It is, upon the whole, probable that Wykeham gave the first proofs of skill as an Architect in the extension and reparation of Winchester Castle, during his employment by Nicholas Uvedale. That it was a fortress of considerable extent and consequence, history abundantly proves; and it continued so down to the period of the civil strife between the adherents of Charles I. and the Parliamentary armies; but whatever may have been the extent or description of building previously executed by him, it led to his appointment, by patent, dated May 10th, 1356, of Clerk of all the King’s works in the manors of Henley and Yesthampstead; and by a second patent, under date 30th October of the same year, he was made Surveyor of all the King’s works at the Castle and Park of Windsor; and subsequently of all the royal castles south of Trent.
In these capacities he was furnished with extensive powers; such as directing the issue of the King’s writ to the sheriffs of counties, requiring them to impress workmen, who were compelled to labour at fixed wages; to purvey and apply all material fitted for building; to hold courts for pleas of trespass and misdemeanours; and to inquire of the King’s liberties and rights within his demesne lands. The prelude to the erection of Windsor Castle was the assembling of 360 impressed workmen, by forties, from nine adjoining counties, in addition to those voluntarily engaged; the original Norman building was levelled, and on its site, under the eye of a warlike monarch who delighted in embattled towers and gorgeous halls fitted for the display of chivalric institutions, was reared this far-famed fortress and palace of our kings.
Windsor Castle occupied from ten to twelve years of continued labour, and comprised the King’s palace; the great hall of St. George; buildings for various purposes, on the east and south sides of the upper ward; the keep, or tower; the chapel of St. George; the residences of the custos and canons, in the lower ward, with the whole circumference of the walls, towers, and gates. Many parts of the original building remain, but the lapse of nearly five hundred years, frequent repairs, the enlargements and alterations required to meet the conveniences or tastes of successive kings, most of whom have expended immense sums in real or fancied improvements, have, in a great degree, obliterated a plan and style which was, in Castellated Architecture, the perfection of the fourteenth century.
His second work was the Castle of Queenborough, in the Isle of Sheppy, which, from the lowness of the site, and nature of the foundations, required unusual skill in the Architect. It was commenced in 1361, and completed in about six years, when the King, holding his court there, made the town a free borough, naming it Queenborough, in honour of his Queen Philippa. Of this structure no part remains; but its position and extent are ascertained by the moat which surrounded it. There can be no doubt this was one of the principal castles of the kingdom, designed both as a means of defence against invasion, and as a point for the assembling of fleets and armies for offensive purposes. We are told of this building, that it was “large, strong, and magnificent;” a fitting residence for royalty, and one of the strongholds of the realm; and its importance may be estimated by the rank of its constables, who were, in the reign of Edward III., John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; Richard II., Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford; Henry IV., John Cornwall, Baron Fanhope; Henry VII., Humphry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham; Edward IV., George, Duke of Clarence, &c. The last repairs were done in the reign of Henry VIII., 1536.
Pending these works, Wykeham grew into high favour with his royal master, and church preferment was heaped upon him with a lavish hand; he filled also in succession the offices of Secretary of State, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and Chancellor of England; and upon the death of Edyngdon, Bishop of Winchester, in 1366, he succeeded to that see, one of the richest and most influential in the kingdom. With his career as a prelate or a statesman, we can have little to do in this sketch, but we may be permitted to notice that it was replete with great and disinterested actions. Prosperity so brilliant had, however, its hour of adversity, but which only served to place in bolder relief the virtues of the Christian and the dignity of the man. In the dotage of Edward III., charges of malversation, in the execution of his high offices, were preferred against the Bishop of Winchester, at the instigation of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who had always manifested an irreconcilable jealousy of his influence with the king. This proceeding was followed by an arbitrary sequestration of the temporalities of the bishop, and he retired to the monastery of Merton, and subsequently to the Abbey of Waverly, near Farnham, amid the universal regrets of the nation. The aspersion of a character so singularly exempt from the besetting sin of avarice, and its twin vices, peculation and sensualism, could not, however, be long sustained; and at the end of seven months he was happily restored to the means of carrying forward magnificent designs for the benefit of posterity.
From this period Wykeham seems, as much as possible, to have relieved himself from the burthen of secular affairs, although we find him again Chancellor in the unsettled reign of Richard II., but which office he took the earliest occasion to resign. Long and faithful services to the state had entitled him to repose; but there was no cessation in the activity of a mind fraught with benevolent purposes. Possessed of great wealth, he seems to have considered himself but as a steward intrusted with a useful application of it, and he devised, with as much judgment as human foresight is permitted to exercise, the establishments we are now to mention.
With the year 1373 began the formation of a school at Oxford, that of Winchester having much earlier been taken under his especial care; at each, masters were provided, and scholars, to the number of seventy, lodged and boarded at his sole charge. These were, however, but preliminary steps to the great and original plans contemplated, namely, the founding of colleges at Oxford and Winchester, with buildings, masters, and suitable appointments, and a perpetual maintenance for two hundred scholars, who, while receiving the advantage of liberal support, were trained from elementary learning through the whole circle of the sciences. So costly was this undertaking, that no individual, with a single exception, has had the means or generosity to emulate the example. This occurred in the person of King Henry VI., whose colleges at Eton and Cambridge were founded upon principles scarcely varying from these models.
Wykeham was now fifty-five years old, and, in realizing his plans, found full scope for the display of matured genius. Neither the cares of state which he had encountered, nor the personal ease which so frequently inclines even great minds to passive inaction, could obliterate his predilections for architecture. Under this master of his art were perfected improvements in Gothic style which have procured for examples of this period the distinction of the pure or decorated English. These consist in increased boldness, highly wrought and varied sculpture, and enriched vaultings, with exterior ornaments of statuary, niched or canopied, upon the western or great entrance fronts of ecclesiastical buildings. With the taste to dictate and the wealth to execute such magnificent designs, he entered upon his tasks, and, in 1379, personally laid the first stone of the college familiarly termed New College, Oxford, but by himself “Sainte Marie College of Winchestre in Oxenford,” which was completed and its establishment inducted with much ceremony in 1386.
We may here be permitted to observe, that with every disposition to dwell upon the details and beauties of this and his succeeding works, want of space compels us, for the moment, to relinquish an intention to do so; but, as subjects of national interest, we shall recur to them, aided by illustrations calculated to render many peculiarities of this style available in modern practice.
But to resume our brief notices. Scarcely a year elapsed before the second, or St. Mary’s College, at Winchester, was in progress, and in six years fitted for the reception of its professors and students. In extent and style this edifice bears the strong impress of its founder, whose memory lives freshly in the veneration of his children, for such we may term those who are here nurtured and taught, and from amongst whom have stood forth many worthies of the church, and others of the highest attainments in science.