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 SeeWorley, George
History
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
Worley, George
Southwark Cathedral (London, England)
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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