CHAPTER II

THE SAXON CHURCH

THE

NORMAN CHURCH OF ED

WARD THE CONFESSOR

"How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts" THE story of the building of the Westminster abbey church carries us far back in English history into the dark, forgotten days of the Saxon monastery, probably founded, as we have seen, about the year 740. The earliest church of this Saxon monastery was presumably simple and unpretending: its monks lived in log huts, we are told, and the church structure could hardly have been luxurious. It would be as rich in equipment, in furnishings, vestments and decorations as was possible at the period since the tradition that the best was to be devoted to the church was no less forceful then than at a later period in ecclesiastical history. But all that is to be said concerning this church lies wholly within the domain of tradition and legend.

The later Saxon church which Edward the Confessor found standing here in 1042, when he was made king of Eng

land, is also little known to us. It was evidently of considerable size since it contained a famous organ so large that

A MEDIEVAL CHURCH ORGAN

seventy strong men were required to keep its bellows in action, "multo et sudore madentes," and a contemporary poem describes its vigourous action.*

That the church was in a fair state of repair at this time is evident, since a part was left standing to be used by the monks while the new Norman church was in progress. There was also a second Saxon church here, St. Margaret's, on the site of the present cloister, which the Confessor caused to be pulled down and another erected in its stead near the north transept, later rebuilt as we see it today.

While nothing is known of the particular Saxon church which preceded West*"Et rugiat pleno capsa referta sinu,

Solo quadragintas quae sustinet ordine musas."

minster Abbey, the land was rich in other Saxon churches, very many portions of which remain today and exhibit strong masonry, noble towers, well-built and stately, as at Earl's Barton: good ornament, as the balusters at St. Albans, at Jarrow and

EARL'S BARTON TOWER-SAXON

Monks' Wearmouth; and dignified if not ample proportions. In Norfolk alone, there were 243 churches, so early as 1086 and in Suffolk, 364, a large number of which must have been built in the Saxon

manner.

the present Early English structure was a stately, imposing stone building, scarcely less splendid (at least in proportion and design), than the present Abbey, and entirely unlike any heretofore existing in England. As the first Norman church in the country, it marked a new era in the history of ecclesiastical architecture and attracted attention and imitation throughout the land.* And while the architecture of this early period compared with the richly ornamented structures of the later Norman appears plain and almost rude, yet to erect a large stone church and the buildings necessary to a monastic establishment, on a new design, and within fifteen years, was a notable and hitherto unparalleled achievement in the history of English architecture.

The history of the building by the last Saxon and, in a very real sense (since his mother was Norman and he was reared in Normandy)-the first Norman king, reads like a chronicle of a mediaeval romance. And in order to comprehend what Westminster Abbey stands for today, and by what steps it has attained its

*Matthew of Paris writes of "the church which the King constructed in the new manner of composition from which many of those afterwards constructing churches taking example, had imitated it in costly expenditure.”

present state, we should know something more than the mere facts of its inception and completion: something more than how the stones were laid, the arches reared, the columns carved and the aisles vaulted. Something should be learned of the founder's personality and history, his friends, his education, his environment, his ideals.

In a contemporary life of Edward the Confessor, Harleian Mss., we read that "The devout king destined to God that place, both for that it was near unto the famous and wealthy city of London and also had a pleasant situation amongst fruitful fields lying round about it, with the principal river running hard by, bringing in from all parts of the world, great variety of wares and merchandise of all sorts to the city adjoining; but chiefly for the love of the Chief Apostle, whom he reverenced with a special and singular affection."

The name of Edward the Confessor is indissolubly connected with Westminster Abbey, for not only did he build and reestablish the ravaged monastery and supply the monks with noble buildings, but his tomb and shrine, and the story of his canonization, miracles and translation have served for centuries to keep his memory fresh in the minds of English people, and indeed, of Christendom.