Part 4

Abbot Warwick in 1271 laid the foundation stone of a new church to St. Mary’s Abbey. He began by building at the rear of the Norman church a new aisled choir of nine bays. The Norman edifice was then taken down and replaced by a new aisled nave of eight bays, transepts of three bays with eastern aisles, and lofty tower with spire. The western front has a central doorway set between arcading; the doorway jambs are delicately sculptured with the ivy and its trailing stem. The aisle windows are alternately of two and three lights with geometrical tracery and placed above an arcade--the work is similar to that in the north aisle of the choir at Selby Abbey. One of the views depicts the eastern archway with clerestory of the nave north aisle. The remains of the church show it to have been a magnificent example of the art of the last quarter of the thirteenth century. Excavations have revealed the foundations of the choir and exhibit the full length of the church.

The ruins of the vestibule and entrance to the chapter house are beautiful examples of the richly ornamented late Norman work.

The walls of the abbey close remain. The principal, and for a long time the only entrance, was that of Mary Gate. There is a fine arch and on either side of the gateway is an arcade with stone seats. The vaulted roof and the courtroom above for the Liberty of St. Mary have disappeared. The gatehouse adjoins and is now a private dwelling. John Phillips, the eminent geologist, resided in it for some years. On the opposite side are the ruins of the Chapel of Our Lady at the Gate; the edifice was of two stories, with the chapel on the first floor which was reached by a stone stair.

The Bootham entrance was made in order to shorten the distance from the abbot’s house to the Minster, and in expectation of a visit of Henry VII, on his return from Scotland. The Princess Margaret, daughter of Henry VII, was the guest of the Lord Abbot of St. Mary’s for two days on her journey to the north to be the bride of James IV of Scotland. The Princess, accompanied by five hundred lords and ladies, was met at Tadcaster Bridge by the Sheriffs in crimson gowns, attended by one hundred persons on horseback, who conducted her royal highness towards the city. At Micklegate Bar, the Princess was received by the Lord Mayor and Corporation, who welcomed her to the city. On the following day the Lord Mayor and Corporation waited upon the Princess, and presented her with a silver gilt cup containing one hundred angels of gold for which she heartily thanked them. The next day the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, and Aldermen escorted the Princess as far as Magdalene Hospital in Bootham. The Lord Mayor made a long oration in taking his leave, to which the Princess replied, “My Lord Mayor, your brethren, and all the whole city of York. I shall evermore endeavour to love you and this city all the days of my life.”

The Bootham entrance to St. Mary’s Abbey consists of an archway with porter’s lodge now used as a shop. From here the abbey walls continue behind the houses to the circular tower at the end of Marygate. The tower contained the records of many of the suppressed northern monasteries. During the siege of York in the time of the Great Civil War, one Sunday the Parliamentarians having laid a mine, blew up the tower and entered the grounds. The Royalists sent out a body of men by the Watergate and up Marygate to the ruined tower. Those inside were thus caught and were compelled to surrender. The tower was afterwards rebuilt, but on a smaller scale. From the tower the abbey walls stretch to the gatehouse and from there continue to the river, where they terminate in a circular tower, which is seen in the view taken across the river from near the railway bridge.

The river front had its water gate and walls. The water gate led to the “hospitium”, a two-storied building, the lower part of stone and the upper of timber and plaster. The hospitium adjoined the gateway, on the other side was the gatehouse, of which little remains.

In the lower room of the hospitium is stored much sculptured work from the abbey. Amongst the large bosses are represented the Holy Lamb, surrounded by maple leaves; the Virgin amidst the vine, and a monk playing an early violin. There are ten statues which formerly adorned the abbey church, each one is five feet eight inches high, and amongst others Moses and the Baptist are represented. There are also two “cresset” stones, the holes of which were filled with grease and provided with wicks to form the night lights for the monks.

In the same room are a number of Roman objects which have been discovered in York. A tesselated pavement, depicting the head of Medusa surrounded by emblems of the four seasons, was found near Micklegate Bar. One of the most ancient of Roman inscriptions in Britain is the inscribed tablet of the time of Trajan, which was found in King’s Square. An altar was found under one of the piers in the church of St. Denis. Amongst other Roman objects are stone coffins, tiled tombs, and a sculptured eagle.

Of mediaeval objects are moulded stones from the demolished church of St. Crux, an effigy in chain armour of Sir John de Vescy, a defaced effigy of a knight which passed as a statue of Mother Shipton, the famous Yorkshire prophetess, and a tablet inscribed “Here stood the image of York”, referring to Ebraucus, the founder of York, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth.

The upper room is chiefly devoted to pottery, glass, and the smaller Roman objects found in York. There are seven hundred and fifty perfect vessels. Of particular interest to many and kept in a glass case is the hair of a Roman lady--taken out of a lead coffin enclosed in a stone one. The hair retains its auburn colour, is coiled and secured by two jet pins.

The other conventual buildings have been destroyed, the Museum stands on a portion of them. In the basement is a fireplace _in situ_, and in another part are three octagonal pillars which have been removed a little from their original position. The mortar of the abbey infirmary is placed in the Museum entrance; it was cast in 1308 by William of Towthorpe, one of the monks. It is a beautiful example of the art of the bellfounder, the design consisting of two rows of quatrefoils between an inscription.

The Museum contains some Roman sculptures, including one to Mithras, an inscribed stone coffin of Julia Fortunata, and a fine statue. On the walls are three tapestry maps of central England. These are the first specimens of tapestry weaving in this country and were executed in 1579. In a wall case are fetters from York Castle, consisting of those worn by Nevison and Dick Turpin, the famous highwaymen.

The Abbot of St. Mary’s together with the Abbot of Selby were the only two mitred abbots north of the Trent, and by virtue of their rank they were summoned as Lords of Parliament. The Lord Abbot of St. Mary’s had, near York, country residences at Overton, Deighton, and Beningbrough, and a London house near St. Paul’s Wharf.

The abbey after its surrender was retained in the possession of the Crown. The church became a quarry for anyone who required building stone; engravings show that in the seventeenth century both sides of the nave with the Triforium were standing. In the eighteenth century the abbey ruins supplied the stone for the repairing of various buildings. The whole of the structure was gradually being cleared away, and to hurry on the work of destruction, a limekiln was erected. Fortunately, in 1827, the Yorkshire Philosophical Society obtained a grant of the ruins and land.

Through the nave north doorway is seen the tomb of William Etty, Royal Academician, who was a native of York and to whom a statue has recently been erected in front of the City Art Gallery.

The abbot’s house, although much altered, is that occupied by the Wilberforce School for the Blind. After the Dissolution, it was called the King’s Manor and made the residence of the Lord President of the North. On the site of the monastic chapter house, a palace was built and occupied by Henry VIII and his Queen, Catherine Howard, when they visited York. The palace was afterwards disused and became a ruin. The basement, known as the “King’s Cellar”, remains and now forms the substructure of a recent building. During the reign of Elizabeth additions were made “to the Queen’s Majesty’s house” by the successive Lords Presidents, the Earls of Sussex and Huntingdon. One apartment contains a large fireplace with pilasters which have bases, raised panels and caps, and an arch adorned with sculptured panels. The plaster frieze has the crest of the Hastings, Earls of Huntingdon--a coronet over the garter, within which is a bull’s head between the letters H.H., the royal Tudor badge--an open pomegranate between two dragons--and the bear and ragged staff--the badge of the Dudleys, the Countess being the sister of Robert Dudley, the Queen’s favourite. In the reign of James I other additions were made, including a new entrance. In the pilaster base on either side are the letters I.R. under a crown. A view is given of the stairs and doorway, with the Royal Arms above, which led to the Banquetting Hall added by the great Earl of Strafford (then Viscount Wentworth). He placed his own armorial bearings over the doorway on the west side of the courtyard, and although there was nothing unusual in such an act, it formed one of the charges against him at his trial, he having placed his own arms on one of the king’s palaces. Later, King Charles I took up his abode here for a month, and the Royal arms were placed over the entrance.

The School for the Blind, with its two courtyards surrounded by mullioned windows and quaint doorways with heraldic devices, forms an extremely picturesque brick and stone building. A pretty view is that obtained from the abbey grounds. It shows the Elizabethan additions, one a stone building with gabled end and a series of stone dormers; the other, a later building on a stone base is of brick with brick pilasters, cornices, and gables, the whole making an especially fit subject for the artist in water colours.

Three of the Abbots of St. Mary’s became bishops: Thomas of Spofforth went to Hereford, William Wells to Rochester, and William Sever to Carlisle and Durham. Bishop Sever was buried in the choir of St. Mary’s Abbey church. His tombstone was discovered during recent excavations.