Old and New London, A Narrative of its History, its People and its Places. Illustrated with Numerous Engravings from the Most Authentic Sources. vol 3
Thornbury, Walter
1872-78
Chapter LIV:Westminster Abbey.-The Chapter House, Cloisters, Deanery, &c.
Chapter LIV:Westminster Abbey.-The Chapter House, Cloisters, Deanery, &c.
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It has been observed by Mr. Spalding, in his work on that But such a statement as this would argue gross ignorance, and a mind incapable of appreciating the real theory of the monastic life. | |
p.451 | It is scarcely necessary to do more than state here that the in some shape or other, dates from the century of the Christian faith. It was only by degrees, however, that it developed itself in the Church, the hermits and recluses of the earlier ages abounding in Egypt and the countries nearest to the Holy Land. St. Benedict, who founded the noble monastery of Monte Casino in Italy in A.D. -, is generally regarded as the founder-though in reality he was only the re-founder and reformer--of the monastic system in the Western or Latin Church. His rule was brought into England by St. Augustine; and if not before, at all events soon after, the Norman Conquest, the chief and wealthiest abbeys in our country were those of the Benedictines-Glaston- |
bury, St. Albans, Abingdon, Canterbury, , &c. In fact, in a certain sense, nearly all the well-known monasteries followed the rule of St. Benedict, whether they were Cistercians, Carthusians, Cluniacs, or whatever the name of their discipline; it is said that all our cathedral priories, except Carlisle, were of the Benedictine order, and that the revenues of the Benedictine abbeys exceeded those of all the rest of the religious bodies put together. | |
says Mr. Wood, in his
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Although most of the buildings appertaining to the of the monastery at have disappeared, there is still much left that is interesting; for, besides the church itself, which is substantially the same now as it was before the Reformation, many of the other ancient parts of the Abbey still remain. For instance, the Chapter House and the Cloisters are both entire; and the same may be said of the Jerusalem Chamber. | |
Leaving the abbey church by a doorway at the east end of the south aisle, we are led by a descent of several steps to the north-eastern corner of the cloisters. Passing along the east walk, a doorway on the left will be found opening into the outer vestibule of the [extra_illustrations.3.452.2] . | |
writes the Rev. Mackenzie Walcott,
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Sir G. Gilbert Scott, in writing on the Chapter House at , says it It is evident from the actual Building accounts which have been preserved that the Chapter House was erected in A.D. -, so that it formed part and parcel of the original plan of the church, though a separate structure; and this date agrees with that of at Paris, the windows of which are of a similar style;
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The shape of the previous Chapter House, which stood on the same spot, cannot be determined. The present building stands over a crypt which may or may not have belonged to its predecessor. It is approached from the outer cloister by an outer and an inner vestibule; the former of limited height, owing to its passing under the dormitory; the latter lofty, and containing the flight of steps by which the raised level of the Chapter House is reached. The outer vestibule is divided into walks by small columns of Purbeck marble, and the arch in the cloister by which we enter it is exquisitely carved. The bosses in this vestibule are also elaborate. The inner vestibule is divided into unequal bays, pierced on both sides with windows; ;those on the northern side, however, look not into the open air, but towards the altar of St. Faith in the revestry. | |
The building is an octagon, the diagonals of which measure feet; in other words, it is an octagon, inscribed in a circle of that diameter; it is loftier than most other buildings of the same kind. The central pillar is of Purbeck marble, consisting of a column surrounded by detached shafts: it is lofty and light, and the groining which shot up from it has been restored according to the original pattern by Sir G. G. Scott. Each side of the building is occupied by a spacious window, which fills nearly the whole width between the corner shafts. These windows are generally of lights; the mullions are of Purbeck marble, and the heads filled with large circles and quatrefoils. The spaces beneath the windows are arcaded, with arches in each, of a trefoil form and richly moulded. The arches against the eastern wall are much richer and more deeply set than the others. They probably formed the seats of the greater dignitaries of the Abbeynamely, the abbot in the centre; the prior and subprior, and the and priors. The seats all round are of stone, and on the backs of these is a series of paintings of religious subjects in a sadly mutilated condition, but as they are fully described by Sir Charles Eastlake in his work on oil paintings we need not pause on them in detail. The entire building, although loftier than the Chapter House at Salisbury Cathedral, is less rich in ornament, and probably a little earlier in date of erection; the , however, are so like that no doubt the suggested the general plan of the other. There is an excellent description of the building in a volume of papers read by Sir G. G Scott at the London Congress of the Archeological Institute in , and published by Mr. John Murray under the title of In that paper the general architect expressed his doubt as to the possibility of But since that date all difficulties have been surmounted; and although the rich painted glass which once threw its tints upon the tessellated pavement below has not been replaced as yet, still the groining of the lofty roof has been renewed, and the exterior has been freed from the wooden and stone encumbrances which for so long a period of vandalism and ignorance observed the beauty of its Gothic details, and mutilated its fair proportions. The crypt below is comparatively plain, and of no great height; and there can be little doubt that it was formerly used as a chapel. | |
The chapter-house, as is well known, was the place where the monks and other dignitaries of monastic buildings met to transact the general business of their order; but that at has its political as well as its religious associations. Here, by consent of the then abbot, in , the Commons of England held their meetings, as part of the King's Parliament; and here they continued to hold their sittings until , when Edward VI. granted them instead the use of Chapel. | |
It appears that in the reign of James I., if not sooner, the records of the King's Bench and the Common Pleas were deposited in this place, and from that time down to the close of the year the records continued to increase. It is said that much damage was done to the Chapter House in the time of the Civil Wars. The old groined roof was standing in . Remonstrances had been made to the Government, who were the custodians of the place, in consequence of its dangerous condition, some time before. At the above date certain surveyors reported that it was necessary to pull the structure down, and put up a new . This report was, fortunately, not acted upon; and in the year upwards of were expended on those repairs, which destroyed in a great measure the ancient appearance of the building. In the Dean and Chapter of called a meeting to take into consideration the steps which were desirable in order to call public attention to the ruinous condition of the Chapter House, with a view to its restoration; nothing, however, seems to have resulted from this meeting, and in another meeting for the same object was convened by the Society of Antiquaries. [extra_illustrations.3.453.1] , who was voted to the chair, having related the early history of the Chapter House, and alluded to the fact that it was the place of meeting of the , said: continued the Dean, [extra_illustrations.3.454.1] [extra_illustrations.3.454.2] [extra_illustrations.3.454.3] | |
That this meeting was more successful than its predecessor will be at once inferred, when we state that early in the following year the sum of was voted by Parliament for the restoration of the Chapter House; the work was placed in the hands of Mr. (now Sir) G. Gilbert Scott, who had devoted much of his time to the acquisition of a knowledge of the details of the Abbey in every part; and the result of his labours, it need hardly be added, has fully justified the appointment. | |
For many years prior to , the Chapter House was used as a repository for the Public Records, among which was the original so familiar to every child who has read the history of our Saxon and Norman kings. wrote Pennant in ,
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This great work, together with the other public records that encumbered the place, was removed in the year to the new Record Office in . For many years this portion of had been allowed to fall into decay; it was filled from the floor to the ceiling with presses and galleries in which the deeds and other documents were stowed away. The old encaustic pavement was boarded over, and to this cause we are, perhaps, indebted for its preservation. The central pillar, from which sprung the groined roof, remained; but in other parts of this octagonal building terrible mischief had been done. The original windows, the same in size and general arrangement as they now appear, had been in some instances removed, and the space filled up with brickwork. | |
Close by the Chapter House is the [extra_illustrations.3.454.4] an ancient vaulted chamber, formerly the depository of the regalia of the Scottish kings, including the Holy Cross of Holyrood. Dean Stanley thus writes concerning it:
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This chamber, as Mr. J. Timbs tells us in his was once
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At he time of the Commonwealth, the Pyx Chamber seems to have been in the occupation of the Dean and Chapter, and upon their refusing to deliver up the keys to the officers of the , the doors were forced open, and an inventory of the regalia was made. These were afterwards sold, and though subsequently recovered | |
p.455 | by the Crown, they were never restored to the custody of the Abbey, but at the time of the Restoration they were transferred to the Tower. The Pyx Chamber still remains in the exclusive occupation of the Crown. In this chamber is a stone altar that seems to have escaped destruction by the fanatics at the time of the Reformation and the great Civil War. The groined roof is supported by Romanesque or semi-circular arches, and thick, short, round shafts. The keys of its double doors are now deposited with distinct officers of the Exchequer. |
The gloomy-looking passage which extends southward by the door of the Pyx Chamber is known as the and leads to a small enclosure called the Here is the Littlington Tower, which was built by Abbot Littlington, and originally the bell-tower of the church. In it were bells, which were rung when great meetings or prayers took place in Chapel; a small flag ,being at the same time hoisted on the summit of the tower, as appears in Hollar's view. A writer of the century says :-- We also read that St. Catharine's Chapel was in part pulled down in the year ; the bells ( dated as early as ) were taken down, and, with twonew bells, were hung in of the western towers of the Abbey Church. In Littlington Tower lived the noted [extra_illustrations.3.455.2] , when servant to Mr. Dare. The building, we are told by Mr. Timbs,
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The Little Cloister is a square enclosure, having a fountain in the centre, surrounded by an arcade supported by plain semi-circular arches. At the south-eastern corner are the remains of St. Catharine's Chapel. It now serves as the entrance-hall to of the canon's residences; and part of the north end has been partitioned off so as to form a passage to the residence on the east side. According to Dean Stanley, St. Catharine's Chapel was several times before the Reformation used for episcopal consecrations, and also as the meetingplace of the principal Councils of . | |
Not far from this interesting remnant of the old monastery, and near the south-eastern corner of the Abbey precincts, is an ancient square tower, which, as we learn from Dean Stanley's is supposed to have served the purposes of a monastic prison, but which was sold by the Abbey to the Crown in the last year of Edward III. It bears in its architecture a striking resemblance to those parts of the Abbey which are known to have been built by Abbot Littlington. It was devoted to the purposes, and for many years bore the name, of the King's Jewel House. It then became the Parliament Office, and was used as a depository for Acts of Parliament. In these Acts were removed to the Victoria Tower, in the new Houses of Parliament; but the grey fortress still remains, and, as the Dean tells us, This tower is now used as the depository of the standards of weights and measures, both old and new, in connection with the (see Vol. I., page ). | |
[extra_illustrations.3.455.3] is immediately contiguous to the south side of the nave of the Abbey Church. The northern and western sides of the cloisters were built by Abbot Littlington, who died in . He also built the granary, which afterwards became the dormitory of the King's Scholars; By the Benedictine rule the monks were required to spend much of their time in the seclusion of the cloisters; and there the day of the month was proclaimed every morning after by the boys attached to the monastery. The old grey cloisters, with groined arches of the century, surround a grassy area-
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The north walk of the cloisters is spanned by the buttresses of the nave, and at either end are entrances to the church. In the south walk are the remains of a lavatory, and towards the east end of this walk are [extra_illustrations.3.455.4] , and covers the ashes of Gervase de Blois, a natural son of King Stephen, who was appointed abbot in and deposed in . In , of the monks of this abbey fell victims to a plague which was then raging, and they are reported by old Fuller to have been buried all in grave in the south cloister, under the slab above alluded to. The humbler brethren of the monastery were | |
p.456 | mostly buried under the central plot of grass in the cloisters. |
A small wooden door in the south walk leads to Ashburnham House, of Inigo Jones's few remaining works. Close by the entrance to Ashburnham House is a monument to Peter Francis Courayer, a Roman Catholic clergyman, librarian and canon of the Abbey of St. Genevieve, at Paris. He translated and published several very valuable works on the validity of English orders; but his writings not being favourably received by members of his own Church, he took refuge in England in , and was warmly received by the University of Oxford, who conferred upon him the degree of D.D. He died in , at the age of . There is in the east walk a monument to Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, who was murdered in the reign of Charles II., and a tablet to Lieutenant- General Withers, with an epitaph said to be by Pope. In the north walk lie buried Dr. Markham, archbishop of York, who died in , and also a former Bishop of St. David's; and there are here a few memorial tablets of no particular interest, unless perhaps we select dated in , remarkable for its quaintness, and inscribed to the memory of William Laurence, in these lines-
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About the year , Dean Williams, afterwards Archbishop of York, spent a considerable sum in repairing the most decayed parts of the church he also, says Dugdale, converted a room in the east part of the cloisters, which had been the monks' parlour, into a library which he furnished with books. | |
In the west walk is a monument to George Vertue, the antiquary and engraver, and also , by Banks, to Woollett, another eminent engraver of the last century. | |
It does not appear that the nave and cloisters, though the last resting-places of so many eminent persons, were treated with due respect in the reign of Queen Anne. At all events the following occurs in the Acts of the Dean and Chapter, under date :
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Ashburnham House, in , as stated above, was built by Inigo Jones. Its chief beauty is a magnificent staircase. In this house was deposited the Cottonian Library (now in the ), which had a narrow escape of being destroyed by fire here in . of the most important works in this library was the Customs Book of the Abbey, written by Abbot Ware in the century. This volume has always been said to have been destroyed in the fire above alluded to, but its parched and shrivelled leaves have been preserved in the , and a few years ago underwent a restoring process by | |
means of which the whole has become legible. Dean Stanley has had a copy made, which is deposited in the Abbey Library. | |
In the garden is an alcove, also attributed to Inigo Jones, in imitation of part of a small Roman temple. In the coal-cellar are some remains of the vaults of the old conventual buildings, and in of the walls may be seen a capital of the Early Norman period. The house, however, contains nothing else striking or important, and is chiefly memorable as having been at different times inhabited by Dean Milman and Dean Ireland. The garden between the house and the cloister occupies the site of what once was a hall or refectory or dormitory, as is shown by the deeplysplayed windows which are still to be seen in the wall rising far above the spring of the arches of the cloister roof. The house is now occupied by the Sub-Dean, Lord John Thynne. | |
The present Deanery, a substantial building of stone, occupies part of the site, and, indeed, is formed partly out of the ancient abbot's house, which enclosed a small court or garden lying to the west of the cloisters. It is of the most curious buildings in the Abbey precincts. Over the doorway is a stone shield carved with the arms | |
p.458 | of the Deanery, namely-, a cross patonce between martlets, in the cantons of the cross, and in base, ; on a chief of the last, a pale quarterly of France and England, between roses, . Dart, in his says that Abbot Islip built the Dean's House and offices to the monastery; Dean Stanley, however, in his ascribes its erection to Abbot Littlington, with a slight addition by Abbot Islip. The doorway is close by the entrance to the cloisters from . It stands round a small court, into which for the most part its windows look. Only from the grand dining-hall and its parlour there were originally windows into the open space before the Sanctuary. It was commonly called from the conspicuous chain which was drawn across the entrance of the cloisters. Skirting the west side of the cloister are a suite of modern apartments and the dining-room. On the south side was the Abbot's long chamber, now the Dean's library; this is immediately above the entrance to the cloisters. The kitchen occupied the south-west corner, and extending thence to the Jerusalem Chamber was the abbot's refectory, now the college hall. Till Dean Buckland introduced a modern stove, this noble apartment was warmed by a huge brazier, of which the smoke escaped through a in the roof. |
[extra_illustrations.3.458.1] , to which we now make our way, was built by Abbot Littlington, towards the latter end of the century; and it is supposed to have been either the or the abbot's withdrawing-room. It is known to every reader of English history and of Shakespeare, that in this chamber died King Henry IV., soon after an attack of illness which seized him whilst paying his devotions at the shrine of Edward the Confessor. It is scarcely necessary to repeat here the well-known lines of Shakespeare, and yet their omission would be unpardonable :--
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With reference to the death of Henry IV. in this chamber, Pennant remarks, on the authority of Brown's that
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In the body of Joseph Addison lay in state in the Jerusalem Chamber, before its burial in Henry VII.'s Chapel, as pictured in Tickell's elegy :--
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Here, too, Congreve lay in state, before his pompous funeral, at which noblemen bore the pall; and here, also, a similar honour was paid to the body of Matthew Prior, for we are told in the of , that
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The portrait of Richard II., now in the chancel of the Abbey Church, hung for some time on the walls of this chamber, as already mentioned in a preceding chapter. | |
The exterior of the Jerusalem Chamber is not particularly attractive, and with its dwarf proportions it seems a sort of excrescence on the west front of the Abbey, from which it leads in a southward direction towards the Deanery. Between the years and the interior underwent a thorough restoration. its walls are covered with ancient tapestry, and with cedar panelling; the fireplace is fitted with an antique grate, and the surrounding surface is covered with very handsome tiles, ornamented with a pattern combining roses and lilies, with the briars and the stems of each respectively, while around, in medieval characters, are the texts:
and The old Jacobean carving on the wall over the fireplace is retained; at the top is an admirably executed painting of the death of Henry IV. in this very chamber, with the line from the above quotation,
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The Jerusalem Chamber has been used as the Chapter House, probably, ever since the Abbey gave up its proper Chapter House to the Crown. Here, then, it may not be out of place to make some mention of the of the Abbey-or, rather, cathedral-for, as we have shown in a previous chapter, its duties are performed in all | |
p.459 | respects similar to any other cathedral body. The deanery is in the gift of the Crown; the Dean, whose power is absolute in these walls, has a salary of per annum; he is also Dean of the Order of the Bath. There are canons, of whom is also sub-dean, and minor canons, a chapter clerk, organist, besides vergers and choristers. The patronage which is vested in the Dean and Chapter of embraces the minor canonries, and extends over twentyfour benefices. Under the charge of the Dean and Chapter of the Abbey, and forming part of their especial charge, is School, or, to speak technically, As a school for the young was always a leading feature in every monastery, and especially in those of the Benedictine order, there can be no doubt that there was a school attached to the Abbey of in the old Saxon times. It was re-founded by Queen Elizabeth, who contrived, through the fulsome adulation of her courtiers, to get herself regarded as its founder, and it dates its precedence among the public schools of England for . This school, however, will form the subject of our next chapter. |
Besides being the place for the transaction of business by the Dean and Chapter, the Jerusalem Chamber is the place of meeting for the members of the Convocation of the Province of Canterbury. In theory, the Church of England is governed by means of its Convocation of Bishops and Clergy; but, practically, Convocation is at present little more than a merely deliberative body. Still its moral influence is great, and no wise minister would venture to disregard its deliberately expressed opinion. There is a House of Convocation for each province, Canterbury and York. That of Canterbury consists of Houses: the upper is confined to the bishops; the lower is composed of the deans of every cathedral, the archdeacons, with proctors elected from every cathedral chapter, and more elected by the clergy of every diocese. In York there are Houses, but the bishops, deans, archdeacons, and proctors sit together. A fresh election of proctors is made with every new Parliament. | |
The Jerusalem Chamber is also to be remembered as the scene of the labours of the committee appointed by Convocation in to revise the of the English Bibleabours which have occupied years. | |
On the suppression of the bishopric of , in the year , the diocese was reunited to the see of London. says Widmore, Bishop Thirleby is reported to have impoverished his bishopric very much by granting long leases of the estates. He was, immediately after his surrender, translated to Norwich, and thence, some years afterwards, to Ely. | |
We may add here, with reference to the suppression of the bishopric, that, under date of , Strype, in his says that Widmore, too, informs us that
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Between the abolition of as a cathedral city by Henry VIII. and its return to monastic rule by order of Queen Mary--that is, from to -no less than deans were appointed; and from the restoration of the deanery in , down to the present time, there have been upwards of . Of these, some have held high preferment in the Church, or have had their names handed down to posterity through the share they have taken in political events or other matters of history. Space does not permit of our speaking of more than a few of the most important. | |
Lancelot Andrews, who held the deanery of when James I. came to the throne, was appointed to the bishopric of Chester in , and afterwards translated to the see of Ely. In | |
p.460 | he was advanced to the bishopric of Winchester, and made Dean of the Chapel Royal. He was the author of several literary works ; but that by which he is best known is his and a Bishop Andrews has the reputation of having been the most learned of his English contemporaries, excepting Usher, in the Fathers, ecclesiastical antiquities, and canon law. He was also celebrated for his talent at repartee, of which an instance is told in page , Vol. II., of this work. The good bishop is buried in , . |
Thomas Sprat, who became Dean of in , was of the original Fellows of the Royal Society, and in published its history. In he was consecrated Bishop of Rochester, and in return for the royal favours which had been conferred upon him he published a history of the Rye House Plot, entitled After the abdication of James II. an attempt was made to implicate the bishop in a pretended plot for restoring him, his signature having been fraudulently obtained; but he succeeded in establishing his innocence, after which he lived in retirement at , in Kent, till his death in . Dr. Sprat was the author of a few short poems, and some other works of no great merit. | |
[extra_illustrations.3.460.1] , who succeeded Dr. Sprat in the deanery, and also in the bishopric of Rochester, was a great controversialist in the reigns of Queen Anne and George I. He was a native of Milton, near Newport Pagnell, in Buckinghamshire, and was educated at School, and , Oxford. Having taken orders, he was elected lecturer of , and soon afterwards nominated minister of , where his pulpit eloquence attracted general attention. In the year he became engaged in a long controversy with Dr. Wake, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, and others, concerning the rights, powers, and privileges of Convocation, Atterbury denying the authority of the civil power over ecclesiastical synods; and the zeal with which he upheld his views secured for him the thanks of the Lower House of Convocation, and the degree of Doctor in Divinity from the University of Oxford. In he was appointed to the deanery of Carlisle, and shortly afterwards transferred to a canonry in Exeter Cathedral. In he was made Dean of , Oxford, and in the following year was advanced to the bishopric of Rochester and the deanery of . On the death of Queen Anne Dr. Atterbury assumed a position of hostility to the House of Hanover, and all his energies were directed to bring about the restoration of the Stuart dynasty. This, perhaps, is the great blot on his character, and it was the which led to his downfall. On the breaking out of the rebellion in the other prelates published a declaration of abhorrence to it, but Atterbury refused his signature, and not long afterwards he incurred the suspicion of being deeply concerned in a succession of plots for the restoration of the ejected family. He was charged by a committee of the with a treasonable correspondence, and the evidence against him being considered conclusive, he was committed to the Tower. The bill of pains and penalties which was passed against him by both the Upper and the Lower House He accordingly quitted England for France in , and after several changes of residence eventually died at Paris in , in the seventieth year of his age. He was buried privately in , and no monument has been erected to his memory. | |
[extra_illustrations.3.460.2] , who was installed in the deanery in , was a distinguished prelate of the English Church, successively Bishop of St. David's, Rochester, and St. Asaph. He was a powerful theological controversialist, and the person against whom he chiefly directed his attack was Dr. Joseph Priestley. His published writings are very numerous, and a complete list of them is given in Nichol's His was regarded by the friends of the Church as Soon after the publication of this work, Lord Thurlow, who was then chancellor, presented him with a prebendal stall in Gloucester Cathedral, his lordship, it is said, at the same time observing, that Bishop Horsley vacated the deanery of in the year , on his translation to the bishopric of St. Asaph. | |
John Ireland, who was appointed to the deanery in , sprang from very humble parentage, and was born at Ashburton, in Devonshire, in the neighbourhood of which place he held his | |
p.461 | curacy. He was afterwards vicar of Croydon, and promoted to a prebendal stall in . On his advancement to the deanery he was also nominated to the rectory of Islip, Oxon, which, however, he resigned some years before his death, which took place in . Dr. Ireland was always distinguished by his warm patronage of learning. The University of Oxford is indebted to him for the scholarships bearing his name- in number, of per annum each, founded in ; and to be elected on his foundation is of the greatest classical honours which the University can confer.[extra_illustrations.3.461.1] |
Dr. Samuel Wilberforce was next in succession to Dr. Ireland. He was the son of the celebrated philanthropist, William Wilberforce, and was born in . He was ordained as curate of Checkendon, in Oxfordshire, and his subsequent preferments were the rectory of Brightstone, archdeaconry of Surrey, the rectory of Alverstoke, a canonry of Winchester, a chaplaincy to the late Prince Consort, the Deanery of , and the post of Lord High Almoner. He was consecrated Bishop of Oxford in , and translated to Winchester in . Bishop Wilberforce took a prominent part in the debates in the , and also in the Upper House of Convocation; and he was also well known as a most eloquent speaker at public meetings of a religious character. Bishop Wilberforce was accidentally killed, on the , by being thrown from his horse. | |
William Buckland was nominated by Sir Robert Peel to the deanery, on the elevation of Dr. Wilberforce to the bishopric of Oxford, in . In early life Dr. Buckland exhibited a marked tendency for the study of natural and physical science, and in we find him appointed to the Readership of Mineralogy, and in to the Readership of Geology, in the University of Oxford. His contributions to the of the Geological Society were very numerous, and in the volume of the published by the Ray Society, in , there are references to no less than distinct works and memoirs. In the year Dr. Buckland accepted the living of Stoke Charity, in Hampshire, and was promoted to a canonry in the Cathedral of , Oxford. He twice filled the presidential chair of the Geological Society, and he also took a lively interest in the foundation of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In he was appointed a trustee of the , and took an active part in the development of that department more especially devoted to geology and paleontology. Dr. Buckland seems not to have devoted himself to questions of technical theology. His views on this subject are chiefly contained in his and the Amongst the list of his published works will be found but sermon, and that devoted to the subject of death; it was published at Oxford in . | |
[extra_illustrations.3.461.2] , who succeeded to the deanery on the death of Dr. Buckland, in , is a nephew of the Lord Ashtown, in the Irish peerage, and was born in Dublin in . He graduated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was soon afterwards ordained, and engaged upon a country curacy. It was not, however, as a scholar or a divine, but as a poet, that his name became known. He is also the author of a large number of essays and treatises. In and he was Hulsean Lecturer at Cambridge, and for a short time of the Select Preachers. About the year he became Theological Professor and Examiner at , London, and continued to hold that appointment till his promotion to the Deanery of . He was consecrated Archbishop of Dublin in , on the death of Dr. Whately. | |
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D.D., who, in , succeeded Archbishop Trench in the Deanery of , is the son of the late Right Rev. Edward Stanley, Bishop of Norwich. Educated under Dr. Arnold at Rugby, and having passed a very distinguished university career, he was for many years tutor of his college, and secretary of the Oxford University Commission. He was canon of Canterbury from to ; Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Oxford, and canon of ; and also chaplain to the Bishop of London from to . Dean Stanley became known to the literary world by his admirable published in ; among his most popular works since that date have been his
and his a work to which we have to acknowledge our obligations. | |
We may add here that every precaution is taken to ensure the protection of the Abbey from fire, the Dean and Chapter having caused to be erected in the south-west tower, at an altitude of feet from the ground, a huge tank, capable of containing gallons of water, which is always kept charged; from this tank pipes are conveyed to all parts of the edifice, with hydrants and hose always attached at every point of vantage, so that at the alarm of fire man would be able unaided | |
p.462 | to turn on the water to any point of danger. The entire cost of these works amounted to . |
It is not generally known that soon after the Reformation the Abbey very nearly shared the fate of Tintern, Glastonbury, Reading, Kirkstall, and Malmesbury. Pennant writes;
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Footnotes: [] Entrance to Chapter House [extra_illustrations.3.452.2] Chapter House [extra_illustrations.3.453.1] Dean Stanley [extra_illustrations.3.454.1] Trial of the Pyx [extra_illustrations.3.454.2] Door of Chapel of Pyx [extra_illustrations.3.454.3] Treasure Chest in Chapel [extra_illustrations.3.454.4] Chapel of the Pyx, [] Stanley's Memorials, &c., p. 427 [] Entrance to Cloisters [extra_illustrations.3.455.2] Emma Lady Hamilton [extra_illustrations.3.455.3] The Great Cloister [extra_illustrations.3.455.4] the graves of some of the early abbots, but the memorials of only four are visible, namely, Vitalis, who died in 1082 ; Gilbert Crispin (1114); Lawrence, said to have been the first who obtained from the Pope the privilege of using the mitre, ring, and glove, and who died in 1175; the fourth slab is of black marble, called Long Meg, from its extraordinary length of eleven feet [extra_illustrations.3.458.1] The Jerusalem Chamber [extra_illustrations.3.460.1] Francis Atterbury [extra_illustrations.3.460.2] Samuel Horsley [extra_illustrations.3.461.1] Dean's Yard, Westminster [extra_illustrations.3.461.2] Richard Chenevix Trench |