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Title: Bell's Cathedrals: Southwark Cathedral - Formerly the Collegiate Church of St. Saviour, Otherwise St. Mary Overie. A Short History and Description of the Fabric, with Some Account of the College and the See
Author: Worley, George
Language: English
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CATHEDRAL***
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SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL
Formerly the Collegiate Church of St. Saviour,
Otherwise St. Mary Overie
A Short History and Description of the Fabric,
with Some Account of the College and the See
by
GEORGE WORLEY
With XXXVI Illustrations
[Illustration: _Photo._ _Photochrom Co._
SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL FROM THE EAST.]
[Illustration]
London George Bell & Sons 1905
Chiswick Press: Charles Whittingham and Co.
Tooks Court, Chancery Lane, London.
PREFACE
The numerous authorities, ancient and modern, which I have been
obliged to draw upon, are acknowledged, where necessary, in the text.
Those who wish to pursue the study of St. Saviour's Cathedral in
greater detail and completeness than is here possible, must be
referred to some of the larger works to which I have had recourse;
_e.g._, those by Moss and Nightingale (1817-1818), F.T. Dollman
(1881), and the Rev. Dr. Thompson (1904). The Surrey Archaeological
Society's "Collections" are also to be recommended for the valuable
subsidiary matter they contain, in the shape of original documents,
selected and carefully edited from sources not easily accessible to
the public.
For facts not elsewhere recorded I am under special obligations to Sir
Arthur Blomfield and Sons, architects for the restoration, who have
not only afforded most useful information, and given access to
drawings, which they alone possessed, but have been good enough to
draw up the plan, showing the most recent work at the Cathedral,
expressly for this volume.
I am scarcely less indebted to their Clerk of the Works, Mr. Thomas
Simpson, who superintended the whole restoration of 1890-1897, and has
generously placed his exceptional knowledge at my disposal.
Others to be thankfully remembered are Mr. Harry Lloyd, of "The Daily
Chronicle," and the Proprietors of "Church Bells," who have kindly
contributed the illustrations bearing their names; Mr. C.A. Webb,
Private Secretary to the Bishop of Southwark; Mr. A.W. Dodwell Moore,
Chapter Clerk; the Rev. W.W. Hough and Mr. S.C. Lapidge, Secretaries
to the Diocesan Society; Mr. F.C. Eeles, Secretary to the Alcuin Club;
and the Rev. Dr. Thompson, Rector and Chancellor of St. Saviour's,
each of whom has added something within his special province.
Most of the photographs have been taken by Mr. Godfrey P. Heisch,
direct from the fabric. The specification of the organ comes from the
builders, Messrs. Lewis and Co., Limited.
To all these thanks are due: also to the Cathedral authorities for
facilities of access, and to the Vergers of the Cathedral and Chapter
House for their services during my examination of the buildings.
G.W.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 13
II. THE EXTERIOR 41
III. THE INTERIOR 57
IV. THE DIOCESE OF SOUTHWARK 99
APPENDIX I. LIST OF THE PRIORS OF ST. MARY OVERIE 103
II. THE PRIORY SEAL 104
III. LIST OF THE CHAPLAINS OF ST. SAVIOUR'S 104
IV. VESTMENTS, PLATE, AND ORNAMENTS AT ST. SAVIOUR'S 105
V. SPECIFICATION OF THE ORGAN 111
INDEX 113
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL FROM THE EAST _Frontispiece_
THE ARMS OF THE SEE _Title-page_
INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL 12
ST. SAVIOUR'S IN 1660 13
FORMER WESTERN DOORWAY 18
THE CHURCH ABOUT 1740 27
INTERIOR, LOOKING EAST 29
THE NAVE IN 1831 31
THE CHAPTER HOUSE 37
THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE EAST 40
THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE SOUTH-WEST 41
THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE NORTH-EAST 45
THE SOUTH-WESTERN PORCH 50
REMAINS OF THE PRIOR'S DOORWAY 53
THE TRANSEPTS FROM THE NORTH END 56
THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE 57
THE CHOIR VAULT 59
JOHN GOWER'S MONUMENT 63
THE CHOIR FROM THE NAVE 65
THE FONT AND THE THIRTEENTH-CENTURY WALL ARCADE 67
THE CHOIR AND ALTAR SCREEN 70
THE TRIFORIUM AND CLERESTORY OF THE CHOIR 71
THE ALTAR AND THE HUMBLE ORNAMENT 74
THE LADY CHAPEL OR RETRO-CHOIR 75
TOMB OF BISHOP ANDREWES 77
MARTYRS' WINDOW TO SAUNDERS, FERRAR, AND TAYLOR 79
WINDOW COMMEMORATING KING CHARLES I, LAUD, AND BECKET 80
EFFIGY OF MAILED KNIGHT 82
THE TREHEARNE MONUMENT 83
THE HARVARD WINDOW 85
CARVED BOSSES FROM THE CEILING OF THE OLD NAVE, FIFTEENTH
CENTURY 90
THE AUSTIN MONUMENT (NORTH TRANSEPT) 91
ARMS OF CARDINAL BEAUFORT 96
MAP OF THE DIOCESE OF SOUTHWARK 98
THE PRIORY SEAL 103
PLAN OF THE CHURCH _End_
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL.
_Reproduced from a drawing by Mr. Hedley Fitton, by permission
of the "Daily Chronicle."_]
[Illustration: ST. SAVIOUR'S IN 1660.
_Reproduced from "Church Bells."_]
SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL
CHAPTER I
HISTORY OF THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST. SAVIOUR, FORMERLY ST. MARY
OVERIE, SOUTHWARK
The history of St. Saviour's takes us back to those distant days when
Southwark was but a marsh, and when there was no bridge across the
Thames. John Stow, historian and antiquary (1525-1605), was acquainted
with Bartholomew Linstede, the last of the Priors, and gives the
following account of its origin on his authority:
East from the Bishop of Winchester's house, directly over
against it, standeth a fair church, called St.
Mary-over-the-Rie, or Overie; that is, over the water. This
church, or some other in place thereof, was, of old time, long
before the Conquest, a house of sisters, founded by a maiden
named Mary; unto the which house and sisters she left, as was
left to her by her parents, the oversight and profits of a
cross ferry, or traverse ferry over the Thames, there kept
before that any bridge was built. This house of sisters was
after by Swithun, a noble lady, converted into a college of
priests, who in place of the ferry built a bridge of timber,
and from time to time kept the place in good reparations; but
lastly, the same bridge was built of stone; and then in the
year 1106 was this church again founded for canons regular by
William Pont de la Arch, and William Dauncey, Knights,
Normans.
Stow's account has been disputed in several particulars. Although it
may be taken for granted that there was a cross-ferry before there was
a bridge, it does not follow that the bridge immediately superseded
it; and it has been suggested, as more likely, that both means of
transit were used for some time simultaneously, as is the case to-day
at other places.
If the first London Bridge was built by Roman engineers during the
Roman occupation, it may be assumed that the bridge existed before the
church. That the first bridge was a Roman structure has been almost
proved by the discovery of Roman coins and other relics among the
_débris_ of the original work during the erection of later bridges. We
have an evidence of the antiquity of the site in some Roman
_tesserae_, discovered in 1832, while a grave was being dug in the
south-east corner of the churchyard, and still preserved in the
pavement, near the entrance, in the south aisle of the choir. These
_tesserae_, with the pottery, tiles, coins, lachrymatories, sepulchral
urns, etc., excavated from time to time in and about the church, are
clear indications of an important Roman settlement.
It is known that after the destruction of Roman London by Boadicea, a
great many Romans made their escape into Southwark, where they
continued to live, and contributed greatly to the size and importance
of the southern suburb. The principal buildings sprang up round the
site of St. Saviour's Church, and it has been reasonably conjectured
that a temple stood on the very spot that the church now occupies.[1]
It is true that no trace of this temple has been discovered; but the
conjecture is not inconsistent with the known principles of the early
Christian missionaries, in their contact with paganism, as illustrated
in the history and traditions of other important churches.
Stow's phrase, "long before the Conquest," though somewhat ambiguous,
has been thought to point to a date posterior to the Roman occupation.
Some authorities, therefore, contend that the Romans had erected
London Bridge and left the country before St. Mary's was founded, and
consequently the bridge the antiquary mentions as built by "Swithun, a
noble lady," was not the first. Again, it is doubtful whether the
sub-title "Overie" means "of the ferry," or "over the river," or
whether the form "Overies," which the word sometimes takes, does not
suggest a derivation from "Ofers," "of the bank or shore," a meaning
contained in the modern German _Ufer_. John Overy, or Overs, was the
father of Mary, but whether the surname was derived from the place, or
_vice versa_, is uncertain. In any case, the name, whether by accident
or design, includes a reference to the foundress as well as to the
locality of her foundation.[2]
Stow is obviously wrong, however, as to the person who converted the
House of Sisters into a College of Priests, who was not a lady, but
St. Swithun, Bishop of Winchester (852-862), whose devotion to the
building of churches and bridges is well known.
The character of the foundation, altered by St. Swithun, was again
altered in 1106, under Bishop William Giffard, with the co-operation
of the two Norman knights to whom Stow refers. They not only erected
the first Norman nave, but made a radical change within by abolishing
the "College of Priests," in whose place they introduced "Canons
regular" of the Augustinian Order, governed by a Prior, thus
transforming the Collegiate Church into a monastery. Except as regards
the sex of the inmates, the change was a reversion to the idea of the
foundress.[3]
The Norman work of this period is the earliest of which any traces
remain in the present church, unless the doubtful signs on a shaft in
the exterior are to be taken as evidence of Saxon workmanship. This
shaft is attached to the north wall of the Chapel of St.
John-the-Divine (now used as a clergy vestry), which is perhaps the
oldest part of the fabric. The undoubted Norman remains consist of
three arches in the same chapel, where their outline is just
discernible among the brickwork; the fragment of a string-course, with
billet moulding, on the inner wall of the north transept; a portion of
the Prior's entrance to the cloisters; the old Canons' doorway; and an
arcaded recess. Of these, it may be briefly remarked that the remains
of the Prior's door, showing the mutilated shafts and the zigzag
moulding of the jambs, are preserved, _in situ_, in the outer face of
the north wall to the new nave. The outline of the Canons' entrance,
obviously of much simpler moulding, will be seen on the inner side of
the same wall, towards the west end. The Norman recess lies still
farther to the west on the same side.
Quite recently a valuable relic of the same period has been discovered
in the north-east corner within the above-mentioned chapel (by the
side of the new Harvard window)--apparently part of the original
arcading to the apse.
Early in the thirteenth century London was visited by one of those
great fires, which occurred at rather frequent intervals, before the
greatest of all, in 1666, led to the rebuilding of the city, and
better means for its protection. The date of the particular fire is
sometimes given as 1207, sometimes as 1212 or 1213. It is not
unlikely that there were several, in one or other of which London
Bridge, Southwark, and the church were seriously injured. (_Vide_ Stow
and Harleian MSS., No. 565.)
The repairs were soon taken in hand by Peter de la Roche, otherwise de
Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester (1205-1238), who altered the nave into
the Early English, which was then generally superseding the heavier
Norman work, and shortly afterwards built the choir and retro-choir in
a still lighter and more ornate style. The architecture gives us the
approximate date of de la Roche's work as the early part of the
thirteenth century, which is about as near as we can get to it in the
absence of a more precise record than that it was "begun after the
fire." In consequence of this, or some previous fire, the Canons were
led to found a hospital close to the Priory for the relief of the
distress and disease caused by the disaster. During the restorations
by Peter de Rupibus, in or about 1228, he had the hospital transferred
to a more favourable site in the neighbourhood, where the air was
fresher and water more abundant, and dedicated it to St. Thomas of
Canterbury, to whom the chapel on London Bridge was also dedicated.[4]
In addition to all this excellent work, Bishop de Rupibus built a
chapel for the parishioners, the conventual church being reserved for
the Prior and monks. This chapel stood in the angle between the walls
of the choir and south transept, and was called St. Mary Magdalene
Overy.
In the reign of Richard II there was another fire, involving repairs;
and then, as well as in the reign of Henry IV, Perpendicular features
were introduced by Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester
(1405-1447), aided by John Gower, the "Father of English Poetry." The
Cardinal is said to have restored the south transept at his own
expense, and is there commemorated in a sculptured representation of
his hat and coat of arms affixed to a pier by the door. The difference
in style between the two transepts shows that on the north to be of
somewhat earlier date, though it was probably not left untouched by
the restorers. The poet Gower founded a chantry in the Chapel of St.
John Baptist, in the north aisle, where he was eventually buried, and
where daily masses were said for the repose of his soul before the
Reformation. His monument was transferred to the south transept during
the "repairs and beautifications" of 1832, but is now restored to its
original place over the poet's remains in the fifth bay (from the
west), of the north aisle of the nave. The chapel and chantry have
unfortunately disappeared.
In 1469 the stone roof of the old nave fell down. The accident has
been attributed to the removal, in the reign of Richard II, of the
flying buttresses by which the vault was originally supported, as is
still the case with the choir walls. Another roof of groined oak was
soon substituted, as less likely to suffer from its own weight. That
it was not a specially light structure, however, may be inferred from
the massive bosses preserved from it, and now to be seen on the floor
of the north transept.
[Illustration: FORMER WESTERN DOORWAY.
_From Moss and Nightingale's "History"_ (1817-18).]
The crowning piece of work, which very shortly preceded the ruin
brought about by the Dissolution, was set upon the Priory Church by
Bishop Fox in 1520, in the magnificent altar-screen, which through all
its mutilations has borne witness to his work in his favourite device
of the "Pelican in her piety," and the humorous allusion to his name,
in the figure of a man chasing a fox, among its sculptured ornaments.
The west end of the church was considerably altered, and a new western
doorway inserted, with a six-light window above it, at about the same
time; when also the upper stages of the tower were erected. The
window is said to have been altered for the worse in the seventeenth
century, and in its last phase the whole façade presented what Mr.
Dollman describes as "a heterogeneous mass of masonry and brickwork,"
not worth preserving when the modern restoration was taken in hand.
The flying buttresses have been reproduced in the new nave, and the
chief doorway placed in the south-west corner, which the architect was
led to believe was its original position.
It is generally admitted that by the sixteenth century the monastic
institutions had so far departed from the ideal of their founders, and
outlived their usefulness, as to call for some drastic measures for
their improvement. Steps had been taken from time to time with this
object, before the reign of Henry VIII, when a combination of
circumstances, into which we need not now enter, enabled the King to
carry out his scheme for the Dissolution of the monasteries,
comprising the two chief classes of abbeys and priories into which
they were divided. The coming storm was heralded at St. Mary's on 11th
November, 1535 on which date, "by command of the king," a solemn
procession was held in the church to inaugurate its downfall by a
Litany, in which the Prior and Canons took part, "with their crosses,
candlesticks and vergers before them," as if in mockery of the state
of which they were so soon to be deprived. The "Act of Suppression,"
passed in 1536, sealed the fate of the smaller foundations, to be
followed three years later by the "voluntary surrender" of their
property by the larger monasteries, thus making a clean sweep of the
whole. The last Prior, Linstede, has been blamed for so far
acquiescing in the measure as to accept a pension from the royal
bounty; but with the fate of the last Abbot of Glastonbury before him,
who had been hanged for his resistance, he probably thought that his
own opposition would only have led to a useless martyrdom without
averting the fall of his priory. It may be mentioned, as having some
bearing on our history, that part of the wealth released by the Act
was applied to the foundation of six new bishoprics, thus by a strange
coincidence bringing up the English dioceses to the number of
twenty-four, originally fixed upon by Pope Gregory the Great, while
his successor was set at defiance by the measures through which they
were created.
St. Mary Overy now enters on a new phase of existence. We have seen
that it had become a double church, by union with the church, or
chapel, of St. Mary Magdalene, the one a conventual, the other a
public, place of worship. In the immediate neighbourhood there was a
third church, dedicated to St. Margaret, which had been founded by
Bishop Giffard in 1107, and granted to the fraternity at St. Mary's by
charter of Henry I. By an Act of 1540, the year of Linstede's
surrender, the whole were united into a single parish, under the title
of St. Saviour's, thenceforward the official designation of the
Collegiate Church and surrounding district. The new dedication was
suggested by, and intended to perpetuate the memory of, the convent of
that name in Bermondsey (founded by Alwin Child, a London citizen, in
1082), which shared the fate of its companions at the Dissolution.
Soon after the amalgamation, St. Margaret's Church was secularized,
and divided into three portions for use respectively as a Sessions'
Court, a Court of Admiralty, and a prison. It stood on the ground
where the old Southwark Town Hall was afterwards built, itself a
perpetuation of the secular uses to which the deconsecrated church was
put before it was destroyed. A relic of St. Margaret's survives in the
shape of a monumental slab to Aleyn Ferthing, five times Member for
Southwark, about the middle of the fourteenth century. The stone was
discovered in 1833 during some excavations on the site of the old
church, and transferred to St. Saviour's, where it is imbedded in the
pavement of the retro-choir. From 1540 the Priory Church and Rectory
were leased to the parishioners by the Crown, at a rental of about £50
per annum, till 1614, when the church was purchased right out from
James I for the sum of £800.
The Corporation into whose hands the newly constituted parish of St.
Saviour's passed in 1540 consisted of thirty vestrymen, of whom six
were churchwardens.[5]
The latter, as representatives of the ancient _Seniores
Ecclesiastici_, were charged with the protection of the edifice and
church furniture, but the records show that they had no special
veneration for either. The Act of 1540, appointing them to St.
Saviour's, had formed them into a Corporation in continuation of the
_Perpetual Guild or Fraternity of the Assumption_, incorporated in
1449. This Guild was afterwards merged in the Churchwardens of St.
Margaret's, whence the existing officers were transferred to St.
Saviour's on the amalgamation of the parishes, and others added to
their number. With the help of their fellow vestrymen they soon set to
work to render the Collegiate Church more convenient. To secure an
easy communication between that church and the adjacent chapel of St.
Mary Magdalene, they cut through the south wall of the choir, and
constructed four clumsy arches in it, thus opening the way from one
building to the other. From that time forward the smaller of the two
was used as a vestibule, and the other chapels and chantries
pertaining to the larger church were doomed to destruction, as being
no longer required under the altered conditions. The proceedings which
strike us as most sacrilegious occurred in the Lady Chapel. Perhaps
they cannot be better described than in Stow's graphic words:
The chapel was leased and let out, and the House of God made a
bakehouse. Two very fair doors ... were lathed, daubed, and
dammed up, the fair pillars were ordinary posts, against which
they piled billets and bavens. In this place they had their
ovens, in that a bolting place, in that their kneading trough,
in another (I have heard) a hog's trough, for the words that
were given me were these: "This place have I known a hog-stie,
in another a storehouse to store up their hoarded meal, and in
all of it something of this sordid kind and condition."
That the description is not exaggerated is proved by the parish
registers, which also show that the state of things went on for some
years and did not improve with time. On 15th May, 1576, for instance,
a vestry order is recorded in which the lessee of the chapel is called
upon to repair certain broken windows and remove nuisances. In the
following December, a further entry states that fourteen members of
the vestry went in a body to the chapel to see whether their orders
had been attended to, having allowed the lessee more than six months
to act on the notice. They found the place turned into a stable "with
hogs, a dung-heap and other filth" about, and were thereupon empowered
to take legal proceedings to keep the tenant up to his contract.[6]
In the reign of Edward VI the Prayer-book and its vernacular services
were introduced. The people had hardly got used to them before the
accession of Queen Mary, and the consequent papal reaction, restored
the Latin mass, around which most of the religious controversies of
the time were furiously raging. During that brief reign the
retro-choir was turned to more respectable use as a Spiritual Court,
though the memories attaching to it in that character constitute a
gloomy chapter in its history which we would gladly eliminate.
On Monday, 28th January, 1555, and the two following days, a
commission, appointed by the Cardinal Legate, sat there for the trial
of certain preachers and heretics. It was presided over by Bishops
Gardiner, of Winchester, and Bonner, of London, and included eleven
other Bishops, besides several eminent laymen. On the first day the
proceedings were open to the public, but as the crowd was
inconvenient, and the example or logic of the accused thought likely
to be contagious, the doors were closed on the Tuesday and Wednesday,
except to a few privileged spectators. The trials ended in the
condemnation of six clergymen of high standing, viz.:
1. The Rev. Lawrence Saunders, Rector of Allhallows', Bread Street.
2. The Rev. John Bradford, Prebendary of St. Paul's Cathedral.
3. The Rev. John Rogers, Prebendary of St. Paul's, and Vicar of St.
Sepulchre's, Newgate Street.
4. The Rev. Rowland Taylor, Rector of Hadleigh, Suffolk.
5. The Right Rev. Robert Ferrar, Bishop of St. David's, and
6. The Right Rev. John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester, all of whom were
afterwards burnt. They are commemorated in the windows of the chapel,
which include the Ven. John Philpot, Archdeacon of Winchester, who
suffered at the same time, though his examination was held elsewhere.
The odium of this melancholy transaction of course rests on the
presiding Bishops, neither of whom was afterwards anxious to take the
undivided responsibility. Bishop Gardiner did not long survive it. He
died on the 13th November, in the same year, at Whitehall, whence his
body was conveyed, _via_ Southwark, to Winchester for interment. The
funeral procession went by water from Westminster to St. Mary Overy,
where his obsequies were performed, and his intestines buried before
the high altar, in order that the honour of holding his remains might
be shared by the two principal churches in his diocese.[7]
Immediately on the accession of Queen Elizabeth, steps were taken to
reconcile the conflicting elements within the Church of England, whose
extreme representatives had been brought into violent collision in the
previous reign. A compromise was offered to them in a new Prayer-book,
which aimed at combining the principles of the first and second books
of Edward VI, in order to comprehend within the pale of the Church
those who had been excluded from it by a rigid interpretation of the
rubrics on either hand. On one side the rubrics of Edward's second
book were modified so as to allow greater liberty in the use of
ornaments and vestments, while on the other, the sentences employed at
the distribution of the elements in Holy Communion, which had been
held to support two opposite theories of the Sacrament in the previous
books, were united in the new one, as involving no real contradiction.
Notwithstanding the rubric which was inserted in Elizabeth's book for
the retention of the ornaments in use under Edward VI, an order was
issued in the first year of her reign (18th September, 1559), for the
sale of certain "Popish ornaments" at St. Saviour's, to meet the
expenses of repairing the church, and in consideration of the purchase
of the new lease. A list of the ornaments so disposed of may be
interesting:
Two small basons of silver, parcel gilt, weighing 22 ounces,
with a salver, double gilt, and a paten, parcel gilt.
Two altar-cloths, and a vestment of black velvet and crimson
satin, embroidered in gold and silver.
A cope and vestment (deacon and sub-deacon) of green velvet,
with flowers of gold.
Three copper cases, 43 pieces of stuff, and 4 "aules."
The whole of which were sold for £14 5_s._ 8_d._
Other articles sold included:
A painted cloth from before the rood, realizing 7_s._
Two altar-cloths of white fustian, 16_s._
Two altar-cloths of white damask, with flowers of green and
gold, 21_s._
Two altar-cloths, pea-green and white damask, 17_s._
Two altar-cloths of green and white satin, with letters of
gold, 58_s._
One altar-cloth of satin, 17_s._
Three vestments of blue damask, with crimson velvet crosses,
42_s._
A white damask cope; "a little narrow thing like a valance,"
with the name of Jesus in gold--sold for 8_d._
Candlesticks, censers, with "other broken brass," "as little
bells and such like," containing in weight, 34 lb., sold at
6_d._ a pound.
In pursuance of this destructive work an order was given on 31st May,
1561, "That all the church books in Latin be defaced and cut according
to the injunctions of the Bishop"; the effect of which has been to
deprive us of many valuable parish records which happened to be
written in the Latin language, in addition to the more distinctly
ecclesiastical books expressly included in the order.
On the very next day another order followed to the effect, "That the
Rood Loft be taken down, and made decent and comely as in the other
churches in the City." The changes which all this implies in the
adornment and accessories of religious worship under Queen Elizabeth,
were supplemented by the teaching from the pulpit. This was chiefly
done by the "Preaching Chaplains" introduced at St. Saviour's in that
reign. The first appointments were made in 1564, when two Chaplains
assumed office, and divided the preaching between them.
The arrangement, allowing two men to act simultaneously but quite
independently of each other, remained in force till our own times,
though its disadvantages soon began to appear. The Chaplains, though
committed by their appointment to the general doctrines of the
Reformation, were by no means bound to agree on the many debatable
questions to which the Reformation had given rise, and did not always
convey the same doctrines to their people, or work harmoniously
together. It was not, however, till the year 1868 that this
inconsistency was corrected by merging the two offices into one; and
in 1883 the measure was supplemented by an Act which abolished the
office of Chaplain altogether, and made him who then held it the first
Rector.
It may here be added that the parishioners had acquired the right of
appointment to the pastorate by their purchase of the church in 1614;
but the scandals attending the public election at every vacancy led to
its abolition in 1885, when the right was transferred to the Bishop of
the diocese by Act of Parliament.[8]
In 1618 Dr. Lancelot Andrewes was appointed Bishop of Winchester,
where he died in 1626. During his episcopate he often visited St.
Saviour's, as the most important church in his diocese, next to his
own cathedral. His pronounced churchmanship occasionally brought him
into strong contrast with the Chaplains, who usually went much further
in the Puritan direction than their Bishop, while they were themselves
apt to be pushed forward or restrained by the parishioners. The
latter, as holding the appointment in their hands, had established a
sort of censorship over their pastors, which they were not slow to
exercise against any tendency to "unsound" teaching. The records of
the parish show that the Chaplains had to ask leave of absence when
they wanted a holiday, and were otherwise kept in excellent order by
their lay superiors.
About this time considerable alterations were made in the interior of
the church to bring it into line with the current spiritual
discipline. In or about 1615 galleries were set up for the first time
across the north and south transepts, and in 1618 a screen and gallery
in place of the old rood loft between the nave and choir, were
"worthily contrived and erected." Somewhere between this date and 1624
an inner porch, of semi-classical design, was inserted at the west
end.
That closed and rented pews were introduced at this period may be
inferred from the following Representation, made by the churchwardens
to the Bishop of the diocese in 1639:
"We assure your Lordship that a Pew wherein one Mrs. Ware
sits, and pleads to be placed, is, and always hath been, a Pew
for Women of a far better rank and quality than she, and for
such whose husbands pay far greater duty than hers, and hath
always been reserved for some of the chiefest Women dwelling
on the Borough side of the said Parish, and never any of the
Bankside were placed there, the Pews appointed for that
Liberty being for the most part on the North side of the body
of the Church."[9]
The Prayer-book services were suspended at St. Saviour's, as
elsewhere, during the Commonwealth, by the Act of Parliament passed on
3rd January, 1645, which established the "Directory" in their place.
"The Directory for the Public Worship of God in the three Kingdoms"
was not so much a book of devotions as a set of instructions to the
minister, who was allowed the discretion of using what the book
provided, or extemporising a service of his own upon its principles.
On the Restoration of Charles II, an attempt was made at the Savoy
Conference (1661) to reconcile the conflicting religious parties into
which the country had been divided--an attempt which was not at all
successful with those outside the Church of England. The result of the
Conference, as far as the Church was concerned, was the issue of the
revised Book of Common Prayer in 1662, which restored, with certain
modifications, the form of services withheld during the inter-regnum.
The sacraments had been much neglected under the Protectorate;
baptism was seldom administered, and the records of St. Saviour's show
that marriages were then performed by the magistrates instead of the
ordained ministers, the banns being published in the market-place.
[Illustration: _The South Prospect of the Church of St. Savior
in Southwark_
THE CHURCH ABOUT 1740.
_From an engraving by B. Cole._]
During the next few years various structural alterations were made
within and without the edifice. The chief of these were the
rebuilding, in 1676, of the Bishop's or Lady Chapel, which had been
damaged by fire; and some alteration in the tower pinnacles in 1689,
when new vanes (bearing that date) were also set up. Mr. Dollman
conjectures that the buttresses, if they ever existed, were then
removed from the tower.[10]
The "Bishop's Chapel" was a small building projecting eastward from
the retro-choir. The name was popularly conferred upon it as the place
of Bishop Andrewes' interment, but there can be no reasonable doubt
that it was the true Lady Chapel, and that its more correct
designation, though popularly disused, was the "Little Chapel of Our
Lady." This small building was destroyed in 1830, as interfering with
the approach to new London Bridge, when the body of Bishop Andrewes
was transferred to its present place in the retro-choir.
In the eighteenth century the interior was altered in various details,
with the object of bringing it into harmony with the current notions
of ecclesiastical beauty, and the classical forms which architecture
had assumed. In the year 1703 a new altar-piece, in the Corinthian
style, was erected in front of Bishop Fox's fine stone screen, which
it completely concealed. A wooden framework of classical pillars, with
figures of Moses and Aaron on either side, and the Creed, Lord's
Prayer, and Ten Commandments in the spaces between them, the whole
surmounted by flaming censers and a circle of flying cherubs, made up
a composition not at all bad in itself but utterly out of character
with the Gothic work behind and around it. At the same time the
sanctuary was railed and paved with black and white marble, the body
of the church newly paved and galleried, a pulpit with sounding-board
erected, and the whole church "cleaned, white-washed, and beautified
throughout, at the charge of the parish." That the work was generally
approved may be inferred from the remark of Stow's "Continuator":
"This is now a very magnificent church since the late reparation";
while another exponent of public opinion, speaking of this and some
later improvements of the same kind says, "Though the church hath been
often repaired, yet the beauty for which it is justly admired consists
in this repair."
[Illustration: INTERIOR, LOOKING EAST.
_From an engraving in Moss and Nightingale's "History"_ (1817-18).]
In May, 1821, the restoration of the choir was proposed and
entertained for the first time, a restoration which the dilapidated
state of the clerestory and triforium showed to be necessary. The
proposal was not allowed to pass without opposition, for a counter
motion was submitted for the complete destruction of the whole
building except the tower, to which a brand-new church was to be
adapted. Fortunately this latter scheme was negatived by a large
majority of the parishioners, and the work of restoration was
committed to the then famous Gothic architect Mr. George Gwilt. He did
his work most carefully and conscientiously, adhering as far as
possible to the original, though hampered throughout his progress by
contradictory instructions from the managing committee, who, like most
bodies of that kind, were apt to fluctuate between motives of economy
and a sense of what was due to the ancient fabric. The Gothic revival
was then in an incipient stage, and Mr. Gwilt, or his committee, must
be held responsible for the removal of the old east gable, with its
five-light Tudor window, erected by Bishop Fox, in place of which a
new window of three lights was inserted. During this restoration the
Church of St. Mary Magdalene was demolished in 1822, together with
some old houses, which are less to be regretted as having encroached
too closely on the walls of the choir.
In 1825 the restoration of the nave began to be seriously considered,
its dilapidated state having been made more conspicuous by contrast
with the restored chancel. Tenders for the work were invited by public
advertisement, but nothing important was done while the vestry were
discussing the respective advantages of "rebuilding" and "repairing,"
and the nave was neglected till it got beyond repair. In the meantime
the two transepts were restored by Mr. Robert Wallace in 1830.
He substituted new designs of his own for the original tracery in the
most important window in the south transept; and (probably influenced
by an economical committee) made the fatal mistake of employing cement
instead of stone for the interior mouldings, and a soft Bath stone for
his repairs to the exterior. The action of time and weather has shown
the false economy of the work. In the same year the "Bishop's Chapel"
was destroyed, as before mentioned. In 1832 a much graver act of
vandalism was threatened by the Bridge Committee in their proposal for
widening the roadway, which meant the entire destruction of the
retro-choir. The suggestion was to leave a space of sixty feet wide,
afterwards extended to seventy, between the east end of the church and
the bridge.[11] This was too much for the inhabitants of Southwark,
who rose to the occasion in a vigorous protest by which the venerable
building was saved.
[Illustration: THE NAVE IN 1831.
_From a contemporaneous Engraving, by permission of "Church
Bells."_]
At their first meeting on the subject (24th January) the vestrymen
endorsed the proposal of the Bridge Committee by a large majority. At
a subsequent meeting, held within a week, public opinion had been
aroused on the subject, and the majority was reduced to three. The
moral victory for the Church and Borough of Southwark, headed by
Bishop Sumner, was secured by the poll there and then demanded, the
result of which was announced, in two days' time, as: "For the
retention of the building, 380; against, 140; majority for the
retention, 240."
The retro-choir was saved, and Mr. Gwilt completed the good work by
restoring it, giving his services gratuitously. The nave had been
already doomed. It had got into such a ruinous state by 1831 that at a
Vestry Meeting holden on the 3rd, and confirmed on the 10th, of May,
it was resolved:
"That the whole of the roof, from the western door to the west
end of the tower, called the nave, consisting of ceiling,
roof, walls, and pillars, as far as dangerous, be sold and
cleared away; the remainder of the walls, pillars, and family
vaults to be left open to the weather. And that the choir,
north and south transepts, be enclosed, to the eastern part of
the church, for divine service; and that the pews, situated in
the nave, be removed into such part, for the accommodation of
the inhabitants."
In 1838 the nave, having been sufficiently operated on by the climate
and other destructive forces, was taken down; and in the following
year the foundation stone of a mean and flimsy substitute, in the
"Gothic" of the period, was laid by Dr. Sumner, then Bishop of
Winchester. The interior, thus limited and reduced, was fitted up with
timber staircases, wainscoting, galleries, high pews, and a
"three-decker" pulpit, which answered the double purpose of obscuring
the sanctuary and enabling the preacher to command his audience in the
galleries.
The barbarous result did not escape the sensitive eye of Mr. A.W.
Pugin, the great Gothic revivalist, who gave vent to his indignation
in a scathing article in the "Dublin Review." He said:
"It may not be amiss to draw public attention to the
atrocities that have lately been perpetrated in the venerable
church of St. Saviour's, Southwark. But a few years since it
was one of the most perfect second-class cruciform churches in
England, and an edifice full of the most interesting
associations connected with the ancient history of the
Metropolis. The roof was first stripped off its massive and
solemn nave; in this state it was left a considerable time,
exposed to all the injuries of wet and weather; at length it
was condemned to be pulled down, and in place of one of the
finest specimens of ecclesiastical architecture left in
London--with massive walls and pillars, deeply moulded arches,
a most interesting south porch, and a splendid western
doorway--we have as vile a preaching-place ... as ever
disgraced the nineteenth century.
"It is bad enough to see such an erection spring up at all,
but when a venerable building is demolished to make way for
it, the case is quite intolerable. Will it be believed that,
under the centre tower, in the transepts of this once most
beauteous church, _staircases on stilts_ have been set up,
exactly resembling those by which the company ascend to a
booth or race-course?... Nothing but the preaching-house
system could have brought such utter desolation on a stately
church; in fact, the abomination is so great that it must be
seen to be credited."
Strange as it may appear, the seating accommodation under this
arrangement was even greater than it is at present, and the
congregations at the Sunday services were almost as large as they are
to-day. It would be quite wrong, therefore, to suppose that no
religious work was going on in the parish. But beyond the
parishioners, and the few antiquaries who visited the church from time
to time, it was scarcely known to the outside world, except when the
bells rang out the old year on the 31st of December, or when a dismal
light in the windows proclaimed the Christmas distribution of bread,
coals, and blankets to the poor of the neighbourhood.
It was impossible, however, that an edifice with the history and
associations of St. Saviour's, should escape the religious and
artistic revival of which the Oxford movement was the cause or the
outcome; and the restoration of this fine church to its original
beauty, and more than its original usefulness, has followed almost as
a matter of course. The scheme for its restoration, although in the
air for some time previously, began to take a definite shape in 1877,
when St. Saviour's, Southwark, with other South London parishes, was
transferred from the diocese of Winchester to Rochester. Dr. Anthony
Wilson Thorold was appointed to the See of Rochester in the same year,
and very soon lent his full energies to the work. In 1889 a meeting of
the chief parishioners was summoned to inaugurate the scheme, and a
subscription list was at once opened, headed by his Lordship with
£1,000. An appeal to the public was immediately issued, and was
generously responded to by great and small. Among the larger donations
may be mentioned the sum of £5,000 from Lord Llangattock, £2,000 from
Messrs. Barclay, Perkins and Co., with several gifts of £1,000 each
from Sir Frederick Wigan and others. These large amounts were
supplemented by the equally acceptable offerings of humbler people,
for which collections were made at numerous churches within and
without the diocese. Perhaps the most important of these, in a money
sense, was that at a Masonic Service, held in the Collegiate Church
itself on Ascension Day, which yielded over £2,000. On 3rd November,
Bishop Thorold preached at St. Saviour's on behalf of the fund, and in
the same month Sir Arthur Blomfield was chosen as architect for the
restoration. The miserable structure of 1839 was at once swept away,
and on 24th July, 1890, King Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, laid
the foundation stone of the new nave. It was completed within seven
years by Messrs. T.F. Rider and Sons after the design of Sir Arthur
Blomfield. Guided throughout by the remains of the old work, and many
existing drawings of the ancient nave, as a whole, and in its separate
details, the architect has succeeded in a practical reproduction of
the original building.[12] The erection, with other reparatory work,
was accomplished at a cost of over £40,000; but he who had initiated
it was not spared to witness its completion. Shortly after its
commencement, Bishop Thorold was transferred from Rochester to
Winchester, and died in the summer of 1895.
His successor in the See of Rochester, Dr. Randall Thomas Davidson
(appointed in 1891), did not allow the work to flag under his
administration, which came to an end with the death of Dr. Thorold in
1895. The episcopal changes then made resulted in the translation of
Dr. Davidson to the See of Winchester, and the appointment of Dr.
Edward Stuart Talbot to Rochester. By a happy coincidence, the parish
church at Leeds, from which he was transferred, bore the same
dedication as that of the Collegiate Church whose completion it was
his good fortune to celebrate.
On Tuesday, 16th February, 1897, the building was reopened after
restoration, and reinstated in its position as a Collegiate Church,
with the added dignity of a pro-Cathedral, in anticipation of its
becoming the Cathedral Church of the new diocese of Southwark already
in view.
The Collegiate Chapter was formed by Statutes promulgated by the
Bishop of Rochester in February, 1897. The following were the members
of that body immediately before the changes consequent on the
formation of the new diocese:
_Dean_:
The Lord Bishop of Rochester, the Rt. Rev. Edward Stuart Talbot.
_Sub-Dean_:
The Lord Bishop of Southwark, the Rt. Rev. Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs.
_Canons_:
Rev. William Thompson, D.D. _Chancellor._
The Archdeacon of Southwark (Ven. S.M. Taylor, M.A.) _Precentor._
Rev. R. Rhodes Bristow, M.A. _Canon Missioner._
Rev. Allen Edwards, M.A.
_Lay Members of the Chapter_:
Sir Frederick Wigan, Bart. _Treasurer._
W.A. Bell, Esq. _Assistant Treasurer._
J.T. Scriven, Esq. _The Warden of the Great Account._
George Newton, Esq. _The Rector's Warden._
_Other Officers_:
Rev. W.A. Chaplin, M.A., Mus. Bac. _Succentor and Sacrist._
A. Madeley Richardson, Esq., M.A., Mus. Doc., Oxon. _Organist and
Director of the Choir._
Rev. J.H. Greig, M.A. _Librarian._
A.W. Dodwell Moore, Esq. _Chapter Clerk._
Mr. Hutching and Mr. Spice. _Vergers._
Mr. Coombes. _Chapter House Verger._
The Collegiate Church and Chapter, being dependent on voluntary
contributions for their maintenance, a fund was raised which assured a
sum of about £2,000 per annum for all purposes for five years. As that
period has already expired, a like sum has again to be secured. It
may be added that this fund does not suffice to meet the expenses
incurred by the daily choral Evensong, which was started in June,
1899. The contributions received for this purpose ("The Daily Choral
Service Fund") have hitherto been just sufficient, and it is hoped
that by help from a somewhat wider circle of those interested in the
efficiency of the Collegiate Church, this service, which has been
increasingly appreciated, will not have to be discontinued. The
Treasurers are the Bishop of Southwark and the Precentor.
A Collegiate House has also been purchased, in which the unmarried
members of the Chapter may reside as well as the Collegiate body. The
latter consists of clergy in Priest's Orders, who undertake to place
themselves at the disposal of the Bishop for work in connection with
the diocese or Collegiate Church.
A valuable addition has been made to the Collegiate buildings in view
of the elevation of the church to the rank of a cathedral. The old
church of St. Thomas, adjoining the Collegiate House, which would have
been pulled down, has been saved and turned into a Chapter House. It
serves for diocesan meetings, and will hold about 400 people. It is
connected by a corridor with the Foster Hall of the Collegiate House,
and thus forms a convenient series of rooms for large or small
conferences. It is a plain red brick building, with stone dressings,
at the west end of which is a three-storied tower of the same
materials. The ground floor of the tower forms the porch. Entering by
this way we find ourselves in a lofty oblong hall, about 60 feet by
30, with a gallery on the north and west, and the altar-piece before
us at the east end, shut in by a wooden partition, in front of which
stand two chairs--one for the Bishop, the other for his Suffragan. The
history of the present building dates from 1702, when it was erected
on a monastic foundation, the funds being provided by a grant of
£3,000--out of the coal dues, pursuant to a Statute of William and
Mary, the Governors of St. Thomas's Hospital providing the balance.
The date is given on the central panel of the old pulpit, which is
preserved, in reduced form, as a reading desk. Both this and the
altar-piece are made of oak. The altar-piece is rather a fine specimen
of wood-carving in the Corinthian style, with the usual tables for the
Creed, etc. (now blank) between two pilasters, surmounted by the arms
of George I. The old pews were demolished, as no longer required,
when the church was transformed into a Chapter House, but the fine
grained oak of which they were made was turned to account for doors
and panelling. Below all this there is a crypt, of much earlier date,
which now answers the purpose of a refreshment department on special
occasions.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE CHAPTER HOUSE.
_Formerly the Church of St. Thomas._]
Behind the eastern wall a smaller hall has been erected between the
Chapter House and the adjacent Collegiate House. This serves the
double purpose of a vestibule and a place for smaller gatherings. The
generous donor wishes to remain anonymous, but is partially revealed
in a tablet over the fireplace, which says:
"As a Thank-offering for many blessings during a long life, a
merchant of the City of London constructed this Meeting Hall,
and munificently contributed to the purchase of the Collegiate
House of St. Saviour, Southwark, Sep 4, 1898," surmounted by
his arms and the legend "Watch and be ready."
A library, already consisting of several hundred volumes, is being
formed in the Chapter House, for the use of the clergy and licensed
Readers of the diocese--in addition to the Collegiate Library proper,
which at present is kept in the same place.
With all its advantages, the present Chapter House is acknowledged to
be an unworthy representative of the original, as being at an
inconvenient distance from the Cathedral, and out of character with it
in design. Unfortunately no trace of the old house, or of its exact
site, is left to us. The Cloisters and the College, or Priory, are
known to have been on the north, the Prior's residence at the
north-west angle of the Cloisters, and the Refectory at the north-east
end. The whole formed a splendid group of buildings and covered a
large area, bounded on the north by the Thames; on the south by the
church and churchyard; on the east by the "Bishop's Chapel," with a
wall beyond it (at about the distance of the present roadway); and on
the west by a small creek (St. Saviour's dock), beyond which lay the
Bishop of Winchester's palace and garden.
By an instrument dated 15th July, 1545, the whole of the Priory lands
were made over to Sir Anthony Browne, Knt., in the following
comprehensive terms: "Totum situm septum circuitum ambitum et
precinctum nuper Monasterii sive Prioratus beate Mariae Overey in Com.
Surr."
The work of demolition dates from that time, and the old buildings
have gradually disappeared to make way for the modern wharves and
warehouses which have since occupied the ground. The finishing strokes
were put to the destruction during the first half of 1835, when Mr.
E.J. Carlos, the archaeologist, visited the ruins, and describes them
as then showing "scarcely one stone upon another." They had previously
been visited by another antiquary (Mr. John Carter) in 1797 and 1808,
when there was a little more to be seen. Both gentlemen gave their
experience in the pages of the "Gentleman's Magazine," with a
conjectural description of the group of buildings as it had been,
contrasted with the desolation they then witnessed. (_See_ the
"Gentleman's Magazine" for 1808 and 1835.)
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE EAST.
_Reproduced from a drawing by Mr. Hedley Fitton, by permission
of the "Daily Chronicle."_]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See a paper read before the Society of Antiquaries, in 1833, by Mr.
A.J. Kempe.
[2] Burnham-Overy, in Norfolk, and Barton-Overy, in Leicestershire,
show that the suffix is not peculiar to St. Mary's, Southwark.
[3] It may be well to explain that a "Collegiate Church" takes its name
from the _Collegium_, or collected body of priests, attached to it, who
were called "Secular Canons" in distinction from the "Regular Canons"
of a monastery. The latter were monks who had been admitted to Holy
Orders, but still continued in obedience to the rule (_regulus_) of the
foundation to which they belonged. The Seculars were more or less like
our parochial clergy in that they were subject to no such regulation,
lived and moved without restraint among the people, and in early days
were not infrequently married. Until the time of Pope Gregory VII
(1073-1085), the celibacy of the extra-monastic clergy was not at all
generally insisted on. Even after the twelfth century, when greater
strictness had been enforced by the first and second Lateran Councils,
the marriage of the secular clergy was frequently connived at by their
superiors, who even tolerated a system of concubinage which they were
unable to prevent--_propter duritiem cordis_--by which a law of nature
was provided for, in defiance of the law ecclesiastical. The question
was finally settled by the Council of Trent in 1563, since when the
celibate rule has generally been strictly observed in the Roman Church.
The absence of such a rule in the Church of England is, of course, due
to the Reformation.
With very few exceptions the English "Colleges" were suppressed by an
Act of 1545. The name seems to have clung to St. Saviour's through all
its subsequent changes, rather by old association than as having any
practical value, till the collegiate character, as well as the title,
was formally restored to it in 1897 by Dr. Talbot, then Bishop of
Rochester.
[4] The dedication of the hospital was altered to "St.
Thomas-the-Apostle," in 1540, when the official title of the church was
changed to St. Saviour. To make way for the line of railway between
London Bridge and Charing Cross, a wing of the hospital had to be
pulled down, and the whole was transferred to the Albert Embankment,
where the new buildings were opened by Her late Majesty Queen Victoria
in 1871.
[5] In 1900 the number of churchwardens was reduced to five, of whom
two only discharge ecclesiastical duties.
[6] That the vestrymen were not indifferent to creature comforts is
shown by an entry in their records for 5th April, 1569, from which it
appears that it was their wont to eat a calf's head pie in the vestry
in celebration of Easter. The luxury was supplemented in 1600-1607 by
the gift of a buck and 20_s._ from Sir Edward Dyer, to provide an
entertainment for the vestrymen and their wives at the same season. On
the other hand, they were not allowed to have it all their own way, for
a resolution of 25th April, 1569, prohibits more than one of them from
speaking at once, under a penalty of 4_d._, and imposes a fine of 2_s._
6_d._ for irreverent behaviour in the vestry. They were also required
to wear their gowns in the vestry, and to attend the funeral of any of
their _confrères_, or their wives (if desired), under a penalty of
4_d._ It is fair to add that they were alive to their responsibilities
as they understood them, _e.g._, on 3rd March, 1571, they gave the
clerk warning, and appointed another in his place who was "a good bass
and tenor," at a salary of £1 6_s._ 8_d._, "that the choir might be
better served."
[7] The viscera of his successor, Bishop Horne, are also said to have
been buried at St. Mary's in 1579.
[8] We have a striking illustration of the joint pastorate at the same
period, when the judicious Hooker was Master of the Temple, and Mr.
Travers the Lecturer. The result was that "the forenoon sermon spake
Canterbury, and the afternoon Geneva."--Walton's "Life of Hooker."
Another instance of this difference of opinion comes before us at St.
Saviour's itself. Dr. Thomas Sutton, who was appointed Chaplain there
in 1615, was an ardent denouncer of plays and players, of whose
iniquities he was constantly reminded by the Globe and other theatres
in the neighbourhood. His superior, Dr. Lancelot Andrewes, on the other
hand, does not scruple to draw freely on the theatre for his
illustrations. See for example Bishop Andrewes' sermon on St. Matt.
vii, 6, preached before James I on Ash Wednesday, 1622.
[9] It may be mentioned, as throwing some light on the above, that the
Bankside had acquired an evil reputation through the brothels and other
iniquities tolerated in that quarter, and more or less recognised in
the Acts of Parliament for their regulation. The north side of a church
was in the Middle Ages usually appropriated to women, as inferior to
the south, which was reserved for the opposite sex. The north side of
the churchyard was used for the burial of ordinary people, a fact which
explains St. Swithun's humility in choosing it for his own
resting-place.
[10] His words are these: "Supposing Hollar's and other views of the
church (in which buttresses at the angles of the tower are shown) to be
correct, the buttresses as well as the pinnacles were then removed."
[11] The space was eventually left at 130 feet, as it now stands.
[12] Mr. Dollman, who probably knew more about the ancient fabric than
any living man, was heard to express his regret that his own great age
prevented his active co-operation, but he was delighted that the work
of restoration had fallen to such competent hands.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.]
CHAPTER II
THE EXTERIOR
At the present day St. Saviour's Cathedral is most unfortunate in its
surroundings, and cannot be seen as a whole from any point, near or
distant. Hemmed in as the church is by London Bridge on the east, the
Borough Market and railway arches on the south, and by tall warehouses
on the other sides, the confined space in which it stands is a decided
hindrance to the near perspective, while the surrounding buildings
shut off the view from a distance in all directions.[13]
The railway line from Cannon Street commands a fairly good prospect
from the south-west, as it passes the church in its course. A closer
prospect is to be obtained from the London Bridge approach which takes
in the Lady Chapel, the east and south sides of the choir, the tower
and south transept. A few yards further up the slope we, of course,
lose the south aspect, but get a fair view, from the north-east
corner, of part of the east front and the north transept, including
the new Harvard window in the chapel beneath it. If we descend the
short flight of steps at the foot of the bridge, and take up a
position in the south-east corner of the open ground outside the
church railings, we get a fairly good view of the south side from the
Lady Chapel to the south-west porch, but lose sight of much of the
east end, and therefore of one of the most characteristic external
features.
The church lies in a general east and west direction, and is cruciform
in plan, consisting of a nave, north and south transepts, a central
tower, and choir, beyond which is the retro-choir, or so-called Lady
Chapel. The nave and choir have aisles, but the transepts have not.
While strict orientation has been secured in the main building, it
will be noticed that the chancel is slightly deflected towards the
south, in supposed mystic allusion to the drooping head of the Saviour
upon the Cross, a piece of symbolism very frequent in Gothic churches,
and here rendered peculiarly appropriate by the dedication.[14]
Starting our perambulation at the =East End=, it will be noticed that
the so-called Lady Chapel is actually an enlargement of the choir,
such as we find on a much grander scale at Durham or Fountains, and
may be compared to the "Presbytery" at Chichester, from which the Lady
Chapel projects, or to the "New Building" at Peterborough Cathedral.
This addition was made to the church by Peter de Rupibus in the
thirteenth century, as a retro-choir or ambulatory. It was carefully
restored by Mr. George Gwilt, in 1832, from much external mutilation
to something like its original state. The eastern side consists of
four bays, divided by buttresses, and surmounted by pointed gables,
with ornamental crosses on the apices. In each of the gables there is
a triplet of narrow lancet windows, which light the space between the
internal vault and the roof. They have sculptured heads in the
moulding above the central light in each triplet. The bays below are
lighted by a similar series of larger windows of simpler
construction, the moulding of the sides being carried over the lancet
points in unbroken continuity. In the north-east corner there is a
short hexagonal stair turret, but the opposite corner is simply
supported by ordinary buttresses. The walls are made up of rubble and
flints, with ashlar dressing, as is supposed to have been the case
throughout the original church, where, however, the flints are said to
have been squared. In the reign of Edward III, a small Lady Chapel was
built against the east end of this retro-choir: it projected from the
second bay from the south, where the window was removed to connect it
with the church. After the interment of Bishop Andrewes within it,
this little appendage became popularly known as the "Bishop's Chapel."
It was demolished in 1830, on the ground of its supposed interference
with the approach to the new London Bridge; but as it only projected
thirty-four feet (a distance which would have placed it well within
the present churchyard railing) its destruction seems to have been an
unnecessary act of vandalism. The retro-choir itself narrowly escaped
sharing its fate, but was fortunately spared, and the tomb of Bishop
Andrewes was removed to its present position immediately behind the
high altar. The true Lady Chapel being destroyed, the dedication seems
to have been popularly transferred to the structure so closely
associated with it, and most people concerned are now very unwilling
to part with the familiar name.[15]
Above the Lady Chapel, as it is now called, we have a view of the
=East End of the Choir=, as restored by Mr. Gwilt at the same time.
This part of the church having been considerably altered by Bishop
Fox, in or about the year 1520, the restoring architect, though
anxious to go back to the thirteenth century work, had scarcely any
data to guide him to its reproduction. The result was the more or less
original elevation that we now see. It consists of a three-light
lancet window at the east end of the choir, with a small circular
window, with seven cusps, in the gable above, surmounted by a cross,
and a stair-turret, terminating in an octagonal pinnacle at each end
of the elevation.[16]
The pitch of Mr. Gwilt's gable was below that of its predecessor; but
with this exception (the responsibility for which lies rather with the
building committee than with him) his work must be considered very
satisfactory. His body now lies at rest in the family vault in the
south-east corner outside his work, and he is commemorated in a window
within, as well as in a marble tablet behind the altar-screen.
The =South side of the Lady Chapel= contains a central window of three
lights and geometrical tracery, with a lancet window on the right and
left. The mouldings of these side windows are not exactly alike, that
on the right (of the spectator) being extremely plain, while the other
is supported by slender shafts, terminating in delicate floral
capitals.
This aspect of the chapel was completely hidden by the parish church
of St. Mary Magdalene Overy, erected against it in the thirteenth
century, and destroyed in 1822, after having undergone many
alterations. The choir entrance, at the intersection of the choir and
south transept, is not remarkable, and need not detain us.
The =South Transept=, which has a public doorway on its eastern side,
was erected, with its companion on the north, in the first half of the
fourteenth century (_circa_ 1300-1350) in the Decorated style of that
period. It was rebuilt by Cardinal Beaufort in the following century,
which accounts for certain architectural differences between the two
transepts, chiefly noticeable in the windows and in the interior
walls. The front of this transept was repaired in brick in 1735, and
the restoration of both was taken in hand by Mr. Wallace in 1830. At
the earlier date the original window in the south elevation was
"enlarged and beautified," which means that the tracery was taken out,
and a cheap substitute inserted, without tracery, and with plain
mullions instead of the original elaborate lights. Mr. Wallace
improved upon this feeble design by introducing another window, on a
pattern partly of his own invention, partly based on a circular window
in the adjacent Winchester Palace, which is said to have been
singularly ill adapted for stained glass.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE NORTH-EAST.]
When the restoration was undertaken by Mr. Wallace, enough of the old
work remained to show that the original design had a high-pitched
roof, with a gable recessed behind a straight parapet, and that the
large window, though all cusping and tracery had disappeared, was
similar, in its main divisions, to that which Sir Arthur Blomfield has
inserted. Mr. Wallace's restorations, here and elsewhere, were made
quite independently of the suggestions to be found in the ancient
work, which Sir Arthur was before all things anxious to reproduce. In
the present window we have a practical reproduction of the original,
as far as its features could be ascertained. It consists of five
lights, combining the earlier geometrical with the later flowing
tracery of the Decorated period, and an element of Perpendicular.
Below the transoms there is a series of unglazed panels, which have
not escaped criticism as spoiling the proportions of the window; but
most people are satisfied with them in the interior, where the wall
arcading at once explains the necessity, and gives effect to the
whole. A simple three-light window has been placed in the gable above.
The windows on the east and west sides of this transept, though
renovated by Sir Arthur Blomfield, date from the time of Edward III,
as Mr. Wallace did not interfere with them beyond shortening the
length of one on the east. Below the great window in the south
elevation there had formerly been an entrance to this transept, to
which a wooden porch was added. These are now swept away, and the
entrance has been transferred to the eastern side, formerly blocked up
by the church of St. Mary Magdalene. Mr. Wallace had changed the
design of the buttresses, and affixed pinnacles to them, on the
authority of certain old engravings which represent them as existing
at an earlier period. It may be said, however, that the old pictures
differ very much from each other in such details, and cannot be relied
on for accuracy. Sometimes, no doubt, though almost contemporaneous,
they represent alterations actually made at the church within a short
time of one another; but the discrepancies between them are just as
likely to be due to the caprices of individual engravers. On the other
hand, it is fair to them to remember the innovations, for better or
worse, which the vestry and churchwardens thought it right to make at
frequent intervals. Some of them occur in the history of this very
transept. For instance, the original gable was removed early in the
eighteenth century, and a covering substituted, of a kind which Mr.
Dollman humorously describes as "the pleasing novelty of a hipped
roof." Again, in 1679 a sundial was placed over the central window, to
give way in 1735 to an ingenious combination of sundial and clock, for
which a triangular arrangement, presenting a clock of two faces, was
substituted four years later. _See_ illustration, p. 27. All these may
now be regarded as among the things that have never been, except in
the historical lessons they contain.
The =Tower=, at the intersection of the nave and transepts, is 35 ft.
square externally, and rises to the height of 129 ft. 6 in., exclusive
of the pinnacles, which stand 34 ft. higher. The exterior walls
throughout consist of the intermixture of flint and stone,
characteristic of the rest of the church, except the transepts, which
are of Bath stone. It has been stated that the tower was originally
supported at the angles by buttresses, but it is not at all certain
that this was the case, and it would have been an unusual and
dangerous experiment to remove them, unless the tower had been
altogether rebuilt. That the old builders did not shrink from such
daring alterations, however, is proved by their having removed the
flying buttresses from the original nave, which led to the collapse of
the roof in 1469. In a bird's-eye view of Southwark, including St.
Saviour's Church 'as it appeared' in 1543, the buttresses are absent.
In an engraving by Hollar (usually accurate), dated 1647, the
buttresses are shown. The present appearance of the tower is against
the theory, as there is next to nothing for the buttresses to rest on;
but it is probable that the angles were altered at the same time, and
Mr. Dollman has given his weight to the conjecture, apparently relying
on Hollar's correctness, in preference to less known engravers. The
first stage of the tower, just visible above the roof, was erected at
the same time as the adjoining transepts. The two upper stages are
attributed to Bishop Fox (_circa_ 1520), and are in the Perpendicular
style of his date. The uppermost stage is chamfered at the quoins,
leaving a small off-set at the level of the next. Each story contains
two windows of two lights, transomed, the whole terminating in an
embattled parapet, with crocketed pinnacles at the corners, surmounted
by vanes. These were put up by Mr. Gwilt in 1818, in place of the old
vanes, dated 1689, the pattern of which was slightly different. If the
early engravings are to be trusted, Mr. Gwilt also made a
considerable alteration in the design of the pinnacles at the same
time. The two rooms within the tower are reserved for the ringers and
the peal of twelve bells which the church has possessed since
1735.[17]
The =South side of the Nave= brings us to Sir Arthur Blomfield's chief
restoration, or rather rebuilding, of 1890-1897.
As explained in the introductory chapter, the nave had been walled off
from the eastern portion of the church and allowed to drop into
ruinous neglect from 1831 till 1839, when a flimsy substitute was
begun. The foundation stone was laid by Dr. Sumner, then Bishop of
Winchester. The fragile nature of this work may be inferred from the
fact that it was finished in the following year, and as the floor was
raised seven and a half feet above the old level it was impossible to
use the new nave in connection with the choir and transepts.
Guided by the ground plan of the thirteenth-century nave, showing the
position of the columns of the arcade, and the outer walls generally,
as revealed when the modern brickwork was removed, Sir Arthur has
succeeded in giving us a practical reproduction of the original, both
in character and material.[18] It will be no disparagement to his
admirable work to say that it was made more easy by the labours of his
predecessors, Mr. Gwilt and Mr. Dollman, and especially by the careful
plans and drawings which the latter gentleman left behind him after
fourteen years' patient study of the fabric. The south elevation
exhibits seven bays, divided and supported by flying buttresses, each
bay of the clerestory being lighted by a plain lancet window.
The flying buttresses had been removed from the old nave, with
disastrous consequences to the original roof, as already stated. They
are now replaced, and at once give strength and effect to the
elevation, besides bringing it into harmony with the architecture of
the choir, where the flying buttresses were never removed. The wall
spaces in the aisle below are occupied by five lancet windows,
matching those in the clerestory, except in the bay next the transept,
where there is a beautiful window of three lights. Before describing
it, the interesting fact may be mentioned that the window in the
westernmost bay of this aisle had been concealed and protected, while
its neighbours were destroyed, through having a small wooden house, or
shed, built up against it. The single window thus accidentally
preserved, was taken as a model for the new ones throughout the aisle
and clerestory, with the exception of the larger aisle window just
referred to. This, though also entirely rebuilt, is a modified
reproduction of that which filled the same space in the time of Edward
II--a fine example of the Decorated style. Divided by sub-arcuation
into three lights, surmounted by circles of quatrefoil tracery in the
spandrels of the arches, and supported by composite shafts, with
moulded bases and foliated capitals, this elegant window had been
allowed to drop into a ruin. Drawings of it had fortunately been taken
before it was too late, and the present work gives us the leading
features, and practically the details, of the original.
The most conspicuous object in the whole of this elevation is the
=Doorway= to the south-west, which is the principal entrance to the
Cathedral. In all probability the door was placed in this position
when the Norman nave was built by Bishop Giffard (_circa_ 1106); but
its character was altered by Peter de Rupibus, a century later, to
bring it into harmony with the rest of his Early English work, when he
remodelled the nave in that style.
The porch that we now have agrees in its main features with the
drawings taken of the earlier one before it was destroyed. A deeply
recessed and acutely pointed arch is divided into two by a central
shaft, with moulded base and foliaged capital. The jambs contain five
shafts on each side, which differ from that in the centre, in that
they are of Purbeck marble, and banded, in pleasing contrast to the
plain stone of their own bases and capitals, and of the (unbanded)
central shaft. In the tympanum of the double doorway thus formed,
there is a pointed arcading, consisting of a central arch and two
smaller arches on either side. The deep soffit of the arch in which
this elegant arcading is enclosed, is adorned with a series of
quatrefoil panels.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE SOUTH-WESTERN PORCH.]
From the remains of a bracket discovered in the ruins of the former
arcading, it is obvious that the central space was intended for a
statue. We are not left to mere conjecture on this point, but have
documentary evidence to confirm it, which shows that the recess held a
seated figure of the Blessed Virgin, the patroness of the church.[19]
The arch is now vacant, though supplied with a suggestive pedestal;
and there is one other detail in which the restorer appears to have
departed from his original, viz., in not reproducing the small
clusters of foliage that were distributed along the hollows of the
mouldings.
The long gargoyles projecting horizontally on either side of the roof,
and the floriated cross on the apex, are worth notice. The modern
restoration is indicated by a cross (_patée_) carved on the central
buttress on this side of the Cathedral, which marks the stone laid by
King Edward VII on 24th July, 1900, when His Majesty was Prince of
Wales.
The =West Front= is chiefly remarkable as presenting a dead wall where
we usually expect to find the grand entrance. It is a debated question
among antiquaries and architects whether the first Norman church ever
had a doorway in this front; and the question has not got beyond
conjecture as to the Early English church which superseded it in the
thirteenth century. It is certain, however, that a rich and elaborate
entrance, deeply recessed, was inserted here in the Perpendicular age
(sixteenth century), about the same date that the upper stages of the
tower were set up, either for the first time, or in place of an
earlier doorway.[20]
The same uncertainty attends the history of the great west window; all
traces of the original having disappeared when a window of the
Perpendicular style was introduced in agreement with the doorway
below. Before the alterations, or mutilations, of the seventeenth
century, this window was of six lights transomed, with cinquefoil
tracery at the heads of the lower (and probably also of the upper)
lights, as inferred from the fragments which survived its
mutilation.[21]
In the absence of data as to the Early English façade, the architect
for the restoration has been thrown to a large extent upon his own
resources. The question of the doorway he has answered in the
negative. The window he has given us consists of three lancet lights
corresponding with those at the east end, but considerably longer,
with an unglazed panel of similar design, on either side, diminishing
in height from the central light outwards in harmony with the lines of
the roof. The north and south ends of the façade are flanked by
stair-turrets, square in their lower portion, rising into octagons,
and surmounted by sharply pointed roofs. To relieve the monotony of
the horizontalism, a simple arcading has been inserted in the wall
spaces above the central window, and above the aisle windows (plain
lancets) on the right and left. Independently of the question of
precedent, the absence of a doorway in this front is quite
intelligible at the present day, when the church wall almost touches
the narrow public pavement, and the close street of lofty business
houses allows no room for perspective, or even convenient access.
The =North Side= of the nave corresponds with the south, each bay
containing a lancet window in the clerestory. The spaces in the aisle
below are similarly lighted, except in one bay towards the east, where
Gower's monument in the interior necessitates a shorter window, which
is here made a double lancet. At the extreme eastern end of this side
of the nave we come to a most interesting relic in the remains of the
=Norman Doorway= (twelfth century), which had been the Prior's
entrance from the cloisters. Shut in and completely hidden by
brickwork, it was discovered in 1829 in a shocking state of
mutilation, but fortunately _in situ_. It was further mutilated, and
bricked up again during the building operations of 1839, to be again
revealed when the rubbish of that date was cleared away for the new
nave, where the fragments are now carefully preserved in the wall. The
archivolt is no more, all that we have being some fragments of the
jambs on which it rested, one of which, on the east side (on the
returned face), shows two old consecration crosses. In its perfect
state this fine specimen of late Norman work is known to have
consisted of three orders of shafts (banded) in the jambs, with
moulded bases and sculptured capitals, the bold archivolt also
displaying three orders.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
REMAINS OF THE PRIOR'S DOORWAY.]
Of these the outermost was of leaf ornament, the second zigzag, and
the third a conventional floral design, suggesting a combination of
the trefoil and Greek honeysuckle. The zigzag moulding forming the
innermost order was continuous along the jambs and arch. Close to this
doorway, on its eastern side, there is a smaller, but equally
interesting, relic in the remains of a _Holy-water Stoup_. It is fixed
in a large and deep recess, with an angular arch above it, too
dilapidated to afford a hint as to the original moulding, which we
can only assume was not unworthy of the rich doorway by its side.
A few yards westwards we are reminded of the antiquity of the site by
a mass of Roman tiles, arranged herring-bone fashion, as if they had
been used in the wall of some earlier (probably Saxon) building on the
spot. They are now tightly packed in a case, exactly as they were
discovered, for their better protection against relic hunters, whose
ideas of property, when it happens to be of a portable kind, are a
constant source of anxiety to the vergers.
Our progress along the north wall is here interrupted by the
projecting transept, which touches the wooden fence separating the
Cathedral from private property. Neither the north end of this
transept, nor the north side of the "Lady Chapel," is to be seen from
the exterior. It may be mentioned, however, that the windows on the
east and west sides of the north transept are extremely simple
compared with that in the end of the same transept or with those in
the south arm; and that the north side of the "Lady Chapel" differs
slightly from the south in the disposition of the windows. Here the
largest (a fine example of modern work) is in the easternmost bay, the
other two bays being lighted by simple lancets, whereas on the
opposite side the largest window occupies the central bay, with a
lancet in the bays on either side of it.
Before entering the church, it may be well to walk once more along the
east front to see the outside of the new Harvard window in the chapel
below the north transept, which stands out in marked contrast to the
older work around it. It may also be noticed that while the windows in
the choir clerestory are all plain lancets, like those in the restored
nave, there is a considerable difference in the glazing. In the choir
we have an ornamental pattern of Mr. Gwilt's invention. In the nave
Sir Arthur Blomfield has preferred small square panes of glass, as
more in character with the lancet type of window, and the other Early
English work, which he has so well reproduced.
[Illustration: THE TRANSEPTS FROM THE NORTH END.
_Reproduced from a drawing by Permission of "Church Bells."_]
FOOTNOTES:
[13] There is a further disadvantage, of a more material kind, in the
encroachments. The smoke and soot from passing trains on one side, and
the dust from a coffee-roasting establishment on the other, are having
a sufficiently obvious effect on the fabric, as well as on the
surrounding grass-plats. The latter require frequent renewal in
consequence.
[14] Perhaps the deflection is more frequently towards the north.
[15] A converse instance of mistaken nomenclature occurs at Westminster
Abbey, where the Lady Chapel is commonly called after Henry VII, who
began its erection, in place of the earlier chapel, and is buried in
it.
In an inventory of 1538 the "Bishop's Chapel" at St. Saviour's is
styled "the little Chapel of our Lady," which perhaps indicates that
there was an altar to the Virgin in the retro-choir. Two Lady Chapels
in one church are not unknown, as, _e.g._, at Canterbury Cathedral,
where there was one in the north-west transept, now called "the Dean's
Chapel," and another in the crypt under the high altar.
A case more directly to the point may be quoted from Barnwell Priory,
where the Lady Chapel is known to have occupied a similar position to
the retro-choir at Southwark, with a "little Lady Chapel" appended to
it. (_Vide_ "The Observances in use at the Augustinian Priory of
Barnwell," by J. Willis Clark, and the accompanying plans.)
[16] The pinnacle at the south end was removed a few years ago to
prevent its falling.
[17] The original number of bells, in 1424, was seven, and their names
were Nicholas, Vincent, St. Lawrence, Anna Maria, Stephen, Maria,
Augustine. In the same year the bells were increased in weight and one
more added to the number. The names were then changed, and became
Christ, St. John-the-Evangelist, All Saints', Gabriel, St. Lawrence,
Augustine, Mary, St. Trinity. They were recast, with 64 cwt. of fresh
metal, in 1735, when the peal was brought up to its present number.
More recently the two largest of the treble bells (D# and C#) were
slightly reduced in weight.
[18] The builders of 1839 fortunately contented themselves with
building round the bases of the piers, which they left on the old
foundation.
[19] _E.g._, in the will of Joan de Cobham, dated 1369, the testatrix
expresses her wish to be buried before the door of St. Mary Overie,
"where the image of the Blessed Virgin sitteth on high." It will be
noticed that this is the principal feature in the Priory seal.
[20] Drawings of the Perpendicular doorway are given by Moss and
Nightingale (1817-1818), and by F.T. Dollman (1881). The ruins of the
old nave, including this fine doorway, were finally removed towards the
end of 1838, to make way for the _pure Gothic_ structure (as it was
called in the newspaper descriptions of the day), which was commenced
in the following year.
[21] Mr. Dollman holds that the cinquefoil tracery occurred in both
divisions, but has omitted it from the upper lights in his drawing of
the west elevation, as it appeared before it was finally destroyed.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE.]
CHAPTER III
THE INTERIOR
The =Nave= was entirely rebuilt by Sir Arthur Blomfield in 1890-1897.
Not the least difficult part of the architect's work was the removal
of the unsatisfactory structure, of 1839-1840, without destroying the
few Norman and Early English features imbedded in the plaster and
brickwork, which it was desired to recover as far as possible, and
preserve intact and _in situ_. This has to a great extent been done,
thanks to the care with which the debased nave was taken to pieces,
every stone that was worth preserving being carefully released from
its accretions, measured, and reinstated in its proper place in the
new work. Fortunately the earlier nineteenth century builders had not
disturbed the bases of the old piers, but had contented themselves
with building round them, and when their superstructure was cleared
off, enough of the old work remained to show the position of every
pier, as well as the lines of the original ground plan. In nearly
every part also the old foundations were found satisfactory, though,
of course, they were thoroughly tested, and renovation generally
applied. The old lines have been adhered to throughout the
restoration, and the new nave is a practical reproduction of its Early
English predecessor in every detail, with the single exception to be
afterwards noticed. This minute adherence to the original includes
such intentional irregularities as the unequal distances between the
piers and the varying width of the aisles, which not only differ from
each other, but are not of the same width throughout in each case.
Ancaster stone has been chiefly employed, except in the roof, where
the ribs of the vaulting are of Bath stone, the filling being made up
of chalk and firestone.
The nave consists of seven bays on each side, divided by piers,
alternately circular and octagonal, like those in the choir, with
triple vaulting shafts on the north and south sides (the central shaft
in each case being of Purbeck), and a single shaft on the east and
west, corresponding with the interior order of the arches. The
vaulting shafts are banded. The deeply moulded arches are somewhat
loftier and more acutely pointed than those in the choir, placing the
triforia on a slightly higher level, but the triforia of nave and
choir are alike in that in both cases they consist of four arched
openings in each bay. Every bay is walled off from its neighbours on
either side, but has an opening at the back into a passage above the
aisles, which is continuous throughout nave and choir. In the
westernmost bay on either side, the triforium arcade has a wall
immediately behind the shafts. In the other bays it is recessed, and
open above the level of the aisle vaulting. In these respects the
architect has reversed the old arrangement, as in the original nave
the two westernmost bays had open triforia, the others simply
containing a shallow arcading. This arrangement, taken in conjunction
with traces of an incipient tower discovered within the two western
bays, seems to show that these bays were intended to form a narthex,
or vestibule, to the church, but it does not appear that the tower was
ever erected, or that the vestibule ever went beyond the conception.
The clerestory is lighted by plain lancet windows, enclosed in an
elegant arcading.
Entering the church by the great doorway at the south-west, and
looking towards the east, we get a fine perspective of over two
hundred feet, including the nave arcading in its three stages, the
groined and vaulted roof, and a good view of the choir, terminating in
Bishop Fox's fine stone screen, with the three-light window above it.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE CHOIR VAULT.]
In both aisles there is an interesting series of modern windows
intended to memorialise the great names associated with the Church,
the Borough of Southwark, and the history of England--all excellent
specimens of the revived art of glass-staining, and all at present
designed by Mr. C.E. Kempe. The visitor will find it convenient to
begin his examination of the interior at the =North Aisle=. The window
at the extreme west end of this aisle contains a figure of St.
Augustine of Hippo, as Patron of the Augustinian Canons, introduced
early in the twelfth century, when the Collegiate Church was
transformed into a monastery.
The next three windows are at present vacant, but they are already
destined for three great names included in the memorial scheme, viz.:
Oliver Goldsmith, Dr. Johnson, and Dr. Sacheverell, each of whom has a
place in the history of Southwark entitling him to commemoration in
the church. Goldsmith once set up as a medical practitioner at
Bankside. His friend Dr. Johnson was on friendly terms with the Thrale
family, whose successors (Messrs. Barclay, Perkins and Co.) still
retain the Doctor's chair on their premises. Dr. Sacheverell was
Chaplain at St. Saviour's from 1705 to 1709, and appears to have
engaged Johnson's attention, as a preacher, in his childhood.[22]
Beneath the Goldsmith window there is a fine relic in the shape of a
late =Norman Recess=, which has escaped serious mutilation. A
segmental arch, surmounted with a simple chamfered moulding with
quirks, supported at each end by a column with moulded base and
capital, would seem to indicate a seat rather than a tomb, and the
date as about the end of the twelfth century. Beneath the Johnson
window there is another Norman relic, of about the same date, in the
outline of the old =Canons' Doorway=, formerly connecting the aisle
with the cloisters. The extreme plainness of the moulding will be
contrasted with the elaborate work in the Prior's entrance further
east, on the exterior of the same wall. The next window contains a
memorial to Alexander Cruden, compiler of the Scripture Concordance,
who died on 1st November, 1770, and was buried in the parish. This
window is the gift of Mr. W.H. Francis.
John Bunyan is commemorated in the window beyond it, as having
preached and worked in Southwark, and as author of the immortal
"Pilgrim's Progress." The cost was defrayed by subscriptions from
children of the parish.
The next bay is occupied by a short two-light window (at present
plain), and by =John Gower's Tomb= in the space below. This fine
monument was removed to the east side of the south transept during the
destructive alterations of the early nineteenth century, but had been
worse treated by its friends in 1748, when a large sum was spent on
its "embellishment." Its history, combined with that of the Priors who
erected it, may be summed up in the opening words of the inscription
which was placed in a marble tablet at the back of the tomb to
commemorate the embellishment referred to, not without a touch of
sarcasm, though, of course, unintentional: "Hoc viri inter inclytos
memorandi." Gower died in 1408, eight years after his friend Chaucer.
He had been a liberal benefactor to the Church, and founded a chantry
in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist, where he was eventually buried.
The chapel and chantry are no more, but the monument marks the spot,
having been restored in 1894 to its first position. It is in the
Perpendicular style, and consists of an altar-tomb, with a dado,
ornamented by seven panels in front, on which lies the effigy of the
poet, surmounted by a canopy of three ogee arches, with an inner order
of five cusps, and terminating in crocketed pinnacles. There is a
pilaster set angle-wise at each end, banded at the separate divisions
of the monument, and also rising into crocketed pinnacles. There are
similar pinnacles between the arches of the canopy. Behind the canopy
is a screen, divided into open panels of three trefoil-headed lights.
The cornice at the top is modern, and the hands and nose of the figure
are restorations.
The poet is represented lying on his back, with his hands joined in
prayer, and his head resting upon the three volumes on which his fame
depends, the "Speculum Meditantis," "Vox Clamantis," and "Confessio
Amantis." He is vested in a long dark habit, buttoned down to the
feet, after the manner of a cassock, the ordinary dress of an English
gentleman at the time. There is a garland of four roses round his
head, and at his feet a lion couchant. The SS collar adorns the neck,
with a pendant jewel, on which a swan is engraved--the device of
Richard II, to whom Gower was Poet Laureate. On the wall of the
canopy, at the foot of the tomb, there is a sculptured and coloured
representation of the poet's own shield of arms, crest, and helmet. On
the back wall of the recess, above the effigy, there were formerly
three painted figures, representing Charity, Mercy, and Pity, each
bearing a scroll with an invocation, in Norman-French, for the soul of
the departed. After undergoing repainting more than once, with
modifications, the figures were scarcely recognisable in 1832, when
the monument was repaired, but the figures were unfortunately
obliterated. The inscription along the ledge of the tomb, which had
also been destroyed, is now replaced: "Hic jacet I. Gower, Arm. Angl:
poeta celeberrimus ac hoc sacro benefac. insignis. Vixit temporibus
Edw. III, Ric. II, et Henri IV." The short window above Gower's tomb
is not without suggestion in its vacancy. The last bay of the aisle
was occupied by the Prior's doorway, the existing fragments of which
are preserved _in situ_ on the exterior.
The window above it is most appropriately dedicated to Gower's
contemporary, Chaucer. It was presented by General A.W. Pigott in
memory of his sister, and was unveiled by the present Poet Laureate on
25th October, 1900, the fifth centenary of Chaucer's death. The artist
has succeeded in compressing a rather large subject into the single
lancet. The middle compartment depicts the pilgrims setting out from
the old "Tabard" inn, above which (in the upper division) rise the
tower of St. Saviour's and the spire of Canterbury, the starting-point
and the goal of the pilgrimage. The compartment beneath contains a
full-length figure of Thomas Becket, a study in ecclesiastical
vestments, his right hand raised in blessing, the left holding the
archiepiscopal cross. The whole is crowned with a medallion portrait
of the author of "The Canterbury Tales."
If the visitor will now turn to the right and take up a position
outside the chancel railings, he will probably be at the best point
for seeing the =East Window=, unless a strong light happens to be
behind it to bring out the details at a distance.
[Illustration: JOHN GOWER'S MONUMENT.
_From an engraving in the Crowle-Pennant Collection, British
Museum, 1801._]
It is placed in an elegant quintuplet arcading, the outer arches of
which are blind, leaving the central arches for the three lancets
composing the window. It contains the Crucifixion in the central
light, with the attendant figures of St. John and the Blessed Virgin
at the sides, the whole thus forming a pictorial substitute for the
rood-screen that formerly stood before the choir. The design of this
window is also by Mr. Kempe, but it shows a certain departure from his
characteristic style in that it is more of a picture and less of a
kaleidoscope than most of his other windows. In colouring and accuracy
of delineation (anatomical and otherwise) it is perhaps more modern
and less mediaeval in treatment than we should be led to expect from
the artist's better known manner. The predominant tone is blue,
relieved by a delicate base and canopy of amber, and the whole
composition is full of the devotional spirit of the old masters in
stained glass, though obviously subject to modern influences. A
complete contrast, in subject and in colouring, is presented in the
great =West Window=, by Mr. Henry Holiday. This window also consists
of three lancet lights, which, though considerably longer than those
at the east end, scarcely afford room for the many details of the
extensive theme that has been chosen. It is a combination of the six
"Days" of Creation with the _Benedicite omnia opera_ as a hymn of
praise from created nature. In some respects the treatment of the
subject suggests the influence of the school that we associate with
the names of Burne-Jones, William Morris, and Rossetti. This gift to
the Cathedral came from Mr. T.H. Withers. The space beneath the west
window, usually occupied by a porch, is lined with two series of
arched panels, seven in the higher row, nine in the lower. The latter
are less acutely pointed, and much shorter, than the others, and also
differ from them in that the shafts are of Purbeck marble.
On the inner south-west wall there are some extremely interesting
fragments of the ancient thirteenth-century wall arcade. The peculiar
construction can be inferred from the three arches that are left,
viz., that in every bay one of the three arches rested on a corbel,
while the others were supported by shafts, with moulded bases and
foliated capitals; a precedent which has been followed in the new
arcading on the west wall.
The =South Aisle.=--The window in the western wall contains a figure
of St. Swithun, in cope and mitre. He is here commemorated as having
converted the original "House of Sisters" into a College of Priests,
and, as it were, to balance the other conversion referred to in the
companion window in the north aisle.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE CHOIR FROM THE NAVE.]
Above the Early English arcading the westernmost bay contains a window
commemorating St. Paulinus. After the defeat of his patron, Edwin, at
the battle of Hatfield the saint fled from Northumbria into Kent
(_circa_ 633), where he acted as Bishop of Rochester till his death in
644. The connection of St. Saviour's with the See of Rochester, though
quite modern and now severed, is fittingly indicated by this memorial.
This extreme bay of the aisle constitutes the Baptistery, and the
scene chosen for illustration from the life of St. Paulinus represents
him in the act of baptizing a large number of people in a river.[23]
The =Font= stands below this window in its proper place near the
entrance. There was a time in the history of the English Church when
the symbolism of position was thought of less account than the
administration of the initial Sacrament "in the presence of all the
congregation" (_see_ the Rubric of 1549, repeated in Elizabeth's
Prayer Book), an object supposed to be defeated where the Baptistery
was at the west end, and enclosed, as was frequently the case. The
font was consequently removed in many churches towards the east, and
at St. Saviour's a special pew was provided near to it for the
sponsors. It was known as the "Christening Pew," but has long since
gone the way of the other incongruous wooden fittings. The new font,
in the old position, was presented by Mrs. Barrow in memory of her
husband, and designed by Mr. G.F. Bodley. It is made of Verde di Prato
marble, octagonal in shape, and rests upon a circular base surrounded
by detached pillars, all of the same material. The faces of the
octagon are concave, and without decoration, except that towards the
east, which displays a star in a sunk gilded panel.
=Dramatic Windows.=--The chief feature of this aisle is the fine
series of windows representative of the drama in the Golden Age of
Queen Elizabeth. The first of the series is devoted to Edward Alleyn
(1566-1626), who was "bred a stage player," and lived near the group
of theatres in Southwark, but is perhaps better known as the founder
of the splendid College of "God's Gift" at Dulwich.
The window was presented by the governor, old scholars, and friends of
the College, and was unveiled by the Duke of Connaught on 22nd June,
1898. Alleyn himself is represented as the central figure, reading the
charter of his foundation in the College Chapel, attended by Bacon,
Inigo Jones, and other contemporaries. The upper part of the window
contains Alleyn's portrait, and the lowest compartment a figure of
Charity holding a scroll with the appropriate quotation from Psalm
XXXIV, II.
The next three windows commemorate Francis Beaumont (1585-1616), John
Fletcher (1579-1625), and Philip Massinger (1583-1639). The first and
second of these great dramatists, so intimately associated in their
lives and in their writings, could hardly be separated in any
commemoration. They are accordingly here represented, not only in
adjacent windows, but combined by allegorical allusion in the first.
The design portrays David and Jonathan, with an inscription from the
opening verse of Psalm CXXXII (Vulgate): "Ecce quam bonum, et
jucundum: habitare fratres in unum."
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE FONT AND THE THIRTEENTH-CENTURY WALL-ARCADE.]
The Scripture parallel was not quite verified in the case of the
poets. Fletcher certainly lies somewhere in St. Saviour's, but no man
knows the exact place of his burial. Beaumont lies in the more famous
Poets' Corner at Westminster. The "Beaumont" window was presented by
Mr. W.H. Francis, in memory of his father. The "Fletcher" window, in
the next bay, came from Mr. T.F. Rider, whose firm were the builders
of the nave. The subject chosen for illustration was suggested by the
dramatist's "Knight of Malta." St. John the Baptist stands in the
lower compartment, as Patron of the Knights of St. John, holding a
standard displaying the suitable word "Concordia." The ceremony of
Investiture, with attendant figures, fills the space above, surmounted
by the poet's head crowned with bay leaves.
The mantle of these great dramatists is acknowledged to have fallen on
Philip Massinger, commemorated in the next window. It was the first of
the series to be inserted, and was unveiled by Sir Walter Besant in
1896.[24] The subject is taken from Massinger's fine play, "The Virgin
Martyr," and represents an angel bearing flowers and fruits of
Paradise from the martyr (St. Dorothea) to a sceptical lawyer who had
asked for the token for his conviction. Below this central compartment
is a figure of St. Dorothea, and above it a medallion portrait of the
dramatist.
Massinger is buried in the church, as certified by an entry in the
"Parochial Monthly Accounts," but the same uncertainty attends his
remains as those of his friend Fletcher. There is a tradition that
they were both interred in one grave, which is not at all unlikely,
but no one knows where it is, their names on the chancel floor being
modern and counting for nothing.
The series of windows could only be appropriately concluded by one
great name, "the protagonist on the great arena of modern poetry, and
the glory of the human intellect" (De Quincey).
The Shakespeare window was presented by Sir Frederick Wigan, Bart., in
memory of his brother-in-law, Arthur Cecil Blunt. It is a triplet, and
displays in its central light an allegorical figure of "Poetry,"
supported by Shakespeare and Spenser in the lights on either hand.
Above the Muse the sacred Dove is hovering, symbolical of the divine
inspiration which we may presume guided the poets in their work, and
at the base is a quotation from Wisdom, viii, 4 (Vulgate): "Doctrix
disciplinae Dei, et electrix operum illius."
The faces of Edmund Shakespeare[25] and A.C. Blunt are introduced in
the quatrefoils of the heading, the former as buried in the church,
the latter the gentleman commemorated by the donor.
William Shakespeare is known to have lived near the old Bear Garden
and his own theatre, "The Globe," in Southwark, where his brother
Edmund also lived while trying his fortune on the stage. The immortal
name has, therefore, a direct association with St. Saviour's Church
and parish, entitling it to the special memorial.
The =Choir= was erected by Peter de Rupibus in the early part of the
thirteenth century. In its more mature and elaborate work it shows a
considerable advance on the simplest form of Early English, though the
apparently low elevation, and massiveness of the piers and lower
arcading, are obviously not free from Norman influences. It is divided
into five bays by alternate circular and octagonal piers, the dwarfed
appearance of which is relieved by triple vaulting shafts on the north
and south sides, and single shafts to support the arch mouldings. The
central shafts are not of Purbeck, as in the nave, and they are not
banded, except where crossed by the abacus moulding of the capitals
and the triforium string-course. The piers have all plain capitals and
well cut base mouldings. The triforium arcade, like that in the nave,
consists of four arched openings in each bay, and, unlike the
clerestory, has no continuous passage along the choir wall. Each bay,
however, has an opening at the back into the space between the vault
and roof of the aisle.
While both sides of the choir are alike in their main features, there
is an interesting difference in detail, especially to be noticed in
the greater simplicity of the south side, where the triforium capitals
are less elaborate, and the dog-tooth ornament is omitted from the
outer jambs of the openings.
On the south side, moreover, the arches have corbels, with sculptured
heads, to support their inner mouldings, in place of the full-length
shafts which occur on the responds at the ends, and on all the piers
of the opposite side. These differences, though perhaps partly
referable to the delightful vagaries of Gothic architecture, are
supposed to have a special significance at St. Saviour's, where the
north was the side of the Prior.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE CHOIR AND ALTAR SCREEN.]
The roof is not strictly original, most of it having been rebuilt in
1822-1824, when, however, the old material was worked in again as far
as possible, and the old quadripartite groining adhered to. It may be
noticed that the vaulting is carried out very systematically and
correctly, the only defect being that the wall-ribs die into the
vaulting surfaces, instead of being brought down to the clerestory
sill. The plough-share surfaces (as they are called) are nevertheless
well cut back to concentrate the lateral pressures against the
external buttresses. In the nave the new vaulting has the wall-ribs
properly supported by light shafts in the angles of the clerestory
openings, whilst in the transepts the inner archivolt of the windows
answers the same purpose.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE TRIFORIUM AND CLERESTORY OF THE CHOIR.]
It is highly probable that the choir formerly extended to the western
side of the tower, as indicated by the step between the nave and tower
pavement.
The =Altar-platform=, though raised seven steps above the nave
pavement, gives the altar a rather low elevation as compared with the
lofty Continental altars, whether abroad, or introduced here in recent
years on the Continental example. Herein it exhibits a peculiarity of
the English use, as illustrated in many pre-Reformation churches,
where the occasional deviations from rule can generally be accounted
for by the lofty crypt beneath, as, _e.g._, at Canterbury.[26]
Behind the altar rises the magnificent =Screen=, erected by Bishop Fox
in 1520, which almost fills the eastern end of the choir. This fine
work had been more or less mutilated through the iconoclastic zeal of
ultra-reformers, who deprived it of the sculptured figures in the
niches. It was further ill-treated during the architectural supremacy
of Sir Christopher Wren and his school, when the smaller canopies and
other projections were pared off to make a level surface for the
classical piece of woodwork placed in front of it. When this
incongruous structure was removed and the restoration taken in hand
(in 1833) by Mr. Wallace, liberties were again taken with the
unfortunate screen, more or less spoiling the design, though
undertaken on a good motive. Perhaps the least objectionable of these
innovations was the insertion of panels for the Creed, Lord's Prayer,
and Ten Commandments, in perpetuation of those in the wooden
altar-piece, where the formulae had been set up in the spirit of the
Injunctions of 1536 and 1538. Above the stages Mr. Wallace introduced
rows of angels, the highest row being surmounted by a cornice of
strawberry-leaf ornament for which there was no sort of precedent,
either in the original work here, or in other altar-screens of similar
character elsewhere.[27]
The screen is about thirty feet in height, and extends to the main
arcades on either side. Three tiers of canopied niches, ten in each
tier, divided down the centre by a perpendicular series of three
larger niches, all occupied by statues, made up a composition which
was at once "a thing of beauty" and an object lesson on the
Incarnation. The total number of niches (thirty-three) suggested a
mystic reference to the years of our Lord's earthly life, while the
image of the Pelican "in her piety," here and there, besides being a
reminder of Bishop Fox (whose peculiar device it was), also typified
the sacrament of the altar. The original materials of which the screen
was built are quoted as "Caen and fire-stone," for which Mr. Wallace
substituted stone from Painswick in Gloucestershire, as more easily
obtained and agreeing in colour with the old work.[28]
Above the altar the first architect had left a vacant panel (square)
possibly intending it for the reception of sculpture or mosaic. This
space, as well as some of the side panelling, was covered by the
Decalogue, etc., before mentioned. The space is now vacant, pending
the complete restoration of the screen, and is simply concealed by the
dorsal and lateral curtains. The doors on each side will be noticed,
with their depressed ogee headings, which indicate that this screen is
of somewhat later date than the corresponding one (also by Bishop Fox)
at Winchester. Another indication to the same effect has been detected
in the grotesque carvings in the spandrels, which are here of a
humorous character, whereas at Winchester the minor decorations are
entirely sacred, _e.g._, the Annunciation and Visitation.
On the north side of the choir, in the easternmost arch, is the
=Monument of Richard Humble=, erected by his son Peter in 1616. He
quotes his father in the inscription as "Alderman of London," which is
supposed to be inaccurate, as the prospective alderman, though
represented in the official gown, is said to have declined office for
political reasons. The monument is a good specimen of the Jacobean
style. Under an arched canopy, supported by Ionic pillars, Richard
Humble is kneeling at a small altar, or _prie-Dieu_, with his two
wives behind him, the second wearing a conical hat, his sons and
daughters being represented in bas-relief on the north and south sides
of the basement. On the altar side there are also some verses, by an
unknown author, in which human life is compared to "the damask rose
and blossom on the tree," with other images of its vanity and
shortness. There is a dash of Elizabethan vigour in the versification,
mixed with a certain quaintness which points to the decadence, and the
lines have been attributed to such different writers as Francis
Beaumont and Francis Quarles. The figures in the monument have been
"beautified" with imitations of marble and alabaster. The canopied
stalls for the Canons were erected as a memorial to Bishop Thorold,
from the diocese of Rochester, as notified on a plain brass tablet.
Those for the choir and cathedral officers were provided by an
anonymous benefactor. The absence of "return stalls" is accounted for
by the fact that St. Saviour's is a parish church as well as a
cathedral, for which reason it is desired to keep the choir as open as
possible.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE ALTAR AND THE HUMBLE MONUMENT.]
It may be here mentioned that the twelve boys who sing at the daily
services are known as "the Wigan Chanters," after Sir Frederick Wigan,
Bart., who has made provision for their salary, and the silver badges
to be worn by them on Sundays and holy days. The badges are engraved
on the face with the priory arms--"Argent, a cross fusilly gules: in
the dexter chief, a cinquefoil gules"--with an inscription on the
reverse.
The low wrought-iron chancel-railing was presented by Mr. Barclay;
the holy table (a classical wooden structure), by Mr. J.F. France, in
place of the former table, also of classical design, which has been
transferred to the retro-choir. The chalice and paten, crosses, vases,
books, embroidery, etc., have been bestowed from time to time by
various friends and worshippers.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE LADY CHAPEL OR RETRO-CHOIR.]
The =Retro-choir= (now known as the =Lady Chapel=) was erected by
Peter de Rupibus at about the same time as the choir, but in a much
lighter and more graceful fashion, which places it among the best
examples of Early English architecture in the country. The groined
vault rests on six slender pillars, with detached shafts. The
divisions thus formed make up twelve compartments of nearly equal
size. Perhaps the best general prospect is to be obtained from the
south-east corner, which takes in the whole length of the chapel, with
the altar, now on the north, and the tomb of Bishop Andrewes on the
western side. In the central bays on that side there were formerly two
arches open to the choir, one on each side of the space now occupied
by the tomb. These were converted into triplet openings during the
reign of Edward III, with flowing tracery in the head of each arch.
When Bishop Fox's screen was erected in the sixteenth century, these
openings were walled-up, and the doorways already mentioned inserted
below the tracery, in correspondence with the design of the screen, of
which they formed part, one on each side of the high altar.
Another good view is to be gained from the south-west corner, which
includes the series of triplet windows in the four eastern bays. The
northernmost of these was till recently occupied by the altar, but it
has been transferred to the central bay on the north side, thus
sacrificing the orientation for a supposed better position, in regard
to the general shape of the chapel, there being no central space for
it on the eastern side, where another altar was required to balance
the irregularity. Before the Reformation there certainly were two
altars on that side, one at each extremity, where piscinae were
discovered during the restorations of 1832. The piscina at the north
end was then restored, and is still in existence: as the other was too
far gone for repair, the space was filled up.
It has been conjectured that each of the four eastern bays formerly
contained an altar, one of them being dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.
This circumstance has probably contributed to the popular designation
of the retro-choir as the Lady Chapel, since the demolition of the
so-called "Bishop's Chapel," to which the title properly belonged.[29]
This "Little Chapel of Our Lady," as it was originally called,
extended eastwards from the bay (the second from the south), now
occupied by the "Benson" window, where two straight joints in the
masonry indicate the position of the arch that once led into it. In
the north-east angle is a slender shaft supporting a diminutive statue
of a bishop, in cope and mitre, with his right hand raised in the act
of benediction. This has taken the place of another figure, with
flowing hair, supposed to represent St. Mary Magdalene, to whom the
demolished church, adjoining the south choir-aisle, was dedicated.
Beneath this statue is a door, which used to give access to the
staircase in the turret already noticed in the angle outside. The
staircase, however, is destroyed. In the same bay on the north wall,
there is a stone bench, in the shape of a coffin, about nine feet
long. This has been assumed to be the burial-place of the Foundress,
but it is more probable that it was the base on which the "Easter
Sepulchre" was placed in Holy Week.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
TOMB OF BISHOP ANDREWES.]
In the south-west corner there is a small Gothic font. It was
presented by Mr. Charles Harris (Member for Southwark) in 1860, who is
himself commemorated in a tablet beneath the Jesse window in the south
transept. The font is still used for baptisms, the present Lady Chapel
being also the parish church.
The =Tomb of Bishop Andrewes=.--On the destruction of the so-called
"Bishop's Chapel" in 1830, the tomb was removed from its eastern end
to the honourable position it now occupies. There had been a fire in
1676, which destroyed the roof of the little chapel, and the canopy of
the monument, but the tomb and effigy were fortunately uninjured. The
canopy was not replaced, and the tablet which once stood at the feet
is now at the head of the recumbent figure. Otherwise the monument
remains in its original state, and is an interesting example of the
Renaissance style at a period of transition. There had been a doubt as
to the exact whereabouts of the Bishop's remains, some people thinking
they had been deposited in a vault beneath. The question was settled
at the removal, when the leaden coffin was found, resting on a cross
of brickwork, within the tomb. The coffin was exposed for a few days
for the public satisfaction, and then replaced in the interior of the
tomb, where it now lies. The painted figure above it represents the
Bishop vested in chimere and rochet, enveloped in a rich mantle, with
the cross of St. George, encircled by the Garter and motto of the
Order, "Honi soit qui mal y pense," embroidered on the left
shoulder--insignia to which Lancelot Andrewes was entitled as Bishop
of Winchester and Prelate of the Order. The head wears an academic
cap, and rests upon a cushion, and the right hand holds a book,
probably intended for the famous "Manual of Devotions."
The tablet at the head is surmounted by the arms of the See of
Winchester, impaled with the private arms of Dr. Andrewes, supported
by two figures in a sitting posture. These represent the cardinal
virtues, Justice and Fortitude, so conspicuous in the Bishop's life.
The figures formed part of the original decoration of the canopy. The
Latin inscription at the head is from an entry in Archbishop Laud's
"Diary," and shows a slight inaccuracy in grammar as well as in the
date. This is given as September 21st, 1626, whereas Dr. Andrewes is
known to have died on September 25th. The grammatical error is
unimportant, while the gist of the sentence sums up the life and
character of the departed in the brief form of an epigram: "Lumen
Orbis Christiani." The inscription at the foot simply refers to the
restorations of the monument in 1703 and 1810.
=The Windows in the Retro-Choir.= There is no ancient glass in the
Cathedral, the oldest being that in the windows here set up to the
memory of the Anglican martyrs, and chiefly remarkable as examples of
the art of glass staining at a bad period. Seven martyrs are thus
commemorated, viz., three in each of the extreme bays on the eastern
side, and one in the central bay on the south. Taking them in order,
the window at the north end is devoted to the Rev. Lawrence Saunders,
the Right Rev. Robert Ferrar, and the Rev. Rowland Taylor, each figure
occupying a separate light in the triplet. Entwined about the robes of
the third there is a scroll bearing the supplication from the Litany
in the early prayer-books against "the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome
and all his detestable enormities."
The corresponding window in the southernmost of the four eastern bays
contains the figures of the Rev. John Rogers, Bishop Hooper, and the
Rev. John Bradford.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
MARTYRS' WINDOW TO SAUNDERS, FERRAR, AND TAYLOR.]
The seventh of the martyrs is memorialised in the central window on
the south, viz., the Ven. Archdeacon Philpot, the three lights being
filled with pictorial scenes from his trial. He is here commemorated
as having suffered at the same time with the others, though he was
separately tried in the Bishop of London's house, by St. Paul's
Cathedral. The rest were tried in this very chapel, then (and still
occasionally) used as a Consistory Court. There is thus a peculiar
appropriateness in the local commemoration, and especially in the
position of the first window of the series, as it was in that
identical bay that the Royal Commissioners sat in judgement, and
pronounced sentence on the men they regarded as heretics. The lancet
on the eastern side of the "Philpot" window is dedicated to Grace
Pearse, and dated 1845. The other is at present filled with plain
glass awaiting a suitable commemoration. The two triplets between the
martyrs' windows on the east contain memorials to the Rev. W. Curling
(1879) and the Rev. S. Benson (1881), who were co-chaplains at St.
Saviour's.
These windows were contributed by the parishioners, and show some
advance on those to the martyrs in their scriptural subjects as well
as in their general treatment and colouring.
By far the best window is that of three lights on the north side. The
architecture is in the Decorated style with reticulated tracery, as
restored on the ancient model. The glass is modern, by Kempe, in his
best mediaeval manner, in which respect, as well as in subject matter,
the window presents a strong contrast to the earlier ones in its
neighbourhood. The three lights contain figures of King Charles I,
Thomas Becket, and Archbishop Laud, martyrs of another school, perhaps
equally worthy of remembrance, as having suffered for their opinions.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
WINDOW COMMEMORATING KING CHARLES I, LAUD, AND BECKET.]
On the western wall a granite tablet is to be noticed to the memory of
George Gwilt, the architect who did so much work at the church in his
day, and gave his services gratuitously during the restoration of this
chapel. He died at the age of eighty-one, in the year 1856, and is
buried in the family vault outside the southern wall.
The =Choir Aisles=, architecturally similar, differ very much in their
contents, which are more interesting in the north aisle. On the south
side of this aisle the Humble monument is conspicuously seen through
the choir railings. The opposite side is lighted by three windows,
more interesting in motive and association than in themselves. The
first of these was presented in 1867 by Mr. Benson, the chaplain
commemorated in the window already noticed in the retro-choir, and
represents St. Peter in the Chamber of Dorcas (Acts, ix, 39). The next
contains a picture of the Good Samaritan, erected in 1866 to the
memory of John Ellis. The third, of three lights, was inserted in 1858
to the memory of George Wood, surgeon, who was so much appreciated by
the parishioners that 670 of them contributed to the cost of his
memorial. The central light contains a picture of Christ healing a
cripple. The outer lights are at present plain.
In the wall beneath these windows two recesses will be noticed,
exactly alike in size, and in their segmental headed and traceried
canopies. Their proximity and close resemblance formerly led to the
conjecture that they were the tombs of the two Norman knights, William
Pont de l'Arche and William Dauncey, who co-operated with Bishop
Giffard in refounding the Priory. If this is the case, the tombs must
have undergone alteration at a later date, as the decoration is in the
Perpendicular style, and much more ornate than that of the recess at
the west end of the same wall, undoubtedly of late Norman, or
Transitional, design. The westernmost of the two, again, has been held
to be the burial-place of Thomas Cure, a local benefactor in the
reigns of Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth, who is commemorated by a
tablet within it. The Latin epitaph (1588) is a string of punning
allusions to his name. The most recent theory, and the most probable,
respecting the recesses, is that they mark the tombs of Priors
belonging to the Tudor period. The easternmost now contains the effigy
of a supposed _Crusader_, which, after undergoing many "translations"
from its unknown original place to the lumber of the church, and then
to a ridiculous upright position against the north wall, has now found
shelter in the recess which happens to hold it exactly. It is a
remarkably fine piece of oak carving, and represents a knight clad in
chain armour, consisting of a hauberk with sleeves, over which is
thrown a surcoat crossed by two belts, one round the waist for the
sword, the other crossing the body diagonally to hold the shield. The
cross-guard of the sword is of metal, and is probably a reparation.
The head wears a conical helmet, and the feet rest upon a lion. The
legs are crossed at the knees, and the knight is in the act of placing
his sword in the scabbard, both of which details are open to various
interpretations. Conjecture has also been busy as to the person
represented, who is now thought to have been a member of the de Warren
family, several of whom were buried in the church, and the style of
armour, unless a clever imitation, points to the date of Edward I or
Edward II. After having been overlaid with successive coats of paint,
which completely blocked up and concealed the delicate chain-work, the
figure has been more or less redeemed, but not restored to its
original colour. This appears to have been mainly a pale blue, not
unlike the real armour, but it is now coated with bronze.[30]
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
EFFIGY OF MAILED KNIGHT.]
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE TREHEARNE MONUMENT.]
The most conspicuous monument in the aisle is that of =John
Trehearne=, servant to Queen Elizabeth and "Gentleman Portar" to
James I. Flanked by two pilasters, carved in the Italian style,
supporting a plainer canopy, the monument consists of three parts:
first a plain base; then a plinth, on the front of which (in
bas-relief) are the four children of the deceased in a kneeling
posture; and, lastly, on the top of the tomb, the kneeling figures of
Trehearne and his wife in the picturesque costume and ruff collars of
the age. The principal figures are holding a tablet between them
inscribed with a eulogistic epitaph in English, the moral of which is
that if Trehearne's royal master could have retained his services, his
heavenward progress would have been considerably delayed. The Vestry
minute for 15th October, 1577 (quoted by Dr. Thompson), shows the
deceased to have been a passive resister in the matter of tithes, for
which he had to pay double in the long run. He died on 22nd October,
1618, and was buried the very next day. His wife died on 22nd January,
1645. She was followed by the eldest son on 22nd of August in the same
year, and they were all buried in the one grave.
A door in the aisle communicates with the =Chapel of St. John the
Divine=, at present used as a clergy vestry. Fortunately it has not
shared the fate of the companion chapel of St. John the Baptist. Up to
a quarter of a century ago it had been turned to account as a
Magistrates' Court, and still retains the Royal Arms over the large
pew erected for the purpose. This, with the iron safe and wooden
cupboards set up against the walls, still gives the chapel some of the
appearance of a Committee room, and helps to conceal some most
interesting architectural features. A shaft had long been visible on
the exterior which was thought to show signs of Saxon workmanship.
This fragment, added to the known fact that the chapel was one of the
oldest parts of the church, if not the oldest of all, has led to a
fuller examination in recent years, revealing the outlines of three
Norman arches in the inner walls, and still more recently the shafts
of a wall-arcade on the eastern side, apparently indicating an apsidal
termination.
Henceforth the chapel will be associated with the name of John
Harvard, who was born in the parish, and baptized in the church on
29th November, 1607, and its restoration is intended to take the form
of a memorial to that great and good man. It is not unlikely, in
fact, that his name will popularly supersede the original dedication
(almost forgotten already) much in the same way as the "Little Chapel
of our Lady" was overshadowed by the great name of Bishop Andrewes.
The first practical step in this direction was taken by the Hon.
Joseph H. Choate, who manifested great interest in the ancient fabric
while he was American Ambassador, and presented the east window to the
chapel in commemoration of John Harvard, founder of the renowned
university which bears his name. The window, 'unveiled by Mr. Choate
on Monday, 22nd May, 1905, is of three lights, transomed, as designed
by Sir Arthur Blomfield and Sons, the glass being made in America
under the supervision of Mr. Charles F. McKim, the famous American
architect. The design is by Mr. John La Farge. In the central light of
the lower division the Baptism of Christ is depicted, attendant angels
occupying the sides. The upper division contains the arms of Emmanuel
College, Cambridge, where John Harvard was educated, and of the
Harvard University, with its mottoes, _Veritas_ and _Christo et
Ecclesiae_. The base bears the inscription, "In memory of John
Harvard, founder of Harvard University in America, baptized in this
church, Nov. 29, 1607."
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE HARVARD WINDOW.]
The window is a noteworthy example of modern work, and the treatment
of the familiar subject is distinctly original, in which respect, as
well as in colouring, it presents a very striking contrast to the
other windows, especially to those of mediaeval character, throughout
the church. Perhaps it is fortunate that it occupies an isolated
position in the chapel, where the brilliance and peculiarity of the
colouring are seen to full advantage without detriment to the other
windows.
It is hoped that this generous gift inaugurates the restoration of the
old chapel to its original dignity, as a worthy memorial to him whose
name will henceforth be inseparable from it. The intention is to equip
it with an altar and other necessary fittings for use at early
celebrations and small gatherings of people, at present without
accommodation. A new vestry for the clergy is badly wanted, as well as
for the choir, whose cassocks and surplices now hang in the adjacent
aisle.
The =South Choir Aisle= is lighted by a small lancet above the
entrance porch representing the Good Shepherd; by another lancet to
the memory of John Herd, an inhabitant; and by a window of three
lights. The last commemorates George Gwilt, the distinguished
architect who did so much for the restoration of 1832-3, elsewhere
described.
Two tablets in the same aisle are worth noticing. The first is a
brass, dated 1652, on the pier between the choir and aisle entrance,
in memory of Susanna Barford, who died at the early age of ten years
and thirteen weeks. The inscription quotes her as, "The Non-such of
the world for Piety and Vertue in soe tender years." Below these words
there is an epitaph in rhyming couplets and complimentary terms,
separated from the inscription by a death's head and crossbones, and a
pair of wings supporting an hourglass, on the dexter and sinister
sides respectively. This is the only brass with any approach to
antiquity in the Cathedral, though the matrix of another, evidently
thought more worthy of a private collection, has been detected in one
of the recesses, lately described, in the opposite aisle. The other
memorial is a plain marble slab, scarcely seen in the darkness between
the windows. It commemorates Abraham Newland, the model chief cashier
of the Bank of England, whose strict notions of duty would not allow
him to sleep a single night off the premises during the twenty-five
years of his appointment. He died in 1807, two months after taking his
pension, leaving £60,000, in the funds, to his landlady. This
inexpensive memorial is a token of her gratitude.
The =Organ=.--On the south side of the aisle is the organ-chamber
erected by Sir Arthur Blomfield and Sons, after much discussion as to
a suitable place for the new instrument, for which it was eventually
decided to build the chamber over part of the site once occupied by
the Magdalen Church. The old organ used to stand in the gallery at the
west end of the debased nave, and was since removed to the north
transept. When it was finally taken down it was unsaleable as a
musical instrument, and had to go for what it would fetch as so much
wood and metal. Some relics of it have, however, been preserved in the
shape of the large gilded angels which adorned its front. These are
now stored above the tall iron safe in the Harvard chapel. The present
organ and the chamber which contains it were both presented by the
late Mrs. Robert Courage as a memorial to her husband.
The new organ, built by Messrs. Lewis and Co., Limited, is of
peculiarly rich and pleasant tone. It contains more than 4,000 pipes
and consists of four manuals, with a system of interchangeable
composition pedals, the whole embodying the most recent improvements
for altering and combining the stops, and working the instrument to
the best advantage with the least exertion. The action is
electro-pneumatic, and the wind is supplied by a rotary hydraulic
engine.[31]
Imbedded in the pavement at the entrance to this aisle there is an
interesting collection of =Roman tesserae=, which have been carefully
preserved as an evidence of the antiquity of the site.
=The Tower.=--A great difference is to be noticed between the arches
of the east and west sides and those of the north and south. The
former are evidently of the same age (thirteenth century) as the nave
and choir, while the others indicate that the transepts were not built
till the following century. There is an important difference also
between the north and south arches, in that the shafts of the former
stop considerably short of the ground, whilst those on the south are
carried down to the pavement.
The moulding of the western arch is supported by the heads of a king
and queen (uncertain), and on the southern side of the eastern, or
choir, arch there is the head of a bishop.
Above the arches there is an open arcade on the four sides of the
tower, which communicates with the roof above the nave, choir, and
transepts. The comparatively modern ceiling, which limited the view
upwards within the tower, has now been removed, and the roof raised to
its original level beneath the ringers' floor. This new roof is of
oak, in which some bosses from its fifteenth century predecessor have
been inserted. Pendent from it is the fine =Chandelier= of wrought
iron and brass, presented to the church in 1680 by Dorothy Applebee,
who was buried within the sanctuary two years later. This chandelier
had been transferred to the choir during the degradation of the old
church, in which position it was by no means without precedent in
ancient churches, but its original place here was in the tower, to
which it has been restored.
Sir Arthur Blomfield's work included the complete restoration of the
tower windows and the interior walls.
The =Pulpit= comes from a relative of the Rev. W. Curling, the
chaplain commemorated in one of the Lady Chapel windows, and is
intended as a personal memorial to the same man. It is a delicate
piece of carved oak, somewhat out of character with the massive
stone-work around it, and is approached by a staircase still more
slender in appearance. The carving, however, is well executed, and
many notable sermons have already been preached from it, which, thanks
to the sounding-board, have been tolerably well heard throughout the
church.
The =Lectern= was presented by Mrs. Richard Hunt, in memory of her
husband. It is of bronze with a brass pedestal, and represents an
eagle holding a dragon in his claws.
The =North Transept= differs materially from the south in the
dimensions and character of the windows, which in the south transept
are larger and more elaborate. In the north transept there are three
on each side, those next the tower being simple lancets, the others of
two lights without tracery. All these at present contain plain glass.
The two-light windows are exact reproductions of the originals, from
fragments of which they were first restored by Mr. Wallace in 1833.
The exceptionally large window on the north side is the gift of Mr.
F.L. Bevan, and was unveiled by the Duke of Connaught on 22nd June,
1898, in double commemoration of the Prince Consort and the Diamond
Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The present window, by Mr. Kempe, takes the
place of an inferior one set up in 1861 to the memory of Prince Albert
shortly after his death.
It contains in its four lights the figures of Gregory the Great, King
Ethelbert, Stephen Langton, and William of Wykeham. The subjects were
chosen as illustrating important stages in the history of England and
the National Church, which it is sought to epitomize in the decoration
of this representative Cathedral.
It is supposed that this transept once formed a chapel dedicated to
St. Peter, and was screened off from the tower for that purpose. This
probably accounts for the fact that the piers of the tower arch are
left plain to the height of about 12 ft., above which begin the six
clustered columns similar to those which rise from the ground level on
the south side. The conjecture is supported by the discovery of an
aumbrey at the eastern end of the north wall, which of course implies
an altar and a chapel. The transept is now used as a sort of
ecclesiastical museum for antiquities previously distributed about the
church. Perhaps the most interesting, certainly the most ancient, of
these is a stone coffin, with a portion of the lid of Purbeck marble,
discovered during the restorations. There was a skeleton within it,
but _whose_ it is impossible to say, though the ornamental design on
the lid points to the twelfth century, and to a person of importance.
It bears a raised cross of unique pattern at the head of a stem which
obviously extended to the foot of the coffin. The arms of the cross
are of equal length and terminate in chain-work, the angles of
intersection being occupied by representations of the sun, crescent
moon, and stars. The symbolism of these figures has been variously
interpreted, and, as the coffin bears no date or inscription, it has
given rise to much speculation as to whether its occupant was one of
the Priors or a crusader. The skeleton, though said to have been
discovered in an almost perfect condition, contained no key to the
mystery.
A relic of the Norman age is preserved in the north wall, above the
aumbrey, viz., a portion of a string-course with billet moulding--a
further evidence of the age of this part of the church. The arches
between the choir and nave aisles are worth notice as architectural
curiosities. The former shows a strange angular introduction in the
moulding of its southern side. The latter has an acute arch, without
moulding, constructed within it, apparently to strengthen the walls.
On the floor by the eastern wall lies one of those charnel house
memorials, in the shape of a ghastly and desiccated human figure, of
the kind not uncommon in tombs of the sixteenth century. To whose
tomb this figure belonged there is no evidence to show.
Against the east and west walls are piled some curious bosses from the
old oak roof erected in 1469, after the stone roof had fallen down.
There were originally about a hundred and fifty of these grotesque
specimens of wood-carving, but there are now only about one-third of
them left, including those placed in the new roof within the tower.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
CARVED BOSSES FROM THE CEILING OF THE OLD NAVE
(FIFTEENTH CENTURY).]
The fine chest against the western wall was presented about the middle
of the sixteenth century by Hugh Offley and Robert Harding, Aldermen
and Sheriffs of London, who were related by marriage. The chest is
made of oak, with various fancy woods inlaid, _e.g._, walnut, pear,
cherry, box, rosewood, ash, yew, holly, and ebony, distributed over
the surface so as to bring their colours into agreeable contrast in
the design. This appears to represent the façade of a classical
building, the panels on the front of the chest being divided by the
pilasters of the architecture. The central panel contains the first
owner's initials, "H.H.O." The others hold the crests and armorial
bearings of the two families.
[Illustration: _Photo._ _G.P. Heisch._
THE AUSTIN MONUMENT (NORTH TRANSEPT).]
On the western wall of this transept there is a remarkable monument,
which cannot be better described than in the words of John Strype:
"_The Austin Monument_," he says, "is emblematical of Christ
and of the Resurrection, according to the pious fancy of the
devout Mr. Austin, who set it up at first. First, there is the
representation of a rock, upon which is writ 'Petra erat
X.T.S.', _i.e._, the Rock was Christ. Down this rock runs a
stream of water, and through this same rock is creeping a
serpent; whereby he strips off his old skin, which hangs on
that part which is not yet got through. At the foot of this
rock, and out of it, grows up standing corn, on which is a
label with these words, 'Si non moriatur, non reviviscit,'
_i.e._, if it dieth not, it liveth not again. Underneath this
corn, upon the basis, is this significant motto, 'Nos sevit,
fovit, lavit, coget, renovabit,' _i.e._, He hath sown,
cherished, washed us, and He shall gather us together, and
renew us. Upon the top of this rock standeth an angel; in his
left hand a sickle, his right hand pointing up towards the sun
shining in his glory, with a label upon the lower rays of it,
'Sol Justitiae,' _i.e._, the Sun of Righteousness. On the
right and left sides of this monument are instruments of
husbandry hanging by a riband out of a death's head, as
ploughs, whips, yokes, rakes, spades, flails, harrows,
shepherds' crooks, scythes, etc., over which is writ, 'Vos
estis Dei Agricultura,' _i.e._, ye are God's husbandry. On the
outside of these, on the right and left, are two harvest men
with wings, the one with a fork, the other with a rake behind
him. They are in light garments, sitting, and leaning their
heads upon their hands, their elbows resting upon their knees,
as weary and tired, and resting after their harvest work; and
having straw hats on, very comely; underneath them these
words, 'Messores congregabunt,' _i.e._, the reapers shall
gather. Under all this is a winnowing fan, within which is the
representation of a sheet of parchment, as it were, stretched
upon it; on which is writ the inscription."
The inscription (Latin) agrees in its figurative language with the
character of the monument. It practically states that William Austin
had the tomb constructed, while he was yet alive, as a burial-place
for his wife, his mother (Lady Clarke), and himself, and that the
three were laid there in succession in 1623, 1626, and 1633. William
Austin was a barrister, who wrote a number of devotional pieces in
verse and prose. He died on 16th January, 1633, and his second wife
published them in 1635, "as a surviving monument of some part of the
great worth of her ever-honoured husband." The son William, like his
father a poet and a lawyer, was also buried at St. Saviour's.
Another noteworthy monument is that on the north wall to =Lionel
Lockyer=, inventor and patentee of the miraculous pills, "Radiis Solis
Extractae," to be taken early in the morning against fogs, contagious
airs, and all diseases known and unknown, to improve personal beauty,
and make old age delightful. The glowing epitaph of twelve lines is at
once a eulogy on the man, and a bold advertisement of the medicine.
Lockyer died on 26th April, 1672. An air of sanctimonious benevolence
will be noticed on the face of the recumbent doctor--probably a
faithful portrait--not unlike the expression given to the quack doctor
in one of Hogarth's famous pictures. The face of the cherub above
wears a look of intense agony, which frivolous people are wont to
attribute to the panacea. Higher up on the same wall there is a
Hatchment, with the armorial bearings of the person to whom it refers,
and the motto _Resurgam_. The conspicuous place and large characters
look as if specially chosen with reference to the fabric, to which the
word may well be applied.
On the east wall hangs an escutcheon of the arms of Queen Anne, with
the motto _Semper eadem_. The arms seem to have been painted over some
previous heraldic achievement, which includes the figures of "Justice"
and "Mercy," or two similar characters, standing on a platform in the
middle of a Rotunda. There is a peculiarity also in the omission of
the year, which is usually given with the Royal Arms hung up in
churches. The escutcheon is said to have been brought from the
neighbouring Sessions Court, and set up in the first instance in the
choir, to commemorate the visit of Queen Anne, when she came to hear
Dr. Sacheverell. Appearances seem to show that it was repainted, and
the Queen's initials inserted, to suit the occasion.
The =South Transept=.--The solid panels, noticed outside as
diminishing the effect of the great south window, are accounted for in
the interior, where the mouldings of two lofty arches occupy the wall,
their apices reaching to the window sill. These the restorer has
wisely left intact, and the window, seen from within, appears in
admirable proportion, and well suited to its place. It is of five
lights, and occupies the entire breadth of the transept. The style is
described by the architect, Sir Arthur Blomfield, as "Transitional
between Flowing Decorated and Perpendicular." Presented by Sir
Frederick Wigan, Bart., in memory of his daughter, the glazing of this
fine window was entrusted to Mr. C.E. Kempe. He has taken as his
subject the "Tree of Jesse," as a connecting link between the
scripture subjects represented elsewhere, and the modern historical
windows, whether commemorating distinguished clergy or laity of the
Catholic Church.
There was formerly a doorway cut through one of the arches beneath
this window. The space is now filled up, restoring the arcading to its
original state, and the entrance transferred to the eastern wall,
where the inner porch occupies the space beneath the organ front.
There are three windows above, of three lights each, corresponding
with those on the opposite side, except in the tracery. The window
over the door, as well as that facing it, is in memory of Mr. Henry
Wood, Warden of the Great Account (1899-1900). The six divisions in
each contain the same number of figures from the Old Testament, viz.,
in the eastern window, Enoch, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph;
and in the western, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Hosea, David, Ezekiel.
Both these windows are due to Sir Frederick Wigan, who presented them
in 1900.
Next to the "Wood" window, on the western side, there is another fine
one to the memory of Elizabeth Newcomen, a great benefactress to the
neighbourhood, buried in the church in 1675.[32]
This window came from the Governors and Scholars, past and present, of
the school which she founded, and from the parishioners. The glass is
by Kempe. The figures in the upper division are St. John Baptist,
Elijah, and Malachi; and in the lower, Zechariah, Solomon, and St.
Elizabeth, the last a tribute to the lady's own Christian name.
It will be seen from this description that there are three windows
awaiting subjects (and donors) in the south transept, two on the
eastern, and one on the western side. The whole series is intended to
illustrate the Gospel genealogy and the Incarnation, in continuation
of the idea suggested in the Jesse Tree.
The most important monuments in the south transepts are those of John
Bingham, Richard Benefeld, William Emerson, and the Rev. Thomas Jones.
The "Bingham" monument (1625) was formerly in the Magdalene Church,
whence it was removed to the west side of this transept when the
church was destroyed. An arched recess, flanked by consoles, contains
a half-length coloured effigy of the deceased, in gown and ruff. Below
this is a panel, surmounted by arches and supported by pilasters,
enclosing a tablet, with the inscription to John Bingham, Sadler to
Queen Elizabeth and James I. The spandrels of the arch above the
figure contain the arms of the City of London and the Sadlers'
Company. The family arms surmount the whole. Bingham is quoted in the
inscription as "a good benefactor to the parish and free school";
besides which he was one of the Trustees to whom the church was
conveyed by James I, and we have to thank him and his _confrères_ that
it has not gone the way of the Priory buildings formerly surrounding
it.
The "Benefeld" monument (1615) is chiefly interesting for its quaint
Latin epitaph. This speaks of his remains as purified by the
frankincense, myrrh, amber, etc., which symbolise the discipline of
life.
William Emerson and his family, ancestors of the better known Ralph
Waldo, were also good benefactors, especially to the poor of the
parish, who still enjoy the pensions founded by their bounty. The
inscription on William Emerson's monument (1575) describes him as
having "lived and died an honest man," and concludes with the warning,
_Ut sum sic eris_, illustrated by a small _memento mori_, in the form
of a skeleton, recumbent on the base.
An ornamental marble tablet (1762), on the south wall, commemorates
the Rev. Thomas Jones, who died of a fever contracted during his
parochial visitings, and was buried in a vault in the "Little Chapel
of Our Lady." He was chaplain at St. Saviour's from 1753 till he died
at the early age of thirty-three. A faithful and zealous evangelical
pastor at a period of general debility in the Church of England, he
was hampered throughout his ministrations by the governing body, who
not only had the right of selecting their ministers, but exercised a
jealous censorship on their teaching and practice, when they showed
any tendency to "unsoundness" or undue enthusiasm. Above the tablet
containing the inscription there is a bust of Mr. Jones, in the
clerical dress and necktie of his date, with a cherub on each side.
The architectural differences between the north and south transepts
are largely accounted for by the rebuilding of the latter, in the
fifteenth century, by Cardinal Beaufort.
On a pier by the transept door his work is commemorated in a
sculptured and coloured representation of his arms--the fleur-de-lis
of France, quartered with the lions of England--surmounted by a
cardinal's hat, with its tasselled strings, twisted into a
true-lover's knot, pendent on either side.
[Illustration: ARMS OF CARDINAL BEAUFORT.
_From "Church Bells."_]
Henry Beaufort, born in 1377, was a natural son of John of Gaunt by
Catherine, widow of Sir Hugh Swynford. His parents were married in
1396, and their issue legitimated by Richard II in the following year;
but the bastardy is supposed to be indicated in the _bordure compony_
surrounding the shield. Henry Beaufort was translated to Winchester in
1404, in succession to William Wykeham. He was raised to the
cardinalate in 1426, and died in 1447. Among the famous marriages that
have taken place in the church, perhaps the most famous is that
between James I of Scotland and the Cardinal's niece, Joan Beaufort,
in the year 1423, when the wedding banquet was served in the adjacent
Bishop of Winchester's palace.
In the restoration by Sir Arthur Blomfield, the windows of both
transepts were rebuilt, the pointed roofs raised to their old level,
and the walls underpinned and refaced (externally) with Box Ground and
Bath stone, in place of the inferior material employed in 1830, care
being taken to place the stone in the natural direction of the strata.
All whitewash and plaster facing have been stripped off the walls
throughout the old parts of the church, to make the restoration as
complete as possible, not only in the purity of the new work, but in
the removal of what was fictitious and incongruous from the old.
[Illustration: THE DIOCESE OF SOUTHWARK.]
FOOTNOTES:
[22] "When Dr. Sacheverell was at Lichfield (in 1712) Johnson was not
quite three years old. My grandfather Hammond observed him at the
Cathedral perched upon his father's shoulders, listening and gaping at
the much celebrated preacher. Mr. Hammond asked Mr. Johnson how he
could possibly think of bringing such an infant to church, and in the
midst of so great a crowd. He answered, because it was impossible to
keep him at home; for, young as he was, he believed he had caught the
public spirit and zeal for Sacheverell, and would have stayed for ever
in the church, satisfied with beholding him."--Boswell's "Life of
Johnson," Chap. I.
[23] Bede informs us that St. Paulinus baptized a number of people in
the Rivers Glen (= Bowent) and Swale, in Yorkshire. ("Eccles. Hist.,"
Book II, Chap. xiv.) The latter of these incidents is supposed to be
here depicted.
[24] Dr. Thompson gives a selection from the long list of subscribers,
which includes, besides nobility and clergy, many of the leading
actors, dramatic critics, and novelists of the day--showing the
widespread interest taken in the memorial.
[25] Edmund Shakespeare is described in the Burial Register as "a
Player," to which the Monthly Account adds that he was "buried in the
church with a forenoon knell of the great bell," costing 20_s._ (_Vide_
Dr. Thompson's "History.")
[26] The present elevation of the altar at St. Saviour's has been
criticised as above the level which a strict adherence to precedent,
here and elsewhere, required.
[27] _E.g._, Christ Church Priory, St. Alban's Abbey, All Souls',
Oxford, and Winchester Cathedral.
[28] See an interesting article signed "E.I.C." (E.J. Carlos), in the
"Gentleman's Magazine" for 1834, Part i, pp. 151-154.
[29] In Pennant "History of London" (1790), and Moss and Nightingale's
"History and Antiquities of St. Saviour's Church" (1817-1818), the
retro-choir is spoken of as "The Chapel of the Virgin Mary," in
distinction from that then known as "the Bishop's Chapel."
[30] In Seymour's "History" (1734), written when the figure was
standing upright, it is described as "new painted and flourished up,
and looking somewhat dreadful."
In Pennant's "History of London" (vol. i, edit. 1801), it is said to
have been removed from the north transept to make room for the Lockyer
monument (1672), and then set up against the north wall.
[31] For full particulars of the organ the reader is referred to the
specification in the Appendix, as furnished by the builders, Messrs.
Lewis and Co., Limited, Ferndale Road, Brixton, S.W.
[32] The veneration in which her name is held is further attested in
the parish, where the old street in the Borough, till recent years
known as King Street, has been renamed Newcomen Street.
CHAPTER IV
THE DIOCESE OF SOUTHWARK
The two dioceses with which St. Saviour's Church and parish have
hitherto been associated are Winchester and Rochester. The former was
originally one of the largest in England, extending as it did in one
direction from the south of London to the Channel Islands; the latter
the smallest of all, covering only a portion of the county of Kent.
Various changes have been made from time to time in the area of both
in attempts to equalise the duties of their Bishops, and to meet other
altering conditions. Of these changes the first that concerns us was
that made in August, 1877, when the parishes wholly or partly within
the parliamentary divisions of East and Mid Surrey (with two
exceptions) were transferred from the dioceses of Winchester and
London to Rochester. The Borough of Southwark, including St. Saviour's
Church, was thus brought from the jurisdiction of the first to the
last of these dioceses. In the following year the portion of Surrey
included in the transfer was formed into the new Archdeaconry of
Southwark; and a few months later (August, 1878) the patronage of the
benefices thus transferred, and hitherto held by the Bishops of London
and Winchester, was vested in the Bishop of Rochester. In 1879, in
1886, and again in 1901, the Rural Deaneries of Rochester were
rearranged, thus shifting more or less the boundaries of the Southwark
Archdeaconry. But the area of the Rochester Diocese was left
undisturbed till 1904, when "the Southwark and Birmingham Bishoprics
Act" of that year allowed the Diocese of Southwark to be formed out of
it. St. Saviour's had been popularly known as a _pro_-Cathedral for
some years previous to 1905, when it was formally constituted the
Cathedral of Southwark. The architecture of the fabric, with its long
history and associations, had long pointed to this fine church for the
purpose, for which it was further prepared by Sir Arthur Blomfield's
restoration, begun in 1890.
Dr. Anthony Wilson Thorold was appointed to the See of Rochester in
1877, and translated to Winchester in 1891. It was, therefore, in his
time that the first diocesan changes affecting St. Saviour's were
made, and the restoration of the church was actively taken in hand. By
far the most important part of this work was the rebuilding of the
nave, which he had the satisfaction of seeing well advanced before his
translation. Some of his predecessors had become alive to the
necessity of reducing the onerous duties of the See, but it was left
to him to give effect to their wishes by the creation of the
Archdeaconry of Southwark, with an eye to its forming the nucleus of a
separate diocese. His successor, Dr. Randall Thomas Davidson, now
Archbishop of Canterbury, lent his full energies to the work thus
begun, in which he was ably supported by the Suffragan Bishop of
Southwark, Dr. Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs, consecrated in 1891 and promoted
to the See of Worcester in 1905 in consequence of the episcopal
changes brought about by the Act of Parliament just mentioned. Before
Dr. Davidson's removal to Winchester in 1895, besides supervising the
restoration of Rochester Cathedral, he was able to do a good work more
directly concerning the Southwark Diocese, in the erection of the
Bishop's House by Kennington Park. The funds were provided by the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners from the sale of Danbury Palace, hitherto
the residence of the Bishops of Rochester, but now disposed of as
inaccessible and otherwise inconvenient. In place of it the new house
was built in the heart of the most thickly peopled part of the
diocese, within the Southwark Archdeaconry, and probably in view of
its ultimately becoming the residence of the Bishop of Southwark. Dr.
Davidson himself was not destined to occupy it, as it was not finished
till he was on the eve of translation. On 12th November, 1895, Edward
Stuart Talbot was enthroned as his successor in the See of Rochester,
and at once took up his abode at Kennington, where he will continue to
live at this easy centre of communication between him and his people
now that he is Bishop of Southwark.
It will be seen from the accompanying map that the new diocese has
been made to include the whole of the county of London south of the
Thames, and the Archdeaconry of Kingston, thus reducing the area of
Rochester to about half its previous size and relieving it of its
most thickly crowded portion.
The population of the diocese of Rochester at the census of 1901 was
2,254,947. The population of the Southwark Diocese at the present time
is roughly estimated at 2,000,000, rather more than less. It consists
of 294 parishes, ministered to by 687 licensed clergy, or about one to
every 3,000 people, except in South London, where the proportion is
about one to every 4,000.
Bounded on the north by the Thames, on the east, south, and west by
the dioceses of Canterbury, Chichester, and Winchester respectively,
the space enclosed presents an irregular figure varying from some
three miles in breadth, in its central portion, to about thirteen
along its southern frontier, and about twenty in its widest part
towards the north. Its greatest length in a straight line from London
Bridge to Felbridge is about twenty-five miles. Geographically the map
suggests a couple of small continents joined together by a sort of
isthmus in the middle, where the breadth is narrowed by the sweeping
bays, or inlets, formed by the encroaching dioceses on the right and
left.
By Letters Patent, dated 17th May, 1905, Dr. Edward Stuart Talbot,
previously Bishop of Rochester, was appointed to the newly-founded See
of Southwark. For its better organisation he lost no time in applying
to the Crown for the appointment of two Suffragan Bishops, suggesting
one for Woolwich, as a place of great national importance and a centre
of vigorous municipal and industrial life; the other for Kingston, as
representing the ancient and rural side of the diocese. By the
approval of His Majesty the appointments were made in the same month,
viz.: the Rev. John Cox Leeke, Hon. Canon of Rochester Cathedral and
Rural Dean of Woolwich, to be Bishop Suffragan of Woolwich; and the
Rev. Cecil Hook, Vicar of All Saints', Leamington, and Hon. Canon of
Worcester Cathedral, to be Bishop Suffragan of Kingston-on-Thames.
In one sense the most important difficulty to be overcome in the
formation of the new diocese was the raising of the capital to provide
for the endowment, a _sine qua non_ to the Parliamentary sanction. The
requisite sum was provided by voluntary contributions, great and
small, throughout the undivided diocese of Rochester, and throughout
the country; not the least interesting item being the "shilling fund,"
promoted by the Rev. T.B. Dover, Vicar of Maiden, which resulted in
an Easter offering of exactly £2,200. The capital was brought up to
£109,000 by the time the new appointments were made. It is intended to
provide a minimum income of £3,000 for the Bishop of Southwark, and a
house for his successor in the See of Rochester, in lieu of the house
at Kennington Park, transferred from the old to the new diocese. The
funds of the latter have since been augmented by a grant of £25,000
from the Bishop of London, out of the compensation money (£100,000),
paid by the City and South London Electric Railway Company for
undermining the City Church of St. Mary Woolnoth in order to build a
station. This sum of £25,000 is specially destined for church
extension, and Dr. Talbot set apart £2,000 of it, directly it was
granted, for that purpose in the Woolwich area.
Mr. Harry Lloyd, of Woodlands, Caterham, is acting as Hon. Treasurer
to the fund which has been opened for the complete equipment of the
diocese.
The Cathedral Church of St. Saviour is as yet without endowment, and
depends entirely upon voluntary offerings for its expenses. These were
estimated on the average at about £2,500 till last year, when the cost
of maintenance amounted to £3,096, besides which about £350 was
required for the College of Clergy. Attention was called to this
matter by the Ven. Archdeacon Taylor during his Visitation held in the
Cathedral on 25th May, 1905, when he made an earnest appeal to the
church people of the diocese for their help and sympathy on behalf of
the Cathedral, the Bishop and his Suffragans, and all concerned in the
work.
The duties before them, in the arrangement and control of the various
elements of which the diocese is composed, will obviously not be
light, but ought to be extremely interesting and rewarding. They will
have to deal with extremes, which may there be said to meet, in a
combination of rural and urban, ancient and modern, commercial,
industrial, and aristocratic life, a variety in unity such as the
Catholic Church itself presents, of which the diocese may be regarded
as a miniature.
"In veste varietas sit: scissura non sit."
[Illustration: THE PRIORY SEAL.
(OBVERSE. REVERSE.)]
APPENDIX
I
LIST OF THE PRIORS OF ST. MARY OVERIE
Appointed.
1. Aldgod 1106
2. Algar 1130
3. Warin 1132
4. Gregory 1142
5. Ralph 1150
6. Richard 1154
7. Valerianus 1163
8. William de Oxenford 1189
9. Richard de St. Mildred 1203
10. William Fitz Samari 1205
11. Martin 1206
12. Robert de Oseney 1218
13. Humphrey 1223
14. Eustachius 1240
15. Stephen 1253
16. Alan 1266
17. William Wallys 1283
18. Peter de Cheyham 1306
19. Thomas de Southwark 1326
20. Robert de Welles 1331
21. John de Peckham 1348
22. Henry Collingbourne 1359
23. John Kyngeston 1395
24. Robert Weston 1397
25. Henry Werkeworth 1414
26. John Bottisham 1452
27. Henry de Burton 1462
28. Richard Briggs 1486
29. John Reculver 1491
30. Richard Michell 1499
31. Robert Shouldham 1512
32. Bartholomew Linstede 1513
(_alias_ Fowle)
The last-named surrendered the Priory to Henry VIII in 1540, when he
was granted a pension of £100 per annum, and the use of a house within
the close. The aggregate granted to the other annuitants (eleven in
number), amounted to £70. The pensions were to be paid half yearly.
The annual value of the Priory at the surrender was estimated at £656
10_s._, from which "Reprisals," amounting to £32 3_s._ 6_d._, were
deducted by the Commissioners, leaving £624 6_s._ 6_d._ net.
II
THE PRIORY SEAL
The impressions given (p. 103) are taken from a fine, but imperfect,
sulphur cast in the British Museum (4050 lxxii, 66 and 67) of the Seal
in use in the twelfth century. It is circular, about 2-3/8 inches in
diameter, and contains, within a vesical compartment, a figure of the
Blessed Virgin, seated on a carved throne, holding a fleur-de-lis in
her right hand, and supporting with her left the Infant Saviour upon
her knee. The Holy Child is distinguished by a cruciform nimbus, while
that of the Virgin is a plain circle. The Child is raising the right
hand in benediction, and holds in the left an orb. The vesica is
bordered with a double dotted line, containing the salutation: "Ave:
Maria: gracia: plena: Dñs: tecum: benedicta." A similar border,
immediately within the circumference, holds the legend: "Sigillum
ecclesie sancte Marie de Suthewercha."
The space between the circumference and the vesica is occupied on each
side by two angels, with expanded wings, those above issuing from
waves, those below kneeling.
The reverse contains a small counterseal, 1-3/8 inch in diameter. The
figure is an angel, with nimbus and expanded wings, issuing from
waves, with (probably) an orb in the hands.
The inscription: "Ave: Mater: Misericordie."
It may be mentioned that the design of the seal varied with different
Priors. The British Museum possesses several casts, and an original in
red wax (attached to a deed), the design on which is indistinguishable.
The specimen chosen appears to be the most interesting and elaborate,
though not the most ancient, of those in the collection.
III
LIST OF THE CHAPLAINS OF ST. SAVIOUR'S
(Compiled by the Rev. Dr. Thompson, and here reproduced by his
permission.)
Appointed.
1. Rev. Kelle 1563
2. James Holyland 1564
3. Harman 1565
4. Styles 1578
5. Smythe 1582
6. Pattersle 1585
7. Hansonne 1585
8. Thos. Rattdcliffe 1585
9. M. Ed. Philips 1589
10. Butterton 1599
11. Marberry 1601
12. Currie 1603
13. Knapp 1604
14. Snape 1604
15. Church 1605
16. Symonds 1605
17. Francis 1606
18. James Archar 1614
19. Dr. Thomas Sutton 1615
20. Harris 1623
21. P. Micklethwaite 1625
22. Rev. Nicolas Morton 1627
23. Stephen Watkins 1654
24. Robert Knightly 1656
25. Dr. William Hoare 1678
26. Dr. Samuel Barton 1687
27. Dr. H. Sacheverell 1705
28. Dr. Thomas Horne 1709
29. Wainford 1724
30. Dr. Benj. Slocock 1725
31. John Smith 1729
32. Thomas Jones 1753
33. William Day 1762
34. Sambrook Russell 1768
35. Philip Batteson 1769
36. W. Winkworth 1794
37. W. Mann 1804
38. Thomas Bird 1807
39. Dr. W. Harrison 1808
40. W. Curling 1833
41. S. Benson 1843
42. Dr. W. Thompson 1879
NOTE.--An interval of over twenty years will be noticed between Nos.
24 and 25, during which the names of other "Ministers" appear in the
Registers.
It was the rule for two Chaplains to be in office at once till 1881,
when Dr. Thompson was made sole Chaplain. In 1885 he was appointed
Rector, and in 1897 Canon and Chancellor of the Collegiate Church.
The Rev. Mr. Kelle was dismissed in January, 1564, for refusing to
wear a surplice at the Communion; but in consideration of his old age
he was presented with the sum of £4, "by the good wyllys" of the
Vestry and Churchwardens.
Messrs. Holyland and Harman were then elected, as of a more compliant
temper, their "wages" being fixed at £20 a year "and not the
christenings, and to leave at a fortnight's warning." Mrs. Holyland
was to receive "for her wages" ten shillings.
By far the most prominent in the list is Dr. Sacheverell. The two
sermons which led to his impeachment were preached at the Derby
Assizes on 15th August, and at St. Paul's Cathedral on 5th November,
1709. These, with his published Answer and the Speech in his Defence,
delivered at Westminster Hall on the 7th March, 1710, are still
exciting reading.
IV
VESTMENTS, PLATE, AND ORNAMENTS AT ST. SAVIOUR'S[33]
An examination was made on the 20th October, 1552, by the agents
"assigned and appointed by the Commissioners, and by them sworn truly
to enquire and find out the whole of all such plate, jewels, and
ornaments, as since the beginning of the King's reign that now is
belonged to the Church of Saint Saviour in Southwark, as far as in
them lieth."
The duty of the agents involved a comparison of the goods which they
actually found in the church with the existing inventories, the most
important of which was the inventory made on 26th February, 1548, by
the retiring Wardens, and handed to their successors in office with
the property transferred to their care at the same time. The contents
of this inventory are as follows; the entries, however, have been
shortened and the spelling modernised:
Two principal copes of blue tissue "with priest, deacon, and
sub-deacon, with all their apparel."[34]
Three other principal copes of the same material with _ut supra_.
Three principal copes of red tissue with _ut supra_.
A cope of cloth of gold with _ut supra_ (lacking two albes and two
head-pieces).[35]
A cope of blue velvet embroidered with flowers with _ut supra_.
Three copes of white camlet embroidered with flowers with _ut
supra_ (lacking two head-pieces and two "fannelles").[36]
Three copes of white damask, with holy-water "sprynkes" with _ut
supra_.
A cope of white damask with flowers.
A cope of blue tinsel.
A cope of red worsted with flowers, and his vestment of the same,
and a deacon of red damask, lacking an albe.
A cope of blue worsted with l. and x.
A cope of silk "bawdekyn"[37] for Sundays.
A cope of black worsted with priest, deacon, and subdeacon, with
all their apparel.
Two "desk-cloths"[38] of blue with x. and l.
Two "desk-cloths" of silk with images.
A cope of white tissue given by "Maister Fowle."[39]
WORKDAY VESTMENTS.[40]
A vestment of red damask with an albe.
A vestment of red velvet with a green cross.[41]
A vestment of blue velvet with x. and l. and his albe.
A vestment of red velvet embroidered with moons and stars.[42]
A vestment of satin of Bruges, with a green cross, and a picture
of Our Lady and her Son.
A vestment of red "bawdkyn," with a lion of gold.
A vestment of "bawdkyn," with a crucifix.
A "cross-cloth"[43] of purple damask, with an image of the Trinity
of gold.
A "cross-cloth" of the same material, with St. Margaret.
A "cross-cloth" of green sarcenet, with the Assumption of Our Lady
in gold.
Two "lawnes" for the cross,[44] one blue and one white, both
fringed with gold.
Two "canabye-cloths,"[45] one of cloth of gold, the other of blue
velvet with flowers of gold, both fringed.
Seven corporas-cases.[46]
A fore front of cloth of tissue.
Two pieces of blue velvet, with flower-de-luces.
A fore front of white damask embroidered.
Two cloths of tissue for the High Altar.
A fore front of red worsted.
A cloth of red and blue to hang over the table of the High
Altar.[47]
A veil for Lent in the chancel.
Two hangings for Our-Lady altar (above and beneath) of red tissue.
Hangings for the same altar[48] (above and beneath) of white and
green damask embroidered with flowers.
Hangings of the Trinity altar, of red damask with flowers of gold.
Hangings of red silk for the same altar, with a picture of the
Trinity and Our Lady.
Another hanging of white taffata, with the Passion of Christ.
A black hearse-cloth[49] of worsted, with a white cross.
ST. JOHN'S ALTAR.
Hangings, above and beneath, of cloth of gold.
Two hangings of blue damask embroidered.
Two hangings of white chamlet embroidered with flowers.
Hangings of russet sarcenet embroidered with "iij levyd
gresse."[50]
One hanging of "dornyx."
BANNER-CLOTHS.
Two streamers of sarcenet, one blue, the other green.
Fourteen "cross-cloths," banner-cloths of all sorts, good and bad,
silk and other.
ALTAR-CLOTHS, ETC.
Eight altar-cloths of diaper, and four plain.
Nine surplices.
Three towels--two of diaper and one plain.
A cushion of green silk.[51]
A carpet[52] before the high altar.
LATTEN.
One holy-water pot.
Two pair of great standards.[53]
One pair of small [standards].
The best hearse-cloth of St. Katherine.[54]
The Trinity hearse-cloth.[55]
Two other hearse-cloths, good and bad.[56]
PLATE.
A monstrance of silver and gilt,[57] with a "burrall" (= beryl).
Two candlesticks of silver and parcel gilt.[58]
A pax of silver and gilt, with a "burrall."[59]
Two basons of silver and parcel gilt.[60]
A pair of censers of silver parcel gilt.[61]
A ship[62] of silver parcel gilt.
A single cross of silver parcel gilt.
A "maser" with a border and a "knop" of silver all gilt.[63]
Two pieces of silver "knoppis which was in the brest of the image
of the Resurrection."
Other lists follow, and contain goods and ornaments that were
missing, or that had been sold by various churchwardens since
the beginning of the reign of Edward VI.
From these we learn that the church had also possessed such
vestments and ornaments as the following:
"Item a vestment of blewe velvyt with a crosse of redde
velvyt sprenged with gold with all thinges perteyninge to
the same."
"All thinges perteyninge to the same" here includes the vestments
for the assistants, and the stoles, maniples, and apparels.
"Item a vestment of white bustyan, with a redde cross and all
thinges perteyninge to the same."
Evidently vestments of coarse white stuff such as were universal in
England during the first four weeks of Lent, cf. the "ash-coloured,"
or white vestments still worn on weekdays in Lent in the South of
France.
"Item an altar cloth hanginge afore the altare of redde silke
with a crucyfix."
This was probably the frontal used in Passiontide, _i.e._, from
Passion Sunday until Easter. Other Lenten ornaments were the
following:
"Item iiij paynted clothes for altar clothes in Lent."
"Item iij paynted clothes to hange upon saynt Katerynes and
saynt Margarettes in Lent."
The following is an interesting description of a panelled or striped
frontal and frontlet:
"Item an altar cloth for the frontur of thalter of redde
velvyt and yelowe & redde damask in paynes with Kateryn
wheles in the bordour above."
The sales are quoted as realising in all £165 17_s._ 8_d._, but
an addition of the separate items does not result in this
total.
The difficulties in the way of an exact calculation are (1) lax or
ambiguous entries, _e.g._:
"Item iiij chalyces wayng liiij onz. wherof ij communyon
cuppis were made by the said Calton (purchaser of a
previous lot) waynge but lij onz.... xvijs viii.d"
(2) The omission of prices, and (3) the disappearance of articles
quoted as "myssinge at the praysement of the vestry stuff," or (4)
"myssinge and not delyveryd to the now Churche wardens neither sold or
accompted for to thuse of the Churche."
The conclusion arrived at by the representatives of the parish is thus
stated: "And where yt is a parcell of our othe to present howe and to
what use the moneye cummynge of the sale of our ornamentes and plate
is employd and in what place of our church it is bestowed, to that we
saye yt is not in our wyttes to tell ... and surly yf there be not
moche more reparacyons done upon the said churche shortly yt will
utterly dekay."
The list of "plate and other things" left in the church is as follows:
Two communion cups with a cover all gilt.
Nineteen albes and six amices, lacking all their apparel,
"whereof the wardens have made sixteen surplices for the
choir, which was all that could be made of them."
Towels and tablecloths, good and bad, diaper and plain xij.
A cushion of green silk.
Three hearse-cloths, one of Our Lady, another of Saynt
Katheryne, and one of blue and red velvet.
Six "bells of accorde" and one small bell.
Which bells the parish bought of the late king of famous
memory king Henry the eight at the purchesing of the hole
church.
A bible and a paraphrases.
Three communion books and four psalters printed.
Two pair of good organs furnished.
A chest with two locks for the alms for the poor.
Five "great pieces of leed squayr lyeinge upon the bellowes."
This is followed by a _Memorandum_, which is not without a touch
of humour under the circumstances, pointing out that "it
appears in the accounts of Nycholas Stokbrige and his
companions (Wardens of the first and second year) that they
have not charged themselves in their book a good carpet and a
chapel bell."
(_Signed by_) THOMAS DYSON,
ROGER PYLFOLD, and
THOMAS DOWMAN.
The Inventories are given _in extenso_ among the "Inventories of the
Goods and Ornaments of the Churches in the County of Surrey in the
reign of Edward VI," carefully edited by J.R. Daniel Tyssen, Esq.,
F.S.A., for the "Surrey Archaeological Collections," from the original
documents in the Public Record Office.
FOOTNOTES:
[33] The explanations in the footnotes have been kindly furnished by
Mr. F.C. Eeles, Secretary to the Alcuin Club.
[34] The term "vestment" was often used to include not merely the
chasuble, but also the other vestments of the celebrant and his
assistant ministers; sometimes it also included the vestments of the
altar, the frontal and upper frontal; it nearly always included the
apparels, sometimes also the albe and amice, but at other times these
were reckoned separately among the linen.
Sometimes the vestments for the celebrant, the gospeller, and the
epistoler, were called "priest, deacon, and subdeacon," instead of
chasuble, dalmatic, and tunicle. Sometimes the last two vestments
(often identical in appearance) were both called dalmatics, or
"deacons," or were both called tunicles.
Apparels were pieces of coloured or embroidered material sewn on to the
albe and amice; they were on the skirt and sleeves of the former, and
the amice apparel was like a large embroidered collar. These additions
to the albe and amice were always used in England, and of course lace
was unknown in old times.
[35] The amices are here called "head-pieces," as they were properly
little hoods which could be turned up so as to cover the head, and were
actually so worn out of doors. The Dominican Friars still wear the
amice on the head when approaching the altar at mass.
Sets of vestments often had copes belonging to them. The cope was
required not only for use when censing altars at choir services, but
also for the celebrant in the procession which (like our Litany)
preceded the principal celebration of the Eucharist on Sundays.
[36] Fannelles = fanons or maniples.
[37] Cloth of gold.
[38] Hangings for lecterns.
[39] Probably the last Prior, alias Linstede.
[40] "Work-day vestments" means vestments for use on weekdays at low
masses.
[41] A vestment with a Latin cross on the back of the chasuble; these
were common in England in the sixteenth century.
[42] _Vide_ the design on the coffin-lid now preserved in the North
Transept (p. 89).
[43] A small banner which was hung on the processional cross.
[44] Probably curtains for hanging behind the rood.
[45] Canopies for hanging above the pyx, which contained the reserved
Sacrament, and was, as usual in England, suspended over the high altar.
N.B.--The Roman form of altar-tabernacle seldom if ever seems to have
been used in England.
[46] Burses, to keep the corporals in.
[47] The "table of the high altar" was the reredos, only exposed on
high days, this cloth or upper frontal concealing it at other times.
The reredos must not be confused with the great altar screen: it was
quite small, and was immediately at the back of the altar itself.
[48] "Hangings for altars above and beneath" include frontals and upper
frontals, the latter taking the place of the reredos, or being used to
cover it at ordinary times. Some of these hangings may be "riddels" or
curtains to hang at the ends of the altar. These used to hang at right
angles to the reredos, and close to the altar ends.
[49] _I.e._, a funeral pall.
[50] Shamrock or trefoil.
[51] A cushion to lay the altar book upon. Such cushions were often
very rich and handsome, and in the days of large books and fine
bindings were almost necessary. They were much more general than desks.
[52] _I.e._, a frontal; the same word is used in the Canon of 1603,
which orders a frontal.
[53] Four great standard candlesticks to stand on the pavement before
the altar. Large churches often had more than two standard lights. The
pair of small standards (the next entry) were probably for one of the
lesser altars.
[54] Probably included under "Latten" by mistake or carelessness.
[55] _Ibid._
[56] _Ibid._
[57] This ornament was used in one or two processions when the Holy
Eucharist was carried. The "burrall" is the glass in the middle wherein
the Sacrament was placed. Only rich churches possessed this ornament,
which was of very late introduction. It is needless to add that the
still more modern service of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament was
never in use in England.
[58] Probably to stand on the high altar.
[59] Perhaps held a relic.
[60] To stand on the high altar for ornament.
[61] Two censers were commonly carried side by side in procession in
England.
[62] Incense-boat.
[63] The "maser" is quoted as "given to the Wardens when they meet to
drink on."
V
SPECIFICATION OF THE ORGAN
(Furnished by the builders, Messrs. Lewis and Co., Limited)
CHOIR ORGAN, C C TO C. 61 NOTES.
Lieblich-gedact 16 feet
Geigen Principal 8 "
Salicional 8 "
Dulciana 8 "
Lieblich-gedact 8 "
Salicet 4 feet
Flauto Traverso 4 "
Lieblich-gedact 4 "
Lieblich-gedact 2 "
Mixture (3 ranks) 2 "
Ten Key-touches for Couplers and fixed Combinations.
GREAT ORGAN, C C TO C. 61 NOTES.
Contra Viola 16 feet
Bourdon 16 "
Open Diapason, No. 1 8 "
Open Diapason, No. 2 8 "
Stopped Diapason 8 "
Flûte Harmonique 8 "
Octave 4 "
Flûte Harmonique 4 feet
Octave Quint 2-2/3 "
Super Octave 2 "
Cornet (3, 4, and 5 ranks) 2-2/3 "
Mixture (4 ranks) 1-1/3 "
Trumpet 8 "
Ten Key-touches for Couplers and fixed Combinations.
SWELL ORGAN, CC TO C. 61 NOTES.
Bourdon 16 feet
Open Diapason 8 "
Rohr-flöte 8 "
Viole de Gambe 8 "
Voix Célestes 8 "
Geigen Principal 4 "
Rohr-flöte 4 "
Flautina 2 "
Mixture (4 ranks) 1-1/3 "
Bassoon 16 "
Horn 8 "
Voix Humaine 8 "
Oboe 8 "
Clarion 4 "
Ten Key-touches for Couplers and fixed Combinations.
SOLO ORGAN, CC TO C. 61 NOTES.
Flûte Harmonique 8 feet
Vox Angelica 8 "
Unda Maris 8 "
Flûte Harmonique 4 "
Cor Anglais (Ten. C) 16 "
Bombarde 16 "
Clarionet 8 "
Orchestral Oboe 8 "
Tuba Magna 8 "
Trompette Harmonique 8 "
Solo Organ is inclosed in a separate Swell Box.
Ten Key-touches for fixed Combinations and Solo Stops.
PEDAL ORGAN, C C C TO F. 30 NOTES.
Great Bass 32 feet
Major Violon 32 "
Great Bass 16 "
Violon 16 "
Sub Bass 16 "
Dulciana Bass 16 "
Violoncello 8 "
Flute Bass 8 "
Flute 4 "
Contra Posaune 32 "
Posaune 16 "
Trombone 16 "
Trumpet 8 "
COUPLERS.
Choir to Pedal.
Great to Pedal.
Swell to Pedal.
Solo to Pedal.
Choir to Great.
Swell to Great.
Solo to Great.
Swell to Choir.
Solo to Swell.
Solo Octave.
Tremulant to Swell.
Six Pedals for Interchangeable Combinations.
Ordinary Swell Pedal for Solo Organ.
Balanced Pedal for Swell Organ.
Balanced Pedal for Crescendo over Entire Organ, including the Solo
Swell Shutters.
The entire action is Electro-pneumatic. The Console is detached and
placed behind the Choir Stalls.
INDEX
Aisles, choir, 81, _et seq._
Nave, North, 60.
Nave, South, 64.
Alleyn, Edward, 66.
Altar, 71.
---- Screens, 18, 28, 72.
Andrewes, Bishop, 25, 28, 43, 77-78.
Anglican Martyrs, 22, 78-79.
Applebee, Dorothy, 88.
Architectural remains, Early English, 17, 64.
Norman, 16, 52, 53, 60, 84, 89.
Barford, Susanna, Tablet, 86.
Beaufort, Cardinal, 17, 44, 95-97.
Beaufort, Escutcheon, 96.
Beaufort, Joan, 97.
Beaumont, Francis, 66.
Bells, 48.
Benson, Rev. S., 80, 81.
Blomfield, Sir Arthur, 34, 46, 48, 54, 57, 88, 93, 97.
Bosses from the old Ceiling, 90.
Browne, Sir Anthony, 38.
Bunyan, John, 61.
Chandelier, 88.
Chapels, the Bishop's, or Little Lady Chapel, 28, 30,43, 76, 77.
Lady Chapel, or Retro-Choir, 21, 42, 44, 75 _et seq._
St. John the Baptist, 18, 61.
St. John the Divine (Harvard), 16, 84.
Chaplains, introduction of, 24.
List of, 104.
Chapter House, 36-38.
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 62.
Child, Alwin, 20.
Choir, exterior, 43.
Interior, 69, _et seq._
Stalls, 74.
Coffin, ancient, 89.
Collegiate Church, 15 _n._
---- Chapter, 35.
---- House, 36.
Cruden, Alexander, 60, 61.
Crusader, effigy of, 81-82.
Cure, Thomas, 81.
Curling, Rev. W., 80.
Dauncey, William, 14.
Davidson, Archbishop, 34, 100.
De la Roche (de Rupibus), Bishop, 17, 42, 49.
Dimensions of the Church, 115.
Dissolution of Monasteries, 19.
Dollman, F.T., 34 _n._, 47, 48.
Doorways, Norman, 52, 60.
South-west, 49.
West, 18, 51.
Easter Sepulchre, 77.
Emerson, William, 95.
Exterior of the Church, 41-43.
Ferthing, Aleyn, 20.
Fletcher, John, 67, 68.
Font, 66.
---- In Lady Chapel, 77.
Foster Hall, 36.
Fox, Bishop, 18, 47, 72-73.
Giffard, Bishop, 15, 20, 49.
Goldsmith, Oliver, 60.
Gower, John, 17, 18, 61-62.
Gwilt, George, 30, 32, 42, 43, 47, 48, 54.
Burial-place, 44.
Memorial Tablet, 44, 80.
Memorial Window, 86.
Harvard, John, 84-86.
Memorial window, 54, 84-86.
Holy-water Stoup, 53.
Horne, Bishop, 23 _n._
James I, of Scotland, 97.
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 60 _n._
Jones, Rev. Thomas, 95.
Lectern, 88.
Linstede, Bartholomew, 13, 19.
Massinger, Philip, 67, 68.
Muniment chest, 90.
Nave, exterior, North Side, 52.
Nave, exterior, South Side, 48.
Nave, exterior, West Front, 51.
Nave, exterior, Interior, 57-59.
Newcomen, Elizabeth, 94.
Newland, Abraham, tablet, 86.
Organ, 86-87.
Specification of, 111.
Ornaments and Vestments, sale of, under Queen Elizabeth, 23, 24.
Inventories and sales (Edward VI), 105, _et seq._
Overy, John, 15.
Overy, Mary, 14, 15.
Pews, introduced at the Church, 26.
Pont de la Arch, William, 14.
Priors of St. Mary Overie, 103.
Priory Seal, 104.
Pugin, A.W., quoted, 32.
Pulpit, 88.
Queen Anne, Escutcheon, 93.
Restorations, 33, 34, 48, 97.
Roman relics, 14, 54, 87.
Sacheverell, Dr., 60 _n._, 93.
St. Margaret, Church of, 20.
St. Mary Magdalene, Church of, 17, 21, 30, 44, 46, 76.
St. Mary Overie, etymology of, 15.
Traditional origin of, 13.
St. Thomas, Church of, 36.
St. Thomas's Hospital, 17.
Shakespeare, Edmund, 68-69.
Shakespeare, William, 68-69.
Southwark, Diocese of, 99, _et seq._
Sumner, Bishop, 32.
Talbot, Bishop, 34, 100-101.
Thorold, Bishop, 33, 34, 100.
Tombs and Monuments, Bishop Andrewes, 43, 77-78.
William Austin, 92.
Richard Benefeld, 95.
John Bingham, 94.
William Emerson, 95.
John Gower, 18, 61-62.
Richard Humble, 73.
Rev. Thomas Jones, 95.
Lionel Lockyer, 92.
John Trehearne, 83-84.
Tower, exterior, 47.
Interior, 87.
Transepts, North, 17, 88, _et seq._
South, 17, 44-47, 93, _et seq._
Vestrymen, 20, 21, 22.
Wallace, Robert, 30, 44-46.
Wigan, Sir Frederick, Bart., 34, 74, 93, 94.
Windows, East, 62.
West, 64.
In Nave, North Aisle, 60-61.
In Nave, South Aisle, 64-68.
In Choir, North Aisle, 81.
In Choir, South Aisle, 86.
In Lady Chapel, 78, _et seq._
Harvard, 84, _et seq._
In North Transept, 88.
In South Transept, 93.
Wood, George, 81.
Yeatman-Biggs, Bishop, 100.
CHISWICK PRESS: PRINTED BY CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.
DIMENSIONS
Length of nave internal 104 feet.
Length of choir internal 78 "
Retro-choir from east to west internal 41 "
Total length internal 248 "
Breadth, including aisles internal 60 "
Retro-choir from north to south internal 61 "
Transepts from north to south internal 116 "
Transepts from east to west internal 26 "
Height of nave internal 55 "
Height of choir internal 53 " 6 inches.
Height of tower 129 " 6 "
(exclusive of the pinnacles,
which rise 34 feet above it).
Area internal 17,113 sq. "
[Illustration: St. SAVIOUR'S CATHEDRAL--SOUTHWARK.
SIR A. BLOMFIELD AND SONS _fect._]
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*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Bell's Cathedrals: Southwark Cathedral - Formerly the Collegiate Church of St. Saviour, Otherwise St. Mary Overie. A Short History and Description of the Fabric, with Some Account of the College and the See" ***
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