Friday, June 1, 2012

Abbey Dore, Herefordshire


The king's arms

As Britain is celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, I thought it might be appropriate to share an example of the royal arms from an English Parish church. Royal arms have been displayed in English churces for centuries, but especially since Henry VIII assumed leadership of the Church of England in 1534. The composition of the arms has changed over the years, with the comings and goings of different monarchs and ruling houses, and during the Commonwealth (1649–60) royal arms were removed, to be replaced later. The result is that English churches display arms from many different periods, with the 18th and 19th centuries well represented.

Sometimes a coat of arms from before the Commonwealth escaped the hands of Cromwell’s supporters – or was replaced when the monarchy was restored. An example of one of these Stuart coats of arms is in the wonderful gothic church at Abbey Dore in Herefordshire, a building that began as a Cistercian abbey 1147. When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the building and land passed to the Scudamore family, who dismantled many of the abbey buildings and sold off the stone. In the 1630s, John Viscount Scudamore restored the abbey as a parish church, and amongst his gifts to the building was a magnificent classical screen topped with this coat of arms, which is that of Charles I. The characterful lion and unicorn are surrounded by vigorous carved wooden scrolls in the style of the time. The detached tail of the lion is a poignant touch: I think of it as an accidental symbol of interrupted Stuart rule.

8 comments:

  1. Ah, Abbey Dore. Every time I see or hear the name I always think of Alfred Watkins' The Old Straight Track for some reason. And Romney Marsh churches invariably have Georgian coats-of-arms high up on the walls.

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  2. Peter: Abbey Dore is a truly wonderful place and I have not done it justice in this post because, right now I wanted just to show the royal arms. But I must do a further post about the place itself - the lush valley setting, the pinkish stone, the endless arches, and the continuous mournful cawing of the rooks.

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  3. These must be the fanciest Royal arms I have ever seen. The ones we have down here in Sussex tend to be the ordinary panels done by the same travelling sign painters that did inn signs - http://sussexchurchez.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/royal-arms.html.

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  4. Chris: Yes, most royal arms are painted on panels - and not only in Sussex. This particular example is the result of the building's major 17th-century restoration and refurnishing. I posted a 20th-century one in Shropshire, also in relief, here: http://englishbuildings.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/onibury-shropshire.html

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  5. Would love to see a post on Abbey Dore and the semi-close Kilpeck Church.

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  6. Pigtown: Thank you. I have posted on Kilpeck in the past. See here, back in 2009, for example: http://englishbuildings.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/kilpeck-herefordshire.html

    There's another Kilpeck post, which will probably come up in one of the little picture-icon things at the bottom of the first post.


    I'll do Abbey Dore soon.

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  7. Thanks so much for the link to the past post about Kilpeck. it's one of the most amazing little buildings I've ever visited. exceptional.

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