On leaving this Chapel, opposite to you, there is affixed to the corner of Henry V.’s Chantry, a bust with Latin inscription, to the memory of Sir Robert Aiton, Knt., who, in the reign of James I., was in great reputation for his writings, especially in poetry. He died in 1638.
On the right, against the screen of the Chapel of St. Nicholas, is a monument erected to the memory of Sir Thomas Ingram, Knt., Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Privy Councillor to Charles II. He died February 13, 1671.
CENTRE, HENRY VII’S CHAPEL.
IV.—Chapel of Henry the Seventh.
| 1. Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, 1628. 2. Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, 1720. 3. The Duke de Montpensier, 1807. 4. An Urn containing the heart of Esme Stuart, son of the Duke of Richmond, 1661. 5. Lodowick Stuart, Duke of Richmond, 1623. 6. Henry VII. and Queen, 1503 and 1509. 7. The Royal Vault of George II., 1760. 8. Augusta Elizabeth Frederica, 5th daughter of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and Kincardine. The beloved wife of Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of this Collegiate Church. For thirty years the devoted servant of Queen Victoria and the Queen’s mother and children; for twelve years the unwearied friend of the people of Westminster and the inseparable partner of her husband’s toils and hopes, uniting many hearts from many lands, and drawing all to things above. Born April 3, 1822. Died March 1, 1876. “We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.” | The Gates are Brass. |
he ascent to this Chapel is from the east end of the Abbey, by steps of grey marble, under a stately portico, which leads to the gates opening to the body, or nave of the Chapel. Before you enter you may observe a door on each hand, opening into the side aisles, for it is composed of a nave and side aisles, every way answering to the plan of a cathedral. The gates by which you enter the nave are all well worth your observation; they are of brass, most curiously wrought, in the manner of frame work, and the panels being filled with the portcullis and crown; three fleur-de-lis; falcon and fetterlock; the union of the roses of York and Lancaster entwined in a crown; the thistle and crown; the initial R. H. and a crown, and the three lions of England. Being entered, your eye will naturally be directed to the lofty ceiling, which is in stone, wrought with such astonishing variety of figures, as no description can reach. The stalls are of brown wainscot, with Gothic canopies, most beautifully carved, as are the seats, with strange devices, which nothing on wood is now equal to. The pavement is of black and white marble, done at the charge of Dr. Killigrew, once Prebendary of this Abbey, as appears by two inscriptions, one on a plate of brass, infixed in the rise towards the founder’s tomb, the other cut in the pavement. The east view from the entrance presents you with the brass chapel and tomb of the founder; and round it, where the east end forms a semicircle, are the Chapels of the Dukes of Buckingham and Richmond. The walls of the nave and aisles are wrought in the most curious figures imaginable, and contain one hundred and twenty large statues of Patriarchs, Saints, Martyrs, and Confessors, placed in niches, under which are angels, supporting imperial crowns, all of them esteemed so curious, that the best masters have travelled from abroad to copy them. The windows, which are fourteen in the upper, and nineteen in the lower range, including the side aisles and portico, were formerly of painted or diapered glass, having in every pane a white rose, the badge of Lancaster, or an