CHAPTER XIII

ST. MARY OVERIES

The Priory of St. Mary Overies, or Overy, was one of the most ancient Houses in London. It stood beside the ferry, the south end of which was the long and narrow dock still to be seen, close to the present church. The other end of the ferry may be also still existing in what is now called Dowgate Dock; it is true that this is not opposite, but it may be surmised that Allhallows Lane led to the north end of the ferry. This ferry existed long before London Bridge was built, and continued long after. Indeed, if we consider the narrowness of the old bridge, the tolls, crowded vehicles blocking the way, and the long delays that must have occurred in getting across the bridge, we may very well understand that it might be more expeditious and cheaper to cross by the ferry than the bridge. Here, at all events, was the ferry, and at the south end was a small convent of nuns engaged in praying for the safety of the travellers. At every starting-point or returning-point for the mediæval traveller, there was some religious foundation to pray for his safety or to offer praises for his return; at four of the London gates, there were churches dedicated to St. Botolph, the chosen saint of travellers. Outside Cripplegate was the Church of St. Giles. Outside Newgate was the Church of St. Sepulchre. Within Ludgate was the Church of St. Martin. Over Fleet Bridge was the Church of St. Bride. When the first stone bridge was erected over the Thames, a double chapel was built in the midst of it; while it was only a wooden bridge, there was a chapel at either end—the south chapel, singularly, dedicated to a Danish saint. So that I am inclined to believe that the small nunnery on the south of the ferry may possibly have had its sister nunnery or church on the north; if a nunnery, its existence has been clean forgotten; if a church, then All Hallows the Great may have been that church.

The story of the first foundation is entirely legendary; one Mary, daughter of Awdry, ferryman, is said to have founded on the site a small House for nuns before the Conquest. It was converted, according to tradition, by one Swithina into a College of Priests. It was, however, refounded in 1106 by two Norman knights, William Pont de l’Arche, who had a mansion in Dowgate, and William Dauncey, as a House for Canons Regular. William Gifford, Bishop of Winchester, joined in the foundation, and built the nave of the church. Henry the First, another benefactor, gave to the House the Church of St. Margaret in Southwark; King Stephen gave the Canons the House of their founder, Pont de l’Arche. In 1212 the Priory was destroyed by fire. Then Peter de Rupibus took the foundation, still very poor, in hand, and rebuilt the church; he also founded the chapel of St. Mary Magdalen, afterwards made into a Parish Church. A hundred years later the unhappy monks sent a petition to Edward the First, stating that the House had fallen into the deepest poverty; that they had not enough to provide the barest necessaries, but were dependent on charity; that their church was ruinous, but that they could not rebuild it; and that they had even suffered the embankment to be carried away, and were in daily terror of an inundation. They managed, however, to get along somehow during the fourteenth century. Early in the fifteenth the House found two more benefactors—Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, and Gower the poet. The latter was buried in the church after residing for some years in the House. His monument may still be seen. A list of the Priors from 1130 to 1540 has been preserved. The House, on the Dissolution, was valued at £624: 6: 8. The Prior received, on the surrender, a pension of £100 a year.

The position of the Priory, close to the Palace of the Bishop of Winchester, made it convenient for many functions. In this church were married, in 1406, Edward Holland, Earl of Kent, and Lucia, daughter of the Lord of Milan. Here also, in 1424, was married James the First, King of Scotland, a poet and scholar, of whom Drummond of Hawthornden wrote that “of former kings it might be said that the nation made the kings, but of this king, that he made the people a nation.” His bride was Joan, daughter of the Earl of Somerset, and niece to Cardinal Beaufort.

“The fairest and the freshest yonge flower That e’er I saw, methought, before that hour.”

In 1539 the House was suppressed and given to Sir Anthony Brown, whose son became Lord Montague, giving his name to the ancient cloister of the Monastery. In the following year the church was made parochial, including the Church of St. Mary Magdalen, which stood beside it, as St. Gregory stood beside St. Paul’s, or St. Margaret by Westminster Abbey, or St. Peter-le-Poor beside the Church of the Austin Friars.

A great many monuments are in the church: the chancel, transepts, and tower, with the Lady Chapel, still remain, forming the finest of the old churches in the whole of London.

Here lie buried, according to tradition, Mary, the foundress; the two benefactors, Pont de l’Arche and Dauncey—a wooden figure may represent one of them; John Gower, on whose monument may still be read the words which he wrote for it:—

“En toy qui es Filz de Dieu le Père, Sauvé soit qui gist sous cest pierre.

Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester, is buried in the Lady Chapel; Dyer the poet, who died 1607; Edmund Shakespeare, brother of the poet, somewhere in the church; Laurence Fletcher, one of the shareholders in the Globe, who died 1608; Philip Henslow, who died 1616; John Fletcher, who died 1625; Philip Massinger, who died 1639. On the tomb of Richard Humble, who lies with his two wives and his children, are the lines:—

“Like to the damask rose you see, Or like the blossom on the tree, Or like the dainty flower of May, Or like the morning of the day, Or like the sun, or like the shade, Or like the gourd which Jonas had, Even so is Man; Man’s thread is spun, Drawn out, and cut, and so is done. The rose withers, the blossom blasteth; The flower fades, the morning hasteth; The sun sets, the shadow flies, The gourd consumes, and Man he dies.”

In the Lady Chapel of this church were held many of the trials of the martyrs under the Marian persecution: those, for instance, of Bishop Hooper, John Rogers, Bradford, Crome, Saunders, Ferrar, and Taylor. The death of Gardiner, the persecutor, seemed, to the common people, by the hand of God, in punishment of his cruelties. He was given, however, a magnificent funeral, beginning at this church. Machyn describes it:—

“The xxiiij day of Feybruary was the obsequies of the most reverentt father in God, Sthevyn Gardener, docthur and bysshope of Wynchastur, prelett of the gartter, and latte chansseler of England, and on of the preve consell unto Kyng Henry the viij and unto quen Mare, tyll he ded; and so the after-none be-gane the knyll at Sant Mare Overes with ryngyng, and after be-gane the durge; with a palle of cloth of gold, and with ij whytt branchys, and ij dosen of stayffe-torchys bornyng, and iiij grett tapurs; and my lord Montyguw the cheyffe mornar, and my lord bysshope of Lynkolne and ser Robart Rochaster, comtroller, and with dyvers odur in blake, and mony blake gownes and cotes; and the morow masse of requeem and offeryng done, be-gane the sarmon; and so masse done, and so to dener to my lord Montyguw (’s); and at ys gatt the corse was putt in-to a wagon with iiij welles all covered with blake, and ower the corsse ys pyctur mad with ys myter on ys hed, with ys armes, and v gentyll men bayryng ys v baners in gownes and hods, then ij harolds in their cote armur, master Garter and Ruge-crosse; then cam the men rydyng, carehyng of torchys a lx bornyng, at bowt the corsse all the way; and then sam the mornars in gownes and cotes, to the nombur unto ij C. a-for and be-hynd, and so at sant Gorges cam prestes and clarkes with crosse and sensyng, and ther they had a grett torche gyffynt them, and so to ever parryche tyll they cam to Wunchaster, and had money as many as cam to mett them, and durge and masse at evere logyng.” Wilkinson, who gives several views of the church and the buildings around it, has preserved one taken from the north-east, which shows the whole north side of the church, with the Little Chapel, the Lady Chapel, and the church itself, in the year 1813 (see p. 307). Montague Close, where the view was taken, was very shortly after covered with buildings, which prevented a repetition of a drawing from this point; but in 1825 he procured a sketch of the Little Chapel and part of the Lady Chapel.

The existence of the Little Chapel is nearly forgotten; yet it will be seen, in considering the church as a whole, that it forms a natural part. In the year 1626 this chapel was selected as a fitting place for the tomb and monument of Lancelot Andrewes, now in the Lady Chapel. From this monument the place was generally called the Bishop’s Chapel.

It is by the greatest good fortune this beautiful church has been preserved. It would most certainly have been taken down, like the exquisite church of the Holy Trinity Priory, like those of Eastminster, Whitefriars, and Blackfriars, but for the interference of Stephen Gardiner, who supported—and doubtless instigated—the parishioners of St. Margaret’s and St. Mary Magdalene, in a petition to the King praying for the church of the Priory as their parish church. The petition was granted, and the church was saved.

Not, certainly, in the life of Stephen Gardiner, but after his death, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, though the church was safe, the Lady Chapel, and, of course, the Little Chapel with it, was desecrated. In Anthony Munday’s edition of Stow, 1633, he tells us to what base uses this noble chapel was put:—

“It is now called, _The new Chappell_; and indeed, though very old, it now may be cal’d a new one, because newly redeemed from such use and imployment, as in respect of that it was built to, Divine and Religious duties, may very well be branded, with the stile of wretched, base, and unworthy, for that before this abuse, was (and is now) a faire & beautifull Chappell, by those that were then the Corporation (which is a body consisting of 30. Vestry men, sixe of those thirty, Churchwardens) was leased and let out, and this House of God made a Bake-house.

Two very faire doores, that from the two side Iles of the Chancell of this Church, and two that throw the head of the Chancell (as at this day they doe againe) went into it, were lath’t, daub’d, and dam’d up: the faire Pillars were ordinary posts, against which they piled Billets and Bavens; in this place they had their Ovens, in that a Bolting-place, in that their Kneading-trough, in another (I have heard) a Hogs-trough; for the words that were given mee were these, This place have I knowne a Hog-stie, in another a Store-house, to store up their hoorded Meale: and in all of it, something of this sordid kind & condition.

It was first let by the Corporation afore named, to one Wyat, after him to one Peacocke, after him to one Cleybrooke, and last to one Wilson, all Bakers, and this Chappell still imployed in the way of their Trade, a Bake-house, though some part of this Bake-house was sometime turned into a Starch-house.

The time of the continuance of it in this kind, from the first letting of it to Wyat, to the restoring of it againe to the Church; was threescore and some odde yeeres, in the yeere of our Lord God 1624, for in this yeere the ruines and blasted estate that the old Corporation sold it to, were by the Corporation of this time repaired, renewed, well, and very worthily beautified; the charge of it for that yeere, with many things done to it since, arising to two hundred pounds.

This, as all the former Repaires, being the sole cost and charge of the Parishioners.

One Ile in this Chappel, was paved at the onely cost of one Master _John Hayman_, Taylor, and Merchantaylor, in the yeere 1625.”

It was, therefore, immediately after this restoration that the remains of Bishop Andrewes were deposited in the Little Chapel. May there not have been some thought of preventing further desecration by the monument of this learned Divine?

The Chapel was taken down in 1830. The monument of the Bishop took up nearly the whole of the east end; a marble canopy originally stood over it, but this was broken in 1676 when the roof of the Chapel fell in; there was no altar and there were no services held in the Chapel; there was one other monument of a citizen named Hayman, buried here in the same year as the Bishop. Another monument, erected in 1807, was that of Abraham Newland, chief cashier of the Bank of England. Two stone coffins were preserved in this Chapel; and here were stone steps leading down into the vaults; the Chapel is said to have been quite plain, “with a groined roof, strong ribs, and a stone seat on both sides and at the east end.”

The removal of the Chapel formed part of the restoration work of 1830. At this time the church was in a most dangerous condition, the roof of the nave being so dilapidated that it was impossible to hold service there. Consequently the pews, organ, and monuments were removed to the chancel and transepts; the roof was taken down and the materials sold; and the walls and aisles were simply left exposed to the weather.

Wilkinson thus describes what followed:—

“The roof thus destroyed was a fine specimen of the architecture of the thirteenth century, and possessed the striking peculiarity of having the corbels, whence the ribs of the arches sprang, placed perpendicularly over the columns. Those columns had been already banded with iron, and the walls were green and dark with apparent decay, though it is said that some of the ancient timbers were still in a fine state of preservation; but in pursuance of the above order, the organ was removed to form a temporary termination to the choir, and the nave was uncovered and exposed; in which lamentable state it still continues, August 1834, not unlike the half-ruined edifice of the Cathedral of Llandaff.

The very laudable, zealous, and preserving efforts made for the preservation of the Lady Chapel at the eastern end of the Church, were, however, completely successful; though it was for some time earnestly debated whether it should be destroyed or restored. But even in the vestry the design of demolition was opposed, and on January 28th, 1832, a numerous general meeting for the preservation of the structure took place at the Freemasons’ Tavern, at which a series of Resolutions was passed to that effect. The principal of them were, That the few remaining reliques of Gothic, or Early English Pointed style of architecture in this kingdom, are replete with interest: That the Chapel of Our Lady in St. Saviour’s Church is a splendid specimen of that style of architecture: That as the Parish of St. Saviour has expended £30,000 in the repair of this Church, of which a debt of £8000 is unpaid, it is expedient that a public subscription be commenced to enable the Parish to restore the Lady Chapel; and that a Committee be appointed to promote the restoration by soliciting public subscriptions. Notwithstanding the very great expense, which the rebuilding of St. Saviour’s Church had already proved to the Parish, it was evident, by some of the speeches at this meeting, that the design of demolishing the Lady Chapel was not by any means even partially sanctioned in Southwark, but only that the assistance of the public was required for so costly an undertaking; but it was perhaps almost entirely owing to the unwearied and meritorious exertions of Mr. Thomas Saunders, that so general and lively an interest was excited on the subject. The estimated amount of the restoration was £2500, and by February nearly £1400 had been raised; but the sentiments of the parishioners were most equivocally displayed at the general poll which had been demanded by Mr. Saunders of all the parochial rate-payers, and which took place on February 9th and 10th; the conclusion being a majority of 240 for the restoration of the building. The subscriptions were subsequently continued with great zeal, and were also extended to the restoration of the ancient altar-screen in the choir; for the effecting of all which they were aided by a performance of Sacred Music in the Church, on Thursday, June 21st, 1832, and the delivery of some scientific lectures. The superintendence of the Restoration was gratuitously undertaken by Mr. Gwilt, Mr. Hartley was the contractor for the building, and the first stone of the new works was laid July 28th, 1832. The two annexed modern Exterior Views of this Church will convey an accurate notion of the appearance of the outside of the Lady Chapel before this restoration; excepting that it then showed four dilapidated and tiled gables, and that the part from which the Bishop’s Chapel had been removed was white, whilst the remainder was defaced and discoloured stone, coarsely repaired with brick. In taking down the arch which led into the Bishop’s Chapel was discovered part of the fabric of the lancet-window originally in that place; which became a most valuable model for the restoration of the others. In the present perfected state of this edifice, the eastern end of it exhibits the four original gables, each surmounted by a rich cross, and containing in the point a small triple lancet window, with carved corbelheads and columnated-mullions; with a large window of the same description below. The form of the glazing in the latter consists of large intersected circles and lozenges; with some armorial ensigns, etc., in stained glass. The roofs of the Chapel are covered with lead, and the walls are of flints like those of the other restored parts of the Church, with stone mouldings and quoins; the four buttresses, and the north-east turret containing the staircase are also restored in a similar manner; the latter having loopholes and a low cap of stone. On each side of the building also the peculiar windows have been likewise carefully copied. Within, the Lady Chapel is 42 feet in length, and has the roof divided into nine groined arches, supported by six octangular columns, with circular shafts at their angles. When this place was formerly used for the Consistorial Court of the Bishop of Winchester, and the Visitations of the Deanery of Southwark, the north-east corner was parted off in the manner of a pew, and contained a desk, table, and elevated seat; but the remainder of the space was abandoned to the reception of lumber.

Whilst the restoration of the Chapel was in agitation, a further difficulty appeared in the very narrow frontage to be allowed for it on the south approach forming to the New London Bridge. So early as November 1830, the Wardens of St. Saviour’s addressed a memorial to the Bridge-Committee, soliciting a sufficient space for the exhibition of the structure, and suggesting an opening of 130 feet. On April 19th, 1831, it was resolved by the vestry that the width of 60 feet, offered by the Committee, was altogether inadequate, added to which it was made a condition of that grant that the Lady Chapel should be taken down; and, therefore, in the following October the Wardens memorialised the Lords of the Treasury. In an interview between them, the latter appeared to be in favour of a greater opening, but on January 24th, 1832, the Wardens were informed that not more than 70 feet would be allowed, and that space only on condition of removing the Chapel, if the consent of the Bishop of Winchester could be procured. In a letter on the subject, however, the Bishop declined giving his consent to the London Bridge Company; stating that it could not be alleged that the removal of the Consistorial Court was required for public accommodation, which he viewed as the only justifiable reason for the demolition of a Church, or any part of one. It was then resolved to petition the Committee of the House of Commons appointed on the Bill for Improving the Approaches to the New London Bridge; by which it was decided, on February 29th, 1832, after four days’ deliberation, and by a majority of 17 to 3, that the opening to St. Saviour’s Church should be 130 feet instead of 70, as proposed by the original framers of the Bill. The houses on the west side of Wellington Street opposite the Lady Chapel, are therefore terminated so as to form the sides of a handsome approach to it. From hence at a future time a flight of steps may be formed to the building beneath, and an appropriate rail also erected round the church, but at present the structure is defended on the east only by a high circular enclosure of boards.

The last meritorious work of restoration in St. Saviour’s Church was that of the ancient Altar Screen given in the commencement of the sixteenth century by Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester; a subscription for which was ultimately united with that commenced for the Lady Chapel. To the latter of these funds the present Bishop of Winchester gave £300, and £100 to the Screen; and other large sums were speedily and liberally contributed. Previously to Mr. Gwilt’s restoration of the choir, the eastern wall of the Church was covered with a composition of wood and plaster, ascribed by tradition to Sir Christopher Wren, though apparently without any authority. Above this Screen appeared the mutilated and inelegant broad window of the sixteenth century, the arch of which was sculptured in relievo, in panels; that in the centre having an angel holding a shield, and those at the side, a pelican feeding her young, the emblem of Christ, and the device of Bishop Fox. There was also a carved facia, on which the pelican was repeated, with the holy lamb and oak leaves, the style of all which entirely disagreed with that of the altar-piece below. On the removal of the modern screen, a series of small tabernacle-niches was discovered on the partition behind, the canopies of which had been cut down to almost a level surface; though they still possessed so much beauty as to cause the restoration of the whole to become a circumstance of the greatest interest. This was completed in the commencement of 1834, by Mr. Robert Wallace, the Architect of the Church, Mr. Firth, the Contractor, and Mr. Purdy, the principal Carver; the contract amounting to only the sum of £700. The ancient material of this Screen was Firestone and the stone of Caen; and the restoration has been executed in stone from Painswick, in Gloucestershire, which agrees well with the former. Wherever it was practicable the original work has been retained, but nearly the whole of the ornamental carvings have been wrought from moulds and replaced in the precise situations of the ancient sculpture whence they were taken. The whole screen is lofty, and the general composition of it is divided into three stories in height and as many partitions in breadth. In the centre of the lowest story is a space for the altar, with three tall tablets and canopies above; and on each side is a door with a depressed pointed arch. On each side of the doorways is a niche rising from the ground, flanked by slender buttresses and covered with a triangular tabernacle of two canopied arches, with the angular point in front. In each niche is a tall pedestal with a richly carved head; and above the doors are short double canopies of a similar style, though rising above those on the sides, and breaking the line of a broad frieze of demi-angels, above which is a narrow line of carved pelicans, holy lambs, and scrolls. These terminate the first story; and the above second and third are composed of a large niche in the centre, with a semi-hexagonal canopy, placed between five niches on each side, with pedestals and canopies like those below; whilst a second frieze of angels, etc., parts the two stories. As the story finished the remains of the ancient screen, Mr. Wallace has designed a termination of an entablature of angels supporting shields, with a crown-like cornice above; something similar to which most probably surmounted the original design.” (_Londina Illustrata_, vol. i.)