Shrewsbury Churches - i)
Oct. 22nd, 2011 01:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
endlessraritiesOr, if we want to use an alternative title, 'The Hunt For Admiral Benbow...'
We were tipped off at early stage by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cmcmck that a church in Shrewsbury bore a memorial to Admiral Benbow, after whom the inn in Robert Louis Stevenson's book was named, so J decided that hunting down Admiral Benbow's resting place was going to be a major objective for our visit to the town.
Naturally, I forgot to pay attention with regards to which church Admiral Benbow was comemmorated in... So when we finally got to Shrewsbury, it was back to Square One.
Our town guide mentioned the church of Old Saint Chad's, which is a slightly incongruous sight, surviving as it does within its burial ground in the middle of the town:-
Only a fragment survives, and it was locked, so I couldn't investigate the interior more closely, unfortunately, though it is unashamedly Gothic in character. It's the remains of a Collegiate Church, founded by a wealthy personage who made provisions for the schooling of young boys, who'd learn literacy and musical skills. This charitable purpose went hand-in-hand with a more practical application for the founders: the young scholars and the clergy who taught them sang masses for the founder and their family.
Much of the masonry appears to be original - the pier is clearly part of the early church, and while the blocked arcade next to it appears to be composed of original masonry, the date and role of this blocking remains unclear - perhaps it once had a side aisle which had to be infilled when the church was partially demolished.
The blocking in the west end is obviously later, being composed of modern ashlar:-
But the door itself appears to be early:-
And another hint at its earlier origins? Here's a stone coffin of medieval date, which would have housed the corpse of a wealthy individual:-
And the Benbow connection? More of that tomorrow. And there are more webs of connection between Old St Chads and some of the other buildings in our Shrewsbury tour - Old St Chad's is famous for its fourteenth century Jesse window, which is worthy of a post in its own right...
We were tipped off at early stage by
cmcmck that a church in Shrewsbury bore a memorial to Admiral Benbow, after whom the inn in Robert Louis Stevenson's book was named, so J decided that hunting down Admiral Benbow's resting place was going to be a major objective for our visit to the town.Naturally, I forgot to pay attention with regards to which church Admiral Benbow was comemmorated in... So when we finally got to Shrewsbury, it was back to Square One.
Our town guide mentioned the church of Old Saint Chad's, which is a slightly incongruous sight, surviving as it does within its burial ground in the middle of the town:-
Only a fragment survives, and it was locked, so I couldn't investigate the interior more closely, unfortunately, though it is unashamedly Gothic in character. It's the remains of a Collegiate Church, founded by a wealthy personage who made provisions for the schooling of young boys, who'd learn literacy and musical skills. This charitable purpose went hand-in-hand with a more practical application for the founders: the young scholars and the clergy who taught them sang masses for the founder and their family.
Much of the masonry appears to be original - the pier is clearly part of the early church, and while the blocked arcade next to it appears to be composed of original masonry, the date and role of this blocking remains unclear - perhaps it once had a side aisle which had to be infilled when the church was partially demolished.
The blocking in the west end is obviously later, being composed of modern ashlar:-
But the door itself appears to be early:-
And another hint at its earlier origins? Here's a stone coffin of medieval date, which would have housed the corpse of a wealthy individual:-
And the Benbow connection? More of that tomorrow. And there are more webs of connection between Old St Chads and some of the other buildings in our Shrewsbury tour - Old St Chad's is famous for its fourteenth century Jesse window, which is worthy of a post in its own right...
