FORD ABBEY. 139 



appointed him Bishop of Worcester in 1181, and in 1185 he was 

 installed Archbishop and Primate of all England. He crowned 

 Kichard I. at Westminster in 1189, and used every means in his 

 power to influence that monarch in promoting the crusades, and, 

 following him to the east, he died at Ptolemais in Phoenicia about 

 1191, and was buried at Tyre. Neither space nor time will admit 

 of our noticing any other of the abbots, some four or five-and-twenty 

 in number, until we come to Thomas Chard, who succeeded to the 

 abbacy in 1521, and was the last abbot of this noted monastery. 

 He was born in the parish of Awliscombe, near Honiton, and was 

 educated at St. Bernard's (now St. John's) College, Oxford. He 

 enjoyed a multiplicity of preferments, being suffragan bishop of 

 his diocese, Bishop Oldham of Exeter having selected him for his 

 coadjutor in the episcopal office by the title of Solubria. He was 

 collated to various livings, and was, moreover, Vicar of Thorncombe, 

 which office he retained (after the dissolution of the monasteries) 

 until his death in 1544. But with all his pluralities Thomas 

 Chard could have had no selfish motives, when we see that to him 

 we are indebted for giving us what is probably the best preserved 

 specimen of monastic architecture in the kingdom. Whether it 

 was that, foreseeing the storm that was impending over the religious 

 houses of his country he sought to avoid it by making his own as 

 magnificent as possible, we know not, but no sooner was he 

 established as abbot than he began to set his house in order. He 

 beautified and adorned the abbey ; the splendid hall and cloister 

 remaining perfect to this day. The principal portion of the 

 magnificent south front was also his work. Below the battlement 

 of the beautiful front entrance tower is the following inscription 

 in Gothic characters : 



An'o D'ni millesimo quinqesimo vic mo octa 



A D'no factum est Thoma Chard abb. 



Dr. Chard would appear to have been .a man of great intellectual 

 attainments, and was a munificent benefactor to various public 

 institutions. St. John's College, Oxford (then called St. Bernard's 

 College), where he had been educated to which he made extensive 



