In the south-east corner, under Anselm’s Tower, is a chapel generally known as that of St. John, sometimes as that of St. Gabriel. It has been divided into two compartments by a wall. There are some very interesting paintings[2] on the roof, representing Our Lord in the centre of the angelic host, the Adoration of the Magi, and a figure of St. John; this work is believed to be of the thirteenth century. The central pillar of this chapel, with the curved fluting in the column and the quaintly grotesque devices of the figures carved on the capital, is well worthy of close examination. The grate that we see here was erected by the French Protestants, large numbers of whom fled to England during the persecution which was instituted against their sect in 1561. They were welcomed by Queen Elizabeth, and allowed to settle in Canterbury, where the cathedral crypt was made over to them to use as a weaving factory. It is possible that the ridges in the floor of St. John’s Chapel are marks left by their looms, but more evident trace of their occupation is afforded by the inscriptions in French painted on the pillars and arches of the main crypt, and again by the custom which still survives of holding a French service in the south aisle of the crypt; this part has been walled off especially as a place of worship for the descendants of the French exiles, and here service is still held in the French tongue. Alterations have been lately made by which the French service is held in the Black Prince’s Chantry, and the part of the crypt formerly walled off has been merged with the rest of the crypt, which is thus completely thrown open. Access to the French church is now obtained from the crypt, and not from outside. This chantry was founded by the Black Prince in 1363 to commemorate his marriage with his cousin Joan, the “Fair Maid of Kent.” Here, according to the prince’s ordinance, two priests were to pray for his soul, in his lifetime and after; the situation of the two altars, at which the priests prayed, can still be traced. On the vaulting we see the arms of the prince, and of his father, and what seems to be the face of his wife. In return for the permission to institute this chantry, the prince left to the monastery of Canterbury an estate which still belongs to the Chapter, the manor of Fawkes’ Hall. This was a piece of land in South Lambeth, which had been granted by King John to a baron called Fawkes. His name still survives in the word “Vauxhall.”
The Eastern Crypt.—The eastern portion of the crypt, under the Trinity Chapel and the corona, is a good deal more lofty than Ernulf’s building. We noticed the ascent from the choir and presbytery to the Trinity Chapel, and it is, of course, this greater elevation of the cathedral floor at the east end which accounts for the greater height of the eastern crypt. The effect, both above and below, is exceedingly happy. The most striking thing about the interior of the cathedral is the manner in which it rises—“church piled upon church”—from the nave to the corona, and this characteristic enabled William the Englishman to build a crypt below which has none of the cramped squatness which generally mars the effect of such buildings. “The lofty crypt below,” says Willis, “may be considered the unfettered composition of the English architect. Its style and its details are wholly different from those of William of Sens. The work, from its position and office, is of a massive and bold character, but its unusual loftiness prevents it from assuming the nature of a crypt.... There is one detail of this crypt which differs especially from the work above. The abacus of each of the piers, as well as that of each central shaft, is round; but in the whole of the choir the abacuses are either square, or square with the corners cut off.”
It was in the smaller eastern crypt, which formerly occupied the site of William’s building which we are now examining, that Becket was hastily buried after his assassination, when his murderers were still threatening to come and drag his body out, “hang it on a gibbet, tear it with horses, cut it into pieces, or throw it in some pond to be devoured by swine or birds of prey.” And from that time until the translation of the relics in 1220, this was the most sacred spot in the cathedral, and it was known, down to Reformation times, as “Becket’s tomb.” Hither came the earliest pilgrims in the first rush of enthusiasm for the newly-canonized martyr. And here Henry II. performed that penance, which is one of the most striking examples of the Church’s power presented by history. We are told that he placed his head and shoulder in the tomb, and there received five strokes from each bishop and abbot who was present, and three from each of the eighty monks. After this castigation he spent the night in the crypt, fasting and barefooted. His penitence and piety were rewarded by the victory gained at Richmond, on that very day, by his forces over William the Lion of Scotland, who was taken prisoner, and afterwards, recognizing the power of the saint, founded the abbey of Aberbrothwick to Saint Thomas of Canterbury.