Mediæval London, Volume 2: EcclesiasticalBesant, Walter
History
Mediæval London, Volume 2: Ecclesiastical
Besant, Walter
London (England) -- History -- To 1500; London (England) -- Social life and customs -- To 1500
The Chapel was taken down in 1830. The monument of the Bishop took up
nearly the whole of the east end; a marble canopy originally stood
over it, but this was broken in 1676 when the roof of the Chapel fell
in; there was no altar and there were no services held in the Chapel;
there was one other monument of a citizen named Hayman, buried here in
the same year as the Bishop. Another monument, erected in 1807, was
that of Abraham Newland, chief cashier of the Bank of England. Two
stone coffins were preserved in this Chapel; and here were stone steps
leading down into the vaults; the Chapel is said to have been quite
plain, “with a groined roof, strong ribs, and a stone seat on both
sides and at the east end.”
The removal of the Chapel formed part of the restoration work of 1830.
At this time the church was in a most dangerous condition, the roof of
the nave being so dilapidated that it was impossible to hold service
there. Consequently the pews, organ, and monuments were removed to the
chancel and transepts; the roof was taken down and the materials sold;
and the walls and aisles were simply left exposed to the weather.
Wilkinson thus describes what followed:—
“The roof thus destroyed was a fine specimen of the architecture of
the thirteenth century, and possessed the striking peculiarity of
having the corbels, whence the ribs of the arches sprang, placed
perpendicularly over the columns. Those columns had been already banded
with iron, and the walls were green and dark with apparent decay,
though it is said that some of the ancient timbers were still in a
fine state of preservation; but in pursuance of the above order, the
organ was removed to form a temporary termination to the choir, and
the nave was uncovered and exposed; in which lamentable state it still
continues, August 1834, not unlike the half-ruined edifice of the
Cathedral of Llandaff.
[Illustration: ANCIENT CRYPT, SOUTHWARK]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account