The History of TewkesburyBy James BennettTranscriptions by Rosemary Lockie, © Copyright 2015 CHAPTER XIII. DISTINGUISHED PERSONS BURIED AT TEWKESBURY, WHO HAVE NO MONUMENTS In the year 800, Brictric, king of Wessex, son-in-law to king Offa, was interred in St. Faith's chapel, in Tewkesbury church. In 812, Hugh, a Mercian nobleman, who owned the manor of Tewkesbury, was buried on the north side of the body of the church. Gilbert de Clare, first Earl of Hertford and Gloucester,[246] who died in 1230, was buried in the middle of the choir. [247]
Isabel, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke, widow of Gilbert de Clare and wife of Richard brother to King Henry the third, who died in 1239, ordered her heart to be sent in a silver cup to her brother, then abbot of Tewkesbury, to be interred before the high altar.[248] Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford and Gloucester, who died in 1262, was buried in the choir. The bishops of
Worcester and Landaff, twelve abbots, and a great number of barons, knights and gentlemen, were present at his funeral; and numerous indulgences were granted by the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishops of Chester, Worcester and Landaff, to those who should pray for the earl's soul.[249] The stately tomb of this nobleman was erected by his widow Maud, in the Lady chapel, but no remains of it now exist. It was ornamented with gold, silver and precious stones, the sword and spurs which he wore when alive, and other valuables. On this tomb was a large image of the earl, in silver, and his praises were celebrated in the following epitaph: "Hic pudor Hippoliti, Paridis gena, sensus Ulyssis, Which is thus translated in "Weever's Funeral Monuments": "Chaste Hippolite, and Paris fair, Ulysses wise and sly, Gilbert de Clare the second, who died in 1295, was also buried in the choir, near the communion table. The effigies of this nobleman formerly stood over one of the stalls, not far from his grave, in a pensive position, with an inscription in gold characters. Gilbert de Clare the third, who was slain at the battle of Bannockburn, in 1314, was buried at Tewkesbury, with his ancestors,[250] Maud, his wife, daughter of the Earl of Ulster, was buried on his left hand. John, son of Gilbert de Clare the third, was buried either in the Lady chapel or in the choir. Hugh le Despenser the younger, who was executed at Hereford, in 1327, was quartered and publicly exposed, but some parts of his body were privately interred at Tewkesbury.
William Lord le Zouch of Mortimer was buried in the middle of the chapel of our Lady in 1335.[251] Eleanor, eldest daughter of Gilbert de Clare the second, and widow of Hugh le Despenser the younger and of William Lord le Zouch, who died in 1337, was buried with her ancestors. Another Lord le Zouch is said to have been buried in the Lady chapel, near the presbytery, in 1371. Elizabeth, widow of the last named Lord le Zouch, was buried there in 1408. Edward, eldest son of Edward le Despenser the second, and also his infant brother and sister, were buried in the Lady chapel. Thomas, another son of Edward le Despenser the second, who was executed at Bristol, 1 Henry IV. was buried in the middle of the choir. Elizabeth, widow to Edward le Despenser the second, who died in 1409,[252] was buried either within or near to the chapel of the Holy Trinity, which she had erected to her husband's memory.
Hugh Mortimer, by his will, dated London, 1415, directed his body "to be buried in a certain chapel of Tewkesbury church, wherein is buried the body of Lord Edward le Despenser". Richard le Despenser, son to Lord Thomas, died in his eighteenth year, and was buried in the choir, on the left hand of his father. Henry Beauchamp, Duke of Warwick, who died in 1446, was buried in the middle of the choir. Cicely, daughter of the Earl of Salisbury, and widow of the above Duke of Warwick, was buried in the same place in 1450. Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, who was beheaded after the battle of Tewkesbury, in 1471; also Lord John Beaufort, his brother, and the Earl of Devonshire, who were slain in the battle, were buried in the church. Nearly in the centre of the choir, just beneath the tower, is the following inscription, on a brass plate, commemorative of the melancholy fate of Prince Edward, who was murdered after the battle of Tewkesbury: "Ne tota pereat Memoria Edwardi Principis Walliae, post This inscription, from the pen of the late Rev. Robert Knight, vicar of Tewkesbury, was placed there when the church was newly pewed in 1796. The slab on which this plate is engraved covers a stone coffin, which was examined not many years since, but exhibited no marks by which it could be recognised as the repository of royal dust; and it is far more probable to have contained the ashes of Henry Beauchamp, Duke of Warwick, who was certainly buried in this part of the church. It is unknown where the ill-fated Edward was buried, whether in the church or church-yard; historians say that his body was thrown into a hole with those of the common soldiers who perished in the field of battle. The grave which this inscription covers has immemorially been pointed out as that of the
prince; and had not the large marble slab, which was originally placed on it, been removed and despoiled of the brasses with which it had once been inlaid, it might have been better ascertained whose remains were deposited beneath.[253] At the back of the high altar, underneath a large blue stone, which bears evident marks of once having been inlaid with metal, is a flight of eight stone steps; these lead to a large arched vault, in which the remains of Isabel Duchess of Clarence, eldest daughter of Richard Earl of Warwick, were deposited in 1477; and where, also, her illustrious husband, George Duke of Clarence, brother to King Edward the fourth, after his mysterious death in the Tower, most probably found that repose which was denied to him in his lifetime. The Abbey Chronicle gives a minute account of the burial of the duchess, and points out the precise spot of her interment;[254] but
no person who has written on the subject seems to have been aware of the existence of this vault. Mr. Knight enquires, "among the many nobles and chieftains interred in this church, where are we to look for 'false, fleeting, perjured Clarence', and Isabel his duchess, who are reported to have here found a period to their sufferings, whether arising from their misfortunes or their crimes, in the sabbath of the grave?" After describing the pomp displayed at the funeral of the duchess, he remarks, "such were the feuds about the throne, during the eventful reigns of Edward the fourth, Richard the third, and Henry the seventh, that no one has even ventured to mark the spot with a stone where this obnoxious branch of royalty finally claimed kindred with the worm".[255] This vault was opened in 1826, in the presence of the vicar, curate, and churchwardens of the parish: it was in the most perfect state, and measured nine feet long, eight feet wide, and six feet four inches high. The arched roof and walls were of Painswick free-stone, and must have been chiefly hewn from large masses of solid material; the floor was paved, and in the centre was the representation of a cross, extending almost the whole length and breadth of the vault, formed with painted bricks: on some of these were the arms of England, of the Clares, &c. and on some were ornamented letters, birds, fleurs de lis, and various other devices, similar to bricks which are frequently found about the church; and of which, it would seem, the members of the convent kept a store, to be used for embellishment as occasion might require. In the north-west corner of the vault were found two skulls, and other bones; these were evidently the remains of a man and woman, and although there was nothing to prove that they were relics of the Duke and Duchess of Clarence, there are some circumstances which render it by no means improbable.
That the duchess was buried in this vault, not the shadow of a doubt can exist: this receptacle for her remains might have been prepared during the thirty-five days in which she lay in state in the church; for as she died at so early an age, and so unexpectedly, there is no reason to suppose that it was made in her life time. It will perhaps never be satisfactorily determined where the duke was buried: Rapin and others affirm that he was interred here; and as his enemies cared little about his body after it was deprived of life, it is not likely that any obstacle would have been thrown in the way of its removal to Tewkesbury, if any faithful adherent desired it. The circumstance of the bones of a male and female being discovered in this vault, - joined to that of there being six large stones, at the south end of it, apparently arranged for supporting two coffins abreast, - would add something to the plausibility of the notion of his having been buried in the same grave with his duchess. The fact of its being unnoticed in the Abbey Register, might have arisen solely from an anxiety in the abbot not to give offence to the ruling powers, by recording the interment of one who had fallen a victim to their resentment. This vault was perhaps ransacked soon after the dissolution of the monastery, for the purpose of obtaining every thing of value which could be found in it: the coffins, as was frequently the case, might have been stolen for the worth of the materials, and the bones were suffered to remain in one corner of the sepulchre, merely because they could not be converted into money. This receptacle for royal dust was destined again to be disturbed in 1709, 1729 and 1753, in order to admit the bodies of Samuel Hawling, his wife, and his son. Samuel and John Hawling were members of the corporation; but it is quite impossible to conceive how these "perriwig-pated aldermen" obtained permission to occupy this tomb. In 1829, the remains of the family of Hawling were removed from this vault, and carefully deposited in a grave, which had been prepared for the purpose, a little to the southward, and their grave-stone was afterwards laid upon it. An
ancient stone coffin was then taken into the vault, the supposed bones of the royal duke and duchess were deposited in it, and here they were securely inclosed, by placing a large stone upon the top of the coffin.[256] However frequent therefore this vault may in future be visited, the remains of mortality which are in it cannot again be readily disturbed. Some account of the modern monuments and grave-stones which are in the church, as well as of a few of the tombs, &c. in the church-yard, is given in a subsequent portion of this work.[257] Notes
OCR/transcript by Rosemary Lockie in October 2015. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||