Bell's Cathedrals: The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury: with some Account of the Priory Church of Deerhurst GloucestershireMassé, H. J. L. J. (Henri Jean Louis Joseph)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury: with some Account of the Priory Church of Deerhurst Gloucestershire
At the easternmost end of this aisle is the door by which access was
given the church from the cloisters. The entrance to this door
consists of a depressed arch, with a square head over it; the
spandrils are pierced with an open quatrefoil. This door stands within
the original Norman doorway, which was filled in, and traces of the
supporting shaft with its capital may be seen. Above are seven niches,
with brackets and canopies of good carved work. Over the canopy on
either side is an angel with a plain shield.
At the restoration of the church this doorway was very carefully dealt
with at the cost of the then Mayor, Mr. Thomas Collins. Up to the time
of the restoration of the church, 1891-92, this doorway had been
walled up with many pieces of broken carved work from other parts of
the church. The doors were designed by Mr. J. Oldrid Scott, executed
locally, and given by the late Mr. Thomas Collins.
To the east of the cloister door [O] is a tomb with a fine crocketed
ogee arch, and with an angel bearing a plain shield in place of a
finial. On one of the cusps are to be traced the chevrons of the De
Clares, and another bears a lion rampant. Beyond the fact that it was
the tomb of a relation of the De Clares nothing definite can be said.
Some have thought it to be the tomb of Sir Thomas Morley, the husband
of Anne, daughter of Edward, Lord Despenser, and widow of Hugh, Lord
Hastings, who died in 1417. It may here be noted that a lion rampant,
sable, crowned or, are to be found on one of the shields at Lord
Despenser's feet in the Isham register. This tomb is generally known
as the Duke of Somerset's tomb, but the arms as they exist show no
resemblance to the arms he would be entitled to bear, viz., those of
the Beauforts.
In the floor of the south aisle is an interesting stone with an
inscription in Norman French, in bold Lombardic capitals running round
the border:
[Illustration: (in Norman: Leger de Parr lies here. May God have
mercy on his soul.)]
_i.e._, "Leger de Parr lies here. May God have mercy on his soul."
According to Bennett, this stone had been moved from some other place
in the church.
Up to the time of the restoration the extreme western portion of the
south aisle was part and parcel of the Abbey House Estate. In 1883,
when the estate was put up for sale, the room thus formed in the
church was withdrawn from the auction, and soon afterwards was
presented by the then owner to the Abbey, to be in future an absolute
part of the building. In the south wall near this Abbey chamber is a
blocked-up doorway which gave access to the Outer Parlour of the
monks.
TRANSEPTS AND AMBULATORY OF THE CHOIR.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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