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diff --git a/22880.txt b/22880.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..816e0a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/22880.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2143 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Bell's Cathedrals: A Short Account of Romsey +Abbey, 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: A Short Account of Romsey Abbey + A Description of the Fabric and Notes on the History of the Convent of Ss. Mary & Ethelfleda + + +Author: Thomas Perkins + + + +Release Date: October 3, 2007 [eBook #22880] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS: A SHORT ACCOUNT +OF ROMSEY ABBEY*** + + +E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Anne Storer, 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 22880-h.htm or 22880-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/8/8/22880/22880-h/22880-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/8/8/22880/22880-h.zip) + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + Words and phrases which were italicized in the original have been + surrounded by underscores ('_') in this version. Words or phrases + which were bolded have been surrounded by pound signs ('#'). + + Obvious printer's errors have been corrected without note. + + Inconsistencies in hyphenation or the spelling of proper names and + dialect or obsolete word spellings have been maintained as in the + original. + + + + + +A SHORT ACCOUNT OF ROMSEY ABBEY + +A Description of the Fabric and +Notes on the History of the +Convent of Ss. Mary & Ethelfleda + +by + +THE REV. T. PERKINS +Rector of Turnworth, Dorset +Author of "Amiens," "Rouen," "Wimborne and Christchurch," Etc. + +With XXXII Illustrations + + + + + + + +[Illustration: ROMSEY ABBEY FROM THE EAST] + + +[Illustration: Abbess's Seal] + + + +London George Bell and Sons 1907 + +Chiswick Press: Charles Whittingham and Co. +Tooks Court, Chancery Lane, London. + + + + +PREFACE + + +The architectural and descriptive part of this book is the result of +careful personal examination of the fabric, made when the author has +visited the abbey at various times during the last twenty years. The +illustrations are reproduced from photographs taken by him on the +occasions of these visits. + +The historical information has been derived from many sources. Among these +may especially be mentioned "An Essay descriptive of the Abbey Church of +Romsey," by C. Spence, the first edition of which was published in 1851; +the small official guide sold in the church, and "Records of Romsey Abbey, +compiled from manuscript and printed records," by the Rev. Henry G. D. +Liveing, M.A., Vicar of Hyde, Winchester, 1906. This last-named work +contains all that is at present known, or that is likely to be known, of +the history of the abbey from its foundation early in the ninth century up +to the year 1558. To this book the reader who desires fuller information +and minuter details than could be given in the following pages is +referred. + +The thanks of the writer are due to the late and present Vicars for kind +permission to examine the building, and to take photographs of it from any +point of view he desired. + + TURNWORTH RECTORY, + BLANDFORD, DORSET. + _March, 1907._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + CHAPTER I. HISTORY OF THE BUILDING 15 + II. THE EXTERIOR 27 + III. THE INTERIOR 39 + IV. THE ABBESSES OF ROMSEY 67 + VICARS OF ROMSEY 79 + INDEX 81 + DIMENSIONS OF THE ABBEY CHURCH 82 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + + ROMSEY ABBEY FROM THE EAST _Frontispiece_ + + ABBESS'S SEAL _Title-page_ + + APSIDAL CHAPEL, SOUTH TRANSEPT 14 + + THE NAVE, LOOKING WEST 19 + + JUNCTION OF NORMAN AND EARLY ENGLISH WORK 21 + + VIEW FROM THE NORTH-WEST 23 + + THE ABBESS'S DOOR 26 + + THE WEST END AND SOUTH TRANSEPT 29 + + THE SOUTH TRANSEPT FROM THE WEST 31 + + THE SAXON ROOD 33 + + THE CHOIR, SOUTH SIDE 35 + + THE NAVE, NORTH SIDE 38 + + CYLINDRICAL PIER: NORTH NAVE ARCADE 40 + + THE CLERESTORY OF NAVE 41 + + EARLY ENGLISH BAYS OF THE NAVE 43 + + THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE CHOIR 44 + + TRIFORIUM ARCH IN THE NORTH TRANSEPT 45 + + THE INTERIOR FROM THE WEST 46 + + BASE OF A PIER IN THE NAVE 47 + + ARCADING IN THE TOWER 48 + + IN THE RINGERS' CHAMBER 49 + + THE WEST WALL OF NORTH TRANSEPT 50 + + THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE 51 + + THE AMBULATORY 52 + + THE SOUTH CHOIR AISLE 55 + + SAXON CARVING, SOUTH AISLE 56 + + THE NORTH-EAST ANGLE OF THE CROSSING 57 + + TOMB AND EFFIGY IN THE SOUTH TRANSEPT 61 + + THE NORTH AISLE OF THE NAVE 63 + + THE SOUTH TRANSEPT 66 + + PIER IN THE NORTH NAVE ARCADE 73 + + PLAN _End_ + + +[Illustration: APSIDAL CHAPEL, SOUTH TRANSEPT] + + + + +ROMSEY ABBEY + +CHAPTER I + +HISTORY OF THE BUILDING + + +The etymology of the name Romsey has been much disputed. There can be no +doubt about the meaning of the termination "ey"--island--which we meet +with under different spellings in many place-names, such as Athelney, Ely, +Lundy, Mersea and others, for Romsey stands upon an island, or rather +group of islands, formed by the division of the river Test into a number +of streams, which again flow together to the south of the town, and at +last, after a course of about seven miles, empty themselves into +Southampton Water. But several derivations have been suggested for the +first syllable of the name. Some writers derive it from Rome, and regard +Romsey as a hybrid word taking the place of "Romana insula," the first +word having been shortened and the second translated into Old English, or +Saxon as some prefer to call it. Now it is true that there were several +important Roman stations in the neighbourhood: Sorbiodunum (Old Sarum), +Brige (Broughton), Venta Belgarum (Winchester), and Clausentum (near +Southampton), and in passing to and fro between these the Roman legions +must frequently have marched either through or near to the site of Romsey. +Roman coins found in the immediate neighbourhood clearly show that the +place was inhabited during the Roman occupation. Another derivation is the +Celtic word "Ruimne" (marshy); this would make the name mean "Marshy +island," and there can be no doubt that this would be an apt description +of the place in olden times; against this may be alleged that again the +word would be hybrid. Yet another derivation which avoids this objection +is the Old English "Rum" from whence we get "room" and if we adopt this +derivation Romsey, or Rumsey as it is still sometimes written and more +often pronounced, would mean the roomy or "Spacious Island." The reader +can form his own opinion as to which is the most probable of these three +suggestions. The writer is inclined to favour the third. But the visitor +who, arriving at the railway station either by the branch line via +Redbridge or by that which runs from Eastleigh, or from Salisbury, or +Andover, proceeds to the Abbey, would not realize when he arrived at his +destination that he was in an island, for the minor streams are not +spanned by bridges, but have been completely covered in and run through +small tunnels beneath some of the streets. + +We have no records of Romsey before the original foundation of the Abbey, +nor indeed for many years afterwards. The first authentic mention of the +abbey is found in the chronicle of Florence of Worcester, who died in +1118, and whose work, at least that part of it which deals with English +history, is a Latin translation of the Old English Chronicle. He writes +"In anno 967. Rex Anglorum pacificus Edgarus in monasterio Rumesige, quod +avus suus Rex Anglorum Eadwardus senior construxerat, sanctimoniales +collocavit, sanctamque Marewynnam super eas Abbatismam constituit."[1] + +[1] In the year 967, Eadgar the Peaceable, King of the English, placed +nuns in the monastery which his grandfather, Eadward the Elder, King of +the English, had built, and appointed St. Meriwenna abbess over them. + +This Eadward, also surnamed the Unconquered, was the son and successor of +the greatest of the Old English Kings, AElfred, and reigned from 901 to +925. Sometime during his reign he founded the Romsey nunnery. There is no +documentary evidence to fix the exact date, but it is generally assumed to +have been 907. It is said that about two centuries earlier there had been +a monastery at Nursling nearer the mouth of the Test, and on the tideway +of the river. It was here that the great missionary to the Germans Winfrid +or St. Boniface had been trained, but it was within reach of the ships of +the Danish pirates, and in 716 they had ravaged it and reduced it to such +utter ruin that scarcely one stone remained on another to mark the site. +This monastery was never rebuilt, and Eadward, probably having its fate in +mind, now chose a safer position for the new foundation, for the river at +Romsey was too shallow to allow of the seagoing vessels of the marauding +Danes to reach it. Eadward's eldest daughter AElflaed and her sister +AEthelhild both adopted the religious life, and lived for a time at the +monastery at Wilton. Here AEthelhild was buried, while AElflaed was buried at +Romsey. Their half-sister St. Eadburh became abbess of St. Mary's Abbey at +Winchester; and it is highly probable that AElflaed ruled as abbess over the +sister establishment at Romsey. Probably this was only a small religious +community. Whether it was continued or not when she died no record remains +to tell, but, as we have seen, it was refounded by Eadgar the Peaceable in +967, and on Christmas day of the year 974 St. Meriwenna was put in charge +of the completed Abbey, which was constituted according to the Benedictine +Rule. Some traces of this church still remain, though only discovered in +1900. Under the pavement of the present church, immediately below the +tower, the foundations of an apsidal east ending of a church were found; +now as it is well known that this is a Norman form for the east end, it +must not be supposed that this apse was built in the time of Eadgar, but +it very probably occupied the same position as the choir of his church. +Other foundations were then looked for and found. And as a result of this +investigation, it appears that the nave of Eadgar's church extended as far +to the west as the fourth bay of the present nave, that its crossing lay +immediately to the west of the present transept, and that the apsidal +choir was as wide as the present nave, and extended eastward as far as the +screen now dividing the choir from the transept. Thus the total interior +length of the church was about 90 ft. instead of about 220 ft., the length +of the present building. Although the church was comparatively small, +Eadgar made provision in the domestic buildings for one hundred nuns, a +number rarely exceeded in after days. Peter de Langtoft, a canon of +Bridlington who died early in the fourteenth century, writing of Eadgar +says: + + Mikille he wirschiped God, and served our Lady; + The Abbey of Romege he feffed richely + With rentes full gode and kirkes of pris, + He did ther in of Nunnes a hundreth ladies. + +Eadgar's church, however, was not destined to last long. Early in the year +1003, according to one of the few legends connected with the abbey, the +form of St. AElflaed appeared during mass to the Abbess Elwina, and warned +her that the Danes were at hand, and would plunder and destroy the abbey; +whereupon she, not disobedient to the heavenly vision, gathered her nuns +together, and, collecting all the treasures that could be carried away, +sought safety at Winchester, and there they abode until the danger was +past; on their return they found the abbey in ruins. The inroad of the +Danes in this year, led by Swegen, was undertaken as a retribution on the +English for the cowardly and barbarous massacre on St. Brice's Day, +November 13th of the previous year, in which Swegen's sister, in spite of +the fact that she had embraced Christianity, had been condemned to death +by AEthelred.[2] + +There is no record of the rebuilding of the abbey after this destruction, +but it could not have been long delayed, since we hear that in 1012 +AEthelred's wife AElfgyfu (who afterwards married Knut, and is known under +the name Emma) gave lands to the abbey, and shortly after Knut came to the +throne, we learn from a still existing list that, including two who are +marked as abbesses, there were fifty-four nuns at Romsey.[3] + +[2] According to some accounts, the raid in which the abbey was destroyed +took place in 994, but the later date is more probable since it is said +that Swegen's son, Knut, who was born in 994, took part in it. + +[3] This list shows us what were the names most in favour at the time. +Eight nuns bore the name of AElfgyfu, six of AElflaed, four of Eadgyth +(Edith), four of Eadgyfu, three of Wulflaed; besides these there were two, +each bearing the names of AEthelgyfu, AElfgyth, AElfhild, Byrhflaed, +Wulfthryth, Wulfrun. It is worthy of note that none of these, and only one +of the remaining seventeen nuns, namely, Godgyfu, had a scriptural or +Christian name. The old names common among their heathen ancestors still +survived, no less than ten being compounded of the word AElf, the modern +Elf, or mountain spirit. + +The church restored after the raid mentioned above probably remained +untouched until after the Conquest, when possibly the apsidal east end was +built. It would seem that about 1120 the present church was begun, as +usual from the east. As this church is so much larger than the earlier +one, it is quite possible that its outer walls were built without in +any way disturbing the eleventh century church within them, so that the +services could be conducted without interruption. The general character of +the work is late Norman. At this time a double eastern chapel measuring +about 21 ft. from east to west and 25 ft. from north to south, as we know +from excavations made by the late vicar, the Rev. Edward Lyon Berthon, was +built to the east of the choir. This was entered by two arches, which +may still be seen leading out of the ambulatory. Traces of the position of +two altars were found; the floor was lower than that of the rest of the +church. + +[Illustration: THE NAVE, LOOKING WEST] + +The three western bays were added in the thirteenth century, and at the +end of the same, or the beginning of the fourteenth, two windows with +plate tracery were inserted in the east wall, and two chapels measuring +forty feet from east to west took the place of the double Norman chapels +mentioned above. + +It will be seen, then, that the church shows specimens of Norman, Early +English, and Decorated work, all of the best periods of the style, and +therefore it is a splendid example for the student of architecture. We +may be thankful that, with the exception of a few windows on the north +side there is no Perpendicular work. When we remember that the wealth +which flowed into the coffers of many cathedral and abbey churches during +the Middle Ages chiefly in the form of offerings from pilgrims at +wonder-working shrines, was often used in almost entirely rebuilding, or, +at any rate remodelling, the churches in the fifteenth century, we may be +surprised to find so little work of this period at Romsey. Possibly it is +due to the fact that it did not possess any such shrine, and so did not +attract pilgrims. + +It is not improbable that Henry of Blois, the builder of the Church at St. +Cross, near Winchester, may have had something to do with designing the +Norman part of the church at Romsey. We know that Mary, the daughter of +his brother, King Stephen, was abbess from about 1155 until she broke her +vows, left the Abbey, and married Matthew of Alsace, son of the Count of +Flanders, about 1161. Henry was Bishop of Winchester from 1129 until 1171. +What more likely, then, than that Mary should consult her uncle, known to +be a great builder, about the erection of the large church at Romsey? + +In the time of Juliana, who probably succeeded Mary, and was certainly +abbess for about thirty years before her death in 1199, the transitional +work in the clerestory of the nave was carried out. + +[Illustration: JUNCTION OF NORMAN AND EARLY ENGLISH WORK, ON THE NORTH +SIDE OF THE NAVE] + +In the next century the church was extended westward by the erection of +three bays and the west front with its three tall lancets and the small +cinquefoil window above the central one, all inclosed within a pointed +comprising arch. This work was done during the time when Henry III was +king; there are records of several gifts to the abbey of timber by him +from the royal forest. This was no doubt used in constructing the roof +of the westward extension of the nave and aisles. The next work was the +insertion of the two large east windows and the building of the pair of +Decorated chapels, one of which was dedicated to Our Lady, and the other +to St. AEthelflaed, or Ethelfleda, as her name was then spelt. They were +probably divided by an arcade, and stood until the dissolution of the +Abbey, when they were pulled down, being of no further use in the church +of the abbey which was purchased by the people of Romsey and converted +into a parish church. + +[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE NORTH-WEST] + +It has been said that little Perpendicular work is to be seen in Romsey +Abbey, but some did exist at one time. At Romsey, as at Sherborne, there +were disputes between the abbey and the town, though fortunately at Romsey +an amicable arrangement was arrived at. The north aisle of the abbey +church had been for many years set apart for the use of the people of +Romsey as a parish church, and was known by the name of St. Laurence; in +the year 1333 the abbess endowed a vicarage. As the town increased in size +the north aisle became too strait for the parishioners, and at times of +great festivals they used to encroach on the nuns' church. This led to +disputes, and the matter was referred to William of Wykeham, the +celebrated Bishop of Winchester, remodeller of his cathedral church, and +founder of Winchester School, and New College, Oxford. He persuaded the +nuns to give up the north arm of the crossing to make a choir for a new +parish church to be built adjoining the abbey church, in such a way that +the north aisle should be cut off by a wall and included in the new +church. The north aisle of the abbey church thus became the south aisle of +the parish church, the new building its nave, and the north end of the +transept of the abbey church the parish chancel, the Norman apsidal +chantry attached to the transept made a fitting eastern termination to the +chancel. A chantry of the Confraternity of St. George, built on the north +side of the new church, took the place of a north aisle. This was +separated from the nave by a carved oak screen, part of which has been +utilized in the construction of the screen between the nave and choir of +the existing church. The building of this new parish church unfortunately +involved the destruction of the north porch of the abbey church. When, +after the dissolution of the nunnery, the people bought the abbey church +of the King, the nave and north aisle of the new parish church were no +longer needed, and were therefore demolished, the windows were inserted in +the arches that had been cut in the wall of the north aisle of the abbey +church, when these openings were again walled up. Two of these have, +however, been removed, and modern Norman windows constructed on the old +mouldings have taken their place. A doorway which had been cut in the +north wall of the transept when the new parish church was built was no +longer used after the church was pulled down, and a low side window near +it has been blocked up and converted into a cupboard. The two eastern +chapels were also demolished, and their east windows were inserted in +the masonry used to block up the entrances into the chapels from the +ambulatory. During the time that succeeded the Reformation many changes +were made in the fittings of the church, galleries were erected in the +transept and at the west end of the nave where the organ was placed. The +walls were covered with whitewash, and probably with a view to make it +easier to warm the church, walls were built behind the triforium arcading +all round the church. These walls are shown in some of the illustrations +made a few years ago; they have now been entirely removed. The internal +appearance of the church about the middle of the nineteenth century was +extremely distasteful to those affected by the Gothic revival, and +drastic changes were made. "Restoration" was begun at first under the +direction of Mr. Ferrey, who also restored Christchurch Priory. The inner +roof of the three western bays of the nave aisles which had not been, like +those of the other bays, vaulted in stone, were restored in wood and +plaster about 1850, when the Hon. Gerard Noel was vicar; the nave roof was +rebuilt a little later. Under the direction of Mr. Christian, architect to +the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, the chancel roof was restored, and the +roof of the north arm of the transept was taken in hand by Mr. Berthon. +Other work has been done more recently, and the present vicar has the +intention of building a porch with a room over it on the north side, to +take the place of the porch which was destroyed when the nave of the +church of St. Laurence was built in the time of William of Wykeham, as +already described. + +The curious wooden erection on the top of the tower, somewhat resembling a +hen coop or gigantic lobster pot, was added in comparatively recent times +to contain the bells; drawings made at the beginning of the nineteenth +century do not show it, but, those made about the middle of the century +do. It is ugly, and adds nothing to the dignity of the church; probably +the tower was originally crowned by a pyramidal roof which gave it the +appearance of height so much required. + +The east ends of the two choir aisles have in quite recent years been +provided with altars and fitted up as chapels for week-day services. The +two apsidal chapels attached to the transept are used as vestries, the one +on the south for clergy and that on the north for the choir. + +[Illustration: THE ABBESS'S DOOR] + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE EXTERIOR + + +The site of Romsey abbey church is not a commanding one. There are some +cathedral churches, such as Ely, built on marsh-formed islands which rise +considerably above the surrounding flats, and so form conspicuous objects +in the landscape seen from far or near; but this is not the case with the +abbey church with which we have to deal. The level of its floor does not +rise much above the level of the river valley in which it stands, the +building is not large or lofty, the parapets of its central tower, about +92 ft. above the ground, rise little above the ridges of the roofs of +nave and choir and the north arm of the transept. But it has one great +advantage: there is no part of the exterior of the building that cannot be +fully examined. Perhaps we might be glad if the space from which it may be +seen were here and there a little wider, yet nowhere do we find a garden +wall or a building barring our passage as we make the circuit of the +exterior of the church. On the north side lies the churchyard stretching a +considerable distance to the north, from which an admirable general view +is obtained; and again, there is open ground to the west, so that the +unique and splendid western facade can be well seen. The space to the +south side of the building is more limited; it is entered through an iron +gateway running in a line with the west front; should this gate be locked, +the space to the east of it may be entered by passing from the inside of +the church through either the nuns' or the abbess's doorway; when access +to this little strip of churchyard has once been gained, it is easy to +pass right along the south side of the nave round the south end of the +crossing and then to the eastern wall of the ambulatory. + +As we follow the winding lanes and streets that lead from the station to +the church, we get our first view of it from the road that skirts its +northern wall. On the left hand there is a wall running from the +north-east corner of the choir, which conceals indeed a few details of +the lower part of the east end, but does not hide the two beautiful +geometrical windows in the east wall of the choir, inserted within the +semicircular headed mouldings of the original Norman windows. We may also +see the square-faced termination of the north choir aisle projecting +eastward of the wall that forms the east end of the choir. The next +noteworthy object is an apsidal chapel or chantry running out from the +east wall of the transept, its walls pierced by wide round headed windows. +This is also a good point from which to study the clerestory as seen in +choir and crossing. The same general arrangement prevails throughout the +building, though here and there certain modifications will be noticed. +Each clerestory bay on the north side has a window consisting of three +arches, the central and wider one is glazed, the two others are blocked +with stone. Three tiers (two in each) of round headed windows light the +ends of the transepts. + +On the north side the windows of the nave aisle are very irregular; this +is due to the fact, mentioned in Chapter I, that considerable alterations +were made in this part of the church at the beginning of the fourteenth +century in order to provide a parish church for the inhabitants of the +town. The north wall of the aisle was largely cut away in order to throw +this aisle open to the new building erected parallel to the Abbey church, +which was to be used as the nave of the parish church. Joining this on the +north side was a chantry of the confraternity of St. George which formed +a kind of north aisle for the parish church. Windows would of course be +required to light this new building and would of necessity be designed in +accordance with the style--the Perpendicular--then prevailing. When, after +the dissolution of the nunnery, the Abbey church became the church of the +parish, the recently erected Perpendicular church would be no longer of +any use, and the keeping of it in repair a continual source of expense; +hence it was pulled down, the openings in what had been the original +north wall of the nave aisle of the Abbey church were walled up, and the +mouldings and glass of the Perpendicular windows on the north side of the +parish church were inserted in these new walls. Hence we get windows of +different heights and levels between the great north door and the +transept: recent alterations have still further increased the +irregularity. The parish church did not, apparently, extend so far to the +west as the Abbey church, hence the two windows to the west of the north +door were not interfered with when the parish church was built. It has +been already pointed out that the three western bays of the nave are of +later date and later in style than the rest of the nave; they were built +in the thirteenth century, and consequently all the windows found in this +part of the church have pointed heads. + +[Illustration: THE WEST END AND SOUTH TRANSEPT] + +The #West Front#. A unique feature of this church is its west front. It is +one of singular beauty, but its beauty does not depend on any enrichment +of decoration, for a simpler front it would be impossible to find: there +is not a single carved stone about it. Its beauty is due to the exquisite +proportions of the various parts. The nave and aisles are of the same +length. At the corners of the aisles are rectangular buttresses and +two similar ones stand at the ends of the main walls of the nave. +String-courses, starting from the aisle buttresses, run below the aisle +windows and round the buttresses of the nave, but are not continued across +the nave beneath the lancet windows. The buttresses do not quite rise to +the full height of the side walls of the nave, and not a pinnacle is to be +met with anywhere. The sill of the west window is about fifteen feet from +the ground, and from it three tall lancets about four feet wide rise to a +height of nearly thirty feet. They are placed under a comprising pointed +arch, just beneath the point of which, and over the central lancet, is a +cinquefoil opening. The wall finishes in a gable and the whole west wall +is a true termination of the nave which lies behind. We notice that the +glass is set well towards the outside of the openings, and also that no +western doorway exists or ever existed here. The probable reason of this +is that it was a nuns' church, and that the nuns found their way into the +church from the domestic buildings through the doors on the south side. +There is still a doorway (there was formerly a porch) on the north side, +by which, on special occasions, outsiders were admitted to the north +aisle, but as the parishioners had no right of entry into the nave it was +unnecessary to make any provision for them in the form of a west doorway. +From this position at the west of the building we notice that the roof of +the south end of the transept differs from that at the north end. We can +see no tiles above the parapet. Originally, no doubt, all the roofs had a +high pitch, their central ridge rising almost to the parapet of the tower, +but here, as in many another church, when the timbers of the roof decayed, +it was found more economical to decrease the slope of the roof, and in +some cases simply to lay horizontal beams across the tops of the wall, +which of course did not give rise to the outward thrust of sloping +timbers. This appears to have happened at Romsey; but, since the time when +the restoration was begun, all the roofs save that of the south end of the +transept have been raised to their original pitch. This roof, no doubt, +will in due course be altered in a similar way. + +A fine and noteworthy feature in this church is the corbel table which +runs nearly all round it. Here and here only do we find any carving on the +exterior walls, but these corbels are carved into many fantastic devices: +among them we find the very common forms of evil spirits and lost souls +driven away from the sacred building. A legend is connected with a corbel +stone near the west end of the north aisle. It is fashioned into the +likeness of a grindstone and it is handed down by tradition that once upon +a time towards the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the +thirteenth a nobleman ran away with a blacksmith's wife, but afterwards +repented of his sin and had imposed on him as penance the completion of +the west end of the Abbey church. The grindstone, emblem of the +blacksmith's calling, was, it is said, placed on the newly erected western +bay to commemorate the incident. + +[Illustration: SOUTH TRANSEPT, FROM THE WEST] + +The #South Side# of the Church differs from the north in some respects: +there is not the same rich arcading along the clerestory level of the +nave, only the real windows appear, not the blind arcading. The windows +of the south aisle have not been altered and re-altered as have been those +of the north aisle. Their sills are set sufficiently high to allow the +cloister arcades to be placed below them, but the cloister alleys have all +disappeared. There is a fine late thirteenth-century door in the second +bay from the western end of the south aisle, and another very beautiful +one known as the Abbess's door at the extreme east end of the wall of the +south nave aisle, in Norman style (see p. 26). The mouldings round the +head are richly ornamented, and two twisted columns stand on each side of +the door. Unfortunately a slanting groove has been cut through the upper +mouldings of it. It is said that at one time a stonemason's shed stood +here, probably the mason employed after the purchase of the church by the +town, to keep the building in repair. We may regret the mutilation of the +doorway, yet at the same time not condemn the existence of this shed as an +unmixed evil, for it covered and protected a most interesting relic on the +west wall of the transept from destruction by wind and sun and rain--the +celebrated #Romsey Rood#, which, as far as England is concerned, is +absolutely unique. The illustration reproduced from a negative taken about +twenty years ago will give a better idea of the character and position of +the rood than verbal description. Since the photograph was taken, a +projecting pent house has been very wisely erected over the crucifix to +protect it from the weather, but at the same time the addition does not +exhibit it to advantage; hence the photograph which shows its previous +condition has become valuable. Various opinions as to the date of this +crucifix have been held. The first hasty opinion likely to be formed is +that it is not older than the wall in which it appears, and therefore must +be of Norman date, but careful examination of the stone work will show +that it is older than the wall, and has been inserted in its present +position, probably at the time when the existing Norman transept was +built. Mr. Edward S. Prior, in his "History of Gothic Art in England," +says that it is the best work of its date, in high relief of any size to +be found in England, and adds that it is by some considered to be of Saxon +date. This seems very probable. It is Byzantine in character. The limbs +are clothed in a short tunic; the figure does not hang drooping from the +nails, the arms are stretched out horizontally, the head is erect, and the +eyes open. It represents not a dead Christ, but Christ reigning on the +Tree; above the head the Father's hand is shown surrounded at the wrist by +clouds. This may be taken to represent the pointing out of the beloved +Son, in whom the Father is well pleased, or we may suppose that the hand +has been extended downwards in answer to the words "Father, into Thy hands +I commend my spirit." Some clue to the date is given by a drawing in a +manuscript in the British Museum--the homilies of Archbishop AElfric (about +994)--in which a crucifix almost identical with this may be seen. By the +side of the figure is a rectangular recess, with small holes at the top +to carry off smoke: probably it was customary to keep a lamp or taper +constantly burning within this recess. The crucifix, considering its age +and position, is in a wonderful state of preservation. How it escaped +mutilation in the seventeenth century is hard to explain, for a crucifix +would be particularly obnoxious to the Puritan mind, and, standing as this +one does almost on the level of the ground, it would seem to have been +especially exposed to risk of destruction. Fortunately, however, it has +escaped with only the loss of part of the right forearm and shoulder. + +[Illustration: THE SAXON ROOD] + +Passing round the south face of the transept, we come to the #apsidal +chapel# attached to its eastern wall. (See illustration, p. 14.) The +round-headed windows and the original parapet are worthy of notice. Quite +recently a new high-pitched roof has been placed over this chantry. The +illustration shows it before this change was made. Beyond this we come to +the south aisle of the choir, with its three bays, each containing a +round-headed window. The arrangement here is rather peculiar. The east +wall of the choir, containing the two fourteenth-century windows side by +side, rises just to the east of the second bay; the outer eastern wall of +lower height at the extremity of the third bay is the east wall of the +ambulatory or retro-choir. This was originally pierced by two arches, +leading into the two parallel chapels, dedicated respectively to St. Mary +and St. Ethelfleda, which were built in the fourteenth century, taking the +place of two chapels, in Norman style, only about half their length +measured from west to east. These two chapels were pulled down after the +parish bought the church, to save the expense of keeping them in repair. +The two arches leading into them were built up, but the geometrical east +windows of the chapels were inserted in them, and now give light to the +retro-choir. The ends of the choir aisles are apsidal within, but flat +without. This arrangement leads to great thickness at the corners of the +walls. + +At one time there was a detached campanile for the bells of Romsey. This +was pulled down in 1625 and the bells placed in the wooden cage erected +for them on the roof of the central tower. At this time there were six +bells only, but in 1791 they were, according to one account, taken down +and sold, and a fresh peal of eight bells cast for the church. According +to another account the six bells were melted down, fresh metal added, and +from this the larger peal of eight bells was cast. It is said to be in +perfect condition now, the tenor bell weighing 26 cwt. + +[Illustration: THE CHOIR, SOUTH SIDE] + +The stone of which the Abbey Church is built, was quarried at Binstead, in +the Isle of Wight. These quarries are now entirely worked out, so that no +stone can be obtained thence for repairs. + +It is not to be expected that the restoration has met with universal +approval, but it may be truly said that the alterations have been far less +drastic than in many churches, and that the interior of the Abbey Church, +as we see it to-day, has much the appearance which it had after it had +become the parish church of Romsey about the middle of the sixteenth +century. + +[Illustration: THE NAVE, NORTH SIDE] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE INTERIOR + + +Immediately after entering the Abbey Church by the north door, it will be +well, in order to get a general idea of its size and beauty, to take one's +stand close to the west wall under the large lancet window. There is +nothing to break the view from the west to the east walls of choir and +ambulatory, a total distance of about 250 feet; for the wooden screen +which separates the choir from the crossing is too light and open to break +the vista. It will be noticed that with the exception of the western bays +of the nave, and the three-light geometrical windows in the eastern wall +of the choir, and the two windows of the ambulatory, everything is Norman +or transitional in character. The aisles have stone quadripartite vaulting +except in the added bays to the west, where the vaulting is merely +plaster. The high roof, like many in Norman churches, is a wooden one, for +Norman builders rarely dared to throw a stone vault over the nave or +choir, for as yet the principle that allows such a piece of engineering +to be carried out with safety, namely, the balancing of thrust and +counter-thrust, by means of vaulting ribs and external flying buttresses, +had not been fully realized in England. In some few cases it is true that +late Norman vaults may be found, but more often where stone vaults exist +in Norman churches they were added in after times. In Romsey Abbey one of +the most noteworthy features is that very little alteration was made in +the church when once it was built. True there was a westward extension in +the thirteenth century, and some insertion of windows in the fourteenth +century, but nothing of the original church seems to have been swept away, +as was so often the case, to make room for extensions and alterations. + +The #Nave# has seven bays, to the east of which is the transept, and beyond +it the choir, which has three bays. Further to the east, as we shall find +in due course, may be seen the low vaulted retro-choir or ambulatory of +one bay. + +[Illustration: CYLINDRICAL PIER: NORTH NAVE ARCADE] + +It is well known that Norman choirs were generally short, and that when we +find a considerable length of building eastward of the crossing, this +eastward extension was made in the thirteenth or fourteenth century; the +new building being often begun to the east of the Norman choir, and the +choir left untouched until the eastern part was finished, when very +frequently the old Norman choir and presbytery were demolished, and the +new work joined on to the transept by masonry in the later style. + +The inconvenience of a short architectural choir was very often avoided by +bringing the ritual choir westward into the nave, an arrangement which +exists up to the present day at the Abbey Church at Westminster. This +seems to have been done at Romsey, the choir extending across the transept +as far as the third pillar of the nave, counting from the east. But +although the eastern bays of the nave and all of those of the choir are +Norman, yet they are by no means of an ordinary type. There is much about +this church that is unique, and certain arrangements are found only here +and at St. Friedeswide's, now Christ Church, Oxford, Dunstable Priory, +and Jedburgh Abbey. There is no strict uniformity: one bay frequently +differs from another in its details. + +[Illustration: THE CLERESTORY OF NAVE: SOUTH SIDE] + +[Illustration: EARLY ENGLISH BAYS OF THE NAVE] + +It may be well at the outset to point out that of the three horizontal +divisions of the nave the main arcading occupies approximately +three-sevenths of the total height of the wall, while the triforium and +clerestory each occupy about two-sevenths. + +[Illustration: THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE CHOIR] + +[Illustration: TRIFORIUM ARCH IN THE NORTH TRANSEPT] + +The three western bays are early English in date and style, but they +differ considerably from the typical early English of Salisbury; we +do not find the detached shafts of Purbeck marble, nor the central +cylindrical shaft; the bases, too, are rectangular, nor are there any +enriched mouldings with dog-tooth ornament. In the triforium in some cases +there are three, in other cases two subordinate arches, each with cusped +heads, and the wall space above these smaller arches and the comprising +one is pierced by a quatrefoil opening. The clerestory throughout the +nave, whether in the Early English bays to the west or the Norman bays to +the east, is of the same character, having three pointed arches in each +bay with a window on the outside of the middle one. A passage protected by +two iron rails runs right round the church at this level, and it is well +worth ascending to this passage, as from it a good idea of the height of +the church may be obtained. The clerestory of the transept and also that +of the choir bear a general likeness to that of the nave, but are of +earlier date, the arcading having semicircular and not pointed arches. The +illustrations will show how shafts run on the face of the arcading right +up from floor to roof. In the Norman part of the building the triforium is +very peculiar; generally speaking, there are two subordinate round-headed +arches, under the general round-headed comprising arch, but the tympanum +or space above the former is left open, and from the point where the two +smaller arches meet a shaft runs up to the centre of the main outer arch. +I do not know of any similar arrangement in any other church, and, as it +is a very peculiar one, hard to explain clearly in words, the reader +should carefully study the illustrations in which the triforium appears. +On the east side of the north arm of the transept a more elaborate +arrangement of one of the arches may be seen. Here there are three, +instead of two, subsidiary arches, which are interlaced, but here, also, +the shaft above them appears, though necessarily much reduced in height. +These shafts do not add to the beauty of the triforium, and they hardly +seem necessary to give support to the outer arch (see illustrations, pp. +44, 45). + +[Illustration: THE INTERIOR FROM THE WEST] + +[Illustration: BASE OF A PIER IN THE NAVE] + +The arch at the east end of the triforium on the south side, which +opens out to the transept, is worthy of special notice. Under the outer +round-headed arch is a solid tympanum, beneath which are two very narrow +round-headed arches, separated by a huge cylindrical shaft which has as +its base a large plain rectangular block of stone. + +The two eastern bays of the nave on both sides are peculiar. Between them +runs up a solid cylindrical pier, which has its capital at the level of +the spring of the main arches of the triforium. The arches of the main +arcade spring from corbels on the sides of these great pillars, so that it +seems as if the triforium gallery were hanging beneath the arches which +spring below the clerestory. A somewhat similar arrangement may be seen at +the cathedral church of Christ Church at Oxford; some authorities have +from this similarity asserted that the buildings must have been +contemporaneous, but this does not seem to have been the case. Mr. Prior +considers the Romsey work forty years earlier than that at Oxford, dating +it about 1120 against the Oxford work, to which he assigns the date of +about 1160. It may be noticed that the Romsey builder did not continue +this arrangement throughout the nave and choir, whereas this was done at +Oxford. + +[Illustration: ARCADING IN THE TOWER ABOVE THE MAIN ARCHES] + +Generally speaking, the Norman piers at Romsey are compound ones, formed +of many minor shafts. The plain cylindrical form seen at Gloucester and +Waltham is not met with at Romsey except in the pillar described above. +The Norman aisles have stone vaults, except in the three western bays, +and it is noteworthy that the arches leading into the transept are of +horseshoe type. These are very elaborately moulded, the outer sides being +ornamented with chevron decoration. The capitals in the choir aisles are +elaborately and grotesquely carved, though it is not easy to interpret the +subjects of this carving; on one capital in the north aisle is represented +a fight between two kings, stayed by two winged figures; in the south +aisle a crowned figure stands, holding a pyramid, possibly intended as a +symbol of the church, while near by a seated figure and an angel between +them hold a V-shaped scroll on which may be read the words, "Robert me +fecit." Another somewhat similar chevron bears the words, "Robert tute +consule x. d. s.", but who Robert was it is impossible to say. Henry I had +a son Robert, Earl of Gloucester, who is spoken of as "Consul"; he it was +who fought for his half-sister Maud against Stephen. He would have been +alive at the time the church was built, but whether he had any part in the +erection of it we cannot say, though he seems to have been interested in +building, for the castles at Bristol and Cardiff and the tower of +Tewkesbury Abbey Church are attributed to him. + +[Illustration: IN THE RINGERS' CHAMBER OF THE TOWER] + +The tower of Romsey was at one time a lantern, open to the roof, but when +the bells were placed in the wooden cage on the roof, a ringing floor was +inserted below. The arcading running round the interior of the tower is +very beautiful. The ringers' chamber is a spacious room, a good idea of +the plain architectural character of which is given in the accompanying +illustration. In the west wall of the north end of the transept a +perpendicular window has been cut through a group of Norman windows, +showing how little regard mediaeval builders had for the preservation of +earlier work. Opposite to this is one of the two apsidal chantries, which +in its time has served various purposes. Originally it was a chapel or +chantry where mass was said for the repose of the soul of some private +benefactor of the Abbey; then it became the eastern apse of the parish +church of St. Lawrence; still later it was used as a school, and now +serves the purpose of a choir vestry. There are within it two piscinae and +two aumbries at different levels, indicating, no doubt, an alteration of +level in the altar itself during the period that this chantry was in use. +An elaborate monument now stands under the eastern wall. + +[Illustration: THE WEST WALL OF NORTH TRANSEPT] + +In Mr. Spence's "Essay on the Abbey Church of Romsey" (1851), this tomb is +described as standing in the south ambulatory. It commemorates one Robert +Brackley, who died Aug. 14, 1628. + + A man that gave to the poor + Some means out of his little store + Let none therefore this fame deny him, + But rather take example by him + In spight of death in after dayes, + To purchase to himself like prayse. + +The tomb, which is of imitation porphyry, takes the form of a sarcophagus, +beneath an arch the soffit of which is adorned with red and white roses. +Corinthian pillars of black marble support the structure. + +[Illustration: THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE] + +In the #North Choir Aisle#, on opposite sides, may be seen two interesting +mediaeval relics. On the north side is part of a fourteenth-century +reredos, probably that which stood behind the high altar. It was found at +the back of the present altar, concealed behind the regulation panels on +which the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments were painted. It had +evidently been itself partially repainted in a rougher style than the +original. The painting represents the Resurrection. The portrait of an +abbess is to be seen in the left-hand corner; above is a row of ten +figures--saints, bishops, and holy women. On the opposite wall, carefully +preserved behind a sheet of glass, is a piece of fifteenth-century +needlework; originally it was a cope, and was in more recent times used as +an altar cloth, its shape having of course been altered to adapt it to its +new use. + +The east end of the north choir aisle, internally apsidal though not +externally, is now fitted up with an altar as a chapel for week-day or +early morning services. Passing to the south we enter the ambulatory. It +is vaulted in stone, and the plain horseshoe arches at the end without any +ribs (see illustration), are worthy of notice. In this space several +interesting relics of the old abbey, and some conjectural models of +the church in its former condition, may be seen. Here, too, is a +fifteenth-century walnut wood chest: and here are two stone cressets, +possibly used by the builders, which when done with were built by them +into the walls, where they remained until discovered during the +nineteenth-century restoration of the church. + +[Illustration: THE AMBULATORY, LOOKING NORTH] + +Among the relics is a very curious one which was found in 1839. A grave +was being dug in the south aisle near the abbess's door, and about five +feet below the floor the workmen came upon a singular leaden coffin. It +was 18 in. wide at the head and tapered gradually to 13 in. at the foot; +it was only 5 ft. long and 15 in. deep. The lead was very thick, and the +seams were folded over and welded, no solder being used. The lead was much +decayed. The curious thing about it is that when it was opened not a bone +was found within it; the lead coffin had contained an oaken shell which +crumbled into dust on exposure to the air, but within the coffin lying on +a block of oak, so shaped as to receive the head of the corpse, was a +tress of auburn hair forming a plait about eighteen inches long. It was +in perfect condition and looked as if the skull had only recently been +removed from it. Why the hair and the block on which it lay should alone +have been preserved is sufficiently mysterious; but there are other +problems difficult of solution connected with this relic; it was found +beneath a mass of concrete and rubbish; moreover the coffin lay partly +beneath one of the piers of the main arcading of the nave, and was not +placed in the usual direction, east and west, but the head was turned +towards the north-west. This leads one to suppose that this coffin was +originally buried in one of the earlier churches, and may have been +somewhat disturbed from its original position at the time when the Norman +church was built. Anyhow, it is strange that we should be able to look on +that tress of golden hair probably belonging to some young damsel of high +degree, one akin, it may be, to the royal house of Wessex, who was being +educated at this Saxon nunnery so many centuries ago. + +This relic was at one time left exposed, but as it was thought that the +hair was shrinking and losing its colour, it was covered with glass and +kept in a locked wooden case. + +Here, too, may be seen several coins, including a "long cross" silver +penny, not earlier than the second half of the thirteenth century, which +was dug up in the churchyard; a ball probably discharged from a +Parliamentary culverin which was found embedded in the north face of the +tower; a clumsy pair of forceps which were used for extracting the teeth +of nuns suffering from toothache; a mason's punch found under the floor of +the destroyed Lady Chapel, and a Roman spearhead found at Greatbridge, a +short distance to the north of the town. + +But among many precious relics, one recently recovered for the church is +of the greatest interest, namely, the Romsey Psalter. + +This is a small octavo manuscript containing thirty pages of vellum +measuring 6.9 by 4.7 inches, each page containing as a rule twenty-two +lines. The approximate date is probably about the middle of the fifteenth +century. This is arrived at partly from the character of the writing, and +partly from the fact that the Kalendar in it contains no mention of the +Feast of the Visitation of the Virgin on 2nd July, a feast which was +ordered to be used by the convocation of the province of Canterbury in +1480. Hence it would seem that this Psalter with its Kalendar must have +been written before this date. The capital letters are painted either red +or blue, and besides these there are eight illuminated initial letters, +seven of which occupy a space equivalent to eight manuscript lines, and +the other a space equal to nine lines. Connected with these illuminated +letters are floral borders on the left-hand side of the page, and in most +cases at the top or bottom also. The first and last pages of the book are +soiled, probably from the book for some long period of its existence +having been left lying about without covers. The present binding is of +much more recent date. + +There are reasons for supposing that the book was the private property of +some abbess or nun, or, at any rate, of some one connected with the +nunnery, and not a public service book. + +It is also thought that the book was written by a Franciscan friar for the +use of some one in a Benedictine house. For in the invocation of saints in +the Litany which the book contains, the names of the monastic saints are +arranged in the following order: Benedict, Francis, Anthony, Dominic +(Bernard being omitted), instead of the usual order: Anthony, Benedict, +Bernard, Dominic, Francis. + +The fact that the death days added to the Kalendar in the sixteenth +century are chiefly those of the abbesses of St. Mary's nunnery, +Winchester, seems to indicate that the book somehow before that date had +passed from Romsey to the nunnery at Winchester. Of its further history +nothing is known save that at one time it belonged to a certain T. H. +Lloyd, whose name is written in it, until at last it was advertised for +sale by Quaritch in his catalogue of old books in 1900. The Dean of +Winchester happened to see this list, and called the attention of the +Vicar of Romsey to the fact that a book of such interest might, provided +the money to purchase it could be found, once more pass back into the +possession of the church, where it had been used in its early days. There +was little difficulty in collecting the money, and the book may now be +seen preserved in a glass case in the ambulatory at Romsey. + +[Illustration: THE SOUTH CHOIR AISLE] + +It is worth notice that in this book the Psalms are so divided that the +first 109 would be recited at Mattins in the course of a week, the others +being used at Vespers during the same time. + +There are certain hymns appointed for use on Sundays, canticles from the +Old and New Testament, the Te Deum, Benedicite, and Quicunque Vult. Also +a Litany, and sundry additional prayers. + +[Illustration: SAXON CARVING AT THE EAST END OF THE SOUTH AISLE] + +The east end of the #South Choir Aisle# corresponding to that of the north +choir aisle is now fitted up with an altar for week-day services. But this +chapel has in it one of the oldest if not the very oldest piece of carved +work connected with the abbey. Taking the place of a reredos, is a carving +of the Crucifixion of unmistakable pre-Conquest character, its probable +date is about 1030. The figures are Byzantine in character, and besides +the Virgin and St. John who are so often represented in carvings and +paintings of the Crucifixion, there are two of the Roman soldiers, one +holding the spear with which afterwards the side of Jesus was pierced, and +the other offering the sponge of vinegar on the hyssop rod. + +What the original position of this carving was we do not know, it is +described in 1742 as being on the south wall near the communion table; +then it appears to have been built face inwards, into the wall, and was +placed in its present position by the late vicar, the Rev. E. L. Berthon. + +[Illustration: THE NORTH-EAST ANGLE OF THE CROSSING] + +The apsidal chantry attached to the east wall of the southern arm of the +crossing is now used as the clergy vestry, and contains in a frame the +deed of sale of the abbey church to the parishioners of Romsey after the +dissolution of the nunnery. It is dated 20th February, 1544. + +#The Screen.# The screen that divides the choir from the crossing looks at +first sight distinctly modern, yet it contains some ancient carving dating +from 1372. It has occupied various positions in the church. At one time it +was used to separate from the Abbey Church the chancel of the parish +church, formed as already described from the north arm of the crossing. It +was afterwards placed across the nave, near the west end, under the organ +which blocked up the great triple lancet window. In a guide book in the +abbey, published in 1828, we read that "there is a curious oaken screen of +neat Gothic workmanship, which now separates the west end from the part +which is fitted up for worship. It formerly stood in the northern +transept, and separated it from the body of the church, but when the +alteration in the pewing was made, it was removed to the place it now +occupies, immediately under the organ: it was then painted. The top of the +screen is crowned with running foliage, underneath which, in twenty-three +Gothic trefoils, are as many carved faces. They are evidently portraits +very tolerably executed, and on this account curious and interesting. One +of them is crowned, and all of them have their heads covered with flowing +hair, or wigs, or caps; the last on the right hand is a head thrusting out +its tongue, perhaps a sportive essay of the carver." When the restoration +was begun about the middle of the nineteenth century, this screen was +removed, treated as useless lumber, and stowed away in the triforium, +which at that time, as already described, was separated from the church by +a wall. Here in 1880 the vicar, the Rev. E. L. Berthon, found, to use his +own words, "the ancient oak-carvings of heads in trefoils with a curious +cresting above." He resolved to utilize it in the construction of the +chancel screen. The lower part is modern, designed to match the old work. +The seats in the choir were designed by Mr. Berthon, and the heads +intended to represent various kings, saints, and abbesses, were carved in +the town. The pulpit was erected in 1891, the figures being carved by +Harry Hems of Exeter, who has done so much wood and stone carving in +restored reredoses and screens in various churches. + +The #Organ# stands under the westernmost arch of the choir on the north +side. + +[Illustration: TOMB AND EFFIGY IN THE SOUTH TRANSEPT] + +The mediaeval #Monuments# remaining at Romsey are not numerous, being for +the most part the graves and coffins of former abbesses, many of them +incapable of identification. The Old English chronicle states that Eadward +the Elder, his son AElfred, his daughter Eadburh, St. AEthelflaed, Eadmund, +brother of King AEthelred, were all buried here, but their graves are +unknown, and not a stone remains to commemorate them. There is one very +beautiful effigy of Purbeck marble now placed under an ogee canopy at the +south-east corner of the transept, but whom it represents we cannot say. +The slab is about 7 ft. long. A small piece at the left-hand upper corner +is broken off: were this replaced the stone would be 2 ft. 3 in. wide at +the head, tapering downwards to about 1 ft. 3 in. at the foot. The +recumbent figure is itself about 6 ft. in length. The lady is dressed in a +tight-sleeved loose robe, which falls in folds to the feet, but is girt +about the waist with band and buckle; the right hand holds a fold of the +robe; the left hand, lying on the bosom, is in the position seen in so +many of the figures on the west front of the Cathedral Church at Wells, +grasping the cord that holds up the mantle to the shoulders; the head +rests on a cushion; beneath the head-dress the wimple may be seen passing +beneath the chin. The pointed shoes rest on an animal, possibly intended +for a dog. This effigy bears a strong resemblance to that of Eleanor, wife +of Edward I, at Westminster, and is certainly late thirteenth century +work. There is no staff or other symbol to show that the lady was an +abbess. By some it has been supposed that it was erected to the memory of +Isabella de Kilpec by her daughter, Alicia Walrand, who was abbess from +1268 to 1298. At any rate, the date fits in well with the character of the +monument. Its original position in the church is unknown. It was found +somewhere towards the west end of the nave, by some workmen who were +engaged in digging a grave, and as it chanced to fit the ogee canopy in +the transept, it was laid under it, but it must not be supposed that it +originally had any connection with it. Near by is a seventeenth century +monument of John St. Barbe, and Grissel his wife, whose family owned the +estate of Broadlands, near Romsey, which was afterwards bought by the +great-grandfather of the well-known statesman, Lord Palmerston. Several +coffin lids of various dates have been found, among them, that of the +Abbess, Joan Icthe, who died in 1349, of the terrible scourge that visited +England in the fourteenth century, known as the Black Death. Almost all +the persons buried in the abbey were women, but one curious exception may +be noted. In 1845 a coffin was discovered in the nave, under an enormous +slab of stone, measuring 11 ft. 5 in. by 3 ft. 9 in. Mr. Ferrey, the +architect, under whose supervision the restoration of the abbey was then +being carried out, thus describes the discovery: + +"Great care was exercised in raising the stone. Upon its being moved, +there was discovered immediately under it a stone coffin, 5 ft. 10 in. +long, by 2 ft. wide in the broadest part, and 1 ft. deep; containing the +skeleton of a priest in good preservation, the figure measuring only 5 ft. +4 in. in length; the head elevated and resting in a shallow cavity worked +out of the stone, so as to form a cushion. He had been buried in the +vestments peculiar to his office, viz., the alb and tunic. Across the left +arm was the maniple, and in his hand the chalice covered with the paten. +Considering these remains to be about five hundred years old, it is +remarkable that they should be in such preservation. The chalice and paten +are of pewter,[4] the latter much corroded: a great portion of the linen +alb remains; the maniple is of brown velvet fringed at the extremity, and +lined with silk; portions of the stockings remain, and also all the parts +of the boots, though from the decay of the sewing, they have fallen in +pieces. About 2 ft. from the end of the coffin is a square hole through +the bottom, with channels worked in the stone leading to it. This was +probably a provision to carry off the fluids, which would be caused by the +decomposition of the body. On the sides of the coffin could be traced the +marks of the corpse when it was first deposited, from which it would +appear that the deceased had been stout as well as short of stature. It is +to be regretted that the inscription being stripped from the verge of the +slab, we have no means of knowing whose remains these are. The Purbeck +marble slab has never been disturbed, being found strongly secured by +mortar to the top of the stone coffin. It is curious that the covering +should be so gigantic, and the coffin under it so small: judging by the +size of the slab and the beauty of the large floriated cross, it might +have been supposed to cover some dignified ecclesiastic. This is clearly +not the case.... In the absence of any known date, judging from the +impress on the marble, and the shape of the stone coffin, I should assign +both to the early part of the fourteenth century." + +[4] It was common to bury not the real silver vessels used by the dead +priest, but imitations in baser metal. + +There are sundry mural tablets of modern date, and near the west end an +altar tomb, with the recumbent effigy by Westmacott of Sir William Petty, +the founder of the Lansdowne family, who was born at Romsey in 1623, and +was buried within the abbey, and on the north side a tomb on which a child +lies on its side as if asleep, with its limbs carelessly stretched out. + +[Illustration: THE NORTH AISLE OF THE NAVE] + +There is no painted glass of mediaeval date to be seen in the church; such +as we find is modern. The three lancets at the west are the work of +Messrs. Clayton and Bell, and were inserted as a memorial to Lord +Palmerston, who died in 1865. The glass in the windows in the east wall of +the ambulatory commemorating C. B. Footner, who died in 1889, was painted +by the same firm. The two east windows, painted by Messrs. Powell, were +inserted as a memorial to Lord Mount-Temple, who died in 1888. To the same +firm are due the windows in the transept, which commemorate the Hon. Ralph +Dutton, Lady Mount-Temple, Mr. Tylee, Professor Ramsey, and the Rev. E. L. +Berthon, and the one in the north chancel aisle erected to the memory of +the wife of the Right Hon. Evelyn Ashley. The window at the east end of +the north aisle is by Kempe, and commemorates Mr. G. B. Footner. + +The #Font# is in the north aisle of the nave, dates from about the middle +of the last century, and stands on the same spot as the ancient font of the +church of St. Laurence. The conventual church, of course, would not need a +font. But in post-Reformation times one stood on a raised platform at the +west end of the church. + +[Illustration: THE SOUTH TRANSEPT] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE ABBESSES OF ROMSEY + + +A complete list of the abbesses who ruled the religious house at Romsey is +not in existence; there are several gaps of many years in the succession. +The exact dates of the election of some of those whose names have been +handed down to us are not known. The following list is as complete as +possible. The names printed in ordinary type are taken from a board +suspended in the retro-choir, those printed in italics are added from a +list given in the "Records of Romsey Abbey," by the Rev. H. G. D. Liveing, +1906, which embodies the result of the most recent research. Whenever the +date is uncertain _c._ for "circa" is prefixed; the date of death when +known is added, marked with _o._ for "obiit." The spelling of many of the +names is uncertain; in the list below the spelling follows that given by +the authorities quoted above: + + _c._ 907 AElflaeda, _o._ _c._ 959. + * * * * + 966 S. Merwenna. + _c._ 999 Elwina. + _c._ 1003 AEthelflaeda. + _c._ 1016 _Wulfynn._ + _c._ 1025 _AElfgyfu._ + * * * * + _c._ 1130 Hadewis. + _c._ 1150 Matilda, _o._ 1155. + 1155 Mary, married 1161, _o._ 1182. + _c._ 1171 Juliana, _o._ 1199.[5] + 1199 Matilda Walrane. + 1219 Matilda (Paria), _o._ 1230. + 1230 _Matilda de Barbfle_, _o._ 1237. + 1237 _Isabella de Nevill._ + 1238 _Cecilia._ + 1247 _Constancia._ + 1261 Amicia _de Sulhere_. + 1268 Alicia Walerand, _o._ 1298. + 1298 _Philippa de Stokes._ + 1307 Clementia de Guildeford, _o._ 1314. + 1314 Alicia de Wyntereshulle, _o._ 1315. + 1315 Sybil Carbonel, _o._ 1333. + 1333 Ioane Jacke (or _Icthe_). + 1349 Iohanna Gervas (or _Gerneys_). + 1352 Isabella de Camoys. + 1396 Lucy Everard. + 1405 Felicia Aas. + 1417 Matilda Lovell. + 1462 Ioan Bryggys. + 1472 Elizabeth Broke, _o._ 1502. + 1502 Joyce Rowse, resigned 1515. + 1515 Ann Westbroke, _o._ 1523. + 1523 Elizabeth Ryprose, dispossessed 1539. + +[5] Christina is mentioned as abbess in 1190, in the list suspended in the +church, but it is uncertain if she was an abbess. + +About the majority of the abbesses little or nothing is known; some, +indeed, were women of exemplary piety, others were remarkable for their +administrative abilities, and did good work in their own way; but of many +all that can be said is that + + In due time, one by one, + Some with lives that came to nothing, some with deeds as well undone, + Death stepped tacitly and took them where they never see the sun.[6] + +[6] "A Toccata of Galuppi's," R. Browning. + +In this chapter will be narrated any incidents connected with the lives of +the abbesses and the nuns over whom they ruled that seem to the writer +likely to be of interest to the general reader. It is noteworthy that the +story of the nunnery is, for the most part, pre-eminently credible; with a +few exceptions we hear nothing about visions or miracles; here and there +we have touches of romance, which show that the life of discipline within +"narrowing nunnery walls" is not always able to quell human passion, +especially when pressure had been brought to bear by friends and relations +upon women scarcely more than children, to induce them to take the veil. +And as time went on grave scandals arose, which even the energetic action +of reforming bishops was not altogether successful in stopping, so that +although the greed of Henry VIII and his courtiers was, no doubt, the +prime factor leading to the suppression of the religious houses, yet the +unholy lives of the inmates gave them some valid reasons, or at rate +excuses, for their action in closing nunneries and monasteries. + +A story is told of King Eadgar which, indirectly, has some bearing on the +Abbey of Romsey. About the year 960 he heard of the surpassing beauty of +one AElfthryth,[7] daughter of Ordgar of Devon, and possibly never having +heard of the mischief that befell Arthur when he sent Launcelot to ask at +her father's hands his fair daughter Guinevere, or to Mark when he sent +Tristram on a similar errand to Iseault's father, he sent his trusted and +hitherto trustworthy friend AEthelwold to Ordgar. But AEthelwold as soon as +he saw AElfthryth fell hopelessly in love with her, and so hid the king's +message, and wooed and won the fair damsel for himself; and on his return +told the king that the accounts of her beauty were altogether false, that +she was vulgar and commonplace. So the king, believing his friend, turned +his thoughts to other ladies; but before long some rumours of the way in +which he had been deceived came to the king's ear, and he, dissembling his +purpose and not telling him of what he had heard, simply told AEthelwold +that on a certain day he intended to visit the lady himself. AEthelwold, in +alarm, hurried to his wife and begged her to conceal her beauty and clothe +herself in unbecoming attire, so that she might not win the king's +admiration; but she did just the reverse, and enhanced her natural beauty +by donning handsome raiment and jewellery. Her plan succeeded, the king +fell in love with her and, according to one account, slew AEthelwold with +his own hand while they were hunting, and when no man was by; or, +according to another version, he sent him to hold a dangerous command in +the north and slew him by the sword of the Northumbrians. It is, however, +doubtful if Eadgar compassed his death at all, but two years after it he +married his widow, whose beauty was her chief recommendation, for though +it has nothing to do with Romsey, it may be mentioned in passing that it +was she by whose order Eadgar's eldest son by his first wife, Eadward the +Martyr, was murdered at Corfegate, where the well-known castle afterwards +rose and where its ruins remain until this day. Now AEthelwold had +previously had to wife one Brichgyfu, a kins-woman of Eadgar, and had had +by her many sons and daughters, the last born of them was named AEthelflaed; +according to other accounts, AEthelflaed was born after her father's death, +and therefore must have been AElfthryth's child. Be this as it may, she was +in any case akin to the king or queen, and was by them entrusted to the +care of St. Merwynn of Romsey. A true mother in God the abbess proved, and +a dutiful and loving daughter was AEthelflaed. In due time she took the +veil, and the sanctity of her life was shown in various ways, and was +attested by miracles. She made no display of her austerities, pretended to +eat and drink with the other nuns but hid the food in order to give it to +the poor, and used to leave her dormitory at night, even in winter time, +to plunge naked into one of the streams and there remain until she had +chanted the Psalms of the day. Once in her younger days, when the abbess +was cutting some switches from the river banks wherewith to chastise the +girls under her charge, the stone walls of the nunnery became clear as +transparent glass to the eyes of AEthelflaed, and she saw what the abbess +was doing, and when she came in she besought her with many tears not to +beat her or her companions. The abbess, much astonished, asked her how she +knew that she was going to beat them; to which AEthelflaed replied that she +had seen her cutting the switches, and that they were even now hidden +under her cloak. Another miracle is recorded which, for the saint's +reputation, one would hope was a pure invention of the chronicler, since +if it were true it might lay her open to the charge of performing an easy +trick with phosphorus in order to gain credit for miraculous power. It is +said that one night when it was her turn to read the lesson the lamp which +she held in her hand went out, but that her fingers became luminous and +shed sufficient light upon the book to enable her to read the lesson to +the end. Other miracles are related of her, and though she was not elected +abbess on the death of St. Merwynn she obtained that honour three years +afterwards on the death of Abbess AElwynn. + +[7] The Elgiva of school histories. + +The next sainted woman who calls for mention is Christine, daughter of +Eadmund Ironside, and sister of Eadgar the AEtheling, and of St. Margaret, +Queen of Scotland, who became a nun at Romsey, and is supposed by some to +have been Abbess, though this is very doubtful. The Scotch king Malcolm +Canmore and Margaret his queen, sent their two daughters Eadgyth and Mary +to be educated by their aunt Christine. Aunt Christine acted on the +principle of the proverb, "Spare the rod, spoil the child," and Eadgyth +spoke in after days of the whippings she had received because she refused +to wear a nun's veil. Professor Freeman tells us how on one occasion the +Red King came to Romsey to woo Eadgyth, for it must be remembered that she +was now the eldest female representative of the old Wessex kings, and a +marriage with her would do much to weld together Normans and English. But, +although he was admitted to the nunnery, Christine persuaded Eadgyth to +put on a nun's garb as a disguise--she was at the time about twelve years +old--and told her to go into the choir; to allow time for the change of +raiment she invited the king to come and see the flowers in the cloister +garden. As he went thither, he caught sight of Eadgyth in her veil, and +imagined that he was too late, for even he, bad as he was, would not care +to press his suit, especially as it was prompted by policy, not by love, +and a marriage with a nun would be counted illegal and so would fail to +have the result he desired. + +This took place in 1093. Later in the same year it is said that another +king, her father Malcolm of Scotland, came to see her and was vexed to see +her wearing a veil and tore it from her head, saying he did not wish her +to be a nun but a wife. + +Another suitor in due course came to woo her, a more eligible one than +Rufus, namely his brother Henry I. In this case the union was dictated not +only by policy but by love. But there were certain difficulties. There was +no doubt that Eadgyth had worn a veil, but whether simply as a disguise or +a professed nun was open to argument; so a solemn assembly was called by +Anselm to hear evidence on the subject. The decision it came to was that +she was not a nun, and, to use Mr. Freeman's words, Anselm "gave her his +blessing and she went forth as we may say Lady-Elect of the English." + +On her marriage she laid aside her English name Eadgyth, and assumed that +of Matilda or Maud. Robert of Gloucester calls her "Molde the gode +quene." And Peter de Langtoft says of her + + Malde hight that mayden, many of her spak, + Fair scho was, thei saiden, and gode withouten lak. + * * * * * * * + Henry wedded dame Molde, that king was and sire, + Saynt Anselme men tolde corouned him and hire. + The corounyng of Henry and of Malde that may, + At London was solemply on St. Martyn's day. + +Henry and Matilda were benefactors to many abbeys, and naturally the queen +was not forgetful of Romsey when the days of her girlhood had been passed. +She was the mother of the prince who perished in the White Ship, and of +Matilda who married the Count of Anjou, and carried on warfare against +Stephen on behalf of her son Henry. Matilda of Romsey died in 1118 and was +buried at Winchester. + +The next abbess worthy of notice was Mary, daughter of King Stephen, of +whom a true and romantic story is told, and who, by breaking her vows and +marrying caused a great scandal at the time. She was the youngest daughter +of the king, and a granddaughter on her mother's side of Mary, whom +Christine had brought up with her sister Eadgyth. She was educated at +Bourges, then was transferred with other French nuns to the abbey at +Stratford le Bowe, but as the original English nuns and the imported +French ones did not agree, the latter went to a Benedictine house near +Rochester, which had been founded by Stephen, and later on, about 1155, +Mary became Abbess of Romsey. Her brother William, Count of Boulogne, died +about 1159, and his estates passed to his sister. Matthew of Alsace cast +covetous eyes on her broad lands and encouraged, it is said, by Henry II, +who thought thereby to gain a powerful friend on the continent and, at the +same time, annoy Thomas Becket, sought the abbess's hand in marriage. He +persuaded her to leave Romsey and become his wife: it is thought that +Henry II may have brought some pressure to bear upon her to induce her to +take this step. Anyhow, she was married in 1161. Her new people gladly +received her, and her kindness of heart won and held their affection. For +ten years Matthew and Mary lived happily together, or would have been +happy if it had not been for the ban of the church. Then either on account +of conscientious scruples about their past conduct, or on account of +the disabilities imposed on them by the church, they separated, and Mary +once more took on her the religious life, but not at Romsey. No doubt she +thought it better to go to a convent entirely new to her, that at +Montreuil, where she would not be constantly reminded of her former +misconduct. Here she died in 1182, aged forty-five. It is noteworthy that +her two daughters were legitimatized, their names were Ida and Maud. Ida, +the elder, married first Gerard of Gueldres, and then Reginald of +Damartin, and the younger, Maud, married the Duke of Brabant, so that it +would seem that the pope did not take a very serious view of the Abbess +Mary's broken vows. + +[Illustration: PIER IN THE NORTH NAVE ARCADE] + +The thirteenth century abbesses followed one another in quick succession, +no good thing for the discipline of the abbey. When Matilda died in 1219, +the old gallows on which the abbess had had the right of hanging offenders +condemned by her court, fell into disuse, but the right was restored by +the King to Amicia. Towards the end of the century, episcopal visitations +began, and the Bishop of Winchester looked into various disorders that had +grown up among the abbesses and sisters. The various methods of procedure +and the things forbidden give us some idea of the abuses that prevailed. +The abbess was required in the injunction issued about 1283 not to +exercise an autocratic power but only a constitutional one, being guided +by the advice of her chapter. It was forbidden to any men except the +confessor, and the doctor in case of illness of a nun, to enter the +convent; all conversation with outsiders was to take place in the presence +of witnesses and in an appointed place. The nuns were forbidden to visit +the laity in Romsey, and other like ordinances were enjoined. + +Philippa de Stokes and Clementia de Guildeford were infirm, and +Clementia's successor, Alicia de Wynterseshull, was poisoned soon after +her election, but no evidence could be produced to convict the murderer. + +Many episcopal visitations took place during the fourteenth, fifteenth, +and sixteenth centuries. The injunctions issued at many of them are in +existence: these deal only with what is blameworthy, not with that which +calls for no reproof. Some of the things objected to seem to us very +trivial. On one occasion the nuns were forbidden to keep pet animals, as +the abbess was charged with giving her dogs and monkeys the food intended +for the sisters. Sometimes the abbess was forbidden to take into the +convent more than a certain number of nuns. In 1333 there were ninety-one, +but after a time the numbers decreased, and at the dissolution there were +only twenty-six. The injunctions of 1311 were very strict, some of them +deal with the locking of doors, forbid the presence of children, whether +boy or girl, in the dormitory or in the choir. + +Romsey, like many other religious houses, suffered severely at the time of +the Black Death. The number and names of the ninety-one nuns voting in +1333 at the election of Johanna Icthe has come down to us. The pestilence +reached Weymouth from the east in August, 1348, and of it died the abbess +Johanna, two vicars, one prebendary, and no doubt many of the sisters, as +in 1478 the number of nuns had dropped from ninety-one to eighteen, and +after this there were never more than twenty-six nuns at Romsey. The +reduction in the nuns not only decreased the importance of the abbey but +led to a terrible relaxation of discipline. + +The worst scandal arose when Elizabeth Broke was abbess. The evidence +given before Dr. Hede, Commissary of the Prior of Canterbury, is still +extant. There were various charges against her, that she allowed some of +the sisters to wear long hair, did not prevent the nuns going into the +town and drinking at the taverns, treated some with great severity, did +not keep the convent accounts accurately, suffered sundry roofs to get out +of order, and that she was much under the influence of the chaplain, +Master Bryce. Some years before this she had been charged with adultery; +this she seems to have denied with oaths, and finally, when she could +brazen it out no further, she confessed to adultery and perjury and +resigned her office, the only thing she could do; but the most remarkable +part of the story is still to come: the sisters being required to fill the +vacant post by the election of an abbess, almost unanimously re-elected +Elizabeth Broke. Two only, Elizabeth herself and one other, did not vote +for her. The bishop thereupon restored her to her position as abbess, but +to mark his displeasure with her he forbade her to use the abbatial staff +for seven years. The remaining years of her rule were not satisfactory. +The sisters took advantage of the scandal she had caused to act in an +insubordinate way towards her. The next abbess was Joyce Rowse, but she +was utterly unable to reinstate the old discipline--we hear of her +revelling with some of the sisters in the abbess's quarters. Bishop +Fox in his injunctions in 1507 forbade sundry priests to hold any +communication with the abbess or with any of the nuns. William Scott was +forbidden to gossip with the nuns at the kitchen window. Nature it would +seem was much the same in the sixteenth century as it is now, and the +convent servants loved gossip as much as ours do. + +The abbess, finding that she could not maintain her authority in the +abbey, resigned, and Anne Westbrooke, formerly mistress of the convent +school, was appointed to succeed her in 1515. She died in 1593, and was +succeeded by the last abbess, Elizabeth Ryprose; she seems to have been +a capable woman, and tried hard to do her duty. But it was too late to +purify the abbey. Various nuns were reprimanded or punished in 1527 by the +vicar-general. Alice Gorsyn confessed to having used bad language and +having spread false and defamatory stories about the sisters; on her +confession she was admitted to penance, but it was ordered that if she +transgressed again in like manner she was to wear a tongue made of red +cloth under her chin for a whole month, and the abbess was ordered to see +the sentence carried out. + +Clemence Malyn was deposed from her office of sub-prioress and sextoness +on account of the careless manner in which she had performed the duties +of these offices, and she also, in answer to questions asked by the +vicar-general, acknowledged that she had frequently hidden a key of the +abbey church in a hole so that a certain Richard Johans might find it and +enter the church, and might drink in the sacristy wine with which she +provided him, though she denied having ever drunk with him or otherwise +misconducted herself. Margaret Doumar confessed that she had been guilty +of incontinence with Thomas Hordes, and she was severely punished: she was +to be imprisoned for a year, to hold no conversation with any sister save +her gaoler, she was to eat no food except bread and water every third and +sixth day of the week, and to receive chastisement on those days in the +Chapter House. + +The nunnery was suppressed in 1539, and the fact that no pensions were +given to the abbess or sisters seems to point to the fact that the abbess +did not voluntarily surrender. Where this was done the monks or nuns were +generously treated by the King's commissioners, but when they refused to +surrender they were expelled without any provision being made for them. +What became of the majority of these expelled monks and nuns we do not +know, possibly any of those who were in priest's orders found work in +parish churches, but the case of the nuns was harder. We hear nothing of +the after life of any of the Romsey nuns save Jane Wadham, who married one +John Forster, who had been the collector of the abbey rents. She declared +that she had been forced to take the veil against her will, and he said he +had been similarly forced to enter the priesthood. + +After the suppression the domestic buildings of the abbey disappeared--but +the church was sold to the people of Romsey by Henry VIII for the small +sum of L100. The deed of sale may still be seen in the clergy vestry at +Romsey. Queen Mary, at the beginning of her reign, restored some of the +church plate. + +And so the history of the religious house at Romsey ends. In one respect +it was more fortunate than the neighbouring nunneries at Shaftesbury, +Wilton, and Amesbury. The abbey church remains until this day, and enables +us to form an idea of the arrangements in force in the churches of +Benedictine sisterhoods. Many monastic churches remain, some having become +cathedrals, as Gloucester, some parish churches, as Sherborne, but few of +the churches belonging to nunneries survived the suppression of the +religious houses; one at Cambridge, now used as the chapel of Jesus +College, and the church at Romsey, are, however, among the few exceptions. +We could wish that we knew more about the history of this religious house, +but sufficient is known to show us that it was once a very famous abbey, +and a place of instruction for many royal and noble ladies, in its early +days the discipline of the Benedictine rule seems to have been well +maintained, though in later years faith grew cold and worldliness +prevailed within its walls, as indeed it did in many another monastery +and nunnery, so that when the old order changed giving place to new, the +people of the country, especially in what was once the original kingdom of +the West Saxons, saw them suppressed without any great feelings of regret. +The architectural student and the archaeologist, indeed, regret that so +many of the abbey churches have become little more than picturesque ruins +such as Glastonbury, or mere grass-covered foundations such as Bindon and +Shaftesbury, and when so many have perished we cannot be too thankful that +the splendid abbey church at Romsey still stands in all its pristine +beauty and interest. + + + + +VICARS OF ROMSEY + +_As given in a list suspended in the Retro-choir_ + + + 1282 Solomon de Roffa, Prebendary of St. Laurence Major. + 1292 John de Romese, Prebendary of Edington. + 1304 John de London, Prebendary of Edington. + 1312 Gilbert de Middleton, Prebendary of Edington. + 1322 Henry de Chilmark. + 1325 Richard de Chaddesley, D.C.L. + 1342 Nicholas de Gutleston. + 1344 Nicholas de Ballestone. + 1349 John de Minstede. + _c._ 1360 Thomas Eggesworth. + 1371 John Ffolliott. + 1380 Roger Purge. + 1400 John Winfrey or Umfray. + 1420 John Bayley, M.A. + 1464 John Green, M.A. + 1482 Edward Coleman, M.A. + 1500 John Hopwood. + 1519 John Newman, LL.B. + 1546 Roger Richardson. + 1586 Samuel Adams. + 1620 Anthony White, M.A. + 1648 John Warren (an intruder). + 1662 Thomas Doughty. + 1666 Jacobus Wood. + 1669 Samuel Walensius. + 1680 Thomas Donne. + 1690 William Mayo. + 1727 John King. + 1746 John Peverell. + 1781 John Woodbron. + 1808 Daniel Williams. + 1833 William Vaux, Canon. + 1841 Gerard Noel, Canon. + 1849 William Carus, Canon.[8] + 1855 Charles Avery Moore. + 1860 Edward Lyon Berthon. + 1892 James Cooke Yarborough. + +[8] Well known at Cambridge, where the Carus Greek Testament Prizes +perpetuate his memory. + + + + +INDEX + + + Abbesses, historical list of, 67-78. + AElfgyfu (Emma), benefactress, 18. + AElflaed, 16, 17. + Aisles, 24, 48; + north choir, 22, 28; + south, 56. + Ambulatory, 52. + Apse, foundations of, 17. + Apsidal chapels, 24, 34, 50, 59. + + Bells, 34. + Berthon, Rev. E. L., 18, 24, 59. + Brackley tomb, 50. + Broke, Eliz., Abbess, 76. + + Capitals, carved, 48. + Chantry of St. George destroyed, 22, 28. + Choir rebuilt, 40. + Christ Church, Oxford, 47. + Church purchased by the people, 22, 78. + Clerestory, 45. + Corbel table, 30. + + Danes, destruction by, 18. + Dimensions, 82. + Doors, 32. + + Eadgyth (Queen Maud), 71. + + Font, 64. + Foundation, 16. + + Horse-shoe arches, 52. + + Icthe, Joan, Abbess, 61. + + Kilpec, Isabella de, supposed effigy of, 60. + + Lawrence, St., Parish Church, 22, 28, 50. + + Mary, Abbess, 72. + Monuments, 60-63. + + Nave, interior, 39. + + Organ, 60. + + Petty, Sir W., tomb of, 63. + + Relics, hair, 52; + sundry, 53. + Reredos, fourteenth-century, 51. + Restoration, 24, 36. + Robert, Earl of Gloucester, 48. + Romsey Psalter, 53. + ---- Rood, 32. + Ryprose, E., last Abbess, 77. + + St. Barbe John, monument of, 60. + Saxon carving, 56. + Screen, choir, 59. + Suppression of the nunnery, 77. + + Tomb of priest, 62; + of unknown lady, 60. + Tower, top, 24; + interior, 49. + Triforium, 44, 46. + + Vaults, 39, 48. + + West front, 29. + Western (Early English) addition, 20, 43. + Windows, east, 21, 28, 64; + west, 63. + + + + +DIMENSIONS + + +Total length of church, including buttresses 263 feet. + " " from outer faces of walls 256 " +Total width of nave and choir from outer faces of walls 86 " +Total length of transept: exterior 140 " + " " interior 127 " +Length of nave, interior 165 " + " choir " 54 " +Width of retro-choir, interior, east and west 15 " + " nave, interior, between centre of piers 39 " + " aisles, interior, from centre of piers to walls 18 " +Height of nave walls to wall plate 70 " +Height of tower 93 " +Length and breadth of tower, interior 28 " + + Total area 21,470 square feet. + + + + +[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF ROMSEY ABBEY CHURCH] + +A Saxon Rood. +B Saxon Reredos. +C Effigy of Lady. +D Sir W. Petty's Monument. +E Choir Screen. +F Organ. +G Font. +H Abbess's Door. +J Nuns' Door. +K North Door. +L Clergy Vestry. +M Choir Vestry. + +(The three western +bays are of +thirteenth-century +work). + + +CHISWICK PRESS: CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO. +TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BELL'S CATHEDRALS: A SHORT ACCOUNT +OF ROMSEY ABBEY*** + + +******* This file should be named 22880.txt or 22880.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/8/8/22880 + + + +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. 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