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.”--(P. H. D.)
The general effect of the interior has changed little since Washington
Irving wrote his sympathetic essay on England’s Walhalla:
“I pursued my walk to an arched door opening to the interior of the
Abbey. On entering here the magnitude of the building breaks fully
upon the mind, contrasted with the vaults of the cloisters. The eye
gazes with wonder at clustered columns of gigantic dimensions with
arches springing from them to such an amazing height; and man
wandering about their bases shrunk into insignificance in
comparison with his own handiwork. The spaciousness and gloom of
this vast edifice produce a profound and mysterious awe. We step
cautiously and softly about as if fearful of disturbing the
hallowed silence of the tomb; while every footfall whispers along
the walls, and chatters among the sepulchres, making us more
sensible of the quiet we have interrupted.
“It seems as if the awful nature of the place presses down upon the
soul, and hushes the beholder into noiseless reverence. We feel
that we are surrounded by the congregated bones of the great men of
past times who have filled history with their deeds and the earth
with their renown.
“I passed some time in Poets’ Corner, which occupies an end of one
of the transepts, or cross aisles of the Abbey. The monuments are
generally simple; for the lives of literary men afford no striking
themes for the sculptor. Shakespeare and Addison have statues
erected to their memories, but the greater part have busts,
medallions and sometimes mere inscriptions.
“From Poets’ Corner I continued my stroll towards that part of the
Abbey which contains the sepulchres of the kings. I wandered among
what once were chapels, but which are now occupied by the tombs and
monuments of the great. At every turn I met with some illustrious
name, or the cognizance of some powerful house renowned in history.
As the eye darts into these dusky chambers of death, it catches
glimpses of quaint effigies: some kneeling in niches, as if in
devotion; others stretched upon the tombs, with hands piously
pressed together; warriors in armour, as if reposing after battle;
prelates, with crosiers and mitres; and nobles in robes and
coronets, lying as it were in state. In glancing over this scene,
so strangely populous, yet where every form is so still and silent,
it seems almost as if we were treading a mansion of that fabled
city, where every being had been suddenly transmuted into stone.”
The =West Window= dates from the reign of George II., whose arms are in
the centre. It contains twenty-four large and fourteen small
compartments depicting Moses, Aaron and the patriarchs.
The =North-west Tower=, also called =Belfry Tower=, has been called the
“Whigs’ Corner,” on account of the monuments there. The glass in the
window is old. The =south-west=, or =Baptistery Tower=, used to contain the
font (now in Henry VII.’s Chapel). Here are also many monuments and
busts. The stained glass window, in memory of George Herbert and William
Cowper, was the gift of Mr. G. W. Childs, of Philadelphia.
The nave pulpit was placed here in 1862; and though the inner stone-work
of the =Choir-screen= is of the Thirteenth Century, what is visible is
modern.
“The splendid arcade which forms the TRIFORIUM is one of the
greatest glories of Westminster, for it is filled with tracery
similar in every respect to the best window tracery of the Early
English period. Above the triforium comes the grand tier of windows
composing the clerestory. Each is divided by a single central
mullion which, in the older portions, terminates with two plain
arches surmounted by a circle foliated in six divisions, and in the
newer portions with trefoil-headed arches surmounted by a circle
divided into only four parts. The fine vaulting, of which the
rib-work is enriched with sculptured bosses at its points of
intersection, completes the centre of the nave in such a fashion
that its decorative effect is in complete harmony with the richness
of the arch mouldings.”--(C. H.)
The aisles are greatly disfigured by the innumerable monuments. Much
beautiful sculpture has been cut away to make room for them. The north
aisle has one doorway; the south aisle has three, two of which lead into
the Cloisters and the third (the most western one) into the Deanery.
Above it is the =Abbot’s Pew=, an oaken gallery built by Abbot Islip early
in the Sixteenth Century.
The most important monument in the north aisle is that of =Ben Jonson=,
with the famous inscription “O rare Ben Jonson.” In the south aisle lies
=Major John André=.
The =Transepts= of Westminster Abbey contain some of the most beautiful
work that can be found anywhere.
The =North Transept= is entered by the famous =Solomon’s Porch=. It consists
of four bays and is bordered with aisles. The eastern aisle is divided
into three chapels--St. Andrew, St. Michael and St. John the
Evangelist--all of which are filled with monuments.
“The transept end consists of five stages, of which the lowest is
composed of four obtusely pointed arches, two of them being
doorways. The spandrels are very richly sculptured. In the second
compartment is an arcade of six trefoil-headed arches springing
from clustered columns. Above this arcade are six lancet windows on
slender columns. The soffits of the arches are decorated with
sculpture and at both ends there are statues in niches. The fourth
stage is a continuation of the triforium arcade. There are three
arches, each enclosing two trefoiled arches, with a cinquefoiled
circle between them. It is possible that there were once windows in
this compartment, but these have been filled up. The transept end
is completed by a great rose-window filled with modern stained
glass representing the Apostles and Evangelists. Here we find the
celebrated CENSING ANGELS.
“The triforium is the place from which we can best see those famous
sculptures known as the ‘censing angels.’ The artist who placed
these figures in the north and south transepts must have had a
genius which brought him nearer to the great Greek sculptors of the
Periclean period than any who has lived since their time. What must
the central statues have been like to be worthy of such
accessories? Perhaps if one had to select the best public statue in
England, it would be impossible to overlook the angel on the north
transept on the western side. He appears to be literally hovering
in the air, or rather--for this the sculptor has most marvellously
expressed--he is supposed to be swinging his censer in the presence
of his Lord, and to be floating in a sea of light, which forces him
to bow his head and avert his face from its dazzling
effulgence.”--(W. J. L.)
Among the monuments in the north transept the most interesting are to
Admiral Vernon, George Canning, D’Israeli, Gladstone, Sir Robert Peel,
William Pitt and Warren Hastings.
The =South Transept= is popularly known as the =Poets’ Corner=, a name given
by Goldsmith. It is so crowded with tombs and cenotaphs that the
architectural features are rarely noticed. It is not uniform with the
north transept though both are of Henry III.’s reign, Early English
merging into Decorated. A door in the south wall leads into the =Chapel
of St. Faith=, long used as a vestry and now as a chapel for private
prayer.
The most interesting tomb here is that of =Geoffrey Chaucer=, who for
years lived in a house in the monastery garden pulled down to make room
[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: POETS’ CORNER]
[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: CHOIR, EAST]
for Henry VII.’s Chapel. It is a small altar-tomb supposed to date from
1451, with a canopy of Purbeck marble of later date. The memorial window
above dates from 1868. Here lie Dryden, Francis Beaumont, Browning,
Tennyson and Edmund Spencer among others; and a bust of Longfellow was
placed here in 1884.
“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.”--(P. H. D.)
On the north side of the sanctuary three ancient tombs harmonise
perfectly with their architectural surroundings. The most westerly is
that of =Aveline of Lancaster=, who died about 1273, a wealthy heiress,
daughter of the Earl of Albemarle, who was married in the Abbey in 1269
to Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, younger son of Henry III. A
single cusped arch with a high gable in the spandrel of which is a
trefoiled panel forms the canopy. Two dogs are at the feet of the effigy
draped in flowing mantle. The tomb is Early Decorated. Next comes the
tomb of =Aymer de Valence=, Earl of Pembroke (died 1323). The Earl, in
full armour, rests his feet on a lion couchant. Beyond is the tomb of
=Edmund Crouchback= (died 1296). The effigy of the Earl in chain armour
lies under a triple canopy, richly ornamented. The aisles are crowded
with tombs and monuments. The aisles of the choir are filled with tombs
and monuments.
Behind the altar is situated the =Confessor’s Chapel= containing the
famous =Shrine of Edward the Confessor=.
“When we enter St. Edward’s Chapel, or the Chapel of the Kings
(_Capella Regum_), we find ourselves in what may fairly be
described as the most important part of the Abbey, alike from the
ecclesiastical and historical points of view. The chapel is
distinguished from the rest of the church by its superior height
above the ground. In the centre is the Confessor’s shrine, around
which are the tombs of five Kings and six Queens of England. The
entrance is by some wooden steps through a small space between one
of the columns and Edward I.’s tomb. The chapel is separated from
the sanctuary by a Fifteenth Century screen, which, though much
mutilated, is still beautiful. The sculptures deal with the life
and visions of the Confessor.”--(C. H.)
The =Confessor’s Shrine=, though mutilated, is the most important monument
in the Abbey. The present tomb was finished in 1269 at the instance of
King Henry, and was the work of one Peter, a Roman citizen. At the
Dissolution of the Monasteries the body of the King was removed and the
golden ornaments of the tomb disappeared; but in Queen Mary’s time Abbot
Feckenham had the body re-interred, the shrine repaired and the wooden
superstructure erected. James II. had the old coffin enclosed in another
case. This remains still within the shrine.
On the north side of the shrine is the =Tomb of Henry III.=, of two
stages, in the upper one of which the body rests. An effigy in gilt
bronze rests on the top. Next is the tomb of =Edward I.= On the other side
(east) lies =Eleanor of Castile= (died 1290) in a tomb of Purbeck marble,
the sides of which are embellished with trefoiled heads, a fine example
of Gothic, probably designed by Torel. Immediately behind the
Confessor’s Shrine comes the =Chantry of Henry V.= (where an altar once
stood). It 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, coronation and court. The effigy
is mutilated. Above the tomb hang the monarch’s shield, saddle and
helmet, which were carried in his funeral procession.
The next tomb is that of =Queen Philippa of Hainault=, Queen of Edward
III., who died in 1369. Next comes =Edward III.= (died 1377) and next that
of =Richard II.= and his first wife, =Anne of Bohemia=. Next, =Siebert’s
Tomb=, consisting of an arched recess in the wall and supposed to contain
the body of the legendary founder of the Abbey. It dates from 1308. Next
comes the tomb of =Anne of Cleves=.
In this chapel stand the =Coronation Chairs=. The one on the left was made
in the reign of Edward I. to enclose the stone of Scone, supposed to be
the stone on which Jacob slept at Beth-el. The chair was once painted
and jewelled. The other chair was made for the coronation of William and
Mary. Between these hang the sword and shield of state of Edward III.,
used at his and all other coronations.
The little =Chapel of St. Benedict= is closed to the public. Under an arch
is an altar tomb of four children of Henry III. and four of Edward I.
Then comes =St. Edmund’s Chapel=, filled with tombs; then =St. Nicholas’s
Chapel=, separated from the ambulatory by an embattled stone screen
(Perpendicular), probably erected in the reign of Henry IV. On the other
side of the steps leading to Henry VII.’s Chapel is =St. Paul’s Chapel=,
corresponding with St. Nicholas’s Chapel. Next we find the =Chapel of St.
John Baptist= with the =Chapel of St. Erasmus= forming the entrance. The
doorway, dating from the reign of Richard II., is beautiful, a low arch,
supported by clustered pillars. Next to this comes =Islip’s Chapel=,
screened off and vaulted by Abbot Islip (died 1532), to hold his own
tomb. The abbot’s rebus, an eye with a slip of a tree grasped in a hand,
or a man slipping from the branch of a tree, occurs frequently inside
and outside the chapel. In the upper part of Islip’s chapel are
preserved the remarkable collection of wax-works.
“The wax-works of Westminster Abbey have not been seen by many
people, but are deservedly famous. At first, it was customary when
a king or any other great personage was to be buried, to place on
the coffin his effigy formed of boiled leather. When the art of
modelling in _cuir bouilli_ was lost, wax was employed for making
the image, and wax, notwithstanding its proverbial pliancy, is a
very enduring substance. From the north aisle of the apse we ascend
a narrow staircase, passing by the way some of the most beautiful
sculpture in the Abbey fronting the chapel of Abbot Islip. At a
turn in the stair which leads to a kind of upper gallery we are
suddenly confronted with the lifelike figure of King Charles II.,
whose face, as rendered familiar by numerous and contemporary
engravings, with its black eyes and swarthy complexion, looks out
from behind the glass of a cupboard only a few inches from the spot
we have reached. The royal figure is dressed in crimson velvet, now
sadly browned, and adorned
[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: CHAPEL AND SHRINE OF EDWARD THE
CONFESSOR]
[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: HENRY VII’S CHAPEL]
with the finest lace of the period. When we have recovered
composure and breath, and can look around, we find ourselves in the
presence of a series of most interesting and curious portraits. The
wooden presses, with glass fronts, are, to judge from the pattern
of the hinges, of about the time of the monarch whose effigy was
the first to confront us. The rest, taken chronologically, consist
of ten figures beginning with Queen Elizabeth and ending with Lord
Nelson, but neither of these, the first and last, were really
funeral effigies.”--(W. J. L.)
Directly behind the Confessor’s Chapel we come to =Henry VII.’s Chapel=,
originally designed to hold the remains of Henry VI., who was buried at
Windsor, but the plan was not carried out.
“At the entrance to the chapel we are brought to what Dean Stanley
calls a ‘solemn architectural pause.’ Here we may study three
distinct architectural periods. ‘First,’ as Mr. Loftie says, ‘there
is the early work of Henry III., who, it will be remembered, made a
Lady-Chapel here before he recommenced the rebuilding of the
Confessor’s church. Secondly, the next pier shows us the work done
when the body of Henry V. was brought hither from France in 1422.
Lastly, alongside of these two is the first column of the new and
gorgeous structure with which Henry VII. replaced the Lady-Chapel
of Henry III.’ The dimness of the approach materially enhances the
effect of the superb building beyond, and it cannot be doubted that
this comparative gloom, so far from being an accident, was
deliberately intended. The building of the chapel occupied the
first twelve years of the Sixteenth Century. It measures inside 104
feet 6 inches long by 69 feet 10 inches broad, and consists of a
nave and aisles of four bays, the nave terminating in five small
polygonal chapels, the style throughout being Perpendicular. The
entrance is under a large central and two smaller side arches,
which have six bronze doors of superb design and splendid
workmanship, in which a number of Henry VII.’s devices
appear.”--(C. H.)
Washington Irving’s impressions were as follows:
“I stood before the entrance to Henry the Seventh’s Chapel. A
flight of steps leads up to it, through a deep and gloomy, but
magnificent arch. Great gates of brass, rich and delicately
wrought, turn heavily upon their hinges, as if proudly reluctant to
admit the feet of common mortals into this most gorgeous of
sepulchres.
“On entering, the eye is astonished by the pomp of architecture and
the elaborate beauty of sculptured detail. The very walls are
wrought into universal ornament, encrusted with tracery and scooped
into niches, crowded with the 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.
“Along the sides of the chapel are the lofty stalls of the Knights
of the Bath, richly carved of oak, though with the grotesque
decorations of Gothic architecture. On the pinnacles of the stalls
are affixed the helmets and crests of the knights with their scarfs
and swords; and above them are suspended their banners, emblazoned
with armorial bearings, and contrasting the splendour of gold and
purple and crimson, with the cold grey fretwork of the roof. In the
midst of this grand mausoleum stands the sepulchre of its
founder,--his effigy, with that of his queen, extended on a
sumptuous tomb, and the whole surrounded by a superbly wrought
brazen railing.
“There is a sad dreariness in this magnificence; this strange
mixture of tombs and trophies; these emblems of living and aspiring
ambition, close beside mementoes which show the dust and oblivion
in which all must sooner or later terminate.
“Two small aisles on each side of this chapel present a touching
instance of the equality of the grave, which brings down the
oppressor to a level with the oppressed, and mingles the dust of
the bitterest enemies together. In one is the sepulchre of the
haughty Elizabeth; in the other is that of her victim, the lovely
and unfortunate Mary. Not an hour in the day but some ejaculation
of pity is uttered over the fate of the latter, mingled with
indignation at her oppressor. The walls of Elizabeth’s sepulchre
continually echo with the sighs of sympathy heaved at the grave of
her rival.
“A peculiar melancholy reigns over the aisle where Mary lies
buried. The light struggles dimly through windows darkened by dust.
The greater part of the place is in deep shadow, and the walls are
stained and tinted by time and weather. A marble figure of Mary is
stretched upon the tomb, round which is an iron railing much
corroded, bearing her national emblem--the thistle.”
Dean Stanley writes:
“It was to be his chantry as well as his tomb, for he was
determined not to be behind the Lancastrian princes in devotion;
and this unusual anxiety for the sake of a soul not too heavenward
in its affections expended itself in the immense apparatus of
service which he provided. Almost a second Abbey was needed to
contain the new establishment of monks who were to sing in their
stalls ‘as long as the world shall endure.’ Almost a second shrine
surrounded by its blazing tapers and shining like gold with its
glittering bronze, was to contain his remains.
“To the Virgin Mary, to whom the chapel was dedicated, he had a
special devotion. Her ‘in all his necessities he had made his
continual refuge’; and her figure, accordingly, looks down upon his
grave from the east end, between the apostolic patrons of the
Abbey, Peter and Paul, with ‘the holy company of heaven--that is to
say, angels, archangels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles,
evangelists, martyrs, confessors and virgins,’ to ‘whose singular
mediation and prayers he also trusted,’ including the royal saints
of Britain, St. Edward, St. Edmund, St. Oswald, St. Margaret of
Scotland, who stand, as he directed, sculptured tier above tier, on
every side of the Chapel; some retained from the ancient
Lady-Chapel; the greater part of the work of his own age. Around
his tomb stand his ‘accustomed Avours or guardian saints to whom he
calls and cries’--St. Michael, St. John the Baptist, St. John the
Evangelist, St. George, St. Anthony, St. Edward, St. Vincent, St.
Anne, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Barbara, each with their peculiar
emblems--‘so to aid, succour and defend him, that the ancient and
ghostly enemy, nor none other evil or damnable spirit, have no
power to invade him, nor with their wickedness to annoy him, but
with holy prayers to be intercessors to his Maker and Redeemer.’
These were the adjurations of the last Mediæval King, as the Chapel
was the climax of the latest Mediæval architecture.”
“But although the Chapel hangs on tenaciously to the skirts of the
ancient Abbey and the ancient Church, yet that solemn architectural
pause between the two--which arrests the most careless observer,
and renders it a separate structure, a foundation ‘adjoining the
Abbey,’ rather than forming part of it--corresponds with marvellous
fidelity to the pause and break in English history of which Henry
VII.’s reign is the expression. It is the close of the Middle Ages:
the apple of Granada in its ornaments shows that the last Crusade
was over; its flowing draperies and classical attributes indicate
that the Renaissance had already begun. It is the end of the Wars
of the Roses combining Henry’s right of conquest with his fragile
claim of hereditary descent. On the one hand, it is a glorification
of the victory of Bosworth. The angels at the four corners of the
tomb, held or hold the likeness of the crown which he won on that
famous day. In the stained glass we see the same crown hanging on
the green bush in the fields of Leicestershire. On the other hand,
like the Chapel of King’s College at Cambridge, it asserts
everywhere the memory of the ‘holy Henry’s shade’; the Red Rose of
Lancaster appears in every pane of glass: in every corner is the
Portcullis--the _Alters securitas_, as he termed it, with an
allusion to its own meaning, and the double safeguard of his
succession--which he derived through John of Gaunt from the
Beaufort Castle in Anjou inherited from Blanche of Navarre by
Edmund Crouchback; whilst Edward IV. and Elizabeth of York are
commemorated by intertwining these Lancastrian symbols with the
Greyhound of Cecilia Neville, wife of Richard, Duke of York, with
the Rose in the Sun, which scattered the mist at Barnet, and the
Falcon on the Fetterlock, by which the first Duke of York expressed
to his descendants that ‘he was locked up from the hope of the
kingdom, but advising them to be quiet and silent, as God knoweth
what may come to pass.’
“It is also the revival of the ancient Celtic-British
[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: CLOISTERS]
[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: SOUTH-WEST]