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Shrewsbury Abbey - i)
Oct. 9th, 2011 11:44 amToday I thought I begin a series of posts devoted to Shrewsbury Abbey.
Originally the site of a Saxon church, Shrewsbury Abbey's transformation was instigated in 1083, when William the Conqueror's Chief Hired Goon of the West, Roger of Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, vowed to found an abbey there. By 1094, the abbey was sufficiently well-advanced for Roger to retire there, a short time before his death.
Shrewsbury Abbey was home to the Benedictine order, and like most abbeys its modern remains give just a tantalising glimpse of its former glories. The abbey church has been retained as the modern parish church for the parish of Holy Cross, and its fabric has been heavily modified throughout the centuries:-
Only a small portion of the fabric visible here dates to Earl Roger's time - the upper portion of the walls (clerestorey level) in the nave, up until the transept. The building was extended to the south and west in the fourteenth century, during the reign of Edward III, whose statue sits in a niche just below the crenellated parapet of the tower at the west end.
Most of the abbey's service buildings were demolished in the early nineteenth century, when the town's layout was radically altered at the behest of Sir Thomas Telford. A railway was constructed, and a road created which ran through the abbey grounds (the cars are a dead giveaway). Despite this decimation of the abbey's original fabric, tantalising fragments still remain, dotted variously amongst the modern car parks and buildings. Here's the pulpit from the monk's refectory, now retained as an ornamental feature:-
Originally the site of a Saxon church, Shrewsbury Abbey's transformation was instigated in 1083, when William the Conqueror's Chief Hired Goon of the West, Roger of Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, vowed to found an abbey there. By 1094, the abbey was sufficiently well-advanced for Roger to retire there, a short time before his death.
Shrewsbury Abbey was home to the Benedictine order, and like most abbeys its modern remains give just a tantalising glimpse of its former glories. The abbey church has been retained as the modern parish church for the parish of Holy Cross, and its fabric has been heavily modified throughout the centuries:-
Only a small portion of the fabric visible here dates to Earl Roger's time - the upper portion of the walls (clerestorey level) in the nave, up until the transept. The building was extended to the south and west in the fourteenth century, during the reign of Edward III, whose statue sits in a niche just below the crenellated parapet of the tower at the west end.
Most of the abbey's service buildings were demolished in the early nineteenth century, when the town's layout was radically altered at the behest of Sir Thomas Telford. A railway was constructed, and a road created which ran through the abbey grounds (the cars are a dead giveaway). Despite this decimation of the abbey's original fabric, tantalising fragments still remain, dotted variously amongst the modern car parks and buildings. Here's the pulpit from the monk's refectory, now retained as an ornamental feature:-
The sandstone from which it has been sculpted has been subject to severe weathering through the years, but some details are still visible:-
Apologies for the fuzziness - there was no access to the garden, so I had to take this shot on zoom, which my little camera does not like doing very much.
And just around the corner, another surviving medieval building, evidently a former service building forming part of a courtyard range:-
And just around the corner, another surviving medieval building, evidently a former service building forming part of a courtyard range:-
You can just see the abbey tower in the background at the left of the picture...
More from Shrewsbury Abbey throughout the coming week, with all information derived from Shrewsbury Abbey: The Parish Church of the Holy Cross (McKenzie and Ross, date unknown).
More from Shrewsbury Abbey throughout the coming week, with all information derived from Shrewsbury Abbey: The Parish Church of the Holy Cross (McKenzie and Ross, date unknown).
