who, to be sure of Paradise,
Dying, put on the weeds of Dominic,
Or in Franciscan think to pass disguised.
Originally it was of very considerable extent, comprehending within its enclosure nearly nine acres, now used as gardens and pleasure grounds to the adjoining mansions, together with a spacious fish-pond.
This once celebrated structure, in common with others similar in their institution, suffered considerable dilapidations in the reign of Henry the eighth. In consequence of this and the mouldering waste of time, a small portion only remains, and what does exist has been cruelly mutilated in its repairs; its nave, western tower and northern porch, being the only fragments left to tell the history of its pristine magnificence and grandeur. The tower is a finely proportioned structure; its portal has a round Norman arch deeply recessed, and another of a pointed form, inserted within it at some subsequent period. Above this is one of the noblest windows in the kingdom, its height being 46 feet by 22 feet wide. It is divided by its mulliens into seven “days”, or compartments below, of which there are two tiers, and its arched head is sharp pointed, and filled with a profusion of the most delicate tracery. On each side is a mouldering nich, in one of which was a statue of St. Peter, and in the other St. Paul. Between the double bell windows in front, is the figure of an armed knight within a nich, supposed from its surrounding decorations and ornaments, to represent that celebrated warrior, Edward III. The tower contains eight bells. Within the arch which once led to the south wing of the transept, is an ancient figure clad in mail, supposed by some, to be intended to perpetuate the memory of earl Roger, the munificent patron of the abbey, and to this effect an inscription was placed within the tomb, by the heralds at their visitation of this county, in 1633. Others suppose it to belong to some other warrior of subsequent times, monuments of this description not being known at such an early period.
The ravages which this venerable pile has suffered are, perhaps, more strikingly visible in its interior than its exterior; but it still presents a solemn and majestic appearance, and whilst it proudly reminds us of its ancient grandeur, awfully forewarns us of “another and a better world.”—The altar-piece is in the style of the last century, with paintings of Moses and Aaron, and finishes the east end.
There are several monuments and inscriptions in memory of the Prynces, Baldwins, Reckes, and many other ancient and respectable Salopian families. The armorial bearings in the great west window, were restored A.D. 1815, from an ancient drawing in the Herald’s Office. The east window is also adorned with painted glass. In the center compartment, under gothic canopies, are large figures of St. Peter and St. Paul, with their appropriate symbols; above are the arms of England, the see of Lichfield, the Founder of the Abbey, and of Lord Berwick, the munificent donor of the window; on each side are escutcheons of the vicars from the year 1500. The bones of St. Winyfred were deposited in this abbey with great splendour, in the reign of Stephen.
The organ and the handsome gothic screen on which it stands, were erected in 1806. It is a very fine instrument, made by Mr. Gray, of London, and cost 365 guineas. On the screen are the arms of the principal benefactors.
In the parish chest are two small oval seals exactly similar in their dimensions, impresses and legends. Two clothed arms issue from the opposite sides of the area, one bearing a crosier, the other a naked sword; in the centre, a wand or staff of office. Inscription, “Sigillum commune de Fforyate Monachor”—the common seal of Monks Foregate. Some of our most skilful antiquaries are unable to give a sufficient reason why Monks Foregate came to have a common seal. Some of them have supposed that the parish might have obtained a charter of incorporation, while others think that it might have been assumed without authority. Neither of the two seals appear much older than the 15th century.
The patron of the living is Lord Berwick—the Rev. H. Burton, vicar, and Mr. John Amott, organist.
But the remain of this abbey which has most excited the attention of antiquaries, is a beautiful little structure on the south side of the gardens. Its plan is octagon, 6 feet in diameter. Some broken steps which did not belong to it originally, lead through a narrow flat arched door on the east, to the inside. The south part stands on a fragment of the ruins. The corresponding side projects considerably from the wall, resting upon a single corbel, terminating in a head. From this point it gradually swells, bound with a multitude of delicate ribbed mouldings, until it forms the basement under the floor. An obtuse dome of stone is suspended over the whole, at about eight feet from the base, supported on six narrow pointed arches, rising from pillars similar to the mullions of the windows. One of the remaining sides of the octagon is a solid blank wall, and in the other is a door. The roof within is vaulted on eight ribs, which spring from the wall immediately under the cavity of the dome. At their crossing in the centre is a boss, bearing a representation of the crucifixion, considerably relieved. The spaces between the divisions of the three northern arches, four feet above the bottom, are filled up with stone pannels, over which they are entirely open, a circumstance which, by permitting the light, is productive of a beautiful effect. On the centre pannel are two small figures in elegant tabernacles; in one of these is the figure of an angel, in the other, that of a woman, whom he is addressing; the whole seems intended to represent the annunciation. The right hand pannel is embellished with images of St. Peter and St. Paul bearing their respective symbols, with similar enrichments, and that on the left has two figures in monastic habits, one of them a female, probably St. Winyfred, the other a monk; the height of every figure is eighteen inches. The arches on the southern side are without ornaments, and are now quite open two feet from the floor.
In forming a garden on the site of the Abbey Cloisters, a great variety of fragments were met with, consisting of painted tiles with various devices, rich gothic tracery, window mullions, &c. and a very beautiful part of the pavement of the refectory; this, from its situation, being about 23 feet from the line of the outer refectory wall, and being part of the border of a pavement, satisfactorily proves the use to which this beautiful Gothic pulpit was applied, it being a custom in Benedictine monasteries, for one monk to read to the others during their meals in the refectory. In a parallel line, and at 12 feet distance from the wall of the dormitory, a considerable number of small Norman capitals and bases were found, strongly bedded in cement, and forming a foundation to some superstructure. As the west side of the cloisters must have occupied this situation, it may be presumed that there were cloisters of more ancient architecture, than these destroyed at the Reformation, to which the fragments found in the garden belonged.