The Churches of Coventry: A Short History of the City & Its Medieval RemainsWoodhouse, Frederic W.
History
The Churches of Coventry: A Short History of the City & Its Medieval Remains
Woodhouse, Frederic W.
Churches -- England -- Coventry; Coventry (England) -- History
The buttresses of the Lady Chapel are rather richer in design than
those of St. Lawrence's Chapel. The lower level of its parapet
indicates some difference of date. The plan of this part of the church
presents problems which bear on those connected with the rest of the
church (p. 44). Beneath St. Lawrence's Chapel and extending under the
north aisle westward are two crypts, entrance to them being by two
doors from the churchyard, their position is shown on the general
plan. It will be seen that the western one is of two aisles, each of
three bays, while the eastern is only one bay in length. The entrance
to the western was at first in the middle bay but this was blocked
when the Girdlers' Chapel was built. That the eastern crypt was added
later, and the present Lady Chapel later still is shown by the
presence of windows in the east wall of both parts and other
indications. But while the history of the church shows that the
original Lady Chapel and crypt or charnel-house, were built soon after
1300, the present superstructures belong to a time about one hundred
years later. Now as the western crypt may be safely assigned to the
earlier date the Lady Chapel doubtless stood over it and flanked the
old chancel of the church, in its normal position in fact as the
existing one is now. But a point which remains to be explained is that
the walls of the crypt are parallel to the line of the new chancel and
not to the line of the old or new naves. It seems certain therefore
that the inclination of the new chancel is a simple perpetuation of
the old arrangement, and if not, the position of the crypt is hard to
account for.
It is generally supposed that these crypts were used as Mortuary
Chapels and the eastern one has in fact a piscina and aumbry, showing
that there was once an altar. But for some centuries they served as a
charnel-house, and are so called in a papal grant of Indulgences. In
1640 there is an entry in the church accounts of five shillings for
"cleansinge the charnel-house and laying the bones and sculles in
order."
They now contain fragments that have been removed or discovered in the
course of various restorations. A small Norman scalloped capital,
another of Early English workmanship and a voussoir showing the Norman
zig-zag or chevron are interesting relics of structures earlier than
anything now existing, while a number of the decayed statues from the
tower find here a dark and damp repose very different from the airy
outlook enjoyed by them for five centuries. It will be seen that they
are near life size and are executed in a gray sandstone which has
stood the weather much better than the red. The outer north aisle
containing the Girdlers' Chapel on the east and the Smiths' or St.
Andrew's Chapel on the west of the porch, is plainly of later date.
The windows have depressed, distinctly four-centred arches, and in
1730 their five lights had simply cusped heads, the mullions running
up to the architrave.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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