Bells Cathedrals: The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury | Page 6

upon him, creating him Duke of Warwick and
King of the Isle of Wight, and later King of Jersey and Guernsey. The
young Duke, who was married to Cicely Neville, died at the age of
twenty-one, and was buried in the choir of the Abbey. As he left no
children, the manor passed in 1449 to his sister Anne, the wife of
Richard Neville the "King-maker." All the "King-maker's" estates were
confiscated to the Crown after he fell at Barnet in 1471, but were
eventually shared between his two daughters Isabelle and Anne.
Isabelle married George, Duke of Clarence, Earl of Warwick and
Salisbury, who in 1477, a few days after Isabelle's supposed death by
poison at Warwick, was put to death in the Tower. Both were buried at
Tewkesbury (vide p. 62).
The young Edward, son of the Duke of Clarence, was imprisoned in the
Tower till his execution in 1499.
The Manor of Tewkesbury, as a possession of the Warwicks, passed
into the hands of Lord Seymour of Sudeley, the husband of Catharine
Parr, until his attainder, when they once more came into the hands of
the Crown. James I. sold the manor to the Corporation in 1609. During
the present century the lordship of the manor again passed by sale into
private hands.
In the chronicles of the Abbey the following facts are recorded:--
In 1218 the dormitory roof fell down upon the monks when they
returned from an early service, and Gilbert, a monk, had a thigh broken
and his head injured, while the Prior Gunfrey escaped unhurt.
In 1224, Robert Travers, Bishop of Kildelo (i.e. Killaloe), in the winter

dedicated two large bells in the tower.
In 1234 the principal gate of the monastery and two stables were burnt
down.
In 1237, Hervey de Sipton, the then Prior, pulled down and rebuilt the
chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas. Nothing can be said definitely as to its
size, owing to the later work done in this part. The chronicle, however,
distinctly states that divine service was first held in Prior Sipton's new
chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas, on St. Nicholas' Day.[2]
The roof bears the arms of the Clares and Despensers, and this would
give the date of the bosses as 1321-1337, i.e., about a century later than
the date of the chapel.
The two chapels which are now usually known as those of St. James
and St. Nicholas were, at one time, supposed, without authority, to have
been the chapter-house of the monastery. They were so described as
recently as 1881, in the plan used by the members of the Architectural
Association for their excursion to Tewkesbury. For many years they
were in use as a grammar school, and were walled off from the rest of
the church.
In 1239 a grand altar was dedicated to the honour of the Virgin,
"gloriosæ Virginis Mariæ." This is by some supposed to refer to the
present altar-stone of Purbeck marble.
In 1241, Oct. 25, the body of Fitz-Hamon, the founder of the existing
fabric, was brought in from the Chapter House and placed on the site of
the Founder's Chapel built later.
In 1243 the dormitory, which had been rebuilt (chiefly by Abbot Peter),
was re-opened for use.
In 1246 the Prior, Henry de Banbury, built an Early English Chapel,
dedicated to St. Eustachius. It seems probable that this was erected on
the site of the apsidal Norman chapel, and the space (6 feet) between it
and the Early English chapel. The vaulting corbels are all that remain.

In 1259 the Chapter-House was newly paved at the expense of the
Convent.
The chronicles, as reprinted in "Annales Monastici" stop short in 1263,
and from that time onwards there is a dearth of direct information as to
the Abbey and its history.
The choir was altered in the time of Abbot Parker, by Elizabeth, the
wife, successively, of Lord Badlesmere, of Hugh Lord Despenser, and
Sir Guy de Brien. The original Norman clerestory was taken down and
the Norman columns of the choir slightly raised, as will be seen from
the choir aisle on the side where the original capitals were left unaltered.
At the same time the beautiful series of apsidal chapels was added;
stone vaulting took the place of the earlier wooden roofing and the
space between the four piers that support the tower was vaulted. This
work contains the arms of Sir Guy and of the Montacutes.
1397. The Founder's Chapel was erected by Abbot Parker.
In 1422 Henry VI. granted the patronage of Deerhurst Priory to
Tewkesbury. Much litigation followed with Eton College in
consequence, but in 1469 the grant was confirmed and carried out by
John Carpenter, Bishop of Worcester.
On May 30, 1471, the Abbey, which had been polluted with blood
during the battle