HOR 
the chapel of Henry VII. was afterward 
erected. Matthew of Weltminfter fpeaks 
~exprefsly of Henry as the “funder; Rege 
Henrico II] exiftente adhuc perfuafore, fun- 
daiore, et primi lapidis in fundamento operis 
pofitore. 
ments ftill remaining, in the archives be- 
longing to the Dean and Chapter, in fome 
of which fpiritual, and in others temporal 
benefits are granted to fuch as fhail contri- 
bute toward the building ; fo that .by 
Sounder we are werely to underftand that 
Henry was the patron and principal bene- 
factor of the work. ' The day after the 
foundation of this building, Henry repeated 
the ceremony of his coronation, which at 
his acceflion, in 1216, could not be perform- 
ed hewe, as the place was then in the pof- 
feffion of his enemies. 
In 1245, twenty-five years after the firft 
chapel, H-nry took down the greater part 
of the church, to renew it, as fome affert, 
“pon the old fousdations. Matthew Paris 
fays that he ordered the ea(t-end, tower, 
and tranfept to be taken down, and rebuilt 
in a moreelegant form, at his own expenfe. 
And that he profecuted thefe intentions 
with uncommion zeal, is evident {rom vari- 
ous records in the Exchequer. In 1246 
he ordered to this ule 25911. due from the 
widow of one David of Oxford, a Jew. 
In 1254, the King’s treafurer and the 
barons of the Exchequer were ordered to 
_ apply to it the annual fum of 3000 marks, 
In 1258, a thoufand marks a year were 
ordered in the fame way from the profits 
of the Abbacy, while it lay vacant. after 
the death of Abbot Crokefley ;~ and in 
1270 it was. certified that there had been 
applied to the fame work, 3754]. paid by 
Lady Alice Lacy for eleven years’ cuftody 
of her fon’s efiate. The whole expence of 
the building is no where to be found but 
Mr. Widmore gathered from the archives, 
that fo early as 126% the charges had ar- 
rived at fomewkat more than 29,600l, 
_ The work, as far as it was profecuted 
in the reign of Henry III, may be eafily 
diftinguithed ‘from the parts erected ata 
fubfequent period. It confifts of the Con- 
feffor’s chapel, the fide aifles and chapels, * 
the choir (fomewhat lower than Sir aac 
Newton’s monument, and the tranfepts. 
The four pillars, weftward of the prefent 
choir, which have brafs fillets, appear to 
oe a 
* Sir Chriftopher Wren was of opinion 
that in Henry IlId’s building, the model was 
not at firft well digeited, «+ but that the 
chapels withinGde the aifles were an afters 
theught,’” 
The Antiquary. No. I. 
Henry, however, was thew but- 
thirteen years of age ; and there are inftru- 
939 
finith Henry’s work; the conclufion of 
which is alfo marked by a ftriped chalky 
ftone which forms the roof. In the re- 
mainder of the church the bafes of the pil- 
Jars on which the body refts, are not only 
higher, but there is an alteration of form 
in the upper windows, and the lace-work 
about the arches is omitted. 
In his will, 1272, Henry committed the 
completion of his plans to his fon ; be- 
queathing five hundred marks to figifh the 
fhrine of Edward the Confeffor.* 
In the three reigns immediately fucceed~ 
ing, the work feems to have been nearly 
at aftand; till a little before the end of 
Edward UIfd’s reign, Cardinal Langham 
gave fix hundred marks ;. when fomething 
more was done in the pulling down and 
altering the wefiern part, which {till re- 
mained of the Confeffor’s building. Un- 
der Richard II, the work was profecuted 
with confiderabie f{pirit ; and it is to his 
munificence we ftand indebted for the 
beautiful porch which finifhes the north 
tranfept. In his will he made a handfome 
provifion toward the completion of the 
building+; but almof all its claufes were 
neglected ; and as far as the progrefs of 
the abbey is concerned, we mutt pafs his 
fuccefllr’s reign in filence. 
however, revived the matter, and not 
only gave confiderable fums in perfon, but 
grantcd an annual penfion for this pious 
purpofe, of a thoufand marks a year. 
Under his fon, Henry VI, the work of 
building was neglected. Nor did it re- 
ceive encouragement in the early part of 
the reign of Edward IV. But in 1470, 
when bis Queen had taken fan€tuary there, 
and received refpect trom the Abbot and 
his monks, the King made fome trifling 
donations, and the Queen built a {mall 
chapel to St. Erafmus, pulled down by 
Hen:y VII. 
King Henry VII, appears to have been 
too much engaged with his beautiful 
chapel, to beltow any favours on the body 
of the church. In his life-time, he is 
faid to have given. nothing to it; and — 
though he left five hundred marks to it in 
* <¢ Et fabricam eccleliz beati Edwardi 
Weftmonfterii lego et committo pretato Ed- 
wardo primogenito meo perficiendum 5 ad 
feretrum vero ipfius Edwardi beati perfici- 
endum lego quingentas marcas argenti,”” &C, 
Nichols’s Royal Wills. p. 16. 
+ ‘* Item volumus et ordinamus quod de 
omnibus jocalibus noftris refiduis, videlicet 
cereliis nowetris, & aliis jocalibus qui- 
bufcunque, perficiatur nova fabrica navis | 
ecclefie Sancti Petri Weftm, per nus incepta.” 
&c Royal Wills, p- 195. 
Hh 2 3 his 
Henry V;. 
ee 
