rest, and the last abbot, Benson, became the first dean, and for a
brief space there was a bishop. Protector Somerset turned his greedy
eyes upon the noble minster, and was with difficulty induced to
refrain from plundering it overmuch. Indeed, he had thoughts of
pulling it down, but was propitiated by bribes of some manors and many
loads of Caen stone for the building of his new palace, Somerset
House. The services were of course changed, and many goodly treasures
sold; during the brief reign of Mary the Roman Catholic ritual was
restored, and the Confessor's shrine re-erected; but Elizabeth
turned out Abbot Ferkenham, and constituted Westminster a collegiate
church with a dean and twelve prebendaries. The remains of poor Mary
Queen of Scots were brought here by James I. and laid side by side
with Queen Elizabeth. Here in the gatehouse Sir Walter Raleigh was
imprisoned. Soon the tumults of the Civil War arose, but Westminster
happily escaped the fury of the Puritans. The noted Westminster
Assembly was called together in Henry VII.'s Chapel in 1643, for the
purpose of "settling the government and liturgy of the Church of
England and clearing of the doctrine from false aspersions and
interpretations." This Assembly took upon itself to denounce the Book
of Common Prayer and to substitute the Directory for Public Worship.
Many restorations of the fabric have taken place since the Restoration
of the monarchy. Sir Christopher Wren was a wonderful architect, but
he was scarcely the man to tamper with an ancient and beautiful Gothic
building. He set to work to rebuild the western towers, which were
finished after his death in 1739. New stone-work has been erected in
place of the old in most of the exterior of the Abbey, and Sir Gilbert
Scott and Mr. Pearson were responsible for the restoration of the
north front of the north transept. The complete story of the Abbey of
Westminster would tell of all the pageants and coronation festivals
which have taken place therein, to which another has just been added
when King Edward VII. and his queen were crowned; it would tell of the
last solemn rites of monarchs and great men, poets, sages and generals
who sleep within the hallowed precincts. But the story must be left to
others, and we will now examine the details of this ancient pile which
is so closely connected with all the chief events in English history.
THE EXTERIOR
The _West Front_ is flanked by two towers 225 feet high, built by
Wren, and finished by his pupil, Hawksmoor, about 1740. In the centre
of the front is the great Perpendicular window, beneath which is a row
of niches. The entrance porch has a groined roof. The nave is
remarkable for its length and height. On the north side we notice that
there is a wealth of buttresses. Strong buttresses support the aisle
walls, and from these flying buttresses stretch across to the walls
built on the central arcade. The four eastern buttresses comprise the
part of the church finished by Henry III.; the rest of the nave, with
the exception of Wren's towers, was built during the last half of the
fourteenth century and the beginning of the fifteenth. The figures in
the niches are modern.
[Illustration THE NORTH FRONT]
The _North Front_ is new, designed by Sir G. Scott and Mr. Pearson. It
is very elaborate work, and much of it is beautiful, but it does not
seem to harmonise with the rest of the building. There is a large rose
window; on each side tall buttresses crowned with turrets and covered
with niches. There is an arcade of open work below, and then some
deeply-recessed Early English windows, and below three doorways under
one string-course, the centre one having a high gable. This door is
divided by a pier having a finely-carved figure of the Virgin and
Child. The tympanum is divided into three panels. In the highest is
Our Lord in glory surrounded by angels, and below Him are the Twelve
Apostles, while in the lowest tier are figures representing Art,
History, Philosophy, War, Legislation and Science, with the builders
of the Abbey, Edward the Confessor, Henry III. and Richard II. The
niches are filled with figures of persons in some way connected with
the Abbey. The _Choir_ is in the form of an apse, with radiating
chapels, planned on the model of the French _chevet_, according to the
taste of Henry III., which he had cultivated during his sojourn in
France. The _Lady Chapel_ at the east end, commonly called Henry
VII.'s Chapel, is one of the noblest examples of the best
Perpendicular work in the kingdom, and ranks with St. George's Chapel,
Windsor, and King's College, Cambridge. The monastic buildings are on
the south side of the Abbey, and will be approached from the interior.
THE INTERIOR
The view of the interior is very impressive. Standing at the west end
of the nave we cannot fail to admire the magnificent beauty of this
noble shrine. This _Nave_ of twelve bays, with its clustered columns,
its beautiful triforium, and its lofty and firmly-proportioned roof,
soaring to the height of 101 feet, is very striking. A close
inspection will show the difference between the piers of the portion
finished by Henry III. and the newer work of the fourteenth century.
The tracery of the triforium openings is very fine. The
_Choir-Screen_, which crosses the nave at the eighth pier, is modern,
and also the pulpit. The west window is Perpendicular, and has some
Georgian glass containing figures of the Patriarchs. Much
architectural beauty has been sacrificed for the sake of ponderous
monuments, but many of these have much interest, and for many visitors
will prove the most attractive features of the Abbey. A list of the
most important monuments will be found at the close of our account of
the Abbey.
The north-west tower contains the monuments of distinguished members
of the Whig party, and has in the window some ancient glass. The
south-west tower was formerly the Baptistery. The architecture of the
aisles has suffered much from the erection of stupendous monuments.
The gallery at the west of the south aisle was erected at the same
time as Henry VII.'s Chapel by Abbot Islip, and is known as the
_Abbot's Pew_. The door at the east end is Late Early English. The
_South Transept_ is known as the _Poets' Corner_, on account of the
memorials of the votaries of the muses which stand here. The
architecture is of very beautiful design in the style of Early
English, when it was merging into Early Decorated. In the south wall
is the entrance to the Chapel of St. Faith, the door of which was once
covered with the skins of Danes. Two tiers of trefoiled arches are
above this, and higher still the triforium, the spandrels of the
arches being enriched with sculpture. There is no west aisle.
Chaucer's tomb will attract most visitors. In the chapel are some
ancient paintings of the Crucifixion, St. Faith, and a kneeling monk.
The _Choir_, which has been the scene of so many solemn and memorable
services, has no ancient woodwork. The stalls were erected about the
middle of the last century. The altar and reredos are modern. There
are some large figures, and a mosaic of the Last Supper. Here the
coronations of our monarchs take place. The pavement is interesting,
as it was brought from Rome by Abbot Ware in 1268, and beneath it he
rests with other abbots of Westminster. The sedilia are
thirteenth-century work, and were decorated with paintings. The
figures of King Siebert, the first founder, and of Henry III., the
munificent re-founder, remain. Above the base of the tomb of Anne of
Cleves, one of Henry VIII.'s many wives, is a remarkable painting of
Richard II., and behind it some ancient tapestry. A record of the
interesting tombs here will be found later. _Edward the Confessor's
Chapel_ is a mausoleum of Royal personages, wherein our monarchs have
been laid to rest, a portion of the building which always possesses a
solemn and pathetic interest. Here is the shrine of the "miracle
worker," the pious but weak last Saxon king, St. Edward. It was
fashioned in 1269 by order of Henry III., the artificer being one
Peter, a Roman citizen. The style of the oldest part, the base of the
shrine, is of a Byzantine character. The upper part was probably made
by Abbot Feckenham in Mary's reign, in imitation of that which was
destroyed in Reformation times. It is difficult to imagine what must
have been the splendour of this wondrous shrine when it was adorned
with gold and gems, ere the greedy commissioners of Henry VIII.
despoiled it of its treasures. Henry III., Eleanor of Castile, in
whose honour her loving husband, Edward I., raised the Eleanor crosses
wherever her body rested on its last journey to the Abbey, Edward
I., and other monarchs rest here. _Henry V.'s Chantry_ is a splendid
piece of ornate Perpendicular work, with elaborate sculptured figures
representing St. George, St. Denys, and the story of the hero's life,
his fights, his coronation, his court. The effigy has been much
mutilated. Above the tomb is the monarch's achievement, his shield,
saddle and helmet, which were borne in his funeral procession. The
coronation chairs have especial interest at this time, especially the
famous throne of Edward I., which has under the seat the coronation
stone of Scone, brought by him from Scotland. Legends tell us that
this stone was the veritable stone used by Jacob as a pillow when he
dreamt that wondrous dream at Bethel. There is also the throne of
William and Mary, and Edward III.'s sword and shield.
[Illustration Poets' Corner Westminster Abbey]
In the _South Ambulatory_ are three chapels, dedicated to SS.
Benedict, Edmund and Nicholas, all of which have interesting monuments
which will be noticed later. We now enter _Henry VII.'s Chapel_, the
most perfect example of the Perpendicular style at its best in the
country. At the entrance are beautiful bronze doors covered with
designs symbolical of the titles of the Royal founder. It is
impossible to describe in words the richness and beauty of the
interior of this noble chapel. Washington Irving wrote: "The very
walls are wrought into universal ornament, encrusted with tracery and
scooped into niches, crowded with statues of saints and martyrs. Stone
seems, by the cunning labour of the chisel, to have been robbed of its
weight and density, suspended aloft as if by magic, and the fretted
roof achieved with the wonderful minuteness and airy security of a
cobweb." The vault is very beautiful with fan-tracery. The banners of
the Knights of the Order of the Bath hang over their stalls. The
misereres are wonderfully carved, and are worthy of close examination.
The black marble tomb of the founder is considered to be the best
example of the Renaissance style in England. It was fashioned by
Torregiano. Very numerous monuments are found here, which will be
described later. The tombs of Mary Queen of Scots and of Queen
Elizabeth have especial interest. Oliver Cromwell's body once lay in
the most eastern chapel, but the Royalists at the Restoration wrought
vengeance on his corpse, and on that of other regicides, and did not
suffer them to remain in these hallowed precincts.
Returning we traverse the _North Ambulatory_, from which open the
Chapels of SS. Paul, John Baptist, Erasmus and Abbot Islip. St.
Erasmus was a Bishop of Campania, martyred in the time of the
Diocletian persecution. His chapel has a fine, Late Decorated doorway.
Abbot Islip died in 1532, and had previously adorned this chapel for
his tomb, of which only the base remains. A curious eye will discern
his rebus. In the upper chapel are preserved some remarkable wax
effigies of deceased monarchs and others, which were used in ancient
times in funeral processions. Charles II., Elizabeth, William and
Mary, Anne, Duchess of Richmond, General Monk, and a few others have
survived the wreck of time.
The _North Transept_ resembles the south and is remarkable for its
noble architecture. It is part of Henry III.'s construction. The
carving is rich and beautiful, especially the famous sculptures of the
_censing angels_, which are best seen from the triforium. On the east
are the three Chapels of SS. John the Evangelist, Michael and Andrew,
which are now filled with monuments.
We will now visit the _monastic buildings_, which may be entered from
the south aisle of the nave. The east walk of the cloisters was
finished in 1345, and the south and west walks a few years later under
the rule of Abbot Litlington. The north walk is a century earlier.
From the east walk we enter the _Chapter-House_. The doorway is
remarkably fine, with its sculptured figures in the mouldings. This is
one of the finest and largest chapter-houses in England, and was built
by Henry III. in 1250. Its plan is octagonal. There is a central,
slender, clustered shaft from which the vaulting springs. This vault
is a restoration. The windows have beautiful tracery, and are filled
with modern glass. The old paintings representing the Second Advent
are very interesting. This room has been devoted to many uses. Here
the House of Lords used to meet, and here the Records were once kept.
The Chapel of the Pyx, a fine Early Norman structure, where "the trial
of the Pyx" took place, is not open to the public. Above this and the
vestibule was the dormitory, now the library and schoolroom of the
famous Westminster School founded by Henry VIII. The cloisters have
many monuments. On the south-east lies the little cloister formerly
the infirmary, approached by a passage from the east cloister. The
refectory was on the south side of the cloister-court, and on the west
was the abbot's house, now the Deanery. Permission should be obtained
to see the famous _Jerusalem Chamber_, probably so called from the
tapestry which once hung here. Here Henry IV. died, which fact
Shakespeare mentions in his play, _Henry IV._, and many other
historical scenes have these walls witnessed.
[Illustration HENRY V.'S CHANTRY]
KINGS BURIED IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY
Siebert, King of the East Saxons.
Edward the Confessor.
Henry III.
Edward I.
Edward III.
Richard II.
Henry V.
Edward V.
Henry VII.
Edward VI.
James I.
Charles II.
William III.
George II.
LIST OF MONUMENTS
_St. Edward's Chapel, or the Chapel of the Kings_--
Edward the Confessor.
Henry III.
Henry V.
Edward III.
Edward I.
Eleanor of Castile.
Queen Philippa.
Richard II. and Queen.
Queen Editha and Queen Matilda (good Queen Maud)
are buried here.
_Henry VII.'s Chapel_--
Mary Queen of Scots.
Queens Elizabeth and Mary.
Henry VII. and his Queen.
James I. No monument.
In the "Stuart Vault" are buried--
Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, and Prince Rupert.
Lady Arabella Stuart, Anne Hyde, and several Royal children.
In the "Royal Vault" are buried--
Charles II.
Queen Mary II.
William III.
Queen Anne.
Prince George of Denmark.
Under the Nave of the Chapel are buried--
George II. and Caroline of Anspach.
Edward VI. The old altar by Torregiano under which he was laid has
been of late years restored.
In "Oliver's Vault" were originally buried--
_Cromwell_, and other leaders of the Commonwealth; the only
body that has remained undisturbed is that of the Protector's
daughter, Elizabeth Claypole.
A small sarcophagus contains the bones supposed to be those of
Edward V. and the Duke of York.
In this Chapel are also buried--
Addison, to whom a statue was raised in 1809 in the _Poets' Corner_.
George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, an immense tomb.
_Nave and Choir_--
Charles James Fox.
Henry Fox, Lord Holland.
Major-General Charles George Gordon, bronze bust.
William Pitt.
William Wordsworth, seated statue. }
John Keble, bust. }
Frederick D. Maurice, bust. } Baptistery.
Charles Kingsley, bust. }
Matthew Arnold, bust. }
Dr. T. Arnold, bust. }
William Congreve.
Major John André.
Charles Robert Darwin, medallion portrait.
(Sir John Herschell, buried next to Darwin).
Ben Jonson (buried here--monument in Poets' Corner).
Sir Charles Lyell, bust.
Sir Isaac Newton.
Buried here are--
David Livingstone, }
Robert Stephenson, } without monument.
Dean Trench, }
Sir George Gilbert Scott, }
Lord Lawrence, bust.
Sir James Outram (a bas-relief of Relief of Lucknow).
Colin Campbell, Lord Clyde.
Dr. Isaac Watts.
John and Charles Wesley (buried elsewhere).
Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel.
Sir Godfrey Kneller, the only painter commemorated in the Abbey.
William Wilberforce, seated figure.
Henry Purcell, tablet.
(Sir William Sterndale Bennett buried here.)
[Illustration INTERIOR FROM CHAPEL OF ST. JOHN]
_North Transept_--
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham.
Viscount Palmerston, statue.
Sir Robert Peel, statue.
Lord Beaconsfield, statue.
Gladstone (no monument yet erected).
Warren Hastings (buried elsewhere).
Richard Cobden, bust (buried elsewhere).
_Poets' Corner_--
John Dryden, bust.
H. Wadsworth Longfellow, bust.
Abraham Cowley.
Geoffrey Chaucer.
Lord Tennyson, bust.
Robert Browning (no monument).
Michael Drayton.
Ben Jonson, monument bears same inscription as stone above grave.
Edmund Spenser.
Samuel Butler (buried elsewhere).
John Milton.
Thomas Gray (buried elsewhere).
Matthew Prior.
Thomas Campbell.
Robert Southey (buried elsewhere), bust.
S. Taylor Coleridge (buried elsewhere), bust.
William Shakespeare.
Robert Burns (buried elsewhere), bust.
James Thomson (buried elsewhere).
John Gay (buried?).
Oliver Goldsmith, medallion (buried elsewhere).
Sir W. Scott, replica of bust at Abbotsford.
John Ruskin, medallion.
George Frederick Handel, statue.
Jenny Lind Goldschmidt, portrait head.
W. Makepeace Thackeray (buried elsewhere), bust.
Joseph Addison (buried in Henry VII.'s Chapel).
Lord Macaulay, bust.
William Camden.
David Garrick, full-length figure.
Among those buried here without monuments are--
Sir John and Francis Beaumont.
Sir John Denham.
Dr. Samuel Johnson (monument at St. Paul's).
Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
Charles Dickens.
Sir William Davenant.
Richard Hakluyt.
Thomas Parr.
Queen Anne, Richard III.'s wife, is believed to be lying here.
Monuments to Dr. Busby and Dr. Robert South.
Portion of tomb of Anne of Cleves.
Within the rails of the Choir are three old tombs--
Aveline, Countess of Lancaster, married to Henry III.'s son,
Edmund Crouchback. Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, cousin to
Edward I., employed as general in wars in Scotland.
Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster.
_South Ambulatory_--
Supposed tomb of King Siebert.
_Chapel of St. Edmund_--
William de Valence, Earl of Pembroke (father of above),
half-brother to Henry III. This is the only existing example in
England of an effigy in Limoges enamel work.
Lord Lytton, black marble slab.
_North Ambulatory_--
General James Wolfe.
_Chapel of St. Paul_--
James Watt, statue.
_Islip Chapel_--
Remains of Islip's tomb form a table by the window.
_St. John's Chapel_--
Sir John Franklin.
_St. Andrew's Chapel_--
Sir Humphrey Davy (buried elsewhere), tablet.
Mrs. Siddons, statue.
John Kemble, statue.
Among those who are buried in the Cloisters are--
Thomas Betterton, actor.
Mrs. Bracegirdle, actress.
Aphra Behu.
Samuel Foote.
A tablet in the Cloisters has been put up in memory of seven of
the Queen's Westminster Volunteers killed in South Africa,
1900.
Monument to Dean Stanley (Henry VII.'s Chapel).
Archbishop Tait, bust (Poets' Corner).
Window commemorative of--
George Herbert.
William Cowper.
DIMENSIONS
Length of nave 166 ft.
Breadth of nave 38 ft.
Breadth of nave and aisles 71 ft.
Height of nave and choir 101 ft.
Length of choir 155 ft.
Breadth of choir 38 ft.
Length of whole church 511 ft.
Height of central tower 151 ft.
Height of west towers 225 ft.
Area 46,000 sq. ft.
PRINCIPAL BUILDING DATES
1050-1100--Fragments beneath pavement of choir, Chapel of
the Pyx.
1245-1269--Choir and four eastern bays of nave, transepts,
chapter-house, and north and part of east walk of cloister.
1330-1350--Cloisters, south and west walks.
1350-1512--West parts of nave, Henry VII.'s Chapel,
abbot's pew, Henry V.'s Chantry, Jerusalem Chamber.
1739-1741--West front.
Modern--North front of north transept.
[Illustration PLAN OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY]
ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL
The city of Rochester has a distinguished past. It lies on the great
high road to London, the Old Watling Street. Hence, all the great and
Royal visitors passed through Rochester, and few events of historical
importance which occurred in the Kentish corner of England were
unconnected with this city. It was a Roman station. The Saxons called
it _Hvof-Cæstre_. Ethelbert founded the Cathedral here in 604, and
this first raised it to importance. Athelstan established a mint here,
and at the beginning of the tenth century it was one of the principal
ports of the kingdom. This was the cause of its undoing, as the Danes
found it a convenient landing-place, and pillaged and ravaged the
city. A Norman castle was built by Bishop Gundulf, of whom we shall
hear more later. This fortress, of which there are extensive remains,
has been frequently besieged. It was granted by the Conqueror to Odo,
Bishop of Bayeaux, who was faithless to William and was besieged in
this castle. Again, King John and Simon de Montfort, and Wat Tyler,
all tried the strength of this mighty fortress. Many scenes of
mediæval pageantry took place here. In the time of Henry III. a grand
tournament was held here, and gay was the city with the presence of
contending knights and squires and all the pomp of ancient chivalry.
It were vain to name all the Royal visitors who have sojourned here.
Here at the Restoration came the "Merry Monarch," and here, when the
fortunes of the Stuarts were very low, came James II. in his secret
flight, and embarked from Rochester on his fatal journey to France.
The story of the city is full of interest; but its Cathedral was the
primary cause of its greatness, and thither we must wend our way, and
try to read its history.
The see was founded by Ethelbert at the instigation of Augustine in
604, Justus, one of the followers of the Apostle of the English, being
its first bishop. He was the builder of the earliest church, some
foundations of which have been recently discovered. Here the great
missionary of the north, Paulinus, came, the Apostle of the North of
England, having been driven away from Northumbria, and was bishop
here till 644, when Ithamar succeeded, the first native bishop of the
English Church. The church was dedicated to St. Andrew. Danish
invasions caused much destruction. Siward, formerly Abbot of Abingdon,
was the last Saxon prelate who preserved his see when the Conqueror
came. But the chroniclers tell of the miserable condition of the
church, "wretched and empty, destitute of all things within and
without." In 1076 came Gundulf of Bec to preside over the fortunes of
the harassed see, and he wrought vast changes. He introduced
Benedictine monks, who replaced the secular canons, rebuilt the
Cathedral, and, not content with that, erected a castle here, and
built parts of Dover Castle and the Tower of London. Soon after his
death Ernulf, whose work at Canterbury we shall see, became bishop
here, and carried on his great building operations, erecting the
dormitory, chapter-house and refectory.
In 1130, in a grand assembly of bishops, nobles, and in the presence
of the king, Henry I., the Cathedral was consecrated.
As with many other cathedrals, fire wrought havoc in the sacred fane,
especially in 1138 and 1177. The later Norman builders added much to
the perfection of the church, carving the capitals of piers of the
nave, recasing them, and building the west front, which Gundulf does
not seem to have accomplished. After the fires the building was
renewed, especially in the monks' quarters, which had suffered much.
Another great misfortune was the plundering and devastation of the
church by King John after his capture of the castle; but happily an
event occurred which helped to fill the treasury of the monks, and
enabled them to adorn their minster. One William of Perth, a baker by
trade, who was of a pious mind, undertook a pilgrimage to the Holy
Land, but was killed by robbers near Chatham, and buried here.
Miracles were said to have been wrought at his tomb; the fame thereof
spread; and crowds of pilgrims began to frequent St. William's shrine,
and bring costly offerings. William de Hoo was sacrist and prior at
the beginning of the thirteenth century, a most active builder, who
rebuilt the choir and aisles, using much of the old Norman work. This
choir was used for the first time in 1227. Another great builder was
Richard de Eastgate, sacrist, who constructed a new west transept, and
began the construction of the central tower. His work was continued,
and before the century was completed there was a new south transept,
and the piers finished for bearing the tower.
[Illustration Rochester Cathedral]