The purpose of its erection was to supply a fitting mausoleum for the noble family of its founder; yet few of his successors are there interred; for, having subsequently become entitled to the patronage of the Holy Abbey of Tewkesbury, they preferred it as their place of sepulture--and the great Earl is nearly the only one of his proud and lofty race whose ashes moulder beneath the fretted roof of the graceful and magnificent structure. It was commenced 21st Henry VI. and finished 3d Edward IV.; occupying a period of twenty-one years, and costing £2,481 4_s._ 7_d._--an enormous sum, of which some idea may be formed from the fact, that, at the time, “the value of a fat ox was 13_s._ 4_d._” The Chapel was not, however, consecrated until the 15th Edward IV., when John Hales, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, was specially commissioned for the purpose by John Carpenter, Bishop of Worcester. The Church of St. Mary, Warwick--to which the Beauchamp Chapel is attached--is of very early date. Of its foundation, prior to the Conquest, there is conclusive evidence; for in “the Survey,” it was certified to have “one hyde of land in Myton, given to it by Turchil de Warwick, which land was then valued at ten shillings.” It was made collegiate by Hen. de Newburg, first Earl of Warwick; and his son Roger, in 1123, largely augmented its revenues. The riches and piety of subsequent Earls of Warwick contributed to its grandeur and importance; and at the survey, 26th Hen. VIII., previous to the dissolution, its revenues were certified to amount to £334 2_s._ 3_d._ A fire, in 1694, destroyed the whole of the edifice, except the choir and the Beauchamp Chapel; and when the Church was rebuilt it was from a design of Sir Christopher Wren. It is, nevertheless, conspicuous for no architectural beauty, except the fine proportions of its Tower. The choir--a part of the ancient church--is a rare example of the architecture of the period. It was built by Thomas de Beauchamp, about the 43rd Edward III.; and his remains, with those of his Countess, a daughter of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, were interred in a sumptuous tomb, placed in the centre of the edifice erected for their reception. Nearly five hundred years have passed since the Earl was laid there, and the mason, the gilder, and the sculptor, laboured to perpetuate the memory of a great soldier, who led the van at Crecy, bled at Poictiers, “did great service in a sea-fight,” “warred against the infidels,” and drove a besieging army from before Calais, by the mere sound of his name,--yet the monument endures almost unimpaired by time; telling its high tale of glory after a lapse of half a thousand years.[57]