THE LORETTO CHAPEL SYNTHETIC OR CONSTRUCTIVE ARGUMENT Based on Conclusions offered by the Automatic Script, and the Weighing of All available Data in the Light of Same. | A.—As to the Position of the Loretto Chapel. | | Script. | Existing Data. | Result. | August 16, 1917. "Deepe, by ye Bank, is ye walle," etc. "But capella wasne in muro in Boreali parte ... and in ye Banke deepe downe ye shall find him," etc. There was a deep place where they destroyed, and they covered him, and made a banke full six feet high, and soe saved the wall at the west end for all tyme."
December 4, 1916. "Abbot Bere ybuilded ye Loretto Chapel faire and large to the north side of the Navis. Itt was not ye Chapitre House.... Bere's Chapel was distant from ye Navis thirty-one feet and a half, and from ye aisle of ye transept he was fulle tenn feet.... The same was forty feet by twenty or thereabouts, and his chief doore was to the west, and a pavement joyned him to the road from St John's Gate to ye Churche."
August 17, 1917. "Capella Loretta was on ye lower level, with four or six steppys up to the pavement."
"Seek my chapple, as I told ye, in ye Banck."
"He was entered from ye west, and had a door into the littel cloister by ye transept of ye grete Church, and four stepps up to the pavement."
"All ye measures were marked plaine on ye slabbes of St. Mary's Chappel ... so it was recorded, as they who builded and they who came after knew aforehand where they should build."
"The newe chappell he was in ye bank far oute in line with ye transept as I remember it."
September 1, 1910. "On ye north syde of ye grete church, at ye ende, near to ye newe chappel which Bere (builded)." | The Deep Place.—The mention of a "deep place" calls attention for the first time to a number of facts which group themselves in a manner suggestive of such a probability. They are as follows:
(a) Stukeley's view (1723) (see Fig. 9) seems to indicate a drop on the north side of the nave and transept, to a lower level.
Coney's view (see Plate IV.) certainly shows the small building on the north side of the nave with a break in the ground just in front of it, marking a lower level for the wall.
(b) The configuration of the ground is in favour of this. Above and eastward of the Abbey enclosure is a narrow valley running west, and filled up in its lower part, over which lies the northern section of the Abbey enclosure. The High Street runs down the north side of this valley, and parallel to it, and closely adjoining the Abbey wall is Silver Street, a name said by some antiquaries to indicate a ford.
(c) The drainage of the Abbey church is down the north side, as would appear by the direction of the drainage channel in the foundations of the Edgar Chapel, and the larger water-channel whose course was traced diagonally beneath the floor of the quire.
(d) In excavating the north porch, a very deep pit was found right against the north-west angle of the footings. It went down nearly 10 feet below the floor-level of the church. This may have extended east and west, and the north porch may in that case be supposed to have been approached by a paved way over a bridge.
The Bank.—The foot of the bank, as nearly as may be estimated, lies about 27 feet north of the position of the nave wall (outer face). This would bring the 31 and a half feet distance indicated by the script for the wall of the chapel, about 4 and a half feet within the bank, and this would seem to accord with the old gardener's recollection.
The bank runs westwards as far as the north porch, or about 108 feet west of the transept, so that the west end of the chapel as described would be well covered, being some 40 feet east of the termination of the bank.
The extreme projection of the transept, beyond the line of the inner face of the nave wall, would be about 60 feet, and not less than 54.
The thirty-one and a half feet measure from the outside of the nave wall, if added to the probable thickness of the latter, will give a total of 39 or 40 feet, and if this measure is assumed to be to the inner face of the chapel wall (south) the position of its outer face would accord with the 37 feet general line, following the symmetric scheme on which the whole abbey is found to be built (see Fig. 12), and the north side of the chapel will then come very nearly into line with the transept. | That the ground on the north side of the Church sloped down formerly to the bed of the brook coming from the hill behind the town. This would make a depression about 10 feet deep alongside the Church, at a distance, roughly, of about 40 feet north of the outer face of the nave aisle wall, and immediately north of the projection of the north transept and porch. The bed would have been partly filled when the Abbey was standing, and there would be a system of drains beneath the soil, which would have been levelled to form a garth or garden a few feet below the nave floor, terminated on the west by a path or pavement from the porch to St. John's Gate (running due north), and beyond this, again to the west, would be another garth at a still lower level, to the north of St. Mary's Chapel and the Galilee, following the general trend of the grounds, which slope to the westward. This part was the cemetery of the laity.
It is inferred that Bere's Chapel of the Loretto may have stood on the upper garth, its floor a few feet below the nave, and at about the distance mentioned in the script.
That the present aspect of the ground, which shows a uniform rise to the north of the Abbey, is thus totally misleading, and the bank and the higher level beyond on the town side must be altogether artificial, and nothing but a huge accumulation of dÉbris from the destruction of the Abbey. The bulk of the ancient work now destroyed was so enormous that there is no difficulty at all in supposing this, notwithstanding the fact that a great quantity of the masonry went, as is known, to make a foundation for the new road to Wells.
The further inference is made that under this bank will most likely be hidden a great deal of fragmentary work, and that its removal will bring to light many things of archÆological interest.
That the Loretto Chapel, if its position be correctly given in the script as 31 feet 6 inches from nave, would appear nearly in line with the transept (north end), when viewed from the north, but, if anything, rather further out (see Fig. 14). | | B.—As to the Western Aisle to the Transept, and the Suggestion of a Cloister or Passage in Same, and the Character of the Building. | June 13, 1911.... "Somewhat remaineth of ye outer walls, and ye walle by ye crossinge.... Ye doore unto hym is at the west (see note), nigh unto the pillar of the Navis; one doore only, on Nave.
"Yn feete twenty and two, and foure paces in the width thereof, and ye walle of ye Nave was strengthened thereby," etc.
December 4, 1916. "Bere's Chapel was distant from ye Navis thirty-one feet and a half, and from ye aisle of ye transept he was fulle tenn feet with a covered way unto, and four steppes up unto ye aisle aforesaid.
"There were four steppes—nay, six—to the aisle of ye transeppt, and a covered way vaulted in a round vault to ye chappel."
August 17, 1917. "Claustra quae vocantur, vento Boreale aperta est—in vestibule sub turre—English volts."
"Seek my chapple as I told ye in ye Banck. He was entered from ye west, and had a door into the littel cloister by ye transept of ye grete church, and four stepps up to the pavement. Ye door was in ye transept wall at ye end thereof."
"Ye door into ye transept in ye north, which I, Camel, used, he was in ye west porche and under the three high windows.
>"A Cloyster from ye Nave to ye Lobby, and four steppes unto ye Transept floor, and from ye Lobby, on ye west, ye Chappell.
"Ne Chappel but ye Cloyster in ye corner of ye grete church. Claustrum to ye Chappel along ye aisle, then ye lobby and ye Chappel west of hym."
(Italics mine.—F.B.B.) | (a) The wall-footing discovered in 1911 shows a possible breadth of 12 feet or so for this aisle. The thickness of the footing is evidence of a strong construction. There were some marks of a cross-foundation at a point over 20 feet out north, and near the face of the bank.
(b) The indications were in favour of a lower level for this work. The drop from the transept level to that of the nave is about 4 feet, and this aisle or passage would appear to be on the nave level.
(c) Benedictine houses did not usually have western aisles to the transepts, as is the case with cathedral churches. But Glastonbury followed Wells in some things, and at Wells there are western aisles to the transepts, and that on the north side has screens on two sides, within arches to nave and to transept.
(d) The detail found on this site was of very fine late perpendicular window-tracery, showing the existence of windows with heavy central mullions, and most likely of four lights.
(e) Camel's house was in the High Street at a point which would be readily approached by a path towards this part of the Abbey Church. | That the foundation discovered in 1911 is not that of a chapel, nor yet of an aisle to the transept, properly so called, although it might be thus described since it would have that appearance from without.
The inference is that this adjunct would have been on the nave level, and its use connected with the nave. It would have been primarily a passage-way from the nave to a court or to buildings on the north side, and it would be properly described as a cloister alley.
In this position it would, if substantially built, most readily serve the useful purpose of contributing support to the central tower and to the walls near the crossing, adding stability to the transept if affected by the weakness of the tower, and furnishing support for flying buttresses to the north-west angle of the crossing and tower itself.
There would be little object in carrying it out further north than would be requisite to cover one bay of the transept wall. This would make it a possible 22 feet in internal measure. There would be normally a double square on plan, and if fan-vaulted this would give two bays, and two windows to the west and one to the north—three in all. | | C.—As To the Italian Style of the Chapel. | December 4, 1916. "Abbot Bere ybuilded ye Loretto Chapel faire and large, to the north (side of the) Navis.... Yt was ybuilded by Bere most faire and wonderful in ye newe style brought from Ytaly when he didd go there...."
"We have said, he was of the Ytalian style, new and very faire, and Bere ybuilded coming from embassadrie in Ytaly.... He wasne like anything else, (but was of the) newe style."
Here followed the detailed sketches showing—
1. A rectangular chapel of four bays, with a small apse to the east, as a "Cava Virginis."
2. Parapets of undulating outline, and others suggestive of the fleur-de-lys, with indications of fruit and flower enrichment.
3. Sitting lions, bearing shields, over each division of the bays, mounted on small pillars with "patellae" or plaques, dividing the parapets.
4. Heads of angels or cherubs, probably in the cornices.
5. Round-headed windows, and vaults with bands of carved fruit and flowers on the groin-ribs. | (a) The Chapel was built just after Bere's embassage to Italy. He was a cultivated and learned man with a knowledge of architecture, as is evident from the quality of his building works. He must have been supported by capable, if not eminent, master-builders and craftsmen.
(b) Bere was impregnated with the new ideas, and was the friend of Erasmus. A letter of his to Erasmus is extant. His sympathy with new and more liberal views would be reflected in a wider culture, and the influence of the Italian Renaissance, already affecting English art in minor ways, may well have moved him to become a pioneer in introducing the style which, a half-century later, usurped the place of our native "Tudor" forms. These he used as a master, and had developed them to their highest pitch.
(c) The duration of his visit to Italy is at present unknown to us, but the circumstance of the death of Pius III.—if he overstayed that event—would make for delay and give him time to devote to the study of Italian architectural models.
(d) The circumstances of his vow are also, so far as we know, not a matter of history; but the vow itself or the intention which clearly implies it is our reading of Leland's note. | That a Chapel dedicated to an "Italian" Madonna, erected by an Abbot of liberal views, impressed by the newer learning and culture, immediately on his return from a visit to Italy, at a time when the forms of Italian Renaissance were in process of adaptation to Gothic buildings, might well have been influenced in its design by Italian ideas, even to a wholesale extent, and that if an Italian master were employed, as appears by no means an unreasonable idea, an entirely Italian model may have been followed. | August 16, 1917. "Maestro Francesco de Padua qui me instruxit et capellam cognoscit in Italia ... struebat in modo Italiano.
"Francesco de Padua aedificavit. Two would speak of it—he who made it, and I who moved for my fannes and English. We both made him."
(Name of the model for this work)—
"Capella di Marco at Padua—hym by the Key."
"Domenic di Vallera Castiglione aedificavit anno 1497—via St Ursula."
(Name of Bere's architect)—
"Vecchi—Francesco De Vecchi."
"VECCHI di Torcello in Italia." | The Chapel is undoubtedly a thank-offering. It is built to the honour of Our Lady in the particular aspect of an "Italian" saint of local repute, possessed of the attribute of protection to life and health. The choice of a style and character for the monument designed by Bere would very naturally be consonant with that prevailing locally—i.e., Italian.
(e) A few fragments of plain moulded work, of Italian character, have been noted amongst the dÉbris of the Abbey. These were hitherto supposed to have belonged to some Elizabethan building, now destroyed, whose remains had somehow found their way into the general mass of Abbey fragments. | That the type that would evoke most readily the Abbot's artistic sympathies would be a North Italian type, not too far removed from the principles of architectural form to which he had been habituated. An entirely Roman model, on purely classic lines, is for this reason less likely. But the selection of an Italian master for the purpose of carrying out Bere's scheme almost necessarily follows if the intention to employ an Italian style be conceded. Bere could not do this unaided, as an Abbot would not be his own architect. | | D.—As to the Style of the Building at the Angle of the Transept and North Aisle of Nave. | Script, June 13, 1911. "I made that building. All that I didde anywhere is fannes. Ne barrel vault. And under them, three faire windowes of foure lights, with transomes and littel castel-work on the ramps thereof ... and each fanne had twelve ribs, and they were ycoloured red and gold, like my chapel of Edgar....
"... Ye roundels of ye volte were golden, and also ye bosses, and ye hollows were bright redde, likewise ye tabernacle of Oure Ladye in the est wall golde and redde; and ye windowes were of glasse yellow in canopies with redde and blewe in ye little lights thereof. Ye floore was of tileis red, with shields and ornaments in yellow likewise."... | (a) As an integral part of the Church the probabilities lie in the direction of the use of Bere's own master-masons for this work, and the choice of the customary English style seems to follow. This would be all the more consistent with probabilities if the work were involved with the strengthening of the older masonry at the crossing of the Church—a work known to have been necessary, since Leland records the fact that Bere strengthened the central tower by the addition of the "St. Andrew's" arches beneath it (see Plate III).
(b) The fragments of window-tracery already referred to as having been found on the site are English in character. | That the building in the angle of the nave and transept was formed with the double object of a support to the weak walls of the crossing, and as a covered approach to the Chapel of the Loretto, erected by Abbot Bere on a site adjoining the north side of the nave, but not attached directly to same, and that this cloister was built in the later English style in which his own masons were expert. |
ENVOI THE LAMPLIGHTER One by one, along the crowded street
The footsteps falter, and the stillness grows
Oppressive as the sudden hush that falls
In shaded chambers whence a life has flown.
One by one, the ruddy windows fade
To utter darkness, while behind closed doors
The voices cease, and all the shadowy night
Broods o'er a city of the seeming dead;
Save only that amid the shadows gleam
Dim lights that trace the form of street and square
And guide the wanderer in his mazy quest
Through ways all unfamiliar. He that lit
The starry welcome now is seen no more.
His light extinguished and his duty done,
He peaceful sleeps within his silent home.
We see him not; and yet perchance he hears
In dreams our echoing voices as we pass
Athwart his shuttered windows—hears us bless
The light he lighted, gleaming through the night
A welcome to the lost and weary; wakes perchance
To murmur, "All is well," then sleeps again.
So may he sleep in peace until the Sun
From which his flame was borrowed wakes the East
To crimson glory, and his glimmering lights
Merge in the splendour of the breaking Day.
John Alleyne.
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