And now we will begin a more detailed survey:
“We now enter Henry VII.’s Chapel, the most perfect example of the Perpendicular style at its best in the country. At the entrance are beautiful bronze doors covered with designs symbolical of the titles of the Royal founder. It is impossible to describe in words the richness and beauty of the interior of this noble chapel. The vault is very beautiful with fan-tracery. The banners of the Knights of the Order of the Bath hang over their stalls. The misereres are wonderfully carved, and are worthy of close examination. The black marble tomb of the founder is considered to be the best example of the Renaissance style in England. It was fashioned by Torregiano. Very numerous monuments are found here. The tombs of Mary Queen of Scots and of Queen Elizabeth have especial interest. Oliver Cromwell’s body once lay in the most eastern chapel, but the Royalists at the Restoration wrought vengeance on his corpse, and on that of other regicides, and did not suffer them to remain in these hallowed precincts.”—(P. H. D.)
The tombs that attract the most attention are those of Queen Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots. Queen Elizabeth’s, erected by James I., consists of a canopy supported on ten Corinthian pillars, under which the effigy of the queen lies on a slab borne by lions. Mary I. rests in the same tomb. Mary Stuart’s tomb bears an effigy. At her feet is the crowned lion of Scotland. Her body was removed from Peterborough (see page 331) by James I.
From the east walk of the Cloisters, finished in 1345, we enter the Chapter-House, dating from 1350. It is octagonal and is noted for its fine tracery. The House of Commons used to meet here (before 1340). The speaker sat in the abbot’s seat.
“The Chapter-House is visited by comparatively few of the myriads who come to the Abbey; but those who know what to look for may well linger for some time in this deeply interesting building. The splendour and loveliness of the entrance to it show the important place which it held in the general estimation; the stones under the left arcade of the vestibule are still deeply worn by the feet of generations of monks, as they walked two and two to their weekly assemblies. The vaulting and its bosses are quaint and rich. The quaint entrance door itself, bleared and ruined as it now is, was once rich with gold and scarlet.
“Entering the Chapter-House we see at a glance an octagon of the noblest proportions, of which the roof is supported by a slender and graceful pillar of polished Purbeck, thirty-five feet high, ‘surrounded by eight subordinate shafts, attached to it by three moulded bands.’ The painted windows were placed there as a memorial to Dean Stanley. One was given by the Queen, and one by Americans. In the central light at the summit of each is represented the greatest man of each century—the Venerable Bede, St. Anselm, Roger Bacon, Chaucer, Caxton and Shakespeare. In the window over the door is Queen Victoria. The central band of the windows represents many of the great historical events connected with the Abbey.”—(F. W. F.)
“The Chapel of the Pyx is approached from the East Cloister Walk by a massive door with seven locks. It is beneath the old dormitory and occupies two bays of the Confessor’s building, and, historically considered, is perhaps the most interesting portion of the Abbey buildings. The pyx is a box containing the standard pieces of gold and silver coin of the realm which were used for testing the accuracy of the currency. It has now been removed to the Mint, where the trial of the pyx takes place.”—(C. H.)
The Cloisters with their arches, beautiful tracery and ancient memorials are strangely impressive, particularly as they are situated in the midst of London’s roar; yet here there is quiet.
The most famous part of the Deanery is the Jerusalem Chamber projecting just beyond the south-west tower. It probably was so called on account of the tapestry representing the history of Jerusalem that adorned it. Henry IV. died in it in 1413, according to the prophecy that he should die in Jerusalem. (See Henry IV., Part II., Act IV., Scene 4.) In this room the Assembly of Divines met in 1643; and the Revisers of the Old and New Testaments of late years. A small room with carved panelling, built by Abbot Islip, leading from it, is known as the Jericho Parlour.