THE magnificent and very charming Chantry Chapel

Transcription

1 The Ramryge Chantry in Saint Alban's By Abbey Church. ERNEST WOOLLEY, F.S.A. THE magnificent and very charming Chantry Chapel was erected by Thomas Ramryge, the 37th and last resident Abbat of St. Alban's, in the north side of the presbytery next to the great altar screen in the Abbey Church. His name derives from Ramrugge, a place near Kimpton, but to attempt to write any detailed or historical account of this Abbat would be equivalent to " making bricks without straw." The records of him and his abbacy have disappeared and can nowhere be found. The Rev. Peter Newcome wrote " The History of the Abbey and the Life of each Abbot," a work of much research, interest and usefulness, but which, in the light of the further researches of recent times, is not all accepted without criticism. William of Wallingford, the 36th Abbat, died in 1484, but his successor, Thomas Ramryge, was not appointed until This interval, according to Newcome, may perhaps with some reason be attributed to the displeasure of King Henry VII on finding that Catesby, the great seneschal of the abbey, was among the traitors at Bosworth. He also remarks, with some likelihood, that this want of information can be accounted for on no other supposition than that the first plunderers after the surrender of the seal on the dissolution of the abbey, seized all the writings and registers as being evidences of the estates and properties belonging to the house. That would no doubt be convenient for those who acquired the belongings of the abbey, but is unfortunate for us. Let us therefore indulge in the hope that the records may some day be unearthed from an unexpected quarter. Passing to the Chantry itself, it would be difficult to find a finer example of its period in decorative architecture and ornament, and even if at first sight it should seem to be rather too florid, a further acquaintance with

2 32 ST. ALBANS AND HERTS ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. its perfections will, I doubt not, produce a feeling of satisfaction and indeed of admiration. In considering the details the first thing to notice is one seldom seen, but indicating the spirit portrayed by its provenance. That is an inscription running along the exterior top of the panels next above the main row of shields. It starts on the eastern end of the north side in the aisle: SANCTI SPIRITUS ASSIT NOBIS GRACIA. VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS REPLE TU... (here it continues on the western end of the front south side)... ORUM CORDA FIDELIUM ET TUI AMORIS IN EIS IGNEM ACCENDE AMEN. " May the grace of the Holy Spirit be present with us. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful people and kindle in them the fire of Thy love." This is a free rendering of this inscription. All the shields, except that of Henry VII, have as supporters rams with R Y G on their collars, representing a rebus on the name of Ramryge (see Plate II and Plate IV, fig. 1). Following the shields in the order of the inscription, the easternmost (1) has the arms of St. Alban, a saltire, (2) probably of Pembroke Priory, the lion rampant and the small daisies for Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, (3) of Abbat de la Mare, on a bend three eagles displayed, (4) of King Henry VII, four lions rampant, (5) of Wallingford Priory, (6) of Belvoir Priory, a cross with four lions rampant, (7) of Redbourn Priory, three roundels. Numbers 2, 5, 6 and 7 were all cells of St. Albans Abbey. On the presbytery side (see Plate IV, fig. 1) are (1) the arms of St. Alban, a saltire, (2) a lion passant gardant in an orle of martlets for the family of Valoynes, founders of Binham Priory, Norfolk, also a cell of the Abbey, (3) three crowns for St. Oswyn or Tynemouth Priory, also a cell of the Abbey, (4) the arms of Henry VII, six fleur-de-lys and six lions rampant, with a dragon and greyhound as supporters, and a right royal crown, (5) St. Amphibalus, quarterly gules and or, four lions rampant counterchanged, (6) an eagle displayed for the family of Daubegny, founders of the cell of Wymondham in Norfolk (see Plate II), (7) at the eastern corner, three

3 the ramryge chantry in st. albans abbey church. 33 eagles displayed, the arms of the family of Lymesi, founders of the cell of Hertford. The cornice below and above the door contains in the westernmost compartment a very fine set of the instruments of the Passion (see Plate III, fig. 2), with the head of a mocker, followed by scourge, flagellum, ropes and the pillar to which Our Lord was bound, tall cross with spear and lance with hyssop, the crown of thorns with nails, and the bleeding Heart and pierced Hands. In the easternmost compartment are a shield with the saltire of St. Alban, the Prince of Wales' feathers and the crown of thorns with the bleeding Heart, finishing up with foliage ornament. At the east end of the Chantry in the southern lowest tier is an upstanding ram with a crosier having a T, for Thomas Ramryge, in its head; above it is a mitre much damaged, and next to it a saltire and an abbat's cap; above this a damaged shield of arms, on a bend three double-headed eagles displayed between a lion rampant and a ram. Immediately over the door appear a saltire, a ram's head, daisies for Duke Humphrey, and three grotesques. In the spandrels of the doorway (see Plate III, figs. 3 and 4) are the scenes of St. Alban's martyrdom. On the right hand the top and bottom of the post to which the martyr's hands were tied are visible, the post itself having mostly disappeared, while the hideous flagellant brandishes his whip. On the left is the execution according to the traditional account given by Matthew Paris in the thirteenth century, in a MS. written in St. Alban's Abbey. It is to be seen in Illustrations to the Life of St. Alban (Trin. Coll., Dublin, MS. E.1.40), reproduced in collotype facsimile by the care of W. R. L. Lowe and E. F. Jacob, with a description of the illustrations by M. R. James (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1924). A copy of this publication is in the Society's library. It has 52 photographic reproductions of 54 pp. of the MS., with pictures. The accepted legend is that the martyr was escorted from prison across the river Ver to the top of the hill where the Abbey Church now stands as the cathedral of the diocese of St. Alban. His head was tied by the c

4 34 st. albans and herts architectural and archaeological society. hair to the branch of a tree, and was then severed with a sword by the executioner, the body falling to the ground, the head remaining suspended. The officer conducting the martyr up the hill is given the name of Aracle. He was converted by the Saint's eloquence and, receiving his blessing, was set upon by the crowd and trampled, as they thought, to death. But he recovered and managed to crawl up the hill and to take down the head, and with the body bury them in a coffin so runs the legend. In the left spandrel the executioner appears with his sword in a slashing attitude, his eye socket empty and the eye lying on his cheek, the tradition being that the executioner's eyes fell out so that he should not see the virtues arising from the martyrdom. From the tree is suspended the martyr's head; the face, though, has been completely defaced. In his left hand he holds a cross, but it is not of the form usually found in medieval MSS., St. Alban's emblem being a cross with a round disc on the top. In the sculpture in question the artist has treated the subject with great skill, the martyr's garment with its voluminous sleeve arresting the eye before it reaches the awkward corner of the spandrel, and the tree is a masterpiece. The door itself was no doubt provided by the Farringdon family when they took possession of the Chantry. On passing to the inside it will be noticed that the Farringdon arms are on the north and east walls, on a bend sable a lion rampant with large scrolls. That on the north wall has inscribed on it: VITA VESTRA TUNC VOS APPAREBITIS IPSO IN GLORIA; that on the east wall: PLACITA ERAT DEO ANIMA ILLIUS PROPTER HOC PRO- PERAVIT EDUCERE ILLAM DEMEDIO (? for redemptio or redimo) INIQUITATUM, with some words obliterated here. On the west wall is the inscription JUSTICIA LIBERABIT A MORTE, and above it now a blank space. Six feet above the floor is a cornice containing next to the door a mutilated head, thence northward a saltire shield with two rams, perfect, with cap slightly damaged (see Plate VI, fig. 1), then a shield with the arms of Abbat de la Mare, the south ram

5 ST. ALBANS AND HERTS. ARCH. AND ARCH. SOC Plate I ST. ALBANS ABBEY CHURCH, RAMRYGE CHANTRY, SOUTH

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7 ST. ALBANS AND HERTS. ARCH. AND ARCH. SOC Plate II ST. ALBANS ABBEY CHURCH, RAMRYGE CHANTRY

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9 ST. ALBANS AND HERTS. ARCH. AND ARCH. SOC. I930 Plate III Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 ST. ALBANS ABBEY CHURCH, RAMRYGE CHANTRY

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11 ST. ALBANS AND HERTS. ARCH. AND ARCH. SOC. I930 Plate IV Fig. 1 Fig. 2 ST. ALBANS ABBEY CHURCH, RAMRYGE CHANTRY

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13 ST. ALBANS AND HERTS. ARCH. AND ARCH. SOC.1930 Plate V Mm>«&*> Fig. 1 jnimm Fig. 2 ST. ALBANS ABBEY CHURCH, RAMRYGE CHANTRY

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15 ALBANS AND HERTS. ARCH. AND ARCH. SOC.1930 Plate VI Fig. 2 ST. ALBANS ABBEY CHURCH, RAMRYGE CHANTRY

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17 the ramryge chantry in st. albans abbey church. 35 and the top completely gone and the north ram badly damaged; then northward, a saltire, the south ram and cap sadly damaged, the north ram in fair condition. On the south side in the door spandrels are, in the eastern a large ram's head with a vine and grapes ornament, in the western a very fine example of a Tudor rose (see Plate IV, fig. 2). In the west corner above the cornice is a ram's head, followed by a lion, a Moorish-looking head, and a conventional leaf ornament. Further eastward appears a ram's head followed by R Y G E,and to the eastward again, a man with broad brimmed hat, seated facing the tail of a large creature with a fish's tail and portion of a fin (see Plate V, figs. 1 and 2). He holds and is working a paddle. I can think of no interpretation of this other than the passage in Twelfth Xight (Act 1, sc. 2), " where, like Arion on the dolphin's back, I saw him hold acquaintance with the waves so long as I could see," apropos of Viola's brother. Arion, a choral poet at the court of Periander of Corinth, who began to reign 625 B.C., went to Sicily to take part in a musical contest. On the return voyage the sailors, coveting his treasures, planned his murder. He, however, got permission to play on his beloved lyre. Many song-loving dolphins assembled round the ship, and when he jumped overboard one of them took him, garbed as he was in his festal attire, on its back and carried him to Taenarum, whence he returned to Corinth a charming legend. Round the walls is a series of lambs, as supporters to shields of arms with caps above, though many have lost the cap, as in the illustration (see Plate VI, fig. 1). The ceiling has a handsome geometrical pattern pervading it, and very handsome pendants, of which two are shown in the illustration (see Plate VI, fig. 2). On the floor at the east end there is a half round stone about an inch high, about two feet long against the wall, and the centre line about six inches from the wall. It is suggested that this may have been the base of a support for an altar. A slab incised with an effigy of Abbat Ramryge lies on the floor. It was removed", it is said, in the time of the Farringdons, and was restored to its original and proper position by the Very Reverend

18 36 st. albans and herts architectural and archaeological society. Walter John Lawrance, rector of the Abbey parish from 1868, who also became Dean, the first to be appointed, in 1900, and died in [I have to acknowledge the assistance I derived from St. Albans Cathedral and. Abbey Church Guide, by William Page, F.S.A. (1911 edition), incorporating some extracts from the history by the late Rev. H. J. B. Nicholson, D.D., F.S.A., and from the Dean and Chapter in giving me the facilities required. I also tender my thanks to Mr. J. T. Watkins for his unfailing courtesy and help.]