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diff --git a/19494-8.txt b/19494-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac439fd --- /dev/null +++ b/19494-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3840 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of +Saint Albans, by Thomas Perkins + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Saint Albans + With an Account of the Fabric & a Short History of the Abbey + + +Author: Thomas Perkins + + + +Release Date: October 8, 2006 [eBook #19494] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS: THE CATHEDRAL +CHURCH OF SAINT ALBANS*** + + +E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Gary Houston, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 19494-h.htm or 19494-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/4/9/19494/19494-h/19494-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/4/9/19494/19494-h.zip) + + +Transcriber's note: + + Words and phrases which were italicized in the original + have been surrounded by underscores('_') in this version. + Words or phrases which were in bold face have been + surrounded by pound signs('#'). + + + + + +THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF SAINT ALBANS + +With an Account of the Fabric & a Short History of the Abbey + +by the + +REV. THOMAS PERKINS, M.A. +Rector of Turnworth, Dorset + +Author of "Rouen," "Amiens," "Wimborne and Christchurch," Etc., Etc. + +With Fifty Illustrations + + + + + + + +[Illustration: ST. ALBANS CATHEDRAL FROM THE SOUTH.] + + +[Illustration: ARMS OF THE SEE] + + + +London: George Bell and Sons. 1903 + + + + +PREFACE + + +The Rev. W.D. Sweeting, who had originally undertaken to write this +monograph on St. Albans, having been obliged, on account of ill-health, +to abandon the work, the Publishers asked me to write it in his stead. +My task was rendered much easier by Mr. Sweeting kindly sending me much +material that he had collected, and many valuable notes that he had +made, especially on the history of the Abbey. + +My best thanks are due to the Dean for kindly allowing me permission to +examine every part of the Cathedral church, and to take the photographs +with which this book is illustrated. A few illustrations only are from +other sources, among them those on pages 9 and 11, for permission to use +which I have to thank Mr. John Murray. I have also to acknowledge the +courtesy of the vergers, Mr. Newell and Miss Davis from both of whom I +obtained much information; Miss Davis's long connection with the church, +and the interest she takes in every detail connected with it, rendered +her help most valuable. I have consulted many books on the Abbey, among +them Lord Grimthorpe's and Mr. Page's Guides, Mr. James Neale's +"Architectural Notes on St. Albans Abbey," and papers read before the +St. Albans Archaeological Society by the Rev. Henry Fowler. + + THOMAS PERKINS. +TURNWORTH. +_July, 1903._ + + + + +LIST OF CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I. HISTORY OF THE BUILDING 3 + + II. THE EXTERIOR 23 + + III. THE INTERIOR 35 + + IV. HISTORY OF THE MONASTERY AND SEE 81 + + V. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD 106 + +INDEX 113 + +DIMENSIONS OF THE CATHEDRAL 115 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + PAGE +ST. ALBANS CATHEDRAL FROM THE SOUTH _frontispiece_ +ARMS OF THE SEE _title-page_ +VIEW FROM THE NORTH-EAST BEFORE RESTORATION 2 +ST. ALBANS ABBEY BEFORE 1874 3 +PLAN OF THE NORMAN CHURCH 9 +THE SOUTH-WEST PORTAL BEFORE THE REBUILDING OF + THE WEST FRONT 11 +EXTERIOR OF THE LADY CHAPEL BEFORE 1874 15 +INTERIOR OF THE LADY CHAPEL BEFORE 1874 16 +THE ARCADE IN THE SLYPE BEFORE ITS REMOVAL 20 +FLOOR TILE 21 +THE ANGLE BETWEEN NAVE AND TRANSEPT 22 +THE NEW WEST FRONT 23 +THE SOUTH TRANSEPT AS REBUILT 27 +THE LADY CHAPEL CHOIR AND TRANSEPT FROM THE SOUTH-EAST 28 +VIEW FROM THE NORTH-EAST 30 +THREE OLD FLOOR TILES 32 +THE NAVE FROM THE WEST END 34 +BASE OF INCOMPLETE PIER 37 +PLAN OF PIER 37 +ARCADE ON NORTH SIDE OF NAVE 38 +EASTERN PART OF THE NORTH SIDE OF NAVE 39 +NORTH NAVE ARCADE, WESTERN END 41 +SOUTH NAVE ARCADE 43 +SOUTH AISLE OF NAVE 45 +HOLY WATER STOUP 46 +NORTH AISLE OF NAVE 47 +SAXON BALUSTER SHAFTS IN SOUTH TRANSEPT 50 +DOORWAY IN SOUTH TRANSEPT 51 +THE CROSSING LOOKING WESTWARD 54 +THE CHOIR 55 +THE WALLINGFORD SCREEN 58 +KEY TO THE SCULPTURE 59 +THE RAMRYGE CHANTRY 60 +SOUTH AISLE OF PRESBYTERY 62 +WOODEN FIGURE OF MENDICANT 63 +RETRO-CHOIR 64 +BASE OF THE SHRINE OF ST. AMPHIBALUS 65 +BACK OF THE WATCHING LOFT 66 +RAMRYGE'S CHANTRY FROM THE AISLE 67 +ONE OF THE OLD WESTERN DOORS 68 +LADY CHAPEL 69 +PEDESTAL OF ST. ALBANS SHRINE 73 +WATCHING LOFT 75 +MONUMENT OF HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER 77 +SOUTH CHOIR AISLE 80 +JOHN OF WHEATHAMPSTEAD'S CHANTRY 100 +OLD FLOOR TILE 105 +THE GREAT GATE 106 +MONUMENT OF LORD BACON 109 +THE OLD ROUND HOUSE 111 +PLAN OF THE CATHEDRAL 116 + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE NORTH-EAST BEFORE RESTORATION.] + +[Illustration: ST. ALBANS ABBEY, BEFORE 1874.] + + + + +ST. ALBANS CATHEDRAL + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +HISTORY OF THE BUILDING. + + +Long before any church stood on the site of the present cathedral, long +before the time of Albanus, who is universally allowed to have been the +first Christian martyr whose blood was shed in this island, events that +have found a place in the early history of Britain occurred in the +immediate neighbourhood of the city we call St. Albans. Here in all +probability stood the _oppidum_ or stockaded stronghold of +Cassivellaunus, who was chosen to lead the tribes of South-Eastern +Britain when Julius Caesar in the year 54 B.C. made his second descent +on the island. We all know the story, how the Britons gave Caesar so +much trouble that, when at last Roman discipline had secured the +victory, he, demanding tribute and receiving hostages as guarantees for +its payment, left Britain and never cared to venture upon any fresh +invasion. We know that the Trinobantes were the first to sue for peace, +and, abandoning Cassivellaunus, left him to bear the brunt of Caesar's +attack upon his stronghold, how this was destroyed by Caesar, and how +Cassivellaunus also was obliged to make submission to the Romans. + +Nearly a century passed before any Roman legionary again set foot on the +British shores; but when at last, in the days of Claudius, A.D. 42, the +Romans invaded the island, they came to conquer and occupy all except +the northern part of Britain. In the early days of their occupation a +walled town, which was soon raised to the rank of a _municipium_, was +built on the south-western side of the Ver, and from the name of the +river was called Verulamium or Verlamium. It soon became a populous +place, for when in A.D. 61 Boadicea, the Queen of the Iceni, stung by +the insults and injuries she and her daughters had received at the hands +of the Romans, raised her own and the neighbouring tribes to take +vengeance on their oppressors and + + Ran the land with Roman slaughter, multitudinous agonies; + Perish'd many a maid and matron, many a valorous legionary; + Fell the colony, city, and citadel, London, Verulam, Camulodune. + +It is recorded that no less than seventy thousand fell in these three +places and the villages around them. + +But her vengeance, sharp and sudden, was not allowed to pass unpunished +by the Romans, and Suetonius Paulinus, hurrying from North Wales, though +too late to save the three towns, utterly routed the forces of Boadicea +somewhere between London and Colchester. + +After this Verulamium became once more a prosperous town, inhabited +partly by Romans, partly by Britons, who under Roman influence embraced +the civilization and adopted the customs of their conquerors. By whom +Christianity was first introduced into Britain we do not know; probably +it was brought from Gaul. In the reign of Diocletian a great persecution +of the Christians arose throughout the Roman empire. The edict enjoining +this persecution was promulgated in February, 303 A.D., and the +persecution lasted until the Emperor abdicated in May, 305 A.D. It was +carried out in Britain by Maximianus Herculius and Asclepiodotus, and it +was during this persecution that St. Alban won the martyr's crown. +Though the story is embellished with certain miraculous incidents which +most of us will reject as accretions of later ages, yet there seems no +reason to doubt the main facts. + +Albanus, or Alban, as we generally call him, was a young soldier and a +heathen, but being a man of a pitiful heart, he gave shelter to a +certain deacon named Amphibalus, who was in danger of death. Amphibalus +returned his kindness by teaching him the outlines of the Christian +religion, which Alban accepted. When at last the persecutors had +discovered the hiding-place of Amphibalus, Alban, in order to aid his +escape, changed garments with the deacon, and allowed himself to be +taken in his stead, while Amphibalus made his way into Wales, where, +however, he was ultimately captured and was brought back by the +persecutors, who possibly intended to put him to death at Verulamium, +but for some reason which we do not understand he was executed about +four miles from the city at a spot where the village of Redbourn now +stands, the parish church of which is dedicated to him. Meanwhile Alban +was charged with aiding and abetting the escape of a blasphemer of the +Roman gods, and then and there declared that he too was a Christian. He +was ordered to offer incense on the altar of one of the Roman gods, but +refused, and as a consequence was condemned to be beheaded. The place +chosen for his execution was a grassy hill on the further side of the +river Ver. Great was the excitement among the inhabitants of Verulamium, +for as yet they had seen no Christian put to death, and Alban was, +moreover, a man of some mark in the place. So great was the crowd that +it blocked the only bridge across the stream; but Alban did not desire +to delay his death, so walked down to the river-bank. At once the waters +opened before him, and he, the executioner, and the guards passed +dry-shod to the opposite bank. This wonder so struck the executioner, +that he, throwing down his sword, declared he would not behead Alban and +also professed himself a Christian. When the band reached the hill Alban +craved water to quench his thirst, for it was a hot summer day, June +22,[1] and at once a spring burst forth at his feet. One of the soldiers +struck off the martyr's head, but his own eyes fell on the ground +together with it; the executioner who had refused to do his duty was +beheaded at the same time. These miracles are said to have so much +impressed the judge that he ordered the persecution to cease. The +traditional site of the martyrdom is covered by the north arm of the +transept of the present church, and this site is in accordance with +Beda's account, which states that St. Alban was martyred about five +hundred paces from the summit of the hill. When persecution had entirely +ceased, a few years after Alban's death, a church was built over the +spot hallowed by his blood. Beda, writing at the beginning of the eighth +century, speaks of the original church as existing, and describes it as +being a church of wonderful workmanship and worthy of the martrydom it +commemorated. But in all probability the church standing in Beda's time +was not the original one; this no doubt had been swept away during the +time of the English invasion of Britain, when, as Matthew Paris tells +us, the body of Alban was moved for safety from within the church to +some other spot, whence it was afterwards brought back and replaced in +the original grave. + + [1] It must be remembered that June 22 in the year 303 A.D. + would be, as now, close to the longest day, as the alteration of + the calendar known as the new style simply made the equinox + occur on the same day of the month as in 325 A.D. + +That the spot was held in some reverence as early as the fifth century +is proved by the conduct of Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre. A synod was +held at Verulamium in the year 429 A.D. to condemn the "Pelagian heresy" +which had budded forth anew in the island, having had its origin in the +teaching of the British monk Pelagius towards the end of the fourth +century. Germanus and Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, attended this Council and +refuted the followers of Pelagius. It is said that Germanus opened the +coffin of the martyr and deposited in it some precious relics, receiving +in return for them some relics from the coffin, and a piece of turf cut +from the site of the martyrdom. + +From this time we hear nothing for several centuries of the church or +the neighbouring town of Verulamium, save that after the Teutonic +conquest the town was known by the name of Werlamceaster, +Watlingceaster, or Waetlingaceaster, the two latter names being derived +from that of the Roman road, the Watling Street that runs through it. +The site of the martyrdom also received a new name--Holmehurst or +Derswold. + +The next event recorded in connection with our subject is the founding +of a Benedictine monastery by Offa II., King of the Mercians, about the +year 793 A.D. He searched for and found the coffin that contained the +martyr's bones. This, as already stated, had been removed from the +original church dedicated to his memory, in order to save it from +destruction at the hands of the Teutonic invaders, and had remained +concealed, its very position forgotten, until it was miraculously +revealed. The coffin was then opened; the martyr's body and the relics +given by Germanus were found therein, and thus the identity of the +remains with those of Alban was established beyond doubt. Round the +martyr's head Offa placed a golden circlet whereon were written the +words: "Hoc est caput Sancti Albani." A reliquary richly decorated with +precious stones was made to receive the body, and this was then +deposited in the then existing church, which Offa repaired so that it +might serve as a temporary resting-place until a grander church could be +built. Offa had made a journey to Rome to get the Pope's consent to the +foundation and endowment of the monastery.[2] At this time also Alban +was canonized, so that henceforth he may be rightly spoken of as Saint +Alban. + + [2] A payment known as Peter's Pence had first been levied by + the King of the West Saxons in 727, and was a tax of one penny + on each family that owned lands producing thirty pence per + annum; its object was the support of a Saxon College at Rome. + Offa now induced the Pope to allow the pence so collected from + his kingdom to be paid to the Abbey of St. Alban instead of the + Saxon College at Rome. The payment was called Peter's Pence + because it was paid on August 1st (the day dedicated to _St. + Peter ad Vincula_), the day on which the relics of St. Alban had + been discovered. + +All that Offa seems to have been able to do besides repairing the church +was to erect domestic buildings for his monks, who in course of time +numbered a hundred. We have no record of any partial rebuilding, or +enlargement even, of the church of Offa's day. From the fact that +certain remains of it were incorporated in the present building, and +that these were of the character generally called "Saxon," there is +little doubt that the church of the monastery was not the little church +erected in the fourth century over the martyr's grave, but one of later +date, probably the one described by Beda as standing in his day, built +in the latter part of the sixth or in the seventh century. We have no +further record of this church, but we know that the ninth Abbot, Eadmer, +began to collect materials for rebuilding the church; but the work was +not begun until the time of the fourteenth Abbot, Paul of Caen, who was +appointed by William I. So enthusiastically did he work, that in the +short space of eleven years (1077-88) the church was rebuilt. The +rapidity of the building was no doubt chiefly due to the fact that there +was no need of hewing and squaring stone, for the Roman bricks from the +ruins of the old city of Verulam were ready at hand, and the timber +collected by Paul's five predecessors was well seasoned. It is said that +the new church was not dedicated until the year 1115, but it is hard to +believe that so long a space of time as twenty-seven years would be +allowed to elapse between the completion of the building and the +dedication. It is possible there may be some error in this date. + +We can form a good idea of this Norman church. It was like several of +the other cathedral and abbey churches built at the same time, of vast +size, far grander than their prototype in Normandy, St. Stephen's at +Caen. The following table gives approximately the dimensions of some of +these churches: + + Length of Number of Bays. Total + Nave. Nave. Presbytery. Apse. Length. +St. Stephen's, Caen 193 9 2 ... 290 +Canterbury 185 9 10 5 290 +Winchester 318 14 3 5 ... +St. Albans 275 13 4 ... 460 +Bury St. Edmund's 300 15 4 3 490 + +The church consisted of a nave with aisles; the arches of the main +arcade were semicircular, the piers massive and rectangular; there were +no mouldings, the orders of the arches, like the piers, having +rectangular corners. There were possibly two western towers, which +stood, like those of Rouen and Wells, outside the aisles on the north +and south respectively, not at the western ends of the aisles (a far +more common position), thus giving a much greater width and imposing +appearance to the west front. + +The existence of western towers of Norman date has been doubted by some +antiquaries; some indeed imagine that John de Cella's thirteenth-century +west front was built several bays further to the west than the Norman +façade, and that the foundations of the unfinished towers were laid of +old material by him. It is impossible to be absolutely certain on this +point, but the argument sometimes brought forward that the nave was +inordinately long for one of Norman date may be answered by mention of +the fact that the Norman naves at Bury and Winchester were even longer, +and that generally the Norman builders delighted in long structural +naves, the eastern bays of which, however, were, together with the space +beneath the towers, used for the choir or seats for the monks, the +eastern part of the church beyond the crossing being generally occupied +by the presbytery and the sanctuary where the high altar stood. In after +times, however, considerable eastward extensions were made, as at +Canterbury, and the monks' seats were then in many cases moved eastward +into the part of the church beyond the tower, the rood-screen being +stretched across the church between the eastern piers that supported the +tower.[3] + + [3] The chief argument against the belief that western towers + existed at St. Albans is that no documentary record of them is + found. On the other hand it may be said that, whether the towers + were built or not at the same time as the rest of the church, it + is far more likely that John de Cella and William of Trumpington + would have lengthened the church eastward than westward, when we + find so many instances of eastward extensions during the + thirteenth century, and of some before the twelfth century + closed. The plan given in the text, assuming the existence of + Norman towers, is that adopted by Sir Gilbert Scott, who had the + opportunity of examining the foundations when restoring the + church; his opinion was that the foundations were of Norman + date. Of one thing we may be certain, that if finished western + towers ever existed, they were of Norman date. For none were + carried to completion by William of Trumpington. + +[Illustration: PLAN OF THE NORMAN CHURCH. +From Sir Gilbert Scott's Lectures. (By permission of Mr. John Murray.)] + +The transept had no aisles either on its eastern or western side; the +eastern termination differed much from anything in existence now. + +Mr. Prior in his "History of Gothic Art in England" tells us that two +types of east end were to be found in the Anglo-Norman churches, both +brought from the Continent, one the chevet prevalent in Northern France, +the other derived originally from fourth and fifth century churches of +the East, passing to Lombardy in the ninth century, and then along the +Rhine and even reaching Normandy. Such was the original eastern +termination of St. Stephen's, Caen; such may still be seen in St. +Nicholas', Caen. This east end consisted of a number of parallel aisles, +each with its own apse at its eastern end. "Norman use had squared the +aisle endings of the choir two bays beyond the cross, the apse +projecting its half circle beyond this, as at St. Etienne's, Caen, and +in this form Lanfranc's Canterbury had been built."[4] + + [4] Prior's "History of Gothic Art in England," p. 63. + +In St. Albans this plan was further developed; from each arm of the +transept two apses projected eastward, the outer ones consisting only of +a semicircular projection from the transept, the inner ones of a +rectangular bay from which the semicircular part ran eastward. The choir +aisles, as we should now call them, consisted of four bays, beyond which +they ended in a projection semicircular within, but rectangular when +seen from the outside, the walls being thickened at the corners. These +aisles were divided from the presbytery not by open arcading but by +solid walls. The presbytery itself terminated in a semicircle projecting +beyond the ends of the aisles. This extended as far as the centre of the +present retro-choir. + +Above the crossing rose the central tower, much as we see it to-day, +save that it was probably crowned with a pyramidal cap rising from its +outside walls. Probably also the tower as well as the rest of the church +was covered with whitewashed plaster, thus hiding the material of which +it was built--the Roman bricks of which mention has been already made. +These bricks surpass in hardness and durability those of modern days, +and are of different size and shape from those we are acquainted with. +Those used in St. Albans are of two sizes, 17 × 8 × 2 and 11 × 5½ × 2. +The joints are wide, the mortar between the courses being almost as +thick as the bricks. The window jambs and the piers were built or faced +with brick; even the staircases were of brick. What stone was used is +clunch, from Tottenhoe in Bedfordshire, which, according to Lord +Grimthorpe, is admirably suited for interior work, but absolutely +worthless for exterior, as it decays very soon, and if it gets damp is +shivered into powder by frost. + +[Illustration: THE SOUTH-WESTERN PORTAL, BEFORE THE REBUILDING OF THE WEST +FRONT. From a drawing by W.S. Weatherley, in Sir G. Scott's "Lectures on +Mediaeval Architecture." (By permission of Mr. John Murray.)] + +The Norman church, finished as we have seen in 1088, stood without +change for rather more than a century. Then changes began. Abbot John de +Cella (1195-1214) pulled down the west front and began to build a new +one in its place. He laid the foundation of the whole front, but then +went on with the north side first. The north porch was nearly finished +in his time; the central porch was carried up as far as the spring of +the arch; the southern porch was carried hardly any way up from the +foundations.[5] The porches are described by those who saw them before +Lord Grimthorpe swept away the whole west front as some of the choicest +specimens of thirteenth-century work in England. The mouldings were of +great delicacy, and were enriched with dog-tooth ornament. It is said +that Abbot John was not a good man of business, and that he was sorely +robbed and cheated by his builders, and so had not money enough to +finish the work that he had planned. To his successor, William of +Trumpington, it therefore fell to carry on the work. He was a man of a +more practical character, though not equal to his predecessor in matters +of taste. He finished the main part of the western front. Oddly enough +no dog-tooth ornament was used in the central and southern porches, and +the character of the carved foliage differs also from that of the north +porch. In Abbot John's undoubted work the curling leaves overlap, and +have strongly defined stems resembling the foliage of Lincoln choir, +while that of Abbot William's time had the ordinary character of the +Early English style. There is evidence to show that he intended to vault +the church with a stone roof; this may be seen from the marble vaulting +shafts on the north side of the nave between the arches of the main +arcade, which, however, are not carried higher than the string-course +below the triforium. The idea of a stone vault was, however, abandoned +before the two eastern Early English bays on the south side were built, +for no preparation for vaulting shafts exists there. + + [5] Sir Gilbert Scott was of the opinion that the south porch + was also John de Cella's work. + +Abbot John de Cella had begun to build afresh the western towers, or, +according to some authorities, to build the first western towers that +the church ever had; we have no record of their completion, and it is +said that Abbot William abandoned the idea. We have only the foundations +by which we can determine their size. William of Trumpington transformed +the windows of the aisles into Early English ones. He also added a +wooden lantern to the tower, somewhat in the style of the wooden octagon +on the central tower of Ely. + +At some time, but we do not know exactly when, the Church or Chapel of +St. Andrew adjoining the north nave aisle of the monks' church, +extending as far east as the sixth bay, was built for the use of the +parishioners, who had no right to enter the monastic church. This Church +of St. Andrew opened into the north aisle of the Abbey Church, being +separated from it by an arcade of four arches. It had a nave with aisle +and chancel. Its total length was about 140 feet, its width about 61 +feet. It is conjectured that the north-western tower was converted into +a kind of antechapel or entrance porch for the Church of St. Andrew. +There was a door leading from the aisle of the Abbey Church into the +chancel of St. Andrew's; this door, walled up, may still be seen in the +fifth bay from the west end. In order to avoid the necessity of +returning again to the history of this church, it may here be stated +that it was rebuilt by John Wheathampstead after he had been re-elected +to the office of Abbot in 1451; and that it was destroyed after the +dissolution of the monastery, when there was no longer any need for it, +as the parishioners bought the Abbey Church for parochial use. The place +of the old arcading was then taken by a blank wall without any windows; +this was pulled down and the present wall built by Lord Grimthorpe. + +In the latter half of the thirteenth century the reconstruction of the +eastern end was begun by Abbot John of Hertford. Here, as in many other +churches, the Norman choir was too short for thirteenth-century +requirements. The walls of the presbytery were raised and its +high-pitched roof converted into a flat one. The church was gradually +extended eastward by Abbots Roger of Norton and John of Berkhampstead; +first the Saint's Chapel was built, then the retro-choir, and finally +the Lady Chapel, which was finished by Abbot Hugh of Eversden in 1326. + +Another change was necessitated by an event which took place on St. +Paulinus' Day, October 10th, of the year 1323. For on that day a +calamity such as had never before happened befell the church. The +celebration of Mass at an altar of the Blessed Virgin was just over, a +great multitude of people, men and women, still being in the church, +when two of the Norman piers of the main arcade on the south side fell +outwards one after the other with a great crash, and about the space of +an hour afterwards the wooden roof of the nave which had been supported +by these columns also fell; the piers themselves had crushed the south +wall of the aisle and the cloisters, so that a complete wreck was made +of the south-eastern part of the church westward of the tower. But this +disaster was accompanied by a great marvel, for though many persons were +standing close by, not one was injured; and a still more wonderful thing +is recorded: the monk whose duty it was to guard the shrine of St. +Amphibalus, which at that time stood in the nave, had been celebrating +at the altar--he had finished even to the washing of the sacred +vessels--when he saw the columns fall; he withdrew a little from the +altar and received no harm. Some of the wreckage fell on the shrine of +St. Amphibalus, and though the marble pillars supporting the canopy were +broken, yet the chest which contained his relics suffered no harm. This +wonderful preservation of life and limb and shrine was naturally +attributed to the intervention of the blessed martyr St. Amphibalus. + +Abbot Hugh of Eversden began to rebuild this ruined part of the church, +and this accounts for the five bays of the nave arcading westward of the +rood-screen being in fourteenth-century style. He did not live to finish +all this work, but it was carried on by his successor, Richard of +Wallingford (1326-1335), and finished by the next Abbot, Michael of +Mentmore, about 1345. The present rood-screen, which probably took the +place of a previously existing one of Norman date, was built in 1360 by +Thomas de la Mare. No further change of importance was made until the +time of John of Wheathampstead, who was Abbot from 1420 to 1440, and +again from 1451 to 1464. He left his marks in various parts of the +Abbey, and for the most part his work was bad: he did almost as much to +injure the Abbey as the nineteenth-century restorers who swept away much +of his work have done. He rebuilt all the upper part of the west front, +and inserted Perpendicular windows at each end of the transept; he +turned the high-pitched roofs of nave and transepts into flat ones, and +lowered the slope of the roofs of the aisles. His object in doing this +was to be able to use the old beams again whose ends were decayed, and +which were shortened by cutting off the unsound parts. The result of +this was that the Norman triforium arches on the north side were thrown +open to the sky; these he filled with Perpendicular tracery, converting +them into windows. The tracery still remains, although the new roof has +the same slope as the original one, and the triforium is now again +inclosed beneath it. He also pulled down the wooden octagon on the +central tower. His chantry on the south side of the high altar was +probably erected soon after his death. + +Abbot William of Wallingford (1476-1484) built the high altar screen, +carrying out a plan which John of Wheathampstead had not been able to +accomplish. The only addition made after this to the Abbey is the +chantry of Thomas Ramryge, who became Abbot in 1492. The exact date of +its construction is not known, all records of the Abbey during Ramryge's +rule having perished; but from its style it is generally supposed to +have been built about the year 1520. During the reign of Henry VIII. all +the monasteries were dissolved; first the smaller, then the more +important ones, among them that of St. Albans. The fortieth and last +Abbot of St. Albans, Richard Boreman of Stevenage, surrendered the Abbey +on December 5th, 1539, he and the monks receiving pensions as +compensation. + +[Illustration: EXTERIOR OF LADY CHAPEL WHEN USED AS THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL +BEFORE 1874. (From the Official Guide to the Great Northern Railway.)] + +In February of the following year the King granted to Sir Richard Lee +all the monastic buildings, but not the Abbey Church or the adjoining +Chapel of St. Andrew, with all the land lying round the Abbey Church. +Lee promptly proceeded to destroy all the domestic buildings. The church +remained in the possession of the Crown till 1553, when the town +obtained a charter from Edward VI. This, among other provisions, +empowered it to erect a grammar school within the church or in some +other convenient place. The town authorities thereupon converted the +Lady Chapel and the retro-choir into the grammar school. A passage was +cut through the retro-choir, bounded by brick walls on either side; this +was used as a public pathway until 1874, when it was closed, and again +became part of the church. The part to the east of the passage served as +the grammar school until 1870. The mayor and burgesses by the same +charter received the Abbey Church, in return for £400, to be used as +their parish church; and in May, 1553, the first rector, George +Wetherall, took charge of the building. + +[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE LADY CHAPEL BEFORE 1874. +(From the Official Guide to the Great Northern Railway.)] + +The parishioners thus found themselves in possession of an enormous +building which they had not sufficient money to keep in proper repair. +In 1612, and again in 1681, briefs or letters patent were issued by +royal authority, ordering collections to be made in all churches in +England for the repair of St. Albans Church. In 1689 a grant was made by +William and Mary. These sums were spent on various repairs, such as +altering the belfry windows, "filling up" with earth "the hollow in the +wing," that is, raising the level of the floor of the south arm of the +transept. In 1695 similar work was done in the north aisle; in 1704 a +new window, a wooden one, was inserted in the south end of the transept, +in place of Wheathampstead's, which had been blown in by a gale during +the previous year. There are records of £100 being spent in recasting +some of the bells between 1705 and 1707. + +Money was again collected in 1721 by letters patent, and this was spent +on repairing the ceilings. About the same time a legacy was spent in +repaving the nave, and the west ends of the aisles were blocked by brick +walls. Some slight repairs were done about 1764, when a fresh collection +was made. + +More extensive repairs were made in 1832: the roof was releaded, such of +the clerestory windows as had been closed were reglazed, and the south +window of the transept was rebuilt in stone. The choir, after the +repairs, was opened for service in 1833. The nave to the west of the +rood-screen was more or less in a dilapidated condition, protected by +the releaded roof, but not used. The presbytery had been fitted up in +Georgian style as a chancel, the organ stood in the north arm of the +transept, and high pews filled the choir westward as far as the +rood-screen. This was the condition of the part of the church which was +used up to 1870. + +In 1856 a scheme was started for getting the Abbey Church raised to +cathedral rank, and also for restoring the fabric. Mr. (afterwards Sir) +Gilbert Scott was appointed architect, and was empowered to do what he +thought most pressing as far as funds would allow; the flat roof of the +north aisle was renewed, drainage attended to, and foundations +strengthened; the floor at the south end of the transept was lowered--it +will be remembered that it had been raised in 1692--the vaults were +filled with concrete, and the floor repaved. The presbytery was repaved +with tiles copied from some old ones. The Georgian fittings were removed +to the nave; fragments of the tabernacles, which we now see over the +doors leading from the aisles into the presbytery, having been +discovered, the tabernacles were reconstructed of the old with some new +material. But more important work had to be undertaken in 1870. On +Sunday, July 31st, the sound of cracking was heard in the tower, and Mr. +J. Chapple, the clerk of the works, went up the next day to London to +see Scott and asked him to come down at once to examine the tower; +plaster was put over the crack to see if it was increasing or not. There +were soon signs that the mischief was getting worse, and Scott ordered +the tower to be shored up with timber, and temporary brick walls to be +built below it. It seemed that the rubble of the eastern piers had been +made of mortar which had turned into dust, and that a big hole had been +cut in the south-eastern pier. This, according to Lord Grimthorpe, had +apparently been done with the intention of demolishing the tower, +probably soon after the time of the dissolution of the monastery, for +the hole contained timber shores which were sufficient to support the +tower while the workmen were enlarging the hole, but which were probably +intended to be set on fire and burnt away, thus allowing the workmen to +escape before the tower fell. This wood was found partially decayed, and +probably to its state the settlement of the tower was partially due. The +hole was, by Scott's direction, filled with bricks laid in cement, and +cement was poured in to fill up all the interstices; some of the decayed +rubble was cut out of the piers and brickwork put in to take its place: +the walls were tied with Yorkshire flagstone and iron rods, and were +grouted with liquid cement wherever possible. It was an anxious time for +those in charge of the work; it was only after many days and nights of +incessant labour, that they felt sure that the sinking of the tower was +arrested and that the new work was holding up the weight. + +In 1875 it was discovered that the south-west clerestory was beginning +to crumble away. Lord Grimthorpe had this shored up at his own expense. +A new committee was soon after this appointed, and in March, 1877, a +faculty was granted to this committee "to repair the church and fit it +for cathedral and parochial services." The first Bishop, Dr. Claughton, +who up to this time had been Bishop of Rochester, choosing the northern +of the two parts into which his diocese was divided, was enthroned as +Bishop of St. Albans on June 12th, 1877, and on the following day the +restoration of the nave was begun. The church was in a very bad state: +the weight of the roof and injudicious repairs had thrust the clerestory +walls about forty inches out of the vertical plane. There was much +controversy at the time as to what should be done, and in the middle of +it Sir Gilbert Scott died, in March, 1878. In May, however, the roof +having been lifted, the leaning walls were forced up into a vertical +position by hydraulic pressure. Some of the restorers were in favour of +retaining a flat roof; others advocated putting on a high-pitched one +again, raising its ridge to the height of the original Norman roof, as +indicated by the weather marks on the tower. Fortunately the latter +course was adopted; fortunately because the church, seen from the +outside, lacks height in proportion to its length, and the ridge of the +roof now visible above the parapets has given it some of the extra +height it so much needed. The subsequent raising of the transept and +presbytery roofs on the other three sides of the tower was necessitated +by the raising of the roof of the nave. + +Lord Grimthorpe drew up a list of "symptoms of ruin," twenty-two in +number, which it would take too much space to reproduce here; but unless +his account is exaggerated, it would seem that scarcely any part of the +building save the tower could be looked on as secure. He applied for a +new faculty which would give him unlimited power to "restore, repair, +and refit the church." This faculty was granted, and he exercised his +powers to the full; and as a result, though the church has been made +sound and secure, probably for many centuries to come, yet many of its +most interesting features have been destroyed, the most terrible damage +having been done in the transept. + +The west front which he rebuilt, though not altogether satisfactory, yet +is greatly superior in design to his subsequent work at the south and +north ends of the transept. These originally had corner turrets, +octagonal in plan; these turrets were pulled down and square ones, +finished by pyramidal caps, put in their place. The entire south front +of the transept was pulled down and rebuilt, and a new window consisting +of five lancets occupying its whole width inserted. The central light +rises high into the gable and above the level of the inner ceiling. The +lancets on either side are intermediate in height between the central +and side ones when they are seen from without, but when seen from within +the tops of all are of the same height, as they could not be raised +above the level of the ceiling. The parts of the three middle lancets +seen from without above this level are backed up with black felt across +the ceiling, and their upper parts light the space between the ceiling +and the high roof. This window is a feeble imitation of the "Five +Sisters" of York, and is utterly out of place in the narrow transept at +St. Albans; but bad as this south window is, the one at the north end of +the transept is worse. Here Lord Grimthorpe inserted a circular window, +the design being such as a child might make who was given a sheet of +cardboard with a large circle drawn on it, which he was requested to +cover symmetrically with a number of half-crowns, shillings, and +sixpences. Another piece of unnecessary alteration was the destruction +of the slype at the south end and the re-erection of its disjointed +members as curiosities in the new work, its western doorway, with an +added order, having been let into the centre of the south wall of the +transept, and the arcading placed in two different positions. + +[Illustration: THE ARCADE IN THE SLYPE BEFORE ITS REMOVAL.] + +More satisfactory is the work in the Lady Chapel and the space sometimes +called the antechapel; here the old carving had been terribly mutilated +by many generations of schoolboys, and the new work which has been put +in is good of its kind, and distinctive in its treatment. Lord +Grimthorpe vaulted the Lady Chapel in stone. Much other work was done by +him in various parts of the building. He rebuilt the clerestory windows +of the presbytery and some of those in the nave; introduced windows into +the blank walls at the western part of the nave, both on the north and +south, for which he deserves commendation, as the original reason for no +windows having existed here was only that the monastic buildings, now +destroyed, abutted against the south aisle of the nave, and the Church +of St. Andrew stood on the north side; when this church was pulled down +a plain wall was built, and the thrust of the roof had forced this and +the original wall on the south side outwards, after the buildings which +had acted as buttresses had been removed. + +One piece of modern restoration was not done by Lord Grimthorpe, namely +that of the Wallingford screen behind the high altar. The statues on +this having been destroyed and the screen itself damaged, Mr. H.H. +Gibbs, now Lord Aldenham, offered to restore it, working under Lord +Grimthorpe's faculty. After a time a dispute arose between them, chiefly +over the introduction of a statue of Christ on the Cross in the centre +of the screen, and the erection of an altar with a stone top below it. +This led to a lawsuit, the final result of which was that Mr. Gibbs was +allowed to finish the screen in his own way, but not to do anything to +any other part of the church, a thing he wished to do. The altar is not +yet in position; when this is placed where it is intended to stand, the +work of restoration will be complete, and nave, choir and presbytery, +and Lady Chapel will then alike be capable of being used for service, +forming in reality three distinct and fully fitted churches under one +roof, the retro-choir being intended for use as a chapter-house whenever +a chapter shall be created. + +[Illustration: FLOOR TILE WITH ARMS OF BEAUCHAMP.] + +[Illustration: ANGLE BETWEEN NAVE AND TRANSEPT.] + +[Illustration: THE NEW WEST FRONT.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE EXTERIOR. + + +The visitor who wishes to obtain, at first sight, the most impressive +view of the Cathedral Church of St. Alban, should alight at the London +and North-Western Station, at which all the trains from Euston and many +of those from King's Cross arrive. This station is about half a mile +south of the city, and from it a road runs up Holywell Hill, which, +passing eastwards of the church, leads to the centre of the city. But a +road running off to the left before reaching the top of the hill leads +past the south side to the entrance at the west front of the Cathedral. +Seen from the south the church, though it does not actually stand quite +on the summit, seems to crown with its enormous length the ridge of hill +to the north. Most of those who visit St. Albans for the first time feel +a sense of disappointment. The church has no far-projecting buttresses +to give light and shade, no flying buttresses or pinnacles like those +that lend such a charm to most French and many English churches. All is +severely plain, partly on account of the very early time at which the +greater part of the existing church was built, partly on account of the +material used for its walls. Abbot Paul of Caen, who designed it, +trusted entirely to mass and proportion for the effect he wished to +produce. But we do not see it as he designed it, and possibly built it. +When we remember that he came from Caen, and seems to have used St. +Stephen's Church, at that time recently built by Duke William, as a +model, though he planned his own church on a grander scale, he must have +contemplated two western towers even if he did not erect them--though, +as previously stated, there is a division of opinion on the part of +authorities on this subject. These western towers, if they were built, +as well as the central one, would be crowned by pyramidal caps; and such +towers, finely proportioned, would give the church the height which it +so much needs, and the lack of which we feel so acutely to-day. The +raising of the roofs at the time of the restoration to their original +pitch was an undoubted gain, for without it the building looked lower +and longer even than it does now. The church as we see it has been sadly +injured by Lord Grimthorpe's work at both ends of the transepts, and +whatever may be said about the western front in itself, yet no one can +deny that, had the church been flanked by two towers standing, as at +Wells and Rouen, outside the line of the aisles, even though the front +itself were as plain as that of St. Stephen's at Caen, it would have +been far more impressive. + +There is another point in which the church as it exists differs from the +church as it might have been seen soon after Abbot Paul had built it. +Then its walls were covered without as well as within with plaster, +within richly decorated with colour, and without whitewashed. How +different it must have looked with its vast mass seen from a distance +rising above the wooded slopes, white as a solid block of Carara marble +gleaming in the sun, and the lead-covered roofs of nave, transept, +choir, and towers shining with a silvery lustre. Many modern restoring +architects strongly object to plaster, and many a rough wall both +external and internal, which the builder never intended to be seen, has +been scraped and pointed under the idea that plaster is a sham, which it +is not, unless indented lines are drawn on it to make it appear like +blocks of ashlar. The rich red of the Roman brick in St. Albans walls +and towers is so delightful, that perhaps we may think Scott did well in +abandoning his idea of replastering them; yet nothing could have so +entirely altered the general appearance of the building as this scraping +away of the plaster. Besides the general view from Holywell Hill, there +are two other distant points of view which should not be missed: one +from Verulam woods, to the south-west; and one from the fields in which +the ruins of Sopwell Nunnery stand. From this latter point it looks best +after sunset on a cloudless evening, when the tower stands up in +majestic grandeur against the saffron sky, and looking at it one can +well imagine how much grander it must have looked when the tower bore +some fitting termination, either the Norman pyramid or the later +octagon, or even possibly the wooden spire of the Hertfordshire spike +order which succeeded it. + +#The West Front.# We will begin our examination of the existing exterior +with the west front, and then proceed in order round the building along +the south side, east end and north side, although in reality iron +railings will prevent us from making a complete circuit, and necessitate +our retracing our steps and making a fresh start at the west of the +railings. Still there is no part of the exterior to which we cannot gain +easy access. + +Lord Grimthorpe's west front is built of stone; the illustration, p. 23, +will enable the reader to form a good idea of its appearance. It took +the place of one of patchwork character: the porches and lower parts +were of thirteenth-century date; the upper part above the central porch +contained Abbot John of Wheathampstead's large Perpendicular window, +repaired and patched at various times; and brick walls closed the west +end of the aisles. Lord Grimthorpe's idea was to design a front in the +style prevalent in the second half of the thirteenth century. The design +has been much criticized, but its general appearance will not be +distasteful to the ordinary visitor, and is as good as is most +nineteenth-century work. In certain respects it is more pleasing than +the rival design of Mr. John Scott, with its mixture of Perpendicular +features with those of earlier styles, its battlemented octagonal +turrets, two of which were to be surmounted by spikes. There are two +features of the existing front, one not shown, the other easily +overlooked in the photograph, which should be noted. First, the arched +cill of the central window, and second, the manner in which the back of +the gable over the central door has been chamfered off so that it should +not come up close to the glass and make a dark triangle against the +lower part of the window when seen from the inside. The doors are all +new; the side doors had vanished, and the central ones were too short +for the restored doorways. The western porches, which Sir Gilbert Scott +spoke of as some of the most exquisite thirteenth-century work in +existence, were almost entirely rebuilt by Lord Grimthorpe. Fortunately +some drawings were made for Sir Gilbert Scott, one of which, by the +courtesy of Mr. Murray, we have been able to reproduce, p. 11. + +#The South Side.# The south clerestory has no less than twenty-three +windows. The ten westernmost, partially restored by Scott, are connected +by an arcading; the next ten, as well as the wall that contains them, +are new--built by Lord Grimthorpe; the parapet, fortunately quite plain, +was rebuilt at the time when the roof was raised; the three easternmost +windows of the clerestory are formed of Roman brick in brick walls much +restored, and are separated by brick buttresses. + +The south aisle roof is partly lead (Scott) and partly, at the eastern +end, of red tiles (Lord Grimthorpe). Lord Grimthorpe cut four windows in +the western bays of the aisle, in which no windows had originally +existed, as domestic buildings abutted against the church here. The +three eastern windows of Abbot William of Trumpington's time were +rebuilt in the old style; the five bays to the west of these were +refaced with brick and flint, as the original clunch stone had perished, +owing to exposure to the weather. The arcading of the north walk of the +cloister may still be seen. It will be noticed that this arcading did +not follow the division into bays of the aisle walls above. The cloister +walk acted as a kind of continuous buttress to the south aisle wall, and +owing to its removal this part of the wall was gradually pushed outward. +To strengthen it Lord Grimthorpe built buttresses, naturally following +the division of the upper part of the walls, but thereby cutting across +the arcading of the cloister walk in a most ugly fashion. By building +flying buttresses instead, he might have preserved the whole of the +arcading of the cloister walk unbroken, but he considered that this plan +would have been ugly, and that the buttresses he did build were +constructively better; possibly they may be, but most of us will be of +the opinion that, as far as appearance goes, the plan adopted was the +less satisfactory. The porch over the Abbot's door in the corner is +entirely new. It probably is useful as a support for the wall, but that +is all that can be said in its favour. Lord Grimthorpe thought that this +would be used as an entrance to the church on this side, but it has not +been so used. It is worthy of notice that this church is destitute of +porches, either on the southern or northern side; probably because they +were not needed in a purely monastic church. + +[Illustration: THE SOUTH TRANSEPT AS REBUILT.] + +#The South Transept.# The south arm of the transept was most ruthlessly +dealt with by Lord Grimthorpe; no doubt it was in an unsafe condition, +but his alterations here have been criticized severely, though not more +severely than they deserve. The south front with the five enormous +lancet windows--the lower parts of them lighting the church, the upper +parts of the three central ones the space between the ceiling and the +outer roof--was entirely rebuilt, together with the corner turrets. The +slype or passage between the transept and the chapter-house, leading +from the cloister to the cemetery of the monks, has been practically +destroyed, some of the arcading having been removed and rebuilt into the +interior face of the new south wall, some rebuilt into the south wall of +the slype; the stones of the west doorway of the slype with modern +additions were used up in making a doorway in the centre of the south +transept wall into the slype, and a new doorway was built at the east +end of the slype, thus forming a way into the transept which seems now +chiefly used as a passage for carrying in coke for the stoves in the +transept. + +[Illustration: THE LADY CHAPEL, CHOIR AND TRANSEPT FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.] + +The architectural choir, containing the presbytery and the Saint's +Chapel, consists of five bays. The clerestory windows are Decorated ones +of three lights each, the tracery being different in the different +windows. They are set in a brick wall which, in the latter part of the +thirteenth century, had been raised so as to allow of higher windows +being set in it. The tracery is all new, Lord Grimthorpe keeping only +the old outlines and leading lines of the mullions. The ridge of the +roof of this part of the church was raised by Lord Grimthorpe to its +original height, the same as that of the other three roofs that abut +against the tower. As the side walls from which this roof springs are +higher than those of the nave and transept the pitch is lower, and the +window in the gable designed by Lord Grimthorpe is triangular; below +this, in the east wall, is a geometrical window with a small, one-light +window on either side of it; all of these are rebuilt. The south aisle +of the presbytery contains two small, round-headed windows, and further +to the east two three-light, and then one two-light window; beneath two +of these are doors. All this part of the church has been extensively +restored, as has also been the retro-choir or antechapel, as it is +sometimes called. Through this, after the dissolution, a public footway +was cut, which was closed in 1870, and a great deal of reconstruction +was needful. This part of the church has two bays, each bay with a +window on each side, and one facing east on each side of the Lady +Chapel. + +#The Lady Chapel# has three bays; the tracery seen on the outside is +new, though it is old inside, for Scott cut the mullions down the middle +so as to retain the statuettes that they bore on the inside. There is a +low vestry built against the south-eastern bay of the Lady Chapel; the +window above this is triangular; the windows of the vestry itself are +shown in the illustration, p. 28, as also is the five-light window in +the east wall of the Lady Chapel. The north side of the Lady Chapel +resembles the southern. + +#The North Transept.# The character of the north presbytery aisle and +the north arm of the transept may be seen by examination of the +illustration, p. 30. It will be observed that the north front of this +contains a large circular window measuring twenty-nine feet across the +glass, filled by a number of circular apertures. This is Lord +Grimthorpe's design, upon which much not undeserved ridicule has been +showered. He informs us that this arm of the transept was in a somewhat +better condition than the southern one, but that all the upper part and +the turrets needed rebuilding. In the rebuilt walls of the transept he +used the original material as far as it would go, supplementing it by +some modern bricks made in imitation of the Roman ones. + +[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE NORTH-EAST.] + +The illustration, p. 30, shows the iron railings which, unless a door in +them be unlocked, prevent further progress westward, and necessitate a +retracing of our steps right round the church till we again reach the +north arm of the transept. In the north front of this may be seen a +Norman door near the north-west corner, through which pilgrims passed +who wished to visit the shrine of the martyr; they entered the precincts +by the Waxhouse gate, buying their candles there, and went down the path +which is now called "the Cloisters," from which the photograph on p. 30 +was taken. In the west wall there is an upper row of three round-headed +brick windows once recessed, and a lower one of two twice recessed. + +#The North Side.# The north clerestory of the nave has eight +round-headed brick windows at the eastern part, followed by lancets +similar to those on the south side. Flat buttresses of brick are built +against the clerestory wall between the round-headed windows. The aisle +windows, most of them rebuilt, are in Decorated style. A length of +eighty feet of the wall towards the western end of the aisle, which had +been built about 1553, when the Chapel of St. Andrew had been destroyed, +was rebuilt and buttresses built against it to counteract the thrust of +the clerestory, which leans outward. In this wall, as on the opposite +side of the church, Lord Grimthorpe inserted windows; and placed a new +sloping roof over the north aisle, covering the triforium arches which +had been glazed as windows in the fifteenth century; this roof is +covered with dark-coloured tiles. We may notice in the north aisle wall +a brick door in the fourth bay from the east; this was cut by Lord +Grimthorpe and leads into the vestry; also a walled-up door in the sixth +bay, which led from the church into the graveyard, and another in the +sixth bay, which formerly led from the north aisle into the chancel of +St. Andrew's Church; this Lord Grimthorpe converted into a cupboard in +the thickness of the wall. The only other thing noteworthy at this part +of the exterior is a small piece of the north aisle wall of St. Andrew's +Church near the footpath. + +#The Tower.# There yet remains the magnificent tower. It is 144 feet +high and is not quite square in plan, measuring 47 feet from east to +west, and two feet less from north to south. The walls are about seven +feet thick; in the thickness, however, passages are cut. It has three +stages above the ridges of the roof. The lower stage has plain windows +in each face, lighting the church below; the next stage, or ringing +room, has two pairs of double windows; and the upper or belfry stage, +two double windows of large size, furnished with louvre boards. The +parapet is battlemented, and of course of later work than the tower +itself. The tower is flanked by pilaster buttresses, which merge into +cylindrical turrets in the upper story. For simple dignity the tower +stands unrivalled in this country. It must have been splendidly built to +have stood as it has done so many centuries without accident. Winchester +tower fell not long after its building, Peterborough tower has been +rebuilt in modern days; but Paul of Caen did not scamp his work as the +monks of Peterborough did, and no evil-living king was buried below the +tower, as was the case at Winchester, thus, according to the beliefs of +the time, leading to its downfall. Tewkesbury tower alone can vie with +that of St. Albans, and the seventeenth-century pinnacles on that tower +spoil the general effect, so that the foremost place among central +Norman towers as we see them to-day may safely be claimed for that at +St. Albans. Few more beautiful architectural objects can be seen than +this tower of Roman brick, especially when the warmth of its colour is +accentuated by the ruddy flush thrown over it by the rays of a setting +sun. + +The view from the tower when the air is clear is magnificent, but +unfortunately the privilege of ascending the tower once accorded to +visitors has, on account of unseemly behaviour, been necessarily +withdrawn, and only by a special relaxation of this rule, through the +kindness of the Dean, was the writer enabled to inspect the upper parts +of the church. + +[Illustration: THREE OLD PAVEMENT TILES.] + +[Illustration: THE NAVE FROM THE WEST END.] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE INTERIOR. + + +#The floor levels.#--The Church of St. Alban is built so that its axis +points considerably to the south of east, a thing that would hardly have +been expected, seeing that the sun rises as far to the north of east as +it ever does on St. Alban's Day, June 22nd. The orientation of the +church may have been due to the fact that no great attention was paid to +it by the builders, or it may have been due to the natural slope of the +ground, which would have made the building of the church difficult had +the east end been swung round further to the north where the ground is +higher, and the west end to the south-west where it is lower; even as +the church was built the slope of the ground has had its effect on the +floor levels. These have been modified from time to time; to describe +all the changes would take too much space, but it may be interesting to +state the differences of level that exist at the present day. + +On entering by the west door a peculiarity will at once be noticed. +About fifteen feet from the inner side of the west wall there is a rise +of five steps which stretch right across the church from north to south. +The floor to the east of these steps slopes imperceptibly upwards for +eight bays, when a rise of three more steps is met with. On this higher +level stands the altar, which is backed up by the rood screen. There is +another step to be ascended to the level of the choir, and another to +reach the space below the tower. Five steps lead from this into the +presbytery; there is another step at the high altar rails, and four more +lead up to the platform on which the high altar will stand. From the +space below the tower one step leads up into the north aisle and two +more into the north arm of the transept. From the level of the south +choir aisle and south transept two steps lead up into the south aisle of +the presbytery; from this aisle there is a rise of four steps into the +aisle south of the Saint's Chapel, and from this into the chapel itself +a rise of four more. So that the floor of this chapel is, with the +exception of the high altar platform, which is one step higher, the +highest in the whole church, or nineteen steps above the floor just +inside the west door. From the aisle of the Saint's Chapel one step +leads into the retro-choir, and two more into the Lady Chapel; hence the +floor of the Lady Chapel is one step lower than that of the Saint's +Chapel. If we take seven inches as the average height of a step, it +would appear that the floor of the Lady Chapel is about ten feet higher +than the floor at the west end of the nave. + +As we stand just inside the west door of the church we are struck by the +length of ritual nave, about 200 feet, the flatness of the roofs, and +the massiveness of the arcading dividing the nave from the aisles; for, +though the four western bays on the north side and five on the south are +Early English in date, there is none of that lightness and grace that we +are accustomed to associate with work of this period, no detached shafts +of Purbeck marble such as we see at Salisbury, no exquisitely carved +capitals such as we meet with at Wells. William of Trumpington seems to +have aimed at making his work harmonize with the Norman work that he +left untouched; and when the rest of the main arcade on the south side +was rebuilt in the next century, it was made to differ but little in +general appearance and dimensions from Abbot William's. + +The vertical proportions of the nave elevation are very fine. If the +whole be divided into nine equal parts, four of these are occupied by +the main arcade, two by the triforium, and three by the clerestory. The +view eastward is often closed by a dark red curtain that hangs behind +the organ, which stands in a gallery behind the rood screen. The screen +divides the congregational nave from the three eastern bays of the +architectural nave, which form the western part of the ritual choir. +When the curtain is drawn aside we get a view of the tower arches and +more of the length of the church is seen. It is to be hoped that no +attempt to move the organ will now be made, as some, no doubt, would +suggest, in order to get a more open vista; for the organ stands just +where it can be used equally well for a service either in the nave or +choir, and its sound can be heard with more effect than if it were +stowed away on either side of the church. The longest view of the church +which can be obtained is to be seen by standing at the extreme west end +of the south aisle, from which, when a draught-excluding curtain that +hangs across the aisle just to the east of the transept is drawn aside, +the view extends as far as the east window of the retro-choir, distant +about 440 feet from the western wall, that is, about one-twelfth of a +mile. A better idea of the enormous length of the whole building is +given by saying that it is about a tenth of a mile long, rather than by +giving its length in feet. + +[Illustration: BASE OF INCOMPLETE PIER.] + +At the extreme west of the nave, on the north side, will be seen the +base of what was intended for an Early English pillar, probably John de +Cella's work, for provision is made for the slender detached columns of +Purbeck marble, the intended use of which his successor abandoned. An +inscription beneath the west window records the fact that when +pestilence prevailed in London in the reign of Henry VIII., and again in +that of Elizabeth, the courts of justice were held in the nave. This +took place in the years 1543, 1589, and 1593. + +[Illustration: PLAN OF PIER.] + +On the second pier on the north side is an inscription to the memory of +Sir John Mandeville, who was born at St. Albans early in the fourteenth +century, and educated at the monastery school. He studied medicine and +set out in 1322 for his famous travels, professing, in the account which +he published in French in 1357 in Paris, to have visited not only every +part of the south of Europe, but many parts of Asia, even China. It is +not known where he was buried, whether in England or abroad, and the +statement of the Latin inscription on this pillar that he was buried in +this church cannot be regarded as more trustworthy than most of the +statements in the book of travels. + +[Illustration: ARCADE ON NORTH SIDE OF NAVE.] + +[Illustration: EASTERN PART OF NORTH SIDE OF NAVE.] + +The first four bays on this side are thirteenth-century work. The +junction of this with the earlier Norman work is of the most curious +character: the Norman pier was cut off level, a short distance below the +impost, and on the top of this three courses of the Early English pier +were laid. Why the Early English pier was not carried down to the +ground, in a way similar to that, in which the easternmost Early English +pier on the south side is carried, we cannot tell. It has been +conjectured that some special sanctity attached to the statue which +stood on the bracket, which may still be seen on the western face of +this pier. It will be noticed how plain is the plan of the Norman piers +(see illustration, p. 37). They have no capital, only a projecting +course of brickwork from which the arch springs. The two easternmost +piers, however, were altered at some time (see illustration, p. 39), and +a rough kind of capital formed by cutting away the pier below. The +Norman piers were first covered with plaster, and then painted both on +their western and southern faces, and when the white-wash with which +they had been covered in post-Reformation days was removed in 1862, the +frescoes were discovered in a more or less perfect condition. All those +on the western faces with one exception, represent the same subject, the +Crucifixion, with a second subject below. No doubt against these piers +altars used to stand, and these frescoes served, as we should say, as +painted reredoses or altarpieces. + +The subjects are as follows, beginning at the west of the Norman arcade: + + First pier, west face. Christ on the Cross, crowned; the Virgin on + the north side, St. John on the south, holding a book. Beneath, + Virgin (crowned and holding a sceptre) and Child; on each side an + angel censing. Late twelfth or early thirteenth century. + + South face. St. Christopher. Fourteenth century. + + Second pier, west face. Christ on the Cross; the Virgin with + clasped hands on south side, St. John on north. Beneath, Virgin + and Child under a canopy. Early thirteenth century. + + South face. Archbishop Becket. Fourteenth century. + + Third pier, west face. Christ on the Cross; the Virgin on the + south side, St. John on north, resting his head on his hand. + Beneath, under a pointed arch, the Annunciation. This is in + outline only. Fourteenth century. + + South face. A woman in a blue gown holding a rosary in her left + hand, possibly St. Citha (Osyth). Fourteenth century. + + Fourth pier, west face. Christ on the Cross. Beneath, the + Annunciation. A rude painting of the thirteenth or fourteenth + century. + + South face. A pilgrim and slight traces of another figure. The + subject is supposed to be either Edward the Confessor relieving + St. John disguised as a pilgrim, or St. John giving a ring to a + pilgrim. Fourteenth century. + + Fifth pier, west face. Christ on the Cross, much draped; the + Virgin and St. John with red background. Beneath, the Coronation + of the Virgin. Fourteenth century. + + South face. This was once painted, but not enough remains to allow + the subject to be made out. + + Sixth pier, west face. Christ in his Glory; very slight traces + only. + +[Illustration: NORTH NAVE ARCADE: WESTERN END.] + +Besides these figure subjects painted on the piers, the soffits of the +arches were decorated with colour, some of which still remains. + +Although in the four western bays of the main arcade the Early English +work is very plain, yet the triforium is ornate. The arcading consists +of two pointed arches in each bay, each comprising two sub-arches; the +supporting columns are slender and enriched with dog-tooth mouldings, +with which also the string-course below the triforium is decorated. The +shafts, which probably were intended to support a stone vault over the +nave, should be noticed. + +This illustration also shows the character of the clerestory. The +triforium over the Norman main arcade consists of large, wide-splayed, +round-headed openings, in which the tracery and glazing introduced in +the fifteenth century, when the aisle roof was lowered in pitch so as to +expose the north side of the triforium to the sky, still remains. One of +the triforium arches, namely, the third from the tower, was simply +walled up at this time, and so retains its original form. The clerestory +in this part of the church consists of plain, round-headed openings. +Between each bay the outer southern face of each Norman pier is +continued in the form of a flat pilaster buttress up to the roof. + +[Illustration: SOUTH NAVE ARCADE, SHOWING THE JUNCTION OF THIRTEENTH AND +FOURTEENTH-CENTURY WORK.] + +The rood screen behind the altar, which is sometimes erroneously called +St. Cuthbert's screen, is of fourteenth-century work, but much restored, +and is pierced by two[6] doorways, which were used when processions +passed from the nave into the choir. The doors themselves are +fourteenth-century work. Against this screen once stood three altars. +The northern one was dedicated to St. Thomas of Canterbury and St. +Oswyn, King of Northumbria; the central one to the Holy Apostles, the +confessors, and St. Benedict; and that on the south to St. Mary. These +once stood against the western faces of the Norman piers of the south +arcade of the nave, which fell in the fourteenth century. These piers +doubtless corresponded with those we still see on the north side, and +were probably similarly decorated with frescoes. The south arcade at its +eastern end differs entirely from that on the north. This part of the +church was rebuilt after the fall of part of the Norman arcade. The five +Early English bays to the west are divided from the Decorated ones to +the east by a massive pier, generally supposed to be Norman, but +probably rebuilt. The northern face of this runs up as a pilaster +buttress to the roof; the string round it in continuation of that below +the triforium is carved with tooth ornament. West of this we have tooth +ornament, to the east the characteristic ball flower. The junction of +the two styles is shown in the illustration below, from which it will be +noticed that, though there is a general resemblance in the bays on +either side of the dividing pilaster, yet the details are different. To +the east we see shields below the triforium string, and heads at the +termination of the hood moulding. The head shown in this photograph is +possibly that of Master Geoffrey, master mason to Abbot Hugh of +Eversden; the others passing on to the east are probably those of Edward +II., Queen Isabella, and Abbot Hugh. The shields, also counting from the +west, are those of England, France, Mercia, England, Edward the +Confessor, and England. The hood mouldings of the triforium and +clerestory also terminate in heads, some of them grotesque. The +Decorated piers were found by Lord Grimthorpe in a very unsound +condition, not on account of any defect in the foundation, but on +account of the bad mortar in which their rubble cores had been set. This +had become dust, and tended to burst out the ashlar casing: this shell +was indeed doing all the work of supporting the weight resting on the +piers. Lord Grimthorpe shored up the arches, and in large measure +rebuilt the piers of larger stones. He says: "It took no small trouble +and scolding to get these worked as roughly as the old ones, so as to +make the work homogeneous and bewilder antiquaries." This sentence shows +the false principles on which Lord Grimthorpe sometimes worked; +necessary repairs should never be executed with a view to make the work +appear as old as that the place of which it takes. + +[6] This was the original Benedictine arrangement, which is said to +remain in this church and Westminster Abbey only. + +The pulpit against the fourth pier on the north side, counting from the +rood screen, is new, decorated with pentagonal diaper work--pentagons +being apparently particularly attractive to Lord Grimthorpe. + +#The Organ.#--The present organ when first built in 1862 was placed in +the north arm of the transept, where the previously used organ had +stood; in 1877 it was moved to the north-east corner of the nave; and +was again moved in 1882, being then placed where it now is. In 1885 it +was enlarged by Lord Grimthorpe, and the key-board was placed at the +south end, so that the organist might command a view of the choristers, +whether they were singing in the nave or in the choir. It is considered +a fine and powerful instrument, and no better position in the church +could be found for it. + +[Illustration: SOUTH AISLE OF NAVE FROM EAST.] + +#The South Aisle.#--At the western end of the south wall of this aisle +may be seen the remains of an arch which was intended to lead into the +south-west tower. Above it, high up, is a single-light window. The next +three windows, of two lights each, with Decorated tracery, were inserted +by Lord Grimthorpe in the blank wall; the next window probably dates +from the seventeenth century. The windows in the next five bays come +down on the inside to a much lower level than those to the west (see +illustration, p. 43), but the bottom of the glass was kept high so as to +be above the roof of the north walk of the cloister, which rested +against the wall of these bays. Two of these windows contain modern +glass, one being inserted to the memory of the present Dean's father. +There was once a door in the second bay from the west, which probably +was used for processions, and in the seventh bay was a small door +opening into the cloister, from which a passage in the thickness of the +wall led up by a flight of steps into the Abbot's chapel. This opening +has been converted into a muniment room, and is closed by an iron door +leading from the aisle. The vaulting of the western part is of stone, +and was erected by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1878. The vaulting of the +eastern part is fourteenth-century work erected at the time of the +reconstruction of this part of the church in Decorated style, and is +only plaster. + +Against the south face of the large pier, at the junction of the Early +English and Decorated bays, once stood an altar dedicated to our Lady of +the Pillar, with a painting of the Adoration of the Magi above it. Iron +railings inclosing the space between this pier and the next to the west +formed a chapel set apart for the use of the Guild of St Alban. This +guild was founded in the reign of Edward III., but dissolved at the time +of Wat Tyler's rebellion. It was the duty of the brethren of this guild +to follow the shrine containing the relics of St. Alban whenever it was +carried outside the church. + +[Illustration: HOLY WATER STOUP.] + +#North Aisle.#--At the west end of this aisle the beautiful though much +restored holy water stoup should be noticed. A semicircular arch crosses +this aisle, springing from the pier where the Early English and Norman +work join (see illustration, p. 47). The roof is of timber with only a +slight slope, built in 1860. The first four windows from the west are +new, inserted by Lord Grimthorpe in the new wall which he built here. +The other windows have new tracery, but the internal parts remain as +William of Trumpington left them. Some old glass (fifteenth century) is +to be seen in the eighth, ninth, and tenth windows of the aisle. The +font, a modern one, stands at the east end of this aisle. It took the +place in 1853 of a marble one, now in the workhouse chapel. There was +once a brazen one brought as spoil from Dunkeld in Scotland, together +with the lectern now in St. Stephen's Church; but this font disappeared +during the civil wars. The continuation of the screen across the north +aisle is due to Lord Grimthorpe. His object was to form a vestry out of +that part of the north aisle that lies along the north side of the choir +as far as the transept. On the south side he merely erected a glazed +wooden screen with a door, through which visitors pass to enter the +eastern part of the church. + +[Illustration: NORTH AISLE OF NAVE.] + +It may be asked, of what use could the vast nave be to a monastery like +that at St. Albans, which does not seem to have contemplated the +admission of the laity to its services? The monks' services were +chaunted in the choir: the people had the parish church of St. Andrew +for their use, in which, however, the priests of the Abbey officiated. +But we must remember that in mediaeval times, on Sundays and on other +great festivals, grand processions formed part of the ritual. The monks, +leaving the choir, perambulated the church. The general order of the +procession was probably as follows: the north arm of the transept, the +north aisle of the presbytery into the Saint's Chapel, thence back into +the aisle round the ambulatory or retro-choir, through the south +presbytery aisle into the south arm of the transept, through the Abbot's +door into the cloister, along the east, south, and west alleys back into +the church by the blocked-up door in the south wall, up the nave, and +through the two doors of the rood screen into the choir. + +On special occasions it was customary for the shrines or feretories +containing the relics of the saints--in this Abbey those of St. Alban +and St. Amphibalus--to be removed from the pedestals on which they +stood, and carried in solemn procession round the church and sometimes +even outside it. For such ceremonials the naves were needed. It was also +to allow for these processions passing round the church that the +ambulatory was built leading round the back of the high altar. The idea +of holding _ordinary_ services for the laity in the nave is an entirely +new idea, and however desirable they may be, yet they have led in modern +days to the introduction into the building in some places of benches or +seats like those of parish churches, and in others to the introduction +of chairs, either of which additions considerably detracts from the +architectural effect of the building. But though in early times the +laity had not in all churches regular access to the building, yet it +appears that they were some times admitted even in those churches that +as a rule excluded them. For we find it recorded that a great number +both of men and women were in the nave of St. Albans for the purpose of +hearing Mass and praying at the time when the Norman piers on the south +side of the nave fell in 1323. + +#South Choir Aisle.#--Passing through the door mentioned above, we enter +the aisle which, since it runs alongside of the ritual choir west of the +crossing, is known as the south choir aisle. In this part of the church +the Norman work of Abbot Paul remains. The aisle, however, was vaulted +in stone by Lord Grimthorpe. In the south wall is a recessed tomb, where +two celebrated hermits, Roger and Sigar, were buried, and which was at +one time a popular place of pilgrimage. In the recess now stands a stone +coffin, but who originally occupied it there is nothing to show. Many of +these would be found if the monks' cemetery were excavated, as after the +twentieth Abbot, Warin (1183-1195), had issued his new orders regulating +burial, all the monks were buried in coffins of stone. Roger the Hermit +was a monk of St. Albans, a deacon; but though as monk he rendered +obedience to the Abbot, he did not live within the precincts, for on one +occasion as he was returning from Jerusalem three holy angels met him, +and led him to a spot between St. Albans and Dunstable, called Markyate, +when it was intimated to him that he should live the life of a hermit. +Many were the trials and temptations he endured, many the combats he +fought with the arch enemy of mankind. Once the prince of darkness even +set the hermit's hood on fire, but the holy man was not disturbed, nor +did he cease his prayers. In course of time a holy virgin of Huntingdon, +Christina, came and occupied a cell in the immediate neighbourhood, and +received religious instruction from Roger; here she endured many +privations and mortified her body, bearing patiently the diseases +brought on by her austerities. In time Roger, at the summons of God, +quitted the world and went the way of all flesh, and his body was buried +in the arched recess made for its reception. Christina still lived on. +One day the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to her in the form of an infant, +and abode with her for the space of a whole day; from that time forward +no more temptations assailed her, and she was filled with the spirit of +prophecy and wrought many notable miracles. She took the Abbot Geoffrey +under her special care, advising him in matters of difficulty and +reproving him when he did amiss. She was the first Prioress of the +Benedictine Cell of Markyate, 1145. + +Sigar lived about the same time in the wood of Northaw, south of +Hatfield. He also was famous for mortifying his flesh and for his +victories over evil spirits. It was his habit at times to come to matins +at St. Albans, and then to return to his hermit's cell and pass the time +in prayer and self-scourgings. Strange to say, though the devils could +not disturb the holy man at his prayers, the nightingales of Northaw +woods did distract him, and he therefore prayed that God would keep +these little birds away, lest he should take too much delight in their +sweet songs; whereupon no more nightingales sang in those woods, and it +is recorded that long after his time no nightingale dared venture within +a mile of the spot where the hermit had dwelt. All which things are +written in the chronicles of the Abbey, of which the reader may believe +as little or as much as he will. Sigar was buried by the side of Roger. +The arch above their grave may be seen in the illustration (p. 80), +which also shows the Abbot's door which led into the cloister. It was +built by Abbot de la Mare in the latter half of the fourteenth century. + +[Illustration: SAXON BALUSTER SHAFTS IN SOUTH TRANSEPT.] + +#The Transept.#--From this aisle we pass into the transept. Its southern +arm, notwithstanding the havoc wrought by Lord Grimthorpe, still retains +many points of interest. On its eastern side the triforium, consisting +of three bays, contains some baluster shafts of Saxon date; it is +supposed that they were taken from the church which Abbot Paul +demolished. It will be seen from the illustration that they are marked +with rings, and close examination has shown that they were turned in a +lathe, but not being quite long enough for their new position, extra +bases and capitals were added; these were cut with an axe, as were also +the cylindrical shafts of Norman date, which are set alternately with +the older ones. From the excellent state of preservation of the Saxon +balusters, it is evident that they did not come from the exterior of the +early church. Similar shafts may be noticed in the east wall of the +northern arm of the transept There are two arches in the eastern wall +which once led into chapels, the southern dedicated to St. Stephen, the +northern first to our Lady, afterwards to St. John; they were pulled +down in the fourteenth century to make room for a treasury. One of the +arches is now used as a cupboard, the other as a kind of museum of +fragments of carved stonework. The south wall is entirely new. Lord +Grimthorpe pulled down the front containing a Perpendicular window, +originally fifteenth-century work, but rebuilt in 1832. Thus inserted +his five tall lancets, beneath which built into the wall are ten of the +arches with restored shafts of the arcade taken from the slype at the +time of its destruction; the other six are to be seen in the south wall +of the rebuilt slype, if slype it can now be called. Under this arcading +in the transept is a doorway, built by Lord Grimthorpe, partly from +fragments of the west doorway of the old slype, and partly from his own +design. The rebuilt slype is no longer a passage as it formerly was, +leading between the south end of the transept and the north wall of the +rectangular chapter-house, but is closed at the west end by a wall with +a window in it, and at the east end has a door. Fortunately, a +photograph taken before the destruction was available for reproduction, +so that the reader may see the original condition of the south wall of +the slype (see p. 20). The west wall of the transept has entirely +different shafts in its triforium from those on the opposite side. A +little double-light window or grating may be seen in the west wall near +the aisle; it once opened into a small watching chamber, which was +walled up at the time of the restoration for the sake of giving +additional strength to the walls at the angle. It will be noticed that +the pilasters projecting from the west wall do not come down to the +ground. Lord Grimthorpe considers that these were not cut away, as might +be imagined but were originally built as we see them to give strength to +the walls where they were thinner on account of the passages in their +thickness. There is a recess in this wall which was once a doorway into +the cloister; it now contains some old oak chests, in which are placed +every week the loaves provided for the poor by Robert Skelton's charity, +1628. The wooden ceiling is due to Lord Grimthorpe. + +[Illustration: DOORWAY IN SOUTH TRANSEPT.] + +#The North Arm of the Transept.#--The upper part of the north wall, with +its high circular window, was rebuilt by Lord Grimthorpe. Above the +triforium on the east and west walls are three Norman windows and below +these on the west side again two other Norman ones. The Norman doorway +by which pilgrims to St. Albans shrine entered the church, and two +Norman windows, with glass representing the four Latin doctors, inserted +to the memory of Archdeacon Grant, who died 1883, may be seen below the +wheel window; in the east wall are two pairs of lancets due to Lord +Grimthorpe. Here, as in the corresponding wall on the south side, there +are two arches which once led into two chapels. After their destruction, +altars dedicated to the Holy Trinity (north) and to St. Osyth (south) +were placed in the recesses. Here may be seen two modern monuments: one +the cenotaph of Dr. Claughton, first Bishop of St. Albans, 1877-1892;[7] +this stands at equal distances from the east and west walls: the other, +an altar tomb, was erected in memory of Alfred Blomfield, Suffragan +Bishop of Colchester, who died 1884. The ceiling is by Lord Grimthorpe. +A panel from the old ceiling, representing the death of St. Alban, may +be seen in the south aisle of the presbytery. + + [7] Designed by Mr. J.O. Scott; carved by Mr. Forsyth, of Hampstead. + +If we stand under the central tower we get, looking westward, a view +into the choir with its modern fittings, the stalls given by various +donors, and the Bishop's throne which was brought hither from Rochester. +From the way in which the piers are cut away on their faces looking into +the choir, it is concluded that the backs of the original stalls reached +to a considerable height. The piers, like those in the nave, were at one +time painted, and on the west face of the second pier from the east of +the north arcade are remains of a painting of the Holy Trinity. In 1875 +Mr. Chappie discovered wall-paintings between the clerestory windows, +three on the north and one on the south; the soffits of the arches are +also coloured. + +The painted ceiling of the choir was accidentally discovered during the +restoration. A workman was cleaning one of the panels, which was +coarsely painted, and happened to rub off the surface paint, disclosing +other work below. The upper paint was then cleared away from all the +other panels. Two, in the centre, bore a Scripture subject. The others +bore, alternately, coats of arms and the monogram IHS, with wreaths of +vine-leaves. The arms belong almost entirely to those who were by blood +or marriage connected with Edward III. + +The ceiling of the lantern, 102 feet from the pavement, is painted with +the red and white roses of the houses of Lancaster and York, together +with various coats of arms. The lofty arches beneath the tower (55 feet +high) are of great grandeur, as will be seen from the illustration. The +four inside faces of the lantern are alike, each containing windows +above the three arches of the arcade, each of which comprises two +subarches springing from a quadrilateral shaft. + +[Illustration: THE CROSSING, LOOKING WESTWARD.] + +[Illustration: THE CHOIR.] + +To the east is the #presbytery#, closed by the Wallingford or high altar +#screen.# This screen was sorely dilapidated, and all its niches were +stripped of their statues, no record remaining of whose statues +originally filled them. Mr. H. Hucks Gibbs (now Lord Aldenham) undertook +to restore this screen, making good the canopies and filling them again +with statues. The screen is of clunch, a hard stone from the lower chalk +formation quarried at Tottenhoe near Dunstable, a stone much used for +interior work in the church, though it will not stand exposure to +weather in exterior walls. The new statues are by Mr. Harry Hems of +Exeter; the larger ones of magnesian limestone from Mansfield Woodhouse, +Nottinghamshire, and the smaller of alabaster. They are excellent +examples of modern carved work. The general idea was to represent "the +Passion of our Lord and of the testimony of the faith in that Passion +given in the lives and deeds of men"[8] of English race. A careful +comparison of the screen (see illustration, p. 58), with the key given +(p. 59) will enable the reader to identify the persons represented. + + [8] Lord Aldenham's words in describing his scheme. + +The coloured altarpiece in high relief is by Mr. Alfred Gilbert, R.A., +and is a work quite unique in character. It represents the resurrection. +In the centre is the upper half of our Lord's figure; on one side is an +angel holding a cross, emblem of faith; on the other, one holding a +crystal globe, emblem of dominion; the wings of these angels are formed +of mother-of-pearl, and before them are grills of brass scrollwork, +intended to give an air of mystery to their appearance. The work does +not appear to be fully finished, the grills being only roughly attached +to the wall. The space before the altar is paved with slabs of marble. + +[Illustration: THE WALLINGFORD SCREEN.] + +[Illustration: KEY TO THE SCULPTURE ON THE WALLINGFORD SCREEN] + +In an arch south of the altar is Abbot John of Wheathampstead's chantry, +containing a splendid brass of Flemish workmanship, which once covered +the grave before the high altar in which Abbot Thomas de la Mare was +buried. He is represented in full vestments carrying a pastoral staff +and wearing a mitre, according to the Pope's grant, although he was not +a bishop but only a mitred abbot, and therefore could not perform the +rite of ordination, which could be administered only by the Bishop of +Lincoln; the Abbey Church, though independent of him in all other +matters, was for this purpose in his diocese. The rebus of Abbot John +was three ears of wheat, and his motto "Valles habundabunt," an allusion +to the fertile lowland of Wheathampstead, whence he came. This rebus may +be found in various places where the work was due to him. Opposite to +this chantry is the far more magnificent one of Abbot Thomas Ramryge. +His rebus is a ram wearing a collar with the letters R.Y.G.E. inscribed +on it. This chantry was at one time, after the dissolution, appropriated +as a burial-place for the Ffaringdons, a Lancashire family, but the +original slab with Abbot Thomas's figure and inscription has been +restored to its place. Within the altar rails are four memorial stone +tablets covering the graves of four fourteenth-century Abbots--Thomas de +la Mare, Hugh of Eversden, Richard of Wallingford, and Michael of +Mentmore. Four other Abbots are known to have been buried beneath the +presbytery floor outside the altar rails--John de Marinis, John of +Berkhampstead, Roger of Norton, and John Stokes--as well as other monks +and laymen. It will be noticed that the presbytery is divided from the +aisles by solid walls, pierced only for the two chantries above +described, and for two doorways, one on each side, further west. Over +each of these doorways is a tabernacle; that on the south was put +together of fragments by Sir Gilbert Scott, and that on the north made +to match it. The clerestory windows are Lord Grimthorpe's; the painted +wooden vaulting which extends beyond the screen and over the Saints' +Chapel is John of Wheathampstead's. It will be noticed that this springs +from vaulting shafts, and it is by some considered that a stone roof was +contemplated. The triforium here is an arcade without any passage. The +pulpit, which stands close by the north pier of the eastern tower arch, +was designed by Mr. J.O. Scott and given by the Freemasons of England, +who regard St. Alban as their patron saint. + +[Illustration: RAMRYGE CHANTRY.] + +We will now turn to the south and pass eastward under the curtain which +hangs beneath the western arch of the south aisle of the presbytery. On +the south side we see, as we enter, a fourteenth-century holy water +stoup, and further on, under a window, a wide round-headed archway which +formerly led into a chapel now demolished, which once was dedicated to +our Lady, before the larger chapel at the east end was built. In the +next bay is a blocked Norman window from which the plaster has been +scraped to show the character of the wall, built of Roman tiles; the +quadripartite vaulting is of plaster with lines painted red to make it +appear like stone. Opposite is a large oak money-chest, and above it on +the wall is the figure of a mendicant (see p. 63), carved in wood by a +verger in the eighteenth century, hat in hand, as if asking the +passer-by to put a coin in the poor-box below. In the south wall is a +doorway which led into the treasury. The next bay is largely rebuilt; on +the south side is a door and opposite is the back of John of +Wheathampstead's chantry. From this we pass into the south aisle of the +Saint's Chapel. + +[Illustration: SOUTH AISLE OF PRESBYTERY.] + +First we see the doorway on the north side, under which are steps +leading up into the chapel, and further on we come to a trellis-work of +iron through which we can look across the space once occupied by the +monument of "Good" Duke Humphrey of Gloucester into the Saint's Chapel. +This grill is older (about 1275) than the rich canopy over the duke's +grave, and was doubtless erected to allow of a view being obtained from +this aisle of the martyr's shrine. There are a number of figures of +kings in the canopied niches over the grave, but it is not possible to +identify them. Opposite are some remains of a stone screen of the +Perpendicular period; it probably divided the aisle from some external +chapel. After the chapel perished the wall was built up; but during the +restoration this arcading was discovered. Through an oak screen, Lord +Grimthorpe's work, we pass into the #retro-choir.# This, as we have +before seen, was sadly mutilated after the Reformation, when the public +path was made through this part of the building and the Lady Chapel +turned into a grammar school; hence we shall find more modern work here +than in any other equal area of the church. The part east of the passage +was for long used as a covered playground for the boys and suffered much +in consequence. It was originally built at the end of the thirteenth +century. The arcading round these walls is new, much of it carved under +the direction of Lord Grimthorpe by Mr. John Baker. The carving is of a +naturalistic character, the vegetable forms being copied direct from the +plants and trees of the neighbourhood. The oak ceiling of the south side +and the flat ceiling of the centre are by Lord Grimthorpe; that on the +north side by Sir Gilbert Scott. The shrine of St. Amphibalus once stood +in the centre, but the reconstructed shrine, or rather pedestal of the +shrine, was removed to the north aisle of the Saint's Chapel by Lord +Grimthorpe, so as to be out of the way; for his idea was to fit this +part of the church for use as a chapter-house, should a chapter ever be +created, and as a consistory court. He built the low wall between it and +the Saint's Chapel with seats under the arcading to be occupied by +members of the chapter, and paved the floor with polished marble (see +illustration, p. 64). + +[Illustration: WOODEN FIGURE OF A MENDICANT.] + +[Illustration: RETRO-CHOIR] + +There were once several altars in this retro-choir; under the east +window on the south side one to our Lady of the Four Tapers, with an +aumbry and triple-arched piscina in the south wall. This has been +restored; the upper part is entirely new. On the north side in a +corresponding position was an altar dedicated to St. Michael; while +altars dedicated to St. Edmund, King and Martyr, and to St. Peter stood +to the west of the two pillars, respectively on the north and south +sides; and another altar to St. Amphibalus stood to the west of his +shrine in the centre. It may here be noted that the east wall of the +original Norman apse extended as far as the centre of the retro-choir. + +[Illustration: BASE OF THE SHRINE OF ST. AMPHIBALUS.] + +[Illustration: BACK OF THE WATCHING LOFT.] + +[Illustration: RAMRYGE'S CHANTRY FROM THE AISLE.] + +The north aisle of the Saint's Chapel is divided from the retro-choir by +a glazed oak screen with a door in it, frequently kept locked. Just to +the west of this is the pedestal of the shrine of St. Amphibalus. This, +like that of St. Alban's shrine, was broken up into many fragments after +the dissolution of the monastery. The fragments were built into sundry +walls, but many of them were discovered when the walls blocking up the +arches at the east end of the Saint's Chapel were removed; they were put +together as far as possible, but as the east and north sides are +missing, the position the pedestal now occupies is not an unfitting one, +as these sides are hidden (see illustration, p. 65). The letters R.W. +may be seen on it. These are the initials of Ralph Whitechurch, sacrist, +at whose cost the pedestal was built in the second half of the +fourteenth century. Opposite this we see the back of the watching loft +(see illustration, p. 66) erected for the monk who kept watch and ward +over the martyr's shrine; further to the west is a doorway into the +Saint's Chapel, and still further west the back of Ramryge's chantry. +Beyond this is the north entrance into the presbytery, over which is a +painting of the Lord's Supper, generally attributed to Sir James +Thornhill and given to the church about two centuries ago; at one time +it hung over the high altar. There is also a painting of Offa, probably +fifteenth-century work, to be seen in this aisle. The two doors removed +by Lord Grimthorpe from the central doorway of the west front have been +set up against the west end of the walls of this aisle (see +illustration). + +[Illustration: ONE OF THE OLD WESTERN DOORS.] + +#The Lady Chapel.#--This chapel in its original condition must have been +exceedingly beautiful; and although we have had occasion to find much +fault with the work of restoration or rather destruction and needless +alteration, in other parts of the church, yet here little but praise can +be bestowed. Some may regret that the old wooden vaulting was not +retained and repaired, but the new stone vaulting is beautiful in itself +and more durable. A better material than cast iron might, however, have +been found for the altar rails. The new carving is excellent in quality +and right in principle. It has been done, not as most modern work is, by +imitating the carved work of some particular period of architecture as +set out for the carver in the architect's drawings, but by returning to +the old system of going to nature and carving from life models, so to +say. It has been done in the same spirit as actuated the early work of +the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. It is said that the carvers had sprays +of leaves and clusters of fruit and flowers before them as they carved, +and imitated them as closely as the material on which they worked +allowed them to do. Work done in this manner, provided the carver has +skill and taste, is sure to show character and life, and to differ +entirely from the mechanical conventionalisms we generally see in modern +stone-carving. + +[Illustration: LADY CHAPEL.] + +The chapel dates from the latter part of the thirteenth and early part +of the fourteenth centuries. The work was probably begun in the time of +Abbot Roger Norton, whose body was buried before the high altar in the +presbytery, but whose heart was laid in a small box, which was +discovered during the restoration, before the altar of St. Mary of the +Four Tapers. Possibly his successor, John of Berkhampstead, carried on +the work; but at Abbot Hugh's accession in 1308 the walls of the Lady +Chapel had only been carried up as high as the string-course below the +windows. The work of building was not continuous, as change in style +shows; moreover we read in the Chronicles that Abbot Hugh of Eversden +"brought to a praiseworthy completion the Chapel of the Virgin in the +eastern part of the church which had been begun many-years before." He +is also recorded to have roofed the space to the west, that is, the +retro-choir. It seems, then, that at the time when the alterations in +the eastern part of the Norman church were begun, not only was the +presbytery with its aisles laid out, but also the retro-choir as a group +of chapels, and possibly the Lady Chapel as well; and that when Hugh was +chosen Abbot he found the presbytery and Saint's Chapel finished, the +walls of the retro-choir raised to their full height, and those of the +Lady Chapel partly built. These he proceeded to finish. The side windows +of the Lady Chapel are beautiful examples of the fully developed +Decorated style; the jambs and mullions are ornamented with statuettes +which, strange to say, escaped destruction. "The eastern window of five +lights is a singular combination of tracery with tabernacle work, while +the easternmost bay on the south side, which is partly obscured by the +vestry, has an exquisite window above, consisting of a richly traceried +arch placed within a curvilinear triangle, beneath which is a splendid +range of niches, and, beneath them again, a gorgeous range of sedilia +and piscinae."[9] The original wall arcading had cinque-foiled heads on +the south side, and trefoiled heads on the north; but all these had been +cut away before the restoration began, probably at the time when the +walls were covered with panels to make the chapel more suitable for a +schoolroom. + + [9] Sir Gilbert Scott's Report on the Lady Chapel, 1875. + +In this chapel, after its dedication, mass was sung daily, and an organ +was provided to accompany the musical part of the service. The western +end of the Lady Chapel was separated from the retro-choir by a screen, +which of course perished after the dissolution. No modern screen has +been put in its place, though one would be a great improvement. +Projecting from the easternmost bay of the south side stands the Chapel +of the Transfiguration, which was dedicated in 1430. This, rebuilt, is +now used as a vestry. Beneath the floor of the Lady Chapel was buried +the hated Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, grand-son of John of Gaunt; +Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, son of the famous Hotspur; and +Thomas, Lord Clifford: whose bodies were found lying dead in the streets +of St. Albans, after the first battle in 1455, in which they fell +fighting for the Red Rose party. They were buried by Abbot John of +Wheathampstead, who at this time was an adherent of that party, though +he became a Yorkist after Queen Margaret had allowed her troops to +plunder the Abbey when, in the second battle of St. Albans, she was +victorious over the Earl of Warwick. + +A considerable amount of work was necessary to refit this chapel for +use. The restoration was begun by Scott and finished by Lord Grimthorpe. + +Scott cut the mullions of the windows down the middle, retaining all the +part inside the glass so as to preserve the statues, but renewing the +part outside for the sake of strength. All the painted glass is modern, +the gift of various donors. Lord Grimthorpe, in place of the wooden +vaulting which was, he says, in a very unsound state, threw a stone +vault over the chapel, raising its ridge three feet higher than that of +the previous roof. All the arches of the arcade had been cut away, with +the exception of two at the east end, one on each side of the altar, +differing from each other as already mentioned. Lord Grimthorpe took as +a model the one with the cinque-foiled head, considering that the better +of the two, and constructed the existing arcading all round the chapel. +He rebuilt the Chapel of the Transfiguration, making its walls lower +than before, so as not to obstruct the view of the window over it. The +carving, chiefly the work of Mr. Baker, as already mentioned, represents +various vegetable forms in a naturalistic manner, the plants chosen +being for the most part such as grow in the neighbourhood--convolvulus, +primrose, buttercup, poppy, gooseberry, blackberry, rose, maple, ivy, +sycamore, pansy, polypody, and others. + +Lord Grimthorpe also repaved the floor with marble slabs of three +colours--black, red, and white. During the time the chapel was used for +a schoolroom the floor had been a common wooden one. Practically, then, +it will be seen that this Lady Chapel, with the exception of its walls +and the windows with the statuettes on them, is a modern church, +surpassing, indeed, most nineteenth-century work in beauty, and much the +same may be said of the retro-choir or chapter-house. + +#The Saint's Chapel.#--We must now return westward, through the south +aisle of the ambulatory, past the back of Duke Humphrey's grave, and +enter the Chapel of the Martyr by the door which opens into it from the +aisle. The centre of the chapel is occupied by the reconstructed +pedestal of the martyr's shrine. The ugly wooden railing that surrounds +it is a great blot on the appearance of the chapel; no doubt it is +necessary that the pedestal should be protected by some kind of barrier, +but a light and elegant railing of brass would answer every purpose +without marring the general effect, as the present cumbersome erection +shown in all the accompanying illustrations of objects in this chapel +does. It is to be hoped that either out of the general fabric fund, or +by the generosity of some individual donor, this one blot on this fine +chapel may be removed. + +[Illustration: PEDESTAL OF ST. ALBAN'S SHRINE.] + +The bones of St. Alban were of course counted as the chief treasure of +the Abbey, in some respects the most valuable relics in the kingdom, +since they were the bones of the first Christian martyr in the island. +It was meet and fitting, then, that the most splendid resting-place +should be chosen for them. The bones themselves were inclosed in an +outer and an inner case; the inner was the work of the sixteenth Abbot, +Geoffrey of Gorham (1119-1149), and the outer of the nineteenth Abbot, +Symeon (1167-1183). These coffers were of special metal encrusted with +rich gems. It is recorded that the reliquary was so heavy that it +required four men to carry it, which they probably did by two poles, +each passing through two rings on either side of the coffer. It is said +to have been placed in a lofty position by Abbot Symeon; but the +pedestal of which we see the reconstruction to-day was erected during +the early part of the fourteenth century, in the time of the +twenty-sixth Abbot, John de Marinis (1302-1308). This was built of +Purbeck marble and consists of a basement 2 ft. 6 in. high, 8 ft. 6 in. +long, and 3 ft. 2 in. wide, above which were four canopied niches at +each side and one at each end; these were richly painted and probably +contained other relics; in the spandrels were carved figures, at the +corners angels censing. At the west end was a representation of St. +Alban's martyrdom; on the south side in the centre was, and still is, a +figure of King Offa holding the model of a church; in the next spandrel +to the east the figure of another king; on the east side a +representation of the scourging of St. Alban, and on the north other +figures, of which the only one remaining is that of a bishop or mitred +abbot. In the pediments or gables were carvings of foliage, and round +the top of the pedestal ran a richly carved cornice; round the base +stood fourteen detached shafts, on which perhaps the movable canopy +rested, and outside three other shafts of twisted pattern on each side, +which carried six huge candles, probably kept burning day and night, +certainly during the night, to light the chamber holding the shrine. On +this lofty pedestal, 8 ft. 3 in. high, the glorious shrine rested. It +was rendered still more ornate than it was in Abbot Symeon's time by the +addition of a silver-gilt turret, on the lower part of which was a +representation of the Resurrection with two angels and four knights +(suggested by the guard of Roman soldiers) keeping the tomb. A +silver-gilt eagle of cunning craftsmanship stood on the shrine. All +these additions were given by Abbot Thomas de la Mare (1349-1396). A +certain monk also gave two representations of the sun in solid gold, +surrounded by rays of silver tipped with precious stones. Over all was a +canopy which, like many modern font-covers, was probably suspended by a +rope running over a pulley in the roof, by which it might be raised. +There is a mark in the roof remaining, possibly caused by the fastening +of the pulley. An altar, dedicated to St. Alban, stood at the west end +of the pedestal. + +There are two quarry-shaped openings to be noticed on the north side of +the pedestal near the floor level, one of which extends right through to +the south side. Into these diseased arms or legs might be thrust for +cure by virtue of the saint. At the time of the dissolution the shrine +disappeared, and the marble pedestal was broken up into small fragments. +In 1847 the rector, Dr. Nicholson, found a few of these, when opening +the two northern of the blocked-up arches to the east of the chapel; and +in 1872, when the wall that closed the end of the south aisle was +removed and excavations were made to find the level of the aisle floor, +many more fragments, numbering in all about two thousand, were found. +These were carefully put together by Mr. Chapple, clerk of the works, +some plain stone being used to take the part of missing portions, with +the result that we see to-day, from which we can form some idea of the +appearance of the shrine in the days of its glory, even to the colour +decoration, for some of the fragments bear the original paint and gold. + +[Illustration: WATCHING LOFT.] + +Such a precious thing as this jewelled shrine and the still more +precious bones within it could not be left for a moment unguarded and +unwatched, for stealing relics, when a favourable opportunity arose, was +a temptation too great to be resisted by any monks, however holy. So on +the south side of the shrine was erected a watching loft; the one that +remains was constructed probably during the reign of Richard II., as his +badge appears on it, but, no doubt, from the first there was some such +place provided for the purpose of keeping guard. A similar loft may be +seen in the cathedral church of St. Frideswide at Oxford, and a watching +loft of a different construction in the south triforium at Malmesbury. +The chamber had two stories; the lower contained cupboards, in which +vestments and relics were kept, these are now filled with various +antiquarian curiosities, Roman pottery from Verulamium, architectural +fragments, etc. An oaken staircase leads up into the chamber where the +"custos feretri" sat watching the shrine day and night, guard of course +being changed at intervals. It must have been trying work watching there +during the night-time in frosty weather, but monks were accustomed to +bear cold. The watching chamber (see illustrations, pp. 66, 72) was +built of oak and was richly carved. On the south side of the cornice are +angels, the hart--badge of Richard II., the martyrdom of St. Alban, Time +the reaper, and the seasons; on the north the months of the year are +represented. + +The west side of this chapel is closed by the back of Wallingford's +screen, on which may be seen five statues representing St. Peter, St. +John, St. Mary, St. Stephen, and St. Michael. The eastern side is closed +by a low wall, erected by Lord Grimthorpe in place of the wall by which +these arches were completely blocked up after the dissolution. It was +here that some of the fragments of the pedestal were found. Into his new +wall Lord Grimthorpe has built some old fragments of carved work found +in different places of the church. + +The south side of this chapel is formed of the monument over the grave +of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, surnamed "good" by an admiring people, +though some modern historians hold that he had little real claim to this +title. He was the son of Henry IV., and therefore brother of Henry V., +and was uncle of Henry VI. and guardian to the young King in the early +part of his reign. He who likes may read in any history of the part he +played in the affairs of the country: how he incurred the hatred of the +unscrupulous and vindictive Queen of Henry VI., Margaret of Anjou, +"she-wolf of France"; how he was murdered by Suffolk, with, it is said, +the connivance of the Queen and Cardinal Beaufort. It was at one time +supposed that he was buried in London, but there is little doubt that he +found a resting-place in a grave prepared for him in St. Alban's Abbey, +on March 4, 1447. This would be during the time that John Stokes was +Abbot, between the two abbacies of John of Wheathampstead. The body was +discovered in its leaden coffin during the reign of Queen Anne, when +another grave was being dug. The coffin was opened, and the duke's body +was discovered to be in a good state of preservation in the coffin, +which is described as being "full of pickle." It is said that at one +time the vergers would, for a due consideration, allow visitors to carry +away the smaller bones when, owing to the body having been removed from +the preserving fluid, nothing but a skeleton was left. + +[Illustration: MONUMENT OF HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER.] + +The monument is a handsome one. It was probably erected by +Wheathampstead, who had been on terms of intimacy with the duke, when he +for the second time became Abbot. The canopy over the grave is richly +carved; the antelopes we see on it were the badge of the duke. His +epitaph speaks of him, among other things, as + + Fraudis ineptae + Detector, dum ficta notat miracula caeci. + +This refers to the story told of him by Sir Thomas More, how he +convicted an impostor who claimed to have been born blind, but to have +received sight at St. Alban's shrine, by asking him the colour of the +garments that the duke himself and others were wearing; all these +questions were correctly answered by the beggar, who forgot for the +moment that one born blind who had only just received his sight, would +not have known the _names_ of the various colours, though he might +distinguish one colour from another. The beggar was punished for his +imposture by being set in the stocks. + +This story is introduced into the first scene of the second act; of the +second part of "Henry VI.," a reproduction of a St. Albans legend in +which some students of the play will find an argument for attributing +the play to Francis Bacon, who lived close by and would be likely to +know the stories current in the town. + +#The Tower and Bells.#--The ringing loft is reached by a staircase +starting from the door near the north-west corner of the north arm of +the transept. The steps were originally built of Roman bricks, but at +the time of the restoration had fresh treads of stone laid on them, so +that the ascent is an easy one; from this staircase one passes along the +triforium gallery of the western side of the transept, and then up a +staircase in the turret at the north-west angle of the tower to a room +whose floor is above the flat ceiling of the lantern visible from the +floor of the church. The bells are in the next story, and at no great +height above the floor of the ringing loft. In the ringing loft may be +seen boards on which are inscribed records of several memorable sets of +changes that have been rung, with the dates, the number of changes, the +time occupied, which was generally between three and four hours, and the +names of the ringers and the number of the bell that each one pulled. +The peal consists of eight bells; the tenor is in the key of E flat, and +measures 4 ft. 6 in. in diameter, and is calculated to weigh about 28 +cwt. The whole peal was originally cast in London by Philip Wightman in +the year 1699; but the second, fifth, and sixth bells were recast in the +middle of the eighteenth century, and the treble in 1845. On the tenor +may be read the following legend: "Vivos ad coelum, moritu[r]os ad solum +pulsata voco." The clock was in great measure reconstructed under Lord +Grimthorpe's direction and fitted with his gravity escapement; it +strikes the quarter chimes on the second, third, fourth, and seventh +bells, and the hours on the tenor. The mechanism of the chimes, which +play at three, six, nine, and twelve o'clock, was remade by Mr. Godman, +of St. Stephen's parish; this mechanism may be described as a kind of +gigantic musical box. A huge cylinder revolves, on which are projecting +pegs of brass, which as the cylinder goes round catch against wooden +levers which raise clappers that in their fall strike the bells. The +same tune is played all through each day, but a different tune is played +each day of the week; at the end of the week the barrel is automatically +set so as to begin the series of tunes again. There is, moreover, +another tune--the Trinity hymn--which can be set by hand, and this is +used on the greater festivals. + +Besides the peal of eight the sacring bell which once hung near the high +altar is now hung in the tower. + +It may be well to finish the description of the church with a few notes +about the material used and the method of building, abbreviated from a +paper by Mr. James Neale. He says that during the restoration many +examples were found of lead dowels in the joints of detached shafts. +Sinkings were cut in the upper surface of the lower stone and in the +lower surface of the upper, so that when in place these sinkings would +be opposite to each other; a small hole one-eighth inch in diameter was +then bored in the upper stone, through which lead was poured into the +sinkings. The mortar used between the outer stones of the +fourteenth-century bays of the nave was mixed with oyster-shells, +contained a large amount of lime, and was very hard. There is much +clunch stone used in the interior and this is in a good state of +preservation, but any that has been used externally has decayed. The +abaci of the Early English capitals in the main arcade are of Barnack +stone, which is harder than clunch and so more suitable for bearing a +weight. The Norman stonework was cut with an axe, the Transition with a +chisel. The Early English is bolster-tooled; the Decorated ashlar +(including the bays on the south side of the nave) is claw-tooled, the +mouldings being scraped; the Perpendicular is finely scraped. + +[Illustration: SOUTH CHOIR AISLE.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE HISTORY OF THE MONASTERY AND SEE. + + +Although, as stated in Chapter I., Albanus suffered martyrdom in 303 +A.D., and a small church was soon afterwards built over his grave, and +another of larger size subsequently erected, it was not until the eighth +century that the monastery was founded. + +The foundation was an act of atonement on the part of Offa II., King of +the Mercians, in the year 793. In the previous year he had been at the +court of Ethelbert, King of East Anglia, and was a suitor for the hand +of his daughter. But he treacherously murdered his host and took +possession of his kingdom. Either as a politic effort to remove the evil +reputation of such deeds, or as a conscientious offering to regain the +favour of Heaven by means of a great work for the Church, Offa resolved +to found a monastery, in honour of the protomartyr of Britain, upon the +site of the martyrdom. The first thing to do was to discover the actual +remains of St. Alban. The story of the discovery would not be complete +without a vision and a miracle. Accordingly a vision is said to have +appeared to the King at Bath, and a miraculous light to have guided him +to the spot where the coffin was found. This had been purposely removed +from its first resting-place within the walls of the church, for fear of +its being desecrated by the Saxons, who certainly did reduce the +building almost to a ruin. The coffin was found to contain the body of +the martyr, as well as the precious relics which had been placed within +it by the Bishop of Auxerre. Their presence establishes the identity of +the remains. The church was then repaired so as to be able to preserve +safely the reliquary which contained the precious relics "until a more +worthy edifice should be built." Permission to build and endow the +monastery was obtained from Pope Adrian I., the King making a special +journey to Rome in order to procure it. The martyr was canonized at the +same time. At some later time a valuable concession was granted to the +new monastery: the tribute known as Peter's Pence being assigned to it, +while the lands belonging to the Abbey were exempted from the payment. +This grant applied to the whole of Offa's kingdom. The payment of +Peter's Pence had only been instituted sixty-six years previously, the +object being to maintain a Saxon college at Rome. Offa lived to see the +monastery established and partially endowed. He himself gave one of the +royal manors to the endowment, but he did not live long enough even to +make a beginning of the grand church he appears to have had in +contemplation, for he died not long after his return from Rome, some +authorities giving the year 794 as the date of his death, others 796. + +The monastery was of the Benedictine order. Though it became important, +and at last the chief of the Benedictine houses in England, it was not +one of the earliest. The Benedictine order had been introduced into +England in 596, and forty-five monasteries had been founded before that +of St. Alban's. Many of these were little more than cells, and many were +afterwards absorbed into the larger establishments. Yet several very +famous abbeys were founded at least a century before Offa founded St. +Alban's. + +Many of the early Abbots of St. Albans were men of mark and of influence +in the national councils, and some of them were closely related to the +royal family. The Chronicles, however, tell us but little of them, +except when the Abbey itself is concerned. Some notes on the Abbots will +now be given. + +1. #Willegod# (793-796). His rule, we are told, was short but prudent. +His death is attributed to vexation at not being able to obtain the body +of Offa for burial in the Abbey. He died two months after the King. The +chronicler charitably hopes that Offa's name is written in the book of +life, although his mortal remains are not honourably preserved. Offa's +son and successor, Ecgfrid, confirmed his father's charter and gave +another manor to the Abbey. + +2. #Eadric.# He was elected in 796, according to the express wishes of +the founder, from among the inmates of the monastery. He was of royal +blood and had the King's support in some critical difficulties, and +ruled with discretion. + +3. #Wulsig.# This Abbot, like his predecessor, a monk and akin to the +King, scandalized the house by hunting in lay attire; and by +entertaining noble ladies within the precincts. He wasted the substance +of the Abbey by bestowing it upon his relations. Most of the property +that he had alienated was recovered after his death, and those whom he +had fattened died miserably in poverty. It is said that he was much +hated by the monks and died of poison. + +4. #Wulnoth.# He began well, but after a few years gave himself up to +sport habited as a layman. He is said to have ruled eleven years, and to +have repented when affected by paralysis, and to have made a happy end. +The chronicler adds with sly humour that his change to holiness was +brought about "_faciendo de necessitate virtutem._" In his time the +Danes plundered the Abbey of its treasures, vestments and sacred +vessels, and carried off the bones of St. Alban to Owense (probably +Odense in Funen). The sacrist Egwin was much distressed at the loss of +this his greatest treasure, and prayed that he might see the body +brought back. St. Alban appeared to him in a vision, and bade him go to +Owense and there await instructions. After a year's stay at the +monastery he was admitted into the brotherhood and became sacrist, never +revealing the fact that he had come from St. Albans. Long did he wait +for an opportunity of carrying away the sacred bones, until one winter's +night he found means of removing them from the shrine wherein they were +kept, and packing them in a chest, which he gave to an English merchant +whom he knew, bidding him take it to St. Albans. He said that it +contained books which the Abbot had lent him, and which he was now +returning; he added that he would shortly bring the key himself, or, if +he could not come himself, would send it by a messenger. Together with +the chest, which in due course was delivered, a letter was sent +detailing the circumstances of his pious fraud; this was read by the +Abbot in chapter, to the great joy of the brethren. Egwin shortly after +this obtained leave to make a journey to England, and when safely in the +Abbey he wrote to the monks at Owense, telling them what he had done. +Some of them denounced him as guilty of sacrilege, others justified his +action. When he opened the chest in the chapter-house at St. Albans +miraculous cures were wrought on many who were infirm, both in the Abbey +and in the town. + +5. #Eadfrith.# This Abbot was handsome in person, but despicable in his +deeds. He never attended the services in the choir. During his time +Wulfa, the prior, built an oratory in honour of Germanus on the spot +where the rude dwelling he had occupied when visiting St. Albans lay in +ruins. After Wulfa's death Eadfrith saw the error of his ways, resigned +his office, became a hermit, and died a holy man. + +No new Abbot was appointed for a year, as the monks were divided into +two parties in favour of rival candidates. + +6. #Wulsin.# The bishop after a time intervened and put an end to the +dissension, and the monks unanimously elected Wulsin, or Ulsinus. He +helped the inhabitants of the town to build the three churches of St. +Michael, St. Stephen, and St. Peter (see Appendix). He died holy and +full of days. + +7. #Ælfric.# This Abbot purchased of King Eadgar a large fishpond which +was too near the Abbey to be pleasant; he drained it, leaving only a +small pool of water and a bed of reeds, converting the rest of it into +gardens. He translated into Saxon some of the historical books of the +Old Testament. His doctrine on the Lord's Supper, as expounded in a +letter to Wulfstan, Bishop of Sherborne, which is preserved at Exeter, +was identical with that of the twenty-eighth Article of Religion. He +died "full of days, eminent for sanctity, after having achieved many +praiseworthy actions." + +8. #Ealdred.# He ruled but for a short time, but was a benefactor to the +town. He cleared away much of the ruins of Verulamium, especially those +caverns which had become the abode of robbers and outlaws. He also +collected materials (chiefly from the Roman ruins)--tiles, stone, and +timber--with a view to the rebuilding of the abbey church. + +9. #Eadmer.# He was pious, courteous, learned, but he left the monastery +much in debt, so that some possessions had to be sold and some timber to +be cut down. + +10. #Ælfric# is described as of singular and conspicuous merit. He wrote +a history of St. Alban, and arranged it for musical recitation. Being +afraid of a Danish invasion, and thinking that the relics of the +protomartyr, which had already been once carried away to Denmark, would +not be safe in the shrine as it stood, he hid them under the altar of +St. Nicholas, and at the same time pretended to send them to Ely for +safe custody, giving the authorities at Ely to understand that the true +relics were being committed to their charge; this, it is said, he did +being a prudent and circumspect man, and fearing that the men at Ely +would be blinded by covetousness, and refuse to return the true relics +if they once got them into their possession. The Danish invasion was +soon over, the King being drowned, and then Ælfric demanded from the +monks of Ely the relics he had intrusted to their care. The caution he +had exercised was justified by the conduct of the Ely monks; for they, +thinking that the bones they had were really those of St. Alban, at +first refused to return them, but at last consented to do so. The bones, +however, that they sent back were not those they had received. It is +plain that these old monks were not always to be trusted to behave in an +honourable manner when precious relics were concerned. The chronicler, +however, who tells the story, considers the conduct of the monks of St. +Albans in sending spurious relics was "pious," while the behaviour of +the monks of Ely was "detestable and disgraceful"--but then the +chronicler was a monk of St. Albans. Ælfric bought the royal palace of +Kingsbury and its land near the Abbey, demolishing the whole of the +palace except one tower. Ælfric in 995 was promoted to the office of +Archbishop of Canterbury. + +11. #Leofric.#[10] This Abbot was half brother to Ælfric. During a great +famine he spent large sums in the relief of the poor, devoting to this +purpose even some of the treasures that had been got together for the +rebuilding of the church, and many gold and silver vessels assigned to +his own use in the Abbey. The monks, however, objected to this +conversion of the property of the Abbey to uses for which it was not +originally intended. + + [10] The "Gesta Abbatum" reverses the order of the two Abbots, + Ælfric and Leofric, but this is probably wrong. It is recorded + that Leofric had the offer of the archbishopric, but declined, + saying that his brother Ælfric was far more fit for the post + than he, and it is supposed that when Ælfric became Archbishop + in 995, Leofric succeeded him as Abbot. + +12. #Leofstan.# This Abbot was confessor to King Edward (the Confessor) +and his Queen Edith. He acquired much land for the Abbey, and cleared +away the woods between London and St. Albans, to make the roads safer +for travellers. To secure the good services of a knight as protector of +the Abbey he assigned him a certain manor; the service was faithfully +performed. The Normans, when they came, dispossessed the holder, and +conferred the manor upon Roger, a Norman knight, who, strange to say, +fulfilled the conditions on which his predecessor had held the land. At +Leofstan's death the Abbey was in a state of the greatest prosperity. + +13. #Frithric.# This Abbot was chosen in the reign of Harold as leader +of the southerners against the Normans, just as Aldred, Archbishop of +York, was chosen as the leader of the northcountrymen. William +accordingly ravaged the possessions of the monastery. After the +Conquest, when William was accepted as King, Frithric administered to +him the oath that he would keep inviolate all the laws of the realm, +which former kings, especially Edward, had established. Needless to say, +William soon began to disregard this oath, and despoiled the Abbey of +St. Alban's more and more, till Frithric in despair resigned his office +as Abbot and retired to Ely, where he soon died. The monks of Ely +pretended that he took with him to their monastery the precious relics +of St. Alban the Martyr. + +14. #Paul of Caen# (1077-1093). A great change now comes over the +history of the monastery. The new Abbot was a Norman and a kinsman of +Lanfranc, the first Norman Archbishop of Canterbury. Like Lanfranc, who +had been Abbot of Caen, he resolved to rebuild his church, and, like +Lanfranc, adopted in England the style he had been accustomed to at +Caen; but his ideas on the matter of size were far grander than that of +his former Abbot, for St. Alban's Abbey Church far surpassed in its +dimensions the cathedral church which the new archbishop built at +Canterbury. As we have already seen (Chap. I.), he used the Roman bricks +from the ruined city of Verulamium as building material. Important as +this work was, the account of it occupies but a few lines in the +Chronicles. In these it is mentioned that Lanfranc contributed 1,000 +marks towards the cost. Paul was an energetic man, as may be seen by the +short time occupied in building this large church; but it was not only +in providing a new church that he was active, for it is recorded that he +reformed the lives and manners of the monks, secured the restoration of +land that had been alienated, founded cells as occasion demanded, and +persuaded lay donors to give largely to the Abbey--tithes, bells, plate, +and books. Robert Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland, gave the Priory of +Tynemouth, which he had founded, to the Abbey of St. Albans. Abbot Paul +died on his way home from a visit to this new priory, and was buried +magnificently in his own Abbey. + +The "Gesta Abbatum" begins at this point to sum up the good and evil +deeds of the abbots. Among Paul's shortcomings the following are +mentioned: he lost property through negligence; he destroyed the tombs +of his English predecessors in the Abbey; he did not secure as he should +have done the bones of Offa for his new church; he alienated the woods +of Northame; he bestowed some of the property of the Abbey upon his +illiterate kinsfolk. Yet, on the whole, his good deeds outweighed his +evil ones. William II., after Paul's death, kept the Abbey in his own +hands for four years, using, as was his wont, the revenues for his own +advantage. His death in the New Forest was considered by the monks of +the Abbey as a special punishment for the extortion he had practised on +them. + +15. #Richard d'Aubeny# or #d'Albini# (1097-1119). This Abbot, a Norman, +was a man of much influence, and during his rule the Abbey was very +prosperous. He presented many and valuable ornaments to the church: a +shrine wrought in gold for the relics of the apostles, which Germanus +had placed in St. Alban's coffin in the fifth century; another shrine of +ivory and gilt, for the relics of martyrs and saints; a great number of +vestments and many valuable books. During his time, 1104, the relics of +St. Cuthbert were translated from the temporary shrine which Bishop +Carileph had erected over them to the new Cathedral Church at Durham, +and Abbot Richard, as head of Tynemouth Priory, was present on that +occasion, and a miracle was worked upon him, for his withered arm was +cured by being brought into contact with St. Cuthbert's body. In +gratitude for this benefit, he built a chapel in honour of St. Cuthbert +in his own Abbey. For some reason the Abbey, though no doubt used, had +not hitherto been consecrated. This omission was made good on the +festival of the Holy Innocents, 1115, by Geoffrey, Archbishop of Rouen, +the Bishops of Lincoln, London, Durham and Salisbury assisting. Henry +III., his Queen Matilda, the chief nobles and prelates of the kingdom, +were present and stayed at the Abbey from December 27th until the Feast +of the Epiphany (January 6th). Wymondham Priory in Norfolk was founded +by William, Count of Arundel, and conferred on St. Albans during Abbot +Richard's rule. Like his predecessor, he enriched his relations at the +expense of the Abbey, and is further blamed by the chronicler for having +promised that the Abbey should be subject for the future not to the +Archbishop but to the Bishop of Lincoln.[11] This change seems to have +led to a stricter rule and so was displeasing to the monks, though it is +admitted that the Archbishop had not treated the Abbey well. + + [11] The church remained in this diocese until 1845, when it was + handed over to Rochester, although, as will be seen afterwards, + the Abbey was made independent of the Bishop of Lincoln's + jurisdiction. + +16. #Geoffrey of Gorham# (1119-1146). This Abbot came from Maine, where +he had been born. He had been invited to take charge of the monastery +school, but did not arrive in time, so he opened a school at Dunstable. +On one occasion, when a miracle play was being performed by his +scholars, he borrowed some vestments of the Abbey; these were +unfortunately destroyed in a fire; unable to pay for them, he offered +himself as a sacrifice and became a monk. He was unanimously elected +Abbot on the death of his predecessor, but at first was reluctant to +accept the office, though finally his reluctance was overcome. He made a +most energetic ruler. He increased the allowances to the kitchen, +cellars, and almonry. He ordered that the revenues of certain rectories +should be used for providing ornaments, for a fabric fund, and for the +infirmary. He founded and endowed the leper hospital of St. Julian on +the London Road, and established the nunnery of Sopwell (see Appendix) +for thirteen sisters. He built the guest hall, the infirmary, and its +chapel. He also began to construct a new shrine for the relics of the +saint, but after spending £60 on it discontinued the work to give +himself breathing time, and never went on with it again. He felt himself +constrained to sell some of the materials he had collected for this +purpose, to obtain money for the relief of the poor during a famine. A +long description is preserved of the decoration of the shrine. Among +other precious things worked into it was an eagle with outstretched +wings, the gift of King Ethelred. Although it was not quite finished, it +was sufficiently so as to be ready to receive the bones of the martyr. +The remains were examined in the presence of Alexander, Bishop of +Lincoln, and sundry Abbots in 1129. The genuineness of the relics, so it +is said, was established by appearances of the saint to divers persons +as well as by miracles. One shoulder blade was missing; but this, as it +afterwards appeared, had been given by a former Abbot, at the request of +King Canute, to the reigning duke of some foreign land, who had founded +a cathedral church on purpose to receive so precious a relic. A long +list is given of the valuable gifts this Abbot made to the monastery and +church. During his time lived the hermits Roger and Sigur, and the +recluse Christina, whose story has been told in Chapter III. + +At this time also Henry I. granted to the Abbots the Liberty of St. +Albans, which gave them the power of trying minor offences, which had +hitherto been tried in the civil courts of the hundred and the shire. + +There are only two faults that are recorded of this Abbot: first, he +gave some of the Abbey tithe to the support of the church that he had +rebuilt; and, secondly, he was too easy in business dealings and allowed +himself to be imposed upon. + +17. #Randulf of Gobion# (1146-1151). This Abbot had previously been +chaplain and treasurer to the Bishop of Lincoln. He erected the Abbot's +chamber and other useful buildings, and freed the Abbey from debt. He +deposed the Prior because he suspected that a seal he found not yet +engraved had been prepared for a new Abbot, and that this indicated a +desire on the part of the Prior and monks to depose him. He is said to +have burnt a rich chasuble in order to obtain the gold with which it was +embroidered, and to have removed the gold plates from the shrine to +procure money to make a purchase of land--the rent of which, however, +went to the Abbey, not himself--while keeping the gold plate used at his +own table. He was allowed to nominate a successor, and then resigned, +dying shortly afterwards. + +18. #Robert of Gorham# (1151-1166). He was a nephew of Geoffrey of +Gorham, sixteenth Abbot. He had been a monk abroad, but coming on a +visit to his uncle he obtained permission to "migrate" to St. Albans. In +time he became Prior. As Abbot he managed the affairs of the Abbey with +prudence. He repaired and releaded the church, whitened it within and +without, that is to say, renewed the plaster with which from the first +it had probably been covered. Matthew Paris tells us that one Nicholas +Breakspear, a clerk from Langley, applied to him for admission to the +Abbey, but was refused, as he failed to pass his entrance examination. +"Wait, my son," said the Abbot, "and go on with your schooling so as to +become more fit." Nicholas is spoken of as a youth, but he must have +been about fifty years of age when Robert became Abbot, and was +certainly Bishop of Albano within a year or two of that date, and became +Pope, under the name of Adrian IV., in 1154, the only Englishman that +has ever sat in St. Peter's chair. If there is any truth in the story of +his rejection at St. Albans, it must have happened earlier than the +abbacy of Robert. King Stephen visited the Abbey, and Robert obtained +his authority to level the remains of the camp, that is, the tower that +Ælfric, the tenth Abbot, had allowed to remain standing at Kingsbury, +which had become a den of robbers. + +Soon after Breakspear had become Pope, Robert and three bishops from the +foreign dominions of Henry II. went as envoys to him from the King; the +Abbot hoped that the Pope's connection with St. Albans, for his father +had become late in life a monk there, would induce him to enlarge its +privileges. Knowing that the dignitaries at Rome and the members of the +Pope's household were wellnigh insatiable, he distributed valuable gifts +among them to secure their good offices with the Pope. Robert complained +of the intolerable oppression of the Bishop of Lincoln, and the +insolence of his agents, and obtained from Adrian complete exemption +from episcopal supervision. The Abbey henceforth was to be subject to +Rome alone. When the Pope's letter granting this exemption was exhibited +at a council in London, the greatest indignation was expressed. An +agreement was, however, at last signed between the Bishop of Lincoln and +the Abbot, three bishops intervening in the interest of peace. Abbot +Robert then sent two of his nephews, monks, to Rome with still more +presents, and as a result of their mission further privileges and +liberties were granted to the Abbot; he was, among other things, allowed +to wear pontifical robes. The Bishop of Lincoln was exasperated, but did +not dare to defy the Pope's authority. Adrian IV. was poisoned in 1158, +and the next Pope granted a new and important privilege to St. Albans; +what it was is not stated. The Bishop of Lincoln now thought it was time +to assert himself. He declared his intention of visiting the Abbey as +its Bishop, and ordered that suitable preparations should be made for +his reception. The Abbot refused to receive him. He was, on a complaint +made by the Bishop, cited before the King's Court and called on to +justify his action. After a protracted investigation lasting for three +or four years, the King assented to the Abbot's wearing a mitre, and +recommended him to buy off further opposition on the part of the Bishop +by a grant of certain lands, which were worth £10 a year. At Easter, +1163, Abbot Robert celebrated Mass wearing for the first time mitre, +ring, gloves, and sandals. He also at the Council of Tours in the same +year took the first seat among the English Abbots, the Abbot of St. +Edmondsbury vainly attempting to take it from him. He gave costly gifts +to the church, built the chapter-house and the Locutorium, the Chapel of +St. Nicholas, part of the cloister, the long stable, granary, larder, +and two solars. He was buried in the new chapter-house, leaving the +monastery in debt, caused no doubt by his lavish expenditure in bribery +at Rome. On his death in October, 1166, the King kept the abbacy vacant +for several months, for at this time the great conflict between the King +and the Archbishop, Becket, was raging, and the King wished visibly to +assert his authority. + +19. #Symeon# (1167-1183). Symeon had been Prior, and therefore had been +acting head of the monastery since Robert's death. He was a literary man +and an encourager of learning. Being an intimate friend of Thomas +Becket, he went to Prince Henry, the King's son, to intercede for the +Archbishop and bring about a reconciliation, if possible, with the King; +but he was driven from the court with contumely. Symeon finished the +shrine. The feretory made by Abbot Geoffrey still contained the bones of +the martyr; this was now covered by the work of Abbot Symeon, which was +made of large size so as to contain the other. The relics of Amphibalus +were discovered about this time at Redbourn, where he had been put to +death. The Bishop of Durham dedicated the Chapel of St. Cuthbert which +had been built by Richard (fifteenth Abbot). Like several of the other +Abbots, Symeon enriched his relations and left the Abbey in debt. + +20. #Warren#, or #Warin, of Cambridge# (1183-1195). This Abbot was of +low birth, but had risen to the position of Prior. The sacrist alone +opposed his election on account of his birth and also because he +squinted, and predicted all manner of evils to the monastery if he were +elected Abbot. Henry II., soon after the new Abbot had been appointed, +and the Bishop of Lincoln happening to be at St. Albans at the same +time, the Bishop brought up the old grievance about the Abbey having +been made independent of him, but the King silenced him with angry +words. Warren founded a leper hospital for women as Geoffrey had founded +one for men. This hospital was dissolved by Wolsey in 1526, its revenues +going towards the endowment of Christ Church, Oxford. The bones of +Amphibalus were removed from the locker in which they were kept, and +placed in a new shrine adorned with gold and silver. This Abbot made +numerous regulations concerning the domestic affairs of the monastery; +one dealt with the dress, another made better provision for sick monks, +another shortened the services, another allowed meat in the infirmary, +yet another ordered that all dead monks should be buried in stone +coffins, not merely laid in earth graves. This Abbot, in lieu of +delivering up the chalice which Richard I. had demanded from all English +abbeys wherewith to pay his ransom, sent 200 marks of silver. Shortly +before his death he set aside 100 marks to be given to his successor for +renewing the west front of the church. Among his faults it is noted that +he was self-willed, that he banished to distant cells any of the +brethren that offended him, and that he felled timber belonging to the +Abbey and sent the proceeds as presents to the King and Queen. + +21. #John de Cella# (1195-1214). This Abbot derived his name from the +Cell of Wallingford, of which he had been Prior. He was learned, pious, +and a good disciplinarian. He left the secular affairs of the Abbey to +be managed by the Prior and Cellarer, and devoted himself to his +religious duties, and to the fabric. He pulled down the Norman west +front with the intention of rebuilding it; he dug foundations, but after +he had spent Warren's legacy of 100 marks his walls had not risen above +the ground level. His master of the works led him into needless expense, +and as progress was so slow the Abbot became dispirited. He, however, +got another master of the works and started afresh, assigning to the +building fund one sheaf of wheat from every acre. This arrangement +lasted during the whole of his rule and for many years afterwards, but +progress was still slow. Gifts of gold and silver, considerable sums of +money collected by a wandering preacher, who pretended to be Amphibalus, +restored to life, were all consumed. At last in weariness of heart the +Abbot gave himself to other work; he began to build a new refectory and +dormitory, persuading the monks to give up wine for fifteen years, and +contribute the money so saved to the cost of the new building. He had a +great reputation for sanctity. At times, when he was saying mass, +responses were sung, so it is said, by voices not of this world. He +limited the number of monks to a hundred. King John ordered him to say +mass during the interdict, but he refused, whereupon John seized the +monastery and ejected the monks, and only on payment of 600 marks, and +afterwards of 500 more, would he restore the Abbey to its rightful +owners. + +22. #William of Trumpington# (1214-1235). This Abbot was an entirely +different style of man from his predecessor. He was much addicted to +social enjoyment, was a good man of business, and looked into matters +thoroughly for himself; he visited all the cells belonging to the Abbey, +and carried on the work of building in an energetic manner. The +dormitory was finished, the aisles were roofed with oak, an octagon +built on the tower, and, chief of all, the long-delayed work at the west +end was resumed and finished. The sacrist, Walter of Colchester, was an +excellent carver and carved a handsome pulpit with a great cross +thereon, and statues of St. John and the Virgin. The shrine of St. +Amphibalus, which had stood to the south of that of St. Alban, was moved +to the middle of the nave and inclosed within iron screenwork; much +other carving was done in the church and many new altars dedicated. A +fine bell was given for services in honour of our Lady; the Chapel of +St. Cuthbert with a dormitory over it for seven monks was rebuilt; most +of the walls were replastered; cloister walks were built, fitted with +oak beams, ceiled and covered with oak shingles. This Abbot acquired +much property for the Abbey, but during the civil wars large sums were +extorted by either party. In 1235 the church was struck by lightning and +set on fire, but fortunately a tank of rainwater was close at hand, and +the fire was soon extinguished. As the Abbot died eight days afterwards, +the accident was looked upon as a presage of his coming death. + +23. #John of Hertford# (1235-1260). He had been sacristan and afterwards +prior of the cell at Hertford. The Pope's bull confirming his election +required him to present himself at Rome every three years. The church +was again struck by lightning, notwithstanding the fact that the +impression of the Pope's seal, bearing an image of the Lamb of God, had +been duly placed on the top of the tower as a protection against +lightning. Abbot John built the guest-house, and devoted the revenues of +three rectories to the improvement of the quality of the ale, and for +the providing of better entertainment for guests. He repaired many of +the buildings belonging to the Abbey, the granary, water mills, houses +in London, etc. At the coronation of Henry III. the Abbot of St. Albans +took precedence of all the mitred abbots; and though afterwards the +Abbot of Westminster obtained precedence, yet in 1536 the signature of +Abbot Catton of St. Albans stands first, that of Abbot Benson of +Westminster following, in the list of names attached to the "Articles of +Faith" drawn up by Convocation. So it would appear that the Abbots of +St. Albans had by this time recovered their rights of precedence. When +the see of Lincoln was vacant, the Archbishop proposed to hold an +ordination in St. Albans Abbey, but was refused permission. During this +Abbot's rule the Pope demanded more than once large sums of money; the +Abbot refused to pay, and in consequence of his refusal the church was +put under an interdict. At this time lived the celebrated monk Matthew +of Paris, to whom we owe much of the knowledge we possess of the history +of the Abbey up to his own days. The Chronicles carry us nearly up to +the end of Abbot John's rule, Matthew himself dying only a year before +the Abbot. For the subsequent history, up to the abbacy of Thomas de la +Mare, thirtieth Abbot, we are indebted to Thomas of Walsingham. Matthew +was born about 1200, and though of English descent derived his surname +from the French capital, either because it was his birthplace, or +because he was a student at its university. He became a monk of St. +Albans on January 21st, 1217. He went with Abbot John of Hertford to +London to be present at the marriage of Henry III. to Eleanor of +Provence, 1236; and again he went to Westminster Abbey for the +celebration of the feast of the founder, on which occasion he was asked +by the King to write an account of the proceedings. He was sent on a +mission to the Benedictine monastery at Trondhjem in 1248, attended the +royal court at Winchester in 1251, and was present at the marriage of +Henry's daughter to the Scottish King, Alexander II. When Henry III. +spent a week at St. Albans in 1257, he admitted Matthew to his table and +treated him with great confidence, communicating many facts and details +of his life to him. Matthew afterwards exerted his influence with the +King in behalf of the University of Oxford, when its privileges were in +danger from the encroachments of the Bishop of Lincoln. His great work +was the "Historia Major." This professes to give the outlines of human +history from the Creation up to 1259. The work up to 1189 seems to have +been compiled by John de Cella, from 1189 to 1235 by Roger of Wendover. +Matthew of Paris transcribed and edited the work of his two +predecessors, and continued the history from 1235 to 1259. He shows +himself in it a warm advocate of English rights and liberties, and an +opponent of papal and regal tyranny. It is the best early history we +have of our own country up to the beginning of the Barons' War, and is +also an authority on Continental affairs. He wrote too an abridgement of +this work, leaving out the parts dealing with foreign history; this he +called "Historia Anglorum." He also wrote "The Lives of the two Offas" +and the "Lives of Twenty-three Abbots of St. Albans," whence most of the +details of the history of the Abbey given here have been derived. Thomas +of Walsingham, who continued the history, lived in the reigns of Henry +IV. and Henry V. + +Against Abbot John it is alleged that he had his commons sent to his +private room, instead of taking his meals with the brethren in the +refectory. When he died he was buried with great honour, "as became so +great a father." + +24. #Roger of Norton# (1260-1290). The new Abbot had been one of the +monks; his appointment was confirmed by Pope Urban in 1263. During his +rule the monastery flourished, notwithstanding the disturbed state of +the country in the early years of it. He acquired many new possessions; +the infirmary was rebuilt; the Abbot's lodgings were repaired; many +ornaments, vestments, books, a silver thurible, and three new bells were +procured. He made regulations for the preservation of the Abbey +property, the management of the servants and tenants, and for the +careful custody of the Abbey swans. Much litigation took place during +his abbacy. Queen Eleanor claimed one of the manors, but was not able to +make good her claim. A controversy about the appointment of the Prior of +the cell at Wymondham arose between the Abbot and the Countess of +Arundel, which was finally settled by an agreement that the Countess +should nominate three persons, of whom the Abbot was to select one. +Another dispute arose between the Abbot and the townspeople, about +grinding corn and fulling cloth. The people claimed the right of having +handmills in their houses, the Abbot insisted on his mills being used; +the matter was referred to the law courts and decided in the Abbot's +favour. Although through negligence some property was lost, yet this +Abbot's character was highly commended: + + Hic quem dedit Dominus nobis in rectorem + Prudenter sustinuit onus et honorem. + +He was strict in government, of good life and conversation, eminently +religious, distinguished for his learning. He was paralyzed for three +years before his death, and when he died his body was buried before the +high altar, but his heart was placed in a small box of Eastern +workmanship before one of the altars in the retro-choir. + +25. #John of Berkhamstead# (1290-1301). This Abbot was installed on St. +Alban's Day, 1291. The King, Edward I., visited the Abbey during the +vacancy, and again after the appointment of the new Abbot. The conduct +of the King's agent before the election had been very extortionate. The +claim of the Warden of Hertford Castle to certain tolls within the +Abbot's liberty was the subject of a long investigation; in the end the +claim was disallowed. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert of +Winchelsea, sent a message that he wished for hospitality in the Abbey, +but the Abbot refused to entertain him unless he would sign a paper +undertaking that his visit should not in any way prejudice the +privileges granted by the Pope, the Abbey being stated to belong "ad +Romanam Ecclesiam, nullo medio." The Archbishop declined to sign this +document, and so had to put up with lodgings outside the Abbey +precincts. When he arrived the bells of St. Stephen's Church were not +rung in his honour, whereupon the Archbishop put the church under an +interdict; but the clergy paid no attention to this, and conducted the +services as usual. During his rule the body of Queen Eleanor rested at +St. Albans, and one of the Eleanor crosses was erected and remained here +until 1702, when it was destroyed. A drinking fountain now occupies its +site. In 1302 the Abbot obtained from Edward I. a confirmation of all +the grants that had been made to the Abbey by former kings. This Abbot +does not receive a very good character from the chronicler: he cut down +and sold too much timber, granted too many pensions, and deprived +several of the priors of the cells without sufficient cause. + +26. #John de Marinis# (1302-1308). This Abbot had been Cellarer, and +afterwards Prior, for fourteen years, before his election as Abbot. The +full list of the fees and expenses connected with his confirmation at +Rome is given. The sum was enormous: 2,500 marks and 400 shillings. + +He offended Edward II. by refusing to supply some carriages and horses +which the King had demanded, and so when Edward came to St. Albans he +refused to see the Abbot. The latter tried to appease the King by a +present made through the notorious favourite Piers Gaveston, and also by +a grant of the manor of Westwood, which was beyond his power to give, +but all to no purpose. Most of the records of his rule relate to rights +of property and regulations respecting the monks. As his end approached +he made a statement of his liabilities. He owed £1,300 and had never +paid the 1,000 marks due to the King at the last vacancy. We are told +that he was constant, not given to much talk, honest in his life, +religious, and circumspect. + +27. #Hugh of Eversden# (1308-1326). This Abbot, who had been Cellarer +for five years, is described as being tall and handsome, able to speak +French and English well, but with little knowledge of Latin. On this +account he wished to avoid going to Rome, and sent his proctors instead +to obtain the Pope's confirmation of his election--but they, having +incurred much expense, returned to say that the Pope insisted on the new +Abbot appearing at Rome in person. By liberal presents he made a +favourable impression at Rome, but the journey, beyond the payments of +first-fruits, cost him more than £1,000. With the help of a legacy from +Reginald of St. Albans he finished the Lady Chapel and the retro-choir, +in which he placed the shrine of St. Amphibalus. King Edward II. paid a +second visit to the Abbey, and on being told by the Abbot of the +benefactions of Edward I. gave 100 marks and much timber towards the +work then in progress. The Abbot was twice besieged in his Abbey by the +townspeople; they desired to be answerable to the King and not the +Abbot. They gained their point, though they were compelled to surrender +to the next Abbot the privileges they had obtained of Abbot Hugh. It was +during the rule of this Abbot that the piers in the main arcade of the +nave gave way while mass was being said on St. Paulinus' Day, 1323, and +he had to begin repairing this part of the church. + +28. #Richard of Wallingford# (1326-1334). He was of humble birth; his +father was a blacksmith. After taking his degree at Oxford he became a +monk, and resided at St. Albans for three years, when he again went to +Oxford and studied philosophy and theology there for nine years. He was +on a visit to St. Albans at the time of the death of Abbot Hugh. He was +elected Abbot, but the election was found to be informal, so he resigned +his claim to the Pope, who thereupon appointed him Abbot. He wrote a +Register of things done in his time, compiled a book of Decretals and +Constitutions of Provincial Chapters, and sundry works on geometry and +astronomy. He constructed a clock showing the courses of the sun and +moon, the ebb and flow of the tides, etc., which Leland, Librarian to +Henry VIII., speaks of as still going in his day. He also made an +astronomical instrument to which he gave the name "Albion," and wrote a +book describing the manner of using it. Edward III., visiting the Abbey +and seeing the clock being constructed, while the damage done by the +fall of the nave piers in his predecessor's time had not been fully +repaired, remonstrated with the Abbot, who replied that anyone could +repair the church, but few could construct a clock such as he was +making. + +It is said that he suffered from leprosy and that his death was hastened +by the shock caused by a terrible thunderstorm on St. Andrew's Eve, +1334, which set some of the domestic buildings on fire. The fire was put +out before much damage was done, but the Abbot died. + +29. #Michael of Mentmore# (1335-1349). He was a graduate of Oxford, a +monk of St. Albans, and had been appointed Master of the Schools. He +finished the repairs to the south arcading and south aisle begun by +Abbot Hugh, built three altars, and vaulted the aisle. He baptized in +1341 Edmund of Langley, fifth son of Edward III., from whom the House of +York was descended. Philippa, the Queen, went to the Abbey to be +churched and gave the Abbey a cloth of gold. The Abbot, the Prior, the +sub-prior and forty-seven monks fell victims to the terrible plague +known as the Black Death, which was ravaging the country in 1349. He is +described as being pious, patient, and meek like Moses. + +30. #Thomas de la Mare# (1349-1396). He was a man of high birth, and was +connected with many people of importance, among them probably Sir Peter +de la Mare, the first Speaker of the House of Commons. He became a monk +at St. Albans, and was sent to Wymondham, recalled to St. Albans, and +afterwards became kitchener, cellarer, and then Prior at Tynemouth in +Northumberland. When Abbot Michael died the Prior of Wymondham was +elected, but declined the abbacy, whereupon Thomas de la Mare was +elected. One of the proctors who started with him to Rome died on the +way of the Black Death. The new Abbot himself, after his appointment had +been confirmed, was taken seriously ill at Rome, but recovered with +great suddenness. He was a great favourite with Edward III., and it is +said that King John of France, who was taken prisoner at Poictiers in +1356, was for a time committed to his charge; he treated John with great +moderation and respect, and King John afterwards showed his appreciation +of his treatment by releasing some St. Albans men who were prisoners of +war in France, bidding them tell the Abbot that they owed their release +to him. The Abbot was strict in correcting faults, curbing excesses, +cutting away abuses, and putting things right; he was revered by all, +feared by many. He was appointed by the King as visitor to numerous +monasteries, and in 1351 was President of a general chapter of +Benedictines. Moreover his knowledge of painting was such that Edward +III. appointed him master of the painters assigned for the works to be +executed at the chapel of the Palace of Westminster, and the ornamental +painting and glazing of St. Stephen's Chapel was carried on for several +years under his supervision. After having been Abbot for some years he +wished to resign, but Edward III. would not hear of it. In the time of +Richard II. an attack was made by the followers of Wat Tyler on the +Abbey. They succeeded in extorting certain charters from the Abbot, but +after the collapse of the rebellion the King himself came to the Abbey +and stayed there for eight days, summoning all the commons of the county +to make oath to do suit and service to the Abbot and the convent in the +customary manner. He rebuilt the Great Gate of the Abbey (see Appendix). +He died on September 15th, 1396, having been Abbot for forty-seven +years, a longer period than any of his predecessors or successors. He +was buried before the high altar and a brass to his memory may now be +seen in the Wheathampstead chantry. + +31. #John de la Moots# (1396-1401). He had held several offices in the +Abbey before his election as Abbot, and when Cellarer had been put in +the pillory in Luton Market, "in hatred to the Abbot and utter contempt +of religion." The conspiracy to dethrone Richard II. was first formed at +the dinner table of this Abbot, when the Duke of Gloucester and the +Prior of Westminster were dining with him. In 1399 the body of John of +Gaunt rested in the Abbey on its way to London, his son, Henry Beaufort, +Bishop of Lincoln, being allowed to conduct a service in the Abbey; and +in the same year Richard II. and Henry, Duke of Lancaster, lodged at St. +Albans. On arrival in London Richard II. was dethroned, and the Bishop +of Carlisle, who took his side, was seized by order of the Duke of +Lancaster, soon to be known as Henry IV., and carried as a prisoner to +St. Albans; he was, however, afterwards pardoned by Henry. A dispute for +precedence between this Abbot and the Abbot of Westminster occurred. +John died in 1401. + +32. #William Heyworth# (1401-1420). This Abbot was promoted to the see +of Lichfield in 1420, died in 1446 or 1447, and was buried in St. +Alban's Abbey. + +[Illustration: JOHN OF WHEATHAMPSTEAD'S CHANTRY.] + +33. #John of Wheathampstead# (1420-1440 and 1451-1464). The Abbot's +surname was Bostock, and it is supposed, as on his mother's grave in +Wheathampstead Church a shield bearing the Heyworth arms is found, that +John was a kinsman of his predecessor. To increase the revenue he +admitted many gentlemen and ladies of high rank to the confraternity; +this admission was a mere honour, conferring indeed the right to vote in +the chapter, but not imposing any duties or monastic restrictions on +those thus admitted. Among the names of those admitted in 1423 we find +those of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and Jaqueline his wife, whom he +subsequently divorced; in 1431 his new wife, Eleanor, was admitted. John +procured by royal grant lands in various quarters, and also, in order +that he might secure himself against any charges which might be made +against him, a pardon for diverse offences, of none of which was he in +all probability guilty--treason, murder, rape, rebellion, conspiracy, +etc. A strange light is thrown by this upon monkish morals of the day; +one would have thought no abbot would ever have been supposed possible +of committing such offences. These were disturbed times, for the King, +Henry VI., was imbecile and various nobles were intriguing against each +other for power. The star of Humphrey of Gloucester, the Abbot's friend, +was setting, and other troubles threatened the nation, so Abbot John +resigned in 1440. + +34. #John Stokes# (1440-1451). This Abbot ruled for eleven years, and +then either died or resigned. During his rule Eleanor, Duchess of +Gloucester, was tried for witchcraft, was imprisoned in the Tower, and +did penance in the streets of London. Her husband died, or more probably +was murdered, in 1447, and was buried in the Abbey on the south side of +St. Alban's shrine. + +33. In 1451 Abbot John of Wheathampstead, though over eighty years of +age, was re-elected. Soon after his election he gave his church a "pair +of organs," surpassing all others in England in size, tone, and +workmanship. + +In 1455 the Wars of the Roses began with the first battle of St. Albans +(May 23rd), fought to the east of the town. In this the White Rose party +were victorious; the King was taken prisoner and lodged for the night in +the Abbey. The victorious army plundered the town, but the Abbot by +sending out plenty of wine and food saved his monastery. + +In 1459 King Henry was again at the Abbey and spent Easter there, +ordering his best robe to be given to the Prior when he left. + +Another battle was fought, this time to the north of the town, on +February 17th, 1461. Henry was at this time in the hands of the Yorkists +and at St. Albans. The Queen, having defeated and slain the Duke of York +at Wakefield, marched southward at the head of an undisciplined horde of +18,000 men--Scotch, Irish, Welsh, and English--to rescue her husband. +The Earl of Warwick at first drove the Queen's troops out of St. Peter's +Street to Barnard's Heath with great slaughter, but, owing to treachery +on the part of one of the Yorkist leaders, the fortunes of the day +changed, and Margaret drove Warwick before her towards the town. He, +however, rallied his forces and retreated in good order to London, +though he had to leave Henry behind him. The royal party went to the +Abbey, where they were enthusiastically received by the monks, who +chanted thanksgivings for the victory; they were led to the high altar +and to the shrine of St. Alban. But the victorious troops, being little +better than barbarians, flushed with unexpected victory, committed +fearful excesses in the town, and even plundered the Abbey. Hitherto +Abbot John had been a strong partisan of the Lancastrians, but the +treatment he received turned him into a staunch Yorkist. Edward IV. when +he came to the throne granted the Abbot the right to hear and try all +causes, even treason, with full power of sentencing to death. The Abbots +continued to exercise these powers till 1533. In 1462 the Abbot +presented a petition to the King, setting forth the impoverished state +of the Abbey; this led to further powers being granted to the Abbot. +Wheathampstead had been ordained in 1382 and, according to canon law, +must have been twenty-five years of age, so he must have been over a +hundred and five when he died in 1463. He, as we have seen (Chap. I.), +made many changes for the worse in the fabric of the church; the +character of the work was partly due to the time in which he lived, for +the age of great architecture was over, and partly to lack of funds. + +35. #William Alban# (1464-1476). + +36. #William of Wallingford# (1476-1484). This Abbot's name will be +remembered because the high altar screen was his work, and is generally +called Wallingford's screen. It is said that his management of the +revenues of the Abbey was prudent, and that he was energetic in +defending his rights; but it would seem that he was not equally +energetic in repressing irregularities within its walls. During the +interregnum that followed his tenure of office things went on from bad +to worse, so that the Archbishop sent a monition to the Abbey reciting a +bull which had been sent to him as legate. This bull directed the +Archbishop to visit all the larger monasteries in which he had reason to +suspect that evil practices prevailed, and the Archbishop threatens to +visit St. Albans because he has heard of cases of simony, usury, lavish +expenditure, and immorality. He says unless within sixty days things are +reduced to order, not only in the monastery but also in the nunneries of +Pré and Sopwell and other cells, he will visit personally or by +commission to inquire into matters and set things in order. The Abbot +died in 1484, but his successor was not appointed until 1492. + +37. #Thomas Ramryge# (1492- ). No details of events during the rule of +this Abbot exist, nor is the date of his death known. + +38. #Thomas Wolsey# (1521-1529). This great cardinal was invested with +the temporalities on December 7th, 1521, and held the Abbey "in +commendam." There is no record of his ever having resided in the Abbey, +but he probably put a stop to the printing which had been carried on in +the Abbey from 1480 onwards. He also made a gift of plate to the Abbey. +He held the office of Abbot until his disgrace in 1529. + +39. #Robert Catton# (1530-1538). This Abbot was really appointed by +Henry VIII., but was nominally elected by the chapter. He had been Prior +of Norwich. The Abbey printing press was again in use in his time. He +seems to have been deprived during his lifetime, for what reason we +cannot say. + +40. #Robert Boreman of Stevenage# (1538-1539). This Abbot was a nominee +of the King, and was chosen by him because Henry knew that he would be +willing to surrender the Abbey. This he did on December 5th, 1539. It +was part of the policy of Henry VIII. to make it appear that the +monasteries were _voluntarily_ surrendered by the abbot and chapter, and +it was generally made worth their while to do so by a liberal pension. +In some cases the abbots refused, among them the last Abbot of +Glastonbury, who paid dearly for his refusal, as he was hanged on a hill +commanding a view of the possessions of the Abbey, which not being his +to part with he had refused to surrender, though, of course, the nominal +charge against him was not the real one. Abbot Boreman, however, made no +objection, and received a yearly pension of £266 13s. 4d., so was a rich +man for the rest of his days. Pensions of varying amounts were given to +his monks. Boreman and twenty of the monks were in receipt of them when +Mary came to the throne. Mary wished to revive the Abbey and put Boreman +over it, but did not live to carry out her intended plan. The monastic +buildings very rapidly disappeared; the church became parochial, and has +been served by the following sixteen rectors: + + George Wetherhall, appointed 1553. + Archdeacon William East. + Archdeacon James Dugdale, 1556. + Edward Edgeworth, 1578. + Roger Williams, 1582. + John Brown. + Archdeacon Edward Carter, 1662. + Archdeacon John Cole, 1687. + Archdeacon John Cole (II.), 1713. + Benjamin Preedy, 1754. + Joseph Spooner, 1779. + John Payler Nicholson, 1796. + Henry Small, 1817. + Henry J.B. Nicholson, 1835. + Sir John C. Hawkins, Bart., 1866. + Archdeacon Walter John Lawrance,[12] 1868. + + [12] Dean since July, 1900. + +The Church of St. Albans was in the diocese of Lincoln until 1845, when +it was handed over to Rochester. In 1877 Parliament passed a bill for +the division of the populous diocese of Rochester into two parts; the +northern to be called the see of St. Albans, the southern to retain the +name of Rochester. The Right Rev. Dr. Claughton, then Bishop of +Rochester, elected to take the northern division of his old diocese and +became Bishop of St. Albans. He was succeeded in 1890 by John Wogan +Festing, D.D., who died in 1903. + +Both of these bishops are buried in the churchyard on the north side of +the nave. On Dr. Festing's death the Right Rev. Edgar Jacob, D.D., was +translated to St. Albans from the diocese of Newcastle, and was +enthroned in May, 1903. + +The Church of St. Albans, although legally a cathedral church, yet +differs in certain particulars from most of the other churches of this +rank in England. It is also used as a parish church, of which the Dean +is rector. He has the same powers, responsibilities, and duties as the +rector of any other parish. It is sometimes said that the nave is the +parish, and the part eastward of the rood screen the cathedral church, +but it is not so. The Dean as rector has power over the whole, and +parishioners have right of access to every part of the building, just as +in any other parish church; and the Dean as their rector can be called +upon to baptize, marry, visit, and bury the people under his charge. +Churchwardens are also appointed and have their statutory rights. There +are some honorary canons, but as yet no "canons residentiary," nor are +there "priests vicars" (or "minor canons"), lay vicars, or choristers on +the foundation. The choir is a voluntary one, the clergy under the Dean +are curates. + +The two parts of the church that are ordinarily in use are the Lady +Chapel, where morning and evening prayer is said daily on week-days, and +the nave, which is used for the Sunday services. There is at present no +high altar in place under the great screen, but one will probably be +placed there as soon as the final touches are put by Mr. Gilbert to the +carved work of the reredos. The choir proper is not, however, capable of +holding a large congregation. It was, of course, originally intended to +hold the monks only. The part eastward of the stalls might on special +occasions, such as the enthronement of a bishop, the installation of a +dean, be temporarily fitted with chairs, but it is not likely that any +permanent seats will be placed here, since as a matter of fact the nave +and Lady Chapel answer all ordinary requirements. + +[Illustration: OLD FLOOR TILE.] + +[Illustration: THE GREAT GATE.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE NEIGHBOURHOOD. + + +#The Great Gatehouse.#--In the days of its prosperity the Abbey was +surrounded by a wall within which, as was usually the case, were placed +all the buildings that were necessary for monastic life: cloister, +dormitory, refectory, kitchen, chapter-house, infirmary, guest-house, +stables, dovecote, granary, garden, orchard, vineyard, lodgings for the +abbot, prior, cellarer, cook, and servants, fish-house, fish-ponds, as +well as cemeteries for dead brethren. A number of gatehouses gave access +to this inclosure: the Great Gate, which alone remains standing; the +Waxhouse Gate, where the tapers used for burning before the shrines were +made; the Water-gate, St. Germain's gate, and others. The chief of these +was the Great Gate to the west of the Abbey Church. It was built in the +time of Thomas de la Mare about 1365, on the site of a previously +existing gatehouse which had been destroyed by a violent gale a few +years earlier. It was not only a gateway, but a prison wherein offending +monks, and also laymen of the town, over which the Abbot had civic +jurisdiction, were imprisoned. The Gatehouse was stormed by rioters in +the time of Wat Tyler's rebellion, the monks in their terror giving wine +and beer to their assailants, but news arriving of Wat Tyler's death, +the rioters dispersed; the ringleaders were tried and condemned to +death, among them John Ball, who, with his seventeen condemned +companions, passed the time between their trial and execution in the +dungeons beneath the Gatehouse. In 1480 a printing press was set up in +this gatehouse; after the dissolution it was used as the borough gaol. +During the Napoleonic wars some French prisoners were confined within +the walls. In 1868 the Gatehouse was found too small for use as a gaol, +and a new prison was built near the Midland Station. The Gatehouse was +bought by the governors of the grammar school, and in 1870 the school +was removed from the Lady Chapel to the Gatehouse. There are dungeons +beneath the level of the roadway; over the archway is the large room +where the sessions used to be held, with other rooms on either side. In +this building some old chimney-pieces may still be seen. Although the +present foundation dates from the reign of Edward VI., yet a school had +existed in St. Albans from very early time. Some think it was founded by +Ulsinus. Be this as it may, it is certain that Geoffrey de Gorham, who +was afterwards Abbot (1119-1146), first came to England during the time +of Richard of Albini (the fifteenth Abbot), with a view of being master +of the school. In 1195 we read that the school had more scholars than +any other in England. The school in these early days stood to the north +of the Great Gate on the other side of the street that runs down the +hill on the north side of the triangular graveyard known as Romelands, +where a Protestant martyr, one George Tankerfield, a cook, born in York, +but living in London, was burnt on August 26th, 1555, during the reign +of Mary I. + +#Sopwell Nunnery.#--There are a few remains of Sopwell Nunnery in a +field near the river Ver, to the south-east of the city. They may be +reached by taking the first turning to the right hand after crossing the +bridge on the way from the city down Holywell Hill. This nunnery was +founded by Geoffrey of Gorham, sixteenth Abbot, about the middle of the +twelfth century. Two women, pious and ascetic, had taken up their abode +on this spot in a hut which they built for themselves, and Geoffrey +determined to build them a more permanent dwelling, and make them the +nucleus of a religious house. They accepted the Benedictine Rule, and +gradually the nunnery increased in size, and many ladies of high birth +took the veil here. One of the abbesses wrote the "Boke of St. Albans," +not, as might be imagined, an account of the saint or of the religious +house, but a treatise on hawking, hunting, and fishing. It was printed +in 1483 at the St. Albans printing press. When the nunnery was +dissolved, Sir Richard Lee, to whom the Abbey lands were granted, turned +it into a dwelling-house for himself. The ruins consist of ivy-clad +walls of brick and flint, pierced by square-headed windows, but +containing few interesting features. + +The name is said to have been derived from the fact that the two women +mentioned above soaked or sopped their dry bread in water drawn from the +Holy Well or some well in the immediate neighbourhood of their hut. + +#St. Peter's Church.#--This church, standing at no great distance from +the cathedral, may be reached by taking the footway called the +Cloisters, crossing High Street, passing between the Clock Tower and the +picturesque and ancient inn, the Fleur de Lys, and through the quaint +street of gabled houses known as French Row, into St. Peter's Street. + +The church was originally built about 948 A.D., by Ulsinus, the sixth +Abbot of St. Albans, but none of his work remains. It seems to have been +almost entirely rebuilt at the end of the fifteenth century, and most of +it is Perpendicular in character. It has a central tower rebuilt about a +hundred years ago, and until that time had a transept. There is a +clerestory on either side of the nave. The chancel and the west end with +its circular window show signs of Lord Grimthorpe's style of +restoration. The tower contains a fine peal of ten bells. In the windows +of the south aisle is some richly coloured modern Belgian glass by +Capronnier; in the windows of the north aisle are some fragments of +fourteenth or fifteenth century glass, including the arms of Edmund, the +fifth son of Edward III., from whom in the male line Edward IV. was +descended, though he also traced his descent and his claim to the throne +from Lionel, the third son, through his daughter Philippa. + +In the churchyard, which is of considerable extent, many of those who +fell in the two battles of St. Albans were buried. + +#St. Michael's Church.#--St. Michael's Church is further from the +cathedral than St. Peter's. To reach it one must go westward from the +Clock Tower, along High Street and its continuations, down the hill past +Romelands, where, as we have seen, George Tankerfield, condemned by +Bishop Bonner as a Protestant heretic, was burnt at the stake. At last a +bridge over the Ver is reached, and, turning round to the left after +crossing it, we see St. Michael's Church before us. It has within the +last ten years lost its Saxon tower, a new one with no pretention to +beauty, pierced by two pentagonal windows in the third stage, having +been built on a slightly different foundation. It stands within the area +once inclosed by the walls of Verulamium, and Sir Gilbert Scott +conjectured that it was originally the Basilica of the Roman city +altered for Christian worship; but probably, though it may stand on the +same site, it is of more recent date, though still of great age. Like +the cathedral, its walls are built of Roman brick and flint. The plan is +irregular: there is a nave and chancel, a large south aisle, or rather +chantry, the eastern gable of which is of half-timber construction, +below which are two tall round-headed windows far apart, with a small +circular opening between them; the western gable has an opening with +louvre boards. The tower projects from the north aisle, its western wall +being flush with the west end of the nave; on the outside in the south +wall of the chancel is a canopied niche over a flat slab a few inches +above the level of the ground. The south door, within a porch, has a +pointed top beneath a wide, round-headed arch springing from imposts. +The arcading of the nave was formed by cutting arches through what +probably were at one time the outside walls of the church; two of these +on the south side open into the chapel. The carved oak pulpit of early +seventeenth-century work, with its sounding-board and iron frame for the +hour-glass, demands attention; but the chief attraction of the church +for many is the alabaster statue of Francis Bacon, which is placed in a +niche in the north wall of the chancel. He wished to be buried in this +church, as his mother was already buried there, and moreover it was the +parish church of his house at Gorhambury, and the only Christian church +within the walls of ancient Verulam, from which he took one of his +titles. + +[Illustration: MONUMENT OF LORD BACON. "_Sic sedebat._"] + +#St. Stephen's Church.#--There are two ways of getting to this church: +either by following the road that runs south from St. Michael's, and +after reaching the top of the hill turning sharply to the left; or by +going from the centre of the city down Holywell Hill and straight on, +past the London and North-Western Railway Station, up St. Stephen's +Hill. The church spire is a conspicuous landmark. The churchyard is +exceedingly pretty, and the church most interesting. It was originally +built in the tenth century by Abbot Ulsinus, rebuilt in the time of +Henry I., restored in the fifteenth, and again by Sir Gilbert Scott in +the nineteenth century. The south porch is of timber; under it is a +square-headed doorway; to the east of it is a chapel once called "the +Leper's Chapel," but probably a chantry, now used as a vestry. There is +a small aisle on the south side. The spire is a broach and stands at the +west end. On the north side of the nave is a wide, blocked-up, +round-headed arch; through the blocking wall a pointed doorway was cut, +but this is also now blocked up. There is a door of Perpendicular style, +with a square-headed label terminated by heads much weathered, in the +west wall of the tower. The walls of this church are of the usual +materials, flint and Roman brick. + +The lectern is of brass, and bears round its foot the inscription +"Georgius Creichtoun Episcopus Dunkeldensis." There were two Scotch +bishops of this name; both lived in the sixteenth century. How the +lectern reached St. Albans no one knows for certain, but it may possibly +have been part of the plunder carried off by Sir Richard Lee from +Scotland. It was hidden for safety in a grave at the time of the civil +wars, but was found again in 1748 when the vault was opened. + +[Illustration: THE OLD ROUND HOUSE, "THE FIGHTING COCKS."] + +#The Clock Tower.#--This is a most conspicuous object in the city, +standing near the market-place, almost due north of the Lady Chapel. It +was built at the beginning of the fifteenth century in order that the +curfew bell might be hung in it. This had been cast some seventy years +before the building of the tower, and had hung in the central tower of +the Abbey Church; it weighs about a ton. It bears the inscription: +"Missi de coelis, habeo nomen Gabrielis." The tower was restored under +the direction of Sir Gilbert Scott in 1865, and in the process has lost +most of the interest it possessed. + +#The Old Round House.#--This curious old house, also known as "The +Fighting Cocks," stands near the river at the bottom of the roadway that +leads down from the town through the Great Gate, and probably occupies +the position of the Abbey gate that was known as St. Germain's Gate. +There is little doubt that the foundations of this house date back to +the time of the monastery, and may have been the foundations of the +gateway. The cellars, it is said, appear to have an opening into some +subterranean way. The name of "Fighting Cocks" no doubt indicates that +after the dissolution of the monastery a cockpit existed here. It is +said that it was at St. Germain's Gatehouse that the monks kept their +fishing tackle, rods and nets. A claim is made for this building, that +it is the oldest inhabited house in England, a claim that many other +buildings may well dispute. + + * * * * * + + + + +INDEX + + +Abbots, chronological account of, 82-103. +Ælfric, Abbot, 84. +Ælfric II., Abbot, 4. +Aisles of nave, interior, south, 44, + north, 46; + exterior, south, 26, + north, 31; + of choir (south), 48. +Alban, St., 4; + site of his martyrdom, 5, 6. +Altarpiece, 57, + (old) 68. +Amphibalus, St., 5; + shrine of, 13, 14, 63. +Andrew's, St., Church, 12, 31, 48. + +Bacon, Lord, his monument, 110. +Baluster shafts, Saxon, 50. +Battles of St. Albans, 71, 101. +Bells, 78. +Berkhampstead, John of, Abbot, 96. +Bishops of St. Albans, 104. +Bishop's Throne, 53. +Boreman, Robert, last Abbot, 15, 103. +Bricks, Roman, 10, 24. + +Catton, Robert, Abbot, 103. +Ceiling of choir and lantern, 53. +Chapels (apsidal) of transept (now destroyed), 51, 53. +Choir (exterior), 28; + ritual, 53. +Christina, Prioress of Markyate, 49. +Church bought by the town, 16. +Claughton, Bishop, 18. +Clerestory, nave, 42. +Clock Tower of the town, 111. +Cloister, site of, 26. +"Cloisters, The," 31. + +D'Aubeny, Richard, Abbot, 87. +Dedication of church, 7. +De la Mare, Thomas, Abbot, 98. +De la Moote, John, Abbot, 99. +De Marinis, John, Abbot, 96. +Dimensions of the Cathedral, 115. +Door, Abbot's, 26. +Doors, from the western entrance, 68. + +Eadfrith, Abbot, 83. +Eadmer, Abbot, 7, 84. +Eadric, Abbot, 82. +Ealdred, Abbot, 84. +Eversden, Hugh of, Abbot, 97 (_v._ Hugh). + +Fall of piers in 1323, 13. +Floor of the church, 35, 36. +Font, 46. +Frescoes in the nave, 40; + in the choir, 53. +Frithric, Abbot, 85. + +Gatehouse, The Great, 106. +Geoffrey of Gorham, Abbot, 88,107. +Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, 6. +Gloucester, Humphrey, Duke of, 62, 76; + his monument, 76. +Gorham, Abbots, Geoffrey of, 88; + Robert of, 89. +Grammar School, 16, 107. + +Henry VI., King, 101. +Hertford, John of, Abbot, 93. +Heyworth, William, Abbot, 100. +Hugh of Eversden, Abbot, 13, 14, 44, 70, 97. + +John de Cella, Abbot, 10, 12, 92. +John de Marinis, Abbot, 96. +John of Hertford, Abbot, 13, 43. +John of Wheathampstead, Abbot, 14, 101. + +Lady Chapel, the, 20, 29, 68-72. +Length of the building, 36, 37. +Leofric, Abbot, 85. +Leofstan, Abbot, 85. + +Mandeville, Sir John, 37. +Markyate, Benedictine cell, 49. +Mentmore, Michael of, Abbot, 14, 98. +Monastery (Benedictine), founded, 6; + history of, 81. + +Nave, interior, 36-48. +Norton, John of, Abbot, 70, 95. +Nunnery, Sopwell, 107. + +Organ, the, 44. + +Paul of Caen, Abbot, 7, 24, 32, 86. +Plan of Norman church, 9. +Porches (thirteenth century), of west front, 10-12. +Presbytery, 54, 61. +Pulpit in nave, 44; + in choir, 61. + +Ramryge, Thomas, Abbot, 58-60, 103; + his chantry, 14, 15, 60, 70. +Randulf, Abbot, 89. +Rectors of St. Albans, 104. +Retro-choir, 63, 67. +Richard of Wallingford, Abbot, 14, 97. +Robert of Gorham, Abbot, 89. +Roger the Hermit, 49. +Rood-screen, 42. +Roof restored, 18. +Round House, 112. + +Saint's Chapel, the, 72. +St. Andrew's Church, 12, 31, 48. +St. Michael's Church, 108. +St. Peter's Church, 108. +St. Stephen's Church, 110. + +Shrine of St. Alban, 72-75. +Sigar, hermit, 49, 50. +Slype, the, 20, 52. +Sopwell Nunnery, 107. +Stokes, John, Abbot, 101. +Stoup (north aisle of nave), 46; + in south choir aisle, 61. +Symeon, Abbot, 91. + +Transept (exterior), 27, 29; + (interior), 50, 52. +Triforium, nave, 41, 42. +Tower, central, 10, 14, 17, 31, 79; + interior, 53. +Towers, western, 8, 9. +Trumpington, William of, Abbot, 93. + +Verulamium, 4, 7; + Synod held at, 6. + +Wallingford, Richard of, Abbot, 61, 97. +Wallingford screen, 21, 57-59, 76. +Wallingford, William of, Abbot, 102. +Waring, Abbot, 49, 91. +Watching Loft, 66, 68, 75. +Wax-house, 29. +Weatherall, G., first rector, 16. +West front, 10, 19, 23. +Wheathampstead, John of, Abbot, 71, 100, 101; + his chantry, 57. +William of Trumpington, Abbot, 12, 93. +William of Wallingford, Abbot, 14, 102. +Willigod, Abbot, 82. +Windows in transept, 19. +Wolsey, Thomas, Abbot, 103. +Wulnoth, Abbot, 83. +Wulsig, Abbot, 82. +Wulsin, Abbot, 84. + + * * * * * + + + + +DIMENSIONS OF THE CATHEDRAL.[13] + + +Total length, external 550 ft. + " " internal 520 ft. +Length of high roofs 425 ft. + " of nave from west door to screen 205 ft. + " of choir and presbytery 169 ft. + " of Lady Chapel 57 ft. + " of transept, interior 177 ft. +Width of nave with aisles 75 ft. 4 in. + " " without aisles, between piers 29 ft. 6 in. to 31 ft. 6 in. + " of presbytery 75 ft. to 78 ft. + " of west front, exterior 105 ft. + " of transept, interior 32 ft. to 33 ft. 6 in. + " " exterior 54 ft. 4 in. + " of Lady Chapel, interior 24 ft. +Diameter of tower piers, east and west 16 ft. +Distance between tower piers each way 24 ft. +Height of tower piers 43 ft. + " " arches 55 ft. + " of tower 144 ft. +Width of tower, east and west, exterior 47 ft. + " " north and south, exterior 45 ft. +Height of nave ceiling (from floor) 66 ft. 4 in. + " of ridge of high roofs 96 ft. + " of Lady Chapel vault 33 ft. +Total internal area (about) 39,240 sq. ft. +Height of floor above mean sea-level 340 ft. + + [13] These are the dimensions given by Lord Grimthorpe; the + altitudes, except when otherwise stated, are measured from the + level of the floor at the west doorways. + + +[Illustration: GROUND-PLAN OF ST. ALBANS CATHEDRAL.] + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS: THE CATHEDRAL +CHURCH OF SAINT ALBANS*** + + +******* This file should be named 19494-8.txt or 19494-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/4/9/19494 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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