Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire

Abbey Church of St. Mary (parish church)

The Abbey Church of St. Mary, as now existing, consists of a nave of eight bays, with aisles and north porch, north transept, with chapels on the east and north-east, south transept, with eastern apsidal chapel, choir or presbytery of two bays, with three others forming the eastern apse, an ambulatory surrounded by five polygonal chapels and a massive central tower containing 8 bells, dating from 1696 to 1837, and since 1887 a new clock with Westminster chimes: the total exterior length is 331 feet, and of the transepts from north to south 122 feet: the nave has on either side seven massive circular piers, 31 feet 8 inches in height, supporting circular arches, above which rises a plain and low triforium, with two double arched openings in each bay, and over this a low clerestory, pierced with small three-light windows; much of the upper portion is covered by the groined vaulting of the 14th century, a work of elaborate character, enriched at the intersections of the ribs with a most interesting series of carved bosses, illustrating the life of Our Lord, the Day of Pentecost and other subjects, all beautifully re-coloured and gilt by the late Mr. Gambier Parry, of Highnam Court: the present Perpendicular west window dates only from 1686, the earlier one having been destroyed by a storm in 1661.

The ritual choir originally extended as far as the second pair of columns west of the tower, and here stood the rood screen, probably removed in 1602: the narrow aisles are also vaulted, the vaulting being of about the same date as that of the nave; the north aisle is lighted by seven Decorated windows, and at the east end is a recessed tomb bearing the recumbent figure of a knight in the armour of the latter part of the 12th century, commonly assigned to John, Baron Wenlock, who fell at Tewkesbury, May 4, 1471; it is now discovered to represent Sir John Burley, who died about 1340: at the west end is a stained window, erected in 1869 to John and Mary Terrett, of Tewkesbury: in the south aisle is an inscription in Norman French to Leger de Parr, and at the east end is a recessed ogee feathered arch, enriched with carving and crockets, reputed to be the tomb of Edmund, 3rd Duke of Somerset, who was beheaded in the market place after the battle of Tewkesbury; but more probably that; of Sir Thomas Morley, ob. 1417, who married Anne, daughter of Edward, Lord Despenser: this aisle has five windows only.

The central tower is supported on four great semicircular arches, enriched with chevron moulding in colour, those opening to the transepts rising from coupled shafts attached to the massive piers; the lower stage of the tower originally formed a lantern, but a groined ceiling now conceals the triforium gallery and much beautiful decorative work; among the ribs of the graining appear the arms of de Brien and Despenser and the sun of the house of York; in the centre of the floor, immediately under the tower, is an interesting brass inscribed to Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VI. who was murdered after the battle of Tewkesbury, and is believed to have been interred in this spot: on the north-west pier of the tower is a memorial brass to Frederick John Manning, sub-sacrist of the abbey, d. Sept. 24th, 1908: the vaulting of both transepts is similar to that of the nave: the north transept had once an apsidal eastern chapel, which in 1237 was removed by Prior Shipton, who constructed in its stead a large rectangular chapel, connected with another and earlier chapel of almost equal size, between which and the north face of the transept a third chapel, dedicated to St. Eustace, seems once to have existed: the first two chapels of St. James and St. Nicholas are very elegant, examples of Early English, and for 250 years served as a grammar school, but they have now been carefully restored and re-opened to the church; in this transept is a memorial window and mural tablet with portrait, erected in 1906, to Mr. Thomas Collins, who carried out the restoration of the abbey and was a generous benefactor; here were buried the Duke of Somerset and other distinguished Lancastrians put to death by Edward IV. after his victory: the south transept retains its apsidal Norman chapel, which has been refitted, and is now used for daily morning service; at Easter, 1893, a very fine mosaic panel was placed in the recess over the altar in this chapel: in the south-east angle of the transept is a newel staircase leading to a room above, into which sick monks were brought to hear mass: the ceiling exhibits some fresco painting: the organ placed in this transept originally belonged to Magdalen College, Oxford, whence it was removed to Hampton Court in 1654; at the Restoration it was returned to Oxford, and finally in 1737 transferred to Tewkesbury. In 1890 a memorial was erected to Mrs. Craik (Dinah Maria Mulock), authoress of "John Halifax, Gentleman," who died 12th Oct. 1887; it is placed against the south-east pier of the tower, and executed in Carrara marble by H. H. Armstead esq. R.A.; the style is Renaissance, and the design includes a medallion portrait, and carving of a symbolical character. Of the original Norman choir, the basement, some part of the external wall of the ambulatory, and the low circular piers remain, but the arches they support and the entire structure above belongs to the 14th century, and forms one of the richest examples of a Decorated presbytery now extant: high up on the wall on the north side of the choir entrance is a beautiful oak turret or Sacring Case, which formerly contained the bell rung at the Elevation of the Host: on this side are also twelve 14th century carved oak stalls with misericords, and on the south side are eleven stalls, but without the carved upper section: three others have been recovered and were restored to the church at Christmas, 1908, and placed near the gate in the north-east arch of the choir: in the nave is a stoup: the space between the arcade and the roof is entirely filled with seven large traceried windows, rich in ancient stained glass, displaying figures of saints and prophets and eight of the former lords of Tewkesbury, including Robert FitzHamon, the founder, Hugh Despenser, several of the De Clares, Robert the Consul and William la Zouche: the vaulted roof springing from corbels between the windows is covered with groining of intricate and beautiful design, heightened in effect by delicately carved bosses of foliage and flowers: the whole presbytery is surrounded by a series of elaborate tombs occupying the spaces between the piers; the first of these beneath the westernmost arch on the north side is the Warwick chantry, a lofty canopied structure of two stages, most exquisitely wrought and incorporating the shields of Beauchamp, De Clare and Despenser; it was erected by the Countess Isabel Despenser to her first husband, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Abergavenny and Worcester, slain at Meaux in 1421: next stands the elegant chantry of freestone, erected by Abbot Parker in 1397, over the tomb of Robert FitzHamon, the founder, after the removal of his remains from the chapter house in 1241, where they had been first deposited; beneath the third arch is a stately canopied monument of pyramidal design, with the recumbent effigies of a knight and his lady, erected to Hugh, fifth baron Despenser, ob. 1349, and Elizabeth (Montacute) his wife: the space beneath the eastern arch is filled with a dossal of tapestry: in the adjoining arch on the south side are three very beautiful canopied sedilia, retaining much of their original colouring: at the back of the sedilia are remains of a once elegant tomb, supposed to have been that of Hugh Despenser the younger, the favourite of Edward II., and hung at Hereford in 1326; this tomb now holds a coffin of Purbeck marble, containing the remains of Abbot John Cotes (ob. 1347), removed from the cloisters in the 17th century: the next bay westward is occupied by the Trinity chapel, which has a roof adorned with fan tracery, and on the top a singular kneeling effigy of a knight, over which rises a rich spired canopy, supported on four buttresses with finely wrought pinnacles: this chapel was erected between 1378 and 1400 by Elizabeth Burghersh, wife of Sir Edward Despencer K.G.: he died in 1375.

The ambulatory surrounding the choir is of the same width as the nave aisles, with a vaulted roof, and gives access to the apsidal chapels: the westernmost chapel on the north side is that of St. Margaret, inclosed by a panelled screen with stone work above, in the centre of which is placed the monument of Sir Guy-de-Brian, ob. 1390, second husband of Lady Despenser, mentioned above: it consists of an altar tomb bearing the recumbent figure of a knight in armour, over which rises a canopied structure, disposed in four diminishing tiers and generally resembling the Despenser tomb: in 1908 a memorial window was placed in this chapel to Alan Rokeby Law: adjoining eastward is the double-polygon chapel of St. Edmund; it retains a piscina and aumbry, and the keystone of the grained ceiling represents the legend of the saint: at the entrance to the chapel stands the exquisitely wrought cenotaph, said to be that of Wakeman, the last abbot of Tewkesbury: the lower portion forms an open recess, filled in on one side with delicate pierced work; above this a broad slab supports a recumbent cadaver, and over the whole rise elaborately foliated arches and projecting canopies of rich design; the eastern arch, once opening into the now destroyed lady chapel, is built up; on the south side are three apsidal chapels, two of which are said to have been dedicated to St. Faith and St. John the Baptist; in the former is a memorial window to Benjamin Thomas Moore, a former church warden, d. 1890; the third or westernmost has been used as a vestry from the 15th century; the door of this vestry is lined inside with rough iron plates: at the entrance to the centre chapel of these three is the fine Perpendicular tomb of Richard de Cheltenham, abbot, ob. 1509: it consists of a panelled altar tomb, once bearing a recumbent effigy, and is surmounted by a flat arched canopy, in the spandrels of which are the arms and monogram of the abbot: on the slab were formerly placed various fragments of effigies and sculpture found under the altar, but these are now kept in two glass cases within the chapel: in the south aisles of the choir are several arched recesses, one of which, of beautiful Early English work, is the tomb of Alan, prior of Canterbury and abbot here 1187-1202; this tomb was opened in 1795, and the vested body of the abbot, with crosier and chalice, was found to be almost perfectly preserved: on the east side of the vestry door is a richly-carved ogee arch of the 14th century, flanked by pinnacles, and inclosing within a recess a stone coffin on a raised base; the lid bears the figure of an abbot within a cross fleuree: this tomb was also opened in 1795 and the remains of the abbot found entire: in the ambulatory, immediately behind the altar screen, is the vault in which rest the remains of George, Duke of Clarence, murdered in the Tower, February 18, 1478, and Isabel (Nevill) his wife, who died December 12, 1476, and was interred here January 4, 1477.

The west front consists of a lofty and deeply recessed Norman arch, originally of seven orders, but now only of six, the original inner order having been destroyed in 1686 to accommodate the present west window, below which is the western entrance, a simple pointed arch; on either side is a square turret containing a newel staircase; two tiers of Norman arcading, which occupy the space above the springing of the arch, are carried around these turrets, the lower tier being continued along the clerestory on the north side; the turrets themselves rise in two open arched stages above the parapet, and are finished with small spires and angle pinnacles: the large north porch is of the 12th century and has a parvise over it; above the external arch are the remains of a group of the Virgin and Child; on the wall of the north transept and on that of the chapel beyond are traces of the now destroyed chapel of St. Eustace, built by Prior Henry de Banbury, and dedicated September 20, 1246; in this wall is a fine Early English arch with Purbeck marble columns, long blocked up, but re-opened in 1892, and restored by the Rev. W. H. T. Hepworth: a wall inside the church has been built up, and a small door inserted for convenience, but the arch remains intact. On the south side of the church, west of the transept, are fine remains of the cloisters, which formed a quadrangle about 80 feet square; these remains consist of some arcaded panelling, the springing of the fan traceried vaulting, and a noble tabernacled doorway, formerly leading from the nave to the cloisters, and for many years also blocked up, but re-opened in 1892 and carefully restored by Mr. Thomas Collins, mayor of Tewkesbury, 1892-4, who rebuilt the adjoining bay of the cloister at his own cost; oak doors, richly carved, from designs by Mr. J. O. Scott, were erected, also at the expense of Mr. Collins: the exterior of the choir, with its polygonal chapels clustering round it, has a singularly quaint appearance; it is surmounted by a parapet of open stone work, and supported at the east end by flying buttresses, erected in 1680; several clustered piers, fragments of a groined ceiling and other remains, indicate the former existence of the beautiful Lady chapel which anciently stood here: the tower, a grand and majestic structure, is 46 feet square at its lower stage, and 132 feet in height; two of the three stages are arcaded; the third is finished with an embattled parapet and pinnacles, added in 1660, and repaired in 1825: the tower once had a tall spire of timber covered with lead, erected about 1140 by the first Earl of Gloucester, but this fell on Easter Day, 1559: the apparent height of the tower is greatly increased by the present low pitch of the roofs, all of which were in 1603 much cut down for purposes of repair: immediately adjoining the west front on the south-west, is a bUilding called "the Abbey House," formerly constituting the abbot's lodging; in its north front is an oriel window, bearing a defaced inscription in Lombardic characters, the arms of the abbey and FitzHamon, and the crowned initials H.R.: westward of this stands the gatehouse (1389-1420), a square embattled structure, with fine arches and grotesque figures; it was partly restored in 1849, at the cost of the owner, John Martin esq. M.P. and massive doors of carved oak were subsequently added.

The restoration of the abbey church, begun in 1874, by the Rev. O. G. Davies M.A. then vicar, under the direction of the late Sir G. G. Scott R.A. was continued during the incumbency of the Ven. Hemming Robeson M.A. vicar 1877-92, and a sum of £18,686 has been expended, in addition to special gifts, including a handsome brass eagle lectern presented by the late Rev. C. W. Grove B.D. of The Mythe, who also, at his own expense, had the west window of the nave, the east window of the ambulatory, five south windows of the nave aisle and the corresponding five on the north side filled with stained glass: a rose window in the north transept was filled with stained glass at Christmas 1892, by the late B. T. Moore esq. one of the churchwardens, in memory of his wife, and another window in the same aisle, by the Rev. W. H. F. Hepworth M.A. vicar of Sheepshed, Leicestershire, in memory of his father, formerly curate here: in 1893 a stained trefoil window in the south aisle was presented by the same donor: the richly carved pulpit was the gift of Mrs. Glyn; the replacing on massive oak supports, of the ancient altar slab was effected at the cost of Earl Beauchamp; a brass alms dish was given by the Rev. Thurston Rivington M.A. curate here 1878-84; brass candlesticks by the Rev. A. La A. Mason M.A. curate here 1878-81; new carved marble font bowl and carved oak canopy, by the late Mr. and Mrs. B. T. Moore, and a white silk altar frontal, by Mrs. Robeson: the general work comprised the removal of the extensive galleries erected in the transept in 1796, as well as a modern organ screen which inclosed the choir: on taking up the old floor of the choir fragments of tiles of an earlier floor were found, the designs on which are reproduced in the present floor: all the stonework was substantially repaired, the vaulting of the nave, choir and transept effectively decorated in colour, and the eastern chapels renovated, and in 1879 the church was re-opened with a series of Dedication services: the grand organ, presented to the abbey as a Jubilee gift by the late Rev. C. W. Grove B.D. was built for the Inventions Exhibition, London, in 1885: the choir screen of carved oak was erected in 1892 by the Ven. Archdeacon Robeson M.A. and E. T. Glynn esq. as a memorial to Mrs. Glynn; it was designed by J. O. Scott esq. architect, and executed by Mr. Thomas Collins, previously mentioned, and is 34 feet in width, with a central entrance and four compartments on either side; the gates, of hammered iron, were the gift of the Rev. W. H. Hepworth, already mentioned; surmounting the whole is a large cross.

On the south side of the church, a walk was opened out round the cloisters and south-east chapels, the sole access to which had hitherto been through the private grounds of the Abbey House: during the restoration every opportunity was taken of verifying historical statements as to the great personages said to have been buried at different times within the church; these researches were in every case conducted with much care under responsible supervision, and afforded most interesting and valuable results: under the altar were found a large number of sculptured fragments, including portions of figures of Robert the Consul and three earls of Gloucester: an examination of the vault under the Despenser monument, disclosed the remains of Hugh, third Lord Despenser, who died February 13, 1348, inclosed in lead, and the skeleton of Elizabeth, Lady Despenser, d. 1359; on the south side of the Warwick chapel was found the grave of Maud (de Burgh) widow of Gilbert de Clare, third Earl of Gloucester, killed at Bannockburn, June 24, 1314, whose grave also, with the skeleton almost entire, lay on the north side of the preceding: in the centre of the choir, in a line with these, was found the mutilated stone coffin containing the dust of Gilbert de Clare, ob. 1230, first Earl of Gloucester and Hertford: still further to the north, and more deeply interred, was another stone coffin, in good preservation, inclosing the bones of Richard de Clare, ob. 1262, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford: under the last bay of the groining, beneath a large slab, was found a stone grave or vault containing the embalmed body of Isabella (Despenser), ob. 1439, widow, first of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Abergavenny and Worcester, and next of his cousin Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick; the remains, enwrapped in a shroud of linen, appeared to be well preserved, and the auburn hair was perfect; a similar grave, immediately under the centre of the tower, and containing the bones of a man of unusual size, was concluded to be that of Henry, Duke of Warwick, ob. 1446; of the alleged grave of Edward, Prince of Wales, ob. 1471, near the same spot, no trace could be found; the numerous fragments of sculpture and other remains found during the progress of the work are now placed in one of the ambulatory chapels.

Holy Trinity

Holy Trinity church, erected in 1837 at a cost of over £4,000, raised by voluntary contributions, is a lofty building of red brick, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel and nave, and a belfry containing a clock and one bell: there are eight stained windows: in 1884 the body of the church was re-seated, the passages re-tiled, and new methods of lighting and heating adopted, at a cost of over £800: there are about 600 sittings.

Baptist Chapel, Barton Street

The Baptist chapel, in Barton street, founded in 1655, was rebuilt in 1805, and seats 400 persons; attached are schools, built in 1883, at a cost of £600.

Congregational Chapel, Barton Street

The Congregational chapel, in Barton street, founded 1690, was rebuilt in 1830, and has 415 sittings.

Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, The Cross

The Wesleyan Methodist chapel, at the Cross, erected in 1878 at a total cost, including schools, of about £8,000, is a building of stone in the Decorated style, and has a number of stained windows: it affords 400 sittings.

Catholic chapel of St. Joseph, The Mythe

The Catholic chapel of St. Joseph, at The Mythe, built in 1870 by the Marquis de Lys, has 100 sittings.