  blessed  bread 
whereof  he  was  a  partaker :  but  if  ye  contemn  the 
lavatory  of  life,  ye  can  in  no  wise  taste  the  bread  of 
life.  We  will  not,  they  rejoined,  enter  into  this 
font  of  water,  for  we  know  we  have  no  need  to  do 
so  ;  but  we  will  eat  of  that  bread  nevertheless.  And 
when  they  had  been  often  and  earnestly  warned  by 

*  Ecclesiastical  History,  lib.  ii.  cap.  v. 


1 3  2   Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu  ities  of  L  ondon . 

the  bishop  that  it  could  not  be,  and  that  no  man 
could  partake  of  this  most  holy  oblation  without 
purification  and  cleansing  by  baptism,  they  at  length, 
in  the  height  of  their  rage,  said  to  him,  "Well,  if 
thou  wilt  not  comply  with  us  in  this  small  matter 
we  ask,  thou  shalt  no  longer  abide  in  our  province 
and  dominions ;  and  straightway  they  expelled  him, 
commanding  that  he  and  all  his  company  should  quit 
their  realm.' 

Chad  restored  Christianity,  and  began  the  line  of 
bishops  whose  sway  extended  to  the  death  of  Bonner. 

Something  may  be  said  here  by  way  of  preface,* 
as  old  St.  Paul's  is  the  first  of  a  chain  of  noble 
edifices  we  shall  visit  (the  Temple  church  and 
Westminster  Abbey  completing  the  series),  distin 
guished  by  the  highest  degree  of  architectural  merit. 
Whence  sprang  the  architecture  of  these  buildings  ? 
The  history  of  art  at  Korne  is  of  a  transition  from 
the  temple  architecture,  based  on  the  Greek  model — 
destitute  of  vaults  and  arches,  and  wholly  unsuited 
to  such  a  worship  as  the  Christian — to  an  internal 
architecture,  in  which  mastery  over  space  was  the 
prevailing  idea.  The  instrument  in  effecting  this 
change  was  the  arch,  which  found  its  highest  ap 
plication  in  the  domed  structures  of  the  Pantheon, 

°  The  substance  of  what  follows  was  contributed  by  the  writer 
to  the  Scottish  Guardian,  February  1867.  Mr.  Hemans'  work  on 
Ancient  Christianity  and  Sacred  Art  and  the  companion  volume 
on  Medieval  Art  are  interesting  sources  of  information. 


Early  Church  Architecture.  133 


the  Temple  of  Minerva  Medica,  and,  passing  the 
boundary  into  Christian  art,  the  church  of  San  Vitale 
at  Kavenna. 

Eoman  architecture  was  not,  like  Egyptian,  rock- 
hewn,  or  piled  up  as  if  in  rivalry  of  nature ;  it  was 
not,  as  the  Greek,  narrowed  and  confined  by  con 
structional  necessities.  It  was,  however,  at  its 
lowest  in  the  palaces  and  baths  of  Diocletian, 
in  which  arches  rested  upon  columns  without  the 
interposition  of  an  entablature.  Detached  columns 
were  used  to  decorate  the  walls,  they  were  sup 
ported  on  brackets,  and  bore  broken  pediments. 
When  Christianity  came  forth  from  the  Catacombs, 
it  found  itself  in  contact  with  this  debased  archi 
tecture  in  the  Basilicas,  the  first  theatres  of  its 
worship.  It  was  long  before  it  was  able  to  con 
front  the  ancient  temples  of  the  city  with  nobler 
edifices  of  its  own.  The  Basilica  was  plain  ;  its  ex 
terior,  save  where  broken  by  the  portal,  a  bare  stretch 
of  unsheltered  wall.  The  ranges  of  columns  were 
the  sole^decoration  of  the  interior.  The  vista  was 
closed  by  a  semi-circular  apse.  Nothing  could  be 
simpler  than  an  edifice  of  this  kind;  the  apse  alone 
demanded  a  vault,  whilst  the  roofing  of  the  rest 
was  of  wood.  The  apse  had  been  occupied  by  the 
judges ;  in  it  was  now  placed  the  throne  of  the 
bishop — flanked  by  the  seats  of  the  inferior  clergy 
— separated  from  the  choir  by  the  altar,  which  stood 


134  Ecclesiastical  Antiqidties  of  London. 

on  the  chord  of  the  apse,  whilst  the  choir  again  was 
separated  from  the  nave  by  a  wall  or  balustrade. 
A  transept  crossed  the  nave  at  right  angles,  and  gave 
the  building  the  form  of  a  cross.  The  faithful  oc 
cupied  the  nave  and  side  aisles,  the  men  on  the 
one  side,  the  women  on  the  other.  In  the  narthex, 
or  porch,  places  were  reserved  for  the  catechumens 
in  their  threefold  ranks,  as  '  hearers'  (audientes), 
'  kneelers'  (genuflectentes),  and  '  chosen'  or  '  petition 
ers'  for  baptism  (electi  vel  competentes).  Widows 
and  virgins  found  their  place  in  the  tribunes, 
which  occupied  a  place  similar  to  that  of  the  trifo- 
rium,  or  blind  story  in  a  Gothic  minster.  Still 
the  church  could  not  forget  the  place  of  her  sojourn ; 
the  altar  assumed  the  form  of  a  tomb,  with  an  ex 
cavation  beneath  it,  destined  to  contain  the  relics  of 
the  martyr  under  whose  dedication  the  temple  was 
placed.  Above  the  altar  rose  a  baldacchino,  or  canopy 
upon  four  columns. 

In  the  Primitive  Church,  baptism  was  given  by 
immersion  only,  and  its  administration  was  confined 
to  the  episcopal  order.  Easter  and  Whitsunday  were 
the  appointed  seasons.  Hence  the  large  dimension  of 
the  baptisteries ;  a  council  could  assemble  in  that  of 
St.  Sophia ;  and  the  greater  part  of  those  in  Italy 
became  churches  when  diverted  from  their  original 
destination.  Their  form  was  generally  circular  or  oc 
tagonal,  fitted  for  the  reception  of  the  font  itself ; 


Early  Church  Architecture.  135 


a  huge  circular  basin,  into  which  those  who  were  to 
be  baptised  descended  as  into  a  bath  —  the  laver 
of  regeneration.  An  angel  revealed,  we  are  told,  to 
Justinian  many  of  the  forms  of  the  great  church 
of  Constantinople ;  the  conception  of  its  giant  cu 
pola  was  suggested  to  the  emperor's  mind  in  a 
dream.  It  seemed  let  down  by  a  golden  chain 
from  heaven.  The  form  of  St.  Sophia's  super 
seded  the  earlier  basilican  form,  introduced  into  the 
East  by  Constantine.  The  Koman  basilica  gradu 
ally  became  cruciform,  more  markedly  than  before, 
by  the  extension  of  the  space  between  the  arch  of 
triumph  at  the  end  of  the  nave  and  the  conch  or 
apse;  the  Greek  church,  square  or  octagonal  in  form, 
broke  by  degrees  into  the  short,  equal-limbed  Greek 
cross.  The  old  cathedral  of  Torcello  at  Venice, 
like  the  St.  Mark's  of  later  date,  was  of  the  Byzan 
tine  form.  Many  of  the  Lombard  churches  of  north 
Italy  were  square,  octagonal,  or  in  the  form  of  a 
Greek  cross. 

Still  on  Italian  soil  the  Latin  basilica  was  vic 
torious  ;  well  for  architecture  that  it  was  so.  The 
screened-off  sanctuary  of  the  Greeks  contributed  as 
little  to  the  artistic  beauty  of  the  Christian  as  did 
the  Holy  of  Holies  to  that  of  the  Jewish  temple. 
In  the  West  the  clergy  were  ranged  round  the 
altar,  elevated  on  a  flight  of  steps,  withdrawn 
from  the  other  worshippers,  above  whom  they  rose 


1 3  6  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquitics  of  London. 

the  visible  embodiment  of  hierarchic  dignity  and 
power. 

To  the  East  we  owe  the  earliest  form  of  modern 
representations  of  our  Lord,  the  Blessed  Virgin,  the 
apostles,  and  the  saints.  In  the  East  arcade  sur 
mounted  arcade,  vault  rose  above  vault,  and  cupola 
towered  above  cupola  ;  paintings,  mosaics,  bas-reliefs 
were  multiplied.  The  Ostrogoth  kings  employed 
Greek  architects  ;  the  exarchs  of  Kavenna  followed 
in  their  train.  It  was  even  from  their  designs  that 
Charlemagne  built  his  cathedral  at  Aix ;  and  when 
the  Crusades  had  thrown  the  East  open  to  the  Italian 
republics,  the  Venetians  raised  St.  Mark's,  and  the 
Pisan  buildings  owed  something  to  Byzantine  in 
fluence. 

Meantime  the  West  was  overrun  by  hordes  from 
Germany.  The  influence  they  exercised  upon  art 
was  great.  From  the  foundation  of  the  new  states 
dates  a  style  of  architecture  to  which  the  name  of 
Lombard  has  been  given.  But  such  a  nomenclature 
is  misleading,  and  it  is  better  to  give  this  style — as 
well  as  our  own  Norman  and  Saxon — the  generic 
name  of  Eomanesque,  or  debased  Roman.  The  ge 
neral  character  of  the  early  churches  of  the  style  is 
that  of  three  aisles  with  an  apsidal  termination,  a 
transept  standing  north  and  south,  an  elongated 
choir  flanked  by  chapels,  at  times  resting  on  a  crypt 
or  subterranean  church ;  the  material  a  rough  stone, 


Early  Church  Architecture.          137 


with  brick  occasionally  worked  in  in  symmetrical  pat 
terns.  The  circular  columns  of  earlier  times  are  ex 
changed  for  massive  square  pillars,  from  which  the 
arches  spring ;  the  cornices  are  supported  by  consols 
without  frieze  or  architrave.  The  heads  of  the  win 
dows  are  circular,  the  doors  square,  but  frequently 
surmounted  by  a  blank  arch.  The  roof,  as  that  of 
the  Basilicas,  was  of  wood.  The  one  novel  feature  was 
the  introduction  of  the  campanile  or  bell-tower,  square 
in  form,  and  terminating  in  a  pyramidal  roof.  The 
position  of  the  tower  was  undetermined ;  it  not  un- 
frequently  stood  apart  by  the  side  of  the  church. 

After  the  death  of  Charlemagne,  the  Norman  in 
roads  threw  art  back,  and  these  ended,  the  fear  that 
the  world  would  close  with  the  tenth  century  pre 
vailed;  but  the  panic  over,  architecture  sprang  up 
with  fresh  life  and  energy,  and  acquired  a  better  de 
nned  and  more  accurate  expression.  The  choir  occu 
pies  a  third  of  the  entire  length  of  the  edifice,  and  is 
lower  than  the  nave.  The  aisles  now  flank  this 
choir  beyond  the  transept,  but  do  not,  as  abroad  at 
a  later  period,  sweep  round  the  apse.  Their  place 
is  occupied  by  detached  chapels.  The  employment 
of  crypts  still  prevails.  The  construction  is  better 
in  some  respects  than  at  an  earlier  period;  but 
tresses,  though  still  but  of  slight  projection,  bind 
the  building  together.  The  bareness  of  the  earlier 
edifice  has  yielded  to  a  rich  fretwork  of  ornamenta- 


138  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

tion,  and  sculpture  abounds  in  every  part.  Blank 
arcading  rests  against,  columns  are  imbedded  in, 
the  wall ;  cornices  are  supported  by  the  grotesque 
figures  of  men  and  animals.  The  roof  is  vaulted, 
and,  to  obviate  an  undue  lateral  thrust,  broken  into 
squares,  bound  together  by  cross  arches,  each  bay 
thus  forming  an  independent  structure,  capable  of 
standing  by  itself  unsupported  by  the  rest  of  the 
building.  Towers  strain  up  to  a  great  height,  one 
at  the  intersection  of  the  arms  of  the  cross,  whilst 
two  others,  with  majestic  'effect,  flank  the  western 
entrance  of  a  great  church.  Men  seemed  no  longer 
to  build  for  time,  but  for  eternity. 

Of  this  age  was  Bishop  Maurice's  St.  Paul's. 

In  961,  the  cathedral  of  London  was  rebuilt,  but 
the  ancient  cathedral,  known  as  'old  St.  Paul's,' 
dates  from  the  appointment  of  that  prelate  in  1080. 
This  unparalleled  edifice  was  nearly  six  hundred 
feet  in  length,  and  the  summit  of  the  spire  rose  to 
little  short  of  five  hundred  feet  from  the  ground. 

The  vault  of  the  nave  and  transepts  was  ninety- 
three  feet,  a  height  exceeded  by  Westminster  Abbey, 
and  inferior  to  that  of  many  foreign  structures. 
The  choir  was  over  one  hundred  feet.  For  the 
building  of  St.  Paul's  the  'Palatine  Tower,'  near 
the  Fleet,  was  destroyed,  and  the  materials  em 
ployed  . 

Kichard  de  Beaumeis   followed  Bishop  Maurice 


Old  St.  Paul's.  139 

as  builder.  He  pulled  down  many  houses  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  church  and  began  the  enclosure,  the 
completion  of  which  was  ordered  by  Edward  II., 
on  account  of  the  robberies  and  murders  that  had 
taken  place  on  this  spot. 

The  choir  was  rebuilt*  and  the  spire  erected  in 
1200  by  Bishop  Roger  Niger.  This  choir  and  spire 
were  called  the  '  new  work.'  Cardinal  Otho,  the  papal 
legate,  St.  Edmund  Rich,  Archbishop  of  Canter 
bury,  six  bishops,  and  Henry  III.  with  his  court, 
were  present  at  the  dedication.  On  certain  saints' 
days  the  choristers  climbed  the  steeple,  and 
chanted  prayers  and  anthems,  as  was  the  ancient 
custom,  still  observed  on  May-day  at  Magdalen 
College,  Oxford.  This  usage  was  restored  under 
Mary,  the  choir  going  '  about  the  steeple'  after 
Vespers,  singing  with  lights,  as  of  old. 

In  1314,  the  cross  on  the  spire  fell,  and  it  was 
found  that  the  spire  itself,  of  wood  covered  with  lead 
(as  were  those  formerly  at  Lincoln),  required  repair, 
or  rather  reconstruction.  The  new  spire  had  relics 
placed  in  the  ball  beneath  the  cross. 

On  Candlemas -eve,  1444,  the  new  spire  was 
struck  by  lightning.  Fortunately,  the  fire  was  ob- 

*  Matthew  Paris  relates  that  '  in  the  first  year  of  King  Stephen, 
. .  .by  a  fire  which  began  at  London-bridge,  the  Church  of  St.  Paul 
was  burned,  and  then  that  fire  spread,  consuming  houses  and 
buildings,  even  unto  the  Church  of  St.  Clement  Danes.' 


140  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

served  by  the  priest  who  went  to  say  the  early  Mass 
at  Bow  church,  who  called  assistance,  and  the  flames 
were  extinguished.  The  steeple,  however,  was  de 
stroyed.  The  restoration  was  not  accomplished 
till  1462. 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral  stood  in  a  space  surrounded 
by  walls.  These  walls  were  erected  at  various  times. 
Paternoster-row  was  the  line  of  wall  to  the  north ; 
Carter-lane  to  the  south.  At  the  north-west  was  the 
Bishop's  Palace,  to  the  east  of  which  was  the 
'Pardon  churchyard,'  adorned  by  the  famous  'Dance 
of  Death.'  In  the  space  enclosed  by  this  cloister, 
Thomas  More,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  in  Henry  Y.'s 
reign,  restored  an  ancient  chapel.  He  died  ere  the 
work  was  completed.  It  was,  however,  continued  by 
his  executors.  Jenkyn  Carpenter,  a  citizen,  pro 
vided  funds  for  painting  the  cloister  with  the  '  Dance 
of  Death.'  Numerous  examples  existed  of  such  a 
painting  in  the  middle  age — at  Lucerne,  Basle,  Berne, 
Paris  ;  and  the  English  work  doubtless  gave  its  grave 
lesson  to  the  spectator  with  equal  force  and  in  as 
inartistic  a  guise. 

We  may  give  a  brief  account  of  that  at  Paris,  the 
example  followed  at  St.  Paul's.  The  Cemetery  of 
the  Innocents  at  Paris  was  enclosed  by  a  wall  by 
Philip  Augustus.  At  a  later  date  a  vaulted  gallery 
was  constructed  around  it  by  the  Marechal  de  Bouci- 
caut  and  Nicholas  Flamel.  This  gallery  was  called 


'  Dance  oj  Death!  141 


the  '  Charnier,'  and  became  a  place  of  interment  for 
persons  of  wealth.  In  the  Charnier  at  Paris  the 
'  Dance  of  Death'  was  painted,  and  the  marble  effigy 
of  a  skeleton  was  sculptured  by  Germain  Pilon.  In 
the  midst  of  the  cemetery  was  a  stone  lantern  twenty 
feet  in  height.* 

Mediaeval  representations  of  the  'Dance  of  Death' 
probably  owe  their  origin  to  the  terror  implanted  in 
men's  hearts  by  the  ravages  of  the  great  pestilence 
of  1348.  It  is  strange  that  we  should  owe  to  the  same 
plague  the  suggestion  of  the  Decameron  of  Boc 
caccio,  t 

At  St.  Paul's,  Death  was  seen  to  lead  away  in 
double  file  such  personages  as  the  pope,  emperor, 
cardinal,  king,  patriarch,  constable,  archbishop, 
baron,  princess,  bishop,  squire,  abbot,  abbess,  bailiff, 
astronomer,  burgess,  secular  canon,  merchant,  Car 
thusian,  sergeant,  monk,  usurer,  physician,  gentle 
woman,  lawyer,  parson,  juror,  minstrel,  labourer, 
child,  young  clerk,  hermit — most  awful  of  all,  '  the 
king'  was  '  eaten  of  worms.'  The  fatal  procession 
closed  with  the  moral  of  the  whole,  drawn  by  *  Mac- 
habree  the  doctor. 't  Beneath  were  explanatory  rhymes 

*  Cf.  Dictionnaire  topographique  et  historique  de  VAncien  Paris, 
par  Frederic  Lock.  Art.  Marche  et  Fontaine  des  Innocents. 

f  Mr.  Arnold's  English  Literature,  p.  79. 

|  This  was  really  St.  Macarius,  who  appears  in  Orgagna's  fresco 
in  the  Campo  Santo  at  Pisa.  Sir  Thomas  More  alludes  to  the  Dance 


1 42  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqidties  of  London. 

by  Dan  Lydgate,  the  poet  monk  of  Bury.*  In  this 
cloister,  says  Stow,  were  buried  many  persons,  some 
of  worship,  and  others  of  honour  :  the  monuments  of 
whom,  in  number  and  curious  workmanship,  passed 
all  others  that  were  in  that  church.  Over  the  east 
walk  of  the  cloister  was  a  library,  founded  by  Walter 
Skerrington,  chancellor  of  the  duchy  of  Lancaster  in 
Henry  YI.'s  reign. 

Paul's-alley  led  to  Paternoster-row  from  the 
postern  of  the  cathedral.  East  of  the  '  Pardon  church 
yard'  was  the  college  of  minor  canons,  close  by 
which  was  the  chapel  called — as  that  in  the  Ce 
metery  of  the  Innocents — the  Charnel,  and  beyond 
that,  Paul's-cross.  A  gate  in  Canon-alley  led  to  the 
north  door  of  the  church.  The  '  little  gate'  led  to 
Cheapside,  whilst  St.  Austen's-gate  led  to  the  church 
in  Watling-street.  On  the  east  side  of  the  enclosure 
were  St.  Paul's  school  and  the  belfry,  with  the 


of  Death  at  St.  Paul's.    Shakespeare  is  thought  to  refer  to  a  repre 
sentation  of  the  kind  in  Measure  for  Measure,  act  iii.  sc.  1 : 
'  Thou  art  Death's  fool ; 

For  him  thou  labourest  by  thy  flight  to  shun, 

And  yet  runn'st  towards  him  still.' 
There  was  a  Dance  of  Death  at  Stratford. 

*  Lydgate,  in  his  poem,  '  The  Cominge  of  the  King  out  of 
France  to  London,'  describes  the  entrance  of  Henry  VI.  into  the 
metropolis  in  February  1432.  In  his  '  London  Lyckpenny'  he  de 
scribes  the  ill-success  of  a  poor  legal  suitor  in  London.  By  these 
poems  and  his  verses  at  St.  Paul's  he  has  conferred  on  the  London 
antiquary  a  threefold  obligation. 


The  Belfry.  1 43 


'  Jesus  bells' — a  square  '  clochier'  with  a  timber 
spire,  and  the  figure  of  St.  Paul  on  the  top.  The 
'  Jesus  bells'  are  said  by  Stow  to  have  been  won 
by  Sir  Miles  Partridge  of  Henry  VIII.  on  a  cast 
of  dice  against  100L  Sir  Miles  was  hung  with 
Sir  Kalph  Vane  on  Tower-hill,  February  26,  1551. 
The  dormitory,  refectory,  kitchen,  bakehouse,  and 
brewery  were  to  the  south  with  the  cloister,  chapter 
house,  and  church  of  St.  Gregory.*  To  the  bakehouse 
specially  belonged  the  churches  of  Bosham,  Houton, 
Beres,  and  Wenynton  in  Essex.  To  the  west  were 
the  houses  of  the  residentiaries.  The  deanery  to  the 
south-west  was  secured  from  intrusion  by  '  Paul's 
Chain.'  Close  by  the  west  front  were  two  massive 
stone  towers — one  incorporated  with  the  Bishop's 
Palace,  the  other  known  as  the  '  Lollards'  Tower.' 

Mention  is  made  in  the  Grey  Friars'  Chronicle  of 
'  Peter  College,  near  the  Dean's  place  in  Paul's 
churchyard.'  There  is  some  doubt  as  to  what  is 
meant  by  this.  Stow  also  makes  mention  of  it. 
Nichols  conjectures  that  it  was  '  Petty-Canon's  Col 
lege'  (corrupted  into  Peter's) ;  but  the  college  of 
minor  canons  was  to  the  east  of  the  '  Pardon  church  - 

*  Hard  by  Notre  Dame  at  Paris  were  two  churches,  St.  Jean- 
le-Rond  and  St.  Denis-du-Pas.  The  situation  of  these  was  simi 
lar  to  that  of  St.  Gregory  and  the  original  church  of  St.  Faith. 
Fuller  says,  St.  Paul's  was  '  truly  the  mother  church,  having 
one  babe  in  her  body,  St.  Faith's,  and  another  in  her  arms,  St. 
Gregory's.' 


144  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

yard.'  Whatever  it  was,  Peter's  College  was  on  the 
site  of  Stationers'  Hall. 

When  the  Bishop  came  to  St.  Paul's,  he  was  re 
ceived  hy  the  clergy  in  procession  at  the  west  door, 
and  conducted  to  the  high  altar,  where  he  knelt 
whilst  the  customary  prayers  were  said,  or,  if  there 
was  no  procession,  he  was  greeted  by  the  ringing  of 
the  bells. 

The  Nave  of  twelve  bays  was  a  fine  example 
of  Eomanesque.  The  triforium  consisted  of  a 
single  arch  in  each  bay,  as  at  Norwich  and  Wal- 
tham.  The  clerestory  windows  were  pointed,  and — • 
latterly  at  least — were  destitute  of  mullions.  The 
nave  was  simply  vaulted.*  There  was  a  great 
cross  in  the  nave,  the  lights  before  which  were 
maintained  by  an  endowment  in  land.  To  the 
left  of  the  nave  was  the  most  beautiful  chantry 
chapel  in  the  cathedral,  founded  by  Bishop  Thomas 
Kemp,  and  served  daily  by  the  Bishop  of  Lon 
don's  confessor.  Here  Mass  was  said  for  the 
good  estate  of  King  Edward  IV.,  and  Elizabeth  his 
wife,  and  for  the  Bishop  of  London,  during  life  and 
after  death,  for  the  souls  of  the  king's  progenitors, 
for  the  parents  and  benefactors  of  the  said  bishop, 
and  for  all  the  faithful  departed.  This  chantry  was 

0  There  was  probably  originally  a  roof  of  the  same  type  as  at 
Peterborough  and  Ely.  For  this  a  vaulting  of  wood  or  stone  would 
be  substituted  when  the  clerestory  was  rebuilt. 


The  Central  Tower.  145 

supported  by  a  hundred  and  seventy  acres  of  forest 
and  meadow  land  in  the  county  of  Essex.  To  the 
right  of  the  nave  was  the  image  of  our  Lady,  with 
its  lamp  perpetually  burning,  and  the  coffer  for 
oblations  beneath.  Behind  this  image  was  the  low 
altar-tomb  of  Sir  John  Beauchamp,  son  of  Guy, 
Earl  of  Warwick,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Order  of 
the  Garter,  with  his  effigy  in  armour  above,  and 
sculptured  shields  in  the  midst  of  the  panels  be 
neath.  This  was  popularly  but  erroneously  known 
as  Duke  Humphrey's  tomb.* 

The  great  central  Tower  was  supported  by  four 
arches.  The  tower  alone  was  upwards  of  two  hun 
dred  and  eighty  feet  :  to  this  height  the  spire  of 
wood  covered  with  lead  added  two  hundred  and 
eight  feet.  The  lower  stage  of  the  tower  was  se 
cured  from  yielding  to  the  enormous  weight  imposed 
upon  it  by  flying  buttresses  from  the  summit  of  the 
walls  of  nave,  choir,  and  transepts.!  At  the  base  of 
the  spire,  above  the  stonework,  was  a  dial  with  the 
figure  of  an  angel  pointing  to  the  hours,  both  of  day 
and  night. 

The   Transept,  of  five  bays  on  either   side,  was 

*  Duke  Humphrey's  tomb,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  exist 
ence,  is  on  the  south  side  of  the  '  Saints'  Chapel'  at  St.  Albans. 

•f  The  tower  was  of  two  stages,  of  which  the  lower  was  pro 
bably  open  to  the  interior  of  the  church.  Here  the  windows — three 
on  each  face— mullioned  and  transorued,  were  of  great  length. 

L 


146  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

partially  Norman,  as  the  nave.*  Longer  than 
that  of  any  other  of  our  cathedrals,  the  transept 
of  St.  Paul's  was  probably  of  the  same  altitude 
as  the  choir.  In  the  north  transept,  as  at  West 
minster,  was  a  great  crucifix.  In  1527,  Sebastian 
Harris,  curate  of  Kensington,  was  found  to  have  in 
his  possession  '  the  New  Testament  translated  by 
William  Hechym,'  an  edition  of  scripture  whose 
circulation  in  their  dioceses  was  prohibited  by  the 
English  bishops,  and  a  copy  of  the  Unio  Dissiden- 
tiiim.  He  was  cited  to  appear  before  the  Vicar- 
General  in  the  long  chapel,  near  the  north  door  of 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral :  there  to  make  oath  that  he 
would  not  retain  those  books  any  longer  in  his 
possession,  nor  sell  them,  nor  lend  them,  nor  form 
any  acquaintance  with  persons  suspected  of  heresy ; 
and  he  was  farther  adjudged,  under  pain  of  excom 
munication,  not  to  stay  in  London  longer  than  one 
day  and  a  night,  and  that  he  should  not  be  suffered 
to  come  within  four  miles  of  London  for  the  space 
of  two  years.f 

This  probably  refers  to  the  chapel  founded  by 
the  Walter  Skerrington  mentioned  above.  The  two 
chantry  priests  discharged  the  office  of  librarians. 

*  The  gables — each  with  a  spacious  doorway  and  mullioned 
window — were  of  later  date.  Indeed,  externally  the  transept  ap 
pears  to  have  been  entirely  recast. 

t  Faulkner's  History  and  Antiquities  of  Kensington,  pp.  209-10. 


The  Choir.  147 


East  of  the  transept,  the  church  was  divided  by 
screens  into  three  parts — the  Choir  of  seven   bays, 
the  Retro-choir  of  three,  and  the  Lady  Chapel   of 
two.      The  vista  clos'ed  in  a  splendid  circular  win 
dow,*  beneath  which  were  seven  narrow  trifoliated 
lights.     Both  in  the  clerestory  and  in  the  aisles, 
the    windows,    of  large    dimensions,    consisted    of 
three  lights,   with   three   trifoliated   circles   in    the 
heads.!      Externally,  the   choir  was    supported    by 
flying  buttresses  of  bold  projection.      The  ascent  to 
the  choir  was  by  twelve  steps,  whilst  above  rose  the 
ornate  screen,  which  extended  to  the  aisles.    The  choir 
was  simply  vaulted  as  the  nave.    The  organ  probably 
stood  above  the  stalls  on  the  north  of  the  choir.     At 
the  extremity  of  the  south  aisle  of  the  choir  was  the 
chapel  of  St.  Dunstan,  with  the  tomb  of  Henry  de 
Lacy,  Earl  of  Lincoln,  adorned  by  a  series  of  niches 
and  statues.      In  the  same  aisle  were  the  recessed 
tombs   of  Eustace   de    Fauconberg   and    Henry   de 
Wengham — both  Bishops  of  London.      In  the  north 
aisle  of  the  choir  were  the  tombs  embedded  in  the 
wall  of  Kalph  de  Hengham  and  Sir  Simon  Burley. 
Farther  on  were  the  sarcophagi  of  Sebba  and  Ethelred. 
The  high  altar  of  great  magnificence  was  adorned  by 

*  The  only  other  example  in  England  of  a  wheel  window  in 
this  position  is  at  Durham.  There  is  an  example  in  France,  at 
Laon. 

f  There  were  four  openings  in  each  bay  of  the  triforium  under 
two  enclosing  arches. 


1 4 8  Ecclesiastic^ I  An tiqu ities  of  L ondon . 


a  tablet  ornamented  by  pictures,  and  sparkling  with 
jewels,  the  whole  surmounted  by  an  oaken  canopy, 
the  gift  of  Bichard  Pikerell,  a  citizen  in  Edward  II. 's 
reign.  To  the  right  of  the  altar  was  a  picture  of  St. 
Paul,  enshrined  in  a  tabernacle  of  wood.  In  the 
choir  were  the  monuments  of  Bishop  Boger  Niger,* 
of  John  of  Gaunt  and  his  wife  Constance,  and  of 
Canon  Boger  de  Waltham,  in  a  chantry  founded 
in  honour  of  God  and  our  Lady,  St.  Laurence  and 
All  Saints.  Here  were  images  or  statues  of  our 
blessed  Saviour,  St.  John  Baptist,  St.  Laurence, 
and  St.  Mary  Magdalen  :  so  likewise  paintings  of  the 
celestial  hierarchy,  the  joys  of  the  blessed  Virgin, 
and  others,  both  in  the  roof,  about  the  altar,  and 
other  places  within  and  without. t 

When  the  dean  of  St.  Paul's  entered  the  choir  of 
his  cathedral,  all  present  rose.  When  he  was  seated 
in  his  stall,  every  one  on  entering,  either  from  east 
or  west,  saluted  him,  and  the  same  rule  was  observed 

*  This  monument  formed  part  of  the  enclosure  of  the  choir. 
It  was  surmounted  hy  a  highly  ornate  parclose.  John  of  Gaunt's 
monument,  richly  canopied,  was  immediately  to  the  north  of  the 
altar. 

f  The  stalls  occupied  only  the  three  bays  of  the  choir  farthest 
west.  The  sanctuary  was  raised  six  steps  above  the  level  of  this 
portion  of  the  choir.  The  fifth  bay  from  the.  west  was  wider  than 
any  other  of  the  series.  It  would  almost  have  seemed  as  if  an 
eastern  transept  had  been  designed,  as  at  York,  Lincoln,  Canter 
bury,  Rochester,  Wells,  and  Salisbury,  and  the  intention  afterwards 
abandoned,  did  not  this  spot  mark  the  transition  from  Norman  to 
Early  English  in  the  crypt  below. 


The  Dignitaries.  149 

on  leaving  the  choir.  In  the  absence  of  the  bishop, 
the  dean  said  the  Confiteor  in  choir,  and  gave  the 
benediction  to  the  gospeller. 

On  entering,  the  canons  residentiary  knelt  in 
the  midst  of  the  choir  before  the  Blessed  Sacrament. 
They  then  turned  to  the  west,  and  saluted  the  dean 
in  his  stall.  It  was  only  on  obtaining  permission 
of  the  dean,  or,  in  his  absence,  of  the  senior  canon 
in  residence,  that  a  member  of  the  chapter  could 
leave  choir  during  service.  If  the  dean  told  any 
residentiary  that  he  was  to  assist  at  high  Mass,  such 
a  command  met  with  prompt  obedience  ;  other  than 
the  usual  singers,  if  present  in  the  choir  of  St. 
Paul's,  had  to  come  in  surplices.  In  processions 
there  was  to  be  no  talk  or  intermixture  with  the 
laity,  as  it  was  deemed  unbecoming,  on  an  occasion 
when  God  and  man  were  alike  witnesses,  for  canons 
to  turn  their  thoughts  to  aught  else  than  prayer. 
These  rules  were  enforced  by  the  dean,  with  whom 
lay  the  punishment  of  offenders. 

On  festivals  of  saints,  to  direct  the  choir,  to  sing 
the  invitatory,  and  chant  the  last  response  at  matins, 
four  cantors  took  up  their  stations.  For  the  re 
sponses  at  vespers,  the  cantor  chose  four  of  the 
leading  members  of  the  choir.  If  the  bishop  were 
present,  these  last  sang  the  responses  with  the 
assistance  of  the  dean.  At  first  and  second  vespers, 
at  matins,  and  the  other  hours  the  versicles  were 


150  Ecclesiastical  Antiqiiities  of  London. 

said  by  four  boys  in  surplices.  Two  priests  with 
thuribles  went  to  cense  the  altar  at  the  Magnificat 
and  Benedictus,  and  the  antiphon  was  sung  entire 
before  and  after  both  of  these.  At  the  procession 
there  were  two  cross-bearers,  two  thurifers,  three 
deacons,  and  three  sub-deacons  in  albs ;  at  Mass, 
three  deacons,  three  sub-deacons,  and  three  acolytes. 
On  festivals  of  the  second  class,  at  Mass,  the  choir 
were  vested  in  copes,  three  deacons  sang  the  Gradual, 
and  three  canons  the  Alleluia.  The  sacred  ministers 
were  a  deacon  and  sub-deacon.  All  festivals  of  the 
first,  second,  third,  and  fourth  class,  all  the  year 
through,  had  nine  lections,  except  from  Easter  to 
Pentecost,  during  which  time  there  were  only  three 
lections  at  matins.  The  canons  were  to  be  diligent 
in  keeping  the  hours  and  celebrating  the  divine 
office  with  humility  and  devotion.  They  were  to 
make  haste  to  the  church  as  soon  as  the  bell  rang ; 
they  were  not  to  enter  the  church  with  haughtiness, 
disorder,  or  careless  gait,  but  with  reverence  and  in 
the  fear  of  God,  and  this  decorum  was  to  be  observed 
by  night  as  well  as  by  day.  Only  the  infirm  might 
carry  sticks.  They  were  alike  to  come,  to  stand,  to 
say  the  psalms  with  the  utmost  devotion.  Through 
out  the  recital  of  the  psalms  they  stood  erect,  facing 
north  and  south,  but  they  turned  to  the  east  and 
bowed  at  the  Gloria.  They  wore  the  surplice  and  a 
cope,  that  might  not  be  of  excessive  length,  in  choir. 


Roger  de  Waltham.  1 5 


The  canons  shaved  close,  long  hair  and  a  beard  being 
symbolic  of  the  multitude  of  sins.  From  St.  Mi 
chael  to  Easter-eve,  they  came  in  black  copes ;  from 
Easter  to  St.  Michael  inclusive,  on  festivals  on  which 
there  were  nine  lections,  and  those  so  reckoned,  at 
Easter,  and  on  Sundays  they  were  to  come  to  the 
day  offices,  and  also  to  matins  on  Holy  Trinity  and 
the  other  chief  festivals  till  the  Assumption  inclusive, 
in  white.  When  matins  were  said  over  night,  they 
wore  black.  The  great  bell  rang  for  vespers.* 

In  the  south  wall  opposite  his  chantry,  Roger  de 
Waltham,  whom  we  have  mentioned  above,  erected 
'  a  glorious  tabernacle,  which  contained  the  blessed 
Virgin,  sitting,  as  it  were,  in  child-bed  ;  as  also  of 
our  Saviour  in  swadling  clothes,  lying  between  the 
oxe  and  the  ass,  and  St.  Joseph  at  her  feet ;  above 
which  was  another  image  of  her,  standing,  with  the 
Child  in  her  arms.  And  on  the  beame,  thwarting 
from  the  upper  end  of  the  oratory  to  the  before- speci 
fied  child-bed,  placed  the  crowned  images  of  our 
Saviour  and  His  Mother,  sitting  in  one  tabernacle, 
as  also  the  images  of  St.  Katharine  and  St.  Margaret, 
virgins  and  martyrs  ;  neither  was  there  any  part  of 
the  said  oratory,  or  roof  thereof,  but  he  caused  it  to 
be  beautified  with  comely  pictures  and  images,  to  the 

*  The  above  is  freely  rendered  from  the  Excerpta  ex  Eegistro 
Consuetudinum  Ecclesice  8.  Pauli  Londonensis,  printed  at  the  close 
of  Rock's  Church  of  our  Fathers. 


1 5 '^  Ecclesiastica I  An tiqu ities  of  Lo ndo n . 

end  that  the  memory  of  our  blessed  Saviour  and  His 
saints,  and  especially  of  the  glorious  Virgin,  His 
Mother,  might  be  alwaies  the  more  famous :  in 
which  oratory  he  designed  that  his  sepulture  should 
be.  The  two  perpetual  chaplains  of  Canon  Koger  de 
"Waltham  celebrated  Mass  for  the  souls  of  the  fore 
fathers  and  friends  of  the  said  Koger,  and  for  the 
health  of  this  Koger  whilst  he  shall  live,  and  for  his 
soul  and  the  souls  of  the  above  mentioned  after 
death, — with  which  chaplains  in  the  said  chapel 
there  were  the  following  ornaments,  which  were 
blessed  by  the  said  Sir  Koger,  and  assigned  for  ever 
to  the  said  chantry,  namely  :  two  pair  of  complete 
vestments,  one  for  daily  use,  consisting  of  a  chasuble 
of  gold  cloth  upon  canvas,  with  a  cloth  of  a  similar 
kind  to  hang  in  front  of  the  altar,  with  linen  sown  to 
it ;  towels  to  cover  the  altar,  and  for  the  vestments  to 
be  folded  up  in,  with  alb,  amice,  stole,  maniple,  &c., 
with  a  thread  girdle  and  two  altar  towels,  one  of 
which  had  a  frontal  of  plain  gold  bordering.  The 
other  principal  vestment  had  a  chasuble  of  gold  cloth 
upon  silk;  one  missal,  price  xxs. ;  a  chalice  and 
paten,  the  greater  part  gilt,  weighing  xxs.  ;  and  worth 
xxxs.,  a  brasier,  value  iiis.,  two  blessed  corporals  in 
a  case,  two  new  hand-towels,  a  box  for  altar  beads, 
two  new  pewter  cruets,  and  a  small  suspended  bell, 
a  good  key  to  the  chapel  door,  for  all  which  the  afore 
said  chaplains  and  their  successors  are  for  ever  to 


The  Cloister.  153 


answer,  according  to  the  oath  which  they  took  on 
their  admission  to  the  chantry.'* 

The  Cloister  stood  between  the  nave  and  the  south 
transept.  It  had  a  unique  feature,  two  stones  of 
open  arches.  In  the  centre  stood  the  chapter-house, 
exceedingly  lofty,  with  gables  over  each  window. 
The  entrance  was  from  the  east  walk  of  the  cloister. 
Latterly  the  chapter-house  was  divested  of  its  coni 
cal  capping.  The  angle  buttresses  were  pinnacled. 
Beneath  was  a  cr}pt. 

When  a  canon  had  been  elected,  he  presented 
the  bishop's  letter  to  the  dean  and  members  of  the 
chapter.  He  then  came  to  the  chapter-house  itself, 
was  given  a  copy  of  the  rule  on  which  bread — after 
wards  given  to  the  poor — was  placed,  and  he  was 
admitted  in  these  words  :  '  Nos  recipimus  te  in  ca- 
nonicum  et  fratem,  et  tradimus  tibi  regularis  obser- 
vantiae  formam  in  volumine  isto  contentam  pro  cibo 
spiritual!,  et  in  remedium  laboris,  refectionem  in 
pane  corporalem.'  The  dean,  or  a  canon  deputed  by 
the  chapter  for  the  purpose,  then  led  him  to  the 
choir,  where  he  was  installed. 

When  there  was  a  vacancy  in  the  office  of  dean, 
the  canons  assembled  in  the  chapter-house  to  elect  a 
successor.  If  there  were  no  canonical  obstacle,  and 

*  Portions  of  the  hangings  of  St.  Paul's  exist  at  Aix  in  Pro 
vence  and  in  the  cathedral  of  Valencia  : — for  a  notice  of  those  at 
Valencia,  see  Mr.  Street's  Gothic  Architecture  in  Spain,  p.  267. 


154  Ecclesiastical  Antiqidties  of  London. 

the  election  were  confirmed,  the  bishop  with  the 
canons  present  led  the  dean-elect  to  the  altar,  where 
the  Te  Deum  was  sung,  the  new  dean  kneeling  and 
praying  the  while.  The  Lord's  Prayer  followed,  and 
then  '  Salvum  fac  servum  tuum  Domine,  esto  ei 
turris  fortitudinis  ;  nihil  proficiet  inimicus  :  Domine 
Deus  virtutum  :  Domine  exaudi  orationem  meam : 
Dominus  vobiscum.  Oremus. 

*  Miserere  quaesumus  Domine  famulo  tuo  N.  et 
dirige  eum  secundum  tuarn  clementiam  in  viam 
salutis  seternse,  ut  te  donante  tibi  placita  cupiat,  et 
quse  tibi  placita  sunt  tota  dilectione  perficiat,  per 
Christum,  &c.' 

The  dean  then  rose  and  kissed  the  altar,  whence 
he  was  conducted  to  his  seat,  and  installed  by  the 
bishop  or  some  one  else  commissioned  for  the  pur 
pose. 

In  the  north  choir  aisle  lay,  as  we  have  seen, 
Ethelred  and  Sebba.  The  name  of  the  latter  suggests 
that  of  St.  Erconwald,  son  of  Anna,  King  of  the 
East  Angles.  He  retired  to  the  territory  of  the  East 
Saxons,  where  he  founded  the  monastery  of  Chertsey 
in  Surrey,  and  the  convent  of  Barking  in  Essex,  of 
which  his  sister  Edelburga  became  abbess.  King 
Sebba  summoned  him  from  his  retirement  at  Chert 
sey,  and  St.  Theodore  consecrated  him  Bishop  of 
London. 

Sebba,  or  Sebbi,  was  King  of  the  East  Saxons ; 


The  Chantries.  155 


after  a  reign  of  thirty  years,  he  resigned  his  crown 
to  his  sons,  Sigeard  and  Sinfrid,  and  received  the 
monastic  habit  from  Waldhere,  the  successor  of  St. 
Erconwald.  Two  years  later  (697)  he  died.  His 
monument  in  St.  Paul's  bore  the  inscription  :  '  Here 
lies  Sebba,  King  of  the  East  Saxons,  who  was  con 
verted  to  the  faith  by  St.  Erconwald,  Bishop  of  Lon 
don,  in  677, — a  man  very  devout  to  God,  and  fer 
vent  in  acts  of  religion,  constant  prayers,  and  pious 
alms-deeds.  He  preferred  a  monastic  life  to  the 
riches  of  a  kingdom,  and  took  the  religious  habit 
from  Waldhere,  Bishop  of  London,  who  had  succeeded 
Erconwald.' 

The  chantries  at  St.  Paul's  were  very  numerous. 
They  were  the  creation  of  all  the  wealthy  classes  of 
the  community.  Henry  IV.  founded  a  chantry  for 
the  souls  of  his  father  and  mother.  The  chantries 
at  St.  Paul's  were  not  confined  to  the  interior  of  the 
church.  The  chapel  in  the  '  Pardon  churchyard,' 
dedicated  to  St.  Anne  and  St.  Thomas  of  Canter 
bury,  of  which  mention  has  been  already  made,  took 
the  place,  it  is  said,  of  an  older  chapel,  built  by 
Gilbert  a  Becket,  the  father  of  St.  Thomas.  Chaucer 
says  of  his  poor  parson  : 

'  He  sette  not  his  benefice  to  hire, 
And  let  his  sheep  accumbred  in  the  mire, 
And  ran  unto  London  unto  St.  Poule's 
To  seeken  him  a  chantery  for  souls, 
Or  with  a  brotherhood  to  be  •withold. ' 


1 56   Ecclesiast ica I  An tiqu ities  of  L ondon . 

There  was  a  fraternity  of  clerks  attached  to  St. 
Paul's.  When  any  member  of  the  brotherhood  died, 
those  in  the  same  orders  came  in  surplices  and  car 
ried  him  from  his  house  to  the  cathedral,  where  the 
guild  assembled,  and  the  funeral  service  was  per 
formed  '  plene  et  solempniter.'  At  St.  Paul's  were 
relics  of  St.  Paul,  the  blessed  Virgin,  St.  John  the 
Evangelist,  St.  Ethelbert,  St.  Mellitus,  St.  Thomas 
of  Canterbury.  The  reliquaries  were  of  crystal.  The 
relic  of  the  blessed  Virgin  was  contained  in  a  crystal 
vessel,  supported  by  figures  of  an  angel,  of  St.  Paul, 
and  St.  Peter.  This  must  have  been  a  monstrance 
reliquary,  slimmer  in  form  but  similar  in  design  to 
an  ordinary  monstrance.  The  figure  of  the  angel 
was  probably  beneath,  and  that  of  an  apostle  on  each 
side  of  the  crystal.  The  relic  of  St.  Ethelbert  was 
contained  in  a  silver-gilt  case,  in  which  were  set 
many  precious  jewels.  The  following  letter  was 
written  by  Dr.  John  Smythe,  canon  residentiary, 
to  Sir  Edward  Baynton,  Ann  Boleyn's  vice-cham 
berlain  :  '  After  my  right  hearty  recommendation ; 
whereas  the  king's  grace,  by  instruction,  hath  in 
knowledge  of  a  precious  little  cross,  with  a  crucifix, 
all  of  pure  gold,  with  a  rich  ruby  in  the  side,  and 
garnished  with  four  great  diamonds,  four  great 
emeralds,  and  four  large  ballasses,  with  twelve  great 
orient  pearls,  &c.  :  which  cross  is  in  our  church 
among  other  jewels ;  and  upon  the  king's  high  affec- 


Relics.  157 


tion  and  pleasure  at  the  sight  of  the  same,  I,  with 
others  of  my  brethren  residentiaries,  had  yesterday  in 
commandment,  by  the  mouth  of  Mr.  Secretary,  in 
the  king's  name,  to  be  with  his  grace,  with  the  same 
cross  to-morrow.  I  secretly  asserten  you,  and  my 
loving  master  and  trusty  friend,  that,  by  mine  especial 
instruction,  conveyance,  and  labours,  his  grace  shall 
have  high  pleasure  therein,  to  the  accomplishment  of 
his  affection  in  and  of  the  same,  of  our  free  gift, 
trusting  only  in  his  charitable  goodness  always  to  be 
shewed  to  our  church  of  St.  Paul,  and  to  the  ministers 
of  the  same  in  their  just  and  reasonable  causes  and 
suits.'  Dr.  Smythe  proceeds  to  the  consideration 
of  his  own  private  interests,  which  he  makes  of  im 
portance  to  his  correspondent.  '  If  you  can  speed 
with  me,  I  shall  give  you  two  years'  farm  rent  of  my 
prebend  of  Alkennings,  and  so  forth,  as  I  shall  find 
your  goodness  unto  me.' 

In  the  Lady  chapel  seven  lights  were  constantly 
maintained  in  honour  of  our  Lady  and  St.  Laurence. 
On  high  festivals,  after  saying  the  antiphon  and 
Magnificat,  two  of  the  canons,  in  silk  copes,  kissed 
and  censed  the  altar  at  the  porch.  They  then  pro 
ceeded  to  the  sacristy,  and  thence  to  the  shrine  of 
St.  Erconwald  and  the  altar  of  the  blessed  Virgin 
in  succession  ;  then  to  the  altars  that  stood  next 
without.  They  then  entered  the  presbytery,  saying 
the  DC  Profundis  and  the  prayer  Dens  qni  inter 


1 5  8  Ecclesiastical  A ntiquities  of  L ondon. 

apostolicos,  if  time  allowed.  Meanwhile  the  antiphon 
was  heing  sung.  This  ended,  the  same  canons  went 
to  the  tomb  of  Bishop  Koger  Niger,  and  said  the 
antiphon  Corpora  sanctorum.  At  the  Magnificat 
they  proceeded  to  the  high  altar,  and,  kneeling  on 
the  highest  step,  said  the  antiphon  Gloriosi  princeps, 
and  the  prayer  Dem  cujus  dextrd. 

The  shrine  of  St.  Erconwald  was  a  chief  glory  of 
old  St.  Paul's.  His  body  lay  originally  in  the  crypt 
or  undercroft.  When  it  was  translated  with  great 
magnificence,  in  Stephen's  reign,  A.D.  1148,  it  was 
placed  immediately  behind  the  high  altar.  This 
arrangement  is  deserving  of  remark,  as  differing 
from  that  of  St.  Edward's  shrine  at  Westminster, 
from  St.  Alban's,  or  from  that  of  St.  Thomas  at 
Canterbury.  It  resembled  that  of  St.  Hugh's  shrine 
at  Lincoln.*  A  picture  of  Van  Eyck's  represents 
a  shrine  similarly  placed  at  St.  Deny's.  The  shrine 
itself  formed  the  reredos  or  superfrontal  of  the  altar 
— being  thus  a  modification  of  the  ciborium,  or  altar 
canopy,  as  we  see  it  at  Vienna,  Eatisbon,  Marburg, 
and  elsewhere — or  was  separated  from  the  altar  by  the 
reredos,  which  was  then  covered  by  the  metal-work  of 
which  the  Pala  d'Oro  at  Venice  is  the  earliest  example. 

With  the  extension  of  the  church  to  the  eastward, 

*  The  shrine  of  St.  Paulinus  at  Rochester  would  also  appear 
to  have  been  originally  placed  similarly  to  that  of  St.  Erconwald. 
St.  Cuthbert's  shrine  at  Durham  occupied  this  position. 


St.  Erconwald' s  Shrine.  159 

it  appears  that  the  relics  of  St.  Erconwald  were  also 
removed.  The  fact  of  the  earlier  translation  from  the 
crypt  we  learn  from  a  passage  in  the  Nova  Legenda 
Anglice,  which  informs  us  that,  whilst  the  hodyof  St. 
Erconwald  yet  lay  in  the  crypt,  a  painter  was  occu 
pied  on  one  occasion  in  painting  the  vault  overhead. 
'  Meanwhile,  the  day  of  this  holy  father  Erconwald 
came  round  in  due  course.  No  one  celebrated  Mass 
there  on  that  day  ;  the  altar  was  stripped,  on  account 
of  the  scaffolding  erected  for  the  painter.  An  in 
numerable  multitude  of  both  sexes  assembled  at  the 
oratory,  with  the  intention  of  saying  their  prayers 
there  ;  they  carried  lights  and  their  offerings  in  their 
hands,  but  failed  to  obtain  admittance,  for  the 
painter  locked  the  door,'  &c.  The  shrine  was  of 
great  splendour.  Three  London  goldsmiths  were 
employed  for  a  year  on  the  work.  In  1400,  the  old 
work  was  restored  and  a  grate  of  iron-work,  covered 
with  tin,  placed  around  it  for  its  better  protection. 
The  grating  that  surrounded  the  shrine  was  five  feet 
ten  inches  in  height,  and  was  furnished  with  locks, 
keys,  closures,  and  openings.  The  shrine  itself  was, 
as  was  usually  the  case,  a  lofty  pyramidal  structure. 
Eastward  in  this,  the  retro-choir,  lay  Bishop  Kobert 
de  Braybrooke.  A  superb  brass  marked  the  place  of 
his  interment. 

Beyond  lay  the  Lady  Chapel,  between  the  chapel 
of  St.  George  to  the  north,  and  that  of  St.  Dunstan, 


1 60  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

to  the  south.  The  Lady  Chapel  occupied  two  of  the 
twelve  bays  of  the  choir. 

The  altar  of  our  Lady  was  lighted  hy  seven 
tapers,*  each  of  which  weighed  two  pounds.  They 
were  lighted  at  all  the  services  in  this  chapel.  There 
was  a  weighty  silver  chalice,  and  the  vestments  were 
very  rich  for  the  officiating  clergy.  Mass  was  said 
daily  hy  one  of  six  priests  in  rotation.  They  were 
supported  by  the  revenues  of  the  church  of  Bumsted, 
and  by  five  marks  from  that  of  Finchingfield. 

Beneath  the  choir  of  St.  Paul's  was  the  Crypt, 
or  undercroft,  of  first  -  pointed  architecture,  partly 
employed  as  the  parish  church  of  St.  Faith,  with 
the  chantries  of  Dean  William  de  Everdon,  for  whom 
Mass  was  said  daily  at  the  altar  of  St.  Eadegund, 
of  Alan  de  Hotham,  for  whom  Mass  was  said  at  the 
altar  of  St.  Sebastian,  of  Dean  Say,  and  of  William 
Yale,  citizen.  In  the  crypt  was  the  Jesus  chapel, 
to  which  the  brotherhood  of  that  name  was  attached. 
The  crypt  was  divided  from  east  to  west  by  three 
rows  of  columns,  and  transversely  by  a  wooden  screen. 
Stow  quotes  an  old  rhyme : 

'  This  church  needs  no  repair  at  all, 
For  faith's  defended  by  St.  Paul.' 

To  return.  The  shrine  of  St.  Erconwald  was  a  very 
favourite  resort,  f  '  Multa  miracula  claruerunt  pul- 

*  Vide  supra,  p.  157. 

f  The  following   narrative   is  curious :    As   Sir  Bartholomew 


The  Holy  Blood.  16 1 

veris  de  ligno  in  quo  sanctus  (Erconwaldus)  jacu- 
erat  aspersura.  Quidam  vero  Deo  devotus  collec- 
tum  pulverem  statim  ut  cum  aqua  infirmo  tradidit, 
ipse  infirmitate  omnino  evasit.'  Kichard  Preston,  a 
London  citizen,  left  a  sapphire  to  the  shrine  for  the 
cure  of  the  hlind.  By  Bishop  Braybrooke's  order,  St. 
Erconwald's  anniversary  was  kept  like  the  festivals  of 
the  Conversion  and  the  Commemoration  of  St.  Paul, 
celebrated  with  the  utmost  pomp  in  this  cathedral. 
In  decreeing  this  celebration  in  his  honour,  it  is  said 
of  him :  '  Cujus  merita  gloriosa  in  eadem  ecclesia 
miraculose  coruscant.'  When  King  John  of  France 
visited  the  cathedral,  he  offered  twenty-two  nobles  at 
the  shrine  of  St.  Erconwald. 

St.  Paul's  witnessed  a  ceremony  yet  more  august 
than  any  connected  with  the  shrine  of  St.  Ercon 
wald.  In  1247,  on  St.  Edward's-day,  Henry  III. 
went  with  his  nobility  in  procession  to  St.  Paul's, 
where  he  received  the  relic  of  the  Holy  Blood,* 
sent  him  from  Jerusalem  by  the  Masters  of  the 
Temple  and  of  the  Hospitallers.  The  relic  was  de- 

Jones,  the  mayor  in  1479,  was  kneeling  at  the  shrine  of  St.  Ercon 
wald,  Robert  Byfield,  one  of  the  sheriffs,  came  and  knelt  by  his 
side.  The  mayor  asked  the  sheriff  how  he  could  act  in  such  a 
manner.  An  altercation  followed,  and  the  affair  was  referred  to 
the  Court  of  Aldermen,  who  fined  the  offender  fifty  pounds,  to  be 
employed  in  repairing  the  City  conduits. 

*  The  reader  will  remember  the  existence  of  a  similar  relic  in 
the  Chapelle  du  St.  Sang,  or  of  St.  Basile,  at  Bruges.  The  Holy 
Blood  of  Wilsuak  has  been  mentioned  in  these  pages,  p.  55,  note. 

M 


1 6  2  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L  ondon. 

posited  in  a  crystal  vessel  and  was  borne  by  the 
king  under  a  canopy,  supported  by  four  staves, 
through  the  streets,  from  St.  Paul's  to  the  great 
Abbey  of  Westminster.  The  king's  arms  were  sup 
ported  by  two  noblemen  all  the  way.  Holinshed 
says,  '  to  describe  the  whole  course  and  order  of  the 
procession  and  feast  kept  that  day  would  require  a 
special  treatise ;  but  this  is  not  to  be  forgotten,  that 
the  same  day  the  Bishop  of  Norwich  preached  before 
the  king,  in  commendation  of  that  relic,  pronounc 
ing  six  years  and  one  hundred  and  sixteen  days  of 
pardon  granted  by  the  bishops  there  to  all  that  came 
to  reverence  it.' 

Paul's  Cross  appears  to  have  existed  from  time 
immemorial.  The  original  cross  was  injured  or 
destroyed  by  lightning  in  1382.  Its  successor  was 
built  by  Bishop  Kempe.  In  1256,  John  Mansel 
showed  the  people  at  Paul's  cross,  that  it  was  the 
king's  desire  '  that  the  liberties  of  the  city  should  be 
maintained  in  every  point.'  In  1299,  searching  for 
treasure  at  St.  Martin's  was  denounced  at  Paul's 
cross.  Here  Keginald  Pocock,  Bishop  of  Chichester, 
recanted  on  December  1st,  1447.  Here  Dr.  Shaw 
preached  in  support  of  Kichard  III.,  and  Jane 
Shore  did  penance.  Holinshed  gives  the  following 
narrative :  '  In  her  penance  she  went,  in  countenance 
and  pace  demure,  so  womanlie,  that,  albeit  she  were 
out  of  all  araie,  save  her  kirtle  onlie,  yet  went  she  so 


St.  Paul's  Cross.  163 

faire  and  lovelie,  namelie,  while  the  wondering  of  the 
people  cast  a  comelie  rudd  in  her  cheeks  (of  which 
she  before  had  most  misse),  that  manie  good  folkes 
that  hated  her  living  (and  glad  were  to  see  all  sin 
corrected),  yet  pitied  they  more  her  penance  than 
rejoised  therein,  when  they  considered  that  the  Pro 
tector  procured  it  more  for  corrupt  intent  than  anie 
virtuous  affection.'  Here  Bishop  Fisher  preached 
against  Martinus  Eleutherius  (Luther)  in  the  pre 
sence  of  Cardinal  Wolsey.  At  Paul's  cross,  Alex 
ander  Seaton,  a  Dominican  friar,  formerly  confessor 
to  James  V.  of  Scotland,  and  chaplain  to  the  Duke 
of  Suffolk,  recanted  in  1541.  He  had  taught  the  Lu 
theran  doctrine  of  justification,  in  sermons  preached 
by  him  at  St.  Antholin's.  Knox  and  Spotswood 
maintain  that  his  opinions  underwent  no  real  altera 
tion.  Information  was  given  against  him  by  three 
priests,  Richard  Taylor,  John  Smith,  and  John  Hun- 
tingdown.  The  first  was  a  fellow  of  Whittington 
College.  The  last,  author  of  the  Genealogy  of  Here 
tics,  ended  by  embracing  the  Lutheran  doctrine  him 
self.  With  Seaton  appeared  at  Paul's  cross  W. 
Tolwine,  parson  of  St.  Antholin's.  A  list  of  Seaton's 
works  is  given  by  Dempster :  '  Scripsit  processus 
suae  examinationis.  In  utramque  epistolam  Petri. 
In  canonicam  Jacobi  Conciones.'*  In  Queen  Mary's 

*  For  an  account  of  Alexander  Seaton,  see  his  life  by  Wodrow, 
printed  as  a  sequel  to  Maitland  of  Lethington's  History  of  the 


i  64  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

reign,  Harpsfield,  Archdeacon  of  London,  preached 
at  St.  Paul's  cross  (November  4th,  1554),  on  a  re 
markable  occasion.  Three  priests,  an  Austin  canon 
of  Elsing  Spital,  Sir  Thomas  Griffin,  a  Black  friar, 
and  an  Austin  friar  did  public  penance.  They  had 
probably,  in  addition  to  the  abandonment  of  their 
vows  (for  they  had  married  in  the  reign  of  Edward), 
imbibed  heretical  opinions,  as  Harpsfield  '  showed 
their  opinions  openly  in  the  pulpit.'  Machyn 
speaks  of  four  religious  and  a  fifth,  a  layman  who 
had  been  guilty  of  bigamy.  They  appeared  in  white 
sheets,  with  tapers  in  their  hands.  They  first  knelt 
before  the  high  altar  and  received  the  discipline  from 
the  suffragan.  They  then  knelt  again  before  the 
cross.  When  the  preacher  received  the  benediction 
from  the  bishop,  the  priests  knelt  in  the  middle  of 
the  church  and  received  the  discipline  a  second  time 
from  the  preacher,  who  then  raised  and  kissed  them. 
After  this  they  went  to  Paul's  cross,  where,  at  the 
bidding  prayers,  they  knelt  and  asked  forgiveness. 
St.  Paul's  cross,  with  all  those  in  London  and  West 
minster,  was  destroyed  in  1643,  in  the  mayoralty  of 
Isaac  Pennington.  We  proceed  to  give  some  fur 
ther  notes  on  custom  and  ceremonial  connected  with 
St.  Paul's. 


House  of  Seaton,  For  the  loan  of  a  copy  of  this  volume,  presented 
to  him  by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  we  were  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  the 
late  esteemed  Henry  Cadell,  Esq.,  of  Cockenzie,  Haddingtonshire. 


Ceremonial.  1 65 


If  any  of  the  canons,  whether  resident  or  non 
resident,  fell  ill  in  town  and  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
church,  the  dean  was  to  go  and  do  what  was  neces 
sary  for  him.  If  the  sick  man  desired  another  con 
fessor,  the  dean  gave  him  free  permission.  If  the  ill 
ness  threatened  to  prove  fatal,  the  dean  and  canons, 
at  the  sick  man's  desire,  went  with  holy  water,  cross, 
bell,  and  candles,  and  either  the  dean  himself  or  one 
of  the  canons  gave  extreme  unction.  This  done,  the 
sick  man  kissed  first  the  dean,  then  the  others.  If 
death  ensued,  the  dean  and  canons  repaired  to  the 
dead  man's  house  to  say  the  '  commendation  for  his 
soul,'  unless  it  were  too  late  at  night,  when  they  did  so 
in  the  morning,  after  the  chapter  was  held.  After  ves 
pers  the  choir  assembled  and  formed  in  procession, 
with  cross,  incense,  and  tapers,  the  priest  wearing  a 
silk  cope.  The  bier  was  sprinkled  with  holy  water, 
and  the  body  carried  to  the  church  and  placed  in  the 
choir,  where  the  obsequies  were  celebrated  with  due 
solemnity. 

We  may  here  transcribe  the  account  of  the 
revived  ceremonial  on  St.  Paul's-day,  under  Mary. 
In  the  chronicle  of  the  Grey  Friars  of  London,  we 
read  that  '  on  St.  Paul's-day  there  was  a  general  pro 
cession  with  the  children  of  all  the  schools  in  London, 
with  all  the  clerks,  curates,  and  parsons  and  vicars,  in 
copes,  with  their  crosses  ;  also  the  choir  of  St.  Paul's 
and  divers  bishops  in  their  habits,  and  the  Bishop  of 


1 66  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

London,  with  his  pontificals  and  cope,  bearing  the 
sacrament  under  a  canopy,  and  four  prebends  bearing 
it  in  their  gray  amos ;  and  so  up  into  Leadenhall, 
with  the  mayor  and  aldermen  in  scarlet,  with  their 
cloaks,  and  all  the  crafts  in  their  best  array ;  and  so 
came  down  again  on  the  other  side,  and  so  to  St.  Paul's 
again.  And  then  the  king  (Philip)  with  my  lord  cardinal 
(Pole)  came  to  St.  Paul's  and  heard  Masse,  and  went 
home  again ;  and  at  night  great  bonfires  were  made 
through  all  London,  for  the  joy  of  the  people  that 
were  converted,  likewise  as  St.  Paul  was  converted.' 

The  boy  bishop  was  a  chorister  elected  by  the 
other  choristers  annually  on  St.  Nicholas's-day.*  St. 
Nicholas,  of  Myra,  was  a  very  popular  saint  in  Eng 
land,  as  the  patron  of  youth  and  of  sailors.  On  his 
day,  therefore,  it  was  that  the  boy  bishop  was  elected. 
His  authority  lasted  from  the  6th  of  December,  St. 
Nicholas's-day,  to  the  28th,  that  of  the  Holy  Inno 
cents.  On  the  eve  of  the  latter  day  the  boy  bishop 
and  his  fellow  choristers,  vested  in  copes  and  with 
burning  tapers,  walked  from  the  west  door  of  the 
cathedral  to  the  choir,  singing  ver sides.  In  exact 
imitation  of  the  cathedral  body,  the  dean  and  canons 
went  first,  and  the  chaplain  preceded  the  bishop,  who 
brought  up  the  procession  with  his  attendant  priests. 
The  bishop  took  his  seat,  the  choir  divided  to  right 
and  left,  the  residentiary  canons  brought  the  incense 
*  There  is  a  tomb  of  a  boy  bishop  at  Salisbury. 


The  Boy  Bishop.  167 

and  book,  the  minor  canons  the  tapers,  and  the  cere 
monial  proceeded. 

In  illustration  of  this  strange  custom,  we  may 
mention  that  at  Rheims  there  was  an  eveque  des  fous 
chosen  from  among  the  deacons.  He  wore  the  epis 
copal  ornaments,  seated  himself  on  the  episcopal 
throne,  and  bestowed  his  benediction  on  the  people. 
He  then  feigned  to  say  Mass,  the  assistants  censing 
him  with  a  pair  of  old  shoes,  &c. 

It  has  been  conjectured  that  the  office  of  the  boy 
bishop  had  a  reference,  not  alone  to  St.  Nicholas,  but 
also  to  the  *  child  Jesus,'  to  whom  we  find  Dean  Colet 
dedicating  his  school,  in  1512.  The  probability  is 
increased  when  we  find  the  boy  bishop  a  preacher,  to 
whom  Colet's  scholars  were  to  give  heed.  Every 
Childemas  (Innocents'-day)  his  scholars  were  to  '  come 
to  Paul's  church,  and  hear  the  chylde  bishop's  ser 
mon,  and  after  be  at  the  high  Mass,  and  each  of  them 
offer  a  penny  to  the  chylde  bishop,  and  with  them 
the  maisters  and  surveyors  of  the  scole.'  On  July 
22d,  1542,  a  proclamation  of  Henry  VIII.  suppressed 
the  rite  of  the  child  bishop.  In  Queen  Mary's  reign 
the  boy  bishop  returned  to  his  office,  and  not  only  so, 
but  he  sang  a  song  in  her  praise,  in  which  she  was 
compared  to  Judith,  Esther,  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  and 
the  Blessed  Virgin  herself.  The  scholars  of  St.  Paul's 
were  early  famous  for  their  representation  of  scripture 
scenes.  In  1378,  they  besought  Eichard  II.  to  pro- 


1 68  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

liibit  some  inexpert  people  from  representing  the  his 
tory  of  the  Old  Testament,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
said  clergy,  who  had  been  at  great  expense  in  order 
to  represent  it  publicly  at  Christmas. 

At  St.  Paul's  was  another  ceremony  of  yet  stranger 
character.  The  mention  of  it  cannot  be  omitted,  so 
eminently  characteristic  is  it  of  the  middle  age.  There 
was  the  Tarasque  at  Tarascon,  the  Bailla  at  Kheims, 
the  Procession  cles  Harengs  at  the  same  place,  the 
funeral  of  the  Carnival  in  the  Basses  Pyrenees,  the 
representation  of  Lent,  as  a  monster  (Caramantran) 
to  be  killed  on  Shrove  Tuesday,  in  the  south-east  of 
France,  and  his  interment  at  Kouen  —  one  of  the 
clergy  saying  a  Mass  of  Requiem,  with  stole  turned 
out  and  chasuble  reversed — the  Feast  of  the  Ass  at 
Eouen,  Beauvais,  Sens,  and  elsewhere.*  Old  St. 
Paul's  had  a  ceremony  nearly  as  strange,  though 
not  symbolic.  Sir  "Walter  le  Baud,  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  I.  (1274),  gave  the  dean  and  chapter  on  the 
Feast  of  the  Conversion  of  St.  Paul,  annually,  a  fat 
doe,  and  on  the  Commemoration  of  St.  Paul  (June 
80)  a  buck  from  an  estate  he  held  of  them  at  West 
Lee,  in  Essex.  The  original  agreement  was,  that  he 
should  himself  come  personally  with  the  animals,  but 

*  Cf.  Hone's  Ancient  Mysteries,  Illustrations  and  Additions, 
vii.  viii. ;  and  Christian  Bemembrancer  for  October  MDCCCLXIII., 
art.  French  Ecclesiology.  The  Feast  of  Fools  was  celebrated  an 
nually  at  Quarr  Abbey,  Isle  of  Wight.  For  the  '  Abbot  of  Un 
reason'  see  Scott's  Abbot,  chapters  xiv.  xv. 


A  strange  Custom.  169 

it  was  afterwards  arranged  that  a  servant  and  part  of 
his  family  only  should  attend.  The  gifts  were  re 
ceived  at  the  west  door  of  the  cathedral,  and  outside, 
inside,  and  finally  up  to  the  choir  steps,  the  prize 
was  carried  with  glee  and  shouting.*  Thither  came 
the  clergy  garlanded  with  flowers,  —  as  were  the 
English  university  youth  abroad  en  festal  occasions, 
and  the  clergy,  not  of  England  only,  but  also  of 
France,  Germany,  and  Italy,  at  Corpus  Christi,  when 
even  now  flowers  are  strewn  in  the  path  pursued  by 
the  procession, — and  so  on  to  the  high  altar,  where 
the  victim  was  slain  and  divided  among  the  residen- 
tiaries. 

The  following  city  churches  were  in  the  gift  of  the 
dean  and  chapter  of  St.  Paul's :  St.  Antholin,  Budge- 
row;  St.  Bennet,  Paul's-wharf ;  St.  Augustine,  Wat- 
ling-street;  St.  Bennet,  Gracechurch  -  street ;  St. 
Botolph,  Billingsgate ;  St.  Giles,  Cripplegate ;  St. 
Faith-in-the-Crypt,  and  St.  Gregory,  at  the  west  end 
of  St.  Paul's ;  St.  Helen,  Bishopsgate ;  St.  John 
Zachary,  near  the  Post-office  ;  St.  Nicholas  Olave, 
Queenhithe  ;  St.  Mary,  Aldermanbury ;  St.  Martin 
Orgar,  in  Candlewick  Ward  ;  St.  Mary  Magdalen, 
Milk-street,  Cheapside ;  St.  Mary  Magdalen,  Old  Fish- 

*  '  Die  (comrnemorationis  S.  Pauli)  tarn  ipsemet  episcopus 
(Rogerus  de  Walden)  quam  onmes  canonic!  ejusdem  ecclesiae  usi 
sunt  in  processione  solemni  garlandis  de  rosis  rubris ;  et  qui  vidit 
ista  et  interfuit,  testimonium  perhibet  de  his  et  scripsit  hrec.' 
Historiola  Londonesis. 


170  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

street-hill ;  St.  Michael  the  Quern,  Cheapside ;  St. 
Michael,  Queenhithe ;  St.  Olave,  Silver-street,  Cheap- 
side  ;  St.  Peter,  Bread-street,  Cheapside ;  St.  Peter, 
Paul's-wharf ;  St.  Thomas  the  Apostle,  in  the  Vintry. 

Many  of  these  were  destroyed  in  the  great  fire, 
and  not  rebuilt :  the  names  of  some  are  preserved  as 
a  second  title  of  the  church  of  the  parish,  with  which 
that  destroyed  has  been  amalgamated.* 

Outside  the  circuit  of  the  city  proper  the  following 
churches  were  prebends  of  St.  Paul's  :  St.  Pancras,! 
Kentish-town  ;  St.  Pancras,  Totenhall ;  St.  Pancras, 
Kougemere  ;  St.  Andrew,  Holborn  ;  St.  Mary,  Isling 
ton;  Hoxton,in  Shoreditch;  Holiwell,  or  St.  Leonard, 
Old-street,  Shoreditch ;  St.  Mary,  Willesden ;  Harles- 
ton,  in  Willesden ;  Twyford,  in  Willesden  ;  Mapes- 
bury,  in  Willesden  ;  Oxgate,  in  Willesden  ;  Brondes- 
wood,  in  Willesden  ;  Nesdon,  in  Willesden ;  Willes- 
den-green  ;  St.  Nicholas,  Chiswick. 

Willesden  is  the  name  of  a  parish  near  the  Harrow- 
road,  on  the  western  boundary  of  Hampstead.  Our 

*  The  leading  authority  for  the  above  account  of  old  St.  Paul's 
is  Dugdale's  work.  Besides  the  foundations  we  have  mentioned, 
there  were  at  St.  Paul's,  Holme's  College  for  seven  priests,  founded 
by  Roger  Holme,  d.  1397  ;  and  Lancaster  College,  said  to  be  founded 
by  Henry  IV.  and  the  executors  of  John  of  Gaunt.  Dugdale's  Mon- 
asticon  (Ellis),  vi.  1457. 

f  The  tithes  of  St.  Pancras  belonged  to  St.  Paul's  Hospital, 
situated  within  the  precincts  of  the  cathedral.  It  was  founded  by 
Henry  de  Northampton  before  1190.  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis), 
vi.  767. 


St.  Faith's.  1 7 


Lady  of  Willesden  was  the  name  given  to  a  highly- 
venerated  image  in  the  parish  church  there.  In  an 
inventory  of  the  ornaments  of  Willesden  church,  in 
1251,  we  find  a  scarlet  banner  with  an  image  of  our 
Lady  wrought  in  cloth  of  gold,  and  two  images  of  our 
Lady.  The  Willesden  pilgrimage  is  supposed  to  have 
been  very  ancient. 

The  church  of  St.  Faith  (a  virgin  -  martyr  who 
suffered  in  the  persecution  under  Diocletian  and 
Maximian)  was  originally  a  separate  building  at  the 
east  end  of  St.  Paul's.  When  the  cathedral  was  en 
larged  (1256-1312)  the  old  church  was  taken  down, 
and  the  congregation  installed  in  the  '  ecclesia  sanctae 
fidei  in  cryptis,'  that  is,  beneath  the  choir,  in  which 
position  we  have  noticed  it.  The  dimensions  of  the 
church  in  the  crypt  were  very  considerable — 180  feet 
in  length  by  80  in  breadth.  Besides  that  of  Jesus 
there  was  also  a  guild  of  St.  Anne,  in  the  under 
croft.  The  parish  of  St.  Faith's  is  now  united  with 
that  of  St.  Augustine,  Watling-street. 

St.  Augustine's  was  dedicated  to  the  apostle  of 
England.  There  was  founded  in  1387  a  fraternity, 
who  met  in  the  church  on  the  eve  of  St.  Austin's- 
day,  and  again  in  the  morning  at  the  high  Mass, 
when  each  brother  offered  a  penny;  afterwards  they 
went  '  al  mangier  ou  al  revele,'  to  eat  or  revel,  as 
the  wardens  directed.  The  guild  of  St.  Austin's 
kept  '  two  torches  with  the  which,  if  any,  of  the  said 


i  /  2,   Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

fraternity  were  commended  to  God,  he  might  be 
carried  to  the  earth.'  The  earliest  monuments  in 
St.  Augustine's  were  those  of  Henry  Read,  armourer, 
and  of  William  Dere,  who  Loth  died  in  1450.  They 
were  sheriffs. 

In  the  south  front  of  St.  S within' s,  Cannon-street, 
is  imbedded  '  London  Stone,'  supposed  to  have  been 
a  Roman  milliary.*  St.  Mary  Abclmrch  or  Upchurch 
(once  in  the  gift  of  the  prior  and  convent  of  St. 
Mary  Overy)  passed  into  the  hands  of  Corpus 
Christi  College,  near  the  church  of  St.  Laurence 
Poultney.  Of  this  latter  church  we  have  the  follow 
ing  notes.!  Sketches  by  Nash  show  two  vaulted 
chambers  ;  one  vault  is  of  chalk  with  dark  bands,  as 
at  Westminster.  An  old  facsimile  (1560)  shows  a 
church  with  spire,  a  preaching  or  cemetery  cross, 
and  a  large  battlemented  and  pinnacled  building.  A 
more  recent  sketch  shows  the  tower  and  spire,  and, 
to  the  left,  an  extensive  and  apparently  Norman 
building,  with  a  tower  possibly  corresponding  with 
that  mentioned  above. 

Sir  John  Poultney  (four  times  Lord  Mayor)  was 
buried  in  this  church,  and  from  him  it  derived  its 
second  name.  He  founded  a  chantry  in  St.  Paul's 

*  It  is  related  that  Jack  Cade,  on  his  triumphal  entry  to  Lori- 
don,  struck  his  sword  on  London  Stone,  saying:  '  Now  is  Mortimer 
lord  of  this  city.' 

f  Kindly  supplied  us  by  George  Goldie,  Esq.,  the  well-known 
architect. 


Sir  J .  Poultneys  Chantry. 


73 


for  three  priests,  who  were  to  say  daily  the  Mass  of 
the  blessed  Virgin,  and  the  office  for  the  dead  for 
the  soul  of  himself,  his  father,  mother,  brethren,  and 
sisters,  and  amongst  others,  for  the  soul  of  John  de 
Stratford,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  perished 
in  Wat  Tyler's  insurrection.  He  moreover  bequeathed 
twenty  shillings  annually  to  the  almoner  of  St.  Paul's, 
for  the  summer  habits  of  the  choristers,  on  condition 
that  they  should  daily  after  compline  sing  an  anthem 
of  the  blessed  Virgin  before  her  image  in  the  chantry, 
then  the  prayer  for  the  dead,  the  whole  ending  by 
'  May  the  soul  of  John  de  Poulteney,  founder  of  this 
chapel,  and  the  souls  of  all  the  faithful  departed, 
through  the  mercy  of  God,  rest  in  peace.' 

The  college,  in  Candlewick-street,  was  founded  in 
honour  of  Corpus  Christ!  for  twelve  chaplains  and  a 
master.* 

St.  Bennct's,  Paul's-wharf,  otherwise  St.  Benet 
Hude  or  Hythe,  is  mentioned  by  Ralph  de  Diceto,  in 
his  survey.  Newcourt  mentions  William  Stodeley  as 
parson  in  1375.  Inigo  Jones,  the  architect,  was 
buried  at  St.  Bennet's  in  1651. 

By  the  '  silent  river  highway'  on  which  we  are 
now  gazing,  the  body  of  Henry  VI.  was  borne,  after 
having  been  shown  for  several  days  at  St.  Paul's,  to 
its  place  of  sepulture  at  the  Benedictine  Monastery 
of  Chertsey,  in  Surrey,  twenty  miles  distant  from 
*  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  1458. 


174  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

the  city.  A  barge  was  solemnly  prepared,  with  lamps 
hanging  round. 

On  Paul's-wharf-hill  were  a  number  of  houses 
within  a  gate.  These  are  said  to  have  been  called 
Camera  Dianae,  Diana's  Chamber,*  from  a  build 
ing  constructed  with  labyrinthine  approaches  for  the 
better  concealment  of  Rosamond  Clifford.  Unless 
there  were  considerable  evidence  for  the  establish 
ment  of  such  a  point,  its  intrinsic  improbability 
would  weigh  heavily  against  it,  as  why  should 
Henry  II.  remove  Rosamond  from  the  country  re 
tirement  in  which  she  would  appear  to  have  passed 
her  days,  to  the  heart  of  the  metropolis,  exposed  as 
she  there  would  be  to  detection  by  his  jealous  Queen. 

In  this  immediate  vicinity  was  the  royal  ward 
robe,  on  the  site  of  the  present  '  Wardrobe-court,' 
close  by  the  church  of  St.  Andrew.  The  building 
was  erected  by  Sir  John  Beauchamp — the  Sir  John 
whose  tomb  in  St.  Paul's  was  mistaken  for  that  of 
Duke  Humphrey  of  Gloucester.  His  heirs  sold  the 
property  to  Edward  III.  Silks  and  velvets  from 
Montpellier  seem  to  have  been  the  articles  chiefly 
purchased.  There  would  appear  to  have  been  a 
library  at  the  '  Wardrobe,'  as  several  sums  were  ex- 

*  May  it  not  have  been  so  called  from  some  such  decoration  as 
that  of  Imogen's  sleeping-room  ? 

'  The  chimney 

Is  south  the  chamber,  and  the  chimneypiece 
Chaste  Dian,  bathing ;'  Cymbeline,  act  ii.  sc.  4. 


Baynard's  Castle.  175 


pended  in  binding  books,  though  this  may  have  been 
a  mere  incidental  expense  arising  from  the  king's 
occasional  residence  here.  The  Bishops  of  Hereford 
had  an  inn  not  far  from  Queenhithe,  once  the  resi 
dence  of  the  Lords  of  Monthault,  whose  chapel  became 
St.  Mary  of  Mounthaw.  Near  this  William  of  Wyke- 
ham,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  had  a  residence.  The 
Abbot  of  Chertsey  had  a  lodging  near  Trig-lane. 

A  street  descending  from  Thames-street  is  called 
Castle- street.  To  the  west  of  this  street,  by  the 
river,  stood  Baynard's  Castle.  Baynard  was  one  of 
the  Conqueror's  followers.  His  descendant,  William 
Baynard,  forfeited  in  the  next  century  his  inherit 
ance  to  the  crown.  It  was  bestowed  upon  the  Clare 
family,  whose  descendant  in  King  John's  time 
was  Baron  Robert  Fitzwalter.  This  baron  had  a 
daughter,  Matilda,  whose  beauty  attracted  the  eye 
of  King  John.  His  suit  was  rejected  by  both  father 
and  daughter,  and  the  false  love  turning  to  hate, 
John  drove  the  father  into  exile  and  got  the  daugh 
ter  into  his  keeping,  even,  it  is  said,  murdered  her ; 
whilst  to  extinguish,  if  it  were  possible,  the  very  me 
mory  of  his  crime,  Baynard's  Castle  was  levelled  with 
the  soil.  Next  year,  by  the  banks  of  a  French  river, 
the  monarch  and  baron  again  met.  An  English 
knight  had  challenged  to  single  combat  any  of  the 
French  host  who  could  summon  up  courage  for  the 
encounter.  A  champion  soon  spurred  across  the 


1 76   Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

river,  and  at  the  first  encounter  threw  the  English 
challenger  and  his  horse  upon  the  ground.  On  hear 
ing  this  King  John  was  filled  with  admiration  of  his 
courage.  Fitzwalter,  for  it  was  he,  returned  to  the 
English  camp,  regained  the  royal  favour,  and  was 
reinstated  in  his  possessions.  This  Robert  Fitz 
walter  it  is  supposed  to  have  heen  who  came  at 
the  head  of  the  barons  to  the  Temple,  in  1215,  and 
made  those  demands  that  were  finally  acceded  to  at 
Runnymede.  Fitzwalter  bore  no  meaner  title  than 
that  of  '  Marshal  of  the  Army  of  God  and  of  Holy 
Church.'  He  rebuilt  Baynard's  Castle,  and  his  family 
were  for  long  '  banner-bearers'  of  the  City  of  London. 
'  The  said  Robert*  ought  to  come,  he  being  (by  descent) 
the  twentieth  man-of-arms,  on  horseback,  covered  with 
cloth  or  armour,  unto  the  great  west  door  of  St.  Paul, 
with  his  banner  displayed  before  him  of  his  arms. 
And  when  he  is  come  to  the  said  door,  mounted  and 
apparelled  as  before  is  said ;  the  mayor,  with  his  al 
dermen  and  sheriffs,  armed  in  their  arms,  shall  come 
out  of  the  said  church  of  St.  Paul  unto  the  said  door, 
with  a  banner  in  his  hand,  all  on  foot ;  which  banner 
shall  be  gules,  the  image  of  St.  Paul,  gold ;  the  face, 
hands,  feet,  and  sword,  of  silver.  And  as  soon  as 
the  said  Robert  shall  see  the  mayor,  aldermen,  and 
sheriffs  come  on  foot  out  of  the  church,  armed  with  a 
banner  ;  he  shall  alight  from  his  horse,  and  salute  the 
*  Son  of  the  above. 


The  Banner-bearer. 


mayor,  and  say  to  him,  "  Sir  Mayor,  I  am  come  to 
do  my  service,  which  I  owe  to  the  City."  And  the 
mayor  and  aldermen  shall  answer,  "  We  give  to  you, 
as  to  our  banneret  of  fee  in  this  City,  the  banner  of 
this  City  to  bear  and  govern,  to  the  honour  and 
profit  of  this  City,  to  our  power."  And  the  said 
Kobert,  and  his  heirs,  shall  receive  the  banner 
in  'his  hands,  and  shall  go  on  foot  out  of  the  gate 
with  the  banner  in  his  hands  :  and  the  mayor, 
aldermen,  and  sheriffs  shall  follow  to  the  door,  and 
shall  bring  a  horse  to  the  said  Robert,  worth  twenty 
pound,  which  horse  shall  be  saddled  with  a  saddle 
of  the  arms  of  the  said  Robert,  and  shall  be  covered 
with  sindals  of  the  said  arms.  Also  they  shall  pre 
sent  to  him  twenty  pounds  sterling  money,  and 
deliver  it  to  the  chamberlain  of  the  said  Robert, 
for  his  expenses  that  day.  Then  the  said  Robert 
shall  mount  upon  the  horse  which  the  mayor  pre 
sented  to  him,  with  the  banner  in  his  hand,  and 
as  soon  as  he  is  up  he  shall  say  to  the  mayor, 
that  he  caused  a  marshall  to  be  chosen  for  the 
host,  one  of  the  City ;  which  marshall  being  chosen 
the  said  Robert  shall  command  the  mayor  and  bur 
gesses  of  the  City  to  warn  the  commoners  to  assem 
ble  together ;  and  they  shall  all  go  under  the  banner 
of  St.  Paul,'*  &c.  After  a  fire  in  Henry  VI.'s  reign, 
the  castle  was  rebuilt  by  Duke  Humphrey  of  Glou- 

*  Stow's  Survey  (Strype),  bk.  i.  p.  60. 

N 


178  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

cester.  Here  Edward  IV.  was  proclaimed  king,  and 
Eichard  III.,  who  had  employed  every  art  of  intrigue 
to  obtain  it,  pretended  to  consent  reluctantly  to  as 
sume  the  crown.  The  castle  was  yet  again  rebuilt 
by  Henry  VII.,  in  1487.  It  was  a  large  block  of 
building  descending  quite  to  the  brink  of  the  river, 
to  which  access  was  given  by  an  archway  and  steps. 
There  were  three  towers  in  the  river  front,  and 
numerous  bay  windows.  In  the  centre  of  the  build 
ing  was  a  court.  The  ward  of  Castle  Baynard  in 
cludes  St.  Paul's. 

This  will,  we  think,  be  a  good  opportunity  for 
summing  up,  in  a  brief  sketch,  what  has  been  the 
result  of  our  explorations  hitherto.  We  are  now  on 
the  confines  of  the  City  proper,  to  the  boundaries  of 
which  we  have  for  the  most  part  confined  our  steps ; 
for  we  must  remember  that  the  part  of  Southwark  to 
which  we  penetrated  was  one  of  the  wards  of  the 
City  of  London.  Elsewhere,  indeed,  we  have  passed 
beyond  the  circuit  of  the  City — at  St.  Bartholomew's, 
Smithfield;  at  St.  John's,  Clerkenwell;  at  the  Charter 
house  ;  at  the  chapel  of  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Holy 
Trinity  and  at  St.  Botolph's,  Aldersgate ;  and  at  St. 
Giles',  Cripplegate  :  but  these  sites  and  buildings  are 
all  in  closest  connection  with  the  topography  of  the 
City  proper.  This,  indeed,  we  can  prove ;  for  Far- 
ringdon  Without  and  Farringdon  Within,  Cripple- 
gate  Without  and  Cripplegate  Within,  Bridge  Ward 


Old  London.  179 


Without  and  Bridge  Ward  Within,  can  have  been 
designated  on  no  other  principle  than  that  each  is 
the  legitimate  development  of  the  other.  We  have 
then  passed  and  repassed  the  City  wall — from  the 
ward  without  to  the  ward  within,  and  from  that 
within  to  that  without — in  our  examination  of  what 
are  all,  in  a  true  sense,  'City  churches.'  From  the 
City  of  London — the  Camera  Regis — we  pass  to  its 
'  liberties'  enclosed  by  the  several  '  bars,'  as  Hol- 
born-bars,  Smithfield-bars,  Whitechapel-bars.  These 
ended,  we  are  at  Westminster,  Stratford,  Clerken- 
well,  or  '  in  the  fields'  by  St.  Giles'  Hospital,  as  the 
case  may  be.  The  all-devastating  fire  swept  beyond 
the  City  to  the  west.  It  left  Austin  Friars,  St.  Ethel- 
burga's  and  St.  Helen's,  Bishopsgate,  All  Hallows 
Barking  and  All  Hallows  Staining,  in  the  City  itself ; 
it  burnt  St.  Sepulchre's,  it  threatened  St.  Andrew's, 
it  threatened  the  Kolls  Chapel,  it  threatened  the 
Temple  Church,  far  beyond  the  City  walls. 

We  have  visited  the  churches  to  the  north  that, 
from  their  position  beyond  the  City  wall — the  limit  of 
the  fire  in  this  direction — have  been  preserved  to  us. 
We  have  visited  the  churches  to  the  east  that,  within 
the  City  wall,  were  not  destroyed,  as  it  happened,  by 
the  flames ;  we  have  crossed  the  river  that,  '  broad 
and  deep,'  saved  the  Borough  from  that  awful  visita 
tion;  we  have  endeavoured  to  restore  in  imagination, 
within  the  City  itself,  the  shattered  fragments  of  its 


180  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


ecclesiastical  splendour ;  and  we  now  stand  above  the 
site  of  the  '  Blackfriars  Monastery/  endeavouring  to 
piece  the  whole  together,  as  we  did  at  Holborn,  and 
picture  to  ourselves  what  the  City  was. 

It  was  a  Koman  fortified  city;  it  was  a  city  of 
springs  and  rivers  and  scattered  British  hamlets ;  it 
was  a  city  where  Dane  and  Saxon  contended  for 
mastery ;  it  was  a  city  of  Norman  conquest  and  for 
tresses,  a  city  of  churches  and  convents,  a  city  of  kings 
and  nobles,  a  city  of  merchants  and  friars.  All  these 
it  was,  and  now  it  is  a  city  of  business.  There  is  the 
mediaeval  tower,  there  is  the  mediaeval  St.  Mary  Overy  ; 
here  is  the  modern  St.  Paul's,  that  reproduces  not  a 
line  or  lineament  of  the  '  awful  beauties'  of  its  pre 
decessor.  Where  are  the  walls,  the  gates  and  wharves  ? 
where  Baynard's  Castle,  Paul's  Wharf,  Somershythe, 
Queenhythe,  Downgate,  Bridge-gate  (pardon  us  the 
anti- climax),  Billingsgate  ?  The  names  remain, 
the  things  are  gone.  The  old  London-bridge,  with 
Nonsuch  House  and  the  rest,  has  disappeared.  No 
'  Harry  the  King'  dwells  at  Coldharbour  or  revels  in 
Eastcheap.  The  'Easterlings'  are  gone.  Edward  and 
Richard  have  departed  from  Baynard's  Castle.  Jane 
Shore  has  done  her  penance.  The  convents  are  sup 
pressed,  the  prelates  have  left  for  Fulham  and  the 
grave.  The  river  ma'de,*  the  river  has  unmade  the 

*  An  alderman  in  Queen  Mary's  time,  on  hearing  that  the 
queen  was  displeased  with  the  citizens  of  London,  and  intended 


The  River.  1 8 1 


ancient  London.  The  capital  was  transferred  from 
Winchester  to  London  for  the  river,  and  now  that 
trade  has  grown  and  grown,  where  is  the  ancient 
London  ?  The  river  has  swept  it  away,  as  the  dwelling 
of  king  or  noble,  or  merchant,  priest,  or  prelate.  It  is 
simply  the  pedestal  of  the  Colossus  of  trade,  and,  itself 
empty,  is  yet  the  centre  of  a  population  greater  than 
that  of  all  Scotland,  and  increased  annually  by  more 
than  forty  thousand  souls. 


to  remove  the  parliament  to  Oxford,  asked  in  reply :  '  Does  she 
mean  to  divert  the  river  Thames  from  London  or  not  ?'  '  Why, 
no,'  was  the  answer.  '  Then,'  replied  the  citizen,  '  we  shall  do 
well  enough  at  London,  whatever  become  of  the  parliament. ' 


THE  STRAND. 

'  Those  bricky  towers 

The  which  on  Thames'  broad  aged  back  do  ride, 
Where  now  the  studious  lawyers  have  their  bowers, 
There  whilom  wont  the  Templar  Knights  to  bide, 
Till  they  decay'd  through  pride  ; 
Next  whereunto  there  stands  a  stately  place. ' 

THE  Blackfriars'  Monastery*  was  that  of  the  Do 
minicans  or  preaching  friars.  Their  first  English 
settlement  was  at  Oxford  in  1221.  In  London  they 
first  had  their  house  in  Holborn,  near  Lincoln's-inn. 
There  they  remained  for  fifty-five  years,  till,  in  1276, 
Gregory  Kokeley,  the  mayor,  assigned  them  part  of  the 
ward  of  Castle  Baynard.  Robert  Kilwardby,  Arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury,  a  Dominican,  helped  them  to 
build  their  church.  The  church  was  built  out  of  the 
materials  of  Montfichet  Castle,  founded  by  a  follower 
of  the  Conqueror  of  that  name.  Edward  I.  and  Queen 
Eleanor  were  generous  benefactors.  The  precinct  was 

*  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  1487. 


Blackfriars.  183 


extensive,  and  had  four  gates.  It  was  a  sanctuary, 
and  remained  so  long  after  the  suppression.  Parlia 
ment  met  in  Henry  VI. 's  reign  at  the  Blackfriars'.* 
Charles  V.  lodged  at  Blackfriars  when  on  a  visit  to 
Henry  VIII.  Cardinal  Campeggio  tried  the  royal 
divorce  at  Blackfriars.  f  At  Blackfriars  began  the 
Black  Parliament  in  Henry's  reign,  in  which  Wolsey 
was  condemned.  The  royal  records  were  deposited 
at  Blackfriars  as  a  place  of  safety.  In  the  church 
lay  the  heart  of  Queen  Eleanor,  the  body  of  King 
James  of  Spain,  and  that  of  Sir  Thomas,  the  father 
of  Katherine  Parr.  Three  tombs  were  erected  to 
Queen  Eleanor  ;  one  over  the  viscera  in  Lincoln 
Cathedral ;  another  over  the  heart  in  the  Blackfriars, 
London  ;  and  a  third  in  Westminster  Abbey  over  the 
body.  The  Master  of  the  Wardrobe  paid  John  le 
Convers  five  marks  for  the  tomb  at  the  Blackfriars'. 
Ten  marks  were  paid  to  Adam  the  Goldsmith  for 
the  work  on  an  angel  to  hold  the  heart  of  the  queen. 
There  were  brass  figures  at  the  sides  of  the  tombs  at 
Lincoln  and  the  Blackfriars',  which  must  have  been 
richer  than  that  at  Westminster  Abbey.  Blackfriars 
was  held  in  commendam  by  Bishop  Fisher,  who  sur- 

*  When  an  attempt  at  reconciliation  was  made  between  the 
Yorkists  and  Lancastrians  after  the  battle  of  St.  Albans,  the  former 
assembled  every  morning  at  Blackfriars,  the  latter  in  the  afternoon 
at  Whitefriars. 

t  Scene  4  of  act  ii.  of  Shakespeare's  Henry  VIII.  is  laid  at 
Blackfriars. 


184  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

rendered  it  to  Henry  VIII.  Henry  sold  the  prior's 
lodgings  and  hall  to  Sir  Francis  Bryan  in  1547. 
We  have  before  related  that  when  Hundsdon  House, 
Blackfriars,  was  occupied  by  Count  le  Tillier,  the 
French  Ambassador,  the  floor  gave  way,  and  ninety- 
five  persons,  including  the  preacher,  Father  Drury,* 
perished.  Forty-seven  of  the  bodies  were  buried  in 
the  garden  of  Hundsdon  House. 

Fleet-ditch  was  fed  by  the  river  of  Wells,  or  Turn- 
mill  Brook,  by  the  Holborn,  and  by  the  Fleet  itself — 
a  stream  that  joined  the  others  where  Farringdon- 
street  now  stands.  The  Fleet  was  crossed  by  four 
bridges  :  one  opposite  Bridewell ;  a  second  connected 
Fleet-street  with  Ludgate ;  a  third  at  the  end  of  Fleet- 
lane  gave  access  to  the  prison  ;  the  fourth  crossed  the 
stream  at  Holborn.  It  was  cleansed  and  made  navig 
able  as  far  as  Holborn  in  1502,  the  year  of  the  mar 
riage  of  the  Princess  Margaret,  sister  of  Henry  VIII., 
with  James  IV.  of  Scotland. 

In  Fleet-street,  or  rather  between  it  and  the 
river,  was  the  well  of  St.  Bride,  or  Bridget,  of  Ire 
land. 

The  old  St.  Bride's,  the  burial-place  of  Wynldn 
de  Worde — the  printer — consisted  of  the  original 
church  converted  into  the  choir,  and  a  nave  and  side- 
aisles,  built  by  William  Vinor,  Warden  of  the  Fleet, 
about  1480.  In  allusion  to  his  name,  a  vine  with 

*  Alias  Bedford.     The  date  was  Sunday,  October  26,  1623. 


Bridewell.  185 


grapes  and  leaves  was  discernible  in  many  parts  of 
the  building.  St.  Bride's  was  a  rectory  in  the  gift  of 
the  Abbot  and  Convent  of  Westminster. 

Henry  VIII.,  after  Wolsey's  fall,  rebuilt  the  Palace 
of  Bridewell.  A  gallery  crossed  the  Fleet,  and  pene 
trated  the  City  wall  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V.'s 
lodging  at  Blackfriars.  Cardinal  Campeggio  came  to 
see  Henry  at  Bridewell,  where  he  found  him  sur 
rounded  by  his  nobility,  judges,  and  councillors.  The 
cardinal  addressed  the  king  on  the  subject  of  his 
marriage  with  Katherine.  The  palace  stood  on  the 
site  of  the  old  Tower  of  Montfichet. 

Salisbury-court  marks  the  site  of  the  town-house 
of  the  Bishops  of  Salisbury. 

At  the  end  of  Shoe-lane,  opposite,  stood  the  Con 
duit,  erected  about  1478,  with  figures  of  angels  and 
sweet-sounding  bells  before  them  ;  on  which,  by  ham 
mers  moved  by  invisible  machinery,  the  hours  of  day 
and  night  were  struck. 

In  Shoe-lane  was  the  residence  of  the  Bishop  of 
Bangor,  with  an  extensive  garden  and  avenues  of  lime. 
Bangor  House  is  mentioned  in  the  patent  rolls  as 
early  as  Edward  III.'s  reign.  A  drawing  of  Mal 
colm's  shows  two  Tudor  windows.  The  house  was 
entirely  pulled  down  in  the  autumn  of  1828. 

In  Chancery-lane  is  the  Rolls  Chapel.  Early  in  his 
reign,  Henry  III.,  the  king  of  simple  life  and  plain,  as 
Dante  calls  him,  founded  in  London  a  Domus  Con- 


i86  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

versorum*  for  the  maintenance  of  Jewish  converts  : 
'  Ad  sustentationem  fratrum  conversorum  et  conver- 
tendorum  de  Judaismo  ad  fidem  Catholicam.'  There 
was  a  similar  house  founded  by  Pope  Pius  V.,  at 
Home ;  and  a  college  founded  by  Gregory  XIII.,  for 
the  purpose  of  receiving  Jews  who  desired  instruction. 
At  Venice,  also,  there  was  a  church  and  hospice  for 
converted  Jews.  I  The  Jews  on  their  conversion  were 
not  only  to  be  watered  with  the  dew  of  doctrine,  as 
Pope  Innocent  III.  said  (Inn.  III.  Epist.  lib.  xvi.  84), 
but  also  to  be  nourished  with  temporal  benefits.  Lest 
the  shame  of  poverty  should  compel  them  to  return, 
all  the  faithful  were  to  assist  them.  There  is  a  letter 
to  the  Bishop  of  Autun,  who  had  failed  to  relieve  the 
necessities  of  a  converted  Jew  and  his  daughter,  re 
buking  him  for  his  neglect  of  the  apostolic  mandate 
(id.  lib.  ii.  epist.  206).  At  the  instance  of  a  noble 
man,  a  Jew  of  Leicester  had  renounced  his  wealth, 
and  embraced  the  Christian  faith.  He  was  main 
tained  during  the  nobleman's  lifetime,  but  after  his 
death  had  no  means  of  subsistence.  Innocent  III. 
wrote  to  the  Abbot  and  Convent  of  St.  Mary  of  the 
Fields,  Leicester,  commanding  them,  for  the  sake  of 
Him  by  whom  the  convert  received  the  light  of  truth, 

*  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  682. 

f  The  chapel  of  All  Saints — in  the  Maximin-strasse  at  Cologne 
— was  originally  erected  for  the  use  of  converted  Jews.  W.  H.  J. 
Weale's  Belgium,  &c.  p.  449. 


Rolls  Chapel.  187 


to  supply  his  wants  in  future  (Inn.  III.  lib.  ii.  epist. 
234). 

The  Chapel  of  the  Domus  Conversorum  is  what 
is  now  known  as  the  Kolls  Chapel.  Edward  I.  ex 
pelled  the  Jews  in  1290 ;  and  Edward  III.  annexed 
the  house  and  chapel  to  the  office  of  the  '  Gustos 
Botulorum,'  then  newly  created. 

Of  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  the 
Kolls  Chapel  has  lost  every  character  of  a  build 
ing  of  that  age.  The  glass  is  of  the  sixteenth  cen 
tury. 

The  chief  ornament  of  the  chapel  is  the  monu 
ment  of  Dr.  John  Young,  Master  of  the  Eolls  in 
Henry  VIII. 's  reign.  The  master  lies  on  a  sarcopha 
gus,  with  his  hands  crossed,  and  a  countenance  of 
extreme  serenity.  In  a  recess  behind  is  a  head  of 
Christ,  with  that  of  an  angel  on  either  side.  This 
monument  is  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  Pietro  Tor- 
regiano,  the  sculptor  of  Henry  VII. 's  monument  at 
Westminster,  and  rival  of  Michael  Angelo. 

Chichester-rents,  in  Chancery-lane,  marks  the 
site  of  the  town-house  of  the  Bishops  of  Chichester. 

Lincoln's-inn  was  the  first  establishment  of  the 
Blackfriars  in  London.  Froni  their  hands  it  passed 
into  those  of  Henry  de  Lacy,  Earl  of  Lincoln. 

The  Whitefriars,  or  Carmelites* — '  Fratres  Beatae 
Marias  de  Monte  Carmeli  ' — were  established  by  the 

*  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  1572. 


1 8  3  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

Thames,  near  the  Temple,  a  little  to  the  east  of 
King's-hench-walk.  Their  church  was  huilt  by  Sir 
Eichard  Gray  in  1241.  Hugh  Courtenay,  Earl  of 
Devon,  rebuilt  Sir  Richard  Gray's  church  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  I.  Robert  Marshall,  Bishop  of 
Hereford,  added  choir,  presbytery,  and  steeple.  Sir 
Robert  Knolles  was  buried  here,  1407. 

Henry  "VIII.  gave  the  land  to  his  physician, 
William  Butts,  mentioned  by  Shakespeare  (Henry 
VIII.  act  v.  scene  2).  The  church  was  destroyed  in 
Edward  VI. 's  reign,  with  all  its  tombs. 

The  Carmelites  were  established  in  England  by 
Richard  L,  the  year  before  Sir  Richard  Gray's  foun 
dation.  Their  first  house  was  at  Alnwick,  in  North 
umberland. 

St.  Dun$taris*  in  the  West,  in  Fleet-street,  was 
presented  to  Henry  III.  by  Richard  de  Barking,  Abbot 
of  Westminster,  in  1237.  Henry  III.  assigned  it, 
with  all  its  profits,  to  the  maintenance  of  his  newly 
established  Domus  Conversorum.  In  1362  we  find 
it  in  the  possession  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  as  in 
consequence  of  a  petition  from  the  Praemonstatensian 
Abbot  and  Convent  of  Alnwick,  Northumberland, 
showing  how  their  house  had  been  destroyed  in  the 
Scottish  wars,  St.  Dunstan's  was  given  them  by  the 
bishop.  One  of  the  monks  of  that  remote  house  was 
deputed  to  St.  Dunstan's,  but  was  removable  at  the 

*  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  868. 


The  Temple.  189 


bishop's  pleasure.  In  1437,  a  perpetual  vicar  was 
instituted.  At  the  dissolution,  the  patronage  of  St. 
Dunstan's  reverted  to  the  Crown. 

From  the  Temple  towards  the  Priory  of  St.  John, 
there  arose  numerous  buildings  devoted  to  the  study 
of  law — Sergeants'-inn  (rented  from  the  Archbishop 
of  York),  Clifford's-inn,  Clement's-inn,  Lincoln's-inn, 
Gray's-inn  (once  the  residence  of  the  Grays  of  Wilton, 
then  a  manor  attached  to  the  Convent  of  East  Sheen, 
in  Surrey),  Thavies'-inn,  Furnival's-inn,  Staple-inn, 
Barnard's  or  Mackworth's,  and  Scroop's-inn — that 
give  a  collegiate  aspect  to  this  quarter  of  London. 

The  Temple  Church*  was  founded  in  1185  (the 
year  in  which  Saladin  captured  the  holy  city),  and 
dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  by  Heraclius,  Patri 
arch  of  the  Church  of  the  Piesurrection  at  Jerusalem. 
An  inscription  over  the  west  door  records  the  fact, 
and  the  grant  of  a  sixty  days'  indulgence  for  a  yearly 
visit.  The  abbreviated  form  is  to  be  thus  read : 

'  Qui  (Heraclius)  earn  annatim  petentibus 
de  injuncta  sibi  penetentia  Ix.  dies  indulsit.' 

This  was  the  second  Templar  church  in  London. 
The  original  church — as  at  a  later  date  that  of  the 
Blackfriars — was  in  Holborn.  The  present  Temple 
was  called  the  '  New  Temple.'  The  old  church — of 
Caen  stone — was  also  circular.  The  oblong  portion 
of  the  '  New  Temple  '  was  consecrated  on  Ascension- 
*  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  817. 


19°  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

day,  1240.  On  the  dissolution  of  the  order,  Edward 
II.  granted  the  Temple  and  Frikett's  Croft,  near 
London,  and  the  whole  Templar  property,  whether  in 
the  city  or  suburbs,  to  Aymer  de  Valence,  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  the  same  De  Valence  whose  beautiful 
tomb  is  in  Westminster  Abbey.* 

The  Council  of  Vienne,  in  1324,  gave  the  Tem 
plar  property  to  the  Hospitallers,  then  very  con 
spicuous  for  their  valour  at  Rhodes.  The  London 
Temple  shared  in  this  change  of  destination  ;  but 
the  Hospitallers  conveyed  the  property  to  Hugh  le 
Despencer,  at  whose  death  it  reverted  to  the  crown. 
The  Hospitallers  were,  however,  re-installed  in  Ed 
ward  III.'s  reign.  They  gave  a  lease  of  the  property 
for  the  use  of  common-law  students,  who  still  have 
their  <  bowers'  in  the  '  bricky  towers'  of  the  Templar 
Knights. 

The  circular  Nave  is  transition  Norman.  Six 
clustered  and  banded  pillars  with  sculptured  capitals 
support  pointed  arches.  The  surrounding  aisle  has 
quadripartite  vaulting,  as  at  St.  Bartholomew's,  but 
here  with  cross-springers  and  enriched  bosses.  It  is 
lighted  by  small  circular-headed  windows.  The  west 
doorway  is  of  rich  character,  with  four  jamb- shafts 
on  either  side.  Beyond  the  door  to  the  west  is  the 
first  bay,  with  two  massive  pillars,  of  a  cloister.  In 

*  The  trial  of  the  Templars  took  place  at  St.  Martin's,  Lud- 
gate. 


The  Round  Chiirch*  1 9 1 

the  round,  the  six  pillars  stand  at  the  angles  of  a 
hexagon,  on  each  side  of  which  is  a  square,  the  outer 
corners  of  which  fall  at  points  equally  distant  in  the 
external  wall,  so  that — were  the  inner  circle  not  cir 
cular,  but  really  hexagonal — the  external  wall  of  the 
circumambient  aisle  would  be  a  duo -decagon,  on 
which  would  rest  alternately  squares  and  equilateral 
triangles.  But  the  builder  of  the  round  church  was 
determined  that  it  should  be  round,  and  not  a  com 
plex  figure,  so  he  adopted  arches  of  double  curvature 
both  in  the  inner  and  the  outer  circle,  from  pillar 
to  pillar,  and  from  respond  to  respond. 

The  triforium  is  formed  by  a  series  of  interlacing 
blank  arches  with  five  arches,  counting  from  either 
side,  and  five  pillars  in  each  bay.  The  two  central 
spaces  of  the  six  thus  enclosed  are  pierced  by  square- 
headed  openings.  There  are  six  round-headed  clere 
story  windows  with  shafts  at  the  inner  side  of  the 
splay.  From  the  abacus  of  each  of  the  clustered 
columns  beneath,  rises  a  single  vaulting  shaft  on  the 
face  of  the  triforium  and  clerestory.  Bound  the  wall 
of  the  aisle  is  a  continuous  arcade  with  a  large 
and  prominent  billet-moulding.  The  arches  are  sup 
ported  by  columns  with  rich  capitals.  In  the  span 
drels  are  sculptured  heads.  To  the  south,  there 
were  formerly  two  small  rooms  communicating  with 
the  church.  These  were  removed  in  1824.  The  tri 
forium  is  reached  by  a  small  well- staircase,  which 


i92  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

also  gives  access  to  the  roof  of  the  choir.  Within  a 
turret  to  the  north,  at  the  junction  of  the  round 
church,  or  nave,  and  the  choir,  and  opening  on  the 
staircase,  is  a  small  room  four  feet  six  inches  long, 
by  two  feet  six  inches  wide.  Its  appropriation  is  not 
certainly  known.  As  the  altar  is  seen  from  it,  may 
it  not  have  been  for  ringing  the  '  Sanctus  bell'  ? 

The  tombs  are  all  of  Purbeck  marble.  Their 
designation  is  somewhat  uncertain.  That  an  effigy 
has  the  legs  crossed,  whilst  the  right  hand  is  placed 
on  the  sword,  does  not  prove  a  tomb  to  be  that  of  a 
Templar.  The  tomb  of  a  Templar  would  represent 
him  in  his  religious  habit — a  white  cloak  with  a 
simple  red  cross  on  the  left  shoulder,  over  a  habit 
fastened  at  the  waist  by  a  belt.  The  monuments  at 
the  Temple  Church  are  those  of  pilgrims  to  the  Holy 
Land,  who  had  laid  their  swords  on  the  altar  at  the 
Kedeemer's  tomb,  or  of  those  who,  after  having  actu 
ally  engaged  in  the  Holy  War,  their  vow  fulfilled, 
are  seen  to  sheathe  their  swords,  whilst  their  feet 
rest  on  the  enemy  that  has  beset  their  path ;  '  con- 
culcabis  leonern  et  draconem'  (Ps.  xc.  13).  The  ef 
figies  of  five  knights  compose  the  northern  group  ; 
on  the  south  lie  four  others  beside  a  coffin  cn-dos- 
d'ane.  The  singular  position  of  these  effigies  is  not 
original.  No  coffins  or  remains  have  been  found 
beneath.  The  first  of  the  southern  group  is  identi 
fied  by  Gough  as  Geoffrey  de  Magnaville,  Earl  of 


Effigies.  193 


Essex,  who  was  killed  in  besieging  Burwell  Castle, 
in  1148.  This  tomb  was  removed  from  the  Temple 
in  Holborn.  The  next  is  that  of  William  le  Mare- 
schall,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  who  died  in  1219.  The 
shield  bore  a  lion  rampant,  now  obliterated.  The 
figure  of  the  young  bare-headed  knight,  the  next 
in  the  series,  has  a  cowl  around  the  neck.  The 
arms  are  crossed  upon  the  breast.  The  shield  is 
charged  with  three  water-bougets,  the  insignia  of  the 
De  Ros  family.  This  effigy  is  supposed  to  be  that  of 
the  second  Lord  De  Ros,  named  Furstan,  who  gave 
Ribston  to  the  Temple.  He  died  in  1227.  The  next 
is  supposed  to  be  that  of  William  Marshall,  second 
Earl  of  Pembroke,  who  died  in  April  1230.  The 
sword  is  to  the  right.  On  the  ridge  of  the  coffin,  en- 
dos-cl'ane,  is  a  cross  flory.  '  The  foot  rests  on  a 
bull's  head,  or  perhaps  a  ram's.'  The  tombs  are  not 
in  their  original,  though  they  have  long  been  in  their 
present,  position.  So  in  Hudibras  (part  iii.  canto 
iii.)  : 

'  Retain  all  sort  of  witnesses 
That  ply  in  the  Temple,  under  trees, 
Or  walk  the  round,  with  knights  of  the  posts 
About  the  cross-legg'd  knights  their  hosts.' 

Indeed  the  Temple  would  seem  to  have  been  a  favourite 
place  with  the  poets ;  Shakespeare  having  it,  that  it 
was  in  the  Temple  garden  that  the  rival  partisans  as 
sumed  the  badges  of  York  and  Lancaster.* 

*  King  Henry  VI.  part  i.  act  ii.  sc.  4.     Chaucer's  Manciple 

0 


194  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

The  Choir  of  five  bays,  with  its  aisles,  is  early 
pointed.  It  is  lighted  throughout  by  triplets,  with 
jamb  shafts  of  Purbeck  marble.  In  the  south  aisle  is 
the  effigy  of  Sylvester  de  Everdon,  Bishop  of  Carlisle 
(1246-1255).  He  wears  the  episcopal  vestments  with 
his  mitre,  and  with  his  crozier  in  his  hand.  In  1810 
the  tomb  was  opened,  and  the  skeleton  was  found 
wrapped  in  sheet  lead.  The  crozier  lay  by  the  bishop's 
side,  but  the  episcopal  ring  was  not  discovered.  The 
leaden  covering  appeared  to  have  been  broken,  per 
haps  when  the  Temple  was  seized  in  the  disturbances 
of  Richard  II. 's  time.  Against  the  north  wall,  at  the 
east,  was  the  figure  of  Edmund  Plowden,  the  lawyer, 
who  died  in  1584.  He  lies  on  an  altar- tomb.*  Ser 
jeant  Plowden  is  honourably  distinguished  as  one  of 
the  thirty-seven  members  of  the  House  of  Commons 
who  seceded  on  account  of  the  persecution  of  Protest 
ants  carried  on  by  Queen  Mary's  government,  with 
the  connivance  of  the  House.  Of  these  members 
thirty-four  were  Catholics,  and  three  Protestants. 
Plowden  was  a  distinguished  jurist.  Elizabeth  offered 
the  great  seal  to  Plowden,  if  he  would  abandon  the 
Catholic  religion.  His  reply  is  recorded  :  '  No,  madam, 
not  for  the  wealth  of  the  nation.'  Camden  says,  '  How 


will  occur  to  the  reader  as  another  poetic  association  with  the 
Temple. 

*  Plowden's  monument  has  been  transferred  to  the  triforium 
of  the  Round  Church. 


The  Choir.  195 


excellent  a  medley  is  made  when  honesty  and  ability 
meet  in  a  man  of  Plowden's  profession  !'  Francis 
Plowden,  the  historian  of  Ireland,  was  a  descendant 
of  Serjeant  Plowden. 

The  central  aisle  is  about  a  third  broader  than  the 
other  two.  There  are  four  clustered  columns  on  either 
side,  here  forming  solid  piers,  but  of  no  great  thick 
ness.  The  soffits  of  the  arches  are  enriched  by  nu 
merous  mouldings.  The  groining  is  formed  by  cross- 
springers  with  bosses  at  the  intersections.  The  vault 
is  more  pointed  in  the  side  aisles  than  in  the  centre, 
to  redress  the  effect  of  their  inequality  of  width.  The 
east  window  of  the  central  aisle  is  larger  than  any  of 
the  others.  There  are  quartrefoil  panels  in  the  span 
drels  to  give  this,  the  principal  window  in  the  church, 
a  more  ornate  character.  The  side-aisle  vaults  are 
loaded,  to  counteract  the  pressure  of  the  central  vault 
arising  from  its  greater  width.  The  expedient  has 
failed,  the  weight  imposed  not  having  been  sufficient. 
The  pillars  incline  slightly  outwards.  The  offsets  of 
the  external  buttresses  are  on  the  outer  face  only.  A 
string-course  runs  round  under  the  window.  The 
buttresses  meet  the  parapet  above.  Between  the 
buttresses  almost  the  whole  wall  space  is  occupied 
by  windows.  The  choir  of  the  Temple  Church 
should  be  compared  with  Lady  Chapel  of  St.  Mary 
Overy. 

It  is  frequently  assumed,  though  without  proof, 


1 96  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


that  the  so-called  '  round  churches'  were,  like  the 
Baptistery,  or  St.  Sepulchre's  at  Pisa,  disengaged, 
and  that  the  oblong  portion  was  an  after  addition. 
This  is  contrary  to  fact.  At  Little  Maplestead  in 
Essex,  the  foundations  were  found,  on  examination,  to 
be  on  one  level  throughout,  and  a  set-off  of  six  inches 
to  run  round  the  whole  building.  It  does  not  appear 
to  have  struck  those  who  imagine  that  these  churches 
were  designed  to  be  an  exact  imitation  of  the  church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  that  they  resemble  it  in  being 
a  combination  of  the  circular  with  the  rectangular ; 
that,  were  they  reduced  to  the  '  round,'  the  resem 
blance  would  be  lost.  '  The  church  of  the  Resurrec- 
tion'  was  circular,  and  enshrined  the  Holy  Sepulchre  ; 
but  on  the  east,  and  joined  with  it  by  a  cloister,  Con- 
stantine  built  the  Martyrium,  in  commemoration  of 
our  Lord's  death.  At  St.  Sepulchre's,  Cambridge, 
an  ancient  window  in  the  '  round  church'  appropri 
ately  represents  the  Resurrection. 

The  rule  of  the  Templars  was  drawn  up  by  St. 
Bernard.  The  head  of  the  house  was  the  Master  of 
the  Temple,  that  of  the  house  at  Jerusalem  the 
Grand-Master.  The  master  was  elected  by  the 
chapter  from  among  knights.  His  jurisdiction  ex 
tended  not  only  over  the  London  house,  but  over  the 
preceptories  in  the  provinces.  On  entering  the  order 
the  Templar  had  to  declare  that  he  was  neither  mar 
ried  nor  betrothed,  and  that  he  had  never  taken  vows 


Admission  of  a  Templar.  197 


in  any  other  religious  order,  that  he  was  sound  in 
constitution,  and  free  from  debt. 

To  the  south  of  the  round  church  was  an  ancient 
chapel  of  St.  Anne,*  demolished  in  1827.  Here  the 
candidates  took  their  stand,  and  many  questions  were 
addressed  to  them.  These  satisfactorily  answered, 
they  knelt  before  the  master  with  folded  hands,  and 
each  said,  '  Sir,  I  am  come,  before  God,  and  before  you 
and  the  brethren,  and  pray  and  beseech  you,  for  the 
sake  of  God  and  our  dear  Lady,  to  admit  me  into 
your  society  and  the  good  deeds  of  the  order,  as  one 
who  will  be,  all  his  life  long,  the  servant  and  slave  of 
the  order.'  The  master  replied,  '  Beloved  brother,  you 
are  desirous  of  a  great  matter,  for  you  see  nothing 
but  the  outward  show  of  our  order.  It  is  only  the 
outward  show  when  you  see  that  we  have  fine  houses 
and  rich  companions,  that  we  eat  and  drink  well,  and 
are  splendidly  clothed.  From  this  you  conclude  that 
you  will  be  W7ell  off  with  us.  But  you  know  not  the 
rigorous  maxims  which  are  our  interior.  For  it  is  a 
hard  matter  for  you,  who  are  3rour  own  master,  to  be 
come  the  servant  of  another.  You  will  hardly  be  able 
to  perform,  in  future,  what  you  wish  yourself.  .  .  . 
When  you  wish  to  sleep,  you  will  be  ordered  to  watch  ; 
when  you  will  wish  to  watch,  then  you  will  be  ordered 
to  go  to  bed ;  when  you  will  wish  to  eat,  then  you  will 

*  Barren  women  used  to  resort  to  this  chapel  to  avail  them 
selves  of  the  intercession  of  the  Saint. 


198  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

be  ordered  to  do  something  else,'  &c.  Other  interro 
gations  followed,  and  the  candidate  bound  himself  to 
obedience,  chastity,  and  observance  of  the  customs  of 
the  order.  His  admission  followed,  and  he  was  clad 
in  the  white  mantle  and  red  cross  of  the  Templars. 
The  master  and  chaplain  then  kissed  him,  and  the 
master  delivered  a  discourse,  in  which  he  enjoined 
upon  the  neophyte  the  special  virtues  that  character 
ised  the  order,  and  instructed  him  in  the  observances 
he  was  to  keep.  The  Templar  then  received  clothes, 
arms,  and  other  equipments,  and  was  furnished  with 
three  horses  and  an  esquire  to  attend  him.  Attached 
to  the  knights  were  chaplains  and  serving  brethren, 
and  more  remotely  the  affiliated,  and  the  Donates  and 
Oblates — either  children  destined  to  embrace  the  ser 
vice  of  the  order  or  persons  engaged  to  promote  its 
interests. 

The  gate-house  of  the  Middle  Temple  was  built  by 
Sir  Amias  Paulet,  as  a  fine  imposed  on  him  by  Car 
dinal  Wolsey.* 

St.  Clement  Danes  in  the  Strand  has  the  base  of 
the  Gothic  tower.  This  church,  as  did  still  more 
nearly  the  Temple  Church,  escaped  the  fire,  but  has 
been  rebuilt.  It  is  said  to  derive  its  name  from  the 
fact  of  its  having  been  the  place  of  interment  of 

*  So  the  gateway  of  the  Botanic  Garden  at  Oxford  was  erected 
by  means  of  the  fine  levied  upon  Anthony  a  Wood  for  his  libel  on 
the  Earl  of  Clarendon.  * 


Somerset  House.  1 9  9 


Harold  Harefoot,  son  of  Canute.  Another  account 
says  that,  after  the  expulsion  of  the  Danes,  such  as 
had  formed  English  alliances  were  compelled  to  take 
up  their  residence  between  Westminster  and  Ludgate, 
and  that  when  St.  Clement's  came  to  be  built  in  this 
quarter,  it  derived  its  name  from  the  circumstance. 
Clement's-inn  is  said  by  Dugdale  to  have  been  an  inn 
of  Chancery  in  Edward  II. 's  reign.  In  the  inn  was 
'  St.  Clement's  well.'  To  it  in  Fitz-Stephen's  time 
the  Westminster  scholars  and  City  youth  resorted. 
There  is  now  a  pump  over  it. 

The  Abbot  of  Westminster  had  a  garden  on  the 
banks  of  the  Thames,  where  Westminster  and  Lon 
don  join  near  St.  Clement's  Danes.  It  was  called 
the  '  Frere  Pye  Garden,'  and  stood  opposite  the  pal 
aces  of  the  Bishops  of  Durham  and  Carlisle.  The 
Bishop  of  Exeter  lived  in  this  quarter,  holding  the 
ground  on  lease  from  the  Knights  of  St.  John. 

The  Protector  Somerset,  uncle  of  the  young  King 
Edward  VI.,  seems  most  probably  to  have  possessed 
property  on  the  site  of  Somerset  House.  He  deter 
mined  to  build  a  palace  on  this  site ;  and  to  carry  out 
his  intention,  space  and  building  materials  were 
obtained  by  the  demolition  of  an  inn  of  Chancery 
called  '  Strand-inn,  or  Chester-inn,'  the  palaces  of 
the  Bishops  of  Worcester  andLlandaff,  of  the  Bishops 
of  Lichfield  and  Coventry,  and  the  church  and  church 
yard  of  St.  Mary  le  Strand.  For  the  more  substantial 


200  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquiiies  of  London . 

building  of  his  palace,  instead  of  rubble  and  timber, 
the  ordinary  materials,  he  demolished  the  charnel- 
house  of  old  St.  Paul's  and  the  chapel  over  it,  together 
with  '  Pardon  churchyard,'  throwing  the  remains  of 
the  dead  into  Finsbury-fields  ;  as  also  the  steeple  and 
part  of  the  church  of  the  Priory  of  St.  John  of  Jeru 
salem,  and  with  the  stones  of  these  erected  the  new 
mansion. 

Denmark  House,  or,  as  we  now  call  it,  Somerset 
House,  was  settled  for  life  on  Henrietta  Maria, 
Queen  of  Charles  I.,  and  was  fitted  up  for  the 
reception  of  herself  and  household  in  1626.  There 
was  a  cemetery  belonging  to  Somerset  House  in  which 
the  Catholic  members  of  the  queen's  household  were 
buried. 

Catholics  were  generally  buried  in  the  Protestant 
cemeteries,  the  priest  who  attended  them  blessing 
some  mould  which  was  put  in  the  coffin  with  the 
body,  and  performing  in  secret  the  usual  ceremonies. 

The  Capuchins  whom  we  find  at  Somerset  House 
were  preceded  by  Oratorians*  established  in  the  sub 
urb  of  St.  James's,  near  the  palace,  to  whose  services 
Catholics  resorted,  though  admission  was  obtained 
with  difficulty.  The  Oratorians  were  expelled  by  the 
influence  of  Buckingham  ('  Steenie')  with  his  royal 
master. 

0  It  was  from  the  Oratorians  in  Paris  that  the  ill-fated  Duke 
of  Monmouth  received  his  early  education. 


Co/puck  ins.  2  o  i 


On  the  Capuchins'  arrival,  the  foundation-stone 
of  the  chapel  at  Somerset  House  was  laid  by  the 
queen.  From  six  in  the  morning  there  were  masses, 
and  generally  communions  till  noon.  The  confes 
sionals  were  thronged.  On  Sundays  and  festi 
vals  there  was  a  controversial  lecture  from  one  to 
two  o'clock.  Vespers  followed,  sung  by  the  Capu 
chins  and  musicians  alternately  from  the  galleries. 
When  vespers  were  over,  there  was  a  sermon  on  the 
gospel  of  the  day,  followed  by  compline.  Then  there 
were  conferences  for  the  edification  of  Catholics  and 
instruction  of  Protestants.  On  three  days  in  the 
week  the  Christian  doctrine  was  publicly  taught  in 
French  and  English.  There  were  two  or  three  con 
versions  weekly. 

When  the  queen  was  in  Holland,  the  Capuchins 
were  imprisoned  by  Parliament,  and  banished  ;  their 
house  was  pulled  down,  and  the  chapel  desecrated. 
They  were  restored  to  Somerset  House  when  Hen 
rietta  Maria  returned  to  England,  after  the  Piestora- 
tion. 

In  May  1638,  by  Henrietta  Maria's  special  per 
mission,  Father  Richard  Blount  was  buried  at 
Somerset  House.* 

0  Father  Blount  reconciled  Anne  of  Denmark,  consort  of 
James  I.  She,  however,  subsequently  conformed  to  the  Estab 
lished  Church.  See  Troubles  of  our  Catholic  Forefathers,  pp. 
147-9. 


202   Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqitities  of  L ondon. 

Pepys  in  his  diary  gives  the  following  account : 
'  In  1663-4,  on  the  24th,  being  Ash- Wednesday,  to 
the  queen's  chapel,  where  I  staid  and  saw  mass, 
till  a  man  came  and  bade  me  go  out  or  kneel 
down  ;  so  I  did  go  out ;  and  thence  to  Somerset 
House,  and  there  into  the  chapel  where  Mons. 
d'Espagne,  a  Frenchman,  used  to  preach.'  In  Octo 
ber  he  again  visits  '  Somerset  House,'  and  saw  the 
queen's  new  rooms,  '  which  are  most  stately  and  nobly 
furnished.'  In  1664-5,  about  January,  he  was  there 
again,  and  was  shown  the  queen's  mother's  chamber 
and  closet,  '  most  beautiful  places  for  furniture  and 
pictures.'  In  consequence,  however,  of  the  plague, 
in  the  June  following,  the  court  prepared  to  leave 
Whitehall  and  Somerset  House.  The  queen  went  to 
France,  and  there  died,  in  1669.  On  the  death  of 
Charles  II.  in  1685,  Somerset  House  became  the 
residence  of  Catherine  of  Braganza.* 

The  Savoy  was  built  by  Peter,  Earl  of  Savoy  and 
Kichmond,  in  1245.  He  was  uncle  of  Eleanor,  wife 
of  Henry  III.  He  gave  it  to  the  (  Fratres  de  Monte 
Jovis,'f  the  Priory  de  Cornuto  (Hornchurch),  by  Ha- 

*  In  the  reign  of  Janies  II.,  Smith,  one  of  the  four  Vicars- 
Apostolic,  was  consecrated  at  Somerset  House.  Ellis  was  conse 
crated  at  the  same  date  (1688)  in  the  Chapel  Royal  at  St.  James'. 
Leyburn  and  Giffard  were  of  earlier  consecration. 

•j-  In  Savoy — the  Hospice  of  the  Great  St.  Bernard.  A  temple 
dedicated  to  Jupiter  stood  on  the  pass  near  the  hospice.  Havering 
was  '  cella  et  parcella  hospitalis  S.  Bernard!  de  Monte,  in  Sabaudia, 
ultra  mare.'  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  652. 


The  Savoy.  203 


vering-at-the -Bower,  in  Essex.  From  them  it  was 
purchased  by  Queen  Eleanor  for  Edmund,  Earl  of 
Lancaster,  second  son  of  Henry  III.  The  Savoy  was 
repaired,  or  rather  rebuilt,  by  Henry  Plantagenet,  first 
Duke  of  Lancaster,  fourth  son  of  Edward  III.  John, 
King  of  France,  was  a  prisoner  at  the  Savoy,  after  his 
defeat  at  Poictiers  in  1356.  Here  he  died  when  on  a 
subsequent  visit  to  this  country.  When  in  the  posses 
sion  of  '  time  -  honoured  Lancaster,'  the  Savoy  was 
burnt  by  Wat  Tyler,  in  1381.  Chaucer  wrote  some 
of  his  poems  in  the  Savoy.  In  1505,  it  was  endowed 
as  an  Hospital  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  for  the  relief 
of  100  poor,  by  Henry  VII.  In  his  will,  Henry  VII. 
referred  to  this  endowment,  and  said  he  intended 
'  to  doo  and  execute  six  out  of  the  seven  works  of 
pitie  and  mercy  by  meanes  of  keeping,  susteyning,  and 
mayntenying  of  common  hospitallis.'  Henry  VIII. 
completed  the  design.  The  hospital  was  reendowed 
by  Mary  I.,  her  maids  of  honour  furnishing  it  with 
necessaries.  The  Savoy  had  a  hall  with  a  louvre  in 
the  centre  of  the  roof.  The  roof  was  of  wood,  with 
pendants,  probably  similar  to  those  at  Crosby-place. 
Images  of  angels  bore  before  their  breasts  coats  of 
arms,  as  in  the  roof  at  Westminster.  One  of  these 
was  a  '  cross  gules  between  four  stars.' 

Machyn,  in  his  diary,  records  the  burial  of  the 
Earl  of  Bedford,  lord  privy -seal,  who  died  at  his 
house  beside  the  Savoy,  and  was  carried  to  his  coun- 


2  G4  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqii  ities  of  L ondon. 

try-place,  Chenies,  for  interment.  He  was  carried 
with  three  crosses,  with  many  clerks  and  priests  in 
attendance,  '  till  they  came  to  the  hill  above  St. 
James,'  where  some  turned  back;  all  were  mounted. 
First  there  rode  one  in  black,  bearing  a  silver  cross ; 
then  came  priests  in  surplice,  then  came  the  stan 
dard,  then  the  gentlemen  and  chief  officers,  then 
heralds  with  the  helmet,  mantle,  and  crest,  the 
armour,  and  insignia;  then  came  the  funeral  car  with 
painted  banners ;  then  the  saddle  horse ;  then  the 
mourners,  chief  of  them  Lord  Russell's  son,  the  lord 
treasurer,  the  master  of  the  horse,  and  various  mem 
bers  of  the  nobility,  clad  in  black.  Everywhere  on 
the  course  of  the  procession  the  clergy  came  forth  to 
meet  it,  and  alms  were  distributed  to  the  poor.  The 
interment  took  place  the  following  day,  when  the 
Dean  of  St.  Paul's  preached,  and  the  people  of  the 
country-side  flocked  to  the  feast. 

The  Chapel  of  St.  Mary  in  the  Hospital,  or  of 
St.  John  the  Baptist*  in  the  Savoy,  is  of  early  six 
teenth-century  date.  There  is  a  rich  reredos,  having 
niches  with  domed  canopies  at  either  extremity. 
The  east  window  is  of  five  lights  with  vertical  mul- 
lions.  There  are  two  sedilia,  with  a  piscina  between 

*  Henry  III.  rebuilt  the  Hospital  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  on 
the  site  of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford.  The  University  sermon 
used  to  be  preached  from  the  stone  pulpit  in  the  entrance  quad 
rangle  of  the  college  on  St.  John  Baptist's  Day. 


Savoy  Chapel.  205 


them  and  the  east  wall.*  To  the  west  of  this  is 
the  priest's  doorway.  The  oak  roof  is  coved  at 
the  sides.  It  exhibits  a  series  of  quatrefoil  panels, 
which  run  four  in  a  row  throughout  the  entire 
length  ;  the  spaces  between  each  row  of  quatrefoils 
and  that  next  succeeding  are  filled  in  by  smaller 
patterns,  also  quatrefoil,  but  here  formed  by  a  com 
bination  of  ogees,  not  as  the  larger,  by  the  inter 
section  of  circles.  The  coved  portion  of  the  ceiling 
exhibits  a  series  of  oblong  panels  with  elliptic  heads. 
Emblems  of  the  Passion,  the  sacred  monogram,  the 
lamb  and  flag,  and  the  pelican  in  her  piety,  \  the  types 
of  St.  John  Baptist,  with  various  heraldic  devices, 
adorn  the  panels.  The  prevalent  colour  is  blue.  The 
chapel  was  restored  in  1865,  by  Mr.  Sydney  Smirke, 
after  the  fire.  Gavin  Douglas,  the  poet-Bishop  of 
Dunkeld,  was  buried  at  the  Savoy.  He  was  son  of 
<  Archibald-Bell-the-Cat,'  Earl  of  Angus.  The  reader 
of  Marmionl  will  remember  how,  at  the  wedding  of 
Clare  and  De  Wilton  : 

'  A  bishop  at  the  altar  stood, 
A  noble  lord  of  Douglas  blood,'  &c. 

The    Church    of  the    Savoy   became    parochial 
when  the    Protector  Somerset   demolished   the    old 

*  At  Sedgeberrow  Church,  Gloucestershire,  and  at  St.  Fechin's 
Abbey,  Fore,  Westmeath,  there  are  double  sedilia. 

f  So  on  the  tabernacle  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  John's  Hospital, 
Bruges. 

J  Canto  vi.  xi. 


2c6  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

church  of  St.  Mary-le-Strand,  to  make  way  for  his 
palace.* 

Sir  Thomas  Palmer,  a  follower  of  Somerset,  ob 
tained  a  house  opposite  the  Savoy,  that  belonged  to 
the  parson  of  St.  Martin's,  demolished  it,  and  built 
on  the  site  a  fine  house  of  brick  and  timber. 

In  the  Chapel  of  the  Savoy  was  buried,  at  his 
own  request,  Christopher  Davenport,  better  known 
as  '  Franciscus  a  Sancta  Clara,'  of  the  order  of  St. 
Francis.  He  was  a  native  of  Coventry,  became  a 
Catholic  when  at  Merton  College,  Oxford,  and  entered 
the  Franciscan  Order  at  Ypres.  He  died  at  Somer 
set  House,  May  31,  1680,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 
He  reconciled  Anne,  Duchess  of  York,  August  1670. 
He  translated  from  the  Portuguese  the  '  Chronicles  of 
the  Franciscan  Order. 'f 

Ivy -bridge,  crossing  a  small  stream,  was  the 
boundary  between  the  precinct  of  the  Savoy  and 
Westminster. 

In  the  Strand  were  numerous  houses  of  bishops  ; 


*  Antonio  de  Dominis,  Archbishop  of  Spalatro,  became  Master 
of  the  Savoy  in  the  reign  of  James  I.  For  his  life  and  writings 
see  Granger's  Biographical  Dictionary,  vol.  i.  p.  359  ;  and  Hal- 
lam's  Introduction,  vol.  ii.  p.  419,  note  b ;  and  vol.  iii.  p.  426. 

t  In  the  reign  of  James  II.  a  colony  of  Jesuits  was  established 
in  the  Savoy,  under  a  rector  named  Palmer.  They  opened  a  school 
which  numbered  some  four  hundred  pupils,  half  of  them  Pro 
testants,  and  half  Catholics.  They  also  established  a  printing- 
press. 


Covent  Garden.  207 


those  of  Exeter,  Bath,  Llandaff,  Chester,  Worcester, 
Carlisle,  Durham,  and  the  Archbishop  of  York 
(Wolsey),  all  resided  here.  Durham — Aggas  spells  it 
Duresme — House  was  exchanged  by  Bishop  Tunstal 
for  a  residence  in  Thames-street,  and  was  converted 
by  Henry  VIII.  into  a  palace.  When  Mary  came 
to  the  throne,  she  restored  Durham  House  to  that 
see. 

York  House  was  the  London  residence  of  the  Bi 
shops  of  Norwich,  from  whom  it  passed  to  the  Suffolk 
family.  In  Queen  Mary's  time,  Heath,  Archbishop 
of  York,  purchased  the  house  for  the  see  of  York,  as 
Whitehall,  formerly  York  House,  had  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  Crown. 

'  Covent  (Convent)  Garden'  was  an  enclosure  be 
longing  to  the  Abbey  of  Westminster.  Here  were  the 
spreading  pastures  of  the  '  seven  acres,'  of  Long-acre, 
and  a  grove  of  elms,  now  all  swallowed  up  in  the 
general  appellation  of  'Long-acre  ;'  the  street  running 
east  and  west  between  St.  Martin's  and  Drury-lane, 
through  Leg-alley.  Long-acre  is  said  to  stand  on  the 
site  of  the  ancient  elms. 

And  now  we  reach  what  was  once  the  country 
village  of  Charing  (Chere  Keine  ?).*  At  Charing- 
cross  was  one  of  the  Eleanor  crosses,  the  last  of  the 

*  For  Charing-cross  Hospital,  see  Dugdale's  Monasticon 
(Ellis),  vi.  767.  It  was  founded  '  for  lunatic  and  distracted  people.' 
The  date  of  the  foundation  is  unknown. 


208  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

series.     The  following  lines  on  its  downfall  are  in 
teresting  : 

'  Undone,  undone  the  lawyers  are  ; 

They  wander  about  the  towne  ; 
Nor  can  find  the  way  to  Westminster, 

Now  Charing-cross  is  downe  : 
At  the  end  of  the  Strand  they  make  a  stand, 

Swearing  they  are  at  a  loss, 
And  chaffing  say,  that's  not  the  way  ; 

They  must  goby  Charing-cross. 

The  Parliament  to  vote  it  down 

Conceived  it  very  fitting, 
For  fear  it  should  fall  and  kill  them  all, 

In  the  house  as  they  were  sitting. 
They  were  told,  God  wot,  it  had  a  plot, 

Which  made  them  so  hard-hearted, 
To  give  command  it  should  not  stand, 

But  be  taken  down  and  carted. 

Men  talk  of  plots ;  this  might  have  been  worse, 

For  anything  I  know, 
Than  that  Tomkins  and  Chaloner 

Were  hanged  for  long  agoe. 
Our  Parliament  did  that  prevent, 

And  wisely  them  defended  ; 
For  plots  they  will  discover  still 

Before  they  were  intended. 

But  neither  man,  woman,  nor  child, 

Will  say,  I'm  confident, 
They  ever  heard  it  speak  one  word 

Against  the  Parliament. 
An  informer  swore  it  letters  bore, 

Or  else  it  had  been  freed ; 
I'll  take,  in  troth,  my  Bible  oath, 

It  could  neither  write  nor  read. 


Charing  Cross.  209 


The  committee  said,  that  verily 

To  Popery  it  was  hent ; 
For  ought  I  know  it  might  be  so, 

For  to  church  it  never  went.* 
What  with  excise,  and  such  device, 

The  kingdom  doth  begin, 
To  think  you'll  leave  them  ne'er  a  cross, 
Without  doors  nor  within. 

Methinks  the  Common  Council  should 

Of  it  have  taken  pity, 
'Cause,  good  old  cross,  it  always  stood 

So  firmly  to  the  City. 
Since  crosses  you  so  much  disdain, 

Faith,  if  I  were  as  you, 
For  fear  the  king  should  rule  again 

I'd  pull  down  Tiburn  too.' 

Charing-cross  was  built  under  the  direction  of 
Richard  and,  after  his  death,  of  Roger  de  Crundale, 
in  place  of  the  original  wooden  cross.  The  material 
for  the  cross  itself  was  Caen  stone ;  the  steps  were  of 
marble  from  Corfe.  A  small  house  is  shown  on  Ag- 
gas'  map  as  occupying  the  spot  where  the  equestrian 
statue  of  Charles  I.  now  stands.  This  may  have 
been  the  Hermitage,  a  small  chapel  dedicated  to  St. 
Katharine,  which  stood  '  over  against  the  cross.' 

For  the  convenience  of  the  officers  of  Westmin 
ster  Abbey,  on  their  way  to  Covent-garden,  a  chapel 
was  erected,  dedicated  to  St.  Martin,  '  the  original  St. 
Martin  in  the  fields!  Another  account  says  that  St. 

*  An  allusion  to  the  absence  of  Catholics  from  the  Protestant 
worship. 


2 1  o   Ecclesiastical  A ntiquities  of  L ondon. 

Martin's  was  built  at  the  expense  of  Henry  VIII., 
who  disliked  funerals  passing  through  Whitehall. 
Opposite  St.  Martin's  Church,  at  the  angle  of  White 
hall  and  the  Strand,  is  the  site  of  the  hospital  of  St. 
Mary  of  RouncevaL* 

And  now  let  us  pass  through  Spring-gardens  to 
St.  James's  Park.  St.  James's  Palace  occupies  the  site 
of  a  '  leper  hospital.'  The  endowment  was  for  wo 
men  only,  fourteen  in  number,  '  maidens  that  were 
leprous.'  Eight  brethren  attended  to  the  religious 
services.  Henry  VIII.  made  a  manor  here,  in  1532. 
This  was  the  year  of  his  marriage  with  Anna  Boleyn, 
whom  four  years  later  he  put  to  death.  St.  James's 
was  more  of  a  country  house  than  any  previous  resi 
dence  of  the  kings  of  England  in  town,  except  Ken- 
nington.  Kennington  was  now  abandoned,  and  St. 
James's  may  have  been  designed  to  take  its  place. 
The  fields,  now  the  park,  were  enclosed  as  the  private 
demesne  of  the  palace.  They  were  stocked  with 
game  ;  there  was  a  cock-pit  and  a  tilt-yard  on  the  site 
of  the  present  Horse  Guards  in  front  of  Whitehall. 
The  gateway,  part  of  which  is  now  the  Royal  Chapel, 
and  the  chimneypiece  of  the  '  old  presence  chamber,' 
are  all  that  remain  of  the  palace  created  by  Henry. 
The  last  has  the  initials  of  Henry  and  of  Anne. 
Henry  held  his  court  at  the  old  Westminster  Palace, 

*  '  Or  De  Rosida  Valle  in  the  diocese  of  Pampelon  in  Na 
varre.'  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  677. 


St.  James  s  Palace.  2 1 1 


and,  after  he  had  taken  it  from  Cardinal  Wolsey,  at 
"W  hitehall,  whilst  he  employed  St.  James's  as  a  resi 
dence.  This  was  curiously  the  reverse  of  the  present 
destination  of  St.  James's.  At  St.  James's,  Henry's 
daughter  Mary  died.  From  this  palace  her  funeral 
cortege  wended  to  Westminster  Abbey,  where  she 
was  interred  with  much  splendour.  The  account  of 
her  funeral  is  extant,  and  some  notice  of  it  may  be 
taken  here,  as  it  was  the  last  occasion  on  which  an 
English  sovereign  was  interred  with  this  ceremonial 
on  English  soil.  On  the  13th  December  1558,  she 
was  borne  forth  from  St.  James's  on  a  car  adorned 
with  her  portrait,  as  was  the  custom  at  the  time. 
Eirst  went  the  standard  with  the  'Falcon  and  Hart;' 
then  came  many  mourners,  then  a  standard  with  the 
'Lion  and  Falcon,'  then  the  household  servants  two 
and  two,  in  black,  under  charge  of  the  heralds.  Then 
came  the  third  standard,  with  the  '  White  Grey 
hound  and  Falcon;'  next  came  gentlemen  in  mourn 
ing;  next  squires  on  horseback  with  banners  of  arms; 
next  the  Marquis  of  Winchester  on  horseback,  with 
the  banner  of  England  embroidered  in  gold ;  then 
'  Chester'  the  herald,  with  the  helm,  crest,  and  man 
tle  ;  then  '  Norroy,'  with  the  target  with  garter  and 
crown ;  then  '  Clarencieux,'  with  the  sword ;  then 
Garter,  with  the  coat -armour,  all  on  horseback. 
Knights  and  lords  with  banners  were  around  the 
funeral  car.  Four  mounted  heralds — '  Somerset,' 


•2 1 2   Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu ities  of  L ondon. 

'  Lancaster,'  '  Windsor,'  '  York' — carried  white  ban 
ners  of  saints  wrought  with  fine  gold.  Cloth  of 
gold  covered  the  bier,  the  cross  was  silver.  Behind 
were  the  chief  mourners  ;  after  them  followed  ladies 
on  horseback,  dressed  in  black.  In  the  queen's 
carriage  were  the  pages  of  honour.  The  procession 
was  brought  up  by  monks  and  bishops.  The  course 
the  procession  followed  was  by  Charing-cross  to 
the  Abbey,  where  four  more  bishops  and  the  abbot 
were  waiting.  The  queen's  mass  was  on  the  four 
teenth  of  December.  Dr.  White,  the  successor  of 
Bishop  Gardiner  in  the  see  of  Winchester — 'an  emin 
ent  scholar,  a  good  poet,  an  able  theologian,  and  an 
eloquent  preacher  ;  a  prelate  of  primitive  behaviour, 
and  altogether  a  worthy  good  man,'* — preached  the 
sermon.  Whilst  praising  Mary,  he  fully  acknow 
ledged  Elizabeth's  right  to  the  crown.  He  was, 
notwithstanding,  arrested  as  he  descended  the  pulpit- 
stairs,  and  committed  to  the  Tower.  There  he  re 
mained  till  his  health  was  shattered,  when  he  was  at 
length  released  and  allowed  to  live  at  his  sister's 
house,  where  he  died,  in  1561. 

We  may  here  mention  that  Kichard  White,  a 
nephew  of  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  was  vicar  of 
Goodhurst,  in  Kent.  At  Elizabeth's  accession,  he 
retired  to  Louvain,  and  afterwards  to  Padua.  He 
became  a  canon  of  St.  Peter's,  Douay,  Count  Pala- 

*  Dodd's  Church  History,  vol.  i.  p.  481. 


Whitehall.  2 1 3 


tine  of  the  Holy  Koman  Empire,  and  Regius  Profes 
sor  of  Divinity.  He  was  Rector  of  the  College  at 
Douay  for  thirty  years,  dying  in  1611. 

On  the  site  of  the  Lutheran  chapel  at  St.  James's 
was  the  friary  occupied  by  Franciscans,  who  came  to 
England  with  Catherine  of  Braganza,  wife  of  Charles 
II.  There  were  cells,  refectory,  dormitory,  chapel, 
and  library.  Pepys  gives  an  account  of  a  visit  he 
made,  when  he  was  shown  a  crucifix  that  had  be 
longed  to  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  containing  a  por 
tion  of  the  true  cross.* 

Scotland -yard  marks  the  site  of  the  old  palace 
given  in  King  Edgar's  time  to  Kenneth  III.  of  Scot 
land,  and  occupied  by  the  Scottish  kings  when  in 
London.!  The  last  of  the  royal  family  of  Scotland 
who  occupied  it  was  Queen  Margaret,  sister  of  Henry 
VIII.,  and  widow  of  James  IV.,  who  fell  at  Flodden. 

Whitehall  was  originally  'York  House,'  when  in 
the  possession  of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  archbishop  of 
that  see.  Hubert  de  Burgh,  Lord  Chief  Justice  in 
the  reign  of  King  John  and  Henry  III.,  had  a  man 
sion  on  this  site,  erected  on  land  purchased  from  the 
Chapter  of  Westminster.  He  bequeathed  the  house 

*  Benedictines  were  established  at  St.  James's  in  the  reign  of 
James  II.  At  that  date  there  were  Carmelites  in  the  City,  and 
Franciscans  in  Lincoln's-inn-fields,  besides  the  Jesuits  and  Bene 
dictines  at  the  Savoy  and  St.  James's. 

f  The  King  of  Scotland  held  a  soke  (franchise)  in  the  city  of 
London. 


214  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


to  the  Blackfriars,  whose  monastery  was  then  in 
Holborn.  They  sold  it  to  Walter  de  Grey,  Arch 
bishop  of  York,  who  settled  it  on  his  successors  as 
their  town  residence.  There  was  a  chapel  and  sacristy 
near  the  river.  When  it  came  into  Henry  VIII. 's 
possession,  the  palace  obtained  the  name  of  '  White 
hall.' 

'  For  since  the  cardinal  fell,  that  title's  lost : 
'Tis  now  the  king's,  and  called  Whitehall.' 

It  consisted  of  a  hall,  chapel,  banqueting-house,  and 
other  apartments — as  Henry  VIII. 's  gallery,  the 
boarded  gallery,  the  matted  gallery,  the  shield  gal 
lery,  the  stone  gallery,  and  the  vane  room.  There 
were  tennis-court,  orchard,  and  cock-pit.  At  Hamp 
ton-court  may  be  seen  the  '  Adam  and  Eve'  by 
Mabuse,  that  gave  its  name  to  one  of  the  galleries  at 
Whitehall.  Here  Holbein  painted  the  ceiling  of  the 
*  matted  gallery,'  the  portraits  of  Henry  VII.  and 
Henry  VIII.  with  their  queens,  and  the  '  Dance  of 
Death.'  Here  he  built  his  famous  gateway,  demol 
ished  in  the  last  century.  On  it  were  eight  medal 
lions  of  Italian  workmanship. 

In  Dod's  Church  History*  is  given  in  extenso  the 
deeply  interesting  narrative  by  Father  Huddleston, 
of  his  visit  to  Charles  II.  on  his  death-bed.  We 
avail  ourselves  of  the  briefer  narrative  of  Lord 

*  Vol.  iii.  pp.  229-30. 


The  Last  Sacraments.  215 

Macaulay.*  '  Father  Huddleston  entered.  A  cloak 
had  been  thrown  over  his  sacred  vestments,  and  his 
shaven  crown  was  concealed  hy  a  flowing  wig. 
"  Sir,"  said  the  Duke  [of  York],  "  this  good  man 
once  saved  your  life.  He  now  comes  to  save  your 
soul."  Charles  faintly  answered,  "He  is  welcome." 
Huddleston  went  through  his  part  better  than  had 
been  expected.  He  knelt  by  the  bed,  listened  to  the 
confession,  pronounced  the  absolution,  and  adminis 
tered  extreme  unction.  He  asked  if  the  king  wished 
to  receive  the  Lord's  Supper.  "  Surely,"  said  Charles, 
"  if  I  am  not  unworthy."  The  host  was  brought  in. 
Charles  feebly  strove  to  rise  and  kneel  before  it.  The 
priest  bade  him  lie  still,  and  assured  him  that  G-od 
would  accept  the  humiliation  of  the  soul,  and  would 
not  require  the  humiliation  of  the  body.  The  king 
found  so  much  difficulty  in  swallowing  .  .  .  that  it 
was  necessary  to  open  the  door  and  procure  a  glass 
of  water.  This  rite  ended,  the  monk  held  up  a 
crucifix  before  the  penitent,  charged  him  to  fix  his 
last  thoughts  on  the  sufferings  of  the  Redeemer,  and 
withdrew.'! 

°  History  of  England  (popular  edition),  vol.  i.  pp.  207-8. 

t  Two  events  connected  with  Whitehall  in  the  Stuart  reigns 
are  worth  mentioning :  the  presence  of  Pere  Colonahiere  as  con 
fessor  to  the  Duchess  of  York ;  and  the  consecration  of  Adda,  the 
Papal  Nuncio,  as  Bishop  of  Amasia  by  the  Primate  of  Ireland  (Lin- 
gard's  History,  vol.  x.  p.  127).  Macaulay  says  St.  James's — History 
of  England  (popular  edition),  vol.  ii.  p.  53. 


Sfetlr 

WESTMIXSTEE  AND  LAMBETH. 

'  How  reverend  is  the  face  of  this  tall  pile, 
Whose  ancient  pillars  rear  their  marhle  heads 
To  bear  aloft  its  arch'd  and  ponderous  roof ; 
By  its  own  weight  made  steadfast  and  immovable, 
Looking  tranquillity.     It  strikes  an  awe 
And  terror  on  my  waking  sight ;  the  tombs 
And  monumental  caves  of  death  look  cold.' 

SEBERT,  the  founder  of  the  cathedral  St.  Paul 
within,  was  no  less  the  founder  of  the  Benedictine 
church  and  monastery — our  English  Kheims  and  St. 
Denis  both  in  one  —  without  the  City  walls.  The 
night  hefore  the  dedication,  it  is  related  that  St. 
Peter,  in  an  unknown  garb,  showed  himself  to  a 
fisher  on  the  Surrey  side,  and  bade  him  carry  him 
over,  with  promise  of  reward.  The  fisher  complied, 
and  saw  his  fare  enter  the  new-built  church  of  Sebert, 
that  suddenly  seemed  on  fire  with  a  glow  that  en 
kindled  the  firmament.  Meantime  the  heavenly 
host  scattered  sound  and  fragrance,  the  Fisher  of 
souls  wrote  upon  the  pavement  the  alphabet  in  Greek 


Westminster  Abbey.  217 

and  Hebrew,  in  twelve  places  anointed  the  walls  with 
the  holy  oil,  lighted  the  tapers,  sprinkled  the  water, 
and  did  all  else  needful  for  the  dedication  of  a  church. 

These  circumstances  and  the  signs  following 
were  pondered  on  by  St.  Edward,  last  but  one  of  our 
Saxon  kings,  who  earnestly  desired  to  repair  that 
ruined  monastery,  and  restore  it  to  honour  and  splen 
dour.  The  Pope  approved,  and  one  of  the  most 
magnificent  fabrics  in  Christendom  was  the  result. 

The  monastery  and  church  stood  within  the  pre 
cincts  of  the  Palace  of  Westminster.  The  King  had 
a  private  entrance. 

A  mediaeval  monastery  with  its  courts  and  cloister, 
its  several  buildings  announcing  their  destination  by 
their  position — this  of  the  superior,  that  of  the  de 
pendent  ;  this  public  and  accessible,  that  private,  with 
its  garden,  with  its  environing  wall — was  the  succes 
sor  of  the  Pioman  villa-  wrbana* 

The  porter  was  the  chief  domestic  of  a  Benedictine 
monastery.  He  had  a  cell  near  the  gate,  and,  being 
himself  chosen  for  years  and  discretion,  had  a  younger 
man  as  his  companion. 

Water,  a  mill,  a  garden,  an  oven,  &c.  were  pro 
vided  within  the  precincts  of  a  Benedictine  monas 
tery,  to  prevent  necessity  arising  for  the  monks  going 
abroad. 

When  any  of  the  monks  were  about  to  start  on  a 
*  Cf.  Spalding's  Italy,  vol.  i.  cap.  5. 


2 1 8   Ecclesiastical  A ntiquities  of  L ondon. 

journey,  they  obtained  the  prayers  of  the  community ; 
on  their  return,  the  wayfarers  sought  pardon  for  any 
thing  of  which  they  had  been  guilty  on  their  way,  by 
neglecting  the  custody  of  their  eyes,  or  ears,  or  by 
indulging  in  idle  conversation. 

Entering  from  Broad  Sanctuary  (where,  on  the 
site  of  the  Westminster  Hospital,  a  massive  building 
gave  shelter  to  those  under  the  protection  of  the  abbey) 
we  have  before  us  the  site  of  the  '  Almonry,'  founded 
by  Henry  VII.  and  his  mother,  Margaret,  for  poor  men 
and  women  respectively.  Hard  by  was  the  chapel 
of  St.  Anne.  Close  to  the  present  gate  were  the 
'  elms.'  Across  the  court  ran  the  granary,  parallel 
with  which  was  the  prior's  lodging. 

The  Jerusalem  Chamber  was  the  guest-chamber 
of  the  abbot,  whose  lodging  enclosed  a  small  court  or 
garden  to  the  west  of  the  cloister.  Henry  III.  rebuilt 
the  northern  cloister  ;  Abbot  Brycheston,  under  Ed 
ward  III.,  the  eastern ;  Abbot  Littlington,  under 
Richard  III.,  the  southern.  The  western  cloister 
was  occupied  by  the  novices ;  the  north  by  the  prior ; 
the  east,  adjoining  the  chapter-house,  by  the  abbot. 
To  the  south  was  the  refectory  ;  to  the  east,  the 
dormitory. 

The  monks  served  weekly,  by  turns,  in  the  kitchen 
and  at  table.  On  leaving  this  service,  both  those  who 
relinquished  and  those  who  took  up  this  task  washed 
the  feet  of  the  community.  On  Saturdays  all  the 


Monastic  Life.  2 1 9 


plates  were  cleaned  and  given  to  the  cellarer.  After 
refection  or  dinner,  which,  from  Easter  till  Holy 
Rood-day,  was  at  twelve  o'clock,  the  meridian,  or 
noon-sleep,  was  permitted.  From  Holy  Rood  till 
Lent,  there  was  reading  from  prime  till  eight  o'clock, 
when  tierce  followed,  and  after  that  labour  till  nones, 
when  there  was  dinner.  Even  during  the  summer 
dinner  was  at  nones  (three  o'clock)  on  Wednesdays 
and  Fridays.  There  was  silence  during  dinner,  un 
broken  save  by  the  reading  of  scripture  by  one  of 
the  community,  appointed  for  a  week  for  the  purpose. 
There  was  a  collation,  or  spiritual  lecture,  every  even 
ing  before  night-song,  after  which  there  was  silence. 

The  monks  rose  two  hours  after  midnight  to  say 
office ;  and  every  week  the  Psalter  was  sung  through. 
All  left  the  church  at  a  sign  from  the  abbot.  Lamps 
were  kept  burning  in  the  dormitory.  The  com 
munity  slept  in  their  habits,  with  their  girdles  on. 

From  the  east  cloister  opens  the  Chapel  of  the 
Pyx.*  East  of  the  '  dark  cloister'  was  the  infirmary 
with  its  chapel  of  St.  Katharine,  having  to  the  south 
the  infirmary  garden,  between  which  and  the  old 
Palace  of  Westminster  was  the  jewel-house. 

The  chapel  of  St.  Katharine  was  the  scene  of  the 
singular  occurrence  thus  recorded  by  Holinshed  : 

°  The  Chapel  of  the  Pyx,  an  ancient  vaulted  chamber,  was  the 
depositary  of  the  regalia  of  the  Saxon  monarchs  ;  '  the  Holy  Cross 
of  Holyrood,'  and  the  '  Crocis  Gneyth,'  or  Cross  of  St.  Neot. 


220  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

'  About  Mid-Lent  the  king,  with  his  son  and  the 
Legate,  came  to  London,  where,  at  Westminster,  a 
convocation  of  the  clergy  was  called ;  but  when  the 
Legate  was  set,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  on 
his  right-hand,  as  primate  of  the  realm,  the  Arch 
bishop  of  York  coming  in,  and  disdaining  to  sit  on 
the  left,  where  he  might  seem  to  give  preeminence 
unto  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  (unmannerly 
enough,  indeed),  swasht  him  down,  meaning  to  thrust 
himself  in  betwixt  the  Legate  and  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury.  And  when,  belike,  the  said  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  was  loth  to  remove,  he  set  himself  just 
in  his  lap ;  but  he  scarcely  touched  the  archbishop's 
skirt,  when  the  Bishops  and  other  Chaplains,  with 
their  servants,  stept  to  him,  pulled  him  away,  and 
threw  him  to  the  ground  ;  and,  beginning  to  lay  on 
him  with  bats  and  fists,  the  Archbishop  of  Canter 
bury,  yielding  good  for  evil,  sought  to  save  him  from 
their  hands.  Thus  was  verified  in  him  that  sage 
sentence,  Nunquam  periclum  sine  periculo  rincitur. 
The  Archbishop  of  York,  with  his  rent  rochet  got  up, 
and  away  he  went  to  the  King  with  a  great  complaint 
against  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  But  when, 
upon  examination  of  the  matter,  the  truth  was  known, 
he  was  well  laughed  at  for  his  labour,  and  that  was 
all  the  remedy  he  got.  As  he  departed  so  bebuf- 
feted  forth  of  the  Convocation-house  towards  the 
King,  they  cried  upon  him,  "  Go,  traitor ;  thou  diddest 


West  Front.  221 


betray  that  holy  man,  Thomas  :  go,  get  thee  hence, 
thy  hands  yet  stink  of  blood  !" 

Entering  the  church  from  the  cloister  we  can 
go  to  the  west,  and  there  begin  our  examination. 
The  west  front  of  Westminster  Abbey  cannot  claim 
to  rival  in  beauty  that  of  many  of  the  English 
cathedrals.  It  is  poor  in  contrast  even  with  Can 
terbury — Wren  having  built  the  towers  in  apparent 
disdain  of  Gothic.  That  many  layers  of  classical 
cornice  should  appear  on  the  face  of  Gothic  towers 
will,  in  time,  be  felt  to  be  a  disgrace  to  our 
architecture ;  and  we  may,  perhaps,  ourselves  see 
these  towers  rebuilt,  from  the  roof  of  the  church 
upwards,  with  Wren's  proportions,  but  with  pure  and 
harmonious  detail.  The  west  window  is  of  eight 
lights  with  two  transoms.  Smaller  arches  enclose 
the  three  outer  lights  on  either  side.  Beneath  is  a 
deeply-recessed  porch  with  canopied  niches,  and  a 
battlemented  parapet  overhead.  In  the  lower  stage 
of  the  towers  are  trifoliated  windows  of  two  lights, 
with  quatrefoils  in  the  heads  ;  on  the  level  of  the 
triforium  is  a  spherical  triangle  with  three  foliated 
circles,  whilst  on  that  of  the  clerestory  is  a  three- 
light  window  with  vertical  mullions. 

The  '  Jerusalem  Chamber'  was  built  by  Abbot 
Littlington.  He  rebuilt  the  abbot's  house,  and  built 
the  west  and  south  sides  of  the  cloister,  the  houses 
of  the  bailiff,  infirmarer,  cellarer,  and  sacrist,  the 


222  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu ities  of  L  ondon. 

malt-house  and  tower,  the  water-mill  and  dam,  and 
enclosed  the  infirmary  garden.  The  Jerusalem  Cham 
ber  abuts  on  the  south-western  tower,  and  may  there 
fore  claim  notice  here.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been 
either  the  guesten  hall  or  the  abbot's  withdrawing 
room.  In  this  chamber  Henry  IV.  died. 

'  King  Henry.  Doth  any  name  particular  belong 

Unto  the  lodging  where  I  first  did  swoon  ? 
Warwick.        'Tis  called  Jerusalem,  my  noble  lord. 
King  Henry.  Laud  be  to  heaven !  even  there  my  life  must  end. 
It  hath  been  prophesied  to  me  many  years, 
I  should  not  die  but  in  Jerusalem  : 
Which  vainly  I  supposed  the  Holy  Land. 
But,  bear  me  to  that  chamber  ;  there  I'll  lie  ; 
In  that  Jerusalem  shall  Harry  die.' 

King  Henry  IV.  act  iv.  scene  4. 

The  abbot  took  his  meals  with  the  guests  and 
strangers.  When  these  were  not  numerous,  the 
abbot  might  invite  to  his  table  any  he  pleased  of  the 
community.  Some  of  the  seniors  were,  however,  left 
in  the  refectory  to  keep  order.  When  a  guest  was 
announced,  the  abbot  and  brethren  went  to  receive 
him.  They  first  prayed  with  him  and  then  gave 
him  the  kiss  of  peace,  and  either  inclined  the  head  or 
made  a  prostration.  The  guests  were  then  conducted 
into  the  church.  After  this,  the  superior,  or  one 
to  whom  he  gave  authority,  sat  with  the  guests  and 
read  to  them  a  portion  of  scripture.  The  abbot  sat 
at  table  with  the  guests,  except  on  fast-days.  He 


Nave.  223 

gave  water  to  the  guests  for  their  hands,  and,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  community,  washed  their  feet. 
Then  was  said,  '  SuscepirnusDeus  misericordiam  tuam 
in  medio  templi  tui.'  A  kitchen  was  set  apart  for 
the  abbot  and  the  guests.  Two  of  the  community 
were  appointed  annually  to  serve  in  this  kitchen.  The 
apartment  for  the  guests  was  furnished  with  a  suffi 
cient  number  of  beds  for  their  use,  and  was  under 
the  special  charge  of  one  of  the  community.  None  of 
the  community,  unless  under  a  command  to  do  so, 
spoke  to,  or  associated  with,  the  guests.  If  an  en 
counter  with  them  was  unavoidable,  they  were  passed 
with  a  salutation  and  a  request  for  their  prayers. 

The  abbey  church  of  Westminster  was  the  house 
of  prayer,  and  served  no  other  purpose.  Here,  when 
the  Divine  office  was  ended,  the  monks  bowed  to  the 
altar,  and  retired  in  profound  silence,  that  the  quiet 
of  any  of  the  community  who  desired  to  continue  his 
devotions  in  private  might  be  undisturbed.  If  any 
sought  to  devote  his  leisure  time  to  prayer,  he 
entered  the  church  quietly,  without  pride  or  ostenta 
tion,  and  prayed,  not  with  a  loud  voice,  but  with 
tears  and  fervour  of  soul.* 

The  Nave  presents  us  with  the  most  splendid 

°  Eule  of  St.  Benedict  lii.  We  have  inserted  various  passages 
from  the  Rule  of  St.  Benedict.  With  what  degree  of  strictness  it 
was  followed  at  Westminster  it  is,  unhappily,  impossible  to  say,  as 
the  '  custom-book'  perished  in  the  fire  at  Ashburnharn  House. 


224  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

architectural  vista  in  England.  But  what  it  is  our 
happiness  to  survey  at  a  glance  as  a  whole,  it  is  no 
less  our  reward  to  examine  in  detail.  The  nave  is  of 
two  ages,  though  exhibiting  a  great  uniformity  of 
style.  At  the  point  at  which  the  diaper  of  four- 
leaved  flowers  on  the  spandrels  of  the  lower  arcade 
and  of  the  triforium  ceases,  the  later  work  com 
mences.  In  the  older  work  the  windows  of  the  aisles 
and  of  the  clerestory  are  couplets  under  a  cinque- 
foiled  circle  ;  in  the  triforium  the  triangular  windows* 
have  a  single  large  eight-foiled  circle.  In  the  later 
work  the  aisles  and  clerestory  have  trefoiled  couplets 
under  a  quatrefoiled  circle,  whilst  the  spherical  tri 
angles  of  the  triforium  have  three  cinquefoiled  circles. 
Externally,  the  later  buttresses  have  gabled  niches, 
instead  of  the  pinnacles  of  the  earlier  work.  The 
architect  of  Henry  V.'s  time,  to  whom  the  later  work 
is  to  be  ascribed,  is  thought  to  have  been  Alexander  de 
Bonneval,  the  architect  of  the  later  work  at  the  Abbey 
of  St.  Ouen,  at  Rouen,  which  that  at  "Westminster  very 
much  resembles.  The  Navef  is  of  eight  bays.  The 
pillars  have  each  eight  shafts  of  Sussex  marble.  To 
the  east  they  are  detached,  excepting  at  the  base  and 
capital.  The  shafts  and  tracery  of  the  triforium  are 

*  The  employment  of  windows  in  this  position  is  one  of  the 
foreign  features  of  the  Abbey.  They  also  occur  in  the  transept  at 
Lincoln. 

f  There  was  a  crucifix,  as  at  St.  Paul's,  in  the  nave. 


North  Transept.  225 


double.  De  Bonneval,  if  it  was  he,  employed  Rye- 
gate,  Gatton,  and  Caen  stone  in  his  building.  West 
minster  is,  in  proportion  to  its  width,  the  loftiest  of 
our  English  churches.  Ordinarily,  given  thirty  feet 
of  width  to  the  central  aisle,  the  height  would  be 
seventy  feet  in  England,  where  the  French  architect 
would  make  it  ninety.  The  French  divided  the 
entire  height  of  the  building  into  two  equal  parts, 
immediately  below  the  triforium.  This  division  has 
been  adopted  at  Westminster.  The  French  division 
of  the  upper  part,  by  which  two-thirds  of  the  space 
are  assigned  to  the  clerestory  and  one-third  to  the 
triforium,  has  also  been  adopted. 

Externally  the  north  transept*  has  four  large  but 
tresses  terminating  in  pinnacles.  Three  deep -set 
doorways  beneath  form  what  was  known  as  the 
Beautiful  Gate,  or  Solomon's  Porch.  The  doors  are 
square -headed,  the  tympana  filled  in  with  circles. 
Above  is  an  arcade  of  pointed  arches,  whilst  the 
main  feature  of  the  whole  is  a  gigantic  marigold 
window  of  sixteen  lights,  ninety  feet  in  circumference. 
From  the  two  outer  to  the  inner  buttresses  other 
flying  buttresses  spring.  The  south  transept  has 
also  its  buttresses  and  its  marigold.  Beneath  are 
two  rows  of  pointed  windows,  for  here  the  wall  be 
hind  the  triforium  is  pierced,  giving  to  the  interior 

*  The  great  crucifix  stood  in  the  north  transept ;  at  its  foot 
Walter  Leycester  was  buried  in  1391. 


225  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

of  this  transept  an  effect  of  lightness  the  other 
wants,  though  the  architect  knew  well  what  he 
was  doing — giving  there  the  effect  of  shelter,  here 
of  light  and  warmth.*  We  do  not  know  that  any 
writer  has  pointed  out  the  resemblance  between  the 
extremities  of  the  transept  of  Westminster  and  the 
east  end  of  the  noble  northern  Cathedral  of  Elgin. 

Chaucer  was  originally  buried  before  St.  Bene 
dict's  Chapel.  His  grave  was  marked  by  a  leaden 
plate,  with  an  epitaph  by  Surigonius,  a  Milanese 
poet.  In  1555,  the  present  monument  was  erected 
by  Nicholas  Brigham  of  Oxford,  himself  a  poet. 
In  a  blank  space  to  the  north  of  the  epitaph  was 
,the  poet's  portrait.  The  material  of  the  monu 
ment  is  Purbeck  marble.  The  canopy  is  a  re 
storation.  This  tomb  should  be  compared  with  the 
Fitz-Alan  chantry  in  the  chancel  at  Arundel.  Form 
ing  the  east  aisle  of  the  north  transept  are  the 
chapels  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  f  St.  Andrew,  and 
St.  Michael.  They  are  now  thrown  into  one,  and 
separated  from  the  transept  to  which  they  belong- 
We  are  mindful  of  the  advice  of  the  poet,  and  do  not 
desire  to  make  '  abuses  our  sport  ;' J  but  we  must  take 

*  The  beautiful  figures  of  angels  censing,  in  the  spandrils  of 
the  triforinm,  should  be  observed. 

f  The  tomb  of  Sir  Francis  de  Vere  in  this  chapel  is  an  imita 
tion  of  that  of  Engelbert,  Count  of  Nassau,  in  the  church  of  Breda. 
See  Stanley's  Westminster  Abbey,  p.  228. 

J  G.  Herbert's  Poems,  p.  9  (Willmott's  edition). 


Choir.  227 

this  opportunity  of  saying  that  there  is  not  a  single 
modern  sculptured  monument  in  the  abbey  that  is 
not  unfitted,  by  the  character  of  its  design  or  by  its 
defects  as  a  work  of  art,  to  be  there  at  all.  The 
grave  reflective  wisdom  of  Addison,  the  aasthetic 
taste  of  our  own  day,  are  alike  opposed  to  the  temper 
that  leads  men  to  make  the  grave,  of  all  places  in  the 
world,  a  stage  for  the  display  of  colossal  engineers, 
meditative  poets,  and  parliamentary  gladiators. 
Three  chapels,  screened  from  a  church  for  the 
display  of  sculpture,  are  text  enough  for  these  re 
marks. 

As  the  shrine  of  St.  Edward  occupies  at  West 
minster  the  usual  site  of  the  high  altar,  the  ritual 
choir  crosses  the  transept  as  at  St.  Alban's,  and 
takes  up  three  bays  of  the  nave.  The  choir,  in  the 
ordinary  sense,  extends  one  hundred  and  fifty-five 
feet  to  the  east  of  the  transept. 

From  Easter  till  the  1st  of  November,  the  hour 
for  matins  was  so  arranged  that  the  brethren  were 
allowed  a  few  moments  of  leisure  before  lauds,  which 
began  immediately  at  daybreak.  During  winter, 
matins  began  with  the  verse  *  Deus  in  adjutorium 
meum  intende,'  after  which  came  '  Domine  labia 
mea  aperies,  et  os  meum  annuntiabit  laudem  tuam,' 
repeated  three  times.  The  third  psalm,  with  the 
'  Gloria  Patri,'  followed  immediately  after.  Then 
the  ninety-fourth  psalm,  with  anthem,  was  said 


228  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

or  sung.  After  that  the  hymn  and  psalms,  with 
anthems,  followed.  The  ahbot  then  gave  the  bless 
ing,  and  the  brethren,  seated  in  order,  read  by 
turns  three  lessons  from  the  lectionary,  after  each 
of  which  a  responsory  was  sung,  the  '  Gloria  Patri' 
accompanying  the  last  of  these.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  '  Gloria'  the  whole  community  rose.  The 
lessons  were  from  the  canonical  books  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament,  and  from  the  writings  of  the 
holy  Fathers.  Six  other  psalms  followed,  with  the 
anthem  Alleluia,  followed  by  a  lesson  from  St.  Paul's 
epistles  recited  from  memory,  the  verse  ;  the  office 
ending  with  the  '  Kyrie  eleison.'  From  Easter  till 
the  1st  of  November,  on  account  of  the  shortness  of 
the  nights,  a  brief  lesson  from  the  Old  Testament 
and  a  single  responsory  took  the  place  of  the  three 
lessons  from  the  lectionary.  Matins  never  consisted 
of  less  than  twelve  psalms,  the  divisions  of  the  third 
and  ninety-fourth  being  reckoned  separately.  On 
Sundays  the  community  rose  earlier  than  usual.  At 
matins,  three  canticles,  selected  from  the  prophets  by 
the  abbot,  were  sung,  with  Alleluia.  The  lessons 
followed,  and  after  the  fourth  responsory  the  abbot 
intoned  '  Te  Deum  laudamus.'  At  its  close,  he  read 
a  lesson  from  the  Gospel,  during  which  the  brethren 
stood,  and  at  the  end  answered  Amen.  The  abbot 
then  intoned  the  '  Te  decet  laus,'  and  gave  his  bene 
diction  ;  after  which  lauds  began  with  the  sixty- 


Choir  Services.  229 


sixth  psalm,  recited  without  an  anthem.  The  fiftieth 
psalm,  with  the  anthem  Alleluia,  was  then  sung. 
Next  followed  the  hundred-and-seventeenth  and  sixty- 
second  psalms,  the  canticle  'Benedicite,'  and  psalms 
of  praise,  a  lesson  from  the  Apocalypse  said  by  heart, 
the  responsory,  hymn,  verse,  the  canticle  '  Bene- 
dictus,'  and  the  '  Kyrie  eleison.'  On  festivals  of  the 
saints,  and  on  all  feasts  throughout  the  year,  the 
psalms  and  anthems  were  those  proper  to  the  feast. 
From  Easter  till  Pentecost,  Alleluia  was  sung  at  the 
end  of  the  psalms  and  responsories.  From  Pentecost 
till  the  beginning  of  Lent,  it  was  only  sung  after  the 
last  six  psalms  of  the  night  office.  On  all  other 
Sundays  but  those  in  Lent,  Alleluia  was  sung  at 
matins,  after  the  three  canticles,  as  after  the  psalms 
of  lauds,  prime,  terce,  sext,  and  none,  which  were 
sung  with  anthems.  The  responsories  were  never 
followed  by  Alleluia,  except  from  Easter  till  Pente 
cost.  Prime  began  with  the  verse  '  Deus  in  adju- 
torium  meum  intende,'  followed  by  the  hymn ;  after 
that  three  psalms,  each  followed  by  the  '  Gloria 
Patri,'  were  sung.  A  lesson  was  then  recited,  fol 
lowed  by  the  verse  and  the  '  Kyrie  eleison.'  Terce, 
sext,  and  none  began  with  '  Deus  in  adjutorium 
meum  intende;'  after  which  followed  the  hymn  proper 
to  each  hour,  three  psalms,  the  lesson,  verse,  and 
'  Kyrie  eleison.'  At  vespers,  four  psalms  were  sung 
with  anthems,  after  which  came  the  lesson,  respon- 


230  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqidties  of  L  ondon. 

sory,  hymn,  verse,  'Benedictus,'  'Kyrie  eleison,'  and 
the  Lord's  Prayer.* 

The  choir  contracts  in  breadth  before  it  reaches 
the  apse — differing  in  this  from  Lichfield  and  other 
examples.  Detached  shafts,  filleted  with  brass,  sur 
round  the  columns.  Narrowing  towards  the  apse, 
the  arches  are  very  sharply  pointed  in  the  apse 
itself.  They  are  not  stilted,  as  in  the  Komanesque 
examples  at  St.  Bartholomew's,  or  as  in  the  pointed 
apse  at  Cologne.  The  triforium  is  an  arcade  of  two 
compartments,  with  a  cinquefoil  in  the  head  in  each 
bay.  The  clerestory  windows  are  of  two  lights,  as 
throughout  the  church.  The  lantern  piers  are  lofty 
and  graceful,  set  with  clustering  shafts. 

The  eastern  windows  are  filled  with  stained  glass 
from  Henry  VII. 's  chapel.  In  them  may  be  seen 
our  Lord,  the  Blessed  Virgin,  St.  John  the  Evangel 
ist,  St.  Austin,  St.  Edward,  and  Mellitus,  Bishop 
of  London.  Lydian  marble  and  serpentine,  alabaster, 
porphyry  and  jasper,  go  to  the  composition  of  the 
floor  of  the  sanctuary,  brought  from  Italy  by  Abbot 
Ware,  and  adjusted  to  its  place  by  one  Odericus, 
master  of  the  works. f 

We  have  the  following  notice  of  the  furniture  and 
adornments  of  the  abbey  : 

°  The  reader  will  remember  the  caution  given  above, 
f  See  Sir  Gilbert  Scott's  Gleanings  from  Westminster  Abbey, 
pp.  97-103. 


Adornments.  23 


'  I  find,  by  some  records  in  the  Tower  (communi 
cated  to  me  by  a  friend),  several  things  given  to  this 
new  church  for  ornament,  both  by  the  king  and  his 
queen.  She  set  up  in  St.  Edward's  feretory  the 
image  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary.  And  the  king, 
in  the  twenty-eighth  year  of  his  reign,  which  was 
about  the  year  1244,  caused  Edward  FitzOdo,  keeper 
of  his  works  at  Westminster,  to  place  upon  her  fore 
head,  for  ornament,  an  emerald  and  a  ruby,  taken 
out  of  two  rings  which  the  Bishop  of  Chichester  had 
left  the  said  king  for  a  legacy.  The  same  year  the 
king  commanded  the  keepers  of  his  works  at  West 
minster  that  they  should  provide  for  the  Abbot  of 
Westminster  one  strong  and  good  beam  to  support 
the  bells  of  the  king's  gift,  and  deliver  the  said  beam 
to  the  sacristan.  And  in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of  the 
said  king,  he  gave  one  hundred  shillings,  by  payment 
each  half  year,  to  the  brethren  of  the  guild  at  West 
minster,  and  their  successors,  who  were  assigned  to 
ring  the  great  bells  there,  to  be  paid  out  of  his  ex 
chequer,  till  the  king  can  provide  them  the  value  of 
one  hundred  shillings,  land  or  rent.  In  the  twenty- 
fourth  year  of  his  reign  he  gave  the  prior  three  marks 
to  repair  the  organ.  In  the  twenty-eighth  year  of  his 
reign,  he  commanded  Edward  FitzOdo  to  make  a 
dragon  in  manner  of  a  standard  or  ensign  of  certain 
red  samite,  to  be  everywhere  adorned  with  gold  ;  and 
his  tongue  to  be  made  appearing  as  though  it  con- 


232  Ecclesiastical, Antiquities  of  Londc 


tinually  moved,  and  his  eyes  of  sapphires,  or  other 
stones  agreeable  to  him;  and  this  to  he  set  in  St. 
Peter's  Church  against  the  king's  coming  thither.  In 
the  thirtieth  year  of  his  reign,  the  same  King  Henry 
III.  gave  the  said  church  one  great  crown  of  silver, 
to  set  wax  candles  upon  in  the  said  church ;  and  he 
commanded  the  keeper  of  his  exchange  to  do  this  out 
of  the  issues  thereof,  and  to  buy  also  out  of  the  said 
issues  as  precious  a  mitre  as  could  be  found  in  the 
City  of  London,  for  the  Abbot  of  Westminster's  use, 
of  the  king's  gift.  And  lastly,  the  forty-first  year  of 
Henry  III.,  about  an.  1257,  as  a  further  ornament  for 
St.  Peter's,  he  ordered  a  sumptuous  monument  to  be 
erected  there  for  his  daughter  Katharine  deceased, 
giving  order  to  his  treasurer  and  his  chamberlains 
of  the  treasury  to  deliver  to  Mr.  Simon  de  Wells  five 
marks  and  a  half  for  his  expenses  in  going  to  London 
for  a  certain  brass  image  to  be  set  upon  her  tomb, 
and  returning  home  again.  And  upon  the  same  tomb 
there  was  also  set  a  silver  image,  for  the  making 
of  which  William  of  Gloucester,  the  king's  gold 
smith,  was  paid  sixty  marks  and  ten.'* 

The   screen    separating  the   sanctuary  from   St. 
Edward's  shrine  is  of  the  fifteenth  century. f     The 

0  Strype's  Stow,  book  vi.  p.  8. 

f  Above  it  was  the  rood-beam  with  figures  of  St.  John,  St. 
Mary,  and  of  two  angels.  Beneath,  on  either  side  of  a  tourelle, 
were  images  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul. 


The  Chancel.  233 


choir  was  formerly  hung  with  arras  and  tapestry. 
Some  portion  of  these  hangings  remains  in  the  Jeru 
salem  Chamber. 

The  sedilia  are  of  wood.  They  were  formerly 
covered  with  painting  and  glass  mosaic.  At  the 
hack  are  paintings  of  a  king  and  an  ecclesiastic. 
The  ground  of  the  former  painting  is  red,  diapered 
with  gold  lions.  On  the  south  side,  the  sedilia  rest 
on  King  Sebert's  tomb.  On  this  side  were  paintings 
of  St.  John  Baptist,  King  Edward  the  Confessor, 
St.  Peter,  and  King  Sebert.  Beneath  were  verses. 

On  January  21,  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign, 
Henry  VIII.  came  to  the  mass  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
He  sat  on  a  throne  at  the  end  of  the  choir  next  the 
altar.  He  offered  alone,  and  then  took  his  seat  in 
the  traverse,  an  enclosed  seat  of  lattice-work,  at 
the  south  end  of  the  high  altar.  At  the  close  of 
mass,  the  king  offered  to  St.  Edward  and  kissed  the 
relics. 

Another  ceremonial  presents  us  with  a  picture  of 
Wolsey's  pomp  and  power. 

'  When  the  said  (cardinal's) hat,'  says  Fiddes,  'was 
come  to  the  abbey,  there,  at  the  north  door  of  the 
same,  was  ready  the  abbot  and  eight  abbots  beside 
him,  all  in  pontificals,  and  honourably  received  it  ; 
and  in  like  sort  the  same  conveyed  to  the  high  altar, 
whereupon  it  was  set.  The  Sunday  next  following 
the  eighteenth  day,  the  most  rev.  father  in  God, 


234  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

my  lord  cardinal,  well  accompanied  with  nobles  and 
gentlemen,  both  spiritual  and  temporal,  being  on 
horseback,  as  knights,  barons,  bishops,  earls,  dukes, 
and  archbishops,  in  due  order  proceeded  from  his 
place  betwixt  eight  and  nine  of  the  clock  to  the 
abbey,  and  at  the  door  aforesaid  his  grace,  with  all 
the  noblemen,  descended  from  their  horses  and  went 
to  the  high  altar,  where,  on  the  south  side,  was  or 
dained  a  goodly  traverse  for  my  lord  cardinal ;  and 
when  his  grace  was  come  into  it,  immediately  began 
the  mass  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  sung  by  the  Bishop  of 
Lincoln,  gospeller,  and  the  Bishop  of  Exeter,  epis- 
toler,  the  Archbishops  of  Armagh  and  Dublin,  the 
Bishops  of  Winton,  Durham,  Norwich,  Ely,  and 
Llandaff,  and  eight  abbots — of  Westminster,  St. 
Albans,  Bury,  Glastonbury,  Reading,  Gloucester, 
Winchcombe,  Tewkesbury,  and  the  Prior  of  Coventry, 
all  in  pontificals.  The  Bishop  of  Rochester  was 
crozier  to  my  lord  of  Canterbury.  During  the  mass, 
Dr.  Colet,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  made  a  brief  collation. 
....  The  bull  was  read  by  Dr.  Vesey,  Dean  of  the 
King's  Chapel  and  Exeter ;  and  at  "Agnus  Dei"  came 
forth  of  his  traverse  my  lord  cardinal,  and  kneeled 
before  the  middle  of  the  high  altar,  where,  for  a 
certain  time,  he  lay  grovelling,  his  hood  over  his  head, 
during  benedictions  and  prayers,  concerning  the  high 
creation  of  a  cardinal,  said  over  him  by  the  Arch 
bishop  of  Canterbury,  who  also  set  his  hat  upon  his 


The  Shrine.  235 


head.  Then  "  Te  Deum"  was  sung.  All  service  and 
ceremonies  done,  my  lord  came  to  the  door  before 
named,  led  by  the  Dukes  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk, 
when  his  grace,  with  all  the  noblemen,  ascended  upon 
their  horses,  and  in  good  order  proceeded  to  his  place, 
next  before  him  the  crosse,  preceding  it  the  mace, 
such  as  belongeth  to  a  cardinal  to  have.' 

Though  the  doorways  leading  through  the  screen 
are  closed,  we  may  imagine  them  open  that  we  may 
pass  immediately  into  the  remaining  portion  of  the 
constructive  choir,  the  chapel  of  St.  Edward.*  From 
this,  as  a  centre,  the  whole  church  radiates.  This 
chapel  occupies  two  lateral  bays,  and  the  apse  of  the 
choir. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  a  shrine  consisted 
of  four  principal  parts — the  basement  of  stone,  the 
altar  to  the  west  dedicated  to  the  saint,  the  shrine 
proper  in  which  the  body  of  the  saint  was  contained, 
and  the  cooperculum  or  cover  for  its  protection.  The 
basement  of  St.  Edward's  shrine  is  all  but  perfect. 
It  dates  from  Henry  III. 's  time,f  and  bore  the  shrine 
made  for  the  relics  on  their  translation  in  1269.  It 
is  of  Purbeck  marble,  enriched  with  glass  mosaic  by 

0  It  was  not  until  after  the  Synod  of  Oxford  (1220)  that  the 
red  cross  of  St.  George  supplanted  the  martlets  of  St.  Edward— 
up  to  that  date  the  chief  patron  of  England. 

f  This  association  of  the  king  of  simple  life  and  plain  with  St. 
Edward  the  '  baleless  king  of  blithe  mood,'  is  of  great  historic  in 
terest. 


236  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


Peter  '  civis  Romanus.'  The  north  and  south  sides 
have  three  trefoil-headed  niches,  the  backs  of  which 
are  adorned  with  mosaic.  In  these  niches  the  sick 
were  placed.  At  the  four  angles  are  twisted  columns 
similar  to  those  in  the  Koman  basilicas  of  that  date. 
In  being  solid,  and  having  only  niches  below,  St. 
Edward's  shrine  differed  from  some  others  which 
were  hollow  beneath.  The  ancient  feretory,  placed 
upon  the  base,  probably  represented  a  building  with 
a  high-pitched  roof,  as  was  the  case  at  Bury.* 

In  Erasmus's  colloquy,  '  Peregrinatio  Religionis 
ergo,'  he  describes  a  -visit  to  Canterbury  in  a  way 
that  may  serve  to  illustrate  our  account  of  Edward 
the  Confessor's  shrine  :  '  We  next  viewed  the  table 
of  the  altar  and  its  ornaments,  and  then  the  articles 
that  are  kept  under  the  altar,  all  most  sumptuous ; 
you  would  say  Midas  and  Crcesuswere  beggars  if  you 
saw  that  vast  assemblage  of  gold  and  silver.  After 
this  we  were  led  into  the  sacristy.  What  a  display 
was  there  of  silken  vestments,  what  an  array  of  golden 
candlesticks  !  .  . .  .  From  this  place  we  were  conducted 
back  to  the  upper  floor,  for  behind  the  high  altar  you 
ascend  again  as  into  a  new  church.  There,  in  a  little 
chapel,  is  shown  the  whole  figure  of  the  excellent 
man,  gilt  and  adorned  with  many  jewels.  Then  the 

°  We  need  hardly  relate  the  well-known  legend  of  St.  Wulf- 
ston  of  Worcester  and  his  pastoral  staff  in  connection  with  the 
shrine  of  St.  Edward. 


Coronation  Chair.  237 


head  priest  came  forward.  He  opened  to  us  the 
shrine  in  which  what  is  left  of  the  hody  of  the  holy 
man  is  said  to  rest.  A  wooden  canopy  covers  the 
shrine,  and  when  that  is  drawn  up  with  ropes,  in 
estimable  treasures  are  opened  to  view.  The  least 
valuable  part  was  gold  ;  every  part  glistened,  shone, 
and  sparkled  with  rare  and  very  large  jewels,  some 
of  them  exceeding  the  size  of  a  goose's  egg.  These 
same  monks  stood  around  with  much  veneration ; 
the  cover  being  raised  we  all  worshipped.  The  prior, 
with  a  white  rod,  pointed  out  each  jewel,  telling  its 
name  in  French,  its  value,  and  the  name  of  its 
donor,  for  the  principal  of  them  were  offerings  sent 
by  sovereign  princes.' 

The  coronation  chair  is  of  oak.*  It  has  a  pedi 
ment  at  the  back  flanked  by  pinnacles  that  are  sup 
posed  to  have  been  surmounted  by  figures  of  leopards. 
The  famous  stone  of  Scoone  is  beneath  the  seat.  It 
could  formerly  be  seen  only  through  a  band  of  quatre- 
foils.  The  chair  was  richly  ornamented  with  gilding 
in  diaper  patterns,  whilst  a  figure,  probably  of  a  king 
seated,  was  behind  the  occupant.  The  effigies  of 

*  It  rests  on  lions  (modern,  but  probably  the  successors  of 
older  ones).  Do  we  find  an  allusion  to  the  coronation  chair  in 
Herbei't's  Poems,  p.  10  (Willmott's  edition)  : 

'  When  baseness  is  exalted,  do  not  bate 
The  place  its  honour,  for  the  person's  sake. 
The  shrine  is  that  which  thou  dost  venerate, 
And  not  the  beast  which  bears  it  on  his  back'  ? 


238  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

Henry  III.  and  Queen  Eleanor  are  the  work  of  an 
Englishman,  William  Torel.  They  are  neither  of 
them  portraits.  There  are  openings  in  Henry's  tomb 
in  which  relics  would  appear  to  have  been  placed. 
This  tomb  is  of  foreign  character.  Above  is  a  cooper- 
culum  or  covering.  Queen  Eleanor  is  represented 
in  two  dresses  with  a  cloak.  The  head  is  very  beau 
tiful.  The  tomb  of  Edward  I.  is  of  very  simple 
character.  It  bears  the  inscription,  '  Edwardus 
Primus  Scotorum  malleus  hie  est.'  Its  summit 
may  have  been  the  station  of  the  watchers  at  St. 
Edward's  shrine. 

Matthew  of  Westminster  gives  us  a  striking  pic 
ture  of  Edward  I.  at  the  abbey,  and  though  he  was  then 
but  Prince  Edward,  so  complete  was  his  devotion  to 
the  one  great  object  of  bringing  the  island  into  sub 
jection  to  a  common  sceptre,  that  we  may  fitly  present 
it  in  connection  with  his  tomb.  (  The  prince,  there 
fore,  being  himself  made  a  knight,  went  to  the  church 
of  Westminster  in  order  to  invest  his  companions 
with  the  same  dignity.  So  great  was  the  pressure 
before  the  high  altar  that  two  of  the  young  knights 
were  stifled,  and  several  others  fainted ;  although 
each  of  the  knights  had  at  least  three  others  to  lead 
him  forward  and  to  guard  him.  The  prince  himself, 
on  account  of  the  pressure,  girt  his  knights  on  no 
less  sacred  a  place  than  the  high  altar;  employing 
these,  his  brave  companions,  to  divide  the  crowd. 


Tombs.  239 


There  were  brought  in  solemn  glorious  pomp  before 
the  king  two  swans,  gorgeously  caparisoned,  with 
their  beaks  gilt ;  a  most  pleasant  spectacle  to  all 
beholders ;  on  them  the  king  made  a  vow  before  God 
and  the  swans,  that  he  would  march  into  Scotland  to 
avenge  the  fate  of  John  Comyn,  and  to  punish  the 
perjury  of  the  Scots,  obliging  the  prince  and  other 
great  men  of  the  kingdom  to  swear  to  him  that,  if 
he  should  die  first,  they  would  carry  his  body  into 
Scotland,  and  would  not  bury  it  till  the  Lord  should 
have  made  them  victorious  over  the  perfidious  usurper 
(Bruce)  and  his  perjured  adherents.' 

The  recumbent  effigies  of  Edward  III.  and  Queen 
Philippa  are  of  fine  workmanship,  arid  real  repre 
sentations  of  those  whose  names  they  bear.  Tradition 
says  that  a  mould  was  taken  of  the  king's  features 
after  death.  The  cooperculum  is  elaborate ;  it  is 
vaulted,  and  has,  externally,  gables  with  pinnacles. 

The  tomb  of  Richard  II.  and  Anne  of  Bohemia 
nearly  resembles  that  of  Edward  III.  The  body  of 
Richard  was  removed  hither  from  Langley  by  Henry 
Y.  Here  too  the  heads  are  portraits. 

On  the  floor  of  this  chapel  are  the  brasses  of 
John  of  Waltham,  Bishop  of  Salisbury ;  Richard 
Waldeby,  Archbishop  of  York ;  and  Thomas  of  Wood 
stock,  Duke  of  Gloucester. 

The  tombs  had  formerly  grilles  behind  them  to 
protect  the  shrine  of  St.  Edward  and  the  reliquary 


2  40  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu  ities  of  London. 

altar  from  depredators.  A  beautiful  curved  grille 
overhangs  Queen  Eleanor's  tomb. 

The  screen  is  richly  decorated.  The  fourteen 
alto-relievos  that  adorn  the  cornice  represent  (1)  the 
prelates  and  nobles  swearing  fealty  to  the  Confessor, 
whilst  yet  in  his  mother's  womb ;  ('2)  the  birth  of 
the  Confessor ;  (3)  his  coronation  ;  (4)  his  vision  of 
the  devil  dancing  on  the  money  collected  as  Danegelt; 
(5)  his  pardon  and  warning  to  the  thief;  (6)  the 
Confessor's  vision  of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist ;  (7) 
the  Confessor  sees  in  a  vision  the  drowning  of  the 
King  of  Denmark ;  (8)  the  quarrel  between  Harold 
and  Tostig  at  the  royal  table  ;  (9)  Edward's  mes 
senger  discovers  the  seven  sleepers  of  Ephesus  ;  (10) 
Edward  gives  his  ring  to  St.  John  the  Evangelist ; 
(11)  the  water  in  which  the  king  has  washed  his 
hands  gives  sight  to  the  blind  ;  (12)  St.  John  delivers 
the  ring  to  two  pilgrims,  who  (13)  return  it  to  the 
king ;  (14)  the  Confessor  dedicates  his  church. 

The  history  of  the  spot  in  which  we  are  standing, 
with  its 

'  Tombes  upon  tabernacles  tiled  aloft,' 

is  an  epitome  of  the  history  of  England,  for  here 
were  buried  St.  Edward  and  Edith  his  wife ;  here  it 
was  that  St.  Wulfstan  made  his  celebrated  appeal  to 
the  Confessor;  that  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury  bore 
the  Confessor's  relics ;  that  Henry  III.  and  Kichard 
of  Cornwall,  King  of  the  Romans,  transferred  those 


Historic  Scenes.  241 

relics  to  their  precious  shrine ;  that  Edward  I.  kept 
vigil  ere  his  departure  to  the  Holy  Land,  and  here 
that  he  offered  the  Scottish  regalia  and  placed  the 
stone  of  Scoone  at  the  tomb  of  his  patron  ;  that  Al- 
phonso  of  Castile  offered  the  jewels  of  the  Welsh 
nobles  and  the  crown  of  Llewellyn ;  that  Edward  of 
Caernarvon  made  his  offering ;  that  his  nobles  re 
newed  the  oath  of  fealty  to  Kichard  of  Bordeaux; 
that  Henry  of  Bolingbroke  fainted  and  was  borne 
hence  to  the  Jerusalem  Chamber  to  die  ;  that  Henry 
V.'s  victory  of  Agincourt  was  celebrated ;  that  Edward 
IV.  rendered  thanks  for  his  restoration  to  the  throne 
of  England  ;  that  Richard  III.  and  Anne  of  Warwick 
came  with  their  offering ;  that  Henry  VII.  presented 
a  gold  image  of  himself ;  that  Henry  VIII.  offered 
and  kissed  the  relics  of  St.  Edward — yet  more :  '  The 
20th  day  of  March  was  taken  up  at  Westminster 
again,  with  a  hundred  lights,  King  Edward  the 
Confessor,  in  the  same  place  where  his  shrine  was, 

it  was  a  goodly  sight  to  have   seen 

it,  how  reverently  he  was  carried  from  the  place  that 
he  was  taken  up  where  he  was  laid  when  that  the 
abbey  was  spoiled  and  robbed ;  and  so  he  was  carried, 
and  goodly  singing  and  censing  as  has  been  seen,  and 
mass  sung.' 

Henry  V.'s  tomb  occupies  the  place  of  the 
reliquary  altar,  which,  on  the  erection  of  the  tomb, 
was  removed  to  the  chantry  above — approached  by 


242  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

the  staircase  on  either  side.  Beneath  the  richly- 
groined  arch  is  Henry's  tomb,  screened  by  a  grille. 
The  head  of  the  figure  has  disappeared.  The  chantry 
chapel  extends  over  the  ambulatory,  and  the  external 
walls  are  decorated  by  figures.  There  is  a  represent 
ation  of  Henry's  coronation.  Internally  there  are 
recesses  for  relics.* 

Henry,  it  will  be  remembered,  died  at  Vincennes. 
His  body  was  borne  to  Paris,  and  then  to  Kouen, 
where  was  his  queen,  Catherine  of  Valois.  The 
corpse  rested  on  a  bier  of  crimson  and  gold ;  the 
crown  was  upon  the  head,  the  gold  ball  and  sceptre 
in  the  hands.  The  King  of  Scotland  was  chief 
mourner,  and  a  dense  throng  of  knights  bearing 
torches  formed  the  procession.  When  Calais  was 
reached,  a  fleet  was  waiting  to  bring  the  funeral 
cortege  to  Dover;  whence  by  London-bridge  the 
metropolis  was  reached,  and  the  greatest  of  English 
conquerors  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  abbey.  The  abbey 
monks  received  in  the  dead  Henry  the  remains  of 
a  benefactor,  for  on  his  return  from  France  '  his 
coursers  were  trapped  with  housings  of  particoloured 
silk ;  one  side  blue  velvet,  and  embroidered  with  an 
telopes  sitting  upon  stairs,  with  long  flowers  spring 
ing  betwixt  their  horns,  which  were  afterwards  by 
his  commandment  sent  to  the  vestry  of  Westminster  ; 

*  On  a  wooden  bar  between  the  turrets  of  Henry's  tomb  hang 
his  shield,  saddle,  and  helmet. 


Henry  VI Us  ChapeL  243 

and  of  either  of  them  were  made  a  cope,  a  chasuble, 
and  two  tunicles,  and  the  orfrays  of  the  one  colour 
was  of  the  cloth  of  the  other  colour.'* 

Under  the  vaulting  that  supports  Henry  V.'s 
chantry,  a  flight  of  steps  leads  up  to  the  three 
metal  gates  that  give  admission  to  the  chapel  of 
Henry  VII.  The  devices  on  these  gates  are  the 
portcullis  of  the  Beauforts,  and  the  intertwined  roses 
of  York  and  Lancaster. 

The  Chapel  of  Henry  VII.  occupies  the  site  of  the 
Lady  Chapel,  as  rebuilt  by  Henry  III.  The  chapel 
consists  of  a  central  avenue  with  an  apsidal  termina 
tion,  side  aisles,  and  five  chapels  that  environ  the 
apse.  The  external  buttresses  are  massive  turrets, 
that  give  support  to  the  graceful  flying  arches  that 
resist  from  without  the  pressure  of  the  central  vault. 
The  windows  of  the  side  aisles  are  oriels. 

When  adorned  by  the  three  thousand  statues  it 
formerly  contained,  with  the  light  thrown  from  rich 
stained  glass  on  the  fan-tracery  of  the  vaulting,  on 
the  tomb  of  Henry  with  its  metal  grating,  its  burn 
ing  lights  and  altar  to  the  west  as  at  a  shrine,  on 
the  stalls  that  in  their  rich  and  harmonious  variety 
form  an  appropriate  setting  to  so  much  splendour, 
and  on  the  marble  pavement  that  at  once  enhanced 
and  reflected  it,  no  place  of  sepulture  in  Europe  can 

*  Two  of  these  vestments  are  in  the  sacristy  of  the  chapel  at 
Wardour  Castle. 


244  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

have  produced  an  effect  equal  to  that  of  Henry's  gor 
geous  mausoleum. 

'  It  was  now  afternoon  of  the  Vigil  of  St.  Paul, 
in  the  year  1502-3,  the  hells  of  the  monastery,  in  the 
towers  of  the  sanctuary,  and  St.  Katharine's  are  toll 
ing  more  heavily  than  is  wont  for  nones,  and  sum 
moning  with  loud  commanding  note  the  inhabitants 
of  the  city  to  solemn  prayers.     Crowds  cluster  on 
every  side  of  the  minster,  although  for  hours  a  dense 
multitude  has  been  slowly  emptying  itself  into  the 
broad   aisles,  and  occupying  every  spot  of  vantage 
ground,  and  hiding  every  stone  in  the  broad  pave 
ments  of  St.  Peter's.     All  was  bright  and  cheerful  ; 
peasants  came  from  the  neighbouring  villages  of  St. 
Giles-in-the-Fields,  Chelsea,  St.  Marylebone,  Stebon- 
heath,*  and  Lambeth,  ferried  across  the  river  in  boats 
deeply  laden  almost  to  sinking:  the  stout  'prentice 
boys  of  London,  gaily  decked  out  in  holiday  costume, 
hushed  their  loud  laughter  as  some  City  magnate, 
alderman,  or  burgher  swept  by ;  music  pealed,  echo 
ing  from  wall  to  wall,  from  time  to  time  well-nigh 
drowned  by  the  tramp  of  quickly  arriving  steeds  ; 
the  red  wintry  sun  shone  out  with  his  gayest  beams 
on  the  nodding  plumes,  the  banners,  and  burnished 
arms  of  the  splendid  procession  that  was  approaching 
the  great  western  door.     Now  rank  and  rank  each 
horseman  dismounts,  and  as  the  crowned  king  in 
*  Stepney. 


Consecration.  245 


the  midst  beneath  a  canopy  of  state  advances,  the 
armed  sentinels  that  line  the  nave,  hung  with  tapestry 
from  the  nunneries,  give  way,  while  with  cope  and 
lights  the  convent  meets  him  and  the  gallant  lords 
that  follow  in  his  train. 

'  This  day  the  king  has  purposed  to  lay  the  foun 
dation-stone  of  a  chapel  to  the  honour  of  God  with 
great  variety  and  magnificence  of  workmanship,  spar 
ing  not  nor  grudging  the  cost,  but  using  all  willing 
ness  to  dedicate  his  treasures  to  Heaven.  The 
Chapel  of  St.  Mary,  which  the  King  Henry  III.  had 
built  in  the  year  1220,  and  the  chantry  of  St.  Eras 
mus,  the  pious  work  of  the  Lady  Elizabeth  Woodvyle, 
sometime  Queen  of  England,  the  old  hostelry  that 
bore  the  sign  of  the  White  Eose  of  York,  and  the 
ancient  house  of  Chaucer,  have  been  all  laid  even 
with  the  ground,  and  he  will  have  his  tomb  built  in 
the  midst  of  this  chapel,  nigh  the  minster,  where  he 
received  his  solemn  coronation  and  unction — the  com 
mon  sepulture  of  the  kings  of  the  realm ;  beside  the 
body  and  reliques  of  his  uncle  of  blessed  memory, 
King  Henry  VI.,  which  he  will  right  shortly  trans 
fer  hither.*  Every  altar  is  radiant  with  a  crown  of 
tapers,  glrmmering  like  the  soft  moonlight  sleeping 
on  a  bank  of  flowers,  waving  with  every  breath  that 
enters,  varying  the  shadows  on  the  fresh  carving 

*  From  Chertsey,  or  Windsor  ?    Mr.  Walcott  must  surely  have 
forgotten  Pope. 


246  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

and  showing  the  features  of  every  statue.  The  warm 
glow  of  the  dyed  windows  tinges  the  drooping  ban 
ners  with  a  hundred  rainbow-hues,  and  heightens  the 
brilliance  of  the  jewelled  shrine  and  the  vestments  stiff 
with  golden  tissue.  The  way  is  lined  with  torches, 
whose  red  rays  light  up  every  face,  kindling  along 
the  lines  of  embroidery  and  flashing  upon  every  glit 
tering  object,  while  above  all  the  sonorous  music  of 
the  bells  blends  in  with  the  instruments  and  voices 
of  the  singers. 

'  The  king  and  the  convent  and  the  priests  of 
many  churches  go  before,  bearing  banners  and  burn 
ing  incense,  so  that  the  very  air  grows  thick  with 
fragrance  exceeding  sweet,  and  spreading  wide  in 
gentle  clouds  such  as  come  in  summer,  and  throwing 
a  perfumed  shade ;  the  Abbot  Islip  stood  by,  having 
his  mitre  on  his  head,  and  Sir  Reginald  Bray,  with 
somewhat  of  sadness  on  his  face,  as  he  looks  upon 
the  plans  and  design  which  Bolton,  monk  of  St.  Bar 
tholomew' s-by-Srnithfield,  carries  in  his  hand,  having 
drawn  it  with  the  wise  Bishop  of  Ely,*  now  departed 
to  his  rest ;  and  as  the  king  laid  the  carved  stone  in 
its  place,  the  minstrels  with  their  cunning  right  hand 
played  upon  their  instruments  of  music,  and  the 
choir  lifted  up  its  voice  even  as  one  man ;  though 
the  solemn  chant  of  thanksgiving  grew  yet  louder 
ere  its  close,  like  the  mighty  breath  of  an  organ,  it 

*  Alcock  ;  his  chantry  chapel  at  Ely  is  a  marvel  of  art. 


Royal  Interments.  247 

seemed  to  wax  feeble  and  faint ;  for  without  and  with 
in,  like  the  murmurings  of  many  thunderings  or  the 
strong  waterfalls,  so  that  the  fisher  stayed  his  net  on 
the  stream  and  the  deer  started  in  her  lair  in  the  woods, 
the  multitude  of  the  people  cried  out,  and  shouted  for 
joy  that  they  had  lived  to  see  the  day ;  they  blessed 
God  and  praised  the  king,  "  Long  live  the  king,  may 
he  reign  for  ever!  Alleluia  !  Amen  !  Amen  !" 

Here  lie  the  princes  murdered  in  the  Tower, 
here  lie  Henry  and  Elizabeth  of  York,  and  here  lies 
Henry's  mother,  Margaret  of  Eichmond,  with  Eras 
mus'  epitaph. 

Margaret  of  Eichmond  was,  it  will  be  remem 
bered,  the  foundress  of  St.  John's  and  of  Christ's 
College,  Cambridge,  and  of  the  divinity  professor 
ship  that  bears  her  name  in  that  university.  Bishop 
Fisher  was  her  confessor  and  almoner,  and  recom 
mended  to  her  many  holy  and  charitable  undertak 
ings.  Bishop  Fisher  made  over  his  library,  '  the 
noblest  in  England,'  to  St.  John's,  borrowing  it  for 
his  own  use  for  life.  But  the  Eeformation  and  his 
own  tragic  end  came  on,  and  the  books  were  lost 
both  to  the  prelate  and  to  the  college.  We  may 
mention,  in  passing,  that  Fisher,  who  had  preached 
at  St.  Paul's  Cross  and  elsewhere  against  Luther, 

*  Mr.  M.  E.  C.  Walcott,  B.D.,  in  the  Englishman's  Magazine, 
vol.  ii.  pp.  234-6. 


248  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

gave  lectures,  in  which  he  combated  the  Lutheran 
doctrine,  in  Westminster  Ahhey. 

In  the  chapel  lie  Edward  VI.,  Mary  and  Eliza 
beth,  the  Lady  Margaret  Douglas,  and  her  niece 
Mary  Queen  of  Scotland.  Dempster,  in  his  His 
tory,  says  of  Mary :  '  I  hear  that  her  bones,  lately 
translated  to  the  burial  -  place  of  the  kings  of 
England  at  Westminster,  are  resplendent  with 
miracles.'  It  is  said  that  Queen  Mary's  head  was 
taken  abroad  by  two  of  her  attendants,  Barbara 
Mowbray  and  Elizabeth  Curie,  and  buried  in  the 
church  of  St.  Andrew  (the  patron  saint  of  Scotland) 
at  Antwerp ;  but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that 
they  did  more  than  place  her  portrait  over  a  cenotaph.* 

The  monument  of  Henry  VII.  and  Elizabeth  is  of 
the  same  class  as  that  of  Sir  Thomas  Pope  at  Trinity 
College,  Oxford.  It  is  the  work  of  Torregiano,  as  is 
that  of  Dr.  Young  at  the  Rolls  Chapel.  The  tomb 
is  principally  of  black  marble  ;  the  figures  and  alto- 
relievos  are  copper-gilt.  The  figures  that  surround 
it  are  divided  by  pilasters,  with  arabesque  foliage,  and 
enclosed  in  wreaths.  They  represent  Henry's  patrons — 
conspicuous  among  them,  the  Blessed  Virgin  with 
the  holy  Child,  St.  Christopher,  St.  George,  and  St. 
Michael.  Winged  angels  at  the  corners  once  bore 
the  royal  banner,  the  dragon  of  Cadwallader,  the 

*  The  picture  is  by  P.  Pourbus.     The  faithful  attendants  are 
buried  beneath  this  memorial. 


Funeral  of  Henry  VII.  249 


scales  and  sword.  Henry  VII.  agreed  with  the  Abbot 
and  Convent  of  Westminster  that  there  should  be 
four  tapers  kept  burning  continually  at  his  tomb — 
two  at  the  sides  and  two  at  the  ends,  each  eleven 
feet  long  and  twelve  pounds  in  weight ;  thirty  tapers, 
&c.  in  the  hearse,  &c.,  and  four  torches  to  bs  held 
about  it  at  his  weekly  obit ;  and  one  hundred  tapers 
nine  feet  long,  and  twenty-four  torches  of  twice  the 
weight,  to  be  lighted  at  his  anniversary. 

That  the  religious  services  on  his  behalf  should 
not  fall  into  disuse,  Henry  directed  that  the  chief- 
justice,  the  king's  attorney,  or  the  recorder  of  Lon 
don  should  attend  annually  in  chapter,  and  that  the 
abstract  of  the  grant  and  agreement  between  the 
king  and  convent  should  be  read. 

Henry's  hearse  was  met  at  Charing-cross  by  the 
Abbots  of  Westminster,  St.  Albans,  Reading,  and 
Winchcombe  in  pontificals,  and  the  community  of 
Westminster  in  albs  and  copes,  and  was  carried  to 
the  west  door  of  the  abbey,  where  the  Archbishops  of 
Canterbury  and  York  waited  to  receive  the  royal  re 
mains.  Eighteen  bishops  and  abbots,  vested  and 
mitred,  were  present.  The  primate  incensed  the  body, 
which  was  borne  into  the  choir,  illuminated  by  '  the 
most  curious  and  costly  light  possible  to  be  made  by 
man's  hand,  which  was  of  thirteen  principal  standards 
richly  decked  with  banners,  and  all  other  things  conve 
nient  to  the  same,  where  he  had  his  Dirige  solemnly'  ! 


250  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

At  the  offertory  on  the  following  day,  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham  offered  a  '  testament  of  gold  ;'  the  Earls 
of  Arundel  and  Surrey,  Kent  and  Northumberland, 
Shrewsbury  and  Essex,  Derby  and  Arran,  presented 
the  king's  coat  -  armour,  his  shield  and  helmet 
crowned,  and  a  rich  sword.  Then  Sir  Edward 
Howard  rode  up  to  the  hearse  in  full  armour, 
with  the  exception  of  his  helmet,  upon  a  courser 
trapped  in  black  velvet,  and  was  presented  to  the 
archbishop  by  the  Earls  of  Kent  and  Essex.  The 
lords  and  mourners  then  offered,  each  for  himself; 
the  abbots  going  to  the  archbishop,  kissing  his  hands, 
and  taking  his  blessing.  The  duke  and  earls  then 
brought  up  the  palls,  kissed  them,  and  laid  them  on 
the  bier.  Sir  Edmund  Carew  bore  the  king's  great 
standard,  and  Sir  Edward  Darell  the  banner,  which 
they  offered  to  the  archbishop.  The  Bishop  of  Lon 
don  '  then  made  a  noble  sermon.'  Then  the  arch 
bishop,  bishops,  and  abbots  went  to  the  hearse,  the 
picture  from  which  was  borne  to  King  Edward's 
shrine,  the  king's  chapel  singing  Circumdederunt 
me  penitus  mortes.  Then  the  king's  body  was 
laid  by  that  of  Queen  Elizabeth  his  wife,  the  ab 
solution  was  given,  the  archbishop  cast  earth  upon 
the  coffin,  the  lord  treasurer  and  the  lord  steward 
broke  their  wands  of  office  and  threw  them  into  the 
vault.  The  heralds  doffed  their  coat -armour  and 
hung  them  upon  the  rails  of  the  hearse,  crying 


Misereres.  251 


lamentably  in  French,  '  The  noble  King  Henry  VII. 
is  dead;'  and  as  soon  as  they  had  done  so,  every 
herald  put  on  his  coat-armour  again,  and  cried  with 
a  loud  voice,  'Vive  le  noble  Roy  Henry  le  viii.' 

The  sculptures  of  the  misereres  in  this  chapel  are 
in  many  instances  very  curious ;  a  cock  in  armour 
rides  on  a  fox,  a  fox  in  armour  rides  on  a  cock  ;  a 
fiend  seizes  a  miser — at  the  sides  are  fighting  cocks, 
and  a  monkey  beating  a  drum ;  a  boy  beaten  by 
another,  whilst  a  third  holds  the  head  between  his 
knees;  a  chained  bear  playing  on  the  bag-pipes; 
the  devil  carrying  away  a  friar. 

First  of  the  chapels  surrounding  the  choir  apse 
is  St.  Benedict's  Chapel,  with  the  effigy  of  Arch 
bishop  Langham,  1376. 

St.  Edmund's  Chapel  has  the  altar  -  tomb  of 
William  de  Vallence,  son  of  Isabel,  the  widow  of 
King  John,  1296.  Opposite  is  the  tomb  of  John 
Eltham,  second  son  of  Edward  II.,  1334.  Beside 
it  are  the  effigies  of  two  infant  children  of  Edward 
III.,  1340.  To  the  west  is  the  altar-tomb  and  figure 
of  Sir  Bernard  Brocas,  chamberlain  to  Queen  Anne 
of  Bohemia,  beheaded  in  1399.  Below  is  the  tomb 
of  Humphrey  Bourchier,  slain  at  Barnet  in  1470. 
On  the  pavement  are  the  brasses  of  Waldeby,  Arch 
bishop  of  York,  with  mitre  and  pall,  1397,  and  of 
Eleanora,  Duchess  of  Gloucester,  1399. 

The  chapel  of  St.  Nicholas  has  a  third-pointed 


2  5 1  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

screen.  To  the  right  is  the  tomb  of  Philippa, 
Duchess  of  York,  1431.  Under  the  centre  window 
lies  Bishop  Dudley  of  Durham,  1483.  On  the  floor 
is  the  brass  of  Sir  Humphrey  Stanley,  knighted  at 
Bosworth. 

St.  Paul's  Chapel*  opens  from  the  north  aisle  of 
the  choir.  Here  is  the  tomb  of  Henry  V.'s  standard- 
bearer  at  Agincourt,  Lewis  Kobsart,  and  that  of  Sir 
Giles  Daubeney,  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Calais. 

In  St.  John's  Chapel  is,  on  the  right,  the  tomb 
of  Thomas  Millyng,  Bishop  of  Hereford,  1492 

Fabyan  in  his  Chronicle  sa}7s,  that  in  1470,  when 
Thomas  Millyng  was  Abbot  of  Westminster,  Eliza 
beth,  Edward  IV. 's  queen,  who  had  taken  refuge  in 
the  abbey  sanctuary  on  the  restoration  of  Henry  VI., 
'  was  lyghted  of  a  fair  prince.  And  within  the  sayd 
place,  the  sayd  childe,  without  pompe,  was  after 
christenyd,  whose  god-faders  were  the  abbot  and  prior 
of  the  sayd  place,  and  the  Lady  Scrope  god-moder.' 

Thirteen  years  later  Millyng's  successor,  Easteney, 
received  the  queen  again  into  sanctuary,  when  she 
fled  to  Westminster  with  the  Duke  of  York  and  the 
five  princesses,  on  the  arrest  of  the  lords  Grey  and 
Rivers  by  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  afterwards  Rich 
ard  III.  Millyng's  coffin  was  removed  to  its  present 
position,  from  the  centre  of  the  chapel,  to  make 
room  for  Essex,  the  Parliamentary  general.  Below 

°  A  highly  venerated  crucifix  stood  in  this  chapel. 


Cloisters.  253 


is  Abbot  Fascet;  eastward  lie  Kuthall,  Bishop  of 
Durham,  1524,  and  William  of  Colchester,  Abbot  of 
Westminster.  On  the  west  is  the  tomb  of  Sir  Thomas 
Vaughan,  treasurer  to  Edward  IV.  and  chamberlain 
of  Edward  V. 

The  next  chapel  is  Islip's  chantry.  The  effigy 
of  the  abbot  was  a  cadaver,  such  as  may  be  seen  in 
the  north  transept  at  St.  Mary  Overy's.  The  canopy 
over  the  monument  had  a  painting  of  the  Crucifixion. 
The  brass  at  the  entrance  to  the  Islip  chantry  is  that 
of  Abbot  Eastney,  1498.  The  tomb  and  screen  were 
demolished  at  various  periods.  In  the  same  aisle 
with  Abbot  Eastney's  monument  are  those  of  Sir 
John  Windsor  and  Sir  John  Harpedon.  Adjoining 
is  a  gravestone  with  matrices  of  brasses.  Those  who 
rest  beneath  are  said  to  be  Thomas  Browne  and 
Humphrey  Koberts,  two  of  the  abbey  monks,  who 
died  in  1508. 

The  Cloisters  are  spanned  by  the  buttresses  of  the 
nave.  The  north-eastern  portion  is  actually  within 
the  church.  From  the  north  alley  are  two  entrances 
to  the  nave.  In  the  south  alley  are  the  remains  of 
a  lavatory.  At  the  east  end  of  the  south  walk  lie  the 
(unmitred)  abbots — Yitalis,  1082;  Gilbert  Crispin, 
1114;  Lawrence,  1076;  Gervase  de  Blois,  1160.  A 
gray  slab  marks  the  place  of  interment  of  Simon  de 
Bycheston,  who,  with  twenty-six  others,  died  of  the 
plague,  in  1349.  By  the  Benedictine  rule  the  monks 


254  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

were  required  to  spend  much  of  their  time  in  the 
seclusion  of  the  cloisters.  The  day  of  the  month  was 
proclaimed  every  morning  in  the  cloister  after  prime 
by  the  boys  of  the  monastery. 

The  Chapter-House,  1250,  has  as  its  entrance  a 
double  archway,  with  diaper -work  and  brackets  for 
statues  that  occupied  the  space  between  it  and  the 
enclosing  arch.  An  angel  with  a  thurible  offers 
incense  on  either  hand ;  in  the  four  eyelets  are  the 
evangelistic  symbols.  Around  the  doorway  was 
sculptured  a  tree  of  life,  leading  up  to  the  occupant 
of  the  throne.  The  window  in  the  cloister  corre 
sponding  with  the  entrance  to  the  chapter-house  is 
richer  than  the  rest.  A  short  passage  and  a  flight 
of  steps,  here  as  at  the  chapter-house  at  Wells  — 
both  that  and  this  at  Westminster  standing  on  a 
crypt  or  undercroft — lead  to  the  chapter-house  itself, 
an  octagon,  sixty  feet  in  diameter,  supported  by  a 
single  column.  The  roof  is  of  white  chalk,  groined 
with  ribs  of  firestone.  The  bosses  we  now  see  in  the 
roof,  though  new,  are  from  ancient  designs.  Four 
represent — Moses  with  the  Tables  of  the  Law;  David; 
the  Angel  of  the  Annunciation ;  the  Blessed  Virgin 
receiving  the  mystic  Ave.  The  four  remaining 
bosses  represent  foliage.  A  wall  arcade  runs  round 
the  building,  broken  only  by  the  entrance  on  the  west 
ern  side.  This  arcade  was  decorated  throughout  by 
mural  paintings  in  oil.  There  were  also  inscriptions 


Chapter- House.  255 


on  thick  paper  attached  to  the  walls.  The  'gold  is 
still  fresh  in  many  places.  The  tracery  of  the  arched 
canopies  was  painted  red  and  blue,  relieved  by  gold. 
Opposite  the  entrance  are  five  stalls,  for  the  abbot, 
the  prior,  the  sub-prior,  chancellor,  and  precentor. 
Here  the  painting  is  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The 
subject  is  the  reign  of  Christ  in  heaven.  The  Lord, 
enthroned  in  the  centre,  has  His  hands  uplifted, 
whilst  His  bared  side  shows  the  sacred  wounds. 
Angels  hold  a  dossal  behind  the  throne,  or  bear  the 
instruments  of  the  Passion.  Cherubim  and  seraphim 
fill  the  remaining  spaces  ;  with  two  wings  they  cover 
their  faces,  with  two  they  veil  their  feet,  with  two 
they  fly.  Their  wings  are  full  of  eyes.  On  their 
feathers  are  inscribed  '  Officii  sincera  plenitude ; 
voluntatis  discretio  ;  simplex  et  pura  intentio;  mun- 
ditia  carnis;  puritas  mentis;  confessio;  satisfactio; 
caritas;  eleemosyna;  orationis  devotio ;  simplicitas; 
humilitas  ;  fidelitas.'  All  the  figures  have  gold 
nimbi;  the  prevalent  colour  of  the  wings  of  the 
cherubim  is  blue  ;  of  the  seraphim,  red.  Paintings 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  by  William  of  Northampton, 
now  in  a  very  fragmentary  state,  in  the  other  six  bays, 
represent  subjects  from  the  history  and  apocalypse 
of  St.  John.  In  the  first  picture  we  see  St.  John 
arrested  by  the  proconsul  of  Ephesus  at  the  com 
mand  of  Domitian.  In  the  second,  St.  John  is 
plunged  in  the  caldron  of  oil.  In  the  third,  St. 


256  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

John,  having  escaped  scatheless  from  his  tormentors, 
departs  into  banishment  at  Patmos.  In  the  fourth, 
the  apostle  is  seen  on  the  shores  of  Patmos  ;  again 
we  see  an  angel  appearing  to  St.  John,  who  in  his 
next  compartment  is  portrayed  as  writing  to  the 
Seven  Churches.  Next  is  a  figure  of  the  Saviour, 
with  a  sword  in  His  mouth,  in  the  midst  of  the  seven 
candlesticks,  with  the  apostle  at  His  feet.  Again  wTe 
see  the  Saviour  sitting  on  a  throne  encircled  by  a 
rainbow,  whilst  in  front  seven  lamps  are  burning. 
Around  are  the  evangelists  and  the  four-and-twenty 
elders,  with  crowns  and  musical  instruments.  Then 
comes  the  opening  of  the  seal.  The  riders  on  the 
white,  red,  and  black  horses  follow.  The  figure  of 
Death  on  the  pale  horse  has  disappeared.  After  a 
blank  we  come  to  a  representation  of  the  beast  with 
seven  heads  and  ten  horns.  Then  we  see  the  Lamb 
standing  on  Zion.  The  angel  proclaims  the  fall  of 
Bab}Tlon ;  the  people  of  God  are  summoned  to  come 
forth  ;  the  angel  casts  a  millstone  into  the  sea ;  and 
the  harlot  is  burned  with  fire.  Then  is  the  mar 
riage  of  the  Lamb ;  St.  John  is  raised  by  the  angel, 
who  forbids  the  apostle  to  worship  him  ;  He  who  is 
faithful  and  true  rides  in  triumph  on  a  white  horse; 
the  angel  calls  the  birds  of  prey.  War  is  maintained 
by  the  beast,  the  kings  of  earth  and  their  hosts,  against 
the  rider  on  the  white  horse.  Last,  Satan  is  loosed. 
Beneath  are  pictures  of  animals  and  fish. 


Monastic  Discipline.  257 

Between  the  passage,  leading  to  the  Chapter 
house  and  the  south  transept,  is  the  so-called  chapel 
of  St.  Blaise,  the  Eevestry. 

The  central  pillar  of  the  chapter-house  is  about 
35  feet  in  height.  It  is  of  Purheck  marble,  and 
consists  of  a  central  and  eight  minor  shafts  banded. 
The  capital  is  carved. 

The  windows  of  the  Chapter-house  are  of  four 
lights.  The  doorway  is  double.  The  dormitory  passed 
over  the  outer  vestibule,  which  is  depressed.  The 
inner  vestibule  is  loftier. 

The  chapter-house  is  paved  with  encaustic  tiles. 
One  of  the  tiles  represents  St.  John  giving  the  ring 
to  the  Confessor. 

Piers  Ploughman  describes  a  Benedictine  chapter 
house  : 

'  There  was  the  chapter-house,  wrought  as  a  church, 
Carved  and  covered  and  quaintly  entayled 
With  seemly  selure  y'set  aloft, 
As  a  parliament-house  y  painted  ahout.' 

This  is  a  curiously  accurate  description  of  the  chap 
ter-house  of  Westminster,  the  gem  of  Benedictine  art, 
and  the  first  English  House  of  Commons. 

Daily,  after  terce,  the  community  went  from  the 
choir  to  the  chapter-house  and  took  their  respective 
places.  When  the  abbot  reached  his  seat,  the  monks 
descended  a  step  and  bowed;  the  abbot  returned 
their  salutation,  and  all  resumed  their  seats.  A 

s 


258  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

sentence  of  the  Benedictine  rule  was  then  read  by 
one  of  the  novices,  and  the  abbot  or  prior  explained 
and  commented  upon  it.  Then  the  names  of  the 
community  were  read,  a  list  of  the  benefactors  of 
the  house  followed,  and  then  another  of  members  of 
the  community  the  anniversary  of  whose  death  fell 
on  that  day.  For  their  souls,  and  those  of  all 
the  faithful  departed,  the  community  said  a  Requies- 
cant  in  pace.  Then  members  of  the  community  who 
had  been  guilty  of  slight  breaches  of  discipline  knelt 
upon  a  low  stool  in  the  midst  of  the  chapter-house, 
and  confessed  their  faults.  The  abbot  bowed  in 
token  of  his  forgiveness,  and  the  culprits  resumed 
their  seat.  In  the  chapter-house,  complaints  were 
heard  against  any  of  the  community,  and  sentence 
was  awarded.  Convent  business  was  also  transacted 
in  the  chapter-house. 

It  is  worth  remarking  that  the  polygonal  chap 
ter-house  is  peculiar  to  England;  that  the  English 
architects,  who,  for  the  most  part,  rejected  the  apse 
in  their  churches,  constructed  double  apses  (for 
such  is  a  chapter-house),  supported  on  an  '  antique 
pillar  massy  proof,'*  on  their  exterior,  thus  proving 

*  II  Penseroso : 

'  But  let  my  due  feet  never  fail 
To  walk  the  studious  cloister's  pale, 
And  love  the  high-einbowe'd  roof, 
With  antique  pillars  massy  proof, 
And  storied  windows  richly  dight, 
Casting  a  dim  religious  light.' 


Westminster  Hall.  259 

that  the  '  insularity'  of  our  Gothic  art  arises  not 
from  neglect  or  contempt  of  contemporary  art,  but 
from  a  careful  and  deliberate  selection  of  type. 

The  crypt  beneath  the  chapter-house  is  vaulted, 
with  a  central  pillar  corresponding  to  that  in  the 
chamber  above.  There  is  a  recess  for  an  altar. 

Two  doorways  lead  from  the  outer  vestibule. 
The  chapel  of  St.  Blaise,  or  old  Revestry,  is  reached 
by  one  of  these  doorways,  and  from  the  doorway 
in  the  centre  of  the  south  transept.  In  this  doorway 
were  three  doors,  of  which  the  central  was  lined  with 
human  skin,  probably  that  of  persons  executed  for 
sacrilege.  A  gallery  crosses  the  west  end  of  the 
chapel ;  it  led  from  the  dormitory  to  the  church. 
The  west  end  of  the  building  we  are  describing  was 
evidently  used  as  the  vestry.  At  the  east  end  was 
an  altar,  the  step  of  which  still  remains.  Above  is 
an  oil-painting  of  a  female  figure — probably  St.  Faith. 
To  the  south  of  the  altar  two  windows  opened  to 
the  inner  vestibule  of  the  chapter-house. 

Westminster  Hall  was  the  hall  of  the  Royal  Palace 
at  Westminster.*  It  occupies  the  same  site  as  the 
'  great  hall  of  William  Rufus.'f  The  present  hall  is 
of  the  later  years  of  Richard  II.  Master  Henry 

*  Norden  says  that  there  was  a  palace  at  Westminster — in 
habited  by  Canute,  about  1035. 

t  When  certain  of  his  barons  expressed  surprise  at  the  dimen 
sions  of  Rufus's  hall,  he  said  '  that  it  was  only  a  bedchamber  in 
comparison  with  the  building  he  intended  to  make.' 


20o  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

Zenely  was  the  designer.  The  roof  is  of  chestnut. 
Early  roofs  consisted  of  a  tie-beam  only,  or  of  tie- 
beam  and  king-post.  Then  collars  came  to  be  em 
ployed.  Finally,  the  tie-beam  was  cut  through,  leav 
ing  hammer-beams  on  either  side.  On  these  rested 
the  struts.  At  Westminster  arches  spring  from  the 
cornice  both  sides,  and  the  hammer-beam  and  struts 
are  reduced  to  little  more  than  mere  ornamental 
features,  and,  with  the  spandril  beneath  and  collar- 
brace  above,  form  a  large  cusp.  The  roof  occupies 
half  of  the  whole  height  of  the  hall.  The  external 
buttresses  are  applied  only  to  every  second  truss. 
At  the  end  of  the  hammer-beams  are  angels  bearing 
shields. 

St.  Stephen's  Chapel  was  founded  by  King 
Stephen  for  a  dean  and  canons ;  the  chapel  was 
rebuilt  in  Edward  II. 's  reign.  The  last  dean  was 
King  Henry  YIII.'s  physician  :  he  rebuilt  the  clois 
ters  at  the  cost  of  10,000  marks.  St.  Stephen's 
Chapel  was,  previous  to  the  fire,  the  beau-ideal  of 
English  mediaeval  art.  Architecture,  sculpture,  and 
painting  all  lent  their  aid.  Internally  the  dimen 
sions  were  ninety  feet  by  thirty-three.  The  roof  was 
of  wood.  St.  Stephen's  Chapel  was  to  England  what 
the  '  Sainte  Chapelle'  was  to  France.  The  dimen 
sions  were  much  the  same.  Both  stood  upon  a  crypt. 
The  '  Sainte  Chapelle'  terminates  in  an  apse,  whilst 
the  English  example  has  the  characteristic  square 


St.  Stephens  Chapel.  261 


termination.  The  vault  of  the  crypt  yet  remaining 
at  St.  Stephen's  is  more  ornate  than  that  of  the 
'  Sainte  Chapelle.'  Mr.  Fergusson  thinks  that  the 
upper  chapel  at  St.  Stephen's  must  have  had  a  ham 
mer-beam  roof  earlier  in  date,  but  similar  in  charac 
ter,  to  that  of  Westminster  Hall.  The  window  tracery 
was  of  the  '  beautiful  variety,  intermediate  between 
geometric  and  flowing,'  we  find  in  Merton  College 
Chapel,  in  the  Lady  Chapel  at  Ely,  and  at  St. 
Thomas  the  Martyr,  Winchelsea.  The  paintings 
with  which  the  chapel  was  decorated  represented 
such  subjects  as  the  '  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds,' 
the  'Presentation  in  the  Temple,'  the  'Adoration  of 
the  Magi.' 

The  Painted  or  St.  Edward's  Chamber*  was  an 
apartment  eighty  feet  long,  twenty  feet  broad,  and 
fifty  high.  The  walls  were  painted  with  figures  and 
historical  subjects  in  six  bands. 

'  The  Queen's  Chamber'  at  Westminster  was  to 
be  painted  on  the  '  cambrusca,'  or  'wooden  wain 
scot,'  'with  oil,  varnish,  and  colours,'  by  the  com 
mand  of  Henry  III.  in  1234.  There  is  a  writ  direct 
ing  117s.  Wd.  to  be  paid  '  to  Odo,  the  goldsmith, 
and  Edward  his  son,  for  oil,  varnish,  and  colours , 
bought  by  them ;  and  for  pictures  made  in  the 

0  Tradition  asserts  that  it  was  in  the  Painted  Chamher  that 
St.  Edward  expired.  The  Abbey  was  consecrated  at  Christmas- 
tide,  and  the  King  was  buried  on  Twelfth-day. 


262  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

Queen's  Chamber  at  Westminster,  from  the  octave 
of  the  Holy  Trinity  in  the  twenty  -  third  year  of 
Henry's  reign  to  the  feast  of  St.  Barnabas  in  the 
same  year,  namely  for  fifteen  days.'  The  roof  was 
divided  into  panels,  coloured  and  gilded ;  the  floor 
was  tesselated.  The  walls  were  painted  with  fres 
coes  of  the  '  enthronisation  and  coronation  of  the 
Confessor,'  and  the  wars  of  the  Maccabees.  In  the 
reveals  of  the  windows  were  figures  beneath  canopies. 
In  the  easternmost  window  was  St.  John  appearing 
as  a  pilgrim  to  the  Confessor.  There  were  two  alle 
gorical  figures  of  Justice  and  Largesse. 

The  Prince's  Chamber  ran  parallel  to  the  Painted 
Chamber.  It  had  five  windows  to  the  south,  three 
to  the  east,  and  west.  The  window  -  mouldings 
were  gilt.  The  hood-mould  of  the  central  west  win 
dow  was  supported  by  two  crowned  corbel -heads. 
To  the  north-west  was  a  pointed  doorway. 

Near  the  old  clock- tower  was  Canon-row,  or  St. 
Stephen's-alley,  where  the  canons  of  St.  Stephen's 
Chapel  resided. 

St.  Margaret's  is  a  large  third-pointed  church, 
close  to  Westminster  Abbey.  It  was  founded  by  the 
Confessor.*  Its  length  from  east  to  west  is  one  hun- 

*  The  dedication  is  to  the  martyr  of  Antioch.  It  will  be  re 
membered  that  Edward  the  Confessor's  grand-niece,  Margaret  of 
Scotland,  bore  this  name.  There  was  a  Scala  Cceli  at  St.  Mar 
garet's.  In  the  churchyard  was  a  stone  cross,  upon  which  was 


St.  Margaret's  Church.  263 


dred  and  thirty  feet.  The  tower  stands  at  the  end  of 
the  north  aisle.  The  tower  windows  of  the  upper 
stage  are  of  four  lights  transomed,  of  beautiful  de 
sign.  In  the  church  itself,  the  clerestory  windows 
alone  retain  their  original  tracery.  The  arches  are 
supported  by  clustered  piers.  Some  of  the  old  chan 
cel  stalls  remain  in  the  aisles.  The  east  window  was 
given  to  Henry  VII.  for  his  chapel  by  the  magistrates 
of  Dort,  in  Holland.  At  Henry's  death,  the  Abbot  of 
Waltham  placed  it  in  his  own  church.  Preserved  by 
Eobert  Fuller,  the  last  abbot,  through  various  hands, 
among  them  those  of  Anne  Boleyn's  father  and  of 
Cromwell,  it  returned  to  Westminster,  but  this  time 
to  St.  Margaret's.  In  the  upper  part  are  small  figures 
of  angels  bearing  the  emblems  of  the  Passion.  In 
the  three  centre  lights  is  a  representation  of  the 
Crucifixion,  with  our  Lady  and  St.  John  standing  by  ; 
angels  receive  in  chalices  the  blood  from  our  Saviour's 
wounds ;  Longinus  pierces  the  sacred  side.  Over  the 
good  thief  an  angel,  over  the  bad  a  devil,  is  seen  bear 
ing  the  soul  to  happiness,  or  torment.  In  the  side 
light  to  the  left  of  the  spectator  is  St.  George  of 
Cappadocia,  with  the  red  and  white  rose  of  England. 
Beneath  is  the  figure  of  Prince  Arthur.  In  the  cor 
responding  space  on  the  opposite  side  is  Catherine 


placed  a  '  crosse  of  tre,'  with '  the  spere,  sponge,  and  nailes'  painted 
in  colours.     Walcott's  Memorials  of  Westminster,  p.  93. 


264   Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

of  Aragon,  having  over  her  head  the  full-length 
figure  of  her  patroness,  St.  Katharine  of  Alexandria, 
bearing  the  bursting  pomegranate  of  Granada.  This 
window  is  much  admired  for  its  harmony  of  colour. 

In  Queen  Mary's  reign  the  altar,  the  '  rood, 
Mary  and  John,'  the  stoup  for  holy  water,  '  a  crosse 
cloth  of  taffata,  with  a  picture  of  the  Trinity,  &c.,' 
were  all  restored  at  St.  Margaret's.  In  the  first  year 
of  Elizabeth  all  was  undone,  and  the  carved  work  cut 
down  with  axe  and  hatchet. 

1  Item,  to  iii  poor  men  for  burying  of  the  altar 
table  to  Mr.  Hodges  iiijtZ.' 

'  Item,  for  cleaving  and  sawing  of  the  Rood,  Mary 
and  John  xij.' 

The  hypocrisy  of  this  is  exquisite  ;  it  is  the  '  Sup 
plication  of  Beggars'  against  the  (  Supplication  of 
Souls.' 

It  has  frequently  been  proposed  to  remove  St. 
Margaret's,  as  obstructing  the  view  of  the  abbey.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  nothing  more  enhances  the  grandeur 
of  the  abbey  than  the  neighbourhood  of  the  humble 
parochial  edifice.  It  is  altogether  a  mistake  to  sup 
pose  that  a  large  mediaeval  building  was  intended  to 
stand  detached.  Were  Westminster  Abbey  arranged 
as  Wells  Cathedral,  or  York,  or  Lincoln,  the  chapter 
house  would  stand  on  the  site  of  St.  Margaret's ;  and 
it  would  not  then  be  proposed,  we  presume,  to  remove 
an  integral  part  of  the  building.  M.  de  Montalembert 


Shrine  at  St.  Margaret's.  265 

said:  '  They  (the  English  cathedrals)  often  strike  more 
at  first  sight  (than  the  French),  precisely  owing  to 
this  encircling,  whose  inferior  proportions  make  those 
of  the  central  monument  tell  more.'  M.  Yiollet-le 
Due  was  much  opposed  to  the  removal  of  St.  Mar 
garet's.  We  do  not  envy  the  taste  of  the  man  who, 
having  passed  the  clock-tower  at  Westminster,  and 
seen  the  abhey  and  St.  Margaret's  together  from 
that  '  coign  of  vantage,'  should  wish  for  the  removal 
of  the  latter. 

In  St.  Margaret's  Church  there  would  appear  to 
have  been  a  shrine  situated ;  not,  as  in  the  larger 
churches,  at  the  east  end,  but  in  what  was  called 
the  feretory-aisle,  a  chapel  at  the  extremity  of  the 
north  or  south  aisle.  This  appears  from  the  fol 
lowing  :  '  For  my  Lady  Jakis,  for  her  grave  in  the 
feretre  isle,  viis.  iiiic?.'  There  was  a  guild  at  St. 
Margaret's.  Among  those  in  arrears  in  1476  are 
Sir  Henry  Ward,  Knight;  Dame  Agnes  Hasely; 
Robert  Shoredyke,  Squire  ;  the  Lady  Graa ;  Raynold 
Colyer,  Prior  of  St.  Bartholomew's ;  the  Duchess  of 
Bedford;  William  Bartrarn,  Esq.;  my  Lady  Anke- 
rasse  ;  Sir  Thomas  Knolle,  Vicar  of  Datchet. 

On  Easter-day,  1555,  a  monk  from  the  abbey  was 
engaged  at  the  altar,  with  the  priest  of  St.  Margaret's, 
when  a  man  named  Fowler,  who  had  been  formerly 
in  the  monastery  at  Ely,  entered  the  church,  and  de 
manded  of  the  monk  what  it  was  he  gave  in  com- 


266   Ecclesiastical  A  n tiqu ities  of  L ondon. 

munion.  When  the  priest  replied,  the  other  struck 
him  on  head,  hand,  and  arm,  three  successive  blows. 
The  assailant  was  apprehended ;  and,  ten  days  later, 
executed  over  against  the  church,  but  without  the 
churchyard. 

There  appears  to  have  been  a  fair  held,  at  least 
occasionally,  in  St.  Margaret's  churchyard. 

William  Caxton,  the  printer,  was  buried  at  St. 
Margaret's,  in  1478.  Here,  too,  was  buried  Skelton, 
the  satirist  of  Henry  VIII. 's  reign.  He  kept  the 
abbey*  sanctuary  to  escape  the  hands  of  Cardinal 
Wolsey. 

Lambeth  (or  Loamhithe)  was  one  of  the  '  hithes' 
or  landing-places  on  the  Thames;  as  were  Redriff, 
or  Rotherhithe ;  Somerset,  or  Summer's-hithe;  Queen- 
hithe ;  and  Stepney,  or  Stebenhithe. 

It  was  at  Lambeth,  on  the  8th  June  1041,  that 
Hardicanute  was  present  at  the  marriage  of  a  Danish 
chief,  Tofig  the  Proud,  his  standard-bearer,  with  Gy- 
tha,  the  daughter  of  Osgod  Clapa.  Hardicanute  was 
little  more  than  twenty,  and  of  a  sturdy  constitu 
tion.  Nothing  foreboded  calamity ;  but  whilst  he 
stood  drinking,  probably  to  the  health  of  the  newly  - 
rnarried  pair,  he  suddenly  threw  up  his  arms  and 

*  In  the  Abbey  precincts,  close  by  St.  Margaret's,  was  the 
'  Anchorites'  House,'  occupied  from  one  generation  to  another,  by 
a  hermit.  To  the  hermit  at  Westminster  Richard  II.,  and  in  after 
days  Henry  V. ,  resorted  for  advice. 


Lambeth  Palace.  267 


dropped  dead  upon  the  floor.  Some  said  that  his 
death  was  due  to  poison;  none  lamented  his  fate. 
Curiously  enough  it  was  Tofig  who  was  founder  of 
the  church  at  Waltham,  so  special  an  object  of  de 
votion  with  the  family  of  Godwin,  and  where  Harold 
lies ;  so  that  we  see  Tofig  present  at  the  death  of  the 
last  of  the  Danish  dynasty,  whilst  his  foundation  en 
shrouded  the  remains  of  the  last  Saxon  king. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  Lambeth  Palace  or  House 
answers  completely  to  the  conception  that  might  be 
raised  by  the  consideration  of  the  dignity  of  its  pos 
sessors.  The  triple  windows  of  the  chapel,  the  crypt, 
and  the  doorway  leading  into  the  chapel,  are  all  early 
pointed.  The  chapel  was  built  by  Archbishop  Boni 
face,  about  1244.  The  windows  contained  the  whole 
Scripture  history  from  the  Creation  to  the  Day  of 
Judgment :  the  two  side  lights  containing  the  Old 
Testament  types ;  the  centre  light  the  anti-types  of 
the  New  Law. 

The  remainder  of  the  palace,  though  of  early 
foundation  (dating  from  Cceur  de  Lion's  time,  when 
it  passed  from  the  Bishops  of  Kochester  to  the  Arch 
bishops  of  Canterbury),  has  no  portion  earlier  than 
the  fifteenth  century.  The  inner  arch  of  the  gateway, 
built  by  Cardinal  Morton,  is  fine.  The  roof  is  vaulted. 
The  red  brickwork  is  varied  by  patterns  in  black.  The 
tower  to  the  east  facing  the  river,  called  the  '  Lollards' 
tower,'  was  built  by  Archbishop  Chicheley,  the  foun- 


268  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu ities  of  London. 

der  of  All  Souls'  College,  Oxford,  in  1434.  The  guard 
room  has  an  arched  oak  roof. 

Sir  Thomas  More  was  an  inmate  of  Lambeth,  as 
a  member  of  the  household  of  Cardinal  Morton,  the 
friend  of  Fox  and  Waynflete,  and  Lord  High  Chan 
cellor. 

'  In  the  mean  season  I  was  much  bound  and  be 
holden  to  the  right  reverend  father,  John  Morton, 
Archbishop  and  Cardinal  of  Canterbury,  and  at  that 
time  also  Lord  Chancellor  of  England  ;  a  man,  Mas 
ter  Peter  (for  Master  More  knoweth  already  that  I 
will  say),  not  more  honourable  for  his  authority  than 
for  his  prudence  and  virtue.  He  was  of  a  mean  sta 
ture,  and  though  stricken  in  age,  yet  bare  he  his  body 
upright.  In  his  face  did  shine  such  an  amiable 
reverence  as  was  pleasant  to  behold,  gentle  in  com 
munication,  yet  earnest  and  sage.  He  had  great 
delight  many  times  with  rough  speech  to  his  suitors, 
to  prove,  but  without  harm,  what  prompt  wit  and 
what  bold  spirit  was  in  every  man.  In  the  which,  as 
in  a  virtue  much  agreeing  with  his  nature,  so  that 
therewith  were  not  joined  impudency,  he  took  great 
delectation.  And  the  same  person,  as  apt  and  meet 
to  have  an  administration  in  the  weal  public,  he  did 
lovingly  embrace.  In  his  speech  he  was  fine,  elo 
quent,  and  pithy.  In  the  law  he  had  profound  know 
ledge,  in  wit  he  was  incomparable,  and  in  memory 
wonderful  excellent.  These  qualities,  which  in  him 


St.  Marys,  Lambeth.  269 


were  by  nature  singular,  lie  by  learning  and  use  had 
made  perfect.  The  king  put  much  trust  in  his  coun 
sel,  the  weal  public  also  in  a  manner  leaned  unto 
him,  when  I  was  there.  For  even  in  the  chief  of  his 
youth  he  was  taken  from  school  into  the  court,  and 
there  passed  all  his  time  in  much  trouble  and  busi 
ness,  being  continually  tumbled  and  tossed  in  the 
woes  of  divers  misfortunes  and  adversities.  And  by  so 
many  and  great  dangers  he  learned  the  experience  of 
the  world,  which  so  being  learned  cannot  easily  be 
forgotten.' 

To  Lambeth,  in  after  days,  More  was  summoned 
to  take  the  oath  of  succession  before  the  Commis 
sioners,  Cranmer,  Cromwell,  Boston,  Abbot  of  West 
minster,  and  Audley.  More  retired  in  custody  of 
the  abbot. 

St.  Mary's,  Lambeth,  has  some  third -pointed 
fragments.  At  the  foot  of  the  tower  is  a  window  with 
a  niche  supplying  the  place  of  one  of  the  lights. 
There  was  a  window  to  the  south  of  St.  Mary's  with 
the  figure  of  a  pedlar  and  his  dog.  This  pedlar  gave 
'  Pedlar's-acre'  to  the  parish,  on  condition  that  he 
should  be  represented  in  glass.  Do  we  have  our 
Swaffham  pedlar  here  again  ? 

Bishops  Thiiiby  and  Tunstal  are  buried  in  Lam 
beth  Church.  On  their  deprivation  they  were  in* 
trusted  by  Elizabeth  to  the  charge  of  Parker.  Tun 
stal  lived  only  four  weeks  at  Lambeth ;  Thirlby  sur- 


270  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

vived  his  deprivation  ten  years.  Dr.  Boxal,  secretary 
to  Queen  Mary,  was  a  prisoner  at  Lambeth  at  the 
same  time.  The  prisoners  had  separate  lodgings. 
All  the  acknowledgment  that  Parker  received  for 
their  maintenance  was  part  of  their  libraries  at  their 
death.  The  body  of  Bishop  Thirlby  was  accidentally 
discovered  at  the  beginning  of  this  century.  It  was 
wrapped  in  linen,  and  appeared  to  have  been  arti 
ficially  preserved.  The  face  was  perfect,  the  beard 
long  and  white;  the  limbs  were  flexible. 

The  eastern  end  of  the  north  aisle  of  St.  Mary's 
has  been  frequently  called  the  Howard  Chapel.  It 
was  built  by  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  in  15*22. 


Wlnlk. 

THE    KIVER. 

'  The  river  glideth  at  his  own  sweet  will.' 

CHELSEA  (or  Chelsith)  is  supposed  to  owe  its  name  to 
'  Cesol,'  a  bank  of  sand  and  pebbles.  Chelsey,  or 
Selsey,  in  Sussex,  is  from  the  same  derivation.  En 
vironed  though  it  is  by  the  growing  suburbs  of  Lon 
don,  Chelsea  has  an  air  of  old  fashion  ;  and  from  the 
Battersea  side  of  the  river,  seen  with  barges  floating 
past  the  solid  brick  houses  screened  by  sheltering 
trees,  presents  a  picture  rather  Dutch  than  English. 
The  barbarised  but  picturesque  church  is  dedicated 
to  St.  Luke,  though  the  dedication  stands  'All  Saints' 
on  the  king's  books.  The  chancel  and  a  portion  of 
the  north  aisle  are  the  only  parts  that  have  a  distinct 
claim  to  antiquity.  The  chancel  is  said  to  have  been 
rebuilt  early  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  south 
aisle  of  the  chancel  was  built  by  Sir  Thomas  More. 
Sir  Thomas  gave  the  altar-plate.  With  a  forecast 
of  the  coming  time  he  said,  '  Good  men  give  these 
things,  and  bad  men  take  them  away.'  He  was  con- 


272  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London . 

stantly  present  at  the  Kogation  processions  in  the 
parish,  and  at  that  on  Corpus  Christi,  when  he  fre 
quently  carried  the  cross.  Some  one  saying  that  it 
would  better  become  his  dignity  if  he  were  to  ride 
instead  of  going  on  foot,  he  replied,  '  God  forbid 
that  I  should  follow  my  Master  on  horseback,  when 
He  went  on  foot!'  So  when  the  Duke  of  Norfolk 
saw  More,  who  was  then  Lord  Chancellor,  clad  in  a 
surplice,  and  taking  part  with  the  choir  in  the  ser 
vices  of  Chelsea  Church,  and  used  the  remonstrance 
with  him,  'You  dishonour  the  king  and  his  office,' 
More  answered,  '  Not  so ;  for,  as  I  take  it,  the  king, 
your  master  and  mine,  will  not  surely  be  offended 
by  my  serving  his  Master  and  mine.' 

The  capitals  of  the  piers  that  support  the  arch 
separating  More's  chapel  from  the  chancel  are  rich 
Renaissance  work,  almost  too  rich  and  delicate  to  be 
English  of  that  date  ;  and,  as  they  appear  to  be  inser 
tions,  are  not  improbably  of  foreign  workmanship.  To 
the  north  of  the  chancel  is  an  ancient  altar-tomb,  with 
out  any  inscription,  but  known  to  be  that  of  one  of  the 
Brays  of  Eaton.  Sir  Thomas  More  is  commemorated 
by  a  tablet  on  the  south  side  of  the  chancel.  The 
epitaph  was  written  by  himself.  In  a  letter  to  Eras 
mus  he  states  that  his  reason  was  to  contradict  the 
reports  that  he  was  compelled  to  resign  office.  '  I 
choose  this  method  to  prevent  these  misrepresenta 
tions  from  gaining  credit — assuredly  not  on  my  own 


Where  is  More  buried?  273 


account — for  I  little  heed  what  men  say,  so  God  but 
approve ;  but  since  I  have  written  some  books  in  our 
mother-tongue  in  favour  of  certain  disputed  tenets,  I 
conceived  that  it  behoved  me  to  defend  the  integrity 
of  my  character.'  It  is  recorded  in  the  epitaph 
that  More's  services  had  not  been  ungrateful  to  the 
people — despite  his  severity  to  thieves,  murderers, 
and  [  ]  ;  a  blank  once  filled  up  with  the 

word  luereticisque,  or  mayhap  intended  to  suggest 
it  to  the  reader.  That  More  carried  into  execution 
the  law  then  prevailing  against  heresy,  in  discharge 
of  his  office  as  chancellor,  is  undoubted ;  but  the 
blank  was  perhaps  intended  to  serve  as  a  playful  al 
lusion  to  the  ridiculous  charge  of  private  persecution 
he  so  thoroughly  disposed  of.  He  may  have  meant, 
'  If  this  charge  is  true,  put  it  here  ;  I  give  you  leave.' 
Great  uncertainty  hangs  over  the  question  of  the 
place  of  More's  interment;  the  probability,  how 
ever,  is  that  he  was  buried  in  St.  Peter's  Chapel  in 
the  Tower.  Still  Aubrey  says :  '  After  he  was  be 
headed,  his  trunk  was  interred  in  Chelsey  Church, 
near  the  middle  of  the  south  wall,  where  was  some 
slight  monument  erected,  which  being  worn  by 
time,  about  1644  Sir  [John]  Lawrence  of  Chelsey 
(no  kinne  to  him),  at  his  own  proper  costs  and 
charges,  erected  to  his  memory  a  handsome  inscrip 
tion  of  marble.'  Over  the  tomb  is  the  crest  of  Sir 
Thomas  More — a  Moor's  head ;  and  his  arms,  and 

T 


274  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

those  of  his  two  wives.  At  the  east  end  of  the  Law 
rence  Chapel,  in  the  north  aisle,  a  niche  for  an  image 
has  recently  been  discovered  beneath  the  plaster. 

The  manor  of  Chelsea  is  stated  to  have  belonged  to 
the  Abbey  of  Westminster.  In  Henry  VII. 's  time  it 
was  held  by  Sir  Keginald  Bray,  the  architect.  Sir  Tho 
mas  More's  house  at  Chelsea  was  built  by  Sir  John 
Danvers.  The  flat  roof  of  the  gate-house  commanded 
a  wide  view  of  the  fields  and  river.  At  the  end  of 
his  garden  More  erected  a  pile  of  buildings,  con 
sisting  of  a  chapel,  gallery,  and  library ;  all  of  them 
designed  for  his  own  retirement.  More  rose  early, 
and  assembled  his  family  morning  and  evening  in 
the  chapel,  where  certain  prayers  and  psalms  were 
recited.  He  heard  mass  daily  himself,  and  expected 
all  his  household  to  do  so  on  Sundays  and  festivals ; 
whilst,  on  the  eves  of  great  feasts,  all  watched  till 
matins.  Every  Friday,  as  was  also  his  custom  on 
some  other  occasions,  he  retired  to  the  new  buildings, 
where  he  spent  the  whole  day  in  prayer  and  medi 
tation. 

Holbein,  the  painter,  is  said  to  have  been  for 
some  three  years  More's  guest  at  Chelsea.  Here  he 
painted  his  host,  his  relatives  and  friends. 

It  was  his  royal  master's  wont  to  walk  in  the  gar 
den  at  Chelsea  in  confidential  intercourse  with  More, 
with  his  arm  around  his  neck.  But,  said  More,  with 
the  sage  sad  prescience  characteristic  of  him,  '  I  have 


An  early  Convert.  275 

no  cause  to  be  proud  thereof;  for  if  my  head  would 
win  him  a  castle  in  France,  it  would  not  fail  to  go 
off.' 

His  fondness  for  animals  is  an  interesting  and 
curious  peculiarity  of  More.  Erasmus  tells  us  that 
watching  their  form  and  dispositions  was  one  of  his 
chief  pleasures.  He  seems  to  have  been  quite  a  Water- 
ton  in  this  respect.  At  Chelsea  might  be  seen  many 
varieties  of  birds,  and  an  ape,  a  fox,  a  weasel,  and  a 
ferret.  '  Moreover,  if  anything  foreign  or  otherwise 
remarkable  comes  in  his  way,  he  greedily  buys  it  up, 
and  he  has  his  house  completely  furnished  with  these 
objects ;  so  that,  as  you  enter,  there  is  everywhere 
something  to  catch  the  eye,  and  he  renews  his  own 
pleasure  as  often  as  he  becomes  a  witness  to  the  de 
light  of  others.' 

In  1557,  Anne  of  Cleves,  the  repudiated  wife  of 
Henry  VIII.,  was  borne  from  Chelsea  to  her  tomb 
at  Westminster,  with  all  the  Westminster  scholars, 
many  priests  and  clerks,  the  Bishop  of  London,  and 
the  Abbot  of  Westminster  with  his  monks,  in  attend 
ance.  She  became  a  Catholic  two  years  previous  to 
her  death.  This  is  an  interesting  circumstance,  as 
it  will  be  remembered  that  she  was  the  first  Protest 
ant  Queen  of  England.  Her  mother  '  died  out  of 
her  wits  for  spite  and  anger'  at  the  successes  of  the 
Emperor  Charles  V.  in  South  Germany.  In  the 
Harleian  and  Cottonian  MSS.  are  interesting  parti- 


276   Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

culars  of  her  reception  at  Calais.  The  Lord  Deputy 
of  Calais,  Viscount  de  Lisle,  with  the  Earl  of 
Southampton,  Great  Admiral  of  England,  and  a 
numerous  retinue,  met  her  near  Gravelines,  and  led 
her  to  the  town  by  way  of  St.  Pierre.  The  lord 
admiral  was  dressed  in  purple  velvet,  cut  on  cloth 
of  gold,  and  tied  with  four  hundred  aigulettes  and 
trefoils  of  gold.  He  wore,  baldric-wise,  a  chain,  to 
which  was  suspended  a  whistle  of  gold  set  with 
precious  stones.  His  train  was  composed  of  thirty 
gentlemen  of  the  royal  household,  who  wore  massive 
chains  like  the  admiral.  The  gentlemen  of  his  own 
suite  were  appareled  in  blue  velvet  and  crimson 
satin.  Even  the  marines  of  his  ship  were  in  Bruges 
satin ;  the  yeomen  in  blue  damask.  The  lord  high 
admiral  made  a  low  obeisance  to  the  Lady  Anne  of 
Cleves,  and  led  her  to  Calais  by  the  Lanterne-gate, 
whence  he  conducted  her  to  the  king's  palace,  the 
'  Chekers.'  The  merchants  of  the  staple  presented 
their  new  mistress  with  a  hundred  broad  pieces  in 
gold  in  a  rich  purse,  as  she  passed  their  hall,  that 
still  stands,  and  will  be  remembered  by  the  sojourner 
in  Calais  by  the  name  of  the  Cour  de  Guise.  Their 
present  was  graciously  received.  The  princess  was 
detained  at  Calais  by  a  contrary  wind  for  fifteen  days, 
during  which  jousts  and  banquets  were  arranged  by 
the  authorities  for  her  entertainment  and  that  of 
her  suite.  Her  train  consisted  of  two  hundred  and 


Le  Mari  malgre  lui.  277 


sixty-three  persons,  among  whom  were  the  Earls  of 
Oversteyn  and  Roussenbergh.  Upon  her  arrival  in 
England,  the  princess  was  at  first  well  received  by 
the  reforming  party ;  the  Catholics  held  aloof.  Bryan 
says  : 

'  When  Henry  saw  his  bride-elect  he  was  dis 
appointed,  but  knew  how  to  control  his  feelings  ;  for 
two  nights  he  did  not  sleep,  and  walked  his  chamber 
many  times.  He  was  puzzled  how  to  act ;  he  waited, 
however,  until  he  had  time  for  a  long  discourse  with 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Everything  went 
wrong;  the  archbishop  had  a  severe  cold,  and  was 
not  able  to  appear  till  the  morning  of  the  marriage. 
The  princess  won't  answer  at  all,  but  I  hear  she  will 
disappoint  some  people  by  her  readiness  to  hear  the 
Latin  mass  ;  she  will  do  everything  to  please  our 
good  and  blessed  king.  He  is  taking  to  the  mass 
very  much  again.  What  will  the  archbishop  do  ? 
Why,  whatever  he  is  ordered,  I  suppose.  The  people 
who  proposed  the  match  must  suffer.'  At  the  mar 
riage  high  mass  was  celebrated  by  Cranmer,  assisted 
by  many  priests.  '  Our  blessed  king,'  says  Roland 
Lee,  'was  in  a  religious  turn  of  mind.  God  keep 
him  so.  Somebody  will  suffer  in  the  skin  and  hide 
for  giving  him  this  greasy-faced  Jack  for  a  wife.' 
The  king  and  queen  lived  together  for  some  months. 
The  king,  who  spoke  English  and  French  only,  was 
unable  to  converse  with  his  bride,  who  knew  no  Ian- 


278  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L ondon. 

guage  but  German.  She  was,  besides,  devoid  of  every 
accomplishment,  beyond  the  simple  ones  of  reading, 
writing,  and  sewing.  It  was  Lady  Kochford  who 
called  the  unfortunate  Anne  '  greasy  -  faced  Jack.' 
The  king  had  recourse  to  Cranmer,  and  it  was  re 
solved  to  attempt  a  divorce.  When  Henry's  inten 
tion  was  first  communicated  to  the  queen,  she 
fainted,  but  was  gradually  persuaded  to  submit  her 
cause  to  the  decision  of  the  clergy.  There  had  been 
a  previous  marriage-contract  between  the  princess 
and  the  Duke  of  Lorraine.  Both  parties,  however, 
were  children  at  the  time,  and  the  betrothal  had  been 
subsequently  set  aside  with  their  mutual  consent.  It 
was  now  determined  to  rest  the  king's  cause  on  the 
way  in  which  the  queen's  person  had  been  falsely 
described  to  him,  and  on  the  king's  having  with 
held  his  consent  both  at  the  time  of  the  marriage 
and  subsequently.  The  chancellor,  the  archbishop, 
and  four  other  peers  addressed  the  house,  and  said 
that  they  now  entertained  doubts  of  the  validity  of 
the  marriage,  which^they  had  been  the  chief  agents 
in  promoting.  A  deputation  from  the  House  of 
Commons  joined  with  the  lords  in  requesting  that 
the  matter  might  be  submitted  to  Convocation.  The 
Convocation  adopted  the  views  of  Cranmer,  who  had 
already  '  regretted  what  an  inferior  woman  the  new 
queen  was;  that  she  was  not  in  any  way  suited  to 
be  the  wife  of  such  a  magnificent  man,  and  a  king 


A  Declaration.  279 


so  truly  good  and  great :  she  could  not  be  compared 
with  the  lovely  Queen  Jane  of  blessed  memory.'  The 
king's  declaration  ran  :  '  I  depose  and  declare  that 
this  hereafter  written  is  merely  the  verity,  intended 
upon  no  sinister  affection,  nor  yet  upon  none  hatred 
or  displeasure,  and  herein  I  take  God  to  witness. 
To  the  matter,  I  say  and  affirm  that,  when  the  first 
communication  was  had  with  me  for  the  marriage  of 
the  Lady  Anne  of  Cleves,  I  was  glad  to  hearken  to 
it,  trusting  to  have  some  assured  friend  by  it,  I  much 
doubting  at  that  time  both  the  emperor,  and  France, 
and  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  also  because  I  heard  so 
much  both  of  her  excellent  beauty  and  virtuous  be 
haviour.  But  when  I  saw  her  at  Rochester,  which 
was  the  first  time  that  ever  I  saw  her,  it,  rejoiced  my 
heart  that  I  had  kept  me  free  from  making  an}7  pact 
or  bond  before  with  her  till  I  saw  her  myself;  for  I 
assure  you  that  I  liked  her  so  ill,  and  [found  her]  so 
far  contrary  to  that  she  was  praised,  that  I  was  woe 
that  ever  she  came  into  England,  and  deliberated 
with  myself,  that  if  it  were  possible  to  find  means 
to  break  off,  I  would  never  enter  yoke  with  her ; 
of  which  misliking  both  the  great  master  (Lord 
Russell),  the  admiral  that  now  is,  and  the  master 
of  the  horse  (Sir  Henry  Browne),  can  and  will  bear 
record.  Then  after  my  repair  to  Greenwich,  the  next 
day  after,  I  think,  I  doubt  not  but  the  Lord  of  Essex 
(Cromwell)  will  and  can  declare  what  I  then  said  to 


280  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

him  in  that  case,  not  doubting  but,  since  he  is  a  per 
son  which  knoweth  himself  condemned  to  die  by  act 
of  parliament,  he  will  not  damn  his  soul,  but  truly 
declare  the  truth  not  only  at  that  time  spoken  by 
me,  but  also  continually  until  the  day  of  the  mar 
riage,  and  also  many  times  after  ;  wherein  my  lack  of 
consent  I  doubt  not  doth  or  shall  well  appear  .... 

The  chapel  of  St.  Mary,  Cadogan-terrace,  Sloane- 
street,  Chelsea,  was  built  by  M.  Voyaux  de  Franous, 
one  of  the  French  emigre  clergy.  Previous  to  its 
erection,  mass  was  said  in  a  room  above  a  shop.  The 
Duchess  of  Angouleme  was  a  generous  contributor 
to,  and  laid  the  first  stone  of  the  new  edifice.  The 
consecration  took  place  in  1811.  Mgr.  Poynter,  then 
Vicar- Apostolic  of  the  London  district,  officiated. 
Poor  as  the  building  appears,  it  cost  6000L  It 
was  specially  designed  for  the  use  of  the  French 
veterans  confined  at  Chelsea. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution,  the  Abbe 
Yoyaux  de  Franous  was  a  professor  at  the  Sorbonne 
and  principal  of  the  College  de  Trente-trois,  and 
on  the  return  of  the  Bourbons  the  title  of  canon  of 
the  Royal  Chapter  of  St.  Denis  was  bestowed  upon 
him.  He  might  have  received  other  preferments  at 
the  hands  of  Louis  XVIII.  and  Charles  X.,  if  he 
had  been  willing  to  return  to  France.  He  preferred, 
however,  to  remain  in  charge  of  the  Chelsea  mission. 
Among  the  assistant  clergy  at  Chelsea  were  Cardinal 


Cardinal  Weld.  281 


Weld,  the  late  Sishop  of  Troy,  Dr.  Cox,  and  Mgr. 
Eyre.* 

Cardinald  Weld  was  born  in  London,  January  22, 
1773.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  Mr.  Thomas  Weld, 
of  Lulworth  Castle,  and  his  wife  Mary  Stanley. 
The  future  cardinal  gave  shelter  at  Lulworth  to 
the  Trappist  nuns  escaped  from  France,!  and 
wras  a  benefactor  of  the  Poor  Clares  of  Grave- 
lines,  who  established  themselves  at  Plymouth, 
and  of  the  nuns  of  the  Visitation  who  took  up  their 
abode  at  Shepton  Mallet.  After  the  death  of  his 
wife  and  the  marriage  of  his  daughter,  Mr.  Weld 
resigned  his  estates  to  his  brother,  and  went  to  Paris, 
where  he  wras  ordained  priest,  in  April  1821.  Re 
turning  to  England,  he  continued  at  Chelsea  till 
appointed  coadjutor  to  the  Vicar- Apostolic  of  Upper 
Canada,  in  August  1826.  He,  however,  continued 
in  England  for  three  years,  during  which  he  was 
director  of  the  Benedictine  nuns  at  Hammersmith. 
At  the  close  of  that  time  he  was  invited  to  Borne, 
and  named  cardinal,  May  25',  1830,  by  Pius  VIII. 
He  resided  in  Rome  seven  years,  dying  there  April 
10,  1837.  He  was  distinguished  by  his  hospitality 
and  his  charity  to  the  poor.  \ 

*  Cf.  La  Chapelle  Frc^n^aise  a  Londres,  par  G.  F.  de  Grand- 
maison-y-Bruno,  p.  43. 

-j-  See  Appendix. 

J  Cf.  Cardinal  Wiseman's  Recollections  of  the  Last  Four  Popes, 
pp.  242-7. 


282    Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu  ities  of  Lou  don. 

The  very  artistic  arrangements  of  the  interior  of 
the  chapel  at  Chelsea  are  due  to  the  skill  of  Mr.  J.  H. 
Pollen.  The  sanctuary  is  separated  from  the  nave 
by  three  arches  resting  on  coupled  columns.  The 
two  chapels  at  the  extremity  of  the  nave  towards  the 
altar  end  of  the  building  give  a  variety  and  intricacy 
of  internal  effect  in  marked  contrast  with  the  bald 
aspect  of  the  exterior.  The  altars  and  pulpit  are  of 
good  and  solid  workmanship.  Indeed,  to  judge  by 
the  result  obtained  here,  it  would  seem  that  it  is  bet 
ter,  when  practicable,  to  reconstruct  than  to  rebuild. 

The  church  of  Fulham,  or  Fullanham  (the  vil 
lage  in  the  foul  or  dirty  place),  is  dedicated  to  All 
Saints.  It  is  third-pointed  in  style.  It  has  a  nave, 
a  chancel,  and  north  and  south  aisles  extending  to 
the  extremity  of  the  chancel.  The  east  window  is  of 
five  lights.  The  aisles  are  not  lean-to  ;  they  have 
separate  gables.  The  piers  are  clustered.  The 
tower  is  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  fourteenth  century. 
There  is  a  western  doorway,  having  above  it  a  five- 
light  window  with  flowing  tracery.  On  the  belfry- 
stage  are  four  three-light  windows  ;  in  these  the 
tracery  is  of  transitional  character. 

In  Weever's  time  there  were  the  following  monu 
ments  at  Fulham  : 

'  Hie  jacet  Johannes  Fischer,  quondam  thesaurius  domiui  Car- 
dinalis  Sanctae  Balbinas,  et  postea  Hostiensis  Cantuarensis  Archie- 
piscopi,  qui  obiit  27  Aug.  1463. ' 


Ep  itaphs  a  t  Fid  ham .  283 


'  Pray  for  the  souls  of  John  Long,  gentylman,  Katherine  and 
Alice  his  wyfe,  who  died  the  x  of  March,  on  thousand  fyve  hun 
dred  and  three.  On  whos  sowle  and  all  chris'ten  sowle  Jesu  have 
mercy. 

'  Fili  redemptor  mundi  Deus  miserere  nobis, 
Sancta  Trinitas  unus  Deus  miserere  nobis, 
Spiritus  Sanctus  Deus  miserere  nobis.' 

'  Hie  jacet  Johannes  Sherburne,  bacalaurens  utriusque  legis, 
quondam  archidiaconus  Essex,  qui  ob.  1434.' 

'  Of  your  charity  pray  for  the  soul  of  Samson  Norton,  Knyght, 
late  Master  of  the  Ordinance  of  Warre  with  King  Henry  the  eyght, 
and  for  the  soul  of  dame  Elizabyth  hys  wyff,  whyche  Syr  Samson 
decessyd  the  eyght  day  of  February  on  thousand  fyve  hundryd  and 
seventene.' 

'  Orate  pro  anima  Johannis  Thoiiey,  armigeri,  qui  obiit  penul- 
tiino  die  mens  Febr.  Ann.  Dom.  1445.' 

'  Hie  jacet  Magister  Willelmus  Harvey,  nuper  vicarius  istius 
ecclesiae  qui  ob.  5  die  Novemb.  1471.' 

'Hie  jacet  Georgius  Chauncy,  quondam  receptor  generalis 
reverendi  patris  domini  Eic.  Fitz  -  James.  London,  Episcopi,  qui 
obiit  decimo  nono  die  Decembris,  Ann.  Dom.  1520.' 

'  Hie  jacet  Anna  Stourton,  filia  Johannis  Sturton,  domini  de 
Sturton,  et  dominae  Katharine  vxoris  ejus.  Qui  quidem  Anna 
obiit  in  assumptionem  beatae  Mariae  virginis,  Ann.  Dom.  1533.' 

'  Hie  jacet  Lora,  filia  Johannis  Blount,  militis,  domini  Mount- 
joy  et  Lore,  uxoris  ejus,  quae  obiit  6  die  mens  Febr.  Ann.  Dom. 
1480.  Cujus  animae  Deus  sit  propitius.' 

Ill  the  chancel  is  the  tomb  of  Sir  William  Butts, 
chief  physician  of  Henry  VIII.  It  had  originally 
his  arms  and  effigy. 

Sir  William  Butts,  a  native  of  the  county  of  Nor 
folk,  was  educated  at  Caius  College,  Cambridge.  He 
was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  College  of  Physi 
cians. 


284  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

There  is  a  sedile  of  flamboyant  character  in  the 
chancel. 

In  1552  an  inventory  was  taken  of  the  furniture 
of  the  church  of  Fulham.  We  find  such  items  as 
these  :  three  silver  chalices  with  patens,  a  gilt  latten 
cross,  two  old  latten  crosses,  two  latten  censers,  a 
latten  spoon,  two  small  pewter  hasins,  six  small  brass 
candlesticks,  four  great  latten  candle-sticks,  two  lat 
ten  basins,  a  latten  ewer,  a  latten  holywater  stoup ; 
five  copes — one  of  crimson  velvet,  one  of  white  satin, 
one  of  black  chamlet,  one  of  green  sarsnet,  and  one 
of  white  fustian ;  a  vestment  of  white  satin  for  the 
priest,  and  tunicles  for  deacon  and  subdeacon  of  the 
same  material ;  a  vestment  of  black  chamlet,  with 
tunicles  for  the  deacon  and  sub-deacon ;  a  vestment 
of  black  damask,  and  one  of  variegated  silk ;  a  vest 
ment  of  russet,  and  one  of  red  Bruges  satin  ;  a  vest 
ment  of  green  sarsnet ;  a  vestment  of  white  fustian, 
and  one  of  red  velvet ;  a  velvet  altar  frontal,  red  and 
yellow  ;  two  frontals  of  tawny  Bruges  satin,  two  of 
white  Bruges  satin,  and  three  old  frontals  of  tawny 
variegated  silk  ;  a  hearse  cloth  of  black  velvet ;  a 
vestment  of  fustian,  and  one  of  red  Bruges  satin, 
without  amice  or  alb,  and  a  vestment  of  dormer, 
without  alb  or  amice ;  six  linen  altar  cloths,  and  an 
old  black  vestment,  without  alb  or  amice  ;  twenty 
pieces  of  old  painted  cloth  that  covered  the  images 
in  the  church ;  a  red  and  green  satin  cloth,  appar- 


Putney  Church.  285 

ently  for  the  reliquary ;  ten  old  hammer  cloths, 
some  of  silk,  the  rest  of  linen ;  two  cross  cloths  of 
silk  ;  five  hammer  poles,  three  pewter  cruets,  and  five 
diaper  towels  ;  eight  stands  for  candlesticks  of  latten, 
an  old  candlestick,  a  hasin  for  the  paschal  candle, 
and  one  for  a  lamp  ;  twelve  great  books,  some  of 
paper  and  some  of  parchment;  four  surplices,  two 
rochets,  and  two  silk  curtains  to  hang  at  the  ends  of 
the  altar;  five  great  bells,  and  a  small  bell  in  the 
steeple ;  three  hand  bells,  and  a  veil  of  white  and 
blue  linen  cloth  —  probably  for  communicants  ;  a 
pair  of  organs,  and  a  cushion  of  red  and  green  silk  ; 
a  hanging  for  an  altar  of  white  silk,  and  another  of 
dormer. 

Great  part  of  these  goods  was  sold  by  Thomas 
Willcocks  and  George  Burton,  churchwardens,  to 
Thomas  Read,  jeweller,  of  the  parish  of  St.  Michael, 
Wood-street,  and  to  Eobert  Madden,  merchant  tailor, 
of  the  same  parish. 

There  was  a  brotherhood  of  St.  Peter  attached  to 
the  church  of  Fulham. 

The  church  of  Putney  was  rebuilt,  with  the  sole 
exception  of  the  tower,  in  1836.  The  third-pointed 
piers  and  arches  of  the  nave  were,  however,  again  em 
ployed.  At  the  same  date  the  chantry  chapel  of 
Bishop  Nicholas  West  of  Ely  (d.  1533)  was  removed 
from  the  east  end  of  the  south  aisle  to  the  north  side 
of  the  chancel.  Bishop  West  was  a  native  of  Putney. 


286  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L ondon. 

He  was  a  favourite  of  Henry  VIII.  in  his  early  days, 
and  one  of  the  four  episcopal  advocates  of  Queen 
Katherine. 

Putney  is  interestingly  connected  with  the  fate  of 
one  whose  glory  it  would  have  been  to  be  the  defender 
of  Katherine,  but  who  failed  in  that  duty,  without, 
however,  maintaining  his  own  influence  and  power. 
When  Campeggio  was  on  the  point  of  leaving  Eng 
land,  Wolsey  had  accompanied  him  to  Grafton  in 
Northamptonshire,  where  Henry  then  was.  On  the 
arrival  of  the  cardinals,  Campeggio  was  led  to  his 
chamber,  whilst  Wolsey  was  told  that  no  lodging  had 
been  provided  for  him.  Sir  Henry  Norris,  however, 
gave  him.  accommodation,  and  several  of  his  friends 
came  to  see  him.  Wolsey  was  soon  summoned  to  the 
presence  chamber,  where,  contrary  to  expectation,  he 
met  with  a  favourable  reception  from  the  king. 
'  Then,'  says  Cavendish,  '  could  you  have  beheld  the 
countenances  of  those  who  had  made  their  wagers  to 
the  contrary,  it  would  have  made  you  to  smile ;  and 
thus  were  they  all  deceived,  as  well  worthy  for  their 
presumption.'  With  his  private  interview  with  Henry 
Wolsey  had  less  reason  to  be  satisfied ;  he  was,  how 
ever,  requested  to  return  the  following  morning.  But 
in  the  evening  the  king  dined  with  Anne  Boleyn,  and 
the  cardinal's  fate  was  sealed.  When  he  rode  to 
court  the  following  morning,  he  found  the  king 
already  mounted,  and,  after  being  told  to  wait  upon 


Wolsey' s  Fall.  287 


the  council,  saw  Henry  leave  without  having  granted 
the  interview  promised  him.  Wolsey  returned  to 
Westminster,  and,  on  the  day  on  which  he  opened  the 
Court  of  Chancery,  Hales,  the  attorney-general,  filed 
against  him  two  bills  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench, 
for  having  exercised  his  legatine  authority.  Soon 
after,  the  Dukes  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk  came  in  the 
king's  name  to  demand  his  resignation  of  the  great 
seal  and  his  retirement  to  E slier.  The  cardinal 
summoned  his  household,  and  bid  them  draw  up  an 
inventory  of  his  jewels,  plate,  and  furniture.  He 
then  entered  his  barge  and  set  out  for  Putney.  The 
banks  of  the  Thames  were  crowded,  and  he  met  with 
many  insults  by  the  way.  As  he  rode  from  Putney 
towards  Esher,  Sir  John  Norris,  one  of  the  king's 
chamberlains,  overtook  him,  and  presented  him  with 
a  ring  from  the  king's  finger.  The  king  had  said 
that  the  cardinal  was  as  much  in  his  favour  as  ever. 
Wolsey  showed  every  sign  of  joy  and  gratitude.  As 
he  had  nothing  else  to  bestow,  he  gave  Sir  John  a 
relic  of  the  true  cross  which  he  bore  attached  to  a 
chain. 

It  was  but  a  transitory  gleam  of  favour.  Wol 
sey  sank  into  deep  despondency  at  Esher.  Thence 
he  removed  for  his  health  to  Richmond,  but  the 
king  ordered  him  to  retire  to  his  diocese  of  York. 

Hammersmith  (or  Hermonderworth)  was,  after 
her  husband's  death,  the  residence  for  several  years  of 


288  Ecclesiastical  A ntiquities  of  London. 

Catherine    of  Braganza.      Here  she  was  frequently 
visited  by  James  II. 

At  Hammersmith  Mrs.  Beddingfield  established 
a  school  for  young  ladies  of  Catholic  families  in 
1669.  This  school  had  been  originally  set  up  in  St. 
Martin's-lane,  but  was  removed  to  Hammersmith 
on  account  of  the  healthiness  and  retirement  of  the 
situation.  The  convent  that  existed  here  before 
the  Keformation  is  said  to  have  escaped  the  des 
truction  of  religious  houses  from  its  want  of  endow 
ment.  However  this  may  have  been,  Mrs.  Bed 
dingfield  is  entitled  to  the  honour  of  being  foun 
dress  of  the  existing  house.  In  1680  Titus  Gates, 
with  a  justice  of  peace  for  the  county  and  officers,  went 
well-armed  to  Hammersmith  to  search  the  convent. 
1 A  house  in  Hammersmith  having  been  much  fre 
quented  by  persons  whose  mien  and  garb  rendered 
them  suspected,  Dr.  Gates  was  informed  that  several 
Jesuits  and  priests  lay  there  concealed,  but  on  strict 
search  found  no  man  there  but  an  outlandish  gentle 
man,  who  appeared  to  be  secretary  to  the  ambassador 
of  the  Spanish  king,  upon  the  list  of  his  servants  in 
the  secretary's  office. 

'  It  seems  the  mistress  of  the  house,  who  is  much 
admired  for  her  extraordinary  learning  beyond  her 
sex  and  age,  understanding  excellently  well  the  Latin, 
Greek,  Hebrew,  and  several  modern  languages,  being 
also  very  well  read  in  most  parts  of  philosophy  and 


Exiled  Benedictines.  289 


the  mathematics,  has  been  often  visited  by  ingenious 
men,  foreigners  and  others,  her  admirers,  which  gave 
occasion  to  the  information  against  her ;  but  being 
examined  before  his  Majesty  in  council,  and  making 
oath  that  she  harboured  no  such  obnoxious  person 
as  had  been  suggested  by  Dr.  Gates,  she  was  imme- 
dietely  acquitted,  and  the  gentleman  was  delivered  to 
the  ambassador  his  master.' 

In  1795  all  the  nunneries  in  France  were  sup 
pressed,  and  their  inmates  thrown  upon  the  world. 
The  English  Benedictines  of  Dunkirk  were  arrested 
and  sent  to  Gravelines,  but  after  the  death  of 
Robespierre  they  were  permitted  to  leave  France,  and 
took  refuge  in  England.  They  settled  at  Hammer 
smith.  Their  names  were  found  inscribed  in  Robes 
pierre's  pocket-book;  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  his 
death  they  would  have  perished  at  an  early  date.  In 
the  burial-ground  are  inscriptions  in  memory  of 
Mary  Magdalen  Prujean,  lady  abbess  of  the  Bene 
dictines,  late  of  Dunkirk ;  of  the  right  reverend  Lady 
Mary  Anne  Clavering,  abbess  of  the  English  Bene 
dictine  Dames  of  Pontoise ;  and  of  the  reverend 
Nicholas  Clavering,  a  brother  of  Lady  Clavering, 
who  came  with  the  community.* 

Chistvick  Church,  dedicated  to  St.  Nicholas,  is  a 
small  building,  with  a  churchyard  containing  some 

*  The  nunnery  is  now  St.  Thomas's  Seminary.  The  nuns 
removed  to  Plymouth. 

U 


2  go  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

antique  tombs.  The  tower  is  third-pointed.  It  was 
built  in  1435,  at  the  charge  of  William  Bordall, 
Vicar. 

St.  Mary's,  Barnes,  has  an  ivy-covered  tower. 
There  are  some  fragments  of  early-pointed  character. 

The  manor  of  Mortlake  belonged  to  the  see  of 
Canterbury  from  the  Conquest  to  the  Reformation. 
Here  Anselm  kept  Whitsuntide,  and  after  his  excom 
munication,  Simon  de  Mapeham  retired  to  Mortlake. 
On  the  tower  of  the  church  the  inscription,  '  Vivat 
R.  H.  8.  1543,'  marks  the  date  of  its  erection.  On 
the  font  are  the  arms  of  Archbishop  Bourchier.  In 
1619  Sir  Francis  Crane  established  a  tapestry  manu 
factory  at  Mortlake,  to  which  Charles  I.  sent  Raphael's 
cartoons  to  be  copied,  and  for  which  Rubens  sketched 
the  history  of  Achilles. 

St.  Lawrence,  New  Brentford,  has  a  third-pointed 
tower  and  font.  Inserted  in  the  west  wall  of  the 
nave  are  two  kneeling  brasses  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
There  is  an  ancient  timber  market-house  at  New 
Brentford,  and  several  old  houses. 

At  All  Saints'  Church,  Isleworth,  are  some  brasses 
preserved  from  the  former  church ;  one,  an  effigy  of  a 
knight  in  armour,  is  of  the  fifteenth  century.  In  the 
north  aisle  is  a  brass  to  a  sister  of  Sion  House. 

Between  Brentford  and  Isleworth*  is  Sion  House. 

*  At  Brentford  the  Colne,  at  Isleworth  the  Cran,  or  Yedding- 
brook,  enters  the  Thames. 


St.  Saviour  of  Sion.  2  9 1 


Sion  House,*  now  the  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Northumber 
land,  was  a  religious  house.  The  community  was 
originally  founded  at  Twickenham  by  Henry  V.,  in 
1414.  Their  removal  to  Sion  took  place  in  1432. t 

In  its  constitution  the  monastery  of  St.  Saviour 
of  Sion  was  dissimilar  to  any  other  religious  house 
of  the  period.  It  was  both  a  monastery  and  a  con 
vent.  The  convent  was  endowed  for  sixty  nuns. 
There  were  seventeen  canons — thirteen  priests  and 
four  deacons.  Besides  these  there  were  eight  lay 
brethren.!  The  canons  attended  to  the  services  of 
the  church,  and  said  Mass  daily  for  the  founder's  in 
tention.  Their  rule  was  St.  Austin's,  according 
to  the  reform  of  St.  Bridget.  The  Superior  was  known 
as  Father  Confessor. 

Weever  says :  '  These  two  convents  had  but  one 
church  in  common — the  nuns  had  their  church  aloft 
in  the  roof,  and  the  brethren  beneath  on  the  ground  ;§ 
each  convent  severally  enclosed,  and  never  allowed 
to  come  out,  except  by  the  Pope's  special  license. 
Upon  whom  this  godly  and  glorious  king  (Henry  V.) 

*  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  540. 

f  See  Appendix  B. 

J  These  numbers  corresponded  with  those  of  the  apostles,  and 
the  seventy-two  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ. 

§  A  division  into  an  upper  and  lower  chapel,  each  commanding 
a  view  of  the  common  altar,  is  not  infrequent.  There  are 
examples  at  Alnwick,  Northumberland ;  Sherbourne,  Dorset ; 
Godstow,  Oxford  ;  and  Brede,  Sussex. 


292  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

had  bestowed  sufficient  livings  (taken  from  the  prior's 
aliens,  all  which  he  utterly  suppressed).  He  pro 
vided  by  a  law  that,  contenting  themselves  therewith, 
they  should  take  no  more  of  any  man,  but  what  sur 
plus  soever  remained  of  their  yearly  income  they 
should  bestow  it  upon  the  poor.' 

At  the  Dissolution,  the  convent  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  Crown.  Here  Queen  Catherine 
Howard  was  imprisoned  from  November  14,  1541, 
till  her  examination  by  Cranmer.  Cranmer,  a  man 
dead — if  there  ever  was  one — to  the  sentiments  of 
honour  and  manly  integrity,  obtained  from  Catherine 
the  confession  that  her  life  was  stained  previous  to 
her  marriage,  promising  her  pardon  if  she  spoke  to 
him  freely,  and  employed  the  information  thus  ob 
tained  for  her  destruction.*  Catherine  and  her  family 
were  steady  Catholics,  and  stood  in  Cranmer's  path. 
From  the  Bishop  of  Worcester's  correspondence  with 
Gardiner,  we  learn  that  when  Dr.  Longland,  who  was 
her  confessor,  told  Catherine  that  she  had  only  three 
days  to  live,  she  said,  '  As  for  the  act,  my  lord,  for 
which  I  stand  condemned,  God  and  His  holy  angels  I 
take  to  witness,  upon  my  soul's  salvation,  that  I  die 
guiltless,  never  having  so  abused  my  sovereign's  bed. 
What  other  sins  and  follies  of  youth  I  have  com 
mitted,  I  will  not  excuse  ;  but  I  am  assured  that  for 

0  Cf.  Burke's  Men  and  Women  of  the  English  Reformation,  a 
work  to  which  we  are  under  considerable  obligations,  vol.  ii.  p.  88. 


Tudor  Style.  293 


them  God  hath  brought  this  punishment  upon  me, 
and  will,  in  His  mercy,  remit  them,  for  which  I  pray 
you  pray  with  me  unto  His  Son  and  my  most  ador 
able  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ.'  Catherine  Howard  was 
executed  with  Lady  Rochford,  February  12,  1542. 

Edward  VI.  granted  Sion  to  his  uncle,  the  Duke 
of  Somerset,  who  began  the  present  building  in  1542. 
It  is  a  fine  example  of  the  style  that,  as  Horace  Wai- 
pole  says,  '  intervened  between  Gothic  and  Grecian 
architecture,  or  which,  perhaps,  was  the  style  that 
had  been  invented  for  the  houses  of  the  nobility  when 
they  first  ventured,  on  the  settlement  of  the  kingdom 
after  the  termination  of  the  quarrel  between  the 
Roses,  to  abandon  their  fortified  dungeons  and  con 
sult  convenience  and  magnificence.' 

Sion  House  is  built  round  a  quadrangle,  eighty 
feet  square.  The  roof  is  flat  and  embattled  ;  at  each 
angle  is  a  square  turret.  The  material  is  white 
stone.  Before  the  east  and  west  fronts  the  gardens 
were  enclosed  by  lofty  walls,  on  the  inner  side  of 
which  was  a  terrace,  whence  the  prospect  might  be 
enjoyed.  When  the  duke  was  accused  of  high  trea 
son,  the  enclosure  of  Sion  House  was  spoken  of  as  a 
fortification. 

After  the  duke's  execution  in  1552,  Sion  was  be 
stowed  upon  Thomas  Dudley,  Earl  of  Warwick  and 
the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  whose  son,  Lord  Guild- 
ford  Dudley,  lived  here  with  his  wife,  Lady  Jane  Grey. 


294  Ecclesiastical  Antiqiiities  of  London. 

All  these  perished  at  the  scaffold.  Previous  to  his 
execution,  Northumberland  received  communion  at 
the  hands  of  Gardiner,  and  immediately  before  his 
death  made  a  long  address  to  the  people,  in  which  he 
declared  that  he  died  a  Catholic,  and  pointed  out  the 
evil  social  results  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation. 
'  I  pray  you  to  recollect  that  since  the  death  of  King 
Henry  VIII.  into  what  misery  we  have  been  brought, 
what  open  rebellion,  what  sedition,  what  great  division 
hath  been  throughout  the  whole  realm  ;  for  God  has 
delivered  us  up  to  our  own  sensualities,  and  every 
day  we  wax  worse  and  worse.  Look  also  into  Ger 
many,  since  they  severed  from  the  faith ;  into  what 
a  miserable  state  they  have  been  brought,  and  how 
the  realm  is  decayed.  And  herewith  I  braved  these 
preachers  for  their  doctrine,  and  they  were  not  able 
to  answer  any  fact  thereof,  no  more  than  a  little  boy. 
They  opened  their  books  and  could  not  reply  to  them 
again.  More  than  that,  good  people,  you  have  in 
your  creed,  Credo  Ecclesiam  Catholicam,  which 
Church  is  the  same  Church  which  hath  continued 
ever  from  Christ,  throughout  all  the  apostles,  saints, 
and  doctors'  times,  and  yet  doth  ....  of  which 
Church  I  do  now  openly  profess  myself  to  be  one, 
and  do  steadfastly  believe  therein.' 

At  Northumberland's  death  Sion  reverted  to  the 
Crown,  and  was  restored  by  Queen  Mary  to  the 
Bridgetines.  On  the  1st  of  August  1557,  the  nuns 


Bridgetines.  2  95 


of  Sion  were  enclosed  by  Bishop  Bonner  and  Fecken- 
ham,  Abbot  of  Westminster,  together  with  certain  of 
the  council  and  certain  friars  of  the  order.  Mrs. 
Clement,  the  cousin  to  whom  Margaret  Roper  left 
the  hair-shirt  used  by  her  father,  Sir  Thomas  More, 
had  a  daughter — the  youngest  of  a  numerous  family 
— whom  her  friends  were  anxious  to  have  over  in 
England  to  make  her  religious  profession.  A  cell 
was  provided  for  her  at  Sion  House,  but  Bishop  Bon 
ner  dissuaded  her  father  from  his  purpose.  'Not  long 
after,  the  same  monastery  of  St.  Bridget's,  where 
she  would  have  been  placed,  was  wholly  dispersed 
and  dissolved,  so  that  the  religious  were  fain  to  seek 
for  themselves,  by  reason  of  the  death  of  Queen  Mary.' 
It  is  a  curious  and  interesting  fact  that  the  Bridget- 
ine  nuns  of  Sion  have  lately  returned  to  England 
from  Lisbon,  and  are  now  established  at  Spetisbury, 
in  Dorsetshire.  In  the  possession  of  this  community 
is  Sir  Thomas  More's  hair-shirt,  made  of  hog's- 
bristles,  twisted  into  a  net.  It  is  entire,  except  that 
one  of  the  sleeves  has  been  cut  off,  and  given  to  the 
convent  of  St.  Dominic,  at  Stone,  in  Staffordshire. 

In  1604,  Sion  was  granted  to  Henry  Percy,  the 
ninth  Earl  of  Northumberland.  His  son,  Algernon 
Percy,  employed  Inigo  Jones  to  reface  the  court  and 
to  complete  the  great  hall.  The  children  of  Charles  I. 
were  intrusted  to  the  care  of  Lord  Algernon  Percy,  and 
placed  at  Sion  in  August  1646.  The  earl  obtained 


296  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


from  Parliament  permission  for  the  king — then  un 
der  restraint  at  Hampton  Court — to  visit  them.  The 
Duke  of  York  was  then  fourteen,  the  Princess  Eliza- 
heth  twelve,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  seven.  In  the 
apartments  of  Sion  House  that  were  the  scene  of 
these  visits  are  portraits  of  the  Stuart  family.  This 
mansion  is  still  in  the  possession  of  the  Dukes  of 
Northumberland . 

At  East  Sheen,*  Henry  V.  established,  in  1414,  a 
Carthusian  Priory,  the  House  of  Jesus  at  Bethlehem. 
Here  Perkin  "Warbeck  found  refuge.  He  entreated 
the  prior  to  beg  his  life  of  Henry  VII. 

Kichmond  was  anciently  West  Sheen  (fair  or 
shining).  When  Henry  VII.  rebuilt  the  royal  palace 
in  1499,  he  gave.it  the  name  of  Kichmond.  The 
king  inherited  the  earldom  of  Richmond,  in  York 
shire,  from  his  father,  Edmund  Tudor,  who  re 
ceived  it  from  his  half-brother,  Henry  VI.  Henry  I. 
gave  the  manor  to  one  of  the  Belets,  who  held  it  by 
grand  sergeanty,  officiating  as  the  king's  chief  butler. 
Such  a  tenant  held  directly  of  the  king,  paying  no 
aids  or  scutage,  and  one  year's  value  of  land  as  relief 
(Blackstone  on  Real  Property). 

A  palace  was  erected  on  the  manor  of  Sheen  by 

Edward  III.,  who  died  here  June  21,  1377.    Richard 

II.  lived  constantly  at  Richmond  during  the  life  of 

Anne  of  Bohemia.     At  her  death,  which  took  place 

*  Dugdale's  Honasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  29. 


Richmond.  297 


here  in  1394,  Richard  took  a  violent  dislike  to  the 
place,  and  demolished  the  buildings.  Henry  V.,  how 
ever,  restored  the  palace  to  its  former  splendour.  It 
is  described  by  Elmham  as  '  a  delightful  mansion,  of 
curious  and  costly  workmanship,  and  befitting  the 
character  and  condition  of  a  king.'  Elizabeth  Wood- 
ville,  Queen  of  Edward  IV.,  had  a  grant  of  the  manor 
of  Sheen  for  life. 

In  1492,  Henry  VII.  held  at  Richmond  a  grand 
tournament,  when  Sir  James  Parker  was  killed  by  a 
blow  in  the  mouth  from  a  false  helmet.  On  the  21st 
December,  a  fire  broke  out  in  the  king's  lodging.  The 
greater  part  of  the  old  buildings  was  destroyed,  and 
a  second  restoration  of  the  palace*  became  necessary. 
Henry  died  at  Richmond,  April  21st,  1509.  His 
successor  kept  Christmas  at  Richmond  the  year  of  his 
accession.  Here  Queen  Katherine  gave  birth  to  the 
prince  who  died  ere  he  was  two  months  old,  and 
was  buried  at  "Westminster. 

Charles  V.,  on  his  visit  to  England  in  1522,  was 
lodged  at  Richmond.  In  1526,  Cardinal  "Wolsey  re 
ceived  Richmond  in  exchange  for  his  palace  of  Hamp 
ton  Court.  In  1541,  Richmond  was  granted  to  Anne 
of  Cleves.  In  August  1554,  Queen  Mary  and  Philip 
of  Spain  came  hither  from  Windsor. 

0  This  palace  was  the  first  constructed  on  a  regular  plan.  It 
had  a  hall  100  feet  long  and  40  wide,  an  open  corridor  200  feet 
long  adjoining  the  garden,  a  gallery  above,  and  a  range  of  36 
private  apartments. 


298  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

Edward  II.  established  a  house  of  Carmelite 
Friars  at  Sheen,*  and  Henry  VII.  a  convent  of  Ob 
servant  Friars. 

Twickenham  Church,  the  burial-place  of  Pope,  is 
dedicated  to  St.  Mary  the  Virgin.  It  has  a  third- 
pointed  tower,  similar  to  that  at  Heston. 

Twickenham  Church  belonged  to  the  Abbey  of  St. 
Valery,  in  Picardy.  When  the  alien  priories  were  con 
fiscated  by  Edward  III.,  that  monarch  presented  to 
the  living.  The  estates  of  the  abbey  and  the  pre 
sentation  to  the  living  of  Twickenham  were  restored 
in  1361,  but  again  confiscated  by  Richard  II.  On  the 
foundation  of  the  College  of  St.  Mary  Win  ton,  Wil 
liam  of  Wykeham  obtained  the  rectory,  church,  and 
advowson  of  the  living  '  to  be  made  part  of  the  en 
dowment  and  possessions  of  the  said  college,  whereby 
the  warden,  fellows,  and  scholars  thereof  became 
proprietors  of  the  said  rectory,  and  patrons  of  the 
vicarage.'  Along  with  Twickenham,  the  vicarage  of 
Isleworth  was  given  to  the  Bishop  by  the  Crown. 

The  brethren  of  the  Holy  Trinity  at  Hounslow 
had  a  manor  at  Twickenham. 

King  Offa  gave  Athelard,  Archbishop  of  Canter 
bury,  land  at  Twickenham,  to  provide  vestments  for 
the  Church  of  St.  Saviour  at  Canterbury.  King  Ed 
mund  restored  their  property  at  Twickenham  to  the 
monks  of  Canterbury  by  a  charter  which  concluded 
0  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  1532. 


Tedding  ton.  •      299 


with  an  anathema  against  any  who  should  despoil 
them  of  it :  '  Whatever  be  their  sex,  order,  or  rank, 
may  their  memory  be  blotted  out  of  the  book  of  life, 
may  their  strength  continually  waste  away,  and  be 
there  no  restorative  to  repair  it.' 

Teddington  Churchis,  like  Twickenham,  dedicated 
to  St.  Mary.  Teddington  is  Tide-end-town,  and  here 
the  river  locks  begin. 

Kobert  Feron,  a  priest  of  Teddington,  was  found 
guilty  at  the  same  time  as  the  monks  of  the  Charter 
house.  He  was,  however,  pardoned,  probably  as  king's 
evidence,  as  he  took  down  in  writing  the  speeches  in 
the  indictment  against  Hall.  The  following  is  a  speci 
men  :  '  Until  the  king  and  the  rulers  of  this  realm  be 
plucked  by  the  pates  and  brought,  as  we  say,  to  the 
pot,  shall  we  never  live  merrily  in  England,  which  I 
pray  God  may  chance,  and  now  shortly  come  to  pass. 
Ireland  is  set  against  him,  which  will  never  shrink 
in  their  quarrel  to  die  in  it ;  and  what  think  ye  of 
Wales  ?  Their  noble  and  gentle  Ap-Kyce,  so  cruelly 
put  to  death  and  so  innocent,  as  they  say,  in  the 
cause.  I  think  not  contrary  but  they  will  join  and 
take  part  with  the  Irish,  and  so  invade  our  realm. 
If  they  do  so,  doubt  ye  not  but  they  shall  have  aid 
and  strength  in  England ;  for  this  is  truth,  three 
parts  of  England  be  against  the  king,  as  he  shall 
find  if  he  need.' 

The  Church  of  Kingston,  dedicated  to  All  Saints, 


3  c  o    Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqn ities  of  L ondon. 

is  one  of  the  largest  in  Surrey.  It  is  cruciform,  with 
aisles  to  the  nave  and  a  central  tower.  The  nave  has 
on  either  side  an  arcade  of  six  hays,  with  drop  arches 
and  octagonal  piers,  all  of  middle-pointed  style,  as  are 
the  piers  and  arches  of  the  tower.  With  these  ex 
ceptions,  the  church  is  third-pointed.  The  tower 
has  on  each  side  a  large  three -light  third -pointed 
window.  The  original  spire  was  destroyed  by  light 
ning  in  1445,  when — as  William  of  Worcester  re 
lates —  'one  in  the  church  died  through  fear  of  a 
spirit  which  he  saw  there.'  There  is  in  this  tower 
a  peal  of  ten  hells.  The  choir  and  choir-aisles  are 
lofty.  The  rood-screens  of  this  church  remain.  A 
new  wooden  roof  was  erected  hy  the  Messrs.  Brandon 
in  1862.  There  are  brasses  here  for  Robert  Skern, 
merchant,  and  his  wife  (1437),  near  the  altar  rails — 
engraved  in  Boutell's  series,  and  in  Brayley'sSttrrej/ — 
and  of  John  Hertcombe  and  his  wife  (1488).  Man 
ning,  in  his  History  of  Surrey,  says  that  Joan,  the 
wife  of  Robert  Skern,  was  daughter  of  Alice  Ferrers, 
the  mistress  of  Edward  III.,  whose  daughter  she 
probably  was. 

Hampton-Court  Manor,  the  property  in  Edward 
the  Confessor's  time  of  Earl  Algar,  is  mentioned  in 
Doomsday  Book  as  held  by  Walter  de  St.  Waleric. 
In  1211,  Joan  Lady  Grey,  relict  of  Sir  Robert  Grey, 
left  by  will  the  manor  and  manor-house  of  Hampton 
to  the  Knights-Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem. 


Hampton  Court.  301 


Cardinal  Wolsey,  who  suffered  from  stone,  was  re 
commended  by  his  physicians  to  use  the  springs  in 
Combe-wood,  which  are  free  from  calcareous  deposit, 
and  check  the  formation  of  lithic  acid.  He  obtained 
a  ninety-nine  years'  lease  of  the  manor  and  manor- 
house  of  Hampton  from  Dowcra,  the  prior  of  St. 
John's,  Clerkenwell,  •  beside  London.'  Hampton 
weir  was  to  be  repaired  by  timber  from  the  well- 
known  locality,  St.  John's-wood,  in  the  county  of 
Middlesex.  The  king  growing  jealous  as  the  build 
ing  of  Wolsey's  country-house  proceeded,  the  cardinal 
made  a  present  of  it  to  Henry,  in  1526,  receiving  the 
palace  of  Eichmond  in  exchange.  '  It  was  a  marvel,' 
says  Hall,  '  to  hear  how  the  common  people  grudged, 
saying,  "  Lo  the  butcher's  dogge  doth  lie  in  the  manor 
of  Richmond." ' 

Of  the  palace  architecture  of  the  Tudor  period, 
Hampton  Court  is  one  of  the  finest  examples.  It 
consists  of  three  quadrangles,  known  as  the  En 
trance-court,  the  Clock -court,  and  the  Fountain- 
court,  respectively.  In  the  centre  of  the  entrance 
front  is  a  square  tower  flanked  by  an  octagonal 
turret  at  each  angle,  and  elevated  above  the  rest 
of  the  building.  This  tower  is  pierced  by  a  great 
gateway  with  an  obtusely-pointed  arch,  over  which, 
both  externally  and  internally,  is  an  oriel  win 
dow;  above  is  a  battlement  of  openwork.  Each 
of  the  angle  turrets  is  capped  by  an  octagonal 


302  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

pinnacle.  At  both  extremities  of  this  front  are 
gables,  their  sloping  sides  adorned  by  griffins.  At 
right  angles  to  the  front  we  have  been  describing, 
wings  project,  so  that  the  whole  forms  three  sides 
of  a  square. 

The  walls  of  the  building  in  the  first  quad 
rangle —  which  we  now  enter — are  surmounted  by 
embattled  parapets.  The  windows  are  square ;  the 
doorways  have  the  depressed  Tudor  arch.  Corre 
sponding  to  the  gateway  through  which  we  entered 
this  quadrangle,  another  leads  us  through  a  tower  of 
similar  character  but  smaller,  and  with  the  oriel  less 
richly  embellished,  into  the  second  quadrangle,  in 
which  the  great  hall  is  situated.  We  may  notice, 
in  passing,  that  the  heads  of  Koman  emperors  in 
terra-cotta  upon  the  entrance  and  clock  towers  were 
a  present  from  Leo  X.  to  Wolsey.  In  a  line  with 
the  two  previously  described  is  a  third  tower. 

The  walls  of  Hampton  Court  are  of  red  and 
black  brick,  arranged  in  a  chequer  of  diagonal  lines. 
Throughout  the  Tudor  portion  of  the  building  the 
windows  are  divided  by  one  or  more  mullions,  whilst 
some  are  divided  again  horizontally  by  a  transom. 
There  are  obtusely-pointed  arches  over  the  lights. 

The  Hall  has  boldly -projecting  buttresses  and 
pointed  windows.  It  has  a  magnificent  hammer- 
beam  roof,  richly  carved  and  gilt.  Externally,  the 
roof  has  a  very  singular  appearance,  resembling  that 


The  Hall.  303 


of  the  French  mansard.  This  roof  may  be  considered 
as  consisting,  of  two  portions,  an  upper  and  a  lower, 
each  composed  of  four  inclining  timbers.  Of  the 
upper  series,  the  two  higher  meet  in  an  obtuse 
angle  over  the  centre  of  the  hall,  whilst  the  two 
lower  meet  beneath  the  collar ;  of  the  under  series, 
the  two  higher  rest  on  the  side  walls,  and  at  the 
other  extremity  meet  the  two  higher  of  the  upper 
series  at  an  obtuse  angle,  whilst  the  lower,  or  span 
drels,  support  the  hammer-beams.  This  is,  so  far 
as  we  know,  the  only  example  of  a  polygonal  roof  in 
England.  At  Hampton  Court  its  employment  is  use 
less.  The  only  advantage  of  such  a  roof  would  be, 
as  is  the  case  with  the  French  mansard,  that  if 
windows  were  introduced  in  the  roof  they  would  not 
have  the  ugly  and  deteriorating  effect  of  skylights, 
but,  by  being  placed  in  a  portion  of  the  roof  less 
removed  from  the  perpendicular,  would  increase  the 
apparent  height  of  the  building.  The  roof  is  not 
lighted  from  the  sides  at  Hampton  Court,  but  by  two 
small  windows  pitched  high  in  the  gable  at  either 
extremity.  The  hall  is  one  hundred  and  eight  feet 
in  length,  forty  feet  wide,  and  forty-five  feet  high. 
The  oriel  at  the  upper  end  of  the  hall  has  a  roof  of 
fan-tracery.  To  the  east  and  west  the  windows  in 
this  oriel  are  of  the  same  pattern  as  those  to  the 
south,  but  the  third  light,  which  there  occurs,  is 
omitted. 


304  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

The  tapestry  with  rich  arabesque  borders  that 
adorns  the  hall  represents  scenes  from  the  life  of 
Abraham.  Most  of  the  tapestries  in  the  posses 
sion  of  Wolsey  were  from  scriptural  subjects,  whilst 
those  of  others  were  borrowed  from  romance.  They 
are  enumerated  in  the  catalogue  of  his  effects — the 
story  of  Abraham,  twelve  with  the  Old  and  New  Law, 
six  of  Esther,  seven  of  Samson,  eight  of  Solomon, 
nine  of  Susannah,  ten  of  Jacob,  four  of  Judith, 
twelve  of  Joseph,  six  of  David,  seven  of  the  Baptist, 
four  of  our  Saviour's  Passion ;  others  represented 
Samuel,  Tobias,  Moses,  the  Forlorn  Son,  Nebu 
chadnezzar,  the  Madonna,  St.  George  and  the  Dra 
gon,  and  the  Three  Kings  of  Cologne.  From  ro 
mance  were  the  Nine  Worthies,  Estrageas,  Hercules, 
Priamus,  Emperor  Octavian,  and  L'Amante,  or  the 
Komance  of  the  Rose.  Other  subjects  were  the  Sun 
with  his  beams,  Hunting  a  Wild  Boar,  Two  Children 
saved  from  Drowning  by  an  Angel,  Pilgrimage  of  the 
Life  of  Man,  and  the  Wheel  of  Fortune.* 

Of  all  this  artistic  wealth  the  tapestries  that  we 
see  at  Hampton  are  the  sole  remains.  In  the  series 
from  the  life  of  Abraham,  the  first  scene  represents 
God  appearing  to  Abraham  and  giving  him  His  bless 
ing;  the  second,  the  birth  and  circumcision  of  Isaac, 
and  the  expulsion  of  Hagar  and  Ishmael ;  the  third, 

*  There  is  a  wheel  of  fortune  on  the  north  wall  of  the  choir  at 
Rochester. 


The  Chapel.  305 


Abraham  sending  his  servant  to  obtain  a  wife  for 
Isaac ;  the  fourth,  the  Egyptians  sending  away 
Abraham  and  Sarah ;  the  fifth,  Abraham  entertaining 
the  angels  ;  the  sixth,  Abraham  buying  the  burial- 
place  of  Machpelah ;  the  seventh,  the  parting  of 
Abraham  and  Lot ;  the  eighth,  the  offering  of  Isaac. 

The  tapestries  that  hang  beneath  the  music- 
gallery  at  the  lower  end  of  the  hall  are  of  earlier 
date,  and  of  German  or  Flemish  design.  The  im 
portant  history  of  Abraham  is  attributed  to  Bernard 
van  Orley,  a  native  of  Brussels,  who  studied  under 
Kaphael  in  Home. 

There  is  a  spacious  withdrawing-room  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  hall.  The  roof  has  the  Tudor  badges. 

The  chapel  has  a  pointed  roof  with  pendants, 
similar  to  that  in  the  choir  of  Oxford  Cathedral.  It 
is  painted  blue,  with  gold  and  silver  stars.  There 
is  a  third-pointed  western  doorway  of  rich  character. 

In  the  lease  of  Hampton  Court  by  the  Hospital 
lers  to  Cardinal  Wolsey  is  an  interesting  enumera 
tion  of  household  articles  and  an  inventory  of  the 
furniture  of  the  former  chapel.  In  the  chapel :  first, 
a  chalice  of  silver,  a  pyx  of  copper  for  the  sacrament, 
two  altar-cloths,  a  corporax,  or  hanging  vessel  for  the 
reserved  sacrament,  two  candlesticks  of  latten,  a 
Missal,  a  Breviary,  a  pewter  bottle  for  wine,  a  cruet 
of  pewter,  a  cross  of  tin,  a  wooden  pax,  a  white  and 
blue  altar-cloth,  wooden  images  of  our  Lord,  our 

x 


306  Ecclesiastical  Antiqiiities  of  London. 

Lady,  and  St.  John,  an  image  of  St.  Nicholas,  a  paint 
ing  of  the  cross,  a  latten  stoup  for  holy  water,  with 
chain  of  the  same  material,  two  bells  in  the  tower, 
one  of  them  broken. 

The  priors  of  St.  John  provided  a  priest  '  to 
minister  divine  service'  at  Hampton-court. 

The  warden  and  certain  freemasons  were  em 
ployed  by  Wolsey  to  build  his  palace  at  Hampton. 
Wolsey  had  a  suite  of  nearly  one  thousand  persons. 
The  great  hall  is  supposed  to  have  been  erected,  not 
by  Wolsey,  but  by  Henry.  [?] 

Edward  VI.  was  born  at  Hampton  Court.  His 
mother,  Jane  Seymour,  died  two  days  later,  and 
her  body  was  carried  by  water  to  Windsor  for  burial. 
Catherine  Howard  came  as  queen  to  this  Palace.  It 
was  just  before  the  Feast  of  All  Saints,  1540,  that 
Henry  and  Catherine  arrived  at  Hampton.  On  All 
Saints'-day  '  the  king  received  his  Maker,  and  gave 
Him  most  hearty  thanks  for  the  good  life  he  led 
and  trusted  to  lead  with  his  wife.'  When  he  was  at 
mass  on  the  following  day,  Cranmer  put  in  his  hands 
a  paper  in  which  Catherine  was  accused  of  adultery. 
The  sequel  has  been  related  on  a  previous  page.  It 
was  at  Hampton  Court  that  Catherine  Parr,  his  last 
wife,  was  married  to  Henry,  July  10,  1543.  Her  late 
husband's  will  had  been  proved  only  three  months 
previous.  Gardiner  reluctantly  performed  the  cere 
mony.  Catherine  followed  in  appearance  the  religious 


Kensington .  307 


observances  of  the  king,  and  talked  as  a  Protestant 
in  the  evening  with  her  chaplains,  who  still  bore  the 
character  of  Catholic  priests.  But  that  was  the  reign 
of  terror  and  of  duplicity.  Philip  and  Mary  kept 
Christmas  at  Hampton  in  1557.  The  great  hall  was 
illuminated  by  a  thousand  lamps.  At  Hampton  Court 
Mary  awaited,  as  she  believed,  the  birth  of  her  child. 
At  length  she  and  her  husband  left  Hampton  for 
London  and  Greenwich,  whence  Philip  shortly  after 
wards  departed  for  Flanders,  after  recommending 
Mary  to  the  care  of  Pole.  James  II.  was  occasionally 
a  resident  at  Hampton  Court,  and  the  canopy  is  still 
shown  under  which  he  received  the  papal  nuncio.* 

Kensington  (Koeningston)  has  a  church  dedicated 
to  St.  Mary,  St.  Mary  Abbot's.  The  latter  part  of  the 
name  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  rectory  was  in  1102 
bestowed  upon  the  Abbey  of  Abingdon  by  Godfrey- 
de-Yere.  '  Godfrey-de-Vere,  being  near  the  point  of 
death,  gave  (with  the  consent  of  his  father  Albricius 
and  his  mother  Beatrice)  the  church,  his  patrimony, 
and  all  belonging  to  it,  in  the  town  of  Kensington, 
by  perpetual  donation  to  the  Monastery  of  Abingdon, 
and  to  the  church  of  St.  Mary  in  Abingdon.  Al 
bricius  (for  the  soul  of  Godfrey  his  son,  deceased) 
confirmed  this  grant,  Matilda  the  queen  being 

0  Pennant  says  that  Trinity  Chapel,  Conduit-street,  was  origin 
ally  made  of  wood,  and  was  used  for  saying  Mass  in  when  James's 
troops  were  encamped  at  Hounslow,  to  the  north  of  Hampton. 


308  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

witness.'  Fabricius,  a  monk  of  Malmesbury,  was 
presented  by  Henry  L,  in  1100,  to  the  abbacy  of 
Abingdon.  He  was  skilled  in  science,  and  more 
particularly  in  medicine.  In  the  seventh  year  of 
Henry  I.  we  find  Milo  Crispin  giving  lands  at  Cole- 
brook  to  the  monastery  of  Abingdon,  '  for  the  service 
the  Abbot  Fabricius  had  rendered  him  in  his  sick 
ness' — and  the  grant  of  the  church  at  Kensington 
was  due  to  the  sense  of  a  similar  obligation. 

In  the  inventory  of  King  Edward's  reign,  there  are 
mentioned  such  items  as  chalices,  a  cross,  pyx,  other 
crosses,  '  a  whyte  damask  vestment  with  St.  Jaymes's 
shells,  altar-cloths,  candlesticks,  censers,  cruets,  bells, 
one  in  the  steeple,  one  a  sacring,  or  sanctus  bell,  a 
hand  bell,  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures  with  Erasmus's 
paraphrases,'  &c. 

Weever  gives  the  following  inscriptions  that  ex 
isted  in  his  day  in  the  Church  of  Kensington  : 

'  Maud  de  Berford  gist  icy 
Bieu  de  s'Alme  eit  rnercy.     Amen.  ' 

'  Here  under  lyeth  Philip  Meautis,  the  son  and  heir  of  John 
Meautis,  oone  of  the  Secretaries  to  the  kings,  Henry  the  Seventh 
and  Henry  the  Eighth,  Clerk  of  his  Counsel,  and  oone  of  the 
Knights  of  Windsor.  Which  Philip  decesseyed  the  eight  of 
November,  MDX.  on  whose  soul  Jesu  have  mercy.  Amen.' 

'  Hie   jacet  Kobertus  Rose  et  Eliz.     Richardus  Schardeburgh 

et  Elizabetha  Uxor  ejus,  ac  Robertus  Schardeburgh  Films 

eorundem  Richardi  et  Elizabetha,  que  quidem  Richardus  obiit.  xi. 
die  Decem.  MCCCCLIII.  quorum  animabus  propitietur  Altissimus.' 

'  Here  lyes  Adwin  Laverock  of  Callis,  cousin  to  John  Meautas 


Holland  House.  309 

of  Kensington,  and  french  Secretary  to  kings  Hen.  the  Vlltli, 
which  decesseyd  on  Seynt  Stephen's  Day,  M.CCCC.L.XXXXIII.  on 
whose  soul  God  have  mercy.  Amen.' 

'  In  the  worship  of  God  [and]  our  Ladie, 
Say  for  all  Christen  souls  a  Pater  Noster  and  an  Ave.' 

'Hie  jacet  Thomas  Essex  Armiger  Films  et  heres  Gulielmo 
Essex.  Armigeri,  Keraemeratoris  Domini  Regis  Edwardi — Quarti 
in  Saccaris,  ac  vice  thesaurar.  Angliae,  qui  obiit  25  November 
1500.' 

'  Que  sola  virgineo  nata  Laudamus  honore, 
Me  protegens  nato  fundito  vota  tuo. 
Accept  our  praise,  sole  virgin  though  a  wife, 
Pray  to  thy  son,  protectress  of  my  life.  '* 

Holland  House  was  built  in  1607  by  Sir  Walter 
Cope  on  the  site  of  the  manor-house  of  Abbots  Ken 
sington.  Sir  Walter's  son-in-law,  Henry  Kich,  be 
came  Lord  Holland. 

Kensington  House,  recently  demolished,  was,  at 
one  time  a  Jesuit  school  under  the  management  of 
the  Abbe  de  Broglie.  It  has  been  described  as  fol 
lows  by  Mr.  Shell:! 

'  I  landed  at  Bristol,  and  with  a  French  clergy 
man,  the  Abbe  de  Grimeau,  who  had  been  my  tutor, 
I  proceeded  to  London.  The  abbe  informed  me,  that 
I  was  to  be  sent  to  Kensington  House,  a  college  es 
tablished  by  the  Peres  de  la  Foi,  for  so  the  French 
Jesuits  settled  in  England  at  that  time  called  them 
selves  ;  and  that  he  had  directions  to  leave  me  there 

0  The  orthography,  or  rather  cacography,  of  some  of  these 
inscriptions  is  remarkable. 

f  Quoted  by  Leigh  Hunt  in  the  Old  Court  Suburb. 


3  i  o  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

upon  his  way  to  Languedoc,  from  whence  he  had  been 
exiled  in  the  ^Revolution,  and  to  which  he  had  been 
driven  by  the  maladie  de  pays  to  return.  Accord 
ingly,  we  set  off  for  Kensington  House,  which  is 
situated  exactly  opposite  the  avenue  leading  to  the 
palace,  and  has  the  beautiful  garden  attached  to  it  in 
front.  A  large  iron  gate,  wrought  into  rusty  flowers, 
and  other  fantastic  forms,  showed  that  the  Jesuit 
school  had  once  been  the  residence  of  some  person 

of  distinction It   was    a   large   old-fashioned 

house,  with  many  remains  of  decayed  splendour.  In 
a  beautiful  walk  of  trees,  which  ran  down  from  the 
rear  of  the  building,  through  the  play-ground,  I  saw 
several  French  boys  playing  at  swing-swang  ;  and 
the  moment  I  entered,  my  ears  were  filled  with  the 
shrill  vociferations  of  some  hundreds  of  little  emi 
grants,  who  were  engaged  in  their  various  amuse 
ments,  and  babbled,  screamed,  laughed,  and  shouted, 
in  all  the  velocity  of  their  rapid  and  joyous  language. 
I  did  not  hear  a  word  of  English,  and  .at  once  per 
ceived  that  I  was  as  much  amongst  Frenchmen  as  if 
I  had  been  suddenly  transferred  to  a  Parisian  college. 
Having  got  this  peep  at  the  gaiety  of  the  school,  into 
which  I  was  to  be  introduced,  I  was  led  with  my  com 
panion  to  a  chamber  covered  with  faded  gilding,  and 
which  had  once  been  richly  tapestried  ;  where  I  found 
the  head  of  the  establishment,  in  the  person  of  a 
French  nobleman,  Monsieur  le  Prince  de  Broglie. 


Kensington  Hoiise.  3  1 1 

Young  as  I  was,  I  could  not  help  being  struck  at 
once  with  the  contrast  which  was  presented  between 
the  occupations  of  this  gentleman  and  his  name.  I 
saw  in  him  a  little,  slender,  and  gracefully-constructed 
Abbe  with  a  sloping  forehead,  on  which  the  few  hairs 
that  were  left  him  were  nicely  arranged,  and  well- 
powdered  and  pomatumed.  He  had  a  gentle  smile, 
full  of  suavity  which  was  made  up  of  guile  and  of 
meekness,  but  which  deserved  the  designation  of 
amiable,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word.  His  clothes 
were  adapted  with  a  peculiar  nicety  to  his  symmetri 
cal  person ;  and  his  silk  waistcoat  and  black  stock 
ings,  with  his  small  shoes  buckled  with  silver,  gave 
him  altogether  a  glossy  aspect.  This  was  the  son  of 
the  celebrated  Marshal  Broglie,  who  was  now  the 
head  of  a  school,  and  notwithstanding  his  humble 
pursuits,  was  designated  by  everybody  as  "  Monsieur 
le  Prince." 

'  Monsieur  le  Prince  had  all  the  manners  and 
attitudes  of  the  Court,  and  by  his  demeanour  put  me 
at  once  in  mind  of  the  old  regime.  He  welcomed  my 
French  companion  with  tenderness,  and  having  heard 
that  he  was  about  to  return  to  France,  the  poor  gen 
tleman  exclaimed,  "Helas!"  while  the  tears  came 
into  his  eyes  at  the  recollection  of  "  cette  belle 
France,"  which  he  was  never,  as  he  thought,  to  see 
again.  He  bade  me  welcome.  These  preliminaries 
of  introduction  having  been  gone  through,  my  French 


3 1 2  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

tutor  took  his  farewell ;  and  as  he  embraced  me  for 
the  last  time,  I  well  remember  that  he  was  deeply 
affected  by  the  sorrow  which  I  felt  in  my  separation 
from  him,  and  turning  to  Monsieur  le  Prince,  recom 
mended  me  to  his  care  with  an  emphatic  tenderness. 
The  latter  led  me  into  the  school-room,  where  I  had 
a  desk  assigned  to  me  beside  the  son  of  the  Count 
Decar,  who  has  since,  I  understand,  risen  to  offices 
of  very  high  rank  in  the  French  Court.  .  .  . 

'  On  the  other  side  of  me  was  a  young  French 
West  Indian,  from  the  colony  of  Martinique,  whose 
name  was  Devarieux.  The  school  was  full  of  the 
children  of  the  French  planters,  who  had  been  sent 
over  to  learn  English  among  the  refugees  from  the 
revolution.  In  general,  the  children  of  the  French 
exiles  amalgamated  readily  with  these  Creoles  :  there 
were,  to  be  sure,  some  points  of  substantial  difference; 
the  French  West  Indians  being  all  rich  roturiers,  and 
the  little  emigrants  having  their  veins  full  of  the  best 
blood  of  France,  without  a  groat  in  their  pockets. 
But  there  was  one  point  of  reconciliation  between 
them — they  all  concurred  in  hating  England  and  its 
government.  This  detestation  was  not  very  surpris 
ing  in  the  West  Indian  French  ;  but  it  was  not  a  lit 
tle  singular,  that  the  boys,  whose  fathers  had  been 
expelled  from  France  by  the  revolution,  and  to  whom 
England  had  afforded  shelter,  and  given  bread,  should 
manifest  the  ancient  national  antipathy,  as  strongly 


Pupils.  313 

as  if  they  had  never  been  nursed,  and  obtained  their 
aliment  from  her  bosom. 

'  Whenever  news  arrived  of  a  victory  won  by 
Bonaparte,  the  whole  school  was  thrown  into  a  fer 
ment  ;  and  I  cannot,  even  at  this  distance  of  time, 
forget  the  exultation  with  which  the  sons  of  the  de 
capitated,  or  the  exile,  hailed  the  triumph  of  the 
French  arms,  the  humiliation  of  England,  and  the 
glory  of  the  nation  whose  greatness  they  had  learned 
to  lisp.  There  was  one  boy  I  recollect  more  espe 
cially.  I  do  not  now  remember  his  name,  but  his 
face  and  figure  I  cannot  dismiss  from  my  remem 
brance.  He  was  the  child  of  a  nobleman  who  had 
perished  in  the  Kevolution.  His  mother,  a  widow, 
who  resided  in  a  miserable  lodging  in  London,  had 
sent  him  to  Kensington  House,  but  it  was  well  known 
that  he  was  received  there  by  the  Prince  de  Broglie 
from  charity ;  and  I  should  add,  that  his  eleemosy 
nary  dependance,  so  far  from  exciting  towards  him 
any  of  that  pity  which  is  akin  to  contempt,  contri 
buted  to  augment  the  feeling  of  sympathy  which  the 
disasters  of  his  family  had  created  in  his  regard. 
This  unfortunate  little  boy  was  a  Frenchman  to  his 
heart's  core,  and  whenever  the  country  which  was 
wet  with  his  father's  blood  had  added  a  new  conquest 
to  her  possessions,  or  put  Austria  or  Prussia  to  flight, 
his  pale  cheek  used  to  flush  into  a  hectic  of  exulta 
tion,  and  he  would  break  into  joyfuluess  at  the  achieve- 


3 14  Ecclesiastical  Antiqirities  of  London. 

ments  by  which  France  was  exalted,  and  the  pride 
and  power  of  England  were  brought  down.  This 
feeling,  which  was  conspicuous  in  this  little  fellow, 
ran  through  the  whole  body  of  Frenchmen,  who  af 
forded  very  unequivocal  proof  of  the  sentiments  by 
which  their  parents  were  influenced.  The  latter  I 
used  occasionally  to  see.  Old  gentlemen,  the  neat 
ness  of  whose  attire  was  accompanied  by  indications 
of  indigence,  used  occasionally  to  visit  at  Kensington 
House.  Their  elasticity  of  back,  the  frequency  and 
gracefulness  of  their  well-regulated  bows,  and  the 
perpetual  smile  upon  their  wrinkled  and  emaciated 
faces,  showed  that  they  had  something  to  do  with  the 
"  vieille  cour,"  and  this  conjecture  used  to  be  con 
firmed  by  the  embrace  with  which  they  folded  the 
little  marquises  and  counts  whom  they  came  to  visit. 
'  Kensington  House  was  frequented  by  emigrants 
of  very  high  rank.  The  father  of  the  present  Duke 
de  Grammont,  who  was  at  this  school,  and  was  then 
Duke  de  Guiche,  often  came  to  see  his  son.  I  recol 
lect  upon  one  occasion  having  been  witness  to  a  very 
remarkable  scene.  Monsieur,  as  he  was  then  called, 
the  present  king  of  France,  waited  one  day,  with  a 
large  retinue  of  French  nobility,  upon  the  Prince  de 
Broglie.  The  whole  body  of  the  school-boys  was  as 
sembled  to  receive  him.  We  were  gathered  in  a  circle 
at  the  bottom  of  a  flight  of  stone  stairs,  that  led 
from  the  principal  room  into  the  playground.  The 


Chateaubriand. 


future  king  of  France  appeared  with  his  cortege  of 
illustrious  exiles,  at  the  glass  folding-doors  which 
were  at  the  top  of  the  stairs,  and  the  moment  he  was 
seen,  we  all  exclaimed,  with  a  shrill  shout  of  beard 
less  loyalty,  "Vive  le  Hoi !"  Monsieur  seemed 
greatly  gratified  by  this  spectacle,  and  in  a  very  gra 
cious  and  condescending  manner,  went  down  amongst 
the  little  boys,  who  were  at  first  awed  a  good  deal  by 
his  presence,  but  were  afterwards  speedily  familiarised 
to  him  by  the  natural  benignity  of  Charles  X.' 

Passing  northwards  we  may  recall  how  Chateau 
briand  'would  stroll  under  those  beautiful  trees  in 
Kensington-gardens,  where  in  his  days  of  exile  he 
used  to  meet  his  fellow -sufferers,  the  French  priests, 
reciting  their  Breviary,  those  trees  under  which  he 
had  indulged  in  many  a  reverie,  under  which  he  had 
breathed  many  a  sigh  for  home,  under  which  he  had 
finished  Atala,  and  had  composed  Rene.'* 

°  Robertson's   Lectures   on  Modern  History  and  Biography, 
p.  298. 


(gigbtb  Malk. 

NORTH  LONDON. 

'  A  milk-white  hind,  immortal  and  unchanged, 
Fed  on  the  lawn  and  in  the  forest  ranged ; 
Without  unspotted,  innocent  within, 
She  fear'd  no  danger,  for  she  knew  no  sin.' 

Dryden's  Hind  and  Panther. 

To  the  north  of  London  lay  a  dense  forest,  that  ex 
tended  almost  to  the  boundaries  of  the  city — the 
Forest  of  Middlesex,  through  which  the  Eoman 
Watling-street  penetrated.  '  On  the  north  side,' 
says  Fitzstephen,  '  are  fields  for  pasture,  and  open 
meadows,  very  pleasant ;  among  which  the  waters  do 
flow,  and  the  wheels  of  the  mills  are  turned  about 
with  a  delightful  noise.  Very  near  lieth  a  large 
forest,  in  which  are  woody  groves  of  wild  beasts.  In 
the  coverts  whereof  do  lurk  bucks  and  does,  wild 
boars  and  bulls.'  The  forest  was  disafforested  in 
1212,  but  Harnpstead  was  retained  as  a  royal  pre 
serve. 

The  Westbourne,  with  its  tributary,  the  Kilburn, 
crossed  the  great  western  road,  and  spread  out  into 


Tyburn-  Tree.  3 1 7 


Bay  (or  Bays)  water.  Crossing  what  is  now  Hyde 
Park,  the  Westbourne  passed  the  Kensington  road 
at  Knightsbridge. 

The  Tyburn  (Ty-bourne),  a  larger  stream  than 
the  Westbourne,  passed  St.  Mary-le-bourne,  or  Mary- 
lebone,  to  the  hollow  in  the  Green  Park,  where  a 
part  of  its  water  rested,  the  remainder  flowing  to  the 
Thames.  The  conduit  in  Cheapside  was  supplied 
with  water  from  the  Tyburn  in  1288.  Pennant  tells 
us  that  Tyburn  does  not  derive  its  name  from  tye  and 
Invrn,  'as  if  it  was  so  called  from  the  manner  of 
capital  punishments.' 

Among  the  numerous  sufferers  for  their  faith  at 
Tyburn,  we  may  mention  the  monks  of  the  Charter 
house  and  Father  Edmund  Campion  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus. 

The  execution  of  the  monks  was  five  days  after 
their  sentence  was  passed.  Houghton  and  his  fel 
low  priors  were  executed  in  their  vestments.  '  Such 
a  scene  as  hanging  priests  in  their  vestments  was 
never  before  known  to  Englishmen.'  Houghton,  who 
was  the  first  to  mount  the  scaffold,  thus  addressed 
the  people  :  '  My  good  people,  I  call  to  witness  Al 
mighty  God,  and  all  good  people,  and  I  beseech  you 
all  here  present  to  bear  witness  for  me  at  the  day  of 
judgment,  that,  being  here  to  die,  I  declare  that  it  is 
from  no  obstinate  rebellious  pretext  that  I  do  not 
obey  the  king;  but  because  I  fear  to  offend  the 


3 1 S  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

majesty  of  God.  Our  holy  mother  the  Church  has 
decreed  otherwise  than  the  king  and  his  Parliament 
have  decreed ;  and  therefore,  rather  than  disobey  the 
Church,  I  am  ready  to  suffer.  Pray  for  me,  and 
have  mercy  on  my  brethren,  of  whom  I  have  been 
the  unworthy  prior.'  He  repeated  the  30th  Psalm 
(In  te,  Domine,  speravi)  before  giving  the  signal  to 
the  executioner.  The  other  monks  died  with  equal 
fortitude. 

We  pass  from  the  sufferers  under  Henry  to  those 
under  Elizabeth.  '  In  the  splash  and  mud  of  a 
rainy  December  morning,'  says  Mr.  Simpson,  in  his 
admirable  Life  of  Campion,  *  Campion  was  brought 
forth  from  his  cell,  clad  in  the  same  gown  of  Irish 
frieze  that  he  had  worn  at  his  trial,  and  was  taken  to 
Coleharbour  Tower,  where  he  found  Sherwin  and 
Briant  waiting  for  him.  Here  they  had  some  respite 

for   spiritual   conversation Outside   the 

tower  a  vast  crowd  was  already  collected.  Campion, 
nothing  daunted,  looked  cheerfully  around  and  sa 
luted  them  :  "  God  save  you  all,  gentlemen  !  God 
bless  you,  and  make  you  all  good  Catholics  !"  Then 
he  knelt  and  prayed,  with  his  face  towards  the  east ; 
concluding  with  the  words,  In  manus  tuas,  Domine, 
commendo  spiritum  meum.  There  were  two  hurdles 
waiting,  each  tied  to  the  tails  of  two  horses.  On  one 
Sherwin  and  Briant  were  laid  and  bound ;  Campion 
on  the  other.  .  .  .  There  were  intervals,  during  which 


Via  Dolor osa.  3 1  9 


sundry  Catholics  spoke  to  Campion  of  matters  of  con 
science,  and  received  comfort.  One  gentleman — like 
Veronica  in  another  via  dolorosa — either  for  pity  or 
affection,  most  courteously  wiped  his  face,  all  spat 
tered  with  mire  and  dirt,  as  he  was  drawn  most 
miserably  through  thick  and  thin  ;  "  for  which 
charity,"  says  the  priest  who  saw  it  done,  "  or,  haply, 
some  sudden -moved  affection,  God  reward  him  and 
bless  him."  The  procession  took  the  usual  route  by 
Cheapside  and  Holborn.  A  crowd  of  men  followed 
it,  and  the  women  stood  at  their  doors  to  see  it  pass 

by The  hurdles  were  dragged   under  the 

arch  of  Newgate,  which  crossed  the  street  where  the 
prison  now  stands.  In  a  niche  over  the  gate  stood 
an  image  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  that  was  yet  un 
touched  with  the  axes  and  hammers  of  the  icono 
clasts.  Campion,  as  he  passed  underneath,  with  a 
great  effort  raised  himself  upon  his  hurdle,  and 
saluted  the  Queen  of  Heaven  whom  he  so  soon  hoped 
to  see.  Christopher  Issam,  a  priest,  who  saw  the 
martyrs  on  their  way,  always  declared  that  they  had 
a  smile  on  their  faces,  and,  as  they  drew  near  Ty 
burn,  actually  laughed.  There  was  a  cry  raised 
among  the  people  :  "  But  they  laugh — they  don't  care 
for  death."  There  was  a  throng  on  Tower-hill,  there 
was  a  throng  through  all  the  streets ;  but  the  throng 
at  the  place  of  execution  at  Tyburn  exceeded  all  that 
any  one  could  remember.  They  had  been  gathering 


Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


all  the  morning,  in  spite  of  the  rain  and  wind ;  and 
now,  when  the  hurdles  were  driven  up,  the  clouds 
divided,  and  the  sun  shone  out  brightly.  There  were 
present  many  good  Catholic  gentlemen  desirous  to  be 
eye- witnesses  of  that  which  might  happen  in  the 
speech,  demeanour,  and  passage  of  those  three  rare 
patterns  of  piety,  virtue,  and  innocency,  and  amongst 
them  a  Catholic  priest,  who  pressed  in  to  observe  and 
mark  that  bloody  spectacle,  with  mind  upon  occasion 
to  refer  sincerely  and  truly  (to  his  power)  this 
tragedy,  with  such  accidents  as  should  happen  in  the 
manner,  course,  and  end  thereof.  He  got  up  very 
near  the  gallows,  hard  by  Sir  Francis  Knowles,  Lord 
Howard,  Sir  Henry  Lee,  and  the  other  gentlemen 
who  were  officially  present,  and  just  "  behind  the  two 
gentlemen  who,  before  the  beginning  of  the  tragedy, 
were  disputing  whether  the  motion  of  the  sun  from 

east  to  west  was  violent  or  natural." 

After  slowly  working  through  the  press  and  multi 
tude  of  people  not  to  be  numbered,  Campion  was  first 
put  into  the  cart  under  the  gallows,  and  was  ordered 
to  put  his  head  into  the  halter,  which  he  did  with  all 
obedience ;  and  then,  after  some  small  pause,  while 
he  waited  for  the  mighty  murmur  of  so'  many  people 
to  be  somewhat  stilled,  with  grave  countenance  and 
sweet  voice  stoutly  spake  out,  "  Spectaculum  facti 
sumus  Deo,  angeiis,  et  hominibus."  These  are  the 
words  of  St.  Paul,  Englished  thus  :  "  We  are  made  a 


Father  Campion.  321 

spectacle  or  a  sight  unto  God,  unto  His  angels,  and 
unto  you  men  !"  Here  he  was  interrupted  by  Sir 
Francis  Knowles  and  the  sheriffs,  earnestly  urging 
him  to  confess  his  treason  against  the  queen,  and  to 
acknowledge  himself  guilty.  He  answered  :  "As  to 
the  treasons  which  have  been  laid  to  my  charge,  and 
for  which  I  am  come  here  to  suffer,  I  desire  you  all 
to  bear  witness  with  me  that  I  am  thereof  entirely 
innocent."  On  this,  one  of  the  council  replied  that  he 
might  not  seem  to  deny  the  things  objected  to  him, 
having  been  proved  by  sufficient  evidence.  "  Well, 
my  lord,"  said  he,  "  I  am  a  Catholic  man  and  a 
priest ;  in  that  faith  have  I  lived,  and  in  that  faith 
do  I  intend  to  die.  If  you  esteem  my  religion 
treason,  then  am  I  guilty ;  as  for  other  treason,  I 
never  committed  any — God  is  my  judge.  But  you 
have  now  what  you  desire.  I  beseech  you  to  have 
patience,  and  suffer  me  to  speak  a  word  or  two  for 
discharge  of  my  conscience."  But  not  being  suffered 
to  go  forward,  he  was  forced  to  speak  only  to  that 
point  which  they  always  urged,  protesting  that  he 
was  guiltless  and  innocent  of  all  treason  and  con 
spiracy  ;  craving  credit  to  be  given  to  this  answer,  as 
to  his  last  answer  made  upon  his  death  and  soul. 
The  jury  might  be  easily  deceived,  .  .  .  but  he  for 
gave  all,  as  he  desired  to  be  forgiven.  .  .  .  They 
next  asked  him  whether  he  renounced  the  Pope.  He 
answered  he  was  a  Catholic ;  whereupon  one  inter- 

Y 


322  Ecclesiastical  A ntiquities  of  L ondon. 

fered,  saying,  "In  your  Catholicism  all  treason  is 
contained."  At  length,  when  he  was  preparing  him 
self  to  drink  of  Christ's  cup,  he  was  interrupted  by  a 
minister,  wishing  him  to  say,  "  Christ  have  mercy 
upon  me,"  or  such-like  prayers  with  him  ;  unto 
whom,  looking  back  with  mild  countenance,  he 
humbly  said,  "  You  and  I  are  not  one  in  religion  ; 
wherefore  I  pray  you  content  yourself.  I  bar  none 
of  prayer ;  but  I  only  desire  them  of  the  household 
of  faith  to  pray  with  me,  and  in  mine  agony  to  say 
one  creed."  ....  Once  more  he  was  interrupted, 
and  bidden  to  ask  the  queen's  forgiveness,  and  to 
pray  for  her.  He  meekly  answered,  "Wherein  have 
I  offended  ?  In  this  I  am  innocent.  This  is  my 
last  speech ;  in  this  give  me  credit — I  have  and  do 
pray  for  her."  Then  the  Lord  Charles  Howard  asked 
of  him  for  which  queen  he  prayed — whether  for  Eliza 
beth  the  queen?  To  whom  he  answered,  "Yea,  for 
Elizabeth,  your  queen  and  my  queen,  to  whom  I  wish 
a  long  and  quiet  reign,  with  all  prosperity."  While 
he  was  speaking  these  last  words,  the  cart  was  drawn 
away,  and  he,  amid  the  tears  and  groans  of  the  vast 
multitude,  meekly  and  sweetly  yielded  his  soul  unto 
his  Saviour,  protesting  that  he  died  a  perfect  Catholic. 
....  When  he  had  hung  a  few  moments,  the  hang 
man  was  about  to  cut  him  down,  but  he  was  bidden 
by  some  in  authority  to  wait  till  he  was  dead.  Then 
his  body  was  cut  down,  and  stripped,  and  the 


The  French  Chapel.  323 


butchery  proceeded  with.  There  was  standing  beside 
the  block  when  Campion  was  being  cut  into  quarters 
a  young  man  named  Henry  Walpole.  He  was  still  a 
Protestant,  and  had  merely  gone  to  see.  As  the 
hangman  was  throwing  the  quarters  into  the  caldron 
of  boiling  water,  a  drop  of  the  bloody  mixture 
splashed  out  upon  Walpole's  clothes,  who  afterwards 
declared  to  Father  Ignatius  Basselier,  S.  J.,  that  he  at 
once  felt  he  must  be  a  Catholic.  On  his  conversion, 
he  joined  the  society,  was  ordained  priest,  and  sent 
into  England,  where  he  was  apprehended,  and,  like 
Campion,  condemned  and  executed  as  a  traitor.' 

The  French  Chapel  of  the  Annunciation,  King- 
street,  Portman-square,  was  consecrated  in  1799.  No 
less  than  sixteen  bishops  were  present,  along  with 
croziered  and  mitred  abbots,  and  a  large  assemblage 
of  regular  and  secular  clergy.  Several  of  the  clergy 
and  even  the  princes  of  the  exiled  royal  family  had 
assisted  the  workmen  engaged  in  the  erection  of  the 
chapel.  Four  Masses  were  said  daily  from  seven  in 
the  morning  till  one  o'clock  at  the  portable  altars 
with  which  the  chapel  was  furnished  in  its  early  days. 

At  the  services  in  this  chapel  were  to  be  found 
Louis  XVIII.,  the  Count  d'Artois,  afterwards  Charles 
X.,  the  Duke  d'Angouleme,  the  Duke  and  Duchess 
de  Berry,  the  Duke  de  Bourbon,  the  Prince  de  Condi, 
and  the  Dukes  de  Montpensier  and  de  Beaujolais. 

Here  the  Abbe  du  Chatelier,  afterwards  Bishop 


324  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


of  Evreux,  preached  the  funeral  sermon  of  the  Duke 
d'Enghien,  and  the  Abbe  de  Bouvens,  Yicar-general 
of  Tours,  that  of  M.  Edgeworth,  the  confessor  of 
Louis  XYI. 

Here  Cardinal  Talleyrand  de  Perigord,  Arch 
bishop  of  Kheims,  officiated  at  the  obsequies  of  Marie 
Josephine  de  Savoie,  queen  of  Louis  XVIII.  The 
ceremonies  observed  on  the  occasion  were  precisely 
those  that  would  have  been  employed  if  the  funeral 
had  taken  place  at  St.  Denis,  and  a  resting-place  was 
provided  for  the  exiled  queen  in  the  Abbey  of  West 
minster.  There  was  laid  '  in  regurn  asylo,'  the  Duke 
de  Montpensier,  after  lying  in  state  in  the  French 
chapel.  He  died  at  Salthill. 

St.  James,  Spanish-place,  is  the  church  of  the 
Spanish  Embassy. 

North  west  of  the  point  we  have  reached  is  the  site 
of  Kilburn  Priory.  Kilburn  derives  its  name  from  the 
Cele  (or  cold)  bourne.  The  nunnery  of  Kilburn*  was 
originally  a  hermitage,  whither  a  certain  Godwin 
retired  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I. 

'  A  little  lowly  hermitage  it  was, 

Downe  in  a  dale,  hard  by  a  forest  side, 
Far  from  resort  of  people,  that  did  pass 
In  traveill  to  and  froe  ;  a  little  wide 
There  was  a  holy  chapel  edifyde 
Wherein  the  Hermite  dewly  went  to  say 

His  holy  things,  each  morne  and  eventyde  : 

*  Dugdale's  Monastlcon  (Ellis),  iii.  422. 


Kilburn  Priory.  325 

Thereby  a  christall  streame  did  gently  play, 
Which  from  a  sacred  fountain  welled  forth  away.' 

Godwin  gave  his  cell  to  the  Abbot  and  Convent  of 
Westminster,  and  the  abbot,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Bishop  of  London,  established  a  convent  of  Bene 
dictine  nuns  at  Kilburn.  The  first  nuns  were  Emma, 
Gunilda,  and  Christina,  who  had  been  maids  of  hon 
our  to  Matilda,  Henry's  queen,  herself  a  person  of 
great  religious  austerity.  Godwin  was  the  first  con 
fessor  of  the  new  house.  The  property  of  the  convent 
was  increased  by  gifts  from  the  Abbot  of  Westminster 
and  others,  for  prayers  for  the  souls  of  the  abbots  and 
brethren  of  Westminster  and  Fecamp.  There  is  a 
tradition  that  the  nuns  of  Kilburn  had  seats  in  the 
triforium  at  Westminster,  locally  known  as  '  the 
nunneries.'  The  church  of  the  convent  was  dedicated 
to  St.  John  the  Baptist.  Two  abbots  of  Westminster 
were  eminent  benefactors  of  Kilburn.  Herbert  gave 
the  nunnery  an  estate  in  Knightsbridge,  the  Gara 
(Kensington  Gore  ?),  and  his  successor,  Gervase,  two 
corrodies,  one  of  bread  and  beer,  another  of  cooked 
meats  for  the  coquina,  or  kitchen,  and  of  clareto. 
When  the  Abbot  Walter  gave  the  manor  of  Padding- 
ton  to  the  Abbey  of  Westminster  in  1191,  the  nuns 
of  Kilburn  had  a  fresh  allowance  of  bread  and  wine 
on  the  anniversary  of  the  gift.  A  controversy  having 
arisen  as  to  the  respective  rights  of  the  Bishop  of 
London  and  of  the  Abbot  of  Westminster  over  the 


326   Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 


nunnery  of  Kilburn,  Pope  Honorius,  in  1225,  gave 
his  decision  in  favour  of  the  Abbot  of  Westminster. 
The  Bishop  of  London  resisted,  and  the  question  was 
referred  to  the  Bishop  of  Kochester  and  to  the  Prior 
of  Dunstable,  who  decided  in  favour  of  the  bishop. 
The  manor  of  Middleton  in  Surrey  was  bestowed  upon 
Kilburn  by  John  de  Somerie,  and  the  priory  exempted 
from  all  tenths,  fifteenths,  taxes,  and  tallages.  The 
manor  of  Minchin  in  Surrey  was  granted  to  Kilburn 
by  Roger  de  Aperdele  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III., 
as  was  the  advowson  of  the  church  of  Codham  and 
an  acre  of  land  in  Kent  by  Thomas  de  Wolton  and 
William  Topcliffe.  Still,  in  1377,  the  nunnery  was 
in  a  very  reduced  condition.  The  convent  was  dis 
solved  in  1536.  An  inventory  of  the  goods,  at  the 
date  of  the  visitation,  is  given  by  Park.  The  property 
of  the  convent  was  under  the  yearly  value  of  200Z. 
In  addition  to  the  lands  mentioned,  it  was  in  posses 
sion  of  forty  acres  of  cultivated  land  in  the  parish  of 
Willesden.  The  lands  of  Kilburn,  Hampstead,  and 
Kilburn- wood  were  made  over  to  the  Knights  of  St. 
John  in  exchange  for  Paris  -  garden  in  Southwark 
and  other  estates.  Their  dissolution,  it  will  be  re 
membered,  was  later  than  that  of  the  other  religious 
houses,  and  it  was  not  till  1540  that  Henry  VIII. 
granted  the  site  of  Kilburn  Priory  to  Lord  Sussex, 
and  the  manor  of  Hampstead  (or  Shuttup-hill)  to 
Sir  Roger  Cholmeley,  chief  baron  of  the  exchequer. 


.  Johris  Wood. 


3*7 


A  drawing  in  Mr.  Gardiner's  collection  represents 
Kilburn  Priory.  It  was  a  high-gabled  and  heavily- 
buttressed  building  of  no  great  architectural  preten 
sions.  The  abbey-farm  at  Kilburn  and  the  site  of 
the  priory  are  in  the  hands  of  the  March  family,  who 
lived  at  Hendon  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Edward  IY. 
There  were  remains  of  the  priory  still  existing  in 
1722.  In  1852,  pieces  of  pottery,  some  coins,  and  a 
bronze  vessel  were  found  on  the  site  of  the  priory.* 

At  St.  John's-wood,  which  we  now  enter,  there  was 
a  dark  red  stone  stained  by  the  blood  of  Sir  Gervase 
de  Mertoun,  slain  by  his  brother  Stephen,  who  had 
endeavoured  to  seduce  the  wife  of  Sir  Gervase.  She 
had  resisted  his  advances,  and  threatened  to  tell  his 
brother  of  his  conduct  towards  her.  Stephen  saw  no 
other  protection  for  himself  than  by  putting  his 
brother  to  death,  so  he  assaulted  him  in  a  narrow 
lane,  and  stabbed  him  in  the  back.  Sir  Gervase  fell 
on  a  projecting  rock.  But  Heaven  would  not  allow 
so  foul  a  deed  to  go  unpunished  ;  the  dying  Sir 
Gervase  recognised  his  murderer,  and  reproaching 
him  for  his  cruelty,  added,  '  This  stone  shall  be  thy 
deathbed.'  After  the  murder,  Stephen  returned  to 
Kilburn,  and  finding  he  could  no  more  prevail  with 
his  brother's  widow  than  he  had  with  his  wife,  tried 
to  drown  care  in  dissolute  enjoyment.  But  he  did 

0  Willesden  may  be  visited  from  Kilburn.  The  church  is  de 
scribed  in  Sperling's  Church  Walks  in  Middlesex,  p.  96. 


328    Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu  ities  of  L  ondon. 


not  succeed ;  he  turned  his  thoughts  to  repentance 
for  his  crime,  and  reared  for  his  brother  a  tomb  at 
Kilburn  of  stone  from  the  quarry  where  the  foul  deed 
was  done.  Stephen  came  to  survey  the  work,  when 
his  eye  fell  on  the  very  stone  on  which  his  brother 
expired.  Blood  gushed  forth,  and  Stephen,  stricken 
with  dismay,  fled  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  made 
confession  of  his  crime,  and,  in  evidence  of  his  sin 
cerity  and  as  an  atonement  for  his  guilt,  bestowed 
his  lands  on  the  priory  of  Kilburn.  Soon  after  he 
died. 

From  the  north  side  of  Kegent's  Park  we  ascend 
Primrose-hill,  whence  a  fine  view  of  Hampstead  and 
Highgate,  to  the  north,  is  obtained.  From  this 
coign  of  vantage  we  cast  our  eyes  around  what  were 
once  all  Church  demesnes. 

St.  John's-wood  derives  its  name  from  its  former 
possessors,  the  Knights  of  St.  John  — '  Great  St. 
John's-wood,'  near  Marylebone  Park,  to  distinguish 
it  from  '  Little  St.  John's-wood,'  at  Highbuiy.  St. 
John's-wood  was  sought  as  a  refuge  by  Babington 
and  four  others — Gage,  Charnock,  Barnewell,  and 
Donne — engaged  with  him  in  his  conspiracy. 

The  Bishops  of  London  held  the  district  between 
their  prebendal  manor  of  Tottenhall  and  the  ridge 
of  Highgate.  The  old  line  of  Watling  -  street  fell 
into  disuse,  and  the  bishop  allowed  a  new  road  to 
be  formed  across  Highgate-hill  to  Whetstone.  '  The 


Primrose  Hill.  329 


ancient  highway  was  refused  by  wayfaring  men  and 
travellers,  by  reason  of  the  deep  and  dirtie  state 
of  the  way  in  the  winter  season.  In  regard  where 
of,  it  was  agreed  between  the  Bishop  of  London  and 
the  countrie  that  a  new  way  should  be  laid  through 
the  said  bishop's  park,  beginning  at  Highgate-hill, 
to  lead  directly  to  Whetstone,  for  which  new  way  all 
carts,  carriers,  and  packmen  yield  a  certain  sum  unto 
the  bishop,  which  toll  is  farmed  at  40L  per  annum, 
and  for  which  purpose  a  gate  was  erected.' 

Primrose-hill  has  an  evil  notoriety,  as  the  scene 
of  the  murder  of  Sir  Edmond  Bury  Godfrey,  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  II. 

The  country  was  in  the  greatest  excitement  on 
account  of  the  pretended  conspiracy  known  as  Titus 
Oates's  plot.  Coleman,  the  secretary  of  the  Duchess 
of  York,  would  appear  to  have  been  really  engaged  in 
imprudent,  if  not  treasonable,  correspondence.  The 
Protestant  party — at  the  head  of  which  were  Lords 
Shaftesbury  and  Buckingham — were  endeavouring  to 
bring  about  the  exclusion  of  the  Duke  of  York  from  the 
throne.  Hence  the  serviceableness  of  Oates's  inven 
tions.  Oates's  colleague  was  a  Dr.  Tongue,  rector  of 
St.  Michael's,  Wood-street.  The  king  was  to  be  mur 
dered,  and  his  brother  raised  to  the  throne.  Lords 
Stafford,  Powis,  Arundel,  Petre,  Bellasis,  and  other 
Catholic  nobles,  were  to  form  the  ministry.  Neither 
Charles  nor  his  council  took  any  heed  of  Oates  and 


33°    Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu ities  of  L ondon. 

his  plot  for  six  weeks,  and  Gates  found  that,  if  he  was 
to  create  the  sensation  and  gain  the  wages  he  antici 
pated,  he  must  obtain  greater  publicity  for  his  nar 
rative.  He  accordingly  made  a  deposition  before  Sir 
Edmond  Bury  Godfrey,  a  distinguished  justice  of  the 
peace.  Godfrey  was  blamed  for  meddling  in  the 
matter,  instead  of  leaving  it  to  the  Privy  Council. 
The  council,  in  the  mean  time,  was  roused  to  activity, 
and  ordered  the  arrest  of  several  Catholics.  Cole- 
man  was  committed  to  the  charge  of  a  messenger, 
and  is  believed  to  have  had  a  private  conversation 
with  Sir  Edmond  Bury  Godfrey.  Godfrey  was  a 
sensitive  nervous  man,  and  seems  to  have  lost  his 
head.  He  thought  he  would  be  the  first  victim  of 
the  plot.  He  was  the  friend  of  Coleman,  and  told 
him  of  the  danger  he  was  in,  advising  him  to  have 
recourse  to  flight.  On  Saturday  the  12th  October, 
Godfrey  burned  a  number  of  papers  ;  and  the  same 
day  he  was  seen  near  St.  Clement's  in  the  Strand, 
soon  after  in  Marylebone,  -and  at  noon  he  had  a  busi 
ness  interview  with  one  of  the  churchwardens  of  St. 
Martin-in-the-Fields.  He  was  not  again  seen  alive. 
At  six  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  following  Thurs 
day,  two  men,  in  crossing  a  field  to  the  south  of 
Primrose-hill,  observed  a  sword-belt,  stick,  and  a 
pair  of  gloves  lying  by  a  hedge.  They  took  no  par 
ticular  notice  of  the  circumstance,  but,  calling  at  the 
White  House,  they  mentioned  what  they  had  seen  to 


Sir  Edmond  Bury  Godfrey.          33 1 

the  master,  who  returned  with  them  to  the  spot. 
There,  in  an  adjoining  ditch,  they  found  the  body  of 
a  man  lying  forward,  resting  on  the  left  side  of  his 
face,  and  on  his  breast  and  knees.  It  was  Sir 
Edmond  Bury  Godfrey.  His  sword  pierced  his 
heart,  and  came  out  behind  his  back.  His  cane 
stood  upright  upon  the  bank ;  near  it  lay  his  gloves. 
Strange  to  say,  there  was  no  blood  on  his  clothes  or 
on  the  spot  where  the  body  was  found.  His  shoes 
were  clean,  his  rings  were  on  his  fingers,  his  money 
in  his  purse.  It  is  said,  however,  that  his  breast 
was  bruised,  and  that  the  laced  band  was  removed 
from  his  neck,  which  was  broken.  The  last  circum 
stances  are  doubtful,  all-important  as  they  would  be 
to  the  decision  whether  he  fell  a  victim  to  violence 
or  not.  If  they  were  truly  related,  Godfrey  must 
first  have  been  strangled,  and  then  have  had  the 
sword  thrust  through  his  body,  to  make  it  seem  that 
he  had  perished  by  his  own  hand.  If  the  marks  of 
violence  were  not  present,  then  Godfrey  undoubtedly 
fell  by  his  own  hand.  The  whole  affair  is  a  mystery, 
a  mystery  that  can  never  be  explained ;  and  at  that 
time,  to  men  prepared  for  anything  in  the  way 
of  Popish  iniquity,  it  was  as  clear  as  the  sun  in 
the  heavens  that  Godfrey  had  fallen  a  victim  to 
the  vengeance  of  Catholics ;  for  white  wax,  which 
somebody  knew  he  had  never  used,  and  which,  it 
seemed,  was  employed  by  priests  and  persons  of  dis- 


3  3  2    Ecclesiastical  A  n tiqu  ities  of  L ondon. 

tinction,  was  found  spattered  upon  his  clothes.  The 
body  was  conveyed  to  the  White  House  Farm,  which 
lay  on  the  other  side  of  Primrose-hill.  The  farm 
belonged  to  Chalcotts,  an  estate  whose  name  has 
been  abbreviated  and  corrupted  into  Chalc  and  Chalk 
Farm,  at  that  time  of  great  notoriety  in  the  annals  of 
duelling.  Twenty-six  persons  were  arrested  and 
committed  to  the  Tower.  Sir  Edmond's  body  was 
conveyed  to  his  house  in  Green's-lane,  Strand,  em 
balmed,  and,  after  lying  two  days  in  state  at  Bride 
well  Hospital,  borne  by  eight  knights — all  justices  of 
the  peace — to  St.  Martin's  Church,  preceded  by 
seventy-two  clergymen  of  the  Church  of  England, 
and  accompanied  by  a  vast  multitude,  among  whom 
were  all  the  city  aldermen.  The  clergyman  who 
preached  was  accompanied  by  two  of  his  brethren, 
such  was  the  panic.  An  offer  of  500Z.  was  made  for 
the  discovery  of  Godfrey's  murderer.  Bedloe,  once 
a  servant  of  Lord  Bellasis,  and  late  an  ensign  in  the 
Low  Countries,  came  to  London  from  Bristol.  He 
said  that  he  had  seen  the  body  of  the  murdered  ma 
gistrate  at  Somerset  House,  where  the  queen  then 
resided,  and  that  he  had  been  offered  much  money  if 
he  would  remove  it.  Only  the  personal  influence  of 
the  king  could  divert  inquir}7  from  being  directed  to 
the  supposed  connivance  of  his  consort.  When 
Coleman  was  in  Newgate,  he  confessed  that  he  had 
mentioned  the  designs  of  the  Duke  of  York  to  Sir 


Up  and  Down  Hill.  333 

Edmond,  and  said  that  the  duke  had  told  him  to  kill 
the  magistrate.  Prance,  a  goldsmith,  who  had  heen 
employed  at  times  in  the  queen's  chapel,  was  appre 
hended  on  suspicion,  and  saved  his  neck  by  accusing 
three  of  the  queen's  domestics — Green,  Berry,  and 
Hill — all  of  whom  were  executed,  protesting  their  in 
nocence  to  the  last.  Prance's  story  was  that  Sir 
Edmond  had  been  induced  to  enter  Somerset  House, 
where,  it  was  said,  his  services  were  required  to  settle 
a  quarrel.  No  sooner  had  he  entered  than  Green 
strangled  him  with  a  twisted  handkerchief,  and  struck 
him  on  the  breast  with  his  knee,  when,  finding  him 
not  dead,  the  deed  was  completed  by  wringing  his 
neck.  At  midnight  on  Wednesday  the  body  was 
put  in  a  sedan-chair  and  carried  to  Soho,  whence 
Hill  bore  it  on  horseback  to  Primrose-hill,  where  the 
sword  was  thrust  into  the  breast  by  a  Jesuit  who  was 
present  for  this  coup  de  theatre. 

All  the  incidents  in  this  outrageous  narrative 
have  been  commemorated  by  medals  with  appro 
priate  inscriptions.  On  one  medal  Sir  Edmond  is 
seen  walking  about  with  his  neck  broken  and  a  sword 
in  his  body ;  on  the  reverse  is  the  traditional  repre 
sentation  of  St.  Denis,  with  the  inscription  : 

'  Godfrey  walks  up  hill  after  he  was  dead, 
Denis  walks  down  hill  carrying  his  head.' 

We  pass  through  Somers-town  on  our  way  to  old 


334   Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L  ondon. 

St.  Pancras.  As  Manchester -square  and  Portman- 
square  were  the  resorts  of  the  wealthier  emigres, 
Clarendon-square  and  its  neighbourhood  was  of  those 
of  humbler  rank.  In  Charlton-street,  Clarendon- 
square,  a  small  chapel  was  opened  for  the  benefit  of 
his  countrymen  by  the  Abbe  Carron.*  Since  the  erec 
tion  of  the  church  of  St.  Aloysius  Gonzaga  in  Claren 
don-square,  this  chapel  has  been  disused.  It  was, 
however,  in  it  that  M.  Jean- Joseph-Henri  Nerinckx,  f 
the  founder  of  the  congregation  of  the  Faithful  Com 
panions  of  Jesus  in  England,  was  ordained  priest,  on 
the  10th  of  June  1802,  by  Mgr.  Pierre -Augustin 
Godard  de  Belboeuf,  Bishop  of  Avranches  in  Nor 
mandy.  M.  Nerinckx  was  born  in  1776,  at  Ninove, 
in  Belgium.  In  his  thirteenth  year  he  entered  the 
College  of  Gheel,  and  removed  to  the  Franciscan  house 
at  Montaigu  two  years  later.  On  the  outbreak  of  the 
revolution,  the  community  was  dispersed,  and  Jean 
Nerinckx  found  refuge  with  the  Cure  of  Everberg- 
Meerbeek.  The  parishioners  of  this  village  made 
annually  a  pilgrimage  to  Montaigu,  \  and  on  the  21st 
October  1797  the  procession  started  as  usual.  No 
sooner  were  they  on  their  way  than  a  troop  of  French 

0  Cf.  Vie  de  M.  J.  J.  H.  Nerinckx,  appended  to  La  Chapelle 
Frangaise  a  Londres. 

f  At  Montaigu  is  a  miraculous  image  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

J  The  Abbe  Carron  was  previous  to  his  exile  Vicaire  of  St. 
Germain,  at  Rennes.  At  Rennes  he  was  known  as  Abbe  Therese, 
in  allusion  to  St.  Theresa. 


M.  Nerinckx.  '335 


republicans  made  up  to  them,  and,  not  content  with 
cruelly  maltreating  them,  carried  off  several  inhabit 
ants  of  the  village  as  prisoners.  '  Amongst  these  was 
Jean  Nerinckx.  He  was  thrown  into  the  prison  of 
Treurenberg,  near  St.  Grudule,  at  Brussels.  In  the 
first  fortnight  of  November,  he,  with  several  clergy 
confined  in  the  same  place,  received  orders  to  be 
ready  to  leave  at  midnight  for  Rochefort.  There 
they  were  thrown  into  the  prison  of  St.  Maurice. 
Here  Nerinckx  and  his  companions  in  misfortune 
remained  till  the  llth  March  1797,  when  they  were 
put  on  board  the  Charente.  In  April  they  were 
transferred  to  the  Decade,  where  they  met  with 
inhuman  treatment  from  Villeneau,  the  captain. 
On  the  6th  June,  they  disembarked  at  Cayenne,  and 
a  month  later  were  taken  to  Conomana.  Here  they 
suffered  much  from  the  insalubrity  of  the  climate 
and  from  insufficient  food.  In  six  weeks  nearly  half 
of  them  were  dead.  At  the  close  of  1798,  the  survi 
vors  were  removed  to  Sinamary,  where  they  experi 
enced  better  treatment.  From  Sinamary,  with  the 
aid  of  a  Dutch  merchant,  a  priest  managed  to  make 
his  escape.  M.  Nerinckx  made  the  acquaintance  of 
the  merchant,  who  obtained  for  him  the  services  of 
an  old  soldier,  Mathurin  Beltier,  who  engaged  to  put 
M.  Nerinckx,  with  his  companions  Debay,  Dumon, 
and  Flotteau,  ashore  at  the  Dutch  colony  of  Surinam, 
or  the  English  at  Berbis.  They  had  a  stormy  passage, 


33  6  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

and  were  pursued  by  the  governor  of  Sinamary  on 
their  way  to  Surinam,  at  which  place,  however,  they 
arrived  in  safety,  and  were  kindly  received  hy  the 
governor,  M.  Bottenburg,  a  Fleming.  He  arranged 
for  their  passage  on  board  a  frigate  that  brought 
them  to  Liverpool  on  the  21st  August  1799.  The 
exiles  intended  to  return  to  their  native  country,  but 
M.  Nerinckx  was  prevailed  upon  by  the  Abbe  Carron 
to  remain  in  London.  In  London  he  was  able  to 
pursue  his  studies;  for  the  presence  of  distinguished 
teachers  of  the  University  and  the  Sorbonne  made  it 
a  favourable,  at  the  moment  the  only  favourable,  place 
for  the  pursuit  of  such  an  object.  It  was  three  years 
after  his  arrival  at  Liverpool  that  M.  Nerinckx  was 
ordained  priest.  He  displayed  the  utmost  activity 
in  the  ordinary  duties  of  his  calling,  and  was  a  fre 
quent  visitor  of  the  Middlesex  Hospital,  and  a  mem 
ber  of  the  committee  for  the  relief  of  the  poorer 
emigrants.  In  1808  the  chapel  in  Clarendon-square 
was  opened,  and  was  for  six  years  the  scene  of  the 
labours  of  M.  Carron  and  M.  Nerinckx.  At  the  end 
of  that  time  M.  Carron  returned  to  his  native  coun 
try,  and  established  a  school  in  Paris  similar  to  that 
of  which  he  had  been  the  founder  in  England.  He 
died  May  15,  1821.*  M.  Nerinckx  and  his  sister 

*  For  the  intimacy  between  the  Abbe  Carron  and  Lanaennais 
see  an  article  on  the  latter  by  the  Baron  d'Eckstein  in  the  Rambler 
for  May  1859. 


Old  St.  Pancras.  337 

opened  a  school  at  Somers-town  for  primary  educa 
tion.  Mgr.  de  Chabons,  Bishop  of  Amiens,  advised 
Madame  d'Houet,  who  had  established  the  order  of 
the  Faithful  Companions  of  Jesus  in  France,  to  come 
to  London  with  a  recommendation  to  M.  Nerinckx. 
She  did  so — finding  her  way  to  Somers-town  with 
some  difficulty — and  M.  Nerinckx  and  his  sister  gave 
up  their  school  to  her  charge.  M.  Nerinckx  con 
tinued  until  his  death  to  direct  the  mission  of  Somers- 
town.  He  died  in  his  seventy-ninth  year.  In  the 
church  of  St.  Aloysius  are  monuments  to  the  Abbe 
Carron,  M.  Nerinckx,  and  the  Bishop  of  St.  Pol.  The 
busts  of  the  abbe  and  the  bishop  are  said  to  be 
faithful  likenesses. 

Old  St.  Pancras,  or  St.  Pancras -in -the -Fields, 
circa  1180,  is  a  church  that  in  its  unmutilated  form 
was  an  object  of  interest  no  less  to  the  artist  than  to 
the  antiquary.  It  has,  however,  had  the  misfortune 
to  be  restored  in  a  bastard  Komanesque,  and  it  is 
hard  to  decipher  the  ancient  features.  Mr.  Gough 
was  the  architect  to  whom  the  repairs  are  due.  The 
western  tower,  originally  capped  by  a  shingled  spire, 
has  been  brought  down  to  the  level  of  the  nave. 
The  nave  and  chancel  have  been  extended  laterally, 
and  a  tower  erected  to  the  south.  The  walls  are 
pierced  by  a  number  of  loopholes,  in  the  style  of 
country  gaols.  The  tie-beams  of  the  interior  seem 
to  be  original.  That  St.  Pancras  was  of  first-pointed 

z 


33 8  Ecclesiastical  Antiqiiities  of  London. 

work  appears  from  an  engraving  of  the  early  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  In  the  middle  of  the 
last  century  we  find,  from  Chatelaine's  view,  that  the 
shingled  spire  had  given  way  to  an  uncouth  bell- 
shaped  dome. 

J.  T.  Smith  says  he  remembered  going  with  his 
father  and  his  pupils  to  sketch  at  old  St.  Pancras  in 
1777,  and  that  at  that  time  Whitfield's  Chapel  in 
Tottenham -court -road,  Montague  House  (now  the 
British  Museum),  Bedford  House,  and  Baltimore 
House  in  Eussell-square  were  in  full  view  of  the 
churchyard. 

On  the  site  of  St.  Martin's  Chapel — between  St. 
Pancras  and  Montague  House,  was  the  'field  of  forty 
foot-steps/  where  two  brothers  fought  for  a  lady  who 
looked  on  whilst  they  fought.  They  perished  by  each 
other's  hand.  This  was  in  the  reign  of  James  II., 
but  that  the  foot-steps  remained — it  was  thought  in 
delible — till  the  present  century  proves  how  unoccu 
pied  was  this  locality.  Southey  records  in  his  Com 
monplace  Book  a  visit  to  the  spot.  In  1828,  the  cele 
brated  Scotch  preacher,  Irving,  mentions  in  a  letter  '  a 
green  grass  park  full  of  milch  cows'  in  the  neigh 
bourhood  of  Somers-town  Church ;  so  that  the  west 
of  St.  Pancras  was  as  clear  as  the  south.  A  little 
earlier,  and  there  was  a  fine  clump  of  trees  in  the 
churchyard  itself,  a  grass  bank  on  the  other  of  the 
road  and  on  the  site  of  the  Pancras-square  lodging- 


Forsaken.  339 


houses  a  pond  filled  by  the  '  river  of  Wells/  to  which 
boys  came  to  swim  on  summer  afternoons. 

The  parish  of  St.  Pancras  bore  the  same  name 
when  the  Doomsday  survey  was  taken.     St.  Pancras 
is  said  by  tradition  to  be  the  last  church  whose  bell 
tolled  for  mass  after  the  Reformation.     This  would 
give  St.  Pancras  a  hoar  antiquity  if  there  is  truth  in 
the  other  tradition  that  it  is  the  mother-church  of  St. 
Paul's.     '  Pancras  Church,'  says  Norden,  writing  in 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  '  standeth  all  alone,  so  utterly 
forsaken,  old  and  weather-beaten,  which  for  the  anti 
quity  thereof  is  thought  not  to  yield  to  St.  Paul's  in 
London.      Folks   from  the   hamlet  of  Kennistoune 
[Kentish-town]  now  and  then  visit  it,  but  not  often, 
having  chapels  of  their  owne.     When,  however,  they 
have  a  corpse  to  be  interred,  they  are  forced  to  leave 
the  same  within  this  forsaken  church  or  churchyarde, 
where  no  doubt  it  resteth  as  secure  against  the  daye 
of  resurrection  as   if  it  laie  in   stately  St.  Paul's.' 
Norden  mentions  a  tradition  that  the  '  river  of  Wells,' 
that  rose  at  Hampstead  and  pursued  its  course   by 
Kentish-town  and  Pancras,  and  joined  the  '  Fleet'  at 
Holborn,  '  was  once  navigable,  and  that  lighters  and 
barges  used  to  go  up  as  far  as  Pancras  Church,  and 
that  in  digging,  anchors  have  been  found  within  these 
two  hundred  years.'     The  drying  up  of  this  source 
of  wealth  will  account  for  the  decay  of  the  ancient 
village.     Lysons  says  that  the  parish  of  St.  Pancras 


34°   Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

contains  2700  acres.  To  the  north  are  Islington, 
Hornsey,  and  Finchley ;  to  the  west,  Hampstead  and 
Marylebone ;  to  the  south,  St.  Giles-in-the-Fields,  St. 
George  the  Martyr,  Queen-square,  and  St.  George's, 
Bloomsbury,  and  the  parish  of  St.  Andrew's  in  Hoi- 
born.  To  the  east  are  St.  James's,  Clerkenwell,  Kent 
ish-town,  and  part  of  Highgate.  Camden-town  and 
Somers-town  are  hamlets  in  the  parish  of  St.  Pan- 
eras.  Lysons  supposes  the  parish  to  have  included 
the  prebendal  manor  of  Kentish-town,  or  Cantelous, 
a  stall  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 

The  churchyard  of  St.  Pancras*  was  till  lately  a 
very  favourite  place  of  Catholic  interment.  Wander 
ing  among  the  tombs  we  come  across  the  names  of 
Arundel,  Howard,  Tichbourne,  Doughty,  and  Horn- 
yold. 

Some  twenty  paces  to  the  south  of  the  chancel  is 
the  flat  tombstone  of  Obadiah  Walker,  master  of  Uni 
versity  College,  Oxford,  in  the  reign  of  James  II.  It 
bears  the  inscription  '  0.  W.  Per  bonam  famam  et 
infamiam.  Ob.  Jan.  31,  A.D.  1699.'  In  Lord  Macau- 
lay's  History!  the  following  account  is  given  of  his 
impeachment :  '  Obadiah  Walker  was  led  in.  He 
behaved  with  a  pusillanimity  and  disingenuousness 
which  deprived  him  of  all  claim  to  respect  or  pity. 

• 

*  Why  are  the  London  churchyards  not  made  readily  acces 
sible,  and  planted  with  trees  and  shrahs  ? 
f  Vol.  iii.  p.  128  (popular  edition). 


Obadiah  Walker.  34 


He  professed  that  he  had  never  changed  his  reli 
gion;  that  his  opinions  had  always  been  and  still 
were  those  of  some  highly-respectable  divines  of  the 
Church  of  England ;  and  that  there  were  points  on 
which  he  differed  from  the  Papists.  In  spite  of  this 
quibbling,  he  was  pronounced  guilty  of  high  treason, 
and  sent  to  prison.'  The  facts  of  his  history  are 
these  :  among  those  who  became  Catholics  in  James's 
reign  was  Obadiah  Walker.  James  granted  him  a 
dispensation  by  which  he  was  enabled  to  hold  his 
offices,  yet  without  taking  the  oaths  or  attending  the 
worship  of  the  Establishment.  On  James's  flight 
"Walker  found  himself  in  an  awkward  predicament. 
It  was,  however,  difficult  to  prove  that  he  had  been 
himself  reconciled,  or  that  he  had  reconciled  others, 
to  the  Church  of  Rome.  He  was  long  imprisoned  in 
the  Tower,  and  brought  thence  before  the  Court  of 
King's  Bench  by  a  writ  of  habeas  coitus ;  but  his 
enemies,  who  were  anxious  that  he  should  not  get 
bail,  sent  a  messenger  to  bring  him  to  the  bar  of  the 
House  of  Commons.  Here  he  had  recourse  to  lan 
guage  that  he  could  not,  salvajfide,  employ,  though 
Lingard*  appears  to  think  that  it  did  not  amount  to  a 
renunciation  of  the  Catholic  creed.  He  was  sent  back 
to  the  Tower  on  a  charge  of  high  treason  and  of  divers 
crimes  and  misdemeanours.  Next  term,  however, 

0  History  of  England,  vol.  x.  p.  108.     Dod  throws  little  light 
on  Walker's  life,  Church  History,  pp.  454-8. 


342    Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

the  Court  of  King's  Bench  liberated  him  on  bail. 
From  the  anmesty  that  soon  followed  Obadiah  Walker 
was  excepted.  Dr.  Radcliffe,  the  distinguished  phy 
sician,  who  had  once  been  his  pupil,  gave  him  shelter 
and  an  adequate  maintenance.  The  government  left 
him  unmolested  under  Radcliffe's  protection. 

The  monument  of  Abraham  Woodhead,  the  able 
controversialist,  is  next  that  of  Walker,  his  friend  in 
life.  It  is  a  raised  monument,  with  a  pyramidal  cap 
ping.  Retiring  from  Oxford,  where  he  found  the 
obligation  of  occasional  conformity  weigh  heavy  upon 
his  conscience,  Woodhead  lived  in  retirement  at 
Hoxton,  where  he  busied  himself  in  education  and 
in  the  preparation  of  his  works.  The  inscription  on 
his  monument  records  that  *  he  chose  to  be  lowly  in 
the  house  of  God,  and  dwelt  in  solitude,  seeking  what 
was  useful,  not  for  himself,  but  for  many.' 

To  the  east  of  the  church  are  the  tombs  of  several 
members  of  Spanish  families.  Passing  to  the  south 
we  come  to  the  tomb  of  Charles  Walker,  author  of 
the  pronouncing  dictionary  and  other  works,  the 
esteemed  friend  of  Bishop  Milner. 

About  a  third  of  the  space  enclosed  in  the  ceme 
tery  of  St.  Pancras,  now  severed  from  the  rest  by 
the  Midland  railway  that  so  miserably  disfigures 
this  venerable  place,  is  the  burial-place  of  the  French 
emigres.  It  was  assigned  them  for  this  purpose 
in  1792.  Here  St.  Pancras  has  a  tie  with  the  city 


Catholic  Pamras.  343 


that  was  the  home  of  Christianity  before  Augus 
tine  and  Mellitus,  before  Gregory,  before  Pancras. 
The  Cardinal  of  York,  the  last  of  the  royal  house  of 
Stuart,  established  a  daily  mass  in  the  church  of  St. 
Pancras  behind  the  Vatican,  on  the  place  of  St.  Pan- 
cras's  martyrdom,  for  the  French  exiles  buried  at  old 
St.  Pancras.  A  prince  of  England  and  of  the  Church, 
he  turned  his  thoughts  constantly  to  Great  Britain, 
leaving  endowments  for  the  education  of  ecclesiastical 
students  for  Scotland,  and  establishing  this  mass  at 
St.  Pancras  for  those  whose  lot  it  was,  as  it  was  his 
own,  to  live  and  die  in  exile. 

Of  the  bare  and  now-neglected  cemetery  of  '  Ca 
tholic  Pancras,'  the  resting-place  of  the  French  emi 
gres  is  the  barest  and  most-neglected  portion.  The 
loose  friable  soil  has  not  had  consistency  enough  to 
give  support  to  the  monuments  that  have  everywhere 
sunk  from  the  perpendicular.  Thus  exposed  to  the 
action  of  rain,  the  inscriptions  are  in  some  cases 
completely  effaced.  In  many  instances  the  monu 
ments  have  altogether  disappeared;  and  looking  round 
the  apparently  thinly-tenanted  ground,  it  requires 
quite  an  effort  to  recall  the  number  of  those  who  lie 
buried  beneath  the  soil.  Here  lie  Monsignor  de 
Malide,  Bishop  of  Montpellier;  Monsignor  Dillon, 
Archbishop  of  Narbonne ;  the  Abbe  Prince  de  Brog- 
lie ;  the  Count  de  la  Bourdonnaye  de  Claye ;  the 
Seigneur  Count  de  Pont-Carre,  President  of  the  Par- 


344  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

liament  of  Kouen ;  Bigod  de  St.  Croix,  last  Minister 
of  Louis  XVI. ;  and  Monsignor  de  Bethizy,  Bishop 
of  Uzes,  a  see  now  suppressed,  in  the   archdiocese 
of  Narbonne.    Here  too  were,  till  their  removal  to 
France  in  1866,  the  remains  of  Jean  Fra^ois  de  la 
Marche,  Bishop  and  Count  of  St.  Pol  de  Leon  in 
Brittany.      A  native  of  Quimper,  the  count-hishop 
was  in  his  youth  an  officer  in   a  cavalry  regiment, 
and  made  a  campaign  in  Italy .     He,  however,  early 
quitted  the  service;  was  ordained  priest;  and  in  1772 
was  raised  to  the  bishopric  of  St.  Pol.     He  proved  a 
firm  and  active  ruler ;  and  among  other  benefits  to 
his  people,  erected  at  his  own  expense  the  college  in 
his  episcopal  city,  and  introduced  the  cultivation  of 
the  potato,  a  most  real  benefit  to  the  Breton  peasants.* 
He   refused  to  accept  the  civil  constitution  of  the 
clergy,  as  did  the  great  majority  of  the  French  bishops, 
headed  by  Raimond  de  Boisgelin,  Archbishop  of  Aix, 
and  by  the  Bishop  of  Clermont.     Mgr.  de  la  Marche 
returned  the  decree  of  the  assembly  suppressing  his 
bishopric  unopened.    The  count-bishop  thus  became 
suspected,  and  a  body  of  gendarmes  entered  his  palace 
on  the  8th  January  1791.     To  their  commander's 
request  that  the  bishop  should  accompany  him,  the 
prelate  replied  by  asking  leave  to  retire  to  the  ad- 

°  The  very  different  picture  presented  by  MM.  Erckmann-Chat- 
rian,  in  the  Story  of  a  Peasant,  of  the  line  pursued  by  the  clergy 
in  this  matter,  makes  the  fact  worth  mentioning. 


Mgr.  de  la  Marche.  345 


joining  room,  to  make  his  preparations.  The  time 
seemed  unusually  long,  and  at  length  the  officer 
opened  the  door,  when  to  his  confusion  he  found  the 
room  empty.  The  bishop  had  made  his  escape  by  a 
concealed  staircase  that  opened  the  way  for  him  to 
Koscoif,  and  the  sea.  Mgr.  de  la  Marche  was  the 
first  French  prelate  who  took  refuge  in  England.  He 
kept  up  a  communication  with  the  royalist  party  in 
his  diocese,  by  means  of  an  agent  named  Flock.  He 
continued  an  exile  in  this  country  till  his  death,  on 
the  25th  October  1806,  a  period  of  fifteen  years. 
He  was  of  eminent  service  to  his  countrymen.  His 
funeral  sermon  was  preached  at  the  chapel  of  the 
Annunciation,  King-street,  by  the  Abbe  du  Chatelier. 
It  is  intended  to  build  in  his  cathedral,  in  memory  of 
the  count-bishop,  the  last  bishop  of  St.  Pol — now  no 
longer  an  episcopal  see — a  monument  similar  to  that 
of  his  predecessor,  Francois  Visdelou,  preacher  to 
Anne  of  Austria. 

Of  the  two  ether  Breton  prelates  present  in  Eng 
land,  one,  the  Bishop  of  Treguier,  became  vicar- 
general  to  Mgr.  Douglas,  the  vicar-apostolic  of  the 
London  district ;  the  other,  Mgr.  Urbain  de  Herce, 
Bishop  of  Dol,  returned  to  France  with  the  ill-starred 
expedition  to  Quiberon,  and  was  one  of  those  mas 
sacred  in  the  '  Champ  des  Martyrs'  there. 

At  St.  Pancras  is  buried  M.  Chaillou,  who  fell 
a  victim  to  the  pestilence  that  raged  amongst  the 


346    Ecclesiastical  A ntiqu ities  of  London. 


French  prisoners  whom  he  went  to  visit  at  Norman- 
cross  ;  and  M.  Gomer,  who  died  from  disease  con 
tracted  in  the  Middlesex  Hospital.  St.  Pancras  has 
another  well-known  name,  that  of  the  Franciscan 
Father  O'Leary. 

Islington,  or  Isendune,  the  dune  or  down  of  the 
Isen,  a  small  stream  in  the  parish,  was  till  lately  a 
village  in  the  open  fields.  The  ancient  church  dedi 
cated  to  St.  Mary  has  been  demolished.  There  is  a 
print  of  it  in  Nelson's  History  of  Islington.  It  had 
a  nave  and  chancel  with  aisles  ;  the  nave  and  chancel 
of  the  same  height,  the  aisles  extending  to  the  eastern 
extremity  of  the  chancel.  The  east  window  of  five 
lights  was  third-pointed,  with  the  mullions  so  arranged 
in  the  head  as  to  form  a  kind  of  tracery,  not  very  dis 
similar  to  the  reticulated  tracery  of  the  preceding 
epoch.  The  east  windows  of  the  aisles  were  triplets 
of  the  late  type,  under  an  enclosing  arch.  The  side 
windows  were  of  two  lights  each.  There  was  a  de 
based  tower  at  the  western  extremity  of  the  north 
aisle,  and  a  vestry  of  similar  character  at  right  angles 
with  the  aisle  to  the  east.  The  tower  was  so  mas 
sive  that  gunpowder  was  required  for  its  demolition. 
The  original  roofs  remained  till  their  destruction. 
There  were  numerous  coats  of  arms  in  the  windows. 
There  was  a  first-pointed  font,  an  octagonal  bowl  rest 
ing  on  a  central  shaft,  and  four  corner  shafts.  The 
whole  rested  on  a  square  base.  In  the  modern  church 


Pugirts  Strictures*  347 

some  brasses  remain ;  a  canopy  of  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  under  which  are  now  placed  figures 
of  a  merchant  and  his  wife,  some  half  century  later 
Henry  Saville  and  his  wife,  1546.* 

Pugin,  in  his  work  on  the  State  of  Ecclesiastical 
Architecture  in  England,  passed  some  very  severe 
strictures  on  the  design  of  Mr.  Scole's  Catholic  church 
of  St.  John  the  Evangelist  at  Islington  ;  '  This  church, 
so  far  from  exhibiting  the  adoption  of  true  Catholic 
principles,  is  certainly  the  most  original  combina 
tion  of  modern  deformity  that  has  been  erected  for 
some  time  past  for  the  sacred  purpose  of  a  Catholic 
church.  It  has  been  a  fine  opportunity  thrown  away ; 
and  the  only  consolation  we  can  derive  from  its  erec 
tion  is  the  hope  that  its  palpable  defects,  by  serving 
as  an  additional  evidence  of  the  absolute  necessity  of 
adhering  to  ancient  Catholic  examples  in  the  churches 
we  erect,  may  induce  those  in  ecclesiastical  authority 
to  adopt  this  system  in  all  cases,  and  to  refuse  their 
sanction  to  any  modern  experiments  in  ecclesiastical 
architecture.  What  renders  the  present  case  the 
more  deplorable  is  the  fact  that  an  ancient  parochial 
church,  dedicated  in  honour  of  the  blessed  Virgin, 
and  in  all  respects  suited  to  the  present  site  and 

*  An  inscription  asked  the  passer-by  '  to  remembre  that  in 
Cryste  we  be  bretherne  ;  the  whych  hath  commanded  every  man  to 
prey  for  other.  Thus  sayth  Eobert  Andertone  and  Johan  hys  wyif, 
here  wrapped  in  cley,  abydyng  the  mercie  of  Almyghty  God  them- 
self  Domedey. ' 


348  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

wants  of  the  congregation,  formerly  existed  at  Isling 
ton,  and  was  demolished  only  a  few  years  since.' 

Pugin  gives  a  drawing  of  '  the  old  church  of  St. 
Maries  Islington  restored.'  That  this  drawing  re 
presents  a  building  very  superior  to  Mr.  Scole's  church 
may  he  readily  admitted.  That  it  is  a  restoration  or 
reproduction  of  the  old  church  of  Islington  may  be 
safely  denied.  That  was  a  simple  low-built  village 
church  ;  this  of  Pugin's  is  a  lofty  and  graceful  build 
ing  well  adapted  for  a  town.  In  fact,  the  only  point 
of  real  resemblance  between  the  two  is  that  neither 
has  a  clerestory,  and  that  each  aisle  has  a  separate 
gable.  That  this  was  a  point  well  worthy  of  repro 
duction  in  a  town  church  is  certain  ;  both  ancient  and 
modern  examples  would  justify  an  architect  in  doing 
so ;  but  that  the  relative  proportions  of  the  nave  and 
side  aisles  are  the  same  in  Pugin's  design  and  in  the 
old  church  cannot  be  maintained ;  and  if  there  is  a 
marked  difference  here,  added  to  the  differences  in  the 
tracery,  buttresses  (there  were  none  in  the  old  build 
ing),  carving,  and  the  entire  character  of  the  tower, 
Mr.  Scole's  building  must  be  judged  by  some  other 
standard  than  that  supplied  by  Pugin's  design. 

The  parish  of  Islington  consists  of  six  districts 
or  liberties  :  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  Upper  Barns- 
bury,  Lower  Barnsbury,  Canonbury,  the  Prebend, 
and  Highbury,  or  Newington  Barrow. 

Canonbury  Tower  is  a  conspicuous  object  in  Isling- 


Canonbury  and  Newington  Green.     349 


ton.  The  manor  of  Canonbury  was  in  the  possession 
of  the  Berners  family,  from  whom  Barnsbury,  or  Ber- 
nersbury,  derives  its  name.  The  Berners  granted  the 
manor  to  St.  Bartholomew's  Priory,  Smithfield. 
At  the  Dissolution,  Henry  VIII.  granted  both  Canon- 
bury  and  Highbury  to  Cromwell.  After  his  death 
Anne  of  Cleves  had  an  annuity  of  twenty  pounds  a 
year  from  the  manor.  At  Newington-green  was  an 
old  mansion,  said  to  have  been  occupied  by  Henry 
VIII.  The  road  by  Ball's-pond  is  still  known  as 
'  King  Henry's  walk.'  Newington-green  was  the 
abode  of  Henry  Algernon  Percy,  the  Earl  of  Nor 
thumberland,  who  was,  before  the  days  of  Henry's 
courtship,  the  lover  of  Anne  Boleyn.  Percy  was  an 
attendant  of  Cardinal  Wolsey's.  At  Wolsey's  bidding, 
Percy  wrote  a  letter  to  Cromwell  in  which  he  pledged 
himself,  upon  his  soul,  that  there  was  no  marriage 
contract  between  Anne  and  himself.  Percy  was  con 
strained  into  a  marriage  with  Mary  Talbot,  daughter 
of  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury.  Anne  Boleyn  is  supposed 
to  have  retained  her  affection  for  Percy,  and  to  this 
cause  may  have  been  owing  the  aversion  she  enter 
tained  for  the  cardinal,  whose  fall  was  undoubtedly 
due  to  her.  Strangely  enough,  it  was  Percy  who 
summoned  Wolsey  from  Cawood  to  undertake  his 
last  fatal  journey.  Again,  we  find  Percy  one  of  Anne's 
judges.  Percy  "Droved  unequal  to  his  office.  His 
feelings  overcame  him.  He  left  the  court  before 


35°  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L ondon. 

Lord  Rochford's  arraignment,  and  died  a  few  months 
subsequently. 

Hornsey,  once  a  pretty  secluded  village,  every 
trace  of  whose  pristine  charms  is  rapidly  disappear 
ing,  has  still  the  ancient  tower  of  its  church,  dedi 
cated  to  St.  Mary.  More,  however,  will  visit  the 
churchyard  as  the  burialplace  of  the  poet  Rogers 
than  for  this  dignified  specimen  of  our  ancient  archi 
tecture.  It  is  third-pointed,  with  a  beacon-turret 
at  the  north-west  angle,  and  an  embattled  parapet 
unbroken  by  pinnacles.  The  belfry  windows  are  of 
two  lights  transomed,  with  cinquefoil  tracery  in  the 
heads.  There  is  a  cinquefoil  between  them  and  the 
enclosing  arch.  The  peculiar  feature,  however,  is 
the  stone  grille  that  fills  the  lower  part  of  the  lights. 
We  use  the  word  '  grille'  intentionally,  as  lattice-work 
of  wood  or  metal  has  been,  we  are  convinced,  imitated 
here  at  Hornsey,  as  at  St.  Mary  Magdalen's,  Tauriton, 
and  elsewhere  in  Somersetshire.  The  resemblance 
to  metal-work  is  heightened  by  the  finial  that  rises 
above  and  pierces  the  arch  itself,  as  might  be  the 
case  with  a  metal  finial  terminating  a  vertical  rod  in 
the  same  position.  The  grille  is  formed  by  a  series 
of  quatrefoils  enclosing  shields. 

The  tower  of  Hornsey  Church  is  seen  to  be  ad 
mirably  fitted  for  its  situation  when  viewed  from  the 
terraced  slopes  of  this  picturesque  locality.  Towers 
are  suited  to  the  foot  of  hills,  spires  to  their  summit. 


Hornsey.  351 


In  the  Lake  district  we  see  towers  only,  the  moun 
tains  there  being  too  elevated  to  admit  of  villages 
in  lofty  situations,  as  we  remember  to  have  had 
pointed  out  to  us  by  a  friend  in  a  perambula 
tion  of  that  district.  On  hills  of  moderate  height 
spires  are  preferable  to  towers.  We  need  not  go  be 
yond  the  present  scene  for  examples,  as  we  have  here 
Charles  II. 's  'church  visible'  at  Harrow,*  and  the 
spire  of  that  at  Highgate,  to  prove  the  fact.  The 
tower  of  Bristol  Cathedral  would  make  but  a  sorry 
figure  in  an  elevated  position ;  where  it  actually  stands 
it  is  felt  to  be  noble  and  appropriate. 

The  parish  of  Hornsey  contains  Muswell-hill, 
Crouch  (or  Cross)  End,  Stroud- green,  and  the 
greater  part  of  Highgate.  The  meaning  of  the  name 
in  its  ancient  form  of  Haringe  is  supposed  to  mean 
the  meadow  of  hares.  The  manor  of  Hornsey  has 
belonged  from  time  immemorial  to  the  Bishops  of 
London.  On  the  manor  was  a  palace  at  Lodge-hill, 
'  a  hill  or  fort  in  Hornsey  Park,  which  is  called 
Lodge-hill ;  for  that  thereon,  sometime,  stood  a  lodge, 


*  In  1524,  alarmed  by  the  predictions  of  astrologers,  who  had 
foretold  the  year  previous  a  formidable  flood  to  happen  on  the  1st 
of  February,  the  prior  and  monks  of  St.  Bartholomew  retired  to 
Harrow,  where  they  entrenched  themselves  on  the  top  of  the  hill, 
in  expectation  of  the  catastrophe.  Nothing,  however,  happened, 
and  the  astrologers  explained  that  there  was  an  error  in  their  cal 
culations  ;  and  that  they  now  foresaw  that  the  dreaded  event  would 
take  place  on  the  same  day  in  the  following  century. 


3  5  2   Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  London. 

when  the  park  was  replenished  with  deer;  but  it 
seemeth  by  the  foundations  that  it  was  rather  a  cas 
tle  than  a  lodge,  for  the  hill  is  at  this  day'  (the  time 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  which  Norden  wrote)  '  trenched 
with  two  deep  ditches,  now  old  and  overgrown  with 
bushes.  The  rubble  thereof,  as  brick,  tile,  and 
Cornish  slate,  are  in  heaps  yet  to  be  seen,  which 
ruins  are  of  great  antiquity,  as  may  appear  by  the 
oaks  at  this  day  standing,  above  a  hundred  years  in 
growth,  upon  the  very  foundations  of  the  building.' 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  the  Duchess  of  Glou 
cester  was  tried  for  using  sorcery  to  destroy  the  king's 
life.  Two  of  her  accomplices  were  Koger  Bolingbroke, 
an  astrologer,  the  duke's  chaplain,  and  Thomas  South 
well,  a  canon  of  Stephen's.  Bolingbroke  was  ac 
cused  of  employing  necromancy,  and  Southwell  of 
having  said  masses  in  the  lodge  of  Hornsey  Park  over 
the  instruments  to  be  employed  in  the  monarch's 
destruction.  Bolingbroke  was  arrested,  and  exhibited 
on  a  platform  in  St.  Paul's-churchyard  in  a  robe  in 
which  he  was  said  to  practise  his  art,  with  a  sword 
in  his  right  hand  and  a  sceptre  in  his  left,  seated 
on  a  chair,  to  the  corners  of  which  were  attached 
four  swords  with  copper  images  at  their  points.  With 
Bolingbroke  and  Southwell  were  arrested  Hum,  a 
priest,  and  Margery  Jourdemain,  the  witch  of  Eye. 
The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  examined  the  duchess 
in  St.  Stephen's  Chapel,  Westminster.  The  charges 


Necromancy.  353 


against  her  were  that  she  had  employed  love-philters 
to  gain  the  affections  of  her  husband,  whose  mistress, 
previous  to  her  marriage,  she  had  been,  and  that  she 
had  obtained  from  Bolingbroke  and  Southwell  a  wax 
figure  so  contrived  that,  as  it  melted  before  the  fire, 
the  king's  strength  and  life  should  melt  away.  On 
such  charges  as  these  the  duchess  was  condemned  to 
walk  thrice  bareheaded,  and  with  a  lighted  taper  in. 
her  hand,  to  St.  Paul's  through  the  streets  of  London. 
She  then  passed  into  the  custody  of  Sir  John  Stanley 
in  the  Isle  of  Man,  for  life.  Bolingbroke  was  hung, 
drawn,  and  quartered  at  Tyburn ;  Southwell  died  in 
prison;  whilst  Hum  received  the  royal  pardon.  Mar 
gery  Jourdemain  was  burned  as  a  witch  in  Smith- 
field. 

It  was  at  Hornsey  Park  that  the  Lord  Mayor  and 
corporation,  dressed  in  scarlet,  and  followed  by  five 
hundred  citizens  clad  in  violet,  met  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  afterwards  Richard  III.,  and  his  unfortu 
nate  nephew,  King  Edward  V.,  May  4,  1483.  The 
duke  rode  before  his  nephew  with  his  cap  in  his 
hand,  and  pointed  out  to  the  people  the  king,  who  fol 
lowed  in  a  mantle  of  purple  velvet.  Lord  Grey,  Sir 
Richard  Vaughan,  and  Sir  Richard  Hawse  bad  been 
already  executed  at  Pontefract.  When  London  was 
reached,  Lord  Rivers  and  soon  after  Lord  Hastings 
also  fell  victims. 

Henry  VII.  was  met  on  his  return  from  a  sue- 

AA 


354  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

cessful  war  with  Scotland  by  the  London  citizens  at 
Hornsey  Park. 

On  the  hill  between  Hornsey  and  Finchley*  was  a 
chapel  with  a  statue  of  our  Lady,  '  whereunto  was 
continual  resort  in  the  way  of  pilgrimage/  The 
chapel  derived  its  repute  from  a  cure  wrought  on  a 
king  of  Scotland  by  the  water  of  the  Mousewell  (Mus- 
well),  by  which  subsequently  the  shrine  was  reared. 
The  water  still  flows,  but  the  healing  virtue  has  de 
parted — a  proof,  as  has  been  observed,  that  the  cure 
was  not  the  result  of  a  merely  '  natural'  cause. 

The  Bishop  of  London  had  extensive  woods, 
extending  from  Hampstead-heath  to  Finchley  and 
Hornsey.  At  Highgate  was  a  hermitage,  supposed 
by  Norden  to  have  stood  on  the  site  of  Chomley 
school.  In  1386,  Bishop  Braybrook  gave  William 
Lichfield,  a  poor  hermit,  the  office  of  keeping  the 
chapel  of  St.  Michael  at  Highgate,  and  the  house 
annexed  to  the  chapel,  '  hitherto  accustomed  to  be 
kept  by  other  poor  hermits.'  William  Lichfield,  ac 
cording  to  Norden,  carried  gravel  from  the  top  of  the 
hill,  and  raised  the  road  at  the  Holloway,  which  had 
become  impassable. 

Immediately  above  Holloway  was  the  lazar-house, 
or  hospital  for  lepers,  of  St.  Anthony,  t  King  Edward 

*  The  Churcli  of  Finchley  is  late  third  pointed,  as  is  that  at 
Hendon.  Both  are  dedicated  to  St.  Mary.  At  Hendon  is  a  Roman 
esque  font.  f  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  766. 


W hitting  ton*  355 


IV.  gave  William  Pole,  yeoman  of  the  Crown,  a  leper, 
land  on  which  to  build  the  hospital,  in  1473.  The 
hospital  became  a  poorhouse  after  the  Reformation. 

At  the  rise  of  Highgate-hill  Sir  Richard  Whit- 
tington — of  whom  there  has  been  frequent  mention 
in  these  pages — sat  and  listened  to  Bow  bells,  that 
said,  or  seemed  to  say,  '  Turn  again.  Whittington — 
thrice  Lord  Mayor  of  London.'  Whittington  Stone 
is  supposed  to  have  been  the  base  of  an  ancient  cross. 
The  tale  of  Whittington  is  told  of  many  persons,  and 
in  many  languages.  Still  we  may  address  to  our 
selves  the  query  of  the  citizen  in  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher's  Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle,*  who  says  to 
the  prologue,  '  Why  could  you  not  be  contented,  as 
well  as  others,  with  the  legend  of  Whittington  ?'  for 
if  we  reject  the  cat  and  other  romantic  concomitants 
of  the  story  of  Whittington,  the  main  facts  of  his 
history  are  simply  articles  of  historic  faith.  Whit 
tington  was  thrice  Lord  Mayor  of  London.  Towards 
the  expenses  of  Edward  III.'s  French  campaign 
he  contributed  10,OOOL  He  was  knighted  in  the 
fifty-second  year  of  the  same  reign,  and  became 
Lord  Mayor  in  the  place  of  Adam  Staple,  who  would 
not  raise  4000L,  the  City  poll-tax,  for  the  king.  In 
1377  he  became  a  member  of  parliament.  At  this 
date,  according  to  Stowe,  he  was  a  dealer  in  wool, 
leather,  and  pearls.  He  wedded  the  daughter  of  his 
*  Cit.  Timbs'  Romance  of  London,  vol.  i.  p.  17. 


356  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

old  master,  Fitzwarren.  In  1397  he  was  mayor. 
He  conducted  Eichard  II.  to  the  Tower,  and  was 
present  at  the  coronation  of  Henry  IY.  In  his  third 
mayoralty  he  entertained  Henry  V.  and  his  queen  at 
Guildhall.  'At  this  entertainment  the  king  par 
ticularly  praised  the  fire,  which  was  made  of  choice 
woods,  mixed  with  mace,  cloves,  and  all  other  spices  ; 
on  which  Sir  Richard  said  he  would  endeavour  to 
make  one  still  more  agreeable  to  his  majesty,  and 
immediately  tore  and  threw  into  the  fire  the  king's 
bond  for  10,000  marks  due  to  the  Company  of 
Mercers,  12,500  to  the  Chamber  of  London,  12,000 
to  the  Grocers  ;  to  the  Staplers,  Goldsmiths,  Haber 
dashers,  Vintners,  Brewers,  and  Bakers,  3000  marks 
each.  "All  these,"  said  Sir  Richard,  "with  divers 
others,  lent  for  the  payment  of  your  soldiers  in 
France,  I  have  taken  in  and  discharged,  to  the 
amount  of  60,OOOZ.  sterling.  Can  your  majesty 
desire  to  see  such  another  sight  ?"  The  king  and 
nobles  were  struck  dumb  with  surprise.'  No  wonder ! 
Similar  tales  are  told  of  Count  Fugger  of  Augsburg 
and  George  Heriot  of  Edinburgh.* 

°  The  '  Jingling  Geordie'  of  the  Fortunes  of  Nigel.  "Whitting- 
ton  has  a  London  rival  in  John  Filpot,  Mayor,  who  captured  John 
Mercer,  a  sea-rover ;  equipped  at  his  own  expense  hired  ships  to 
assist  Thomas  Woodstock  and  others  ;  and  released  the  armour1  the 
soldiers  had  pawned  for  their  battles  more  than  a  thousand  times. 
Filpot  often  lent  the  King  great  sums  of  money,  and  died  in  1384. 
<  After  that  he  had  assured  lands  to  the  City  for  the  relief  of  thir 
teen  poor  people  for  ever.' 


Historic  Doubts.  357 

The  Mercers'  Company,  having  in  their  hands 
6000/.  from  Sir  Richard  Whittington's  estate,  began 
in  1822  the  erection  of  almshouses  for  twenty-four 
single  women,  in  the  Archway-road,  opposite  Whit- 
tington  Stone.  Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  archi 
tecture  of  the  building,  it  forms  a  pleasing  and  appro 
priate  memorial  to  a  man  of  abounding  charity.  In 
Foote's  comedy,  the  Nabob,  Sir  Matthew7  Mite  ad 
dresses  the  Society  of  Antiquaries :  '  The  point  I  mean 
to  clear  up  is  an  error  crept  into  the  life  of  that  illus 
trious  magistrate,  the  great  Whittington,  and  his  no 
less  eminent  cat ;  and  in  this  disquisition  four  material 
points  are  in  question — 1st.  Did  Whittington  ever 
exist  ?  2d.  Was  Whittington  Lord  Mayor  of 
London  ?  3d.  Was  he  really  possessed  of  a  cat  ? 
4th.  Was  that  cat  the  source  of  his  wealth  ?  That 
Whittington  lived,  no  doubt  can  be  made  ;  that  he 
was  Lord  Mayor  of  London  is  equally  true  ;  but  as 
to  his  cat,  gentlemen,  is  the  Gordian  knot  to  untie. 
And  here,  gentlemen,  be  it  permitted  me  to  define 
what  a  cat  is.  A  cat  is  a  domestic,  whiskered  four- 
footed  animal,  whose  employment  is  the  catching  of 
mice  ;  but  let  puss  have  been  ever  so  subtle,  let  puss 
have  been  ever  so  successful,  to  what  could  puss's 
captures  amount  ?  No  tanner  can  curry  the  skin  of 
a  mouse,  no  family  make  a  meal  of  the  meat ;  conse 
quently,  no  cat  could  give  Whittington  his  wealth. 
From  whence,  then,  does  this  error  proceed?  Be 


358  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


that  my  care  to  point  out.  The  commerce  this 
worthy  merchant  carried  was  chiefly  confined  to  our 
coasts  ;  for  this  purpose  he  constructed  a  vessel, 
which,  for  its  agility  and  lightness,  he  aptly  chris 
tened  a  cat.  Nay,  to  this  our  day,  gentlemen,  all  our 
coals  from  Newcastle  are  imported  in  nothing  hut 
cats.  From  thence,  it  appears,  that  it  was  not  the 
whiskered  four-footed  mouse-killing  cat  that  was  the 
source  of  the  magistrate's  wealth,  but  the  coasting? 
sailing,  coal-carrying  cat  :  that,  gentlemen,  was 
Whittington's  cat.' 

The  church  of  Hampstead,  dedicated  to  St.  John 
the  Evangelist,  was  a  chapel-of-ease  to  Hendon.  It 
had  a  nave,  chancel,  and  north  aisle  extending  to  the 
extremity  of  the  chancel.  The  east  window  of  the 
chancel  was  of  two  lights,  of  the  north  aisle  of  three, 
with  a  square  head.  The  earliest  notice  of  it  is  of 
the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  chapel  of  St.  Mary,  Holly-place,  Hampstead, 
was  erected  under  the  auspices  of  the  Abbe  J.  J. 
Morel,  a  priest  of  the  diocese  of  Kouen,  one  of  the 
earliest  French  emigres. 

The  chapel  was  consecrated  in  1815,  by  Mgr. 
Poynter,  vicar-apostolic  of  the  London  district.  It 
was  in  a  house  distinguished  by  a  bay-window,  at 
the  eastern  extremity  of  Church-row,  that  mass  was 
first  said  in  Hampstead.  In  March  1852  the  erection 
of  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  Abbe  Morel 


5Y.  Giles-in-thc-Eields.  359 


was  determined  upon.  Mr.  Wardell  was  the  designer. 
It  stands  on  the  left  side  of  the  entrance  to  the 
chapel. 

By  Hampstead-road  and  Tottenham-court-road 
we  reach  the  site  of  St.  Giles's  hospital  for  lepers,* 
founded  by  Matilda,  Queen  of  Henry  I.,  in  1101. 
In  Edward  III.'s  time  the  hospital  was  attached  as 
a  cell  to  Burton  St.  Lazar  in  Leicestershire. 

To  the  north  of  the  hospital  was  a  place  for  execu 
tions.  Here  Babington  and  his  fellow  conspirators 
were  executed  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time.  Ballard 
was  the  first  executed;  Babington  followed.  Chideock 
Tichbourne  made  the  following  address  to  the 
people :  '  Countrymen,  and  my  dear  friends,  you 
expect  I  should  speak  something ;  I  am  a  bad  orator, 
and  my  text  is  worse.  It  were  in  vain  to  enter  into 
the  discourse  of  the  whole  matter  for  which  I  am 
brought  hither,  for  that  it  hath  been  revealed  be 
fore.  Let  me  be  a  warning  to  all  young  gentlemen, 
especially  gcnerosis  adolescentulis .  I  had  a  friend, 
and  a  dear  friend,  of  whom  I  made  no  small  account, 
whose  friendship  hath  brought  me  to  this ;  he  told 
me  the  whole  matter,  I  cannot  deny,  as  they  had  laid 
it  down  to  be  done  ;  but  I  always  thought  it  impious, 

°  Dugilale'c  Monasticon  (Ellis),  vi.  635.  Stow  says  that  the 
lord  mayor,  aldermen,  and  other  worthy  citizens  used  on  the  18th 
September  to  visit  the  fountains  from  which  the  various  conduits 
were  supplied ;  hunting  a  hare  before  and  a  fox  after  dinner,  in  St. 
Giles-in-the-Fields. 


360  Ecclesiastica I A  ntiqu i ties  of  London. 


and  denied  to  be  a  dealer  in  it;  but  the  regard  of 
my  friend  caused  me  to  be  a  man  in  whom  the  old 
proverb  was  verified  :  I  was  silent,  and  so  consented. 
Before  this  thing  chanced,  we  lived  together  in  most 
flourishing  estate.  Of  whom  went  report  in  the 
Strand,  Fleet-street,  and  elsewhere  about  London, 
but  of  Babington  and  Tichbourne  ?  No  threshold 
was  of  force  to  brave  our  entry.  Thus  we  lived,  and 
wanted  nothing  we  could  wish  for ;  and  God  knows 
what  less  in  my  head  than  matters  of  State.  Now 
give  me  leave  to  declare  the  miseries  I  sustained 
after  I  was  acquainted  with  the  action,  wherein  I 
may  justly  compare  my  estate  to  that  of  Adam's, 
who  could  not  abstain  one  thing  forbidden  to  enjoy 
all  other  things  the  world  could  aiford ;  the  terror 
of  conscience  awaited  me.  After  I  considered  the 
dangers  wherein  I  was  fallen,  I  went  to  Sir  John 
Peters  in  Essex,  and  appointed  my  horses  to  meet 
me  at  London,  intending  to  go  down  into  the  country. 
I  came  to  London,  and  then  heard  that  all  was  be 
wrayed,  whereupon,  like  Adam,  we  fled  into  the 
woods  to  hide  ourselves.  My  dear  countrymen,  my 
sorrows  may  be  your  joy,  yet  mix  your  smiles  with 
tears,  and  pity  my  case ;  I  am  descended  from  a 
house,  from  two  hundred  years  before  the  Conquest, 
never  stained  till  this  my  misfortune.  I  have  a  wife 
and  one  child — my  wife  Agnes,  my  dear  wife,  and 
there's  my  grief — and  six  sisters  left  in  my  hand. 


*  A  rchbishop  Oliver  Plunket.          3  6 1 

My  poor  servants,  I  know,  their  master  being  taken, 
were  dispersed ;  for  all  which  I  do  most  heartily 
grieve.  I  expected  some  favour,  though  I  deserved 
nothing  less,  that  the  remainder  of  my  years  might, 
in  some  sort,  have  recompensed  my  former  guilt ; 
which  seeing  I  have  missed,  let  me  now  meditate 
on  the  joys  I  hope  to  enjoy.'* 

In  St.  Giles's  churchyard  was  buried  Oliver  Plun 
ket,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  executed  at  Tyburn,  in 
1681,  as  a  chief  conspirator  in  the  pretended  Irish 
plot.  The  proceedings  at  the  trial  were  a  strange 
mockery  of  justice.  The  materials  for  the  arch 
bishop's  defence  did  not  arrive  in  England  until  three 
days  after  his  condemnation.  A  man  was  accused  of 
raising  funds  for  the  maintenance  of  an  army  who  was 
never  able  to  get  so  much  as  seventy  pounds  a  year 
for  his  own.  It  was  from  Newgate  that  the  archbishop 
was  taken  to  Tyburn.  His  burial  at  St.  Giles's  was  at 
his  own  request.  Four  years  later  his  body,  found 
incorrupt,  was  removed,  and  buried  by  his  friend, 
the  Benedictine  Abbot  Corker,  at  Landsprung  in 
Germany. 

On  the  18th  May  1628  the  abbey  of  Cismar  was 
surrendered  by  the  German  Benedictine  congregation 
to  the  English  Benedictine  fathers.  Dobran  in 

°  Tichbourne's  letter  to  his  wife,  and  the  verses  he  wrote  in  the 
Tower,  will  be  found  in  Disraeli's  Curiosities  of  Literature,  pp. 
21-42. 


362   Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu ities  of  L ondon. 


Mecklenburg,  Scharnabeck  in  Luxemburg,  Weine  in 
Brunswick,  and  Landsprung*  in  Hildesheim,  were 
ceded  on  the  12th  of  March  following.  At  the 
ninth  chapter,  held  at  Douay,  it  was  decided  that, 
after  the  president,  the  first  place  should  be  held  by 
the  Abbot  of  Landsprung.  The  English  Fathers 
built  a  spacious  church,  and  dedicated  it  on  May  25, 
1691,  ten  years,  that  is,  after  the  execution  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Armagh. 

Abbot  Corker  had  been  tried  for  the  Popish  plot. 
He  afterwards  represented  the  Elector  of  Cologne 
at  the  court  of  James  II.,  where  he  and  six  monks 
in  attendance  upon  him  wore  the  habit  of  the  order. 
Corker  built  a  convent  at  Clerkenwell,  destined  to 
a  very  brief  existence,  as  it  was  destroyed  by  the 
mob  at  the  Kevolution.  Returning  to  the  Continent, 
Corker  became  in  succession  Abbot  of  Cismar  and  of 
Landsprung.  To  the  latter  place  he  removed,  as 
has  been  said,  the  body  of  the  martyred  Plunket. 
Corker  resigned  his  abbacy  in  1699,  and  died  at 
Paddington  in  1715'. 

St.  Giles's  is  interestingly  connected  with  the 
rising  of  that  year;  for  in  the  churchyard  rested, 
for  a  short  time,  the  body  of  the  unfortunate  Earl 
of  Derwentwater,  beheaded  on  Tower-hill,  February 
24,  1716.  The  night  previous  to  his  execution,  the 
earl  sent  for  Mr.  Roome,  an  undertaker,  and  expressed 

0  The  late  Bishop  Baines  was  brought  up  at  Landsprung. 


Lord  Derwentwater.  363 


his  desire  that  a  plate  should  be  placed  upon  his  cof 
fin,  with  an  inscription  to  the  effect  that  he  died  for 
his  lawful  sovereign.  This  the  undertaker  was  un 
willing  to  do,  and  the  earl  dismissed  him.  There  was 
thus  no  hearse  at  the  execution,  and  the  head  was 
taken  up  by  one  of  the  earl's  servants,  who  wrapped 
it  in  a  handkerchief,  whilst  the  body  was  covered  with 
a  black  cloth,  and  conveyed  to  the  Tower.  The  re 
mains  were  interred  at  St.  Giles's,  but  subsequently 
removed  to  the  family  burial-place  at  Dilston  in 
Northumberland.  The  procession  removed  by  night 
only  to  avoid  attracting  attention,  the  religious  rites 
being  performed  in  the  Catholic  chapels  that  lay  along 
the  route  by  day.  One  of  these  was  the  chapel  at 
Dagnam  Park,  near  Eomford  in  Essex,  where  Lady 
Derwentwater  had  resided  during  her  lord's  imprison 
ment. 

At  Ingatestone,  in  the  same  county,  an  old  wo 
man  long  lived  in  an  almshouse,  founded  by  Lord 
Petre's  family,  who  had  heard  from  her  mother  that 
she  had  helped  to  sew  on  the  head  of  Lord  Derwent 
water. 

At  Thorndon,  Lord  Petre's  seat,  there  is  an 
oaken  closet  containing  the  dress  the  unfortunate 
nobleman  wore  at  his  execution.  The  neck  of  the 
shirt  is  shorn  off  by  the  axe.  A  piece  of  the  black 
serge  that  covered  the  block  is  stiff  with  blood, 
and  also  marked  by  the  axe. 


364  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

When  the  mansion-house  at  Dilston  was  demol 
ished,  few  were  willing  to  take  part  in  the  work ;  for 
it  was  believed  that  the  spouts  had  run  with  blood, 
and  that  the  corn  from  the  mill  was  ensanguined 
on  the  day  of  the  earl's  execution.  The  Aurora  Bo- 
realis  flashed  on  the  fatal  night  with  such  unwonted 
brilliancy,  that  the  country  people  near  Hexham 
know  that  meteor  as  '  Lord  Derwentwater's  lights.' 

'  Albeit  that  here  in  London  town 
It  is  rny  fate  to  die, 
0  carry  me  to  Northumberland 
In  my  father's  grave  to  lie. 
There  chaunt  my  solemn  requiem 
In  Hexham's  holy  towers  ; 
And  let  six  maids  of  fair  Tynedale 
Scatter  my  grave  with  flowers.' 

The  chapel  of  St.  Anselm  and  St.  Cecilia  on  the 
west  side  of  Lincoln's  Inn-fields  is  that  of  the  Sar 
dinian  embassy.  This  was  one  of  the  chapels  attacked 
by  the  mob  at  the  ^Revolution.  In  the  riots  of  1780 
the  chapel  was  again  assailed.  The  mob  forced  their 
way  in  and  gutted  it;  the  minister  succeeded  in 
saving  two  chalices,  but  lost  the  silver  lamps  and 
other  property  of  the  chapel.  The  benches  were 
thrown  into  the  street  and  served  as  fuel  for  a  bonfire, 
from  which  brands  were  carried  to  set  fire  to  the 
chapel.  The  guards,  however,  arrived,  and  the  fire 
was  extinguished.  The  following  Wednesday,  the 
mob  staved-in  the  casks  and  set  on  fire  the  premises 


Bishop  Challoners  Escape.  365 

of  Mr.  Langdale,  a  rich  Catholic  distiller  in  Holborn. 
Barnard's-inn  was  set  on  fire  at  the  same  time. 

In  Dolman 's  Magazine  (vol.  v.  p.  81),  there  is  the 
following  account  of  Bishop  Challoner's  escape  :  '  His 
name  was  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  mob.  Many 
had  sworn  to  roast  him  alive.  Castle- street,  Holborn, 
where  his  humble  dwelling  was  situated,  swarmed 
that  night  with  rioters  who  were  vainly  seeking  for 
his  house.  The  number  had  been  accurately  supplied 
them,  but  .  .  .  they  failed  to  discern  it.  We  may 
faintly  guess  the  horrors  endured  by  this  aged  prelate 
when  the  frequent  shouts  for  the  popish  bishop  to 
come  forth  assailed  his  ears.  He  remained,  during 
that  long  and  agonising  interval,  upon  his  knees, 
praying  with  his  accustomed  fervour  to  his  Heavenly 
Master  to  give  him  that  fortitude  and  resignation 
which  might  sustain  him  in  his  threatened  martyr 
dom.' 

Bishop  Challoner  found  refuge  at  Finchley  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Thomas  Mawhood.  When  urged  to  re 
move  further  from  the  metropolis,  he  answered  :  '  The 
shepherd  should  not  abandon  his  flock  in  the  hour  of 
its  peril.  I  will  stay  with  my  old  friend,  and,  through 
the  blessing  of  Heaven,  no  harm  shall  befall  him  or 
his  on  my  account.' 


EAST   LONDON". 

'  Faith,  how  many  churches  do  you  mean  to  build 
Before  you  die  ?     Six  bells  in  every  steeple, 
And  let  them  all  go  to  the  city  tune  ?' 

Shirley's  Constant  Maid,  act  ii.  sc.  2. 

STEPNEY  is  the  name  of  a  large  parish  to  the  east  of 
London.  Lysons  says  :  '  The  ancient  name  of  this 
place  was  Stehenhede,  Stebenhythe,  or  Stehenhethe. 
The  termination  is  a  well-known  Saxon  word,  signi 
fying  a  haven  or  wharf.  I  know  not  how  to  complete 
the  etymology,  unless  we  suppose  it  to  have  been  the 
timber  wharf,  from  steb  (stipes),  the  trunk  of  a  tree. 
Some  have  taken  Stiben  or  Steben  for  a  corruption  of 
Steven.' 

In  1299,  a  parliament  was  held  at  Stepney, 
in  the  house  of  Henry  Walleis,  Mayor  of  London, 
when  the  charter  of  liberties  was  confirmed. 

The  parish  of  Stepney  comprised  the  hamlets, 
now  separate  parishes,  of  Spitalfields,  Bethnal-green, 
Whitechapel,  Sim-dwell,  Poplar,  and  Limehouse. 

The  Church  of  Stepney,  dedicated  to  St.  Dunstan, 


Stepney.  367 


was  built  at  various  times.  Most  of  the  present  build 
ing  dates  from  the  redirection  in  1440.  There  is  a 
nave  of  five  bays  with  side  aisles,  a  west  tower,  a  chan 
cel  with  chancel  aisles,  which,  however,  stop  short  of 
the  east  end.  The  east  window  of  the  chancel  has  five 
lights,  that  to  the  south  four.  There  is  a  priest's 
doorway,  with  a  square  head,  beneath  the  southern 
window.  There  are  in  the  sacrarium  triple  sedilia. 
The  easternmost  seat  is  higher  than  the  other  two. 
From  the  north  chancel  aisle  a  squint,  or  hagioscope, 
gives  a  view  of  the  altar.  There  is  no  chancel  arch. 
The  north  chancel  aisle  has  middle-pointed  windows 
of  two  lights.  The  windows  of  the  south  chancel 
aisle  are  third-pointed,  of  three  lights  to  the  south, 
whilst  the  eastern  window  has  four  lights.  The  rood- 
door  is  seen  over  one  of  the  piers  to  the  north  of  the 
nave.  There  is  a  square  rood -turret  in  the  south 
aisle,  marking  externally  the  separation  between  the 
aisle  of  the  chancel  and  that  of  the  nave.  The  piers 
throughout  are  octagonal,  with  depressed  arches. 
The  clerestory,  of  no  great  elevation,  has  two-light 
windows.  There  is  an  east  window  over  the  chancel 
arch,  as  .at  Cirencester.  The  aisles  have  square- 
headed  doorways.  The  porches  have  been  recently 
rebuilt.  By  the  doorway  in  the  north  aisle  is  a  holy- 
water  stoup.  The  font  is  square,  both  without  and 
within,  unlike  that  at  Willesden,  which,  square  with 
out,  is  circular  internally.  The  roof  of  the  nave  is 


368  Ecclesiastical  A ntiquities  of  London. 

thus  described  by  a  careful  writer  :*  '  The  construc 
tion  consists  of  a  series  of  curved  braces  set  close 
together,  and  tied  by  a  longitudinal  beam  imme 
diately  under  the  collar  ;  at  each  intersection  of  this 
beam  with  a  brace  is  a  carved  boss.'  The  tower  is 
plain,  with  buttresses  set  diagonally.  They  do  not 
rise  to  the  belfry  stage. 

Among  the  vicars  of  Stepney  were  Fox,  afterwards 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  founder  of  Corpus  Christi 
College,  Oxford ;  Dean  Colet,  the  founder  of  St. 
Paul's  School;  and  Pace,  the  friend  of  More,  Eras 
mus,  and  Pole. 

Fox,  a  native  of  Grantham  in  Lincolnshire,  was 
educated  at  Magdalen  College,  Oxford.  He  was  com 
pelled  by  the  plague  to  leave  his  university,  and  be 
came  a  member  of  Pembroke  Hall,  Cambridge,  of  which 
we  afterwards  find  him  master.  Travelling  abroad 
he  won  the  friendship  of  Henry  Earl  of  Richmond, 
subsequently  King  Henry  VII.  On  that  monarch's  ac 
cession  to  the  throne,  Fox  became,  first,  Bishop  of 
Exeter,  then  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  whence  he  was 
raised  to  the  See  Durham,  and  finally  to  that  of  Win 
chester.  He  was  one  of  the  king's  executors  and  a 
sponsor  to  his  son,  Henry  VIII.  In  1515  Fox  retired 
from  court,  and  devoted  his  time  and  care  to  noble  and 
charitable  undertakings.  He  improved  his  palace  at 
Winchester,  adorned  his  cathedral,  endowed  free 

*  Sperling's  Church  Walks  in  Middlesex,  p.  134. 


Dean  Colet.  369 


schools  at  Taunton  and  Grantham,  and  founded  Cor 
pus  Christ!  College  in  the  University  of  Oxford.  Here 
Fox  appointed  public  readers  in  the  Greek  and 
Latin  languages,  and,  it  is  believed,  threw  their  lec 
tures  open  to  the  whole  university.  It  was  Fox's  origi 
nal  intention  to  make  his  Oxford  college  a  seminary  for 
St.  Swithin's  Priory  at  Winchester,  in  the  way  in 
which  Durham,  now  Trinity,  College  was  a  feeder  of 
the  great  Benedictine  monastery  of  Durham.  Fox 
was  dissuaded  from  his  purpose  by  Bishop  Oldham 
of  Exeter,  and  his  college  obtained  a  world-wide 
reputation.  Fox,  who  had  been  blind  for  some  years 
previously,  died  in  1528. 

Dean  Colet  was  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  age 
immediately  preceding  the  Keformation.  His  father 
had  acquired  great  wealth  in  trade.  His  mother 
survived  twenty  of  her  children.  The  dean  inherited 
the  riches  of  the  family.  He  studied  seven  years  at 
Oxford  and  then  visited  France,  where  he  formed  the 
acquaintance  of  Budaeus.  From  France  he  went  to 
Italy,  where  he  met  Linacre,  Grocyn,  and  Lilly,  his 
countrymen,  equally  devoted  with  himself  to  the  pur 
suit  of  learning,  especially  of  the  Greek  language  and 
literature,  with  which  Colet  was  as  yet  unacquainted. 
When  thirty  years  of  age,  Colet  returned  to  England, 
where  he  struck  into  a  new  path.  He  retired  to  Ox 
ford,  where  he  devoted  himself  to  sacred  literature. 
In  a  letter  to  Erasmus  he  bewails  his  ignorance  of 

BB 


37°  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiqu  ities  of  London. 

Greek — Erasmus  had  recently  published  his  edition 
of  the  New  Testament.  Colet  gave  public  lectures  on 
St.  Paul's  Epistles,  and  met  with  some  encouragement. 
He  also  encountered  opposition.  As  a  preacher  he 
fearlessly  denounced  the  vices  of  the  clergy.  As  the 
founder  of  St.  Paul's  School,  Colet  will  always  be 
held  in  remembrance.  Lilly  was  the  head-master  ap 
pointed  by  Colet.  He  was  well  fitted  for  the  task  by  a 
five-years'  residence  at  Khodes,  where  he  encountered 
the  refugees  who  had  fled  thither  after  the  fall  of 
Constantinople. 

Pace  withdrew  to  Stepney,  where  he  died  in  1582. 
He  was  educated  at  Padua  and  Oxford.  He  became 
Latin  secretary  to  Cardinal  Bainbridge ;  Dean  of 
Exeter  and  of  St.  Paul's ;  and  Secretary  of  State. 
He  wrote  against  the  royal  divorce  and  resigned  his 
offices. 

Campeius.   My  lord  of  York,  was  not  one  Doctor  Pace 

In  this  man's  place  [Gardiner's]  before  him? 

Wolsey.  Yes,  he  was. 

Campeius.    Was  he  not  held  a  learned  man  ? 

Wolsey.  Yes,  surely. 

Campeius.     Believe  me,  there's  an  ill  opinion  spread  then 
Even  of  yourself,  Lord  Cardinal. 

Wolsey.  How  !  of  me  ? 

Campeius.     They  will  not  stick  to  say  you  envied  him ; 

And  fearing  he  would  rise  he  was  so  virtuous, 
Kept  him  a  foreign  man  still,  which  so  grieved  him 
That  he  ran  mad,  and  died. 

In  the  chancel  of  Stepney  Church  is  buried  Henry, 


Stratford-le-Bow.  371 

the  infant  son  of  Matthew  Stewart,  Earl  of  Lennox, 
and  his  wife  Margaret  Douglas,  who,  as  the  inscrip 
tion  on  her  tomb  in  Westminster  Abhey  relates,  had 
as  her  great-grandfather,  Edward  IV. ;  her  grand 
father,  Henry  VII. ;  her  uncle,  Henry  VIII. ;  her 
cousin -german,  Edward  VI.;  her  brother,  James  V.  of 
Scotland ;  her  son,  Henry  I.  of  Scotland ;  her  grand 
son,  James  VI.  of  Scotland  and  I.  of  England ;  her 
mother,  Margaret  Queen  of  Scots ;  her  aunt,  Mary 
Queen  of  France ;  her  cousins-german,  Mary  and 
Elizabeth,  Queens  of  England ;  her  niece  and  daugh 
ter-in-law,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  being  the  mother 
of  Lord  Henry  Darnley.  After  this  it  is  possible  to 
conceive  that  her  infant  son  succumbed  to  the  weight 
of  his  pedigree ! 

The  altar-tomb  in  the  chancel  is  that  of  Henry 
Oolet,  father  of  the  dean.*  In  a  letter  from  More  to 
Colet,  his  director,  More  entreats  the  return  of  the 
latter  to  town,  supplying  him  with  the  inducement 
of  country  retirement  at  Stepney. 

Stratford-le-Bow  was  formerly  a  hamlet  of  Step 
ney.  Here  was  a  ford  over  the  Lea,f  and  a  Bow, 
or  arched  bridge,  the  first  of  the  kind,  built  by 
Matilda,  wife  of  Henry  I.  When  St.  Erconwald 

°  He  was  a  great  benefactor  of  St.  Antholin's.  A  window  on 
the  north  of  that  church  had  portraits  '  of  him,  his  wife,  ten  sons, 
and  ten  daughters.'  Stow's  Survey  (Strype),  bk.  iii.  p.  16. 

f  The  Lea  forms  the  boundary  between  Middlesex  and  Essex. 


372  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

died  at  the  abbey  of  Barking,  the  funeral  proces 
sion  was  stopped  at  the  Stratford  ferry  by  a  flood. 
It  is  related  that  a  way  was  miraculously  opened 
for  its  passage.  The  difficulties  and  at  times  danger 
of  the  passage  were,  however,  felt  so  severely  by 
other  passengers,  and  amongst  others  by  Queen 
Maud  herself,  that  that  princess  resolved  on  the 
erection  of  the  bridge.  It  was  built  at  her  sole 
charge,  and  the  further  gift  was  added  of  a  mill 
and  manors  to  the  abbess  of  Barking  for  the  repair 
of  the  bridge  and  the  causeway  leading  to  it.  On 
the  bridge  was  a  chapel,  as  at  London-bridge,  York, 
Kotherham,  Wakefield,  and  elsewhere.* 

At  Stratford  was  a  convent  of  Black  or  Benedictine 
nuns,f  founded  by  William,  Bishop  of  London,  some 
twenty  years  after  the  Conquest.  It  will  be  remem 
bered  that  the  prioress  in  Chaucer,  unknowing  in 
the  French  of  Paris,  spoke  that  language  '  after  the 
scole  of  Stratford  atte  Bow.' 

Near  Stratford  was  the  residence  of  Sir  John 
Shaa,  Knight.  An  inventory  of  the  furniture  of  the 
house  and  domestic  chapel  is  still  extant. 

Stratford  Church,  dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
stands  in  the  middle  of  the  high-road — a  circum 
stance  to  which  is,  no  doubt,  due  the  extreme  nar- 

*  There  are  some  remains  of  the  chapel  that  stood  at  the  east 
end  of  the  old  bridge  at  Rochester. 

f  Dugdale's  Monasticon  (Ellis),  iv.  119. 


Poplar.  373 

rowness  of  the  aisles.  There  is  a  nave  with  aisles, 
a  chancel  and  west  tower.  The  east  window  has 
five  lights.  The  easternmost  windows  to  both  north 
and  south  of  the  chancel  form  sedilia.  There  is  a 
priest's  door  in  the  usual  position,  to  the  south  of 
the  chancel.  There  is  no  division  between  the  nave 
and  the  chancel,  as  was  also  the  case  in  the  old  church 
at  Islington.  The  roof  is  of  wood,  divided  into  com 
partments  by  ribs  with  bosses.  The  nave  roof  '  is 
what  is  technically  called  a  truss  roof,  and  consists 
of  a  series  of  curved  braces  set  close  together,  and 
tied  together  under  the  collars.  The  pitch  is  very 
good ;  it  is  tiled  externally.' 

In  1815,  the  Catholic  chapel  of  Stratford  was 
erected  by  the  efforts  of  the  Abbe  Chevrallais,  a 
French  emigre  priest,  who  came  hither  with  several 
of  his  brethren  of  the  order  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul. 
He  opened  two  schools,  one  for  boys,  the  other  for 
girls.  He  erected  at  the  same  time  a  presbytery 
adjoining  the  church. 

We  have  wandered  so  far  east,  that  we  may 
seem  to  have  come 

'  From  the  holy  land 
Of  blessed  Walsingham.' 

The  manor  of  Poplar  was  bestowed  by  a  deed  of 
gift,  dated  1376,  by  William  of  Wykeham,  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  upon  the  abbey  of  St.  Mary  of  Graces, 
near  the  Tower  of  London. 


374  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 


At  Bromley  a  convent  of  Benedictine  nuns  was 
established  in  the  reign  of  William  the  Conqueror. 
Fragments  of  the  chapel  are  supposed  to  have  been 
retained  in  the  walls  of  the  old  parish  church,  de 
molished  some  thirty  years  back.  It  was  Eomanesque, 
and  consisted  of  nave  and  chancel  only,  as  did  the  old 
St.  Pancras.  There  was  a  bell-cot  at  the  west  end. 
From  the  old  church  there  has  been  preserved  in  the 
modern  building  an  octagonal  font  of  late-pointed 
date,  incised  with  twelve  dedication  crosses ;  ten  of 
them  on  the  bowl,  the  others  on  the  stem. 

The  Knights  Templars  held  the  manor  of  Hack 
ney.  It  passed  from  their  hands,  on  the  suppression  of 
the  order,  into  those  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John.  We 
find  the  name  '  Temple  Mills'  in  Hackney  marshes. 
The  priory  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John  remained  till 
recently  in  Well-street.  In  1352,  the  prior  of  St.  John 
disposed  of  the  mansion,  then  known  as  Beaulieu,  to 
John  Blanch  and  Nicolas  Shordych.  From  the  last 
it  was  called  Shoreditch-place.  This  name  we  find  in 
Shore-place  and  Shore-road. 

The  early  church  of  Hackney,  dedicated  to  St. 
Augustine,  whose  rule  the  Hospitallers  followed,  was 
replaced  by  a  larger  structure  early  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  tower  of  this  church  still  stands,  as 
the  bells  were  found  to  be  too  heavy  for  the  modern, 
the  third,  church  of  Hackney. 


Nuns  of  Gods  tow.  3  75 

Kose  Herbert,  one  of  the  nuns  of  Godstow,  died 
near  Hackney,  in  the  thirty-fourth  year  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  reign,  at  the  age  of  ninety-six.  For  the 
last  fifteen  years  of  her  life  she  was  in  great  poverty, 
though  she  had  been  acquainted  with  the  queen's 
mother,  with  Cromwell,  and  with  Cranmer.  The 
last,  when  a  fellow  of  Jesus  College,  Cambridge,  was 
a  correspondent  of  Catherine  Bulkely,  the  last  abbess 
of  Godstow.  To  her  he  wrote :  '  I  send  you  by 
Stephen  Whyte  forty  shillings,  as  it  be  Christmas 
time,  for  the  comfort  of  the  sickly  children  of  the 
poor.  I  beg  that  my  soul's  health  be  remembered  in 
your  prayers,  and  those  of  the  little  innocent  chil 
dren.  I  recommend  you  to  the  care  and  protection 
of  the  Holy  Virgin  Mother. — T.  C.'  Again :  '  Stephen 
Whyte  hath  told  me  that  you  lately  gathered  around 
you  a  number  of  wild  peasant  maids,  and  did  make 
them  a  most  goodly  discourse  on  the  health  of  their 
souls ;  and  you  sheweth  to  them  how  goodly  a  thing 
it  be  for  them  to  go  oftentimes  to  confession.  I  am 
mighty  glad  of  your  discourse.  When  the  serpent 
cometh  in  the  shape  of  man  to  whisper  the  thought 
of  a  bad  action,  the  maid  that  goeth  to  a  clean  honest 
confession  is  the  one  that  cannot  be  led  astray ;  and 
so  Satan  is  thereby  disappointed.  And  the  man  who 
is  dishonest  becomes  changed ;  and  the  spirit  of  re 
venge  will  not  any  longer  have  a  dwelling  in  his 


376  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

heart.  Confession  be  a  most  goodly  thing  for  the 
soul's  health  and  rest.'* 

Twenty-one  abbesses  presided  over  the  convent 
of  Godstow,  from  Edith  the  foundress — who  was 
led  thither  by  a  light  from  heaven  that  rested  on 
the  spot  where  the  foundation  of  the  holy  house  was 
to  be  laid — to  Catherine  Bulkely,  the  last  abbess, 
inclusive.  Even  Burnet,  in  his  History  of  the  Refor 
mation,  says  regretfully  :  t  Though  the  visitors  in 
terceded  earnestly  for  one  nunnery  in  Oxfordshire, 
Godstow,  where  there  was  great  strictness  of  life,  and 
to  which  most  of  the  young  gentlewomen  of  the 
country  were  sent  to  be  bred,  so  that  the  gentry  of 
the  country  desired  the  king  would  spare  the  house, 
yet  all  was  ineffectual.' 

The  abbess  wrote  to  Cromwell  complaining  of 
Dr.  London,  one  of  the  visitors,  as  follows :  '  May  it 
please  your  honour,  with  my  most  humble  duty,  to 
be  advertised,  that  when  it  hath  pleased  your  lord 
ship  to  be  the  very  medium  to  the  king's  majesty 
for  my  preferment,  most  unworthy  to  be  the  abbess 
of  this,  the  king's  monastery,  of  Godstow ;  in  which 
office  I  trust  I  have  done  the  best  in  my  power 
for  the  maintenance  of  God's  true  honour,  with  all 
truth  and  obedience  to  the  king's  majesty;  and 
was  never  moved  nor  desired  by  any  creature  in 

*  Quoted  in  English  Monastic  Houses,  their  Accusers  and  De 
fenders. 


Letter  to  Cromwell.  377 

the  king's  behalf,  or  in  your  lordship's  name,  to  sur 
render  and  give  up  the  houses ;  nor  was  ever  minded, 
nor  intended  to  do  so,  otherwise  than  at  the  king's 
gracious  commandment,  or  yours.  To  the  which  I  do 
and  have  ever  done,  and  will  submit  myself  most 
humbly  and  obediently.  And  I  trust  to  God  that  I 
have  never  offended  God's  laws,  neither  the  king's, 
whereby  this  poor  monastery  ought  to  be  suppressed. 
And  notwithstanding  this,  my  good  lord,  that  Dr. 
London,  who  (as  is  well  known  to  your  lordship)  was 
against  my  promotion,  and  hath  ever  since  borne  me 
great  malice  and  grudge,  like  my  mortal  enemy,  has 
come  suddenly  to  me,  with  a  great  rout  [accompany 
ing  him] ,  and  here  threatens  me  and  my  sisters, 
saying  that  he  has  the  king's  commission  to  sup 
press  this  house,  in  spite  of  my  teeth.  And  when  he 
saw  that  I  was  content  that  he  should  do  all  things 
according  to  his  commission,  and  showed  him  plainly 
that  I  would  never  surrender  to  his  hands,  as  he  was 
my  ancient  enemy,  now  he  begins  to  entreat  me, 
and  to  inveigle  my  sisters,  one  by  one,  otherwise  than 
ever  I  heard  that  the  king's  subjects  have  been 
handled ;  and  here  tarries  and  continues,  to  my  great 
cost  and  charges,  and  will  not  take  my  answer  that  I 
will  not  surrender  till  I  know  the  king's  gracious 
commandment,  or  your  good  lordship's.  Therefore  I 
do  most  humbly  beseech  you  to  continue,  my  good 
lord,  as  you  have  ever  been ;  and  to  direct  your 


378  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

honourable  letters  to  remove  him  hence.  And  when 
soever  the  king's  gracious  commandment,  or  yours, 
shall  come  to  me,  you  shall  find  me  most  ready 
and  obedient  to  follow  the  same.  And  notwithstand 
ing  that  Dr.  London,  like  an  untrue  man,  hath  in 
formed  your  lordship  that  I  am  a  spoiler  and  a  waster, 
your  good  lordship  shall  know  that  the  contrary  is 
true,  for  I  have  not  alienated  one  halfpence  worth  of 
the  goods  of  this  monastery,  movable  or  immov 
able,  but  have  rather  increased  the  same ;  nor  ever 
made  lease  of  any  farm  or  piece  of  ground  belonging 
to  this  house,  without  their  being  always  set  under 
the  convent  seal  for  the  wealth  of  the  house.  And, 
therefore,  my  true  trust  is,  that  I  shall  find  the  king 
a  gracious  lord  unto  me,  as  he  is  to  all  his  other 
subjects,  seeing  I  have  not  offended,  and  am  and 
will  be  most  obedient  to  his  most  gracious  command 
ment  at  all  times,  with  the  grace  of  All-mighty  Jesus, 
Who  ever  preserve  you  in  honour  long  to  endure  to 
his  pleasure.  Amen. 

*  Godstow,  the  fifth  day  of  November, 

*  Your  most  obliged  bedeswoman, 

'  KATHERINE  BULKELEY,  Abbess  there.' 

Dr.  John  London,  Dean  of  Wallingford,  is  accused 
of  having  violated  nuns  at  Godstow.  The  accu 
sation  is  probably  false.  He  is  known,  however,  to 
have  been  discovered  at  a  later  date  to  have  formed 


Convent  School.  379 

an  incestuous  connection,  and  to  have  performed 
open  penance.  More,  he  was  convicted  of  perjury, 
and  suffered  the  punishment  of  a  charivari,  riding 
with  his  face  to  the  horse's  tail,  at  Ockingham  and 
Windsor.* 

There  is  much  that  is  of  interest  in  the  his 
tory  of  Godstow  besides  its  connection  with  Kosa- 
mond  Clifford.  Mary  Wolsey,  the  daughter  of  the 
cardinal  by  his  early  marriage  with  Blanche  Fitzher- 
bert,  was  educated  at  Godstow,  and  died  there  in  her 
sixteenth  year.  To  Godstow  Cromwell  sent  Matilda 
Lee,  the  adopted  child  of  one  of  his  early  friends,  for 
her  education.  She  became  the  trusty  'Popish  do 
mestic'  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  Teresa  Allen,  a  nun 
noted  for  her  austerity  in  the  Godstow  community, 
was  a  near  relation  of  Poynet,  who  became  Protestant 
Bishop  of  Winchester.  Miles  Coverdale  had  relations 
in  Godstow  to  whose  virtues  he  bears  testimony. 

At  Godstow  the  milk  of  three  cows  was  daily 
distributed  to  the  poor.  Bread  and  meat  in  large 
quantities  were  given  to  the  poor  twice  a  week. 
These  donations  were  limited  during  Lent,  when 
meat  and  soup  were  given  to  the  sick  and  children 
only.  Two  nuns  composed  '  herbal  draughts'  and 
medicines.  One  of  the  community  gathered  flowers 
in  spring  and  summer,  and  made  crosses  for  the  sick 

°  Home  and  Foreign  Eeview,  vol.  iv.  p.  182.    Art.  '  The  Dis 
solution  of  the  English  Monasteries.' 


380  Ecclesiastical  A  ntiquities  of  L ondon. 

and  dying.  Persons  who  had  led  a  bad  life  were 
found,  through  the  efficacy  of  these  holy  symbols,  to 
be,  on  their  '  deathbed,  filled  with  repentance.'  The 
history  of  Eosamond,  who,  it  will  be  remembered, 
died  a  penitent  at  Godstow,  may  have  turned  the  at 
tention  of  the  sisterhood  to  the  care  of  the  fallen. 
Many  peasant  girls  received — every  winter — shoes 
and  warm  clothing  from  the  nunnery.  Two  suits  of 
clothing  and  ten  shillings  were  given  annually  to 
each  of  '  six  peasant  brides'  approved  by  the  sister 
hood.  Henri  Ambere,  a  French  architect,  who 
visited  England  early  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII., 
relates  of  Godstow  'how  he  saw  the  poor  children 
and  widows  relieved,  and  treated  with  such  kindness 
that  they  must  have  felt  as  if  the  sisterhood  were 
their  relatives,  or  kindest  friends.  He  saw  no  such 
nuns  in  his  own  country.'  About  the  same  time  as 
Kose  Herbert,  another  of  the  Godstow  nuns  died  at 
St.  Albans,  in  poverty,  and  paralysed  by  want  of 
clothing.  She  was  in  her  eighty-ninth  year. 

It  is  said  that  Bonner's-fields  derive  their  name 
from  Bishop  Bonner,  who  occasionally  resided  at  an 
old  mansion  known  as  Bishop's-hall  at  Bethnal- 
green.  Bethnal-green  shares  with  Islington  a  place 
in  our  ballad  poetry. 

Eeturning  by  Hoxton  and  Old-street,  we  pass  the 
site  of  the  Well  of  St.  Agnes  le  Clair,  mentioned  in 
his  Bartholomew  Fair  by  Ben  Jonson. 


Envoi.  381 


We  have  now  completed  our  circuit,  and  this  spot 
must  be  to  us 

'  Longae  finis  chartaaque  viasque.' 

From  our  survey  we  have  omitted  many  historical 
facts  which  it  may  he  considered  we  ought  to  have 
mentioned.  The  omission  has  been  of  set  purpose. 
We  have  endeavoured  to  supply  illustrations  of  the 
life  that  surrounded  our  old  churches,  and  of  the  ser 
vices  maintained  in  them.  We  have  not  regarded 
these  churches  simply  as  the  scene  of  so  many  his 
torical  events.  Viewed  in  this  way,  their  history  is 
only  a  section  of  the  history  of  the  country  at  large. 
On  our  view,  their  history  is  distinct  from,  though  in 
inseparable  union  with  it.  They  have  their  own  life, 
their  own  history.  They  were  structures  set  apart 
for  a  special  purpose,  they  wrere  the  scenes  of  a  wor 
ship  to  which  they  were  fitted — as  a  glove  to  the 
hand.  They  were  formed  for  worship,  not  for  regal 
pageantry.  It  is  simply  an  error  to  view  them  through 
the  medium  of  secular  history,  without  regard  to 
their  religious  destination.  They  do  not  enter  into 
historical  'Annals'  at  all.  That  this  king  visited 
them,  and  that  did  not,  is  comparatively  unimportant. 
That  this  bishop  or  abbot  reared  so  many  arches  or 
so  many  altars,  that  this  mayor  or  alderman  founded 
such  and  such  a  chantry,  that  this  devotion  was 
practised  in  such  a  church,  that  such  and  such  was 
the  material  and  adornment  of  the  altar ; — this  is 


382    Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

what  is  really  worth  record  with  regard  to  our 
churches,  for  it  is  characteristic  of  and  solely  con 
cerns  them. 

Let  not  these  matters  he  thought  trifling.  They 
are  not  the  annals  of  our  country,  for  they  illustrate 
the  daily  life  and  thoughts  of  king  and  priest,  and 
noble  and  citizen.  There  are  other  histories  of  Eng 
land  than  the  records  of  battles  and  sieges,  and  the 
chronicle  of  political  events. 

We  have  noticed  events  of  later  date  than  those 
that  form  the  staple  of  our  illustrations,  where  the 
new  appeared  to  us  in  harmony  with  the  old.  Others, 
no  doubt,  have  a  widely  different  opinion  as  to  the 
events  that  are  the  appropriate  sequel  to  the  history 
of  the  pre-Keformation  church.  This  depends  on  the 
estimate  they  have  formed  of  the  religious  change  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  We  have  considered  it  radical, 
and  have  accordingly  considered  the  history  of  Catho 
licism  in  England  in  the  last  three  centuries  the  fit 
ting  companion  to  records  of  the  medieval  Church. 
Which  way  the  truth  lies  is  a  question  for  life  as  well 
as  for  literature.  For  us  the  truth  and  interest  of 
history  lies  here,  and  not  there.  We  have  taken  our 
part  gravely,  if  we  have  not  maintained  it  well. 


TEAPPISTS  AT  LULWORTH. 


THK  history  of  this  establishment  was  as  follows :  In  1704  a 
body  of  Trappists  made  a  short  stay  in  London.  Their  in 
tention  was  to  go  and  found  a  monastery  in  Canada.  Through 
Bishop  Milner,  then  the  priest  at  Winchester,  their  superior 
was  introduced  to  Mr.  Weld,  who  induced  them  to  settle, 
instead,  at  Lulworth.  Mr.  Weld  even  thought  of  restoring 
the  ruined  Cistercian  Abbey  of  Bindon,  near  Wool,  and  estab 
lishing  the  community  there.  The  abbey  is  some  six  miles 
distant  from  Lulworth,  between  which  place  and  Corfe  lies 
the  Grange  estate,  formerly  a  portion  of  its  possessions.  When 
the  castle  at  Lulworth  was  erected,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  Bindon  Abbey  contributed  no  small  por 
tion  of  the  materials.  Mr.  Weld's  rebuilding  of  the  structure 
would  have  been  in  more  than  one  sense  a  restoration,  though 
the  destruction  of  the  abbey  was  not  the  act  of  any  member 
of  his  pious  family.  Meantime  the  monks,  seven  in  number, 
including  the  superior,  were  lodged  in  a  house  in  the  park  at 
Lulworth,  and  in  179(5  they  were  established  in  the  building 
still  known  as  the  monastery,  below  the  northern  slope  of 
Flowers  Barrow,  the  eastern  part  of  the  range  of  hill  that — 
broken  only  by  Arishmell  Gap — intervenes  between  Lulworth 
and  the  sea.  To  the  west  lies  the  '  Swine's  Back '  or  Bindon 
Hill,  lying  in  Bindon  Liberty.  The  '  Sea  Farm,'  near  Arish 
mell  Gap,  was  intrusted  to  the  management  of  the  monks. 
They  did  not,  however,  succeed ;  and  Mr.  Weld  finally  ar 
ranged  that  they  should  have  ten  cows  with  the  needful  pas 
turage  and  fodder,  a  garden  of  some  size,  and  three  hundred 


3  84  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  London. 

pounds  per  annum.  Subsequently  they  rented  some  twenty 
acres,  and  brought  the  waste  ground  near  their  residence 
into  cultivation.  A  priory  up  to  that  date,  the  Trappist 
monastery  became  an  abbey  in  1813.  The  highest  point  in 
the  fortunes  of  the  community  was  attained  immediately 
before  their  decline.  A  storm  of  opposition  arose  against 
the  community,  greatly  aggravated  by  the  act  of  one  of  its 
own  members,  named  Power,  who  renounced  his  faith  and 
vows  in  the  parish  church  of  Blandford.  Pressure  was  brought 
to  bear  on  the  Ministry,  and  Lord  Sidmouth  decided  that 
none  but  French  novices  should  be  admitted  to  the  monas 
tery.  The  abbot,  Father  Anthony,  answered  that  the  English 
were  in  an  equal  degree  with  the  French  his  children.  Lord 
Sidmouth  replied  that  the  monks  had  only  been  tolerated  in 
the  capacity  of  French  refugees,  and  demanded  their  instant 
return  to  their  native  country.  Louis  XVIII.  gave  permis 
sion  for  their  return  to  France,  where  they  purchased  the 
monastery  ofMelleray,  near  Chateaubriant,  in  Bretagne. 
They  embarked  on  board  the  French  frigate  Ptevanche, 
July  10th,  1817.  At  the  date  of  their  departure  they  were 
sixty-four  in  number.  For  further  particulars  consult  Canon 
Oliver's  Collections,  pp.  138-104. 


B. 

The  Priory  at  St.  Michael's  Mount,  Cornwall  (being  a  dis 
tinct  corporation),  was  not  suppressed  by  the  acts  of  Henry  IV. 
and  V.  abolishing  the  alien  priories,  but  was  transferred  by 
the  latter  monarch — with  the  sanction  of  parliament — to  the 
Monastery  of  Sion,  then  recently  founded.  It  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  monastery  till  the  dissolution. 


Abchurch,  St.  Mary,  172. 
Adam  and  Eve  Gallery,  214. 
Agnes,  St.  Anne  and  St.,  121. 

„    leClair,Wellof,380. 
Alban's,  St.,  Wood-street,  117. 
Aldermanbury,  St.  Mary,  169. 
Aldgate,  36. 
All  Hallows  Barking,  56.* 

„          „      London  Wall,  35. 

,,          ,,      Staining,  55. 
Andrew's,  St.,  Holborn,  4. 

„     Undersbaft,  51. 

, ,  , ,     by  tbe  Wardrobe , 

174. 
Anne's,    St.,   Chapel,    Temple, 

197. 

Antbolin,  Budge-row,  105. 
Antbony,     St. ,     Threadneedle- 

street,  106. 

„     Higbgate,  354. 
Antwerp,  Exchange,  110. 
Artillery  Ground,  37. 
Atberstone,  40. 
Augustine,  St.,  Watling- street, 

171. 

Austin  Friars.  37. 
Axe,  St.  Mary,  51. 
Axholme,  32. 
Barbican,  37. 
Barnes,  St.  Mary,  290. 
Barnet,  39,  251. 
Barnsbury,  348. 
Bartholomew,  St.,  the  Great,  16. 
„    the  Less,  23. 
Belleval,  31. 
Beres,  143. 
Bermondsey,  92. 
Benet,  St.,  Sherehog,  106  n. 


Bethlem  Hospital,  40. 

Bevis  Marks,  51. 

Bishopsgate,  40. 

Bonner's  Fields,  380. 

Bosham,  143. 

Botolph,  St.,  Aldersgate,  122. 

„  ,,    Aldgate,  122. 

,,  ,,    Bishopsgate,      41, 

122. 

Boulogne  Mouth,  122. 
Bow  Church,  371. 
Boxgrove,  81. 
Breadsall,  40. 
Brede,  Sussex,  291  n. 
Brentford,  New,  290. 
Bridlington,  19. 
Bristol,  14,  19. 
Bromley,  374. 
Bruges,    St.    John's    Hospital, 

205  n. 

Brusyard,  54. 
Bucklersbury,  105. 
Bumsted,  160. 
Burgos  Cathedral,  44. 
Bury,  42,  51. 
Butchers'  Hall,  14. 
Calais,  45,  242,  275,  276. 
Camomile-street,  36. 
Canonbury,  Islington,  191,  348. 
Carpenters'  Hall,  37. 
Charing-cross,  207. 
Charterhouse,  The,  30. 
Chelsea,  270. 
Chichester,  81. 
Chiswick  Church,  289. 
Chomley  School,  Highgate,  354. 
Christchurch,  Aldgate,  51. 
Hants,  82. 


;>  The  tradition  of  the  burial  of  Eichard  I.'s  heart  at  All 
Hallows  should  not  have  been  mentioned  without  an  intimation 
of  its  doubtful  character. 

C  C 


386 


Index. 


Christ's  Hospital,  11. 
Clarendon  square,  334. 
Clement's,  St.,  Well,  27. 
Clerkenwell,  Priorjr,  27. 

„          „      Nunnery,  29. 

„      Well,  27. 
Colchester,  42. 
Colne,  The,  290  n. 
Cologne,  31. 
Conduit,  Cheapside,  113. 

•„          Fleet-street,  185. 

Holbom,  6. 
Cran,  The,  290  n. 
Cree,  St.  Catherine,  51. 
Cripplegate,  St.  Giles's,  23,  34. 
Crosby  HaU,  45. 
Crutched  Friars,  55. 
Danes,  St.  Clement,  5,  198. 
Denny,  54. 
Denys,  St.,  115  n. 

„    du  Pas,  143  n. 
Deptford,  61. 
Dilston,  363. 
Douay,  16. 
Downgate,  100,  101. 
Dunkirk,  281. 

Dunstan's,  St.,  in  the  East,  73. 

„     West,  188. 

„        Chapel   in    St. 

Paul's,  160. 
Durham  Cathedral,  147  n. 

„          House,  207. 
Eastminster,  or  New  Abbey,  57. 
Eaton,  The  Brays  of,  272. 
Edmundsbury,  St.,  42. 
Elgin  Cathedral,  226. 
Elms  in  Smithfield,  16. 

„     ,,  Westminster,  218. 
Elsing  Spital,  35. 
Ely-place,  Holborn,  7. 
Eppworth,  Lincoln,  31. 
Esher,  93,  287. 
Ethelburga's,  St.,  41. 
Ewen,  St.,  Newgate-market,  14. 
Fechin's,  St.,  Westmeath,  205  n. 
Finchley,  354,  365. 


Finchingfield,  160. 

Finsbury,  37.     , 

Fleet,  River,  2,  184. 

Garendon,  Leicester,  34. 

Geddington,  115. 

George's,  St.,  Southwark,  92  n, 

Godstow  Nunnery,  49,  375. 

Goldsmiths'  Hall,  118. 

Gravelines,  16,  289. 

Gravesend,  102. 

GrayVinn,  4. 

Great  St.  Bernard,  202. 

Greensted  Church,  42. 

Gregory,  St.,  near   St.  Paul's, 
143. 

Grenoble,  Dauphiny,  31. 

Guildhall,  107. 

Hackney,  374. 

Hammersmith,  Convent,  288. 

Hampstead  Church,  358. 

Hampton  Court,  300. 

Harrow  Church,  351. 

Helen's,  Great  St.,  41. 

Hendon  Church,  354  n. 

Henton  Church,  31. 

Hermitage  in  the  Wall,  34. 

Hexham,  364. 

Highbury,  59. 

Highgate,  354. 

Holy  well,  Shoreditch,  27,  48. 

Hornsey  Church,  350. 

Houndsditch,  36. 

Hounslow,  298,  307  n. 

Hoxton,  380. 

Ingatestone,  Essex,  363. 

Innocents'  Cemetery,  Paris,  140. 

Ipswich,  40. 

Isleworth,  290. 

Islington,  346. 

James,  St.,  Garlickhithe,  101. 
,,         „    Palace,  210. 

„     The  hill  above,  204. 

Jerusalem    Chamber,  218,  221, 
222. 

,,          Church    of  the   Re 
surrection  at,  189. 


Index. 


Jewin-street,  125. 

Jewry,  The  Old,  106. 

John's,  St.,  Wood,  301,  327. 

Katharine,  St.,  Hospital  of,  68. 
„  Chapel  of,  West 

minster,  219. 

Kelso,  20. 

Kenilworth,  19. 

Kennington,  210. 

Kensington,  307. 

Kilhurn  Priory,  324. 

Kingston,  Surrey,  299. 
„       „     York,  31. 

Lambeth  Palace,  267. 

Landsprung,  361,  362. 

Langbourne,  The,  59. 

Lede,  Monstrance  at,  99  n. 

Lewes,  Sussex,  92,  93. 

London  Wall,  36,  37. 
Stone,  172. 

Lucerne,  Bridge  at,  75  n. 

Ludgate,  128. 

Lynn,  14. 

Magnus,  St.,  London-bridge,  99. 

Marshalsea,  The,  92  n. 

Martin,  St.,  le  Grand,  118. 
„         „    Ludgate,  128, 190  n. 

Mary,  St.,  le  Bone,  317. 
„     le  Bow,  110. 
„       „     in  the  Fields,  Leices 
ter,  186. 

Mercers' Chapel,  Cheapside,  114. 

Michael,  St.,  Cornhill,  50. 

„     Wood-street,  116. 
„  ,,    Paternoster  Royal, 

100. 

Middlesex  Hospital,  346. 

Mildred,  St.,  Bread-street,  110  n. 

Minories,  The,  54. 

Monkwell,  34. 

Moorfields,  36. 

Mortlake,  290. 

Mountgrace,  31. 

Newgate,  127,  128  n. 

Newington  Barrow,  348. 
„       „     Green,  349. 


Newstead,  19. 

Nicholas-in-the-Shambles,  14. 
St.,  Newcastle,  73. 

Northampton,  115. 

Norton  Folgate,  46. 

Okeburn,  57. 

Olave,  St.,  Hart-street,  54. 

„     Tooley-street,  92. 
„       „     Nicholas,  169. 

Old-street,  380. 

Outwich,  St.  Martin,  46. 

Oxford,  14. 

,,       Corpus  Christi  College, 
82,  369. 

Trinity  College,  96,  248. 
„       New  College,  80,  82. 
„        Magdalen  College,  82. 

Painted  Chamber,  Westminster, 
261. 

Pancras,  St.,  Old,  337. 

„  ,,     Soper-lane,  106  n. 

Papey,  St.  Augustine,  51. 

Paidon    Churchyard,   Charter 
house,  30. 

„      St.  Paul's,  140. 

Paris,  140,  141,  143  n. 

Paul's,  Old  St.,  130-172. 

St.,   Chapel,   Westmin 
ster,  252. 
„       School,  167. 
,,      Hospital,  170  n. 

Pedlar's  Acre,  Lambeth,  269. 

Peter's,  St.,  Cornhill,  50. 

„         „     Image,    Westmin 
ster,  232  n. 

Pisa,  Baptistry,  196. 

Poplar,  373. 

Primrose-hill,  329. 

Putney,  285. 

Quarr    Abbey,   Isle    of  Wight, 
168  n. 

Queenhithe,  180. 

Quern,  St.  Michael  le,  35. 

Ramsay,  Lodgings  of  the  Abbot 
of,  35. 

Reclusory  of  St.  Peter,  64. 


388 


Index. 


Redcross-street,  35. 
Rennes,  334  n. 
Rheims,  168. 
Richmond,  York,  296. 

Surrey,  296. 
Rochester,  304  n.,  372. 
Rolls  Chapel,  185-187. 
Rood-lane,  Billingsgate,.  74. 
Rotherham-bridge  Chapel,  372. 
Rounceval,  St.  Mary  of,  210. 
Rouen,  St.  Patrice  at,  44. 

,,        Funeral  of  Henry  V.  at, 

242. 

St.  Ouen  at,  224. 
Saffron-hill,  8. 
Sandon  Hospital,  Esher,  93. 
Saviour's,  St.  Southwark,  78. 

,,  ,,     Bermondsey,  5. 

Savoy,  The,  202. 
Scotland-yard,  213. 
Sepulchre's,  St.,  9. 

,,  „  Cambridge,  196* 

Sheen,  East,  Surrey,  4,  31. 
Sion  House,  Isleworth,  290. 
Skinner's  Hall,  100. 
Smithfield,  West,  24. 
East,  72.. 
Soho,  333. 

Somerset  House,  200,  333, 
Southampton-buildings,  4. 
Spalatro,  206  n. 
Spital,  Elsing,  35. 

„  St.  Mary,  47. 
Steelyard,  The,  101. 
Stephen,  St.,  Coleman,  54. 

,,  ,,     Westminster,  206. 

Stepney,  366. 
Stinking-lane,  14. 
Sutton-street,  Great,  30. 
Swaffham,  Norfolk,  97,  269. 
Swithin's,   St.,    Cannon-street, 

172. 

,,  ,,     Winchester,  369. 

Teddington  Church,  299. 


Temple,  The,  189. 
Thomas,  St.,  Apostle,  101. 
Thorndon,  363. 
Tooting-beck,  57. 
Tower,  The,  62. 

Royal,  101. 
Trig-lane,  175. 

Trente  Trois,  College  of,  280. 
Trinity,    Brotherhood    of    the, 

Aldersgate-street,  122. 
Trinity  Chapel,  Conduit-street, 

307  n. 

Tunbridge,  11. 
Twickenham,  298. 
Tyburn,  32,  209,  317. 
Undershaft,  St.  Andrew's,  51. 
Ursula,    St.,    and    the    Eleven 

Thousand  Virgins,  51. 
Valencia,  153  n. 
Vane  Room,  Whitehall,  214. 
Vine -street,  9. 
Wakefield,  Bridge  at,  75  n. 
Walsingham,  19. 
Waltham,  Cross  at,  115. 

„        Abbey,  267. 
Warwick,  14. 
Waterbeck,  54. 

Watering's,  St.  Thomas  a,  91  n. 
Wells,  Chapter-house,  254. 
Wenynton,  Essex,  143. 
Westbourne,  The,  316. 
Westminster  Abbey,  216. 
Whetstone,  328. 
Whitecross-street,  35. 
Whitefriars,  187. 
Whitehall,  213. 
Willesden,  170. 
Witham,  Somerset,  31. 
Wood-street,  116. 
Wormwood-street,  36. 
York,  14. 

,,     Cathedral,  148  n. 

„     House,  213. 
Zachary,  St.  John,  119,  120. 


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