I.—HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
1.—Foundations
The origin of All Hallows Barking by the Tower is enshrouded in
the mists of the Saxon past. (fn. 1) No records exist to indicate when or by whom
the church was founded, and the only clue to its origin which we possess
consists in its title of "Barking." This it had at least as early as the 12th
century, for it is referred to by Walter, Bishop of Rochester from 1147 to
1182, as "Berkyncherche." (fn. 2)
The title more than suggests an original connection with the Abbey
of Barking, which later owned it intermittently for two and a half centuries; and though proof unfortunately is wanting, we are probably
justified in assuming that in its origin the church was an appanage of the
Abbey. (fn. 3) If so, it had passed out of the hands of the nuns by the reign of
Stephen, for the Registrum Roffense (fn. 4) records the gift of it ("Berchinchechirche
in Londoniis") at some date after the Norman Conquest to the Cathedral
Church of Rochester by a "worthy man" (probus homo) named Riculf and
his wife Brichtwen. How they had acquired it, and in whose hands it had
been before it came to theirs, history does not record. (fn. 5)
Diocese of Rochester
The possession of the church "called Berchingchireche, with all its
appurtenances" was confirmed to Rochester by Henry II, probably in
1181. (fn. 6) It was assigned to the sacrist of Rochester, and thus the 40d. which
it paid at Michaelmas, Christmas, Easter and Midsummer, went for some
generations towards the upkeep of vestments, relics and holy vessels at
Rochester. (fn. 7)
2.—Barking Abbey and the Church
The nuns of Barking eventually recovered the church; how or when
is not known. Possibly they had regained it before 1285, for in that year and
the year following socage, or quitrent, was being paid to the Abbey from
certain houses in the parish, (fn. 8) including "Stapledehall." Indeed, early in
1321, the Abbess tried to get still more rent, and sent her collector into the
very refectory of the Crutched Friars, outside the northern limits of the
parish, to distrain for rent. The friars took back by force the small bell which
the collector seized, and brought an action against the Abbess, who lost the
day, for the jurors swore that no rent was due to her from the site of that
House. (fn. 9) In 1291 the Abbess was receiving a pension of 6s. 8d. out of the
church, (fn. 10) and her right of presentation was certainly established by 1303,
when the advowsons belonging to Barking Abbey in the city were returned as
those of St. Margaret Lothbury and All Saints of Berkyngechirche. (fn. 11)
Barking Abbey
The profits of the church were allocated to the chambress of the
Abbey. For many years she can scarcely have relied with any sense of
security upon the moneys from All Hallows. The near neighbourhood of
the royal residence in the Tower and the popularity of the free chapel of St.
Mary annexed to the church, made successive kings of England cast an
envious eye upon it. Edward III got from the Abbey a grant of the advowson
of All Hallows with a view to appropriating the church to a college of
chaplains which he was projecting in the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula within
the Tower. He obtained from Pope Innocent VI a licence to this effect in
1355, (fn. 12) and compensated the Abbess by arranging for her a similar licence
to appropriate the church of Tollesbury. (fn. 13) Edward III appointed Thomas
de Broke as chaplain of St. Peter's and rector of All Hallows, (fn. 14) but the college
of St. Peter's was never founded, and some thirty years later (1385) Richard II
restored All Hallows church to Barking Abbey. At the same time, he gave
the Abbess licence to appropriate the issues of the living (fn. 15) ; accordingly
succeeding incumbents were styled vicars, and the Abbey thenceforward
took a larger proportion of the church profits. This recovery of the church
cost the Abbey 20 marks (£13.6.8.), and was almost overthrown by
Henry IV in 1402. He then appointed a warden to the chapel of St. Peter in
the Tower, and granted him the parish church and chapel of Berkyng by
the Tower. Whereupon the Abbess appeared in Chancery and, after long
discussion, proved her contention that the church with its chapel was hers
by Richard II's grant. (fn. 16) Once more, in 1485, the King compelled the
Abbey to give up the church. The free chapel of St. Mary had by that
date become the royal chantry of Edward IV, and Richard III set about
erecting it into a deanery, to which the advowson of All Hallows should be
appropriated. Richard's death put an end to this scheme for handing over
the mother church to her daughter chapel shortly after the Abbess had made
an (incomplete) surrender of the church, and Richard's nominee, Dr. William
Talbot, had obtained a licence as "rector" to settle an annuity of £15 out
of the church upon the Abbess and her successors. (fn. 17) Richard being dead, and
Henry VII safely seated on the throne, the Abbey petitioned for the restoration of the church, and regained it, (fn. 18) holding it undisturbed until the
Reformation. Then, in 1539, the Abbey of Barking with all its property was
surrendered to the commissioners of Henry VIII. (fn. 19) In 1542 Hugh Fuller,
an auditor of the Court of Augmentations, and William Pownsett presented
a vicar, (fn. 20) possibly on behalf of the Crown. The next presentation was made
by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1565. (fn. 21) He had evidently acquired the
advowson by exchange with the Crown, (fn. 22) and the Archbishop again presented
in 1585. Since then the patronage has remained with the Archbishops
of Canterbury.
Diocese of Canterbury
3.—The Dedication of the Church
The old name of "Berkingchurch" clung to the building down to
the beginning of the 16th century, when the present style of "All Hallows
Barking" began to come into more general use. The church had a double
dedication, to the Virgin Mary and to All Saints. Husband and wife would
call their parish church by either name, indiscriminately. Thus Aleyn
Johnson (a citizen and grocer, who for his soul's sake bequeathed all his
wearing apparel to be sold, for the needy poor) desired to be buried in the
"church of Alhalowen of Berkyngcherch" (1456), (fn. 23) while his widow Elizabeth was buried in the same grave in the "parish church of Our Lady of
Berkyng." (fn. 24) There is record of the dedication to Our Lady in 1281 (fn. 25) ; and
this was possibly the older invocation of the two and may have fallen into
disuse later, to avoid confusion with the chapel of Our Lady in the church
yard, or "Berkingshaa." Reference has been found in one instance to
"the parish of St. Mary le Chapel in All Hallows Barking." (fn. 26)
All Hallows was a favourite dedication with Londoners, who had
ten or a dozen churches of this dedication. The parishioners of All Hallows
Barking kept up the customs of their patronal feast even after the Reformation. Among the letters in the church chest is one written by John Godfrey
of Crawley in Witney, co. Oxon., on 29th October, 1615, to his very loving
sister Elizabeth Goddard at the lower end of Tower Street against Barking
church, accompanying a cake for her and her friend "to tast of this Alhollen
Day." This was probably one of the triangular "soul cakes," made either
of aniseed or oats, which were generally given by the rich to the poor on the
eve of All Souls' Day to encourage prayers for the departed.
Before the Reformation there were in the church various symbols of
its dedication. In 1506 the church goods included "j awtyr cloythe for
abovfe and beneythe of gren bavdkyne wt Allhallowe there on." Moreover, the accounts for pulling down the rood in 1559–60 include 20d. "to
a Carpenter for takinge downe of the Crucyfix, the Marye and John and
alhallowes the patrone." (fn. 27) This was doubtless some symbolical figure resembling one still in existence in Westminster Abbey, which shows a bearded
man in armour, wearing over it mass vestments representing all orders of
clergy, and over them again the monastic hood and scapular. This figure
with its beard symbolising the agricultural class, its armour the knight, and
its garments the clergy, denotes that saintliness is found in every walk of life.
At its feet is a dragon tied round the neck with a stole, a symbol of spiritual
life overcoming sin. (fn. 28)
4.—The Church and the City
All Hallows played an important part in the medieval life of the city.
At nightfall common citizens, below the rank of the great lord or "substantial
person of good reputation," hastened home to lay down their arms, when
curfew rang out from St. Martin's le Grand, St. Lawrence Jewry or All
Hallows "of Berkyngchirche." If they were found armed in the streets
after the bell had rung, they were seized and thrown into the "Tun" in
Cornhill, there to await with other "night-walkers" the Mayor's judgment
on the following day. (fn. 29)
The position of the church close to the city boundary next the
Tower gave it especial prominence, particularly when the King's justices
visited the Tower to hold pleas of the crown for the city. Then, in the
morning, upon warning given, all the citizens were bound to gather at
"Berkingecherche," clad well and respectably, fresh from the barber's
hands, and with their hair newly trimmed. Whilst they waited at the church,
a deputation of about half a dozen of the most respected citizens bearing gifts
in their hands went forward to the Tower to welcome the King, his Council
and the Justices, and to make it clear that in appearing before the royal
justices they were not prejudicing their ancient liberties. This being allowed,
and the judges' commission read, proclamation was made for the sheriffs of
London. Whereupon, the Mayor, Aldermen and Sheriffs with a great crowd
of citizens would enter the Tower from the church. On one occasion, probably in 1285, the Mayor, Gregory de Rokesley, took offence at some failure
to give due respect to these ancient rights, and as a protest, he went to All
Hallows church with all the city insignia, and there in the presence of between
eighty and ninety citizens deposed himself, laying aside the symbols of his
mayoralty and handing over the common seal to one of the aldermen, Stephen
Aswey [Eswy]. Then with the rest he entered the Tower as a simple alderman. Edward I was quick to punish such disrespect. The citizens who were
present at the Mayor's resignation in All Hallows were for a few days imprisoned in the Tower; Aswey was carried off to Windsor for a longer term;
the King, finding London without a mayor, seized the city into his own hands (fn. 30)
and kept it for thirteen years, until, faced by a combination of the barons and
the Londoners, and gratified by the citizens' generous grant towards his
Scottish wars, he restored the city's franchises in 1298. Upon another
occasion in 1321, the judges at the Tower took umbrage at the delay in the
arrival of the sheriffs, although it was in accordance with ancient custom
that they had waited at the church to hear the answer to the first deputation
of citizens. Again the King seized the city; but this time it was restored in
a few months in view of an insurrection in Wales. (fn. 31)
5.—Sanctuary (fn. 32)
Knives were often out in the city during the Middle Ages, and on
several occasions men flying from the hue and cry took refuge in All Hallows
church. On Sunday, 7th September, 1325, two Flemings, Nicholas Crabbe
and John Paling, started quarrelling on the Wool Wharf, within the parish.
Nicholas first drew his knife, wounding John four times in the throat and
forcing him towards the water's edge with intent to kill. At length, John
got out his knife, called a "trenchour," and struck Nicholas to the heart so
that he died. John the Waterbearer and John Whitehead standing by raised
the alarm, and John Paling fled to the church for sanctuary. Next day the
coroner and sheriffs came and parleyed with him in the church. He confessed
that he had killed Nicholas, but refused to come out and take his trial. A
fortnight later he died in the church of his wounds, whilst the sheriffs' officers
watched the building to prevent his escape. Possibly his death was hastened
by starvation, for the jurors returned that Nicholas had no goods at all,
while John had only a surcoat and a shirt, which they valued at 6d.
Nicholas Motoun of Bristol, a porter, who killed John Croucheman,
another porter, in Chickenlane just after curfew on Friday, 16th June, 1338,
was more fortunate. He took refuge in the church close by, and there, about
a week later, confessed the murder before the coroner and sheriffs; but they
could not touch him while he remained in sanctuary, and afterwards he escaped
by night.
Little more than a year later, Peter Tremenel, a servant of the household of Queen Philippa, took refuge in the church. On Friday, 23rd
August, 1340, he had been quarrelling in the Tower with one of the Queen's
grooms of the kitchen, John Gremet. At the hour of Vespers they were
outside the Tower Postern on the river bank, when John drew a long
knife and wounded Peter in three places. Thereupon Peter struck John
in the throat with a short knife, so that he died that same day. Peter took
sanctuary in All Hallows church, and next day confessed to the coroner
and sheriffs what he had done, saying that he was so badly wounded that he
could not leave the church except at risk of death, and that upon recovery
he would submit and take his trial. His fate is unknown; but the jurors
returned that he did appear to be very badly wounded. His adversary was
buried in the church.
6.—The Trial of the Templars
Some of the most dramatic scenes in the suppression of the Order of
the Knights' Templars took place within All Hallows church. The fall of
Acre had set an end to the hopes of recovering the Holy Land, and therefore
to the prime reason for the existence of a body of knights pledged to fight
for the Holy Sepulchre. Their pride, the wealth of their Order and their
growing intervention in the politics of their own countries brought upon
them general jealousy and hatred. Urged by the Pope, and following the
example of Philip of France, Edward II first arrested the Templars all over
England (January, 1308) and seized their lands, and then tried to get evidence
of the charges of blasphemy and heresy, which had been trumped up against
them. Brother William de la More, Grand Preceptor of England, and many
others were imprisoned in the Tower. The first connection of All Hallows
parish with the proceedings against them occurred when all the English
brethren were still maintaining their innocence after nearly two years'
imprisonment. From October, 1309, onwards they were closely examined,
generally in Holy Trinity Priory, but on one day in November four brethren,
Robert de la Wolde, William de Cestreton, Alexander de Bulbecke and
William de Welles, made their depositions in the chapel of the Blessed
Mary of Berkyngecherche, before a number of friars. (fn. 33) They admitted
none of the charges against the Order, to which they had belonged for periods
ranging from 18 to 32 years. Again on 27th January, 1310, three others
were examined in the same chapel, including a chaplain of the Order, John
de Stoke, who was particularly examined as to a charge that Walter le Bacheler,
Grand Preceptor of Ireland, had been starved to death. (fn. 34) John de Stoke
described how he had helped to bury the Preceptor at dawn in a grave
outside the graveyard of the Temple, since he was considered excommunicate
for taking the goods of his house without acknowledging his fault. Many
such examinations produced no English evidence against the Templars
until Edward II gave way to papal admonitions, and in 1310 sent orders
to the Tower to allow a restricted use of torture in order to extort confession
from the Templars imprisoned there. Meantime, much hearsay evidence
was gathered from the knights' enemies and read before them (22nd April,
1311). A week later the Grand Master, with two other prisoners in the
Tower, was brought before the papal inquisitors and the bishops of London
and Chichester in All Hallows church. There they formally presented their
written answer to these allegations, ratifying what they had already declared
to the officers of the Tower. They pleaded that they were all Christians,
believing as Holy Church taught; that their religion was founded on vows
of obedience, chastity and poverty, and of aiding in the conquest of the
Holy Land; and that they were innocent of heresy and evil doing. For the
love of God, and for charity, they besought their judges for trial as true
children of the Church, and in accordance with the privileges granted by
the court of Rome to their Order, so that they might bring forward Christian
witnesses to speak to the manner of their lives. They ended by declaring
their belief in the sacraments, and praying their judges to judge them as they
themselves would answer before God; desiring that their examinations should
be held in public and recorded in the very language and words in which
they were given. (fn. 35)
The only answer to this dignified petition was a fresh order for the separate
confinement of the prisoners and the application of unrestricted torture.
At length, in July 1311, three of their number admitted the charges against
them, and many others (with the notable exception of the Grand Preceptor)
made public confession and were reconciled to the Church at high mass in
St. Paul's. But five were too aged and impotent to make the journey,
and these were reconciled to the Church in the chapel of St. Mary in All
Hallows churchyard. Soon after sunrise on Tuesday, 5th July, 1311,
the bishops of London, Chichester and Winchester came to the chapel,
accompanied by a great crowd of citizens. The five old men were brought
before them by officers of the Tower, abjured the heresies laid to their charge,
and begged with tears to be admitted to Holy Church. Some spoke in French,
others in English, the only tongue they knew. Then they made private confession to two masters of theology, and were absolved outside the west door of
the chapel by the bishop of Chichester. Whereupon, the bishop led them into
the chapel and up to the altar, where they knelt and prayed, devoutly kissing
the altar, and weeping the while. Afterwards they were sent to do penance
among their enemies in various monasteries throughout the kingdom. (fn. 36)
7.—The Church and Chancery
In December 1323, another inquisition was held in the church of
"All Hallows in Berkyngecherche." The city had wavered between Edward
II and the Earl of Lancaster, until, deciding for the King, they sent an armed
force which helped to decide the Earl's defeat at Boroughbridge. Nevertheless they were suspected of aiding Jacominus Darynoun and other adherents
of the rebels. A commission out of Chancery was issued to the Mayor,
Hamon de Chigwell, and another. They inquired into the matter by a London
jury on Friday before the Circumcision, 1323, in All Hallows church. The
jurors declared that no help had been given by the city for Jacominus and the
rest, but that they had been received south of the river by the alien Prior of
Bermondsey, who was accordingly committed to the Tower. (fn. 37)
At this period, the court of Chancery was held in no fixed place, and
upon more than one occasion its routine business was conducted at the chapel
in All Hallows churchyard. For instance, on 15th April, 1337, Margaret de
Bacheworth came into Chancery at "Berkyng chapel" and acknowledged a
deed which she had made touching a certain manor near St. Albans. (fn. 38) The
church and chapel seem to have been used indiscriminately for such purposes.
At midnight 30th November, 1340, Edward III returned unexpectedly
to the Tower, angry with the Lord Chancellor for failing to send him those
supplies which should have enabled him to follow up his victory at Sluys in
the previous summer. Arriving in no good humour after a stormy three days'
passage, the King received the chancellor, Robert bishop of Chichester, in
his chamber at the Tower and took from him the great seal which had been
in use in England, handing it to William de Kildesby. Much business
was left to be transacted both with this seal, and with another which the King
had had with him in France and had placed in a bag sealed with his own
(privy) seal. Accordingly, on the following Saturday, at the hour of evensong,
Kildesby took both of the great seals to the "church of Berkyng near the
Tower" and caused the bags containing them to be opened there before the
chief barons of the Exchequer and certain clerks in Chancery. The writs
already dated in England were sealed with the one seal; charters made by the
King beyond the sea were sealed with the other. Then the seals were replaced
in their bags and taken back to the King at the Tower. On Thursday,
14th December, Edward gave the seal to Sir Robert Bourchier, the first
layman to hold office as chancellor. On the Friday the new chancellor took
the seal to "Berkyngchapel next the Tower," opened the bag in which it
was and sealed writs there, receiving also the acknowledgment of the Prior
of St. John of Jerusalem who came in person to make recognisance of a deed
granting certain yearly pensions. Next day (Saturday, 16th December)
Bourchier was setting out on a journey on his own affairs, and accordingly
sent the great seal to the King, who was sitting at dinner in his chamber at the
Tower, when a clerk of chancery brought it to him. This clerk, Sir Edmund
de Grymesby, and another, Thomas de Brayton, were ordered to deliver it to
Thomas de Evesham. Again they did so at "Berkyngchapel," delivering it
to Evesham, who carried it thence to his house in Fetter Lane. (fn. 39)
8.—The Royal Lady Chapel
There stood within the churchyard of All Hallows the chapel of Our
Lady (see p. 2), which is said to have been founded by Richard Cœur de Lion,
and was certainly erected into a royal chantry-chapel by Edward IV.
The earliest known record of such a chapel is the will (fn. 40) of Edward
Grobbe who, about 1278, left his ship, the Blewebolle, to be sold for the
maintenance of a chantry in the chapel of St. Mary de Berkinggechirch;
but it is just possible that he intended the Lady Chapel, which is known
to have existed in the south aisle of the church and was quite distinct from
the Lady Chapel in the churchyard. In 1297 Richard de Glamuile broke
into the chapel of "Berkyngchirch" and stole a "coronele" of pearls, three
gold rings, a linen cloth, an embroidered frontal and certain ornaments of
the church; for which deed he was hanged, while one of the parishioners,
Geoffrey le Hurer, who had prosecuted, recovered the goods for the use of
the church. (fn. 41) Peter Blakeney of Mark Lane, who in 1310 desired to be buried
in All Hallows church, left money to the chapel of St. Mary by that church. (fn. 42)
The trial and submission of the Templars in the chapel in 1309 and 1311 has
been noted. The rector of All Hallows, Walter Grapenel, who had been
presented to the living by Edward II during a voidance of Barking Abbey,
was styled "warden of Berkyngchapel, London" when in 1328 he was
charged with aiding in the breaking of a close at Wratting, co. Suffolk, and in
assaulting servants and carrying away goods. (fn. 43) The use of this chapel for
purposes of state is recorded in 1336 and again in 1337, when deeds were
acknowledged in Chancery "at Berkyngchapel, London," and it has already
been related how Sir Robert Bourchier sealed certain writs with the great
seal there upon his appointment as Chancellor in 1340. The style used
in naming the church shows how highly the chapel stood in men's minds.
Thus, the Controller of the Household of Edward III's children, in paying
for the funeral of John Gremet, groom of the kitchen, who had been slain
in 1340 by Peter Tremenel, speaks of him as buried in ecclesia de Berkyng
Chapelle. (fn. 44) Thomas Pilkes, founder of a chantry in the church of All Hallows,
desired in 1348 to be buried within the churchyard near the chapel of St.
Mary de Berkinge near the Tower. (fn. 45) In 1359, Denys de Morbek, a knight
who had been concerned in the capture of the French king at Poitiers,
was lying like to die at his lodging in a street by the church called Berkyng
Chapelle. (fn. 46) Richard Amuresden, a chaplain, on his death-bed in May 1385
desired to be buried in the chapel of the Blessed Mary of Berkyng, London; (fn. 47)
and in the same year certain houses in Chickenlane were said to abut upon
the chapel called Berkyngchapel on the west. (fn. 48) It has already been seen how
Henry IV tried to annex the chapel, as well as the church, to S. Peter's in
the Tower.
Chichele
Attached to the chapel was a gild or brotherhood "in worship of the
Blessed Virgin Mary," which is said to have been founded by Thomas
Chichele, probably the father of Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury,
who founded All Souls' College, Oxford, and of Sir Robert Chichele, friend
of Richard Whittington and twice Mayor of London. Thomas Chichele
was buried at Higham Ferrers, co. Northants, in 1400; and the Chichele
rents with which he apparently endowed the fraternity were with other
properties subject to a yearly payment to All Souls' College towards an obit
for Sir Robert Chichele. (fn. 49) The earliest record found of this brotherhood is
the will of one of the shipwrights of Pety Wales, John Rolff, a citizen of
London. In May 1432 he desired that his lighter le John should be sold to
perform his will, which included a bequest of 6s. 8d. to the brotherhood of
the Blessed Mary in the chapel of the Blessed Mary by (iuxta) the church
of All Hallows. (fn. 50) About this time, the chapel, like the church itself, seems to
have been undergoing considerable repair, for in 1410, Simon Hugh,
citizen and woolman, bequeathed 40s. to the fabric of the chapel, where it was
most needed. This was one of numerous bequests for the good of his soul, for
which his executors were to hasten to have 3000 masses celebrated immediately after his death. He also endowed a chaplain to celebrate for seven years
both in the church and the chapel, and to be in the church at all canonical
hours, also celebrating a trental (thirty masses) of St. Gregory during the first
year after Hugh's death. (fn. 51) John Cok, a citizen and clothier, who was buried
in the churchyard at the east end of the church in 1440, also gave 40s. to
the fraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the chapel of the Blessed Virgin
in the churchyard to pray for his soul. (fn. 52) Another chaplain, William Heth, was
buried in the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary near the church in 1452,
and gave 6s. 8d. to the works of the chapel. (fn. 53) Sibyl Salueyn, who was buried
there in 1453, provided for a chaplain to celebrate there, and for the good
friendship shown her by the vicar bequeathed him a silver cup with a cover. (fn. 54)
Sir John Vale, one of the chaplains of Pilkes' chantry in All Hallows church,
desired in 1458 that two of the great waxlights of 4 lbs. each, which stood
about his body during his exequies, should afterwards remain in the chapel
of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the churchyard of the said church. (fn. 55)
By the middle of the 15th century, many generations of parishioners had thus contributed to the beautifying of the chapel, and there can be
no doubt that there was already set up in it a somewhat extraordinary image of
Our Lady. It may have been identical with "our lady Image of Barkyng,"
which in 1506 showed "a gracious miracle . . . by a mayeden child that
a cart Ladyn wt stone yood over." (fn. 56) It was probably this same image which
stood on the north side of the chapel some fifty years later, when Robert Tate
founded his chantry there. The chapel was evidently gaining in popularity
when there were enrolled in the register of bishop Gilbert of London (1436–48)
certain letters (fn. 57) which purported to be an indulgence of forty days granted on
20th May, 1291, by three papal legates to all who should visit the chapel in
the churchyard of Berking-Church, London, contribute to its lights, repairs or
ornaments, and pray for the soul of Richard, king of England, whose heart
this supposed indulgence stated to have been buried in the chapel beneath
the high altar. These letters bear many signs of such forgery as even the
highest ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages were wont to perpetrate. They may,
however, contain a grain of truth, for it is possible that (as the letters assert)
the chapel had been founded by Richard Cœur de Lion, (fn. 58) although his
heart was not buried there, and that the image was the gift of Edward I,
who was as greatly devoted to works of piety as he was to just administration
and statesmanship. No contemporary record of the connexion of either
king with the chapel has, however, yet been found.
The story of the image of St. Mary, as it was accepted in the 15th
century, ran as follows: In the time of Henry III the hostile Welsh overran England, slaughtering men, women and even babes in the cradle.
At length they took the Isle of Ely and held it for a year, withdrawing to
Wales when it pleased them so to do. The young prince Edward was so
grieved at the disinheritance of his father and the ruin of his country, that he
took to his bed and thought never to recover. One night he prayed earnestly
to the Virgin Mary to show him how England could be speedily delivered
from the Welsh, whereupon as he slept the Virgin appeared to him in a vision,
saying, "O Edward, the friend of God, behold I am here. Know that during
thy father's life, the Welsh cannot be altogether overcome by the English,
because of thy father's great sin, and excessive extortions; but go to-morrow
morn to a certain Jew, Marlibrun by name, who is more skilled in the making
of pictures than anyone in the whole world, and lives at Billinsgate in London.
Cause him to make for thee an image in such shape as thou now seest me, and
he by divine inspiration shall make two aspects in the one image, (duas facies
in una imagine), one like unto my Son Jesus, the other he shall make beautiful
like unto myself in all things, so that none can truthfully point out any defect.
This image thou shalt have set up in the chapel in the churchyard of Berkyngchirche by the Tower of London and shalt cause to be beautified there on the
north side." She went on to tell the prince that Marlibrun himself and his
wife, upon seeing the double aspect of the image in the chapel, should be
turned to the Catholic faith and should reveal many secrets for which the Jews
ought to be punished; that Edward himself should take a vow when he was in
England to visit the image five times each year; that when his father was dead
and he had become king he should overcome the Welsh, and should subjugate
Scotland; and that every good king of England who should make a like vow
and keep it to the best of his ability should be victorious over the Welsh and
Scots and should be invincible.
The letters then declare that Edward I had of his own accord taken
his oath before the magnates of England and Scotland; that everything which
had been thus revealed to him in his sleep, had come to pass; and that accordingly the legates, wishing that the chapel should be frequented and revered,
remit forty days of purgatory to those penitents who should visit it and aid it as
described above, subject to confirmation by the Diocesan.
The alleged burial of Richard Cœur de Lion's heart beneath the chapel
altar has no historic truth. When Richard died at Chaluz, his heart was carried
to Rouen for burial, and was found in an inscribed casket there as recently
as 1838. (fn. 59)
The letters of indulgence purport to have been dated at Norham, at
the conference of the English and Scottish magnates touching the Scottish
succession, 20th May, 1291. The declaration which they ascribe to Edward
would have been in keeping with the claims to the overlordship of Scotland,
which he then put forward. The story of the vision applies to the years
1267–69, when, after aiding his father to put down the Welsh and to reduce
the disinherited magnates in the Isle of Ely in July 1267, Edward took an
active part in promoting the statute of 1269, forbidding Jews to acquire the
lands of Christians by means of pledges. Between these two events, in the
spring of 1268, he had been appointed warden of London and custodian of
all English castles, including the Tower. There may have been some basis
of truth, therefore, in this account of his setting up an image in the chapel
near the Tower; but it is impossible not to connect this picturesque document with the ingenious vicar, Thomas Virby, who was presented to All
Hallows Church in 1434, and whose brass is still in the church.
Virby encouraged the people who thronged Tower Hill in the
summer of 1440 to do honour to Richard Wyche, a Lollard vicar of Deptford,
who had been burned on Tower Hill. Many men and women went to the
hill by night, and offered at the place where Wyche had been burned money
and images of wax, kneeling and making their prayers "as they would have
done to a saint." Virby, as the parish priest, received their offerings and afterwards confessed in prison that to increase the people's fervour he had strewn
ashes mingled with spice on the place of execution, so that the simple people
were deceived "wenyng that the swete flauour hadde comme of the asshis
of the ded heretic;" (fn. 60) for it was widely held that a sweet smell was among the
many properties connected with relics of saints that were evidence of
sanctity. (fn. 61) His servant also drew up a list of imaginary miracles which had
been performed at the place. It therefore seems quite possible that the same
servant was responsible for the curiously-worded indulgence which recites
the legend of Our Lady's chapel; and that the Bishop was ready to
countenance a diversion of popularity from the site of a Lollard's martyrdom
to the neighbouring chapel of St. Mary.
9.—Royal Charters and Statutes of the Fraternity of the Chapel.
It was within two years of Wyche's death, viz. on 9th January,
1442, that the fraternity of the Blessed Virgin in the chapel of the Blessed
Mary within the churchyard of Berkyngechirche received from Henry
VI a charter of incorporation. The King gave licence to his beloved lieges,
Master John Somerset, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Henry Frowik; John
Olney, Alderman of the City of London; John Merston, Clerk of the King's
Jewels; Master William Clif, clerk; Thomas Walsingham, one of the customers of the Port of London; and to three city merchants, viz., Richard
Riche, Thomas Canynges (fn. 62) and Hugh Withe, to establish such a fraternity
and to admit therein brothers and sisters and to receive goods for it. Each
year the fraternity might choose a master and four wardens. It was to be
one commonalty and body in thing and in name, and to have a common seal
and power to plead and be impleaded.
We know that a fraternity had already existed in the chapel, and it is
clear that this royal charter of incorporation is closely connected with Bishop
Gilbert's enrolment in his register of the alleged letters of indulgence. The
royal charter continues to summarise the contents of that document. The
King recites that he has learned of late that the chapel was wonderfully
founded, built and established by the zeal of King Richard the First, out of
his pure devotion; and that a certain image still existing in the chapel was
miraculously and honourably placed there by the illustrious King Edward,
son of Henry the First (Primi) [sic, an obvious error], by reason of a divine
revelation shown to that King in his sleep. Therefore, to secure the continuance of his predecessors' intent, Henry VI gave to the Master and Wardens
and brothers and sisters of the fraternity the custody of the chapel, and the
goods given for its use and adornment, but they were to keep the building in
repair, and the parish church was still to receive the oblations made in the
chapel. (fn. 63)
Tiptoft
Edward III and Henry IV had both attempted to join All Hallows
church with its Lady Chapel to their chapel of St. Peter within the Tower.
Henry VI by this charter gave the chapel to the fraternity which was governed
by officers of his own Court, headed by John Somerset, the physician and
mathematician, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1441 to
1446. Edward IV followed yet another course, and in 1465 raised the Lady
Chapel into the status of a royal chantry. The master of the fraternity, which
governed the chapel, was then the King's own kinsman, John Tiptoft, earl of
Worcester, a notable soldier and scholar, who in his travels had imbibed much
of the new Italian learning and was connected with the neighbourhood as
Constable of the Tower. Edward IV granted to Tiptoft, as master of the
fraternity, and to its wardens Sir John Scot, Knt., Thomas Colt, John Tate
and John Croke, the manor of Tooting Bec in Surrey, which had been
seized by the Crown as the property of an alien priory. The fraternity was
to use the profits of this manor for maintaining two chaplains, who should
celebrate perpetually in the chapel for the welfare of Edward IV and his
Queen, his mother Cecily, duchess of York, his brothers the dukes of Clarence
and Gloucester, then still living, and for their souls after death, and for the
souls of the King's father (Richard, late duke of York) and his dead brother
the late earl of Rutland and of all the faithful departed, especially those
Yorkists who had shed their blood in bringing Edward to the throne. The
Master and Wardens were also to keep the building itself in repair out of
the profits of the manor, and they and the brothers and sisters of the fraternity
were to have the custody of the chapel for ever. (fn. 64)
The Statutes for this chantry, which were drawn up by the Master
and Wardens in accordance with the King's instructions, are still in existence. (fn. 65) The chantry was to be called "King Edward's Chauntry." It was
to consist of two chaplains, secular (i.e. not monastic), well-read and of good
life and conduct, and not beneficed elsewhere nor having more than £3. 6s. 8d.
a year of their own patrimony. They should be replaced, upon resignation
or deprivation, by the unanimous choice of the fraternity who (if possible)
should appoint graduates in sacred theology. They were to be admitted
by the bishop and inducted by the archdeacon, and if the fraternity could not
come to a unanimous choice within two months, the Master and two of the
Wardens should appoint.
The chaplains, if they were graduates and able to preach, should preach
four times in the year on different days in the parish church. At these sermons, and at their masses and all other divine offices they were to remember
in silence the founders who were still living, and after their death to make
more particular, and public commendations for their souls. They were to
say matins, evensong and the other canonical hours daily in the chapel,
except upon Sundays and feast-days, when they were to take part in divine
worship in the parish church, being present there in their surplices at the
canonical hours, and at high mass to sing and take part in the celebration
with the rest of the choir. On such days, they were to celebrate their own
masses in the chapel one after the other at such convenient times as the vicar
should choose; but he was not to prevent them from celebrating their
masses directly after the singing of the gospel at high mass in the parish
church.
On Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays, they were to say "without
note" the exequies (exequias) of the dead, lauds and commendations (comendationes) after the Sarum Use for the estate and souls of the founders.
Clad in their surplices, they were to take part in every procession in the
church or churchyard and in other general or solemn processions throughout
the City, and in the singing of the anthem of Our Lady.
Every year the chaplains were to have a month's holiday, taken either
continuously or piecemeal for their refreshment and to enable them to visit
their friends or go on pilgrimage, but they were not to be away together,
unless there were good reason, particularly at the great feasts, and the vicar
was to arrange the date for their holiday. If one of them overstayed his leave
by a fortnight, he had to show good reason for doing so before the bishop;
if he overstayed it by two months, he was to lose his appointment. Otherwise his appointment was for life. If one of the chaplains became too
aged or too sick to perform his office, he was to be removed, but was
to enjoy his full salary in recompense for his prayers and other works of
charity.
These statutes were drawn up by Tiptoft and the wardens, and two
chaplains were appointed; but before the bishop had confirmed them
(10 Dec., 1476) Tiptoft had himself lost his life in the Yorkist cause, being
executed on Tower Hill during the short restoration of the Lancastrian
King Henry VI in 1470. Edward IV after regaining his authority confirmed the fraternity in its possessions by specifically excepting Tooting
Bec Manor from the Act of Resumption of Crown Lands in 1473. (fn. 66) Some
difficulty afterwards arose from the stringent regulation in the statutes that
each chaplain before his admission should hear them clearly and distinctly
read, and should take an oath to keep them all. Accordingly, in 1485, the
wardens of the fraternity, not wishing that the chaplains should incur the
penalty of perjury for every slight deviation from the statutes, and possibly
hoping thereby to augment the funds of the brotherhood, ordained a system
of fines for absence, viz. 2d. for evensong, 3d. for matins, 1d. for procession,
4d. for high mass on Sundays and feast days in the church, 1d. for evensong,
mass, matins, commemoration of the dead or the anthem of Our Lady in
the chapel, and a fine for failure to preach, should the chaplain be a graduate
in theology. (fn. 67)
Richard III's attempt to establish the chapel as a deanery with the
Church of All Hallows attached came to nothing, but his successor (Henry
VII) did not deprive the fraternity of its endowments. They were specifically excepted from the Act of 1485 whereby Henry resumed all lands alienated by Richard III, (fn. 68) and in 1490 the King confirmed the royal chantry as
established by Edward IV. Shortly after the accession of Henry VIII,
the fraternity once more sought the security of a royal charter, and in 1514
obtained from the new king a confirmation of Henry VI's charter of incorporation as well as of the later charter. (fn. 69) This royal protection, however,
did not serve to exempt the chapel from the common fate which swept away
all chantry chapels and colleges as superstitious uses in 1547.
We can get some idea of the chapel's appearance from contemporary
record. The image of Our Lady stood to the north of the High Altar,
the place usually occupied by the patron saint. John Barker, a merchant of
Calais Staple, desired (fn. 70) in 1500 to be buried "in the litle chapell where the
ymage of our blissed lady of Barkyng in London stondeth." The description
of the image as it was alleged to have been revealed to Edward I seems to
apply to a statue of the Virgin carrying the Holy Child. (fn. 71) There was in
addition a "pictour of Jesus" before which John Kervyle, another merchant
of Calais, desired to be buried in 1521. (fn. 72) He was to be "brought to earth"
with sixteen wax torches and four wax tapers, borne about his hearse by
twenty poor men of the parish. After his exequies, the torches were distributed to various churches, two going to All Hallows to burn "in honour of
tholy sacrament at the tymes of Levacyon." For fifteen years after Kervyle's
death, an "honest" priest sang for his soul at the altar of Our Lady, taking
part also in all divine service in the parish church.
Tate
Most conspicuous in the chapel were two chantry tombs, the one of
Sir Robert Tate, mercer and alderman of London, and Mayor in 1488,
who lived in a "great messuage" in Tower Street, (fn. 73) the other of Sir John
Rysley, Kt. The tomb of Sir Robert Tate lay "on the Northside of the
same chapell before thymage of Or Lady there and as nygh to the wall as
convenyently may be." It may have stood within a small subsidiary chapel;
for he left instructions (fn. 74) that a "fayr and sufficient arche" should be cut in
the North wall from East to West with a chapel, to be named St. Thomas'
chapel, "convenient from the said arch toward the North as the ground there
. . . reasonably may be sparyd." In the East end of this chapel of St.
Thomas was an altar, where a priest sang for the souls of Sir Robert and
his relatives and benefactors. In consideration of the making of this chapel
of St. Thomas, the wealthy merchant gave £20 towards the repairs of the
body of the Lady Chapel. He also made provision for "a table convenyent
of seynt Thomas the martyr wt his martyrdom therin conteyned to serve
afore (fn. 75) the high awter" of the Lady Chapel. Apparently in addition to this
altar-piece, his executors provided either over the altar of his chantry chapel
of St. Thomas, or for the chantry which he established in St. Michael's,
Coventry, his ancestral town, a finely-painted Flemish picture (fn. 76) of the Nativity
in triptych form, the inner panels of the doors representing on the one side
Sir Robert Tate kneeling, (fn. 77) on the other St. Joseph, or one of the shepherds,
surmounted by the arms of Sir Robert, impaling those of his wife Margery
(Wood). The outer panels of these doors represented St. Ambrose and St.
Jerome. (fn. 78)
The Lady Chapel seems to have been in urgent need of repair when
Tate's chantry was founded. One of the royal chaplains, Dennis Spicer,
who in 1500 wished to be buried next Sir Thomas Salarse (probably a
fellow-chaplain), before the entrance to the chapel choir, gave £5 to the
chapel if the Fraternity took steps for its repair or rebuilding (constructionem)
within three years. William Kirfote, a citizen and grocer who was to be
buried on the north side of the Lady Chapel in 1514, gave 20s. for its repairs,
and also left his tenements at Queenhithe to the vicar and churchwardens
of All Hallows for a perpetual obit to be kept for him once a year within the
chapel. (fn. 79) Sir Richard Cholmondeley, who also desired burial in the chapel,
wished to lie "on thoder side agaynst where Sir John Rysley knt. lyeth
buried," provided the Fraternity would agree. (fn. 80) Thus there was a knight's
tomb on either side of the chapel.
10.—Suppression of the Royal Chapel
In 1547 "was Barkyng chappylle at the Towre hylle pullyd down," (fn. 81)
while the advanced party of the Reformation were suppressing all colleges
and chantries, whether of royal foundation or no, and taking down all images,
in their zeal for the prevention of "superstitious uses." The Master and
Wardens of the Fraternity yielded up its goods reluctantly, and the royal
commissioners were still without £29 in ready money, or the debenture for
it, in November, 1557; but the suppression of the chapel was absolute.
The royal chaplains, Sir John Aleyn, priest and Master of Arts, and John
Wysdale, the chantry priest John Arley who sang for the soul of Sir John
Rysley, and the chantry priest Richard Davyers who served in Sir Robert
Tate's chapel of St. Thomas, went their ways. The royal commissioners took
the three gilt chalices, which together weighed nearly 60 ounces, the parcel
gilt pax, upon which the members of the Fraternity were wont to make their
kiss of peace, the vestments of blue cloth of gold, red velvet, and white "satten of Bridges," the "paned" altar-cloths of red and blue and red and white,
and the old altar-cloth of Baudkin. They took the chapel furniture down
to the very least, the two pillows (or cushions for the books) one of red velvet
the other of green damask, the pewter cruets and basons, the latten candlesticks, the ten old candlestick bowls from the rood-loft, the four "old vestments very bad," the two old chests, and the little press "with a settell [of]
pewes," the little table, and—what we should rejoice to see again—a great
chest, bound with iron "wherein the evidence doe lye." They valued all
this at £54 odd, over and above the money, plate and ornaments; the mass
books were provided by the mother church. (fn. 82) Indeed the Fraternity had
sometimes been put to it to find storage for their goods, and in 1500 had
rented a house in Seething Lane "for laying of Our Lady Stuff." (fn. 83)
Evyngar
The endowments of the chapel were also seized by the Crown.
The manor of Tooting Bec with which Edward IV had endowed the
Fraternity, was sold to John, earl of Warwick, for twenty-two years'
purchase. (fn. 84) Chichele's Rents in Tower Street, the original endowment of
the Fraternity, producing £13 odd yearly, were first rated for a lease to
Richard Drewe and Roger Wignall, watermen, and afterwards purchased
by John Yelde, a woodmonger, and Nicholas Michell, a beerbrewer. (fn. 85) Tate's
tenements were divided, and the one with shops, cellars and solars went to
Henry Polsted of Chilworth and William More of Loseley Park in Surrey
at eighteen years' purchase, subject to the tenancy of Ellen "Evinger," (fn. 86) who
must have been connected with John Evyngar, the brewer, who was buried
in All Hallows church. Bartholomew Compayne had a bargain, when he
bought part of the endowment of Sir John Rysley's chantry, being a house
in Broad Street in the parish of St. Christopher Stocks, which "by the King's
pleasure" he was allowed to have at ten years' purchase. (fn. 87)
Wynter
And what of the chapel itself? John Stow, writing at the end of the
16th century, says that it stood to the north of the church and "was pulled
downe in the yeare 1548 . . . [and] the grounde was imployed as a Garden
plot during the raigns of King Edward, Queene Mary, and parte of Queene
Elizabeth till at length a large strong frame of Timber and bricke was set
thereon, and imployed as a storehouse of Marchantes goodes brought from
the sea by Sir William Winter." (fn. 88) William Wynter in 1562, before he was
knighted, was rated in Seething Lane for 2s. 6d., next to his father George
Wynter rated at 12d., these being the last two assessments in the lane. About
1576 Mr. George Wynter, who had come from Dyrham, co. Gloucestershire, was assessed in the lane for 2s. Perhaps (in view of the later history
of the tenement) we may take it that the 12d. for which one Thomas "Bennye" (possibly for Beamontie) was rated represents his son's property; for
while George Wynter himself occupied the one tenement, William let his part
which was "one great warehouse" in Sethinge Lane to Hipolitan Beamontie,
a merchant stranger. Subsequently Hipolitan rented George Wynter's
tenement also, and in 1585, William Wynter sold to Richard Smythe, a
citizen and fishmonger dwelling in Bow Lane, both the "messuage or tenement in Sethinge Lane in the parish of All Hallows Barking" and "the one
great warehouse in the said lane and parish." (fn. 89)
From the deed of sale, we can reconstruct something of the story
of the site between the demolition of the chapel and its acquisition by the
Wynters, father and son. According to this deed, the messuage owned
and occupied by George Wynter had previously been occupied by Robert
Smythe. Now the tenement in Seething Lane which had been occupied
by Robert Smythe had descended by May 1553 to Grace Smythe Widow,
possibly his relict. She was then paying a yearly rent of 66s. 8d. for it, and
this rent with the reversion on the termination of her lease had been acquired
in the previous February by Thomas Vicarie, Edward VI's surgeon. Vicarie
was to pay a yearly rent or farm to the Crown and in May 1553 Thomas
Reve and George Cotton applied for permission to purchase this farm. (fn. 90)
The tenement was then vaguely described as parcel of lands and possessions
of a foundation in the church of All Saints, Barking Church, and if Stow's
statement is correct, must have represented part of the actual site of the
chapel. This conclusion is supported by the fact that when in that same year
James Castelyn claimed that he had taken over Grace Smythe's lease, and
tried to recover occupation against John Haynnes and James Awood, one
of the evidences put in was a copy (fn. 91) of the indulgence as it occurs in the
register of the Bishop of London.
The petition, however, relates to "three messuages." It may
therefore have referred not only to the two large buildings owned by the
Wynters, but also to a very small house, separately rated at 2d. which was
assessed in 1579 upon William Morris as tenant, and widow Archer owner.
This small house apparently came at the corner of "Chappell Alley" where
there dwelt only two paupers and a certain Robert Evers who paid 2d. in
1580. In fact, the arrangement of the rate-books here looks as though
Evers had succeeded Morris. In any case this solitary allusion to "Chappell
Alley" close to the Wynters' tenements again supports Stow's statement
as to the site of the chapel.
The exact site of the chapel could only be determined by further research. We know from various deeds relating to tenements to the east and
north-east of it, that it abutted northwards upon a considerable property which
had been given to St. Paul's Cathedral by Master Thomas Northflete, one
of the Canons, who endowed an obit in the Cathedral in 1317. From the
very scanty deeds relating to Northflete's endowment, (fn. 92) we gather that some
of his property lay in St. Olave's parish and that at least a part of it abutted
westwards on the highway of Seething Lane. We know also that eastwards
the chapel abutted on tenements in what was a northern extension of Chicken
Lane, which was afterwards thrown into Tower Hill or "Roomland." (fn. 93)
Robert Tate's instruction for his chantry chapel to be built out northwards
only so far as ground could be spared shows that the Lady Chapel was on the
extreme northern limits of the churchyard; but the ancient boundaries of the
churchyard are difficult to define, and were probably irregular, for the Chicken
Lane tenement abutting on the Chapel west abutted south on the churchyard. All the evidence, however, goes to support the considered and final
conclusion of a former curate (fn. 94) that the chapel lay in the cemetery some
distance to the north of the church, on a site now pierced by the Underground
Railway.