The Chapel of Our Lady in the Crypt of Canterbury Cathedral

( 153 ) THE CHAPEL OE OUR LADY IN THE CRYPT OE CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. BVr C. EVELEIGH WOODRUPF, M.A. FORTY-SIX years ago the late Canon W. A. Scott Robertson published in Archceologia Cantiana (Vol. XIII., pp. 500-501) a long and very able article on the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral as it then existed, in the course of which he gives a particular description of the little chapel of '* Our Lady at Undercroft." I do not propose to repeat in the pi-esent article what Robertson has said already with admirable perspicuity concerning the architectural features of the Chapel, but to supplement his account by the addition of a few historical notes from sources hitherto unpublished, and by recording the alterations that have been made since the date of his article (1880). Thirteen years after Robertson's article was published the Dean and Chapter decided to renovate the crypt, which for many years had been used merely as a repository for scaffolding poles and building material, and render it fit for sacred purposes. The work was begun in 1893 under the direction of the late Sir Arthur Bloinfield, who removed the earthen flour, which at that time hid the bases of the Norman vaulting shafts, and substituted a concrete floor over the whole area of the crypt. When the earthen deposit had been cleared out it was discovered that the late fourteenth-century screens and xeredos, enclosing the Chapel of St. Mary, had been built, not upon the original level of Ernulf's crypt, but upon this superimposed earthen floor, a discovery of considerable importance as proving that the raising of the floor dated back to medieval times, and had been deliberately carried out, probably with the object of rendering the crypt drier, 154 THE CHAPEL OP OUR LADY IN THE and was not, as had been believed, due to gradual accretions of dirt during the years when this part of the church lay derelict.* A further discovery made by Sir Arthur Blomfield was the fact that the present screens are built upon the foundations of a more ancient enclosure occupying the same site. As evidence of the existence of these foundations,, the architect caused openings to be left in the concrete floor at the base of the screens, but the apertures are so narrow that the character of the masonry is not easily discernible. As is usual when recording restorations, some destructive work has to be lamented. Thus a mural painting, formerly upon the vault of the eastern apse of the Chapel, which Robertson describes as " a n angelic choirbearing musical instruments," has now quite disappeared. Probably it was obliterated by the drastic scraping to which the walls, pillars and vault of the crypt were subjected in 1893. Still more regrettable was the removal of a low stone wall (B on the accompanying Ground Plan) separating the sacrarium from the western part of the Chapel, and, apparently, forming the sill of an iron grate or grille, the upper bars of which were fixed into the vault above, where the holes into which they fitted are still to be seen. Those who are acquainted with Erasmus's Religious Pilgrimage will remember that he describes the Chapel of St. Mary in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral as " doubly railed in and encompassed about with iron bars."t The position of the outer grate is determined by the square mortice holes which still remain at the base of the outer edges of the massive piers separating the central alley and apse from the aisles and ambulatory. These holes were for the support of the timber beams to which the ironwork * Gervase (U.S., vol. 11, p. 272) mentions a great flooding of the crypt in the year 1271; and Stone more than one occasion on which the monks had difficulty from the same cause in getting access to the Chapel of St. Mary. Later, Prior Thomas Goldstone constructed an aqueduct beneath the church, which to some extent remedied the evil; but even as late as 1467 the Treasurer paid money " for getting the water out of the crypt of the Blessed Virgin." t Illic domicilium habet virgo mater, sed subohscurum semel atque iterum ferreis cancellis circumspecta. (Erusmi Opera, vol. i., 785.) o Si a w ~ e- < u 2 < u CRYPT OP CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. 155 of the grate was fixed. Reference to the Plan will show that the area enclosed by this outer grille was very much larger than that enclosed by the stone screens. We learn from an entry in the accounts of the Monastic Treasurersthat this outer fence was erected in the year 1377-8, when John of Otford was Warden of St. Mary's Altar, and that it cost 50Z. In the following year a further sum of 61. 18s. was spent either on the same work or on the inner grille.* Possibly John of Otford designed this iron screen, or more probably found the money for its erection, since he is specially credited with the work in the monastic obituary (1414) "qui inter cetera bona que fecit ymaginem beate Marie murali et ferrea clausura fortiter munivit (Causton MS., E. 12) .f The fencing in of the Chapel may have been connected with Prince Edward's bequest of valuable furniture and ornaments in the preceding- year.- To the altar of St. Mary Undercroft he left by will "A whole white suit diapered with a blue vine, a frontal which had been given him by the Bishop of Exeter, having the Assumption of Our Lady in the midst and other imagery, and a tabernacle of the same subject, the gift of the bishop, also two great twisted silver candlesticks, two basins with his arms, a greatgilt and enamelled chalice with the arms of Warenne, and two cruets wrought in the form of angels."J That the monks were conscious that the resort of alii kinds of people to the crypt, ostensibly for the purpose of visiting the tomb of St. Thomas, might be a source of danger is indicated by the fact that on the eve and feast of the Saint's Translation watchmen were hired to perambulate the crypt by night.§ With regard to the date of the erection of the reredos- * Item in 1 nova clausura ferrea faota circa capellam beate Marie in oryptis- 1" (Treasurers' Accounts, 1377-8). Item de vi" xviii8 solutis pro expenses oircti clausuram beate Marie in cryptis (Ibid., 1878-9). t John of Otford died in 1418, aged 88. He had been a monk for fifty years and previously a seoular priest attached to the almonry chapel. 1 Inventories of Ohrist Church, Canterbury (Legg and Hope), p. 96. § Solutum pro duobus viris oonductis in vigilia translaoionis sci Thome Martiris and in die eiusdem xii"1. (Accounts of the Warden of St. Mary'saltar, 1510.) 156 THE CHAPEL OP OUR LADY IN THE and stone screens enclosing the inner chapel no direct documentary evidence has been found. The architectural style would suggest the last quarter of the fourteenth century or thereabout; and Robertson confidently ascribes the remodelling of the Chapel to the piety and munificence of Edward the Black Prince. " The interest evinced," he says, " by the Black Prince in this Chapel, as testified by the provisions of his will, accords very well with the motive which probably led him to beautify it. His marriage with Joan, the Pair Maid of Kent, was contrary to the laws of the church, this beautiful Countess of Kent being a firstcousin of Edward III. The Pope granted a dispensation upon condition that the Black Prince should found chantries, which, as we well know, were situated in the south transept •of the crypt. As the Prince was very strongly attached to his cousin, we can understand that so magnanimous a soul as •his would not be satisfied with doing only just so much as he was compelled to do. To evince his heartfelt joy at being permitted to marry the Pair Maid of Kent he would spontaneously beautify the Lady Chapel in the crypt as a token of thanksgiving. I believe that in these screens and in this reredos we see a memorial of the great love which the bravest of our Princes of Wales bore to the Pair Maid •of Kent—the wise, the gentle and the pious Joan." This is a fine piece of writing, and the conclusion arrived at by the author has been adopted as an absolute historical fact by the Cathedral guides, who, when they reach the Chapel, proclaim with the utmost confidence, " The Chapel of St. Mary, built by the Black Prince in 1363." Unfortunately the theory is supported by no documentary evidence whatsoever, nor is there, I believe, any precedent relating to the actions of Plantagenet Princes which might make such a supposition likely. It is true that Prince Edward was in Canterbury in 1373. He was then in failing health, and for the first time in his career he came as a pilgrim to the shrine of St. Thomas. His offering on this occasion is not recorded in the accounts of the Monastic Treasurers, but the complimentary gifts made by the prior and convent to » -Hi CRYPT OP CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. 157 the national hero are, and they are so large that it is difficult to believe that the' monks could have gained pecuniarily by the Prince's visit.* If, then, through the lack of any confirmatory evidence, the theory that the reconstruction of the Chapel was due to the piety and munificence of the Black Prince must be abandoned, can any clue be found as to who was the real benefactor ? We find it, I think, in an entry in the Treasurers' Accounts of the year 1371-2, recording a gift of 661. 13s. 4d. from the Lady de Maun. It hardly admits of doubt that the donor of this large sum of money—equal to nearly 1000J. to-day^-was the same lady who thirty years later was buried on the south side of St. Mary's altar. It is well known that Joan, wife of John de Mohun, lord of Dunster, and daughter of Bartholomew, lord of Burghersh, was the founder of a chantry at the altar of St. Mary Undercroft in the year 1396, at which date her tomb and effigy were already in the place they still occupy, though she did not die until the j^ear 1404 j but that she had a much earlier connection with this part of the church has escaped notice hitherto. The entry relating to the gift does not mention any particular work to which the money was to be devoted, but from two subsequent entries it is clear that, long before Lady de Mohun founded her permanent chantry, she had obtained certain rights or privileges in connection with the altar of St. Mary in the crypt,f and it is not unreasonable to infer that these were granted in return for a benefaction which had enabled the prior and chapter to reconstruct the Chapel. During the fifteenth century a good deal of decorative work was done in the Chapel, notably the elaborate painting of the vaults and the emblazoning of coats of arms on the * Item dat' dno Principi in prima peregrinacione ad beatum Thomam iiii**- xiiii" xiii8 (£94 13s.), cum duabus bacsillis precium xvii". It' dat' clericis portantibus oblaciones dui Principis iiii" (Treasurers' Accounts, 1372-3).. This pilgrimage of the Prince to the shrine of St. Thomas is not mentioned in Stanley's Memorials of Canterbury. f Item de domina de Maun lxvi" xiii" iiij'1, A.D. 1371-2. Itm de xx' solutis dno. Johnni de Excetre pro celebtaoione misso domine de Maugne in criptis, A.D. 1373-4. A similar entry to the last occurs in the following year, but not subsequently. The spelling of the lady's name is interesting as showing how itwas pronounced at that period. 158 THE CHAPEL OP OUR LADY IN THE faces of the piers and soffits of the arches within the .-sacrarium. The armorials have been described by Willement and Robertson, and the latter gives also a minute description of the decoration applied to the roof. Documentary evidence, however, for tracing the history of the 'Chapel is almost entirely lacking owing to the fact that, with very few exceptions, the Treasurers' Account-rolls of the fifteenth century are no longer extant. Some attempt was made early in the century to improve the lighting •of the crypt by the insertion of larger windows, one of -which, namely, the four-light perpendicular window at the •east end of the south aisle of the crypt, is often mentioned in the Sacrists' Accounts as the window of St. Mary in the •crypt* But the improvement cannot have been very great, •since Erasmus notes that in his day the Chapel was " somewhat dark." Quite at the close of the century (1500) the ibody of Cardinal Morton was buried beneath the pavement •of the western bay of the Chapel. He had chosen the spot himself as a quiet and retired one, " non in tumultu sed in secreto subterraneoque loco in criptis nuncupato, lapide duntaxat coopertus marmoreo coram Imagine Beatissime Yirginis Marie, quam ex intimo diligebat sepulture locum •elegit ubi ipsius corpus felicissimum jam quiescit." Alas ! the retired spot proved by no means a safe asylum if or his bones, but rather the reverse. In course of time the great marble slab which covered them became cracked, :and later broken, so that access to the grave could be •obtained by " certain rude and barbarous people," who, in the semi-darkness of the crypt, made no scruple of rifling it •of its contents. At length, as Anthony Wood informs us,f xe The head alone remaining in the coffin, 'twas begged out of a pious mind (purposely to save it) of Dr. Sheldon, Archb. of Canterbury in 1670, by that truly noble and generous ,Ralph Sheldon of Beoly in Worcestershire, who esteeming it a choice relique provided a leaden case to preserve it with * E. G. De Thoma Prowde pro 1 gardino prope fenesLram beate Marie in .criptis xii'1 ob. f Athena Oxonienses, i., 643. CRYPT OP CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. 159 the cear cloaths about it, and with great devotion kept it to his dying day, an. 1684. Afterwards that choice relique came, by virtue of his last will, into the hands of his uncle's daughter named Prancis Sheldon, sometime one of the Maids of Honour to Katharine, the Royal Consort of King Charles I I ." The skull is now preserved in the sacristy of the Jesuit college at Stonyhurst. Ten years after the death of Cardinal Morton we are permitted, for the first time, to get a glimpse of the uses and customs observed at the altar of St. Mary in the crypt, and of the duties and responsibilities of its warden. Por this insight we are indebted to Dom Thomas Anselm, whose account book, extending over little more than a single year, has been preserved.* Thomas Anselm had been an inmate of the convent for seventeen years, when he was appointed warden of St. Mary's altar, having received the tonsure in 1493 at the same time as Thomas Goldwell, the last prior of Christ Church. We must not identify him as the Thomas Anselm who became a petycanon on the new foundation in 1541, since the latter entered the monastery in 1527, at which date the ex-warden probably was no longer living. Thomas Anselm, the elder, took over the office on 4 April 1510, receiving from his predecessor a balance of five pence. When he laid down the wardenship on the second Sunday in July of the following year, he found himself out of pocket to the extent of £1 13s. 8^d. This points to a great decline in the popularity of the altar of St. Mary Undercroft since the later years of the fourteenth century, at which period the warden, after paying all expenses for maintenance, had been able in each year to remit to the Treasurers as much as forty or fifty pounds. The shrinkage of offerings, however, * A narrow book containing 16J paper leaves, insoribed on the first leaf, " JReceptus oblaoionum fratris dompni Thome Anselme oustodis beate Marie in •criptis in festo soi Ambrosii anno Regni Regis Henrici ootnvi pt-imo, quo die, vz soi Ambrosii, remanebat in officio vs." The book^was without a cover and generally in very bad condition, but has lately been bound and carefully repaired. 160 THE CHAPEL OP OUR LADY IN THE was not peculiar to the altar of Our Lady Undercroft. A like falling off is noticeable at the other altars, until in 1532 the total sum received from all (he altars in the Church (the offerings at the high altar and at the altar of the Holy Cross in the nave alone excepted) amounted, to no more than £13 13s. 3d* When we remember that at an earlier period the shrine of St. Thomas alone produced an annual revenue of from three to four hundred pounds, this remarkable decline is surely indicative of a change in religious sentiment which a little later was to find wider expression. The accounts of Thomas Anselm are so interesting that it may be worth while, to examine them in detail. The warden balances his account week by week, quarterly, and at the end of the year. His receipts from offerings are entered day by day. Something was received every day from this source, though sometimes no more than one halfpenny, the normal weekly total being from three to four shillings. On the feasts of the Nativity, Assumption and Purification of our Lady, and on the eve and day of the Translation of St. Thomas the offerings were much larger. Thus, on the eve of St. Thomas, the offerings amounted to 52s. 6d. and, on the feast itself, to 30s. 5c?. The total sum, however, received by the warden during the fifteen months he was in office was only £21 18s. Ad., out of which he had to find the whole cost of maintenance and to meet a number of charges for which, by custom, his office was liable. Thus every week the warden had to pay tenpence as the wages of the clerk of the Chapel, and once a year to provide him with a cloak (toga) costing 6s. 8d., besides giving him an occasional gratuity (pro fideli diligencia sua).f * De oblatis ad diversa altaria videlz ad allare feretri coronam sci Thome, in privata capella ex parte boriali, ad altare beate Marie in criptis, ad tumbam soi Thome, ad martirium soi Thome, et ibidem capella Marie, et in omnibus aliis altaribtts in ecclesia, preter suinmum altare, et in allare see crucis in Nave ecclesie, que pertinent ad custodem summi altaris, Summa xiii" xiii8 iiid. (Sacrists' Accounts sub anno.) f A note in Register A, fo. 390, dated 1304, informs us that the clerks of the Lady altars in the nave and in the crypt, of the altars of the Martyrdom and tomb of St. Thomas, were seculars ; that they wore i-urplices, and were only admitted to their office after passing an examination conducted by ihe precentor in reading and singing. CRYPT OP CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. 161- To the Monks' Common-room (called at Canterbury the Deportum) the warden every week contributed sixpence. Sometimes he charges the office with eightpence for providing a drink for the priest who, during the week, was the celebrant at the high altar (Sacerdoti summe misse pro potancia sua). The priest of the week seems to have waived this allowance occasionally, but the warden never forgets to enter in his account one penny as his own share of this refreshment—" potando cum sacerdote summe misse "—the entry recurring regularly every week. Eur ther, at the end of each quarter there were payments to be made to various conventual officers, e.g., to the Master of the Infirmary 3s. 4d., to the penitencers 12s. 8d., to the Masters of the Table (in the infirmary) 5s. 4d., to the Master of the boys (of the almonry school) 10c?., to the wax chandler 15c?., to the launders 4c?., and, in addition to these charges, at Christmas and Easter he had to find money for the offerings of certain servants (diversis servientibus) whose duties are not specified. Wax for the lights burning in the silver candelabrum before the image of St. Mary, and in the bowl suspended from the roof of the Chapel, was a heavy charge upon the warden's slender resources. He bought one hundred pounds of wax from the prior at a cost of 44s. 6cZ., but this supply had to be supplemented by further gratuitous allowances* Votive masses, called in the accounts Misse rogate, were frequently said at St. Mary's altar, but brought no revenue to the warden, who, on the other hand, paid 2d. to the monk celebrating. The altar also was used not infrequently by young monks saying Mass for the first time, the warden on each occasion paying to the celebrant 8d. (Low) Mass was said on each day of the week by the warden, and three * Md. quod ego Thorn' Ansleme recepi a dno priore, viz. Thoma Goldstone pro cereo in pelve coram altare beate Marie in oriptis ex devotione eiusdem xx11, and Md. recept' xxii die mensis March' de dno priore pro cereo coram ymagine beate virginis in criptis reposito in candelabro arge'hteo ibidem vel in pelve, viz. pro tribus tei-minis finientibus ad festum annunoiaoionis beate Marie virginis per quemlibet terminum ex promissione dicti prioris xx'1 summa v". VOL. XXXVIII. M 162 THE CHAPEL OP OUR LADY IN THE times a year, viz., on the feasts of the Purification (Eeb. 2), the Assumption (Aug. 15) and the Nativity of Our Lady (Sept. 8). High Mass wa3 celebrated generally by the Subprior, who descended to the crypt accompanied by Epistoler and Gospeller and a monk vested in a cope. All received a fee from the warden, the celebrant 3s. 4d., the Epistoler and Gospeller 12d. apiece, and the cope wearer 6cZ.* Moreover, when in the order of his course the warden was priest of the week at the high altar, he had to pay a substitute to say his masses in the crypt.f It was the same, too, should he be ill or taking a short holiday, always a substitute,had to be found and paid at the rate of 2cZ. a mass. On one occasion Dom Thomas spent five days at Eastry, doubtless a very pleasant change after long days spent in the gloom of the crypt, and on his return debits the accounts of his office with his expenses, which amounted to 16c?4 That the warden welcomed any little diversion which promised to relieve the tedium of his confinement in the crypt is proved by his noting in his accounts a small gratuity to the wax chandler, in return for an invitation from the latter to partake of a little refreshment in his office in the churchyard, when the great Paschal candle was in making,§ a process which, to the simple mind of Dom Thomas Anselm, was doubtless an interesting one, since, at Canterbury, the gigantic paschal mast sometimes contained as much as 800 pounds of wax. The warden's relaxations, however, were few, his days and nights being spent, except * Inde solutum dompno Ricardo Coppetone suppriori pro missa in criptis, viz., in die assumpcionis beate Marie Virginis iii" iiiid. Item dompno Willo Bredgarre portando cappam in criptis, viz., in die assumpcionis Beate Marie Virginis vid. Item sol' dompno Jespard Coptone pro evangelio xiid. It' sol' dompno Thome Beckett pro epistola xiid. f Sol' dompno Nicolas Hull pro celebracione v missarum quando fui sacerdos summe misse xd. X Sol' dompno Johanni Nuberri quando fui in comitiva pro celebraoione v missarum xd. Item iu tempore comitive pro expensis nostris apud Estrey xvi'1. This John Newbury became later a petycanon on the New Foundation, and held his office through all the religious changes of the reigns of Edward VI., Mary, and of the earlier years of Elizabeth. He appears to have dh'il in 1565. § Solutum cereforario nostro non ex debito sed ex honestate quia invitavit me ad convivium in officio suo in cimiterio quando fecit lee Paschall ex antiqua consuetudine in expensis vid. CRYPT OP CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. 163 when he was on duty in the Chapel, in a gloomy apartment lighted principally by the feeble rays of tallow candles, which appear in the accounts as le Koton candles* Where this room was situated is uncertain, but there is some reason for believing that it was in that part of the crypt which is beneath St. Anselm's tower, where, in the eighteenth century, there was a room in which the elders of the Prench church were accustomed to meet.f This room had a boarded floor and a fireplace, or rather a brazier, since there was no chimney to carry away smoke. The grate was in existence in the memory of the present writer, but the wooden floor had beeu removed earlier. The timber joists, however, upon which it had rested had caused the earth beneath to assume the form of ridges, which strangers often mistook for graves. It is reasonable, therefore, to assume that the joists must have buen in position for a very long period, and it is not unlikely that the Walloons, on obtaining the privilege of worshipping iu the crypt in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, merely adapted to their own purpose the apartment formerly occupied by the warden of St. Mary's altar. That provision was made for warming the warden's chamber is proved by entries relating to the purchase of charcoal and a pair of bellows.J Other entries relating to repairs done by the carpenter, and to the purchase of a painted cloth for the warden's lodging, show that something was done from time to time to improve its amenities.§ Nothing seems to have been acquired during Thomas Anselm's term of office in the way of ornaments, furniture or vestments for the Chapel, with the sole exception of a piece of red silk which was bought for "the relics in the robe (Birro) of the blessed Yirgin Mary in the crypt." What these relics were is unrecorded. Dom Thomas Anselm * Pro sepaoiis oandelis pro officio vz lee Koton candulls xiid. t G-ostling's Walk, ed. 1779, p. 204. % Solutum pro 1 par' fullium, viz., le bellus pro officio in criptis iid. § Solutum Symoni Wyd'gare oarpentario nostro pro diversis renaraoionibus iu oamera nostro in criptis iiii'1 ob. Solutum Henrioo Wyrlee pro quodam panno picto pro oainera nostra in oriptis xx'1. M 2 164 THE CHAPEL OP OUR LADY IN THE resigned the wardenship on the second Sunday in July 1511, and was succeeded bjr Dom William Winchepe; but no further accounts relating to the income and expenditure of the warden of the altar are extant. Nor, with the exception of Erasmus's description of his visit, to which reference has been made already, is any further mention made of the altar or Chapel. Neither the great inventory of 1540 of the goods of the Cathedral church, made at the time of the suppression of the monastery, nor the chantry certificates of the reign of King Edward VI., contains any reference to the Chapel of St. Mary in the crypt. We can only infer that, as its altar was served by monks, it ceased to be used for divine worship from the moment of their ejectment, whereas those altars to which the secular priests were attached lingered a little longer, and were not finally suppressed until the reign of Edward VI. No attempt appears to have been made during the reaction in Queen Mary's reign to reconstitute the Lady Chapel in the Undercroft, which thenceforward was left derelict for more than three and a half centuries. Quite recently, however (1924), it has been rescued from desecration and again made available for the celebration of the divine mysteries. All that here need be said is that the work was entrusted by the Dean and Chapter to Mr. W. D. Caroe, E.S.A., who, after a careful examination of the screens enclosing the inner chapel, reported that much of the masonry had been forced out of place through the rusting of the iron clamps with which the original builders had bound together the delicate shafts and tracery. In order to restore the displaced stones to their proper positions it was necessary to remove the ironwork, and this was successfully done by the mason employed, though the task required much care, skill and patience. In view of the difficult problem that any attempt to restore the mutilated reredos or revive the former splendour of the painted roof would present, it was decided, and no doubt wisely, to leave them alone, and to confine the work to providing such fittings as were absolutely necessary for the seemly celebration of divine worship. The new Lady Mohun Card. Morton'R Cenotaph I Plan of Chapel of OUR LADY UNDERCROFT fef f ? -f t f ..? H ? y » f '3 if if r*<* W. SHARP. KINGSTON. W JUNE Hiss A.A.OwtxirGrillc. BB.Inner Grille. E.Basc not t-istbtc. C,ledger stone of Card Morton,. D.D. Doorway. S. Step CRYPT OP CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. 165 work has been limited to the erection of an altar composed of a slab of stone supported by two octagonal shafts at either end and a single quadrilateral pillar in the centre, and the fitting of plain oak bench ends and seats to the stone sedilia. To one of these new bench ends a small silver plate has been affixed bearing the following inscription:— HANC CAPELLAM USUI DIVINO BESTITUERUNT QUIBTJS CONTIGIT EANDALLI ARCHIEPISCOPI EDITHJEQUE UXOKIS CONVICTORIBTJS ESSE ET CONSEBVTS. Which, being interpreted, means that the Chapel of St. Mary Undercroft was rescued from its long desecration, and made fit for divine worship by the piety and munificence of certain persons, who have had the good fortune to be somewhat closely connected with the domestic life and work of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Mrs. Davidson. Por the ground plan accompanying the present article I am indebted to my good friend Mr. W. Sharp of Kingston near Canterbury. The plates are from photographs taken by Mr. Charlton of Mercery Lane, Canterbury. 166 . THE CHAPEL OP OUR LADY IN THE APPENDIX. (Reg. E, fol. 157.) [A.] Endowment Charters of the Altar of St. Mary in the Crypt. (1) Grant from Simon of Holingburn, baker, to the prior and convent of Christ Church, Canterbury, in free alraoigne, of a free rent of 22J. To wit the 10^. which Springold, the cornmonger, of Holingeburn, used to pay yearly to grantor for a garden lying between grantor's land towards the south, and the land of Eeginald, son of Springold, towards the north; and the Gd. which Henry ate Pente used to pay to grantor for one and a half acres of ltmd in a field called Buttlesdene, lying between the land of Symon, the bedell, towards the north, and the land of Eoger, son of Hamo, the bedell, towards the south; and the Id. which the aforesaid prior aud convent used to pay to grantor. To have and to hold to the aforesaid prior and convent and their successors, freely, quietly, and in perpetual right for ever. Done and recorded in the court of Holingeburne. Witnesses: John of Strawbrok, William of Greneweye, Alexander of Trunstede, William of Stanburne, Luke son of Geoffry, Gervis, Symon Cockel, Symon the bedell, John of Greneweye, John the bedell, Wolnoth the forester, Walter Anunde. [Date by names of witnesses c. 1236.] (2) Grant from William Pye de Lieure, in free almoigne to the altar of the blessed virgin Mary in the crypt of Christ Church, of a free rent of Qd. in the city of Canterbury, which grantor acquired from John Eerre, for lighting the same altar, and which "grantor and his heirs are bound to pay to the same altar for certain land in the parish of St. Elfege, lying between the land of the said John Eerre, which is towards the north, and the land of Adam of Eppelby which is towards the south. To have and to hold, etc., to the sajd altar, of grantor and his heirs for ever. With warranty to pay the said rent on the said altar on the day of the nativity of the B. V. M. for ever. Witnesses: Nigel Talebot, John Dodekere, G-odin the spicer, Meyner the dyer, Anselm the mercer, Thomas the porter, John le brachur, John the glazier, G-arin the carpenter. Done in the year of grace Mccxiiii, in the month of April. [1242.] (8) Grant from Symon, son of Nicholas of Stanes, to the prior and convent of Christ Church, Canterbury, of a yearly rent of five. CRYPT OP CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. 167 seams of palm barley, of a quality not lower than 2d. (a seam) below the best (proximum meliori duobus denariis), for lighting the altar of blessed Mary in the crypt of Christ Church aforesaid, which rent William, grantor's brother, used to pay as a fee farm rent for lands and tenements which were formerly held by Nicholas, grantor's father, and Benedict, grantor's uncle, in the hamlet of Elwartune,* with a rent reserved of one farthing to grantor and his heirs for all secular services, customs and suits of courts. Done, recorded and sealed in the 5fith year of the reign of King Henry I I I . Eor the grant the prior and convent give to grantor 10 silver marcs, in gersumam. Witnesses -. John of Haliberghe, then steward of Christ Church, Thomas Chiche and Symone Payable, then bailiffs of Canterbury, John Digge, Peter Durant, John, Thomas and Henry of Elwardon, Ilk-hard of Easthelle, Adam of Byxle, "William of Grenehull, clerk, Richard of Canterbury, clerk. [1271-2.] (4) Grant from Osbert, the fuller, of Canterbury, son of Martin, to the prior and convent of Christ Church of a house in the parish of St. Mildred, lying between the house of the heirs of Eichard Samuel toward the east, and the Sture of our lord the King towards the west. To be held of grantor and his heirs by tho aforesaid prior and convent for the maintenance of a light at the altar of the B. V. M. in the crypt for ever, the grantees performing all yearly services due to the lords in chief of the fee, aud paying.to grantor and his heirs a forgable rent for all secular services, customs and demands. Done, recorded and sealed in the first year of the reign of King Edward. Eor the grant the prior and convent pay to the grantor £20 sterling in compensation. Witnesses: John Digge, and Daniel, son of Hubert, then bailiffs of Canterbury, John of Haliberghe, then steward of Christ Church, Thomas Chiche, Peter Durant, Peter of Mallinge, Stephen Petit, John Holte, Symon Payable, John le lord, Walter of Eastry, Symon of Hanning", Walter Samuel, Richard, clerk, of Canterbury. [1272-3.] (5) Isabel, widow of Osbern, the dyer (le teynturer), of Canterbury, in her free widowhood releases to Thomas, prior, and the convent of Christ Church and their successors, all the right, etc., in the way of dowry, etc., which she has in a messuage with * In the parish of Stone next Paversham. 168 THE.CHAPEL OP OUR LADY IN THE houses built thereon, lying in the parish of St. Mildred, Canterbury, that is to say, between the house of Symon Payable towards the south, and the house of Alice Samuel towards the north, and the King's street towards the east, and the Sture of our lord the King towards the west, which messuage the aforesaid prior and convent hold of the gift and sale of the aforesaid Osbern, formerly grantor's husband. Recorded and sealed in the [blank] year of King Edward, son of King Henry. Eor the grant the prior and convent pay one silver marc in gersumam. Witnesses: Daniel, son. of Hubert, and Stephen Chiche, then bailiffs of the city of Canterbury,* Robert Poire, John Digge, Thomas Chiche, Peter Durant, Symon Payable, Edmund de Terne, Moses the tailor, John of Haliberghe, William Oysel, Anselm the cheesemonger, William the clerk. [1275.] [B.] Offerings at the Altar of the B. V. M. in the Crypt. These are mentioned in the Treasurers' Accounts for the first time in the year 1262, the amount being Vid During the next seventeen years (1262—1279) the yearly average was about £2, the maximum being £8 received in the latter year, but this maximum was not reached again during the next fifty-six years. Between 1337 and 1370 there is a gap iu the Treasurers' Accounts, with the exception of a single roll relating to the year 1350, when no less than £50 was paid in by the Wardoh of St. Mary's Altar in the Crypt. Possibly this vast increase may have been the outcome of a religious revival brought about by the " Black Death," which in the preceding year had carried off nearly onethird of the population of England. More probably it may have been due to some wonder-working power attributed to the image of Our Lady of Undercroft. When the Treasurers' Accounts again become available, namely, in the year 1371, there is no diminution in the amount received from St. Mary's Altar, it is still £50; and during the next twelve years (1371—1383) the yearly average is £41 2s., the highest figure being £59 received in 1379. After 1383 the Treasurers' Accounts are missing with a few exceptions, but what information can be obtained from this source points to a steady decline, during the fifteenth century and the earlier years of the sixteenth, of the offerings at all the altars of the church. * Daniel FitzHubert and Stephen Chiohe were bailiffs in the year 1275. See Batteley's edition of Somner's Antiquities of Canterbury, p. 180. CRYPT OP CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. 169 •(Reg. A, fol. 231.) [B.] The Ordination Deed of Lady Joan • de Mohun's Chantry. [Translation.] This indenture made between Thomas by divine permission prior of the church of Christ in Canterbury, and the convent of the same place of the one part, and the Lady Joan de Mohun, lady of Donesterr, of the other part, Witnesseth that the said Prior and Convent have granted on behalf of themselves and their successors to the said Lady Joan de Mohun a chantry in the church of Canterbury, to be held for ever in the manner and form which followeth, in return for three hundred and fifty marcs sterling; a bed with a coverlet of white and red Camaka,* with a lining of blood-colouredt silk, together with a chiefciel (tester) and hanging of one suit, and three curtains of sandal de gene,J and a red traverse of sandal de Tripe, and four eusshyns belonging to. the same bed, whereof the value is estimated at twenty pounds ; also a striped vestment of red and black velvet and Camaka lined with green sandal, that is to say, as much (as will make vestments) of one and the same kind for a chaplain, a deacon and a sub-deacon; also two copes called quercopis (choir copes) of cloth of gold, of the estimated value of twenty pounds, and a missal price one hundred shillings, and a chalice price forty shillings; with which sum of money the manor of Selgrave§ has been acquired, and the licence in mortmain of the most illustrious lord King Richard the second has been granted to the aforesaid Prior and Convent and their successors in this matter. Now the said Prior and Convent for themselves and their successors do will and grant that the body of the said Lady Joan de Mohun, when it shall have departed from this light, shall be buried in the tomb which the said lady at her own costs and charges has caused to be constructed near the altar of blessed Mary in the crypt of the said church of Canterbury, which is commonly called Undircrof t ; and that the body of the said lady, when it shall have been buried there, shall not be amoved nor the name of the tomb changed, but shall be preserved honourably. Moreover, the aforesaid chantry in all future years shall be held and served for ever under the following conditions, namely : that * A fine fabric, perhaps of silk. Legg and Hope's Inventories of Christ Church, Canterbury. . t ? Blue. X ? Cenoa—silk. . § In the parish of Preston next Paversham. 170 .THE CHAPEL OP OUR LADY IN THE a monk of the said church of Canterbury shall be chosen by the prior and chapter for the time being, who may at their pleasure remove him (from his office) j and the monk thus chosen shall for ever celebrate every day—when he shall be fit (disposiius) to do so—at the altar of blessed Mary in the crypt, for the good estate of our lord Richard-, the most illustrious King of England, Lady Joan de Mohun, Elizabeth and Elizabeth (sic) le Dispencer during their lifetime, and for the souls of all of them, when they shall have been withdrawn from this light; and for the souls of John, Edward, Edward (sic), Bartholomew,* and Queens Philippa and Anne, and for the souls of all to whom they are beholden ; except on the following days: St. Michael, Easter, Pentecost, the Translation of St. Thomas the martyr, and on the octaves of each of the aforesaid feasts; and on these days thus excepted the monk chosen to celebrate shall celebrate at the altar of St. John the Baptist, near the tomb of St. Thomas the martyr, in the manner premised. And that this monk may be stimulated to- pray more devoutly for the persons above mentioned he shall receive for his labour forty shillings payable at the feasts of St. Michael and Easter, in equal portions, as part of the issue and profits of the said manor of Selgrave. Also it is provided that when the said Lady Joan shall have come to the close of her last day, her obit shall be kept on the day of her anniversary, that is to say, with placebo and dirige in the night; and mass of Requiem on the day following; with the other solemnities thereto pertaining. And that on every anniversary of the said Lady Joan de Mohun eight shillings and four pence shall be distributed amongst one hundred poor persons, that is to say, to every poor person one penny, and every year the clerk who for the time being shall have the custody of the chapel of blessed Mary in the crypt, that he may keep the tomb of the said Lady de Mohun clean and seemly throughout the whole year, shall have five shillings payable in equal portions at Easter and Michaelmas; and the clerk shall be compelled to do this by the monk who celebrates under the penalty of losing his aforesaid stipend of five shillings. Ana in order that the monk of the week who shall celebrate the mass of the said anniversary may pray specially (intencione) for the souls mentioned above, he shall have * Bartholomew, Lord Burghersh, a brother of Lady Joan, was in the retinue of Prince Edward at Crecy and Poitiers. He died in 1369 and was buried in the Lady Chapel of Walsingham Abbey. His .daughter Elizabeth married Edward, Lord Despenser. CRYPT OP CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL. 171 every year on that day six shillings and eight pence, and the Deacon of the week who reads the Gospel shall receive three shillings and four pence on the anniversary of the same lady for ever; and these payments shall come out of the revenue and profit of the said manor of Selgrave . . . . Now in order that the memory of this chantry may be preserved the better amongst the monks of the church of Canterbury in the future, the aforesaid Prior and Convent shall cause this indenture to be entered in their Martyrology, so that it may be recited every year in their Chapter-house on the obit day of the said Lady. In witness whereof the common seal of the said Prior and Convent and the seal of the said Lady Joan de Mohun are both appended to these indentures. Given in the Chapter-house of the same at Canterbury, on the day of the chair of St. Peter (Jan. 18) in the year of the Lord one thousand three hundred and ninety-five, and in the nineteenth year of the aforesaid King Richard. [1395-6.]