THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE, LOOKING EAST.THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE, LOOKING EAST.Photochrom Co. Ltd. Photo.
John Alcock(1486-1500) succeeded him at Ely. He was Bishop of Worcester, previously of Rochester, and had been for a few months Lord Chancellor. He founded Jesus College, Cambridge, upon the dissolution of the ancient nunnery of S. Rhadegund. He was a great architect, and erected manycostly buildings. He built the great hall in the palace at Ely, much improved the palace at Downham, founded a school at Hull, and erected a chapel in the church there, and built the beautiful chapel in Ely Cathedral, where his body now lies. He died at Wisbech in 1500.
After nearly a year's interval,Richard Redman(1501-1505) became bishop. He was Bishop of Exeter, previously of S. Asaph. He died at Ely House in London in 1505.
BISHOP WEST'S CHAPEL.BISHOP WEST'S CHAPEL.Photochrom Co. Ltd. Photo.
The next bishop wasJames Stanley(1506-1515), son of the first Earl of Derby. Among other preferments he held was the Wardenship of Manchester. He built part of Somersham palace, and was a considerable benefactor to the Collegiate Church of Manchester, where he was ultimately buried, although he left directions in his will to be buried at Ely. His numerous promotions are possibly due to the influence of hisstepmother, the famous Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby, the mother of King Henry VII. He was very little at Ely, and bore an indifferent moral character. The quaint set of verses3drawing his character says there was "little Priest's metal in him," that he was "a goodly tall man as any in England," that he was made bishop "for his wisdom and parentage," that he was "a great Viander as any in his days," which last expression probably means that he was unduly given to hospitality. He died at Manchester in 1515.
Nicholas West(1515-1533) who succeeded him, was the son of a baker. He had been employed in foreign embassies, and was Dean of Windsor and Archdeacon of Derby. He lived in great splendour, and relieved the poor with much bounty. He was a benefactor to King's College, Cambridge, where he had been fellow. He took the part of Queen Katherine of Arragon, to whom he was chaplain, in the question of the divorce; and the disfavour into which he consequently fell with the king is thought to have hastened his death, which took place in 1533.
THE BRASS OF BISHOP GOODRICH, LORD CHANCELLOR TO EDWARD VI., DIED 1554. (He holds the Great Seal in his right hand.)
Thomas Goodrich(1533-1554) was a "zealous forwarder of the Reformation." He was one of the revisers of the translation of the New Testament, and assisted in the compilation of the Prayer-book. He was also Lord Chancellor. In his time, in 1539, the monastery was surrendered to the king. All the inmates were pensioned or otherwise provided for. Dugdale gives the revenues of the monastery at its dissolutionas £1084 6s.9d.; Speed says £1301 8s.2d.Bishop Goodrich's monumental brass in the cathedral is a very important example of such memorials. He died at Somersham in 1554.
Thomas Thirlby(1554-1559) was Bishop of Norwich, having been previously the first and only Bishop of Westminster. "He is said to have been a discreet moderate man"; but he lived in troublous times, and had the distasteful task of committing some so-called heretics to the flames. He was dispossessed of his bishopric soon after the accession of Queen Elizabeth, and sent to the Tower. He was, however, soon released, and permitted to live in retirement with Archbishop Parker at Lambeth, where he died and was buried in 1570.
Richard Cox(1559-1581) was Dean of Westminster and of Christ Church, Oxford. He was much troubled at the series of alienations of the property of the see insisted upon by the Government, and used every effort to secure what he could for his successors; and for this opposition, and also for his being married, he fell under the queen's disfavour, and many times solicited permission to resign his see, but he remained bishop till his death in 1581.
For eighteen years the see was vacant, all the revenues being absorbed by the Crown. At lastMartin Heaton(1600-1609) was made bishop. He was Dean of Winchester. He has the reputation of having been a pious, hospitable man, and a good preacher. He died at Mildenhall, in Suffolk, in 1609.
His successor was the famousLancelot Andrewes(1609-1619), Bishop of Chichester. He was a man "of extraordinary endowments, very pious and charitable, of a most blameless life, an eminent Preacher, of universal learning, and one of those principally concerned in the new Translation of the Bible." He became Bishop of Winchester in 1619, and died in 1626, being buried at S. Saviour's, Southwark. Milton has a Latin elegy upon his death, written when the poet was in his seventeenth year. Dean Duport4has also a short poem in the form of an epitaph on him, in which occur these lines:
"Hoc sub nomine quippe continenturVirtus, ingenium, eruditioque,Fides, et pietas, amorque veri,Doctrinæ jubar, OrthodoxiæqueIngens destina, schismatis flagellum,Tortor tortilis illius Draconis,Scutum Ecclesiæ et ensis AnglicanæContra bella, minas, et arma Romæ."
Nicolas Felton(1619-1626) was Bishop of Bristol. He died in 1626, and was buried at S. Antholin's, London, where he had been rector.
John Buckridge(1628-1631) succeeded after an interval of eighteen months. He was Bishop of Rochester. "A Person of great Learning and Worth, and a true Son of the Church of England." He died in 1631, and was buried at Bromley in Kent, near the palace of the Bishops of Rochester.
Francis White(1631-1638) was Bishop of Norwich, previously of Carlisle. Dying in 1638, he was buried in S. Paul's Cathedral.
Matthew Wren(1638-1667) was also Bishop of Norwich, and previously of Hereford. He was an unflinching supporter of King Charles I. and Archbishop Laud, and had a full share of the sufferings which his principles involved, being imprisoned in the Tower for eighteen years, from which imprisonment he was only released at the Restoration, when of course he was restored to his see. Sir Christopher Wren was his nephew. He had been fellow of Pembroke, Cambridge, and after the Restoration he built a chapel for his old college, in which he was buried upon his death in 1667.
Benjamin Laney(1667-1675) had been Bishop of Peterborough and then of Lincoln. He spent a great deal of money in repairing the palace at Ely, which was much dilapidated. He died in 1675. He is described on his monument as being "facundia amabilis, acumine terribilis, eruditione auctissimus."
Peter Gunning(1675-1684) had been Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, Master of Corpus Christi, and then of S. John's College, and Bishop of Chichester. He composed the prayer "For all Sorts and Conditions of Men" in the Prayer-book. He is very highly praised in the inscription on his monument, which also records that he never was married.
Francis Turner(1685-1691) had been Master of S. John's College, Cambridge, also Dean of Windsor and Bishop of Rochester. He was, with six other bishops, sent to the Tower in 1688 for presenting to the king a petition which was called a seditious libel. They were committed on June 8th and tried on June 29th. Amidst universal acclamations of joy and enthusiasm they were acquitted. In 1691 Bishop Turner, with Archbishop Sancroft and four other bishops, upon refusing to take the oaths to William and Mary, were deprived of their bishoprics. He lived in retirement for nine years, and died in 1700. He was buried at Therfield, in Hertfordshire, where he had been rector.
Simon Patrick(1691-1707) had been Dean of Peterborough and Bishop of Chichester. He was a very learned man and a great writer. His writings, says his epitaph, are superior to any inscription and more lasting than any marble. He died in 1707.
John Moore(1707-1714), Bishop of Norwich, was a book-collector, and after his death his library was purchased by the king and presented to the University of Cambridge. He died in 1714.
William Fleetwood(1714-1723) was translated to Ely from S. Asaph. He was a great supporter of the principles of the Revolution, and towards the end of Queen Anne's reign, when the Jacobites seemed to be making very many adherents, he published some sermons, to which was prefixed a preface setting forth his opinion of the dangerous tendency of the views that were being spread so industriously. The House of Commons condemned the book; but upon the arrival of King George, his services were recognised by his translation to Ely. He died at Tottenham in 1723.
Thomas Greene(1723-1738) was Bishop of Norwich and previously Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In Masters' history of that college a very high character of him is given, and his publications are greatly praised. He was zealous "for the Protestant Succession in the illustrious House of Hanover." He died at Ely House in London in 1738. His epitaph in the cathedral says he had the credit of diligence, impartiality, and integrity in the administration of his diocese. One expression is curious: "Pietate et Annis gravis, Accepta tandem Rude, Uxori etnumerosæ Proli ... Flebilis decessit." According to this he was greatly lamented "when he received his discharge."
Robert Butts(1738-1748), like his predecessor, came from Norwich, where he had been dean and then bishop. He died at Ely House in 1748, possessed (according to the epitaph at Ely) of nearly all the virtues. He came of a gentle family of moderate means: "tenui vico, at honesto genere."
Again a Bishop of Norwich was translated to Ely.Sir Thomas Gooch, second Baronet of Benacre (1748-1754), had been Master of Caius College, Cambridge, and Bishop of Bristol before he went to Norwich. At Cambridge he was instrumental in raising funds for building the Senate House; at Norwich he greatly improved the palace, and obtained charters for two societies for the relief of widows and orphans of the clergy; but there is no record of anything special achieved by him at Ely. He died at Ely House in 1754, and was buried in the chapel at Caius, where is a lengthy inscription enumerating his preferments and his three wives.
Matthias Mawson(1754-1770) had been Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Bishop of Llandaff, and Bishop of Chichester. While at Ely he spent large sums on the cathedral alterations, as described above, and was also very active in encouraging, by his advice and purse, the steps that were being taken to improve the roads near Ely and to erect draining-mills. The adjoining lowlands had "been several years under water; and the publick roads, at the same time, in so bad a state, as not to be travelled with safety."5He founded several scholarships at his old college, of the aggregate value of £400 a year. He died in 1770.
Edmund Keene(1771-1781) had been Master of Peterhouse and Bishop of Chester. The inscription on his monument at Ely was written by himself. He died in 1781.
The Hon. James Yorke(1781-1808), fifth son of the first Earl of Hardwicke, had been Dean of Lincoln, Bishop of S. David's, and Bishop of Gloucester. He died in 1808, and was buried at Forthampton, in Gloucestershire.
Thomas Dampier(1808-1812) was son of the Dean of Durham. He was Dean and afterwards Bishop of Rochester.He died suddenly in London in 1812, and was buried in the chapel of Eton College.
BISHOP WOODFORD'S TOMB.BISHOP WOODFORD'S TOMB.Photochrom Co. Ltd. Photo.
Bowyer Edward Sparke(1812-1836), Bishop of Chester, previously Dean of Bristol. In his time the temporal jurisdiction of the bishop over the Isle of Ely came to an end. On State occasions a sword used to be carried before the bishop when he attended cathedral service; but this practice ceased when it was no longer right to exhibit anyemblem of judicial authority. The sword itself was buried with Bishop Sparke.
Joseph Allen(1836-1845), Bishop of Bristol. He published some sermons and charges. He secured from the ecclesiastical commissioners a large increase in the income of the bishopric.
Thomas Turton(1845-1864) had been Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, Dean of Peterborough, and, for a short time, Dean of Westminster. He was author of several works. By his will he left £500 for the improvement of the nave of the cathedral. He died in 1864.
Edward Harold Browne(1864-1873) was of great reputation as a scholar and theologian. He was chairman of the Old Testament Revision Committee. He became Bishop of Winchester in 1873, and died at Bitterne, in Hampshire, in 1891. He was buried at West End, Southampton.
James Russell Woodford(1873-1885) was Vicar of Leeds. He published many sermons and lectures, and was well known as a successful organizer and an eloquent preacher. He died in 1885.
Lord Alwyne Compton(1885-1905) was a son of the second Marquess of Northampton, and was previously Dean of Worcester. Resigned, and died, 1906, and was buried at S. Martin's, Canterbury.
Frederic Henry Chase(1905-) was formerly Norrisian and Lady Margaret Professor, and President of Queens' College, Cambridge, and is the author of numerous works in critical theology.
The names and dates of the earlier bishops are taken from Bishop Stubbs' "Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum." Of the bishops between 1609 and 1845 there was only one (Peter Gunning) who was not translated to Ely from some other see. It is now an unwritten law that the Bishop of Ely should be a Cambridge man. For at least two centuries and a half this rule has been followed, if we except Francis Turner; and he, though of New College, Oxford, had been Master of S. John's, Cambridge. Unless otherwise stated, the bishops were buried at Ely.
The original diocese of Ely was enlarged, in 1837, by the addition of the counties of Huntingdon and Bedford, and the archdeaconry of Sudbury.
FOOTNOTES:[1]Cathedrals "of the old foundation" were cathedrals from the first, and had deans and chapters of secular canons. Those that were once conventual churches had no deans or canons till Henry VIII. An easy way of identifying cathedrals of the old foundation is this: if the non-resident canons have the title of prebendaries, they are members of a cathedral of the old foundation. The modern dignity of honorary canon was created in order that all other cathedrals might have a body of clergy corresponding to the prebendaries of the ancient cathedrals.[2]He is called, in Bishop Stubbs' "Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum," Herve le Breton.[3]Quoted by Bentham, p. 187.[4]Of Peterborough, in his "Musæ Subsecivæ."[5]Bentham, p. 213.
FOOTNOTES:
[1]Cathedrals "of the old foundation" were cathedrals from the first, and had deans and chapters of secular canons. Those that were once conventual churches had no deans or canons till Henry VIII. An easy way of identifying cathedrals of the old foundation is this: if the non-resident canons have the title of prebendaries, they are members of a cathedral of the old foundation. The modern dignity of honorary canon was created in order that all other cathedrals might have a body of clergy corresponding to the prebendaries of the ancient cathedrals.
[2]He is called, in Bishop Stubbs' "Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum," Herve le Breton.
[3]Quoted by Bentham, p. 187.
[4]Of Peterborough, in his "Musæ Subsecivæ."
[5]Bentham, p. 213.
PRIOR CRAUDEN'S CHAPEL.PRIOR CRAUDEN'S CHAPEL.Photochrom Co. Ltd. Photo.
Besides numerous remains of mediæval architecture to be found in the residences and private grounds of the cathedral clergy, there are some buildings of great interest to the south of the cathedral, the two most remarkable being the infirmary and Prior Crauden's chapel. Of the former no more than the piers and arches are to be seen, as the roof is gone, and the whole has been converted into residences. The latter is quite perfect.
TheInfirmaryis in the same relative position to the church as at Peterborough, at the south-east. The plan was that of an ordinary church, with nave, aisles, and chancel; but the chancel was the chapel, the aisles were the quarters of the inmates, and the nave was a common hall, or ambulatory. So complete was the resemblance to a church that the true purpose of this and other similar buildings elsewhere had been quite forgotten, and it was left to Professor Willis to discover that the remains were not those of a disusedchurch. Bentham1has an engraving of the arches and clerestory, divested of all the domestic additions, which to a modern student of ecclesiastical architecture indicates at once a building of Norman date, which is described as an elevation "of the remains of the Old Conventual Church of Ely, built in the time of the Heptarchy, A.D. 673, and repaired in King Edgar's Reign, A.D. 970." In the plan given in the same plate an imaginary apse is marked out with dotted lines.2In the chapel is a groined roof, and this belongs to the latter part of the twelfth century; but the nave arches, where are some very good and unusual mouldings, have nothing of Transitional work, and in the absence of documentary evidence would be assigned to 1140 or 1150. The hall, situated to the north of what would, in a church, be called the north aisle of the nave, is the work of Walsingham.
PLAN OF THE INFIRMARY AS GIVEN IN BENTHAM'S "HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES"
Prior Crauden's Chapelis a most exquisite specimen of the Decorated period, designed by the same master mind that created the octagon and the lady-chapel. Crauden was prior from 1321 to 1341. Built as a private chapel, it was at one time converted into a dwelling, but is now restored to sacred uses as the chapel of the King's School. It is situated to the south of the deanery. It is of small dimensions, being only thirty-one feet long; and this is exactly double its breadth. The vaulted roof springs from clustered shafts in the walls; in the eastern half, on each side, are two tall windows of two lights, with most graceful tracery; at the east is a window of five lights, of equally beautiful tracery, filled with stained glass, of which the five lower figures are ancient and said to have been brought from Cologne. The westwindow has four lights. When Professor Willis was conducting some members of an architectural congress, in 1860,3over the monastic buildings, on arriving at this "beautiful little gem of architecture," in the course of his remarks "he pointed to the restorations that had taken place, and found that they were good ones, the actual mason's lines having been taken in some instances. In one or two cases where the work was destroyed the spaces had been filled up with plain block, purposely to show where the masonry had been knocked away." Some curious tiling is to be seen on the altar platform: there are figures of Adam and Eve and numerous unusual designs. On no account should this chapel be left unvisited.
ELY PORTA, THE GREAT GATE OF THE MONASTERY, 1817.ELY PORTA, THE GREAT GATE OF THE MONASTERY, 1817.From Stevenson's Supplement to Bentham.
The great gateway of the abbey,Ely Porta, remains in a nearly perfect condition. It was the place where the manorcourts were held, and was in course of erection when Prior Bucton died in 1397. From his successor, in whose time it seems to have been completed, it is sometimes called Walpole's gate. At one time a portion was devoted to the brewery, and here the audit ale was brewed till so recently as Dean Goodwin's time.4It is now used partly as a house for the porter and partly for the school. The new buildings of the school, just opposite, are on the site of an ancient hostelry called the Green Man, which was "possibly the descendant of some mediæval lodging-house to which pilgrims resorted."5
Between Ely Porta and the cathedral are to be seen many fragmentary remains of the old monastery, some of Norman date, now forming parts of houses. Over the road to the west of these buildings there used to be a covered passage, called "The Gallery"—a name still retained by the street itself—leading from the bishop's palace to the cathedral. Access to this from the cathedral was in the western transept. The writer has not been able to hear of any engraving or drawing of this.
The remains of the refectory and of the Norman kitchen are in the deanery grounds. The guest-house is wholly absorbed in the deanery. There is a picturesque entrance into the close, on the north side, from High Street. The buildings on each side of it and the room above (now the muniment room) are quite ecclesiastical, though modernised and in part new. The eastern portion occupies the site of the sextry.
FOOTNOTES:[1]"History," 1771, Plate IV.[2]Another instance of imperfect acquaintance with church architecture is found in one plan of the cathedral (not in Bentham) in which the lady-chapel is called the chapter-house.[3]At which the writer was present.[4]"Ely Gossip," p. 5.[5]Ib., p. 7.
FOOTNOTES:
[1]"History," 1771, Plate IV.
[2]Another instance of imperfect acquaintance with church architecture is found in one plan of the cathedral (not in Bentham) in which the lady-chapel is called the chapter-house.
[3]At which the writer was present.
[4]"Ely Gossip," p. 5.
[5]Ib., p. 7.
Alban's, S., relics,116,118Alcock, Bishop,122;his chapel,35,90—pl.,94,112Allen, Bishop,130;tomb,90Altar, often moved,90Andrewes, Bishop,125Apse,19,80Arundel, Archbishop,120Barnet, Bishop,26,119;tomb,95Basevi, Mr., fatal accident,64;brass 90Belsham, Bishop,117Bishop, in abbot's stall,29;his sword of state,129Bishopric constituted,15,110Bourchier, Archbishop,120-1Brithnoth, Abbot,12,102Brithnoth, Alderman,93,103Browne, Bishop,131Buckeridge, Bishop,126Butts, Bishop,128Canute, King,105Catharine's, S., chapel,21,64-5—pl.,63Cathedrals of old foundation, 113Choir,77—pl.,53,55,79,98;aisles,56—pl.,89,122;screen,76—pl.,76;compared with presbytery,78Cloister,61College of Secular Clergy,12,102Compton, Bishop,131Cox, Bishop,125Cratendune,8Crauden, Prior, his chapel,25,131—pl.,131Cromwell, Oliver,29Cross, S., church,29,49,97Dampier, Bishop,128De Burgh, Bishop,116De Fontibus, Bishop,116De L'Isle, Bishop,25,119Dickson, Canon,61Dunstan, Archbishop,11,12East End,55Edmund's, S., chapel,75;representation of his martyrdom,90Edward, Confessor, educated at Ely,105Elsin, Abbot,12,13,103Ely Cathedral, built,13;congregation ejected,29;in seventeenth century,30;in eighteenth century,31—pl.,33Ely, etymology,4;above sea level,42;population,42Ely, Isle of,3,9,11,13Ely monastery, founded,8;destroyed by Danes,10,101;reconstituted,102;monks and nuns,99;surrendered,29;mitred prior,25Ely Porta,133—pl.,133Ermenilda, S., Abbess,15,100Etheldreda, S., foundress,3-9;translation,15;scenes from career on corbels,6,72;churches dedicated to her,7;her shrine,16,20,21,89—pl.,20,91;S. Audrey's laces,73Ethelwold, Bishop,11,12Eustace, Bishop,17,18,66,114Felix, S., attempted seizure of his remains,102Felton, Bishop,4,126Fitz-Alan, Archbishop,120Fleetwood, Bishop,127Fordham, Bishop,120Front, west,17,43Galilee,17-19,44,46—pl.,18,41,45Gardner, Mr. J. D., gave the reredos,83Godfrey, administrator,13,108Gooch, Bishop,128Goodrich, Bishop,29,124;brass,96—pl.,124Goodwin, Dean, restoration in his time,35Gray, Bishop,26,121Greene, Bishop,90,127Guest-hall,25Gunning, Bishop,32,126;tomb,95Hereward,16Hervey, Bishop,114Heton, Bishop,125;tomb,95Hotham, Bishop,29,99,118;tomb,89Infirmary,24,131—pl.,132Keene, Bishop,93,128Keeton, Bishop,118Kilkenny, Bishop,116;tomb,83Kirkby, Bishop,117Labyrinth,63Lady-chapel,20,24,28,52,84—pl.,53,85,86;bosses in roof,28Laney, Bishop,126Langham, Cardinal Archbishop,119Lantern,36,73—pl.,57Leofric, Leofsin, Leofwin, Abbots,105Le Strange, Mr., painted ceiling,67Longchamp, Bishop,114Louth, Bishop,117;tomb,95Luxemburg, Cardinal Archbishop,120;tomb,93Mary's, S., Church,17,93Mawson, Bishop,32,128Merivale, Dean, restoration in his time,38;tablet,96Mill, Canon, tomb,90Monks' door,60Montacute, Bishop,119Monuments,87Moore, Bishop,127;tomb,95Morgan, Bishop,120Morton, Cardinal Archbishop,121Nave,15-17,49,66—pl.,2,62,65;aisles,69—pl.,69,70;ceiling,67-69—pl.,67Nigel, Bishop,114Northwold, Bishop,15,19,21,116;tomb,90Octagon,22-4,36,50,71—pl.,23;cost,29Orford, Bishop,117Organ,38;gallery,32Ovin,5,71,73Parry, Mr. Gambier, painted ceiling,67Patrick, Bishop,127Peacock, Dean, restoration in his time,29;octagon restored as memorial,37Pherd, Bishop,116Powcher, Prior,25,27Presbytery,26,76—pl.,55,77,91;bosses in roof,80Prior's door,60—pl.,59Redman, Bishop,123;tomb,88Refectory,20Reredos,83—pl.,84Richard, last Abbot,14,15,110Riddell, Bishop,15,114Robert of York,114Rood-loft,32Sacrist's Office,24Scott, Sir G. G.,35,37,63Selwyn, Canon,96;tomb,95S. Sexburga, Abbess,100Sextry-barn,34Simeon, Abbot,13,14Sparke, Bishop,90,129Sparke, Canon E. B.,96Spire on west tower,19,27,32,49Stained glass,96Stalls,32,34,83—pl.,81Stanley, Bishop,123Stubbs, Dean,21,25,52,72,73,80Tabula Eliensis,108Theodwin, Abbot,13,108Thirlby, Bishop,125Thurstan, Abbot,107Tower, central,21;west,14,43,47,63—pl.,40,48Transepts,19,75;north,29,51—pl.,74;south,60—pl.,75;west,35,64;galleries,76Triforium,26,57,58,83—pl.,80Turner, Bishop,127Turton, Bishop,131Tyndall, Dean, brass,96Walpole, Bishop,117Walsingham, Alan de,20,22,24-5;elected bishop,25,119;stone over his grave,25,88Werburga, S., Abbess,16,100West, Bishop,124;his chapel,28,93—pl.,95,123White, Bishop,126Wilfrid, Archbishop,6,9Wisbech, John de,20Withburga's, S., body purloined,102Woodford, Bishop,93,131;tomb,88,96—pl.,129Worcester, Earl of, tomb,95Wren, Bishop,126Wren, Sir C.,51Wyatt's report,32Yorke, Bishop,128