X.—Malmesbury Abbey

Harold Brakspear

doi:10.1017/S026134090001078X

X.—Malmesbury Abbey

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 November 2011

Harold Brakspear

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The once rich and mitred abbey of Malmesbury has provided a subject for many writers, and the remains of its church a model for artists and draughtsmen, but no one seems to have combined description and drawing to explain the history of this building. The writer, having been engaged professionally for many years upon the repairs of the church, has had exceptional opportunities for the study of the structure, and although much of necessity has been said before, some little fresh matter has been brought to light.

Type: Research Article
Information: Archaeologia , Volume 64 , 1913 , pp. 399 - 436

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S026134090001078X [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1913

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References

^{page 399 note 1} William of Malmesbury (Rolls Series, 52), p. 345.

^{page 399 note 2} Ibid., p. 361.

^{page 400 note 1} William of Malmesbury (Rolls Series), p. 375.

^{page 400 note 2} Ibid., p. 378.

^{page 400 note 3} Ibid., p. 346.

^{page 400 note 4} Ibid., p. 385.

^{page 400 note 5} Ibid., p. 389.

^{page 400 note 6} Ibid., p. 364.

^{page 400 note 7} Ibid., pp. 407–8.

^{page 400 note 8} Ibid., p. 397.

^{page 400 note 9} Ibid., p. 405.

^{page 400 note 10} Bohn's Antiq. Libr., p. 139.

^{page 400 note 11} William of Malmesbury, p. 363.

^{page 400 note 12} Leland, Collectanea, i. 301Google Scholar.

^{page 400 note 13} William of Malmesbury, p. 420.

^{page 400 note 14} Ibid., p. 424.

^{page 400 note 15} Bohn's Antiq. Libr., p. 505Google Scholar.

^{page 401 note 1} Registrum Malmesburiense (Rolls Series, 1880), i. 352Google Scholar.

^{page 401 note 2} William of Malmesbury, p. 361.

^{page 401 note 3} Reg. Malmes., i. 340Google Scholar.

^{page 401 note 4} Ibid., ii. 123, 125.

^{page 401 note 5} Ibid., ii. 365 (see Appendix I).

^{page 401 note 6} Ibid., ii. 361. ‘Expensae circa conductum aquae. In aqua ducta ad officinas abbathiae per conductum anno Domini M°.CC octogesimo quarto et anno regni regis E. xii. Et die Sancti Martini annis supradictis primo fluebat in lavarium, c. li.'

^{page 402 note 1} Itinerarium Willelmi Botoner (Cambridge, 1778), p. 83. At Tintern he says: ‘Mem. quod 24 steppys sive gressus mei faciunt 12 virgas. Item 50 virgae faciunt 85 gradus sive steppys meos.’ An average of these two values seems about the correct unit.

^{page 402 note 2} Ibid., p. 283.

^{page 402 note 3} Wilts. Arch. Mag., xxviii. 318; Mon. Aug., i. 256Google Scholar.

^{page 402 note 4} An History of the Mitred Parliamentary Abbies, Brown Willis (London, 1718), i. 140Google Scholar.

^{page 403 note 1} Aug. Off. Mis. Book, 494 (see Appendix II).

^{page 403 note 2} Wilts. Arch. Mag., i. 249Google Scholar.

^{page 403 note 3} Rot Pat., 36 Hen. VIII, pt. 25, m. (see Appendix III).

^{page 404 note 1} Itinerary of John Leland (Oxford, 1744), ii. 25.

^{page 404 note 2} Wiltshire Collections (Devizes, 1862), p. 255.Google Scholar

^{page 405 note 1} The Val. Eccl. (II, p. 119) gives the area of the site that the building extended over as six acres.

^{page 406 note 1} Wiltshire Collections, p. 260, note.

^{page 407 note 1} Wiltshire Collections, p. 260.

^{page 411 note 1} Supra, p. 404.

^{page 412 note 1} Wiltshire Collections, p. 256.

^{page 412 note 2} Graphic and Historical Illustrator, Brayley, E. W. (London, 1834), p. 411.Google Scholar

^{page 412 note 3} See Appendix II.

^{page 412 note 4} Wiltshire Collections, p. 255.

^{page 412 note 5} An History of the Mitred Parliamentary Abbies, Brown Willis (London, 1718), i. 136.

^{page 413 note 1} Beyond the rood-screen westward this string has had the ornament cut off in monastic times and formed into a plain chamfered course.

^{page 413 note 2} This bay was built up solid apparently in the fourteenth century to give extra abutment to the tower, and is so shown on an old drawing. The blocking was removed in 1836 at the time when both triforiums were built up for warmth.

^{page 415 note 1} The small size of these windows and the doing away of the wall passage were to give additional support to the tower.

^{page 416 note 1} The great north window of Exeter Cathedral consists of seven lights, of which the outer three are arranged so exactly like those at Malmesbury that the same hand seems to have been employed on both works. The Exeter window was erected in 1280.

^{page 416 note 2} In the second window on the south some of the added ribs fell out, and the rest were removed to show the original design, but in the third bay they remain as altered.

^{page 416 note 3} The terminals of these had all gone, save the easternmost on the south side, but new ones were added in 1900.

^{page 417 note 1} Wiltshire Collections, p. 257.

^{page 418 note 1} So usually included with the Twelve in place of Mathias in medieval carvings.

^{page 419 note 1} The side windows were built up solid, but have recently been opened up and the outer jambs restored.

^{page 420 note 1} Shrewsbury Abbey tower, of similar date, was built from the ground with solid side walls.

^{page 424 note 1} Rites of Durham (Surtees Society, 1902), p. 34.Google Scholar

^{page 424 note 2} Wilts. Arch. Mag-, viii. 39.

^{page 428 note 1} The History of Malmesbury, Moffat, J. M. (Tetbury, 1805), p. 65.Google Scholar

^{page 428 note 2} Wiltshire Collections, p. 265.

^{page 429 note 1} See Appendix I.

^{page 429 note 2} See Appendix II.

^{page 429 note 3} See Appendix I.

^{page 429 note 4} See Appendix II.

^{page 429 note 5} Reg. Malmes., ii. 382.

^{page 429 note 6} Wiltshire Collections, p. 260.

^{page 430 note 1} See Appendix I.

^{page 430 note 2} Wiltshire Collections, p. 259.

^{page 431 note 1} See Appendix I.

^{page 431 note 2} Ibid.

^{page 431 note 3} Reg. Malmes., i. 136.

^{page 431 note 4} See Appendix I.

^{page 431 note 5} See Appendix II.

^{page 431 note 6} See Appendix IV.

^{page 431 note 7} See Appendix II.

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