Chapter I: Preface

My heartiest thanks are here expressed to all who have helped me in any way during the compiling of this book--to Sir Charles Isham, of Lamport, for allowing me the use of his _Registrum Theokusburiae_ for several months, and for permission to reproduce two pages from it; to Mr. J.T. Micklethwaite for permission to make use of his paper on _Saxon Churches_ published in the Journal of the Archaeological Institute, and to the Institute for leave to reproduce the three blocks of Deerhurst; to Mr. W.H. St. John Hope for several suggestions; to Mr. A.H. Hughes, of Llandudno, Dr. Oscar Clark, and Mr. R.W. Dugdale, of Gloucester, for so liberally supplementing my own store of photographs; to Mr. S. Browett, of Tewkesbury, for the loan of the wood block on page 17; and, lastly, to Mr. W.G. Bannister, the sacristan of the Abbey, who placed his thorough knowledge of the building, its records, and its heraldry, together with the whole of his valuable MS. notes on these points, unreservedly at my disposal.

H.J.L.J.M.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. History of the Foundation and Fabric of the Abbey Church,
and Some Account of its Benefactors 3

II. The Exterior 29
North Porch 30
The Tower 30
The West Front 32
The South Side 34
The Cloisters 34
The Lady Chapel 37

III. The Interior 39
The Nave 39
The Roof and its Bosses 42
The Font 43
The Lectern 44
The Pulpit 44
The Screen 45
The Great West Window 46
The Aisles 47
North Aisle and its Windows 47
South Aisle and its Windows 49
North Transept 51
Interior of the Tower 53
St. James' Chapel 55
Early English Lady Chapel 57
St. Margaret's Chapel 58
St. Edmund's Chapel 60
The Clarence Vault 62
St. Faith's Chapel 63
The Vestry 65
South Transept 68
The Choir 71
Altar 74
Sedilia 75
Tiles 76
Windows of the Choir 76
De Clares 77
Despenser Graves 81
The Tombs and Chantries--Warwick Chapel 83
Founder's Chapel 88
The Despenser Monument 90
Trinity Chapel 91
Tombs in the Ambulatory 93
Abbot Wakeman's Tomb 95
Abbot Cheltenham's Tomb 95
Abbot John's Tomb 96
Abbot Alan's Tomb 97
The Organs 97
Specification of the Grove Organ 98
Church Plate 100
Church Registers 100
Arms of the Abbey 101
Old Tiles 101
Abbots of Tewkesbury 101
Dimensions of the Abbey 132

DEERHURST.

The Priory Church 105

Exterior--Tower 108
Interior--The Nave 108
The South Aisle 111
The North Aisle 112
The Font 114
The Choir 115

The Monastic Buildings 121

The Saxon Chapel 123

Index 127

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE
Tewkesbury Abbey, from the East _Frontispiece_

Arms of the Abbey _Title_

The Abbey, from the North-west 2

Tewkesbury Abbey in 1840, by Rev. J.L. Petit 3

Page from the "Registrum Theokusburiae" 5

Richard Beauchamp, first husband of Isabelle Despenser, and his
Armorial Connexions, from the "Registrum Theokusburiae" 11

The Detached Bell-tower, demolished in 1817 17

The West End in 1840, by Rev. J.L. Petit 19

The Choir before 1864, from an old photograph 22

The Nave before 1864, from an old photograph 23

The Abbey Gate 25

Tile showing the Arms of Fitz-Hamon and the Abbey impaled 27

Tewkesbury Abbey, from the North 28

The Abbey, from the South 31

The Cloister Doorway 35

The Nave, from the West End 40

Masons' Marks 41

The North Choir Aisle, looking West, showing the back of the
Despenser Monument 52

Interior of the Tower above the Vaulting 54

Wall Arcade in Early English Chapel 57

The Ambulatory, looking towards St. Margaret's Chapel 59

The North Choir Aisle and St. Edmund's Chapel 61

The Vestry Door, South Choir Aisle 66

The Apsidal Chapel, South Transept 68

The Choir, looking West 72

Rib-centres in the Choir Vault 73

The Sedilia 75

The Warwick Chapel 85

Chantry of the Founder, Fitz-Hamon 89

The Despenser Monument 90

The Trinity Chapel 92

The "Wakeman Cenotaph" 94

The South Choir Aisle, looking West 96

DEERHURST.

Deerhurst Priory Church, from the South 104

Interior, looking West 110

Font 114

Plan of Deerhurst Priory Church before the Conquest, by J.T.
Micklethwaite, F.S.A., from "The Archaeological Journal" 118

The Tower, from "The Archaeological Journal" 119

Fourteenth Century Window 122

The Saxon Chapel 123

Dedication Stone 124

Plan of Saxon Chapel 124

Dedication Slab of an Altar 124

Chancel Arch in the Saxon Chapel 125

PLAN of Deerhurst Priory and its Domestic Buildings as now
existing 129

PLAN of Tewkesbury Abbey 130

TEWKESBURY ABBEY.