The sculptor's art is represented by many tombs of certain merit. There
is the tomb erected by Abbot Parker to the memory of Osric, King of
Northumberland, who was one of the founders of the monastery, and who
died about the eighth century. In the north aisle leading to the Lady
Chapel--which by the way, with its square ending appears like an
after-thought, extended eastwards, as it were, from the apsidal
termination of the choir--is a monument covering the remains of Robert
Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of the Conqueror. He was a benefactor
to the old abbey. His effigy in coloured bog oak is disposed in a
recumbent attitude on an altar-tomb. There are many others, amongst
which that of Dr. Jenner, famous for the introduction of vaccination
into general practice, commands great attention. Robert Raikes is also
represented. He and the Rev. Thomas Stock, a rector of St. John the
Baptist in this city, share the honour of having established the first
Sunday school in England, which was held in Gloucester. Some
authorities, however, contend that the reverend gentleman was the
originator of the Sunday school, though they do not deny that Raikes,
through his unwearied exertions, promoted the increase of these
institutions throughout the kingdom.
But of all the monuments, that erected by the monks of Gloucester to the
memory of Edward of Carnarvon deserves the most attention, not only for
its beauty, but because it served as the type for the Gothic sculptors
to copy during two centuries. The recumbent effigy is hedged in by a
series of elaborately decorated shafts, forming a kind of open-work
grille, with pinnacles and niches. Overhead it is covered in with richly
ornamented Gothic work.
This shrine, constructed to receive the body of the murdered Edward II.,
conveyed thither from Berkeley Castle by Abbot Thokey, throughout the
greater part of Edward III.'s reign continued to attract vast numbers of
pilgrims. Their offerings soon brought in a great revenue, which was
spent not on rebuilding the church, but in restoring the surface, in
putting new windows in the old walls, and, generally, in adapting the
twelfth-century building to the Perpendicular style of the fourteenth
century. In this way the original Norman work forms the skeleton to the
Perpendicular casing.
In 1541 the Cathedral was separated from the diocese of Worcester by
Henry VIII. and made a distinct bishopric.
Besides this magnificent pile, Gloucester possesses four other churches,
which deserve some slight notice. There is the Church of St. Mary de
Lode, said to contain the remains of Lucius, the first British king. It
has an interesting old chancel, and a monument to Bishop Hooper.
St. Mary de Crypt is a cruciform building of the twelfth century, with a
beautiful lofty tower. The curfew bell is still rung from the tower of
St. Michael, which is said to have been connected with the ancient abbey
of St. Peter. St. Nicholas, originally Norman, is now an ancient
structure of the Early style of English architecture.
Of schools, one was refounded by Henry VIII. for the education of the
cathedral choir. Another was established in the same reign by Dame Joan
Cooke, and was called the Crypt School, from the fact of its schoolroom
adjoining the church of the same name. Sir Thomas Rich, a native of
Gloucester, in 1666 founded the Blue-Coat Hospital, much on the same
lines as that of Christ's Hospital, recently removed from London to the
country.
During the many years that were taken in beautifying the Cathedral, we
must not forget that the city was struggling with varying fortune. It
might almost be called a royal city, so often was it visited by princes,
were it not that Winchester claims that distinction. In the war between
Stephen and the Empress Matilda, Gloucester always accorded a welcome to
the Empress. Thither she is said to have escaped after the siege of
Winchester, carried in a coffin. If not true, the story is well founded.
The city was captured from Henry III. by the barons in 1263. In one of
the many Parliaments held at Gloucester, were passed, in 1279, the laws
connected with the Statute of Quo Warranto, better known as the Statutes
of Gloucester.
In 1327 Edward II. was assassinated in Berkeley Castle by his keeper,
Sir Thomas Gournay, and John de Maltravers, Lord Berkeley. From this
time Gloucester seems to have enjoyed comparative peace, though its
county was the theatre of several important historical events enacted in
its cities of Chichester and Tewkesbury. The latter is especially
memorable for the great and decisive battle, in which the Lancastrians
were totally defeated, in 1471. On that occasion Margaret of Anjou, her
son Prince Edward, and her general, the Duke of Somerset, were taken
prisoners by Edward IV. After the battle Prince Edward was murdered and
the Duke of Somerset beheaded. In the great contest between Charles I.
and the Parliament, the city of Gloucester, it is true, became an object
of importance to the success of the royal cause. The city was, however,
successfully defended for the Parliament by Colonel Massie, till
relieved in 1643 by the Earl of Essex. In the meantime Chichester was
taken by Prince Rupert.
The subject-matter of this city has unconsciously led us to introduce
Tewkesbury and Chichester. Having gone so far we cannot close without
first drawing attention to the existence of three other cities that
prominently stand out in this same county of Gloucestershire. They are
Cheltenham, the home of the famous public school; Tewkesbury, where the
decisive battle of the Roses was fought; and Bristol, the great port
situated near the mouth of the Severn, the river on the banks of which
lies this ancient cathedral city of Gloucester.