interior, we will take a glance at the exterior. We have already observed
that the form of the Abbey is that of a cross, in which you are to
consider Henry the Seventh's Chapel has no part. The south side answered
exactly to the north in the original plan, by attending to which, you will
be able to form a true judgment of the whole. The cloisters on the south
side were added for the conveniency of the monks, and the contiguous
buildings are of a still later date.
What will principally engage your attention, in viewing the outside of
this building (the new towers excepted), is the magnificent portico
leading to the north cross, which, by some, has been styled the
_Beautiful_, or _Solomon's Gate_. This portico is Gothic, and extremely
beautiful; and over it is a most magnificent window of modern design,
admirably executed. The entire height of the north front to the top of
the centre pinnacle is one hundred and seventy feet.
The north side of the Church, between the west front and the Transept, is
supported by nine graduated buttresses; each has a turreted niche, wherein
are placed full length statues of the founders and principal benefactors
of this Church.
The towers at the west end were raised under the directions of Sir
Christopher Wren, and terminate with pinnacles at the height of two
hundred and twenty-five feet. _The Exterior_ length of the Abbey is four
hundred and sixteen feet; including Henry Seventh's Chapel, five hundred
and thirty feet.
* * * * *
Having now pointed out what is accounted most worthy of observation in the
construction of this ancient Abbey, both without and within it, we shall
next say a word or two of--
Henry Seventh's Chapel.
This _wonder of the world_, as it well may be styled, is adorned without
with sixteen Gothic towers, beautifully ornamented with admirable
ingenuity, and jutting from the building in different angles. It is
situated on the east of the Abbey to which it is so neatly joined, that at
a superficial view it appears to be one and the same building. It is
enlightened by a double range of windows, that throw the light into such a
happy disposition, as at once to please the eye and inspire reverence.
An author some years ago, has very highly, and yet not undeservedly
expressed the beauty of this Chapel in the following words:--"It is the
admiration of the universe; such inimitable perfection appears in every
part of the whole composure, which looks so far exceeding human
excellence, that it appears knit together by the fingers of angels,
pursuant to the direction of Omnipotence."
And here we cannot help taking notice of a most beautiful window that was
designed for this Chapel. It was made by order of the magistrates of Dort,
in Holland, and designed by them as a present to Henry VII., but that
monarch dying before it was finished, it was set up in Waltham Abbey,
where it remained till the dissolution of that monastery, when it was
removed to New-Hall, in Essex, then in possession of General Monk, and by
him preserved during the civil wars. Some years ago, John Olmius, Esq.,
the then possessor of New-Hall, sold it to Mr. Conyers, of Copt-Hall, who
resold it to the inhabitants of St. Margaret's parish, in 1758, for four
hundred guineas; and it now adorns St Margaret's Church. Thus it has
arrived near to the place for which it was originally intended, but is
never likely to reach it. The grand subject is that of our Saviour's
crucifixion; but there are many subordinate figures: those at the bottom
of the two side panels represent Henry VII., and his Queen, and were taken
from the original pictures sent to Dort for that purpose. Over the King
is the figure of St. George, and above that a white rose and a red one.
Over the figure of the Queen stands that of St. Katharine of Alexandria;
and in the panel over her head appears a pomegranate _vert_, in a field of
_or_, the arms of the kingdom of Grenada.
_General Admeasurements of the Exterior of Henry VII.'s Chapel._
Ft. In.
Extreme Length 115 2
Breadth to the Extremities of the Buttress Towers 79 6
Height of the Buttress Towers 70 8
Do. to the Apex of the Roof 85 6
Do. to the Top of the Western Turrets 101 6
Of the Monuments in the Cloisters.
There are many persons of distinction buried in the Cloisters, as will
appear from the number of inscriptions, many of which are almost
obliterated from wear or time; we shall therefore only notice a few of the
most particular. The most ancient are in the South Walk of the Cloisters,
towards the east end, where you will see the remains of four Abbots,
marked in the pavement by four stones. The first is inscribed to the Abbot
VITALIS, who died in 1082; and was formerly covered with plates of brass.
The second is a stone of grey marble, to the memory of GESLEBERTUS
CRISPINUS, who died in 1114. The third is a raised stone, of Sussex
marble, under which lies interred the Abbot LAURENTIUS, who died in 1176,
and is said to have been the first who obtained from Pope Alexander III.
the privilege of using the Mitre, Ring, and Glove. The fourth is of black
marble, called Long Meg, from its extraordinary length of eleven feet ten
inches, by five feet ten inches, and covers the ashes of GERVASIUS DE
BLOIS, natural son of King Stephen, who died 1106. All these seem to have
had their names and dates cut afresh, and are indeed fragments worthy to
be preserved.
In 1349 twenty-six of the monks of this Abbey fell victims to a dreadful
plague which at that period had extended its ravages over great part of
the globe, and are reported by Fuller to have been buried all in one grave
in the South Cloisters, under the remarkable large stone called Long Meg.
Against the wall is a monument to PETER FRANCIS COURAYER, a Roman Catholic
clergyman, born at Vernon, in Normandy, 1681. He was Canon and Librarian
of the Abbey of Geneviève, at Paris. He translated and published several
valuable works. In 1727 he took refuge in England, and was well received,
and presented by the University of Oxford with the degree of D.D. On his
dedicating a book to Queen Caroline, his pension was augmented to £200 per
annum from £100 which he had obtained before from the court. He died, in
1776, after two days' illness, at the age of ninety-five.
At the end of this walk is the monument of DANIEL PULTENEY, who served
the court several years; abroad in the reign of Queen Anne, and at home in
the reign of George I. The following is the inscription:--"Reader, if thou
art a Briton, behold this tomb with reverence and regret! Here lie the
remains of Daniel Pulteney, the kindest relation, the truest friend, the
warmest patriot, the worthiest man! He exercised virtues in his age,
sufficient to have distinguished him even in the best. Sagacious by
nature, industrious by habit, inquisitive with art, he gained a complete
knowledge of the state of Britain, foreign and domestic; in most, the
backward fruit of tedious experience; in him, the early acquisition of
undissipated youth. He served the court several years; abroad, in the
auspicious reign of Queen Anne; at home, in the reign of that excellent
Prince, George I. He served his country always; at court independent, in
the senate unbiassed. At every age, and at every station, this was the
bent of his generous soul, this the business of his laborious life; public
men and public things he judged by one common standard--_the true interest
of Britain_; he made no other distinction of party; he abhorred all other.
Gentle, humane, disinterested, benevolent, he created no enemies on his
own account; firm, determined, inflexible, he feared none he could create
in the cause of Britain. Reader, in this misfortune of thy country, lament
thy own; for know, the loss of so much private virtue is a public
calamity."
EAST WALK.
Near the iron gate is a tablet sacred to the memory of the Rev. THOMAS
VIALLS, of Twickenham, Middlesex, A.M., many years vicar of Boldre, in the
New Forest, who departed this life May 7, 1831, aged sixty-two.
To the left is a very beautiful arch, beneath which is a doorway leading
to the Chapter House and Library; in front of which was buried Abbot
BYRCHESTON, who died of the plague, May 15, 1349; but no stone left to
mark the place of his interment.
Against the wall, in the centre of the East Walk, is a monument to the
memory of GEORGE WALSH, Esq., with the following inscription:--"Near this
place are deposited the remains of George Walsh, Esq., late
Lieutenant-General of his Majesty's Forces, and Colonel of the forty-ninth
Regiment of Foot, who died October 23, 1761, aged seventy-three.
"The toils of life and pangs of death are o'er,
And care, and pain, and sickness, are no more."
To the memory of JAMES WILLIAM DODD, who for thirty-four years was one of
the Ushers of Westminster School, the duties of which he discharged with
consummate ability. The Westminsters, his pupils, resident at the
boarding-house under his immediate care, have, bewailing his loss, caused
this tablet to be erected. He died on the 29th day of August, 1818, in the
fifty-seventh year of his age.
Beneath is a monument to preserve and unite the memory of two affectionate
brothers, valiant soldiers and sincere Christians: SCIPIO DUROURE, Esq.,
Adjutant-General of the British Forces, Colonel of the twelfth Regiment of
Foot, and Captain or Keeper of his Majesty's Castle of St. Mawes, in
Cornwall, who, after forty-one years' faithful services, was mortally
wounded at the battle of Fontenoy, and died May 10, 1745, aged fifty-six
years, and lies interred on the ramparts of Aeth, in the low Countries;
and ALEXANDER DUROURE, Esq., Lieutenant-General of the British Forces,
Colonel of the Fourth, or King's own Regiment of Foot, and Captain or
Keeper of his Majesty's Castle of St. Mawes, in Cornwall, who, after
fifty-seven years of faithful services, died at Toulouse, in France, on
the 2nd January, 1795, aged seventy-four years, and lies interred in this
Cloister.
In the next arch has been lately erected a tablet, sacred to the memory of
WALTER HAWKES, who, serving in the East Indies, and having deserved well
during the space of more than twenty-seven years, almost worn out with
sickness and wounds, as he was now returning to his native country, being
overtaken by a storm in the Indian Ocean, was, together with his dearest
wife, the partner of his life and danger, alas! swallowed up, and perished
by shipwreck, never to be too much lamented, the year of our Lord 1808.
Struck with so sad a fate of his companion, William Franklin put up this
stone; for both were King's scholars in this school, brought up in the
same studies, together endured arduous warfare.
NORTH WALK.
On the left, near the door, is a marble slab to the memory of JOHN
CATLING, who died March 3, 1826, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. He
was Verger and Sacrist, successively, of this Collegiate Church under five
Deans, the duties of which he performed with the most zealous and
undivided attention, for the long period of fifty-two years, respected by
his superiors for the fidelity, respectability, and humility, with which
he filled the offices, and beloved by all who knew him in private life,
for the many virtues which adorn the man. Lady LONDONDERRY was buried
underneath it.
A tablet to the memory of HARRIET, wife of the Rev. John Bentall, one of
the Ushers of Westminster School. She died August 7, 1838.
The next is an epitaph remarkable for its quaintness, and inscribed to the
memory of WILLIAM LAURENCE, in these lines:--
"With diligence and truth most exemplary,
Did William Laurence serve a Prebendary;
And for his pains, now past, before not lost,
Gain'd this remembrance at his master's cost.
Oh! read these lines again!--you seldom find
A servant faithful, and a master kind.
Short-hand he wrote; his flower in prime did fade,
And hasty death short-hand of him hath made.
Well couth he numbers, and well-measured land;
Thus doth he now that ground whereon you stand,
Wherein he lies so geometrical:
Art maketh some, but thus doth nature all."
_Ob. Dec. 28, 1628, Ætat. 29._
A tablet to the Rev. GEORGE PRESTON, A.M., who was several years
Under-Master of Westminster School. He died September 8, 1841, aged
fifty-two.
Near to this is a tablet lately erected to the memory of WILLIAM MARKHAM,
D.D., Archbishop of York, who died November, 1807, aged eighty-eight, and
was buried near this spot.
On your left is a tablet to the memory of EDWARD AUGUSTUS WEBBER, a King's
scholar, son of James Webber, D.D., Dean of Ripon, and Canon of this
Church; who was drowned in the River Thames, June 11, 1833, aged
seventeen, and buried near this spot. The inscription is as
follows:--"H.S.M. Edoardus Augustus Webber, Jacobi Webber, S.T.P., ecclesæ
Riponensis Decani, et hujusce Præbendarii filius natu secundus in amne
Thamesi, eversa turbine navicula e quatuor mersis adolicentibus unus
periit die 11 Junii, 1833, anum agent 17mo. Alumno suavissimo
desideratissimo, id quod parentes miseri perferre nequibant, præceptores
condiscipulique tranquam fratrem lugertes ademptum pro more ac pietate
Westmonasteriensi exequias reddiderunt."
The last worthy of note in this Walk is that to the memory of WILLIAM
EGERTON GELL, Esq., who, after a long and severe affliction, departed this
life on the 17th of May, 1838, aged fifty-six years; in him many will have
to deplore the loss of a generous and kind-hearted friend. "Comfort the
soul of thy servant, for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my
soul."--_Cundy, sculptor._
WEST WALK.
On the left door of the Abbey is a monument, erected by John English
Dolben, Esq., "To the memory of EDWARD WORTLEY MONTAGUE, who was cast
away, on his return to England, in 1777, from the East Indies, in the
twenty-seventh year of his age. In memory of their friendship, which
commenced at Westminster School, continued for some time at Oxford, not
diminished by the greatest distance, scarcely dissolved by death, and if
it please God, to be renewed in heaven.--J. E. D., to whom the deceased
bequeathed his books (and appointed joint residuary legatee), erected this
monument."
FRANCIS SMEDLEY.--Adjoining the Godolphin monument is a neat tablet to the
memory of the above, who was High Bailiff of Westminster for twenty-two
years. Born September 15, 1791; died February 25, 1859.
The next is a monument that deserves particular attention, as it
commemorates a charity, which otherwise might, in time, like many others,
be perverted or forgotten. The inscription is as follows:--"Here rest, in
hope of a blessed resurrection, CHARLES GODOLPHIN, Esq., brother of the
Right Honourable Sydney, Earl of Godolphin, Lord High Treasurer of Great
Britain, who died July 16, 1720, aged sixty-nine; and Mrs. GODOLPHIN, his
wife, who died July 29, 1726, aged sixty-three; whose excellent qualities
and endowments can never be forgotten, particularly the public-spirited
zeal with which he served his country in Parliament, and the
indefatigable application, great skill, and nice integrity, with which he
discharged the trust of a Commissioner of Customs for many years. Nor was
she less eminent for her ingenuity, with sincere love of her friends, and
constancy in religious worship. But as charity and benevolence were the
distinguishing parts of their characters, so were they most conspicuously
displayed by the last act of their lives: a pious and charitable
institution, by him designed and ordered, and by her completed to the
glory of God, and for a bright example to mankind; the endowment whereof
is a rent-charge of one hundred and eighty pounds a-year, issuing out of
lands in Somersetshire, and of which, one hundred and sixty pounds a year
are to be ever applied, from 24th June, 1726, to the educating eight young
gentlewomen, who are so born, and whose parents are of the Church of
England, whose parents or friends will undertake to provide them with
decent apparel; and after the death of the said Mrs. Godolphin, and
William Godolphin, Esq., her nephew, such as have neither father or
mother; which said young gentlewomen are not to be admitted before they
are eight years old, nor to be continued after the age of nineteen, and
are to be brought up in the city of New Sarum, or some other town in the
county of Wilts, under the care of some prudent governess or
schoolmistress, a communicant of the Church of England; and the overplus,
after an allowance of £5. a-year for collecting the said rent-charge, is
to be applied to binding out one or more poor children apprentices, whose
parents are of the Church of England. In perpetual memory whereof Mrs.
Frances Hall, executrix to her aunt, Mrs. Godolphin, has, according to her
will, and by her order, caused this inscription to be engraven on their
monument, 1772."
The next is a neat tablet, in memory of the Rev. EDWARD SMEDLEY, A.M.,
Rector of Powderham, and of North Bovey, in the county of Devon, and from
1774 to 1820, one of the Ushers of Westminster School; born Nov. 5, 1750,
died August 6, 1825. Also of HANNAH, his wife, daughter of George Bellas,
Esq.; born August 21, 1754, died October 17, 1824. This tablet is erected
by their surviving children.
"To you, dear names, these filial thanks we give,
For more than life, for knowledge how to live--
For many a rule with holy wisdom fraught,
And works embodying the creed you taught;
For faith triumphant, tho' the lips which told
Its glowing lessons, now, alas! are cold;
Faith, which proclaiming that the dead but sleep,
Invites us home to those whom here we weep."
--_Westmacott, jun., sculptor._
On the left is a tablet with a coat of arms over, and a music-book under
it:--"Near this place are deposited the remains of BENJAMIN COOKE, Doctor
in Music of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and Organist and
Master of the Choristers of this Collegiate Church for above thirty years.
He departed this life on the 14th of September, 1793, and in the
fifty-ninth year of his age."
ENOCH HAWKINS, Esq., Gentleman of her Majesty's Chapel Royal, and Vicar
Choral of this Collegiate Church, who died on the 9th January, 1847, aged
fifty.
Upon a tablet that has emblems of music,--"To the memory of JAMES
BARTLEMAN, formerly a Chorister and Lay-Clerk of Westminster Abbey, and
Gentleman of his Majesty's Royal Chapel. He was born the 19th of
September, 1769, died the 15th of April, 1821, and was buried in this
Cloister, near his beloved master, Dr. Cooke."
In this walk is erected a monument to W. BUCHAN, M.D., author of the
Domestic Medicine, who died in 1805.
A tablet with inscriptions, to Mr. JOHN BROUGHTON, and his wife Elizabeth;
she died in 1714, and himself in 1789. Also R. MONK, Esq., died in 1831;
his wife CATHERINE, 1832.
"WILLIAM WOOLLETT, born August 22, 1735, died May 22, 1785." The genius of
engraving is represented handing down to posterity the works of painting,
sculpture, and architecture. A monument with his bust on the top.
Near to this will be seen a tablet in memory of ELIZABETH WOODFALL,
younger daughter of the late Henry Sampson Woodfall, having lived many
years in Dean's Yard, contiguous to the Abbey, and died 12th February,
1862, at the age of ninety-three.
Having exceeded the bounds at first intended, we shall conclude in the
words of an ingenious writer on the subject of this Abbey:--"I have
wandered," says he, "with pleasure into the most gloomy recesses of this
last resort of grandeur, to contemplate human life, and trace mankind
through all the wilderness of their frailties and misfortunes, from their
cradles to their graves. I have reflected on the shortness of our duration
here, and that I was but one of the millions who had been employed in the
same manner, in ruminating on the trophies of mortality before me; that I
must moulder to dust in the same manner, and quit the scene to a new
generation, without leaving the shadow of my existence behind me; that
this huge fabric, the sacred depository of fame and grandeur, would only
be the stage for the same performances; would receive new accessions of
noble dust; would be adorned with other sepulchres of cost and
magnificence; would be crowded with successive admirers; and, at last, by
the unavoidable decays of time, bury the whole collection of antiquities
in general obscurity, and be the monument of its own ruin."
The Chapter House and Ancient House of Commons.
On the left as you enter the Chapter House is a stone coffin which was
found on the removal of the accumulated earth and rubbish which for many
years had hidden the lower parts of the buttresses of the north side of
the building; some ancient walls of considerable extent were discovered,
and about five or six feet below the surface an ancient stone coffin was
brought to light. It possesses great interest from its being the only
Roman remains yet discovered. One side of it is beautifully wrought, with
a sunk panel, having at each end the conventional Roman ornament called
the Amazon shield, while the panel itself is occupied with the following
inscription, in the best style of the old Roman lettering--
+-------------------------------+
| MEMORIAE·VALER·AMAN |
| DINI·VALERI·SVPERVEN |
|TOR·ET·MARCELLVS·PATRI·FE[CE]R.|
+-------------------------------+
from which it appears to show that it is in memory of one Valerius
Amandinus, and that his two sons made it to his honour. The lid is wrought
with a slight cope, having a Maltese cross, terminating at the foot with a
trefoil. There can be no doubt that the coffin once contained the body of
this Valerius, which was afterwards displaced for the reception of an
ecclesiastic, when the old lid was made in its present shape. The date of
the first interment may be ascribed to the 3rd century, while the latter
may belong to the 12th century. The skeleton within the coffin is in good
preservation, considering the great lapse of time. There was nothing to
indicate the rank of the ecclesiastic, for such he probably was; but he
must have been a tall man, of great vigour, and barely of middle age.
The Chapter House of Westminster was built in 1250, by Henry III., on the
site of the earlier Chapter House belonging to the Abbey, as founded by
Edward the Confessor. It was, from its beauty, called "The Incomparable
Chapter House." It has been used for three purposes.
I. It was the chamber in which the Abbot and Monks, in the times of the
ancient monastery, held their "Chapter," or meeting for discussion and
business; their meetings were held once a week. The Abbot and the four
chief officers of the convent sat in the ornamented stalls opposite the
entrance. The Monks sat on the stone seats round. The culprits, if there
were any, knelt to receive their judgment before the Abbot's seat, and
were scourged before the central pillar.