The stalls on the north and south sides
are exquisitely carved. The roof is supported by twelve pillars and
arches of the Gothic order, abounding with enrichments of carved
figures, fruit, &c. At the east end is a spacious window with
stained glass, besides which there are thirteen other windows above,
and as many below on the north and south sides. Under each of the
thirteen uppermost windows are five figures placed in niches,
representing kings, queens, bishops, &c., and under them the figures
of as many angels supporting imperial crowns. The roof, which is
all stone, is divided into sixteen circles, curiously wrought, and
is the admiration of all that see it.
The outside of this chapel was adorned with fourteen towers, three
figures being placed in niches on each of them, which were formerly
much admired; but the stone decaying and mouldering away, they make
but an odd appearance at present.
In this chapel have been interred most of the English kings since
Richard III., whose tombs are no small ornament to it, particularly
that of Henry VII., the founder, which stands in the middle of the
area towards the east end.
The tomb is composed of a curious pedestal whose sides are adorned
with various figures, as the north with those of six men, the east
with those of two cupids supporting the king's arms and an imperial
crown; on the south side, also, six figures, circumscribed - as those
on the north side - with circles of curious workmanship, the most
easterly of which contains the figure of an angel treading on a
dragon. Here is also a woman and a child, seeming to allude to Rev.
xii.; and on the west end the figure of a rose and an imperial
crown, supported with those of a dragon and a greyhound: on the
tomb are the figures of the king and queen, lying at full length,
with four angels, one at each angle of the tomb, all very finely
done in brass.
The screen or fence is also of solid brass, very strong and
spacious, being in length 19 feet, in breadth 11, and the altitude
11, adorned with forty-two pillars and their arches; also, twenty
smaller hollow columns and their arches in the front of the former,
and joined at the cornice, on which cornice is a kind of acroteria,
enriched with roses and portcullises interchanged in the upper part,
and with the small figures of dragons and greyhounds (the supporters
aforesaid) in the lower part; and at each of the four angles is a
strong pillar made open, or hollow, composed in imitation of diaper
and Gothic archwork; the four sides have been adorned with thirty-
two figures of men, about a cubit high, placed in niches, of which
there are only seven left, the rest being stolen away (one Raymond,
about the 11th of Queen Elizabeth, having been twice indicted for
the same); and about the middle of the upper part of each of the
four sides is a spacious branch adorned with the figure of a rose,
where might on occasion be placed lamps. This admirable piece of
art is open at top, and has two portals, one on the north, the other
on the south side, all of fine brass.
This Royal founder's epitaph:
Septimus Henricus tumulo requiescit in isto,
Qui regum splendor, lumen et orbis erat.
Rex vigil et sapiens, comes virtutis, amatur,
Egregius forma, strenuus atque potens.
Qui peperit pacem regno, qui bella peregit
Plurima, qui victor semper ab hoste redit,
Qui natas binis conjunxit regibus ambas,
Regibus et cunctis faedere junctus erat.
Qui sacrum hoc struxit templum, statuitque; sepulchrum
Pro se, proque sua conjuge, proque domo.
Lustra decem atque; annos tres plus compleverit annos,
Nam tribus octenis regia sceptra tulit;
Quindecies Domini centenus fluxerat annus,
Currebat nonus, cum venit atra dies;
Septima ter mensis lux tunc fulgebat Aprilis,
Cum clausit summum tanta corona diem.
Nulla dedere prius tantum sibi saecula regem
Anglia, vix similem posteriora dabunt.
Septimus hic situs est Henricus gloria regum
Cunctorum, ipsius qui tempestate fuerunt;
Ingenio atque; opibus gestarum et nomine rerum,
Accessere quibus naturae dona benignae:
Frontis honos facies augusta heroica forma,
Junctaque ei suavis conjux per pulchra pudica,
Et faecunda fuit; felices prole parentes,
Henricum quibus octavum terra Anglia debet.
Under the figure of the king.
Hic jacet Henricus ejus nominis septimus, Anglicae quondam rex,
Edmundi Richmondiae comitis filius, qui die 22 Aug. Rex creatus,
statim post apud Westmonasterium die 30 Octob. coronatur 1485.
Moritur deinde 21 die Aprilis anno aetat. 53, regnavit annos 23,
menses 8, minus uno die.
Under the queen's figure.
Hic jacet regina Elizabetha, Edvardi quarti quondam regis filia,
Edvardi quinti regis quondam nominatur soror: Henrici septimi olim
regis conjux, atque; Henrici octavi regis mater inclyta; obiit autem
suum diem in turri Londoniarum die secund. Feb. anno Domini 1502,
37 annorum aetate functa.
The modern tombs in the abbey, best worth the viewing, are those of
the duke of Newcastle, on the left hand as we enter the north door,
of Sir Isaac Newton, at the west end of the choir, of Sir Godfrey
Kneller, and Mr. Secretary Craggs at the west end of the abbey, of
Mr. Prior among the poets at the door which faces the Old Palace
Yard, of the Duke of Buckingham in Henry VII.th's chapel, and that
of Doctor Chamberlain on the North side of the choir: most of these
are admirable pieces of sculpture, and show that the statuary's art
is not entirely lost in this country; though it must be confessed
the English fall short of the Italians in this science.
Westminster Hall is one of the largest rooms in Europe, being two
hundred and twenty-eight feet in length, fifty-six feet broad, and
ninety feet high.
