The Gate of Remembrance: The Story of the Psychological Experiment which Resulted in the Discovery of the Edgar Chapel at GlastonburyBond, Frederick Bligh
Religion
The Gate of Remembrance: The Story of the Psychological Experiment which Resulted in the Discovery of the Edgar Chapel at Glastonbury
Bond, Frederick Bligh
Glastonbury Abbey -- Miscellanea; Parapsychology and archaeology -- England -- Glastonbury -- Case studies; Spirit writings
"Abbot Bere ybuilded ye Loretto Chapel faire and large to the north
(side of the) navis. We said that itt ... was not ye Chapitre Howse....
"... The syde of it was distant from ye navis thirty-one feet and a
half, and from ye aisle of ye transept he was fulle tenn feet with
a covered way unto, and four steppes up unto ye aisle aforesaid. Yt
... was ybuilded by Bere most faire and wonderfull in ye newe style
brought from Ytaly when he didd goe there upon ambassadrie.
"Ye have heard of yt. Ye Chapell was full forty feet, and width
between twenty and ... twenty-one feet, and hee had an entrance unto
(hym) from the roade which ledde from St. John his gait unto ye navis,
and thus might ye B^p and the Kinges majestic (enter).
"Bere used to approach by entering into the Claustre, and soe he didde
close it oftentimes."
The foregoing script at first sight seemed impossible to decipher,
and a repetition was asked for. This was clearly written, and by its
aid the sense of the foregoing was mastered, and word by word picked
out, but there are yet some seemingly hopeless blanks. These, however,
may not be material, and will probably refer to the ruinous state
of the Chapter House and its repair, as re-stated in the following
communication:
"We have said he was of the Ytalian style new and very faire, and Bere
ybuilded coming from embassadrie in Ytaly. Hee was not ye Chapitre,
but Bere did use hym so because ye Chaptre House was dammp and ruinous
and was being repaired. We have said so. Hee met ye King and ye B^p
who sojourned (with him). The same was forty feet (long) by twenty
(or) thereabouts and his grylled doore was to the west and a pavement
joyned him to the Road from St. John's gate to ye churche.
"He wasne like anything else (but was of the) newe style. There were
four steppes--nay, six--to the aisle of ye transeppt, and a covered
way vaulted in a rounde vaulte to ye Chappell....--THESIGER."
Q. "By 'steps' do you mean ascending steps, or paces?"
A. "Ten feet, and four or six steppes up to hym."
The signature "THESIGER" is of peculiar interest. At the beginning of
this communication will be seen the words "Obliviscor." "So long we
have slept near Capella Loretta," etc. Only once before, at Sitting
XLII., on the 7th September, 1910, has the same signature been
observed. This was at the close of a communication dealing with the
shrine of St. Dunstan, and was given as follows:
"Sub marmore dormio, quod taedet me--obliviscor.--CAMILLUS THESIGER."
The identity of this person was at the time a matter of speculation,
but F.B.B. concluded that it must be meant for Camel, the Purse-bearer
to Abbot Bere, whose marble tomb with coffered panels is a feature in
St. John's Church. Camel had a house in the upper part of the town, in
the High Street, on the south side, some little way above St. John's
Gate, and to the east.
The architectural details which we here reproduce were then given, some
explanatory notes appended.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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