Quarr Abbey - new and old

Today has been our first full day on retreat as Brothers at Quarr Abbey.

The abbey was founded as a refuge from the French Third Republic by the monks of Solesmes in 1901, and used by them until their return to France in 1922. There is an illustrated account of the history of the abbey here.

The abbey church from the west.

The Guest wing is in the range on the left.

Image:Wikipedia

The buildings were designed in 1908 by one of the monks, Dom Paul Bellot, and the church was built in 1911-12 as part of the second phase of construction. Dom paul was influenced by Moorish architecture in Cordoba, and his brick church is strikingly original. The low, attenuated nave leads into a large choir, and with the sanctuary placed under a short tower with transeptal chapels to north and south. The effect of the ever taller building - enhanced when incense rises from the altar at Vespers - is very dramatic indeed.

The interior of the abbey church

The hanging crucifix has now been removed

Image:Wikipedia

Today there are eight monks in residence, but a full observance of the monastic offices is maintained, using both Latin and English. I did not get to Vigils at 5.30 this morning, but I did attend Lauds at 7, and  Terce before the Conventual Mass at 9, as well as Sext, Nones, Vespers and Compline.

In 1963 the installation of a new abbot was the first occasion in this country that concelebration, other than for an Ordination, occurred at Mass here - so Quarr has a place in modern liturgical history.

This morning as retreatants we had our own Latin novus ordo Mass after the Conventual Mass. It was celebrated by Fr Jerome for the admission of Daniel Nicholls, an Oxford undergraduate, as our latest Brother.

After lunch - taken with the monks in the very impressive refrectory - and Nones we went for a walk in the drizzle to view the nearby remains of the medieval abbey. This was founded by Baldwin de Redvers in 1132, and was originally Savignac - a community which merged later on in the twelfth century with the Cistercians. In addition to Baldwin as founder the abbey also contained the grave of King Edward IV's second daugher Cicely, who was married off by her brother-in-law King Henry VII to his mother's half brother, John Viscount  Welles, about whose father, Lionel, who is buried in my home area, I have posted before. So here lies King Henry VIII's aunt. 

The abbey was excavated in 1891 and the plan recovered, but the site invites further exploration and conservation - and this is clearly a concern to the present monks of Quarr.

Further along the path, which runs across the site of the monastic church, we came to Binstead, whose church preserves its medieval chancel and bell, but the remainder is a mid-nineteenth century rebuilding. In the graveyard is the recently cleaned and restored grave slab of Thomas Sivell who, at the age of 64,was shot on board his sloop in 1785 by Portsmouth Customs officers. The text of the inscription and old photographs of both abbeys at Quarr can be seen here.

Lionel Lord Welles

I have now found some more pictures online of the effigy and tomb of Lionel Lord Welles in Methley church about which I posted in Towton - remembering the dead.

Image: History Today

Image:Leodis

Image:Wells-genealogy.org

Unfortunately none of the photographs do full justice to the work of the alabaster carver in representing the fabrics and other detail. However they do give some idea of the tomb and might prompt a visit if you are in the area.

Towton - remembering the dead

In previous posts I have written about the battle of Towton, fought in a snowstorm on Palm Sunday, March 29th 1461, south-west of York and probably the biggest and bloodiest battle fought on English soil. Two years ago I posted Palm Sunday Field 1461 and Towton links, and last year I wrote The Battle of Towton - 550th anniversary.

This year I thought I would post in particular about the graves of some of the dead.

There is an introduction to the battlefield archaeology of the site here, and the excavation of a mass grave discovered at the site of the chantry chapel built by King Richard III in the village of Towton itself is recorded in Blood Red Roses: The Archaeology of a Mass Grave from the Battle of Towton 1461, published by Oxbow here in Oxford.

Apart from this and the large grave in the churchyard at Saxton vide infra there are two monuments in the area of peers who fell in the battle. The first is on the edge of the battelefield in the churchyard at Saxton.

All Saints Church and Lord Dacre's Tomb, Saxton
Ranulph or Ralph Dacre, Lord Dacre, was the second son of Thomas, Lord Dacre, wh had died only three years earlier. His mother was Philippa, a daughter of Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland and an elder half-sister of Cecily, Duchess of York, the mother of the victorious King Edward IV.Lord dacre's wife was a FitzHugh of Ravensworth, so he was very much part of northern noble society.
Ranulph was a loyal Lancastrian and at the Battle of Towton, he commanded the Lancastrian left wing. After fighting through the day, he removed his helmet to drink just as the Duke of Norfolk’s men arrived on the field. Moments later, he was killed by an arrow, fired by a youth hiden in some bushes nearby. This is commemorated in the rhyming phrase "The Lord Dacres was slain in the North Acres. He was buried in the churcyard at All Saints Church at Saxton under a table tomb. Legend has it that he was buried upright with his horse. This was apparently confirmed when in the eighteenth century a horse's skull was discovered near the tomb.
A cross on the battlefield has been given his name. It is the scene of a small service each year on Palm Sunday, in memory of those who fell in the battle.

Source: The Richard III Society website: www.richardiii.net

Image and comments (adapted and extended) from uistin on Flickr

Behind the tomb is the long communal grave which was made by William Hungate of Saxton in the early sixteenth century to contain bodies moved from the battlefield. Even today it is of recognisable elevation.

A few miles away in the church at Methley is the tomb of Lionel Lord Welles KG. Like Lord Dacre he was a man in middle age at the time of his death. Legend, again, has it that after his death in the battle his body was concealed in a snow drift, and then brought in a sack by night to Methley.

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography lives of him and his sons by Michael Hicks can be read here and there is another online account of his life with links here.

In the Waterton chantry in Methley church - incidentally the church is a treasure house of good things to see - is his tomb and that of his first wife. She was born Joan Waterton, and was the neice of Bishop Richard Fleming; the very fine tomb of her parents lies opposite theirs in the same chapel, which appears to be of later date than the tombs. The Welles tomb appears to have been moved from an originally free-standing position to its present place against the south wall.

Lord Welles' effigy is clearly later than 1457 as he is shown wearing the Garter, an honour he only received that yearas shown as KG, but it is unlikely, in the circumstances that the tomb was erected after his death. He clearly planned to be buried there. The effigy is virtually identical to that of Lord Hungerford and Moleyns, who died in 1459, in Salisbury cathedral. Both the effigies of Lord and Lady Welles are of high quality, with the details of the fabric of her dress and mantle and his tabard rendered in fine detail. Both are weasring the Lancastrian collar of SS. Lionel's effigy has undergone repair - his nose is a replacement - and the whole tomb underwent a full restoration in 1988.

The tomb of Lord and Lady Welles in Methley church

Image:leodis.net

After Joan's death he remarried, Margaret, the widowed Duchess of Somerset, who was the mother of Lady Margaret Beaufort. She clearly intended to be buried at Wimborne with her previous husband Duke John. Their tomb can be viewed in my post The tomb of the Duke and Duchess of Somerset at Wimborne Minster.

Of your charity pray for the repose of the souls all who fought and of all who died at Palm Sunday Field