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People often compare great churches, to boats. It's an ancient idea, in fact, it's what gives the big part of the church where people sit its name. The Nave. It comes from the word Navis, Latin for boat.
With Tewkesbury Abbey this takes on a whole other dimension.
With Tewkesbury Abbey this takes on a whole other dimension.
Tewkesbury floods. A lot. Almost every year. Mostly it's just bad. Some years it's devastating.
The Abbey sits at the heart of the town on a small rise, and, occasional blips aside, when the flood waters rise she sails clear, and acts as a place of refuge for the people.
The Abbey sits at the heart of the town on a small rise, and, occasional blips aside, when the flood waters rise she sails clear, and acts as a place of refuge for the people.
Twice, in 1760 and 2007 the flood waters were high enough to get into the Abbey. But that's not a bad track record at all.
The Abbey truly does sit on the land like a great ship, and under the circumstances I don't feel like that metaphor is hackneyed for once.
Her tower is believed to be the largest Romanesque crossing tower in Europe - though the spire that once topped it blew down in the 1500's.
Her tower is believed to be the largest Romanesque crossing tower in Europe - though the spire that once topped it blew down in the 1500's.
Originally a monastery before the dissolution, Tewkesbury Abbey has an exterior that is a bit of a fascinating architectural murder mystery - "who knocked down what and when?" With the small fragment of the cloisters that remain displaying their former glory.
In fact, stone from demolished sections of the Abbey (from close inspection I'm assuming it's almost all from the cloisters) was used to make a retaining wall just a few feet from the south west corner.
The west front of the Abbey has this enormous arch - it's the only one like it in England - and is otherwise quite undecorated. The slits up the sides are windows - there's spiral staircases inside that bad boy and I wanna climb them So Bad.
Heading inside, the first impression is Chonk! But a there's a levity to it. Tewkesbury's columns are relatively thin - especially compared to somewhere like Durham where they're the same size around as up.
This gives the space a lightness rarely found in a great Norman church.
This gives the space a lightness rarely found in a great Norman church.
The columns of Tewkesbury Abbey are absolutely covered in carvings like these. Not names or dates, but symbols. Everywhere you look.
They're not graffiti, they're masons marks. The lasting remains of the people who built the abbey 900 years ago, signing their work.
They're not graffiti, they're masons marks. The lasting remains of the people who built the abbey 900 years ago, signing their work.
The ceilings in Tewkesbury Abbey are incredible. The huge roof bosses along the centre of the nave tell the story of the life of the Virgin Mary, and the addition of angels over the nave (instead of just the chancel) was unprecedented, and made a bold theological statement.
Tewkesbury Abbey also has some stunning glass. There's some by Tom Denny, my favourite modern stained glass artist, in a side chapel, but due to the plague all but the nave of the Abbey was closed. (I'll be back and you'll get to see So Much More)
The floor is absolutely covered in memorials. Most are still fairly readable - others have been utterly worn away.
Pausing the thread here to admire the memorial of Nutt Kedwards.
What a name!
What a name!
All of this to say: Tewkesbury Abbey is an Absolute Stunner. I fully intend to return and climb the tower, as well as loiter in all the side chapels and chantry chapels that are currently off limits because plague. There's medieval paint back there and I will not be kept from it!
If you like this thread, and you can afford it, you can chuck me a tip at http://ko-fi.com/jayhulme - and you can see more church exploration threads here: https://twitter.com/JayHulmePoet/status/1294387410642579456
