FORD ABBEY. 



of one who for a long period must have resided there, and who thus, by daily 

 associations with the fabric, became more familiar with its minute architectural 

 details than could possibly be the case with anyone who had not enjoyed a 

 similar privilege. As this volume is rare, as well as interesting and accurate in 

 regard to its architectural information, no apology is needed for quoting certain 

 passages from it here. In reference to the cloisters we learn that : 



" The cloister is divided by a suite of rooms and arcade from the grand porch - 

 tower, so conspicuous for its architectural beauty, and which in days gone by was 

 no doubt the original entrance. It is richly ornamented with first-rate sculpture, 

 some of it obviously unfinished ; the central boss in the vaulting uncut ; and the 

 blank shield in the centre, below the basement window, encircled by the garter, 

 was doubtless intended for the royal arms. The uncut shield on the sinister side, 

 having the pelican and dolphin for supporters, was for Courteiiay. The two 

 small shields cut are charged with a lion rampant for De Eedvers, and cheeky 

 two bars for Baldwin de Brioniis. Immediately over the arch of the door is a 

 large scroll shield of a more modern date, bearing the arms of Prideaux, impaling 

 those of his second wife, Ivery. On the upper part of this elegant specimen of 

 Dr. Chard's taste, in the centre shield, are his initials, T. C., with the crosier and 

 mitre (Dr. Chard was a Suffragan Bishop) ; and the two smaller shields, with the 

 T. C., crosier, and abbot's cap, alternate with the stag's head, cabossed supposed 

 to be the bearing of the then Bishop of Exeter ; and just below the battlement 

 of the tower is the following inscription : 



AN'O D'NI MILLESIMO QUINOESIMO VIC mo OCTA. A D'NO FACTUM E8T THOilA 

 CHARD, ABB." 



Now, while there is no doubt that Chard united in his own person the offices of 

 Abbot and Suffragan Bishop, the above account is at fault in attributing " the 

 stag's head cabossed " to the then Bishop of Exeter, for it formed no part of the 

 arms of either Bishop Oldham or of his successor, Veysey. In a letter from Dr. 

 Chard to Cardinal Wolsey u the stag's head cabossed " is used as the seal, and 

 is expressly referred to in the body of the letter as " sigillum meum" and we find 

 the same ornament associated with his name or monogram in various parts of the 

 Abbey buildings ; the most probable solution being that it relates to the ancient 

 cognizance of the Abbey, or the site whereon it stands, which, as we have 

 already seen, was Hertbath (balneum cervorum}. 



Further confirmation of Dr. Chard's double office of Bishop and Abbot is 

 found in a remarkable panel in the frieze, which appears to have been designed 

 for the purpose of attesting this fact, if not in actual words, yet in unmistakable 

 and appropriate symbolism. The small top corner shields of this panel contain 

 the letters T. C., and the lower ones an abbot's and a bishop's staff, respectively ; 

 whilst on the hatchment-shaped panel in the centre occurs the stag's head and 

 bishop's staff, the name " Tho. Chard " on a scroll entwined round an abbot's 

 staff ; and above these, as a fitting termination to the whole, appears the abbot's 

 cap, surmounted by the bishop's mitre, 



