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Photos by John Wilkes of Cam
near Dursley, Gloucestershire
The Gloucestershire Photo Library
Page composition by Allan Taylor of Vancouver, Canada
http://www.allthecotswolds.com
Although the Abbey was founded in 1087 by nobleman Robert FitzHamon, building of the present Abbey did not start until 1102. Built to house Benedictine monks, the Norman Abbey was near completion when consecrated in 1121. Embellishments to the long nave roof and the apsidal chancel were made in the first half of the 14th century in the Decorated style. After the dissolution in 1540 most of the claustral buildings and the Lady Chapel were quarried for their materials but the Abbey Church was sold to the parishioners for £453. Changes made since then to the internal configuration have developed to reflect contemporary styles of devotion, currently of the Anglo-Catholic persuasion. Lying at the southern edge of the old town, the Abbey quietly dominates the land and skyline with its long naive probably the largest and finest Romanesque tower in England (Pevsner). Two styles of architecture dominate the Abbey; the Norman piers and arches of the eight-bay Nave (completed in 1121) and the Decorated-style chancel, imposed on the previous work in the 14th century, where the original medieval windows still exist in their original form. At this time the nave roof was also reconstructed as lierne vaulting, with naive narrative and decorative bosses as keystones, untouched by decay or iconoclasts. The tombs and chantry chapels, of high-quality work from 1350-1450, surround the chancel and reflect the prestige attached by local aristocracy (especially de Clare, Le Despencer, Beauchamp, Warwick and Neville) to such memorials. The Early English and Perpendicular architectural styles are also represented in the fabric of the Abbey; regions around the north transept and Abbot Alan's Tomb being from the 13th century, while three of the chantry chapels can be seen to display impressive masonry from the late 14th to early 15th centuries. Wall tablets, illustrated here, are dedicated to Eleanor De Clare and Hugh Le Despenser; Kenelm Chandler, Charles Edward Chandler and his wife Mary; Robert Martin Popham Wall and his son John; Victoria Woodhall Martin; Vicar E. P. Gough; Churchwardens T.W. Moore and A. Baker; Architects T. Overbury and C. Peers; BuildersCollins & Godfrey; Stonemasons F. Hopkins and W. Webster; John Reid; Thomas and Daniel Kemble; and Richard, Edward, Miles and John Brydges.
