Education 60 Minute Guide to Outside and Inside Educational Visits to Romsey Abbey We want to make the church as useful to your school / organisation as possible.

We want to make sure that every visit you make meets your needs and also exceeds your expectations. To do this we want to tailor each visit to your specific requirements.

If you are thinking about using Romsey Abbey for an educational visit, please contact the Parish Office to discuss your requirements and to book a date and time.

Please contact the Parish Office on: Telephone: 01794 513 125 or Email: [email protected]

With our very best wishes

Thank you for visiting Romsey Abbey today. We have prepared this The Volunteer Team at Romsey Abbey “60 Minute Guide to the Outside and Inside” to support you in guiding your group around the Abbey. It will allow you to point out some important details of the Abbey church, keep your group interested and informed and hopefully inspire you to return to find out even more.

Outline to the Guide The guide is in two sections, each starting with a plan of the tour route. The outside tour will allow you to get a sense of the size and history of the Abbey church when it was a nunnery.

The inside has greater detail and insights into the story of the development of the Abbey over the last 1000 years.

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 Outside The Abbey 1. The North Door

Millenary Celebrations 1907

In 1907 there was a great pageant to commemorate the founding (or re- founding) of the nunnery by . The grounds of were lent by the Rt. Hon. Evelyn Ashley and a covered grandstand was erected on the chosen site near the river. The pageant ran for three days and HRH Princess Louise attended the opening service in the Abbey. All profits went to the Abbey Restoration Fund and for the building of a new porch on the site of the medieval porticus. Town and parish were totally united in the ambitious project which was directed from the Mayor’s Parlour and seems to have involved everyone in the community. Research was undertaken, words and music written, costumes made and parts learned and rehearsed. The Berthon Boat Company made the Danish ships and an Abbey Gateway was constructed.

 What is a pageant?  Could you create one for 2016?  What was meant by the re-founding of the nunnery and who was Edward the Eldar?  Who was Evelyn Ashley and what was his connection with the town?  What is the connection between the Abbey and the Berthon Boat Company?  What famous rescue craft did the Berthon Boat Company make?

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 2. Saxon Remains and the Extension 3. Civil War Damage - Musket Balls

Saxon North Nave Aisle Wall 1642-51 Civil War

This picture shows the foundations of the In 1642 Sir William Waller’s Saxon Church which was demolished troops entered the church and when the Norman church was built. In destroyed the seating and the picture we can see part of the north organ. The communion chalice transept of the old church. was looted by the soldiers and an officer had to be paid to find This side of the Abbey is also where the it. A cannonade of artillery pitted Parish Church was built onto the side of the north wall of the transept; the the Norman Abbey. damage is still visible today and until fairly recently there was still a ball embedded in the wall.

The Revd Anthony White, vicar at the time, wrote ‘the church, having 1403 – Enlarged parish church. escaped destruction at the time of the Dissolution of the monasteries, has been reduced to a ruin in these dissolute By the end of the 14th century the church was too small for the needs times.’ of the growing town of Romsey. The parishioners stated that the north aisle was so narrow and confined that on Sundays and festivals there In the civil war Romsey was more or less on the borderline between was no suitable or even decent space for the worshippers, and they eastern half of the country held by the parliamentarians, and the expressed a desire not only to make their church larger, but also more western half of the country which way loyal to the King. As the attractive to worship in. fortunes of the war ebbed and flowed, the town was garrisoned first by one side and then the other. From 1643 a number of soldiers' burials In 1403 the Vicar and parishioners of Romsey were given permission are recorded in the registers, including one of a deserter who was to pull down the north wall of the nave and rebuild it in line with the 'hanged upon the Swan signpost' north wall of the transept westwards to the porch. The transept would form the chancel and the chapel behind a sanctuary. The existing  Who was fighting who and why? nave aisle would become a south aisle and the new building the nave.  Who won in the English civil war?  What would have happened if the other side had won? The bishop, William of Wykeham, an enthusiastic church-builder and  Winchester Cathedral was also attacked by William Waller, patron of the arts, strongly approved of the project. what damage did he do there?

It took three years to complete the work.

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 4. East End - Lady Chapel 5. The Saxon Rood

From 1120 onwards the An ancient treasure Norman Abbey church was begun. This large Saxon Rood used to be inside the older church. At the east end there was a lady When the Norman church was chapel. The picture shows the built it was placed here. It wasn’t arches that led to the chapel. It really outside as this area was was a double shrine chapel and part of the cloisters and was may have been dedicated to St connected to the buildings Merwenna and St Ethelflaeda. where the lived.

Usually a lady chapel is dedicated to the mother of Jesus, St Mary, but Every time the nuns walked into the Abbey for services they would at Romsey the whole church was dedicated to St Mary so we think walk past the Rood and through the ’s Door. In that way this these special chapels were dedicated to the two , St ancient treasure was honoured every day. Merwenna and St Ethelflaeda, who were made after their deaths. There is a mystery about where the Rood came from. Was it a gift from another monastery or nunnery? Was it a gift from a bishop or rich If you look carefully you can see where a door has been filled in. This land owner? was once the main door used by the people of Romsey. A geologist examining the stone noticed the brown staining in the You can see the location of the demolished Lady Chapel on the plan stone. When looking closely with a hand lens he identified the stone on the first page of this guide. as Inferior Iron Shot Oolite. There is only one quarry where this stone was found in the 10th century. The quarry is the Doulting Stone Quarry, Chelynch Road, Doulting, Shepton Mallet, Somerset BA4 4PZ

This quarry also supplied the stone for the building of Wells Cathedral.

Was the Rood a gift from there?

Most of the stone used to build the Abbey is limestone and came from Quarr on the Isle of Wight. The last three bays at the west end were built much later and the stone for these came from the Bishop of Salisbury’s quarry at Chilmark.

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 6. The cloisters 7. South Door

Lost under gardens Rough flint wall

A cloister (from Latin claustrum, The wall on the left of the south "enclosure") is a covered walk, door is very rough. It shows open gallery, or open arcade where other buildings used by running along the walls of the nuns were attached to the buildings and forming a abbey church. In the wall is quadrangle or garth. It forms a something that looks at a continuous and solid blocked window. architectural barrier... that effectively separates the world of the or nuns from that of the This is a part of the Saxon church which was knocked down when the serfs and workmen, whose lives and works went on outside and Norman Abbey was built. It is thought that it was a cupboard used around the cloister." somewhere in the Saxon Church.

It is thought that the ’s dormitory was attached to the Abbey where From this plan you can see an outline of the this flint wall is now. A dormitory is a place for sleeping, the word four sides of the cloister. It was a square comes originally from the Latin word dormitorium. 105ft (32m) on each side. On either side of the south door, which was restored in 1967-8 using The ground level was lower than we see Portland stone (the quarry at Binstead on the Isle of Wight has no today and the area in the middle was more stone left to quarry), there are two heads. probably set out as a garden.  Who might these people be on either side of the south door? The cloisters at Romsey Abbey had two levels along the south wall – look up and If you are interested in the Corbels of Romsey Abbey use this website you can see the marks where the roof and to help you. http://romseys.wix.com/romseyabbeycorbels floor timbers were fixed. They are called corbels.

 Look for images of cloisters that still exist. Design a cloister for Romsey Abbey following o the style of the Abbey as it was originally built. o an ultra modern cloister for the 21st century.  Find out why a cloister was an important part of the Abbey and what the nuns did there. Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 Inside The Abbey A. The Newest Font

In memory of his son.

This font was given in 1912 by Canon James Cooke- Yarborough, the Vicar, in memory of his only son.

The Abbey has three fonts; the one in the north nave aisle is a Victorian copy of a gothic font. It is not used today but marks the spot where the font of the medieval parish church stood. Look up at the ceiling here, notice that the arches are decorated where other arches are not. The font is a very special part of a church and of a Christian’s life.

The original font was, much to the disgust of the John Major, the sexton at the time, broken up and its stone used when a doorway at the west end of the north nave aisle was filled up in 1847. This was the door to the school rooms at the back of the Abbey. It is very unusual for a font to be broken up, once made they are meant to be so special they should never be destroyed. This may be the reason some churches have several fonts.

The third font, also not very old, is in the north choir aisle but used to be in the south choir aisle where the Deed of Sale is now.

 What is a font used for?  The font at the west end is covered in carvings, what does it all mean?  Fonts are often at the back of a church, is there a reason for this?  If you were to design a font, in memory of someone, what would it look like and who would it be in memory of?

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 B. Sir 1623 - 1687 C. Saxon Hair

Monument to Sir William Coffin found by Abbess’s door

William was the son of a In 1839 while digging a hole, to bury a Romsey clothier born in Church member of the churchwarden’s family, in the Street. floor of the south aisle next to the Abbess’s door, a lead-lined coffin was discovered. At He was famous in politics, the time it was thought to date from the economics, anatomy, natural Middle to Late Saxon Period. science and mathematics. Mr Jenvey, the churchwarden, wrote this He was an inventor, writer, entrepreneur, cartographer and account, ’no bones were found within; but there had been statistician. preserved an oak shell, which was quite decayed, and mouldered into dust when exposed to the air. On removing the lid, a His family was poor and when money was short he was sent to sea beautiful head of hair, with a tail plaited about 18 inches long, aged 14 but a broken leg meant he was put ashore in France where evidently that of a young female, was discovered. The hair was in he gained admission to the University of Caen. perfect form and appeared as though the skull had only recently been removed from it.’ He claimed that by 15 he had mastered Latin, Greek and French, the whole body of arithmetic, practical geometry and astrology! If this hair belonged to an important Saxon woman:

He was a very clever man. At the age of 25 he applied for a patent for  Was this the coffin of an important woman? an instrument for double writing (a way to make a copy of the  Could it have been one of the Abbesses? document you were writing).  The Middle to late Saxon period covers the first seven Abbesses of Romsey Abbey. He also worked on the development of double hulled ships.  Could you write the story of this important woman?

He was a founding member of the Royal Society.

 Can you find out more about Romsey’s famous man?  Can you find the patent for his double writing machine?  He was challenged to a duel; Petty chose to use a hatchet in a dark cellar. What happened next?  What is the Royal Society and what does it do today?

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 D. School Rooms E. Alice Taylor Memorial

Alice

Alice was the two-year old daughter of a local doctor and gifted amateur sculptor (he exhibited a pieta in the 1851 Exhibition).

The child died in 1843 from scarlet fever and her grieving Schools father kept her memory alive with this life-size model of his daughter lying asleep. There was probably a free school and a grammar school in different parts of the church building. From 1536 parish clergy were required to The simple inscription: ‘Is it well with the child?’ is from II Kings, see that all children received basic reading lessons and religious chapter 4. instruction. This duty would normally be carried out by the Vicar so it would be normal for the teaching to take place in the church. At one  Who was Dr Taylor? time teaching took place in the eastern apse of the north transept  Did he work in Romsey? (now the choir vestry). There may also have been a school in the retro  What was the 1851 Exhibition? choir (behind the altar). In 1712 a licence was applied for, to build a  What is a pieta and can you find a picture of the pieta Dr Taylor school-room: this probably refers to the gallery which was built in the made for the 1851 Exhibition? north-west corner of the church, creating class rooms at two levels.  Did Dr Taylor feel more grief because he was a doctor and could not save his own daughter’s life? A number of carved initials and dates can be seen at the first floor  Did he have any other children? Do any descendants (relatives) level. By 1826 Lord Palmerston supported the building of a new still live in Romsey? school because the Abbey School-room was now overcrowded and  What is scarlet fever? the boys were causing damage in the churchyard by playing games o Is it still an illness today? before and after school.

A new school was opened for boys in 1836 but schooling of some kind continued in the Abbey. A record from 1838 stated that part of the south aisle was ‘parted off and used for Sunday and other schools’.

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 F. Titanic Memorials G. St Lawrence Chapel – Parish Church

1912 Titanic

Two memorials were erected in the north nave aisle to Arthur (Bob) Ward, engineer officer, who died on the Titanic at the age of 24, one by his family and the other by the townspeople.

 Who was Bob Ward? This panel was discovered in February 1813 when the arches behind  Where did he live? Was it in Romsey or nearby? the high altar were opened up.  Where did he learn his skill as an engineer?  Did he work anywhere else before serving on the Titanic? The Saints in the Reredos panel (circa 1526) From left to right top row St , St Francis with St Clare or Lady Giacoma di Settisola, St Sebastian, a Bishop, St Scholastica, St Benedict, St Roche, St Armel, A Bishop.

Below the Resurrection of Christ, dressed in a red cloak over a white loin cloth, stepping out from the tomb to the amazement of the guards. On either side are angels and on the far left an abbess saying ‘The Lord had risen from the tomb.’

Behind the altar and screen is a small rounded chapel. It is now the choir vestry. It has been a sanctuary, a chapel, a school and was once a place for the town fire engine to be stored.

On the west wall you can see the three original round arches of the window. Cut into these is the more pointed archway formed when the church of St Lawrence was extended northwards from the north transept and the north nave aisle.

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 H. Saxon Remains – Foundations I. Choir Vestry – Fire Engine House

October 1900 Inside the choir vestry

While relaying the wooden flooring in the nave This room has been a chapel, workers found stone walls from the second a sanctuary a place to store the church to be built on this site. The first church town’s fire engine a school and was probably a wooden church possibly dating a vestry for the choir. as far back as 600-700 AD. This was replaced by the Saxon Stone Church around 900 AD. The reredos screen that blocks our view today was put there The workers found Saxon foundations running around 1929. down the nave and into the north and south transepts. Some of the walls were badly disintegrated. When the flooring was repaired two This chapel is built into a semicircular shaped room, these are known panels were left in the north transept so we can now see some of the as apses and so the chapels are often referred to as apisidal chapels. remains. The memorial you can see was also moved into the chapel around the  What does a Saxon church look like? Can you find any images 1850’s. It is in memory of Robert Brackley and dates from 1628. The on the net? inscription on the memorial suggests he gave money to the poor of  All we have is a floor plan of Romsey’s Saxon Church. Create Romsey. your own design.  Imagine you were one of the workers digging up and repairing the wooden floor. Write a diary of one of the workers capturing  What type of school was held here? the excitement of this discovery.  What sort of fire engine or pump was stored here? You may need to look outside at the size of the door to the chapel.  What does apse mean?  Redesign this chapel and dedicate it to a worthy person or organisation.

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 J. Chapels at the East End K. Saxon Rood

The Four Chapels Why was the rood hidden

Starting from the north side: Iconoclasts in late Tudor and Puritan times St George, St Mary, St hated any carvings or images of religious ideas Ethelflaeda and St Anne. in churches.

Although called St George’s I wonder why? chapel this is a modern naming of this space. It was a chapel for Precious images and carvings may have been the nuns but not much more is hidden by the nuns when the Abbey was known about it. There was a Brotherhood of St George in Romsey in attacked by the Danes as far back as 994. the middle of the 15th century and in 1475 Edward IV gave permission for a Chantry of St George to be built in the parish church. Evidence of The rood might have been hidden after the dissolution of the Abbey by this chantry chapel was found in the north aisle. Henry VIII around 1536-1541, to protect it from destruction. Perhaps this was when it lost the gold and jewels that adorned it. The chapel of St Mary used to be one of two arches that led into the Lady Chapel. This was demolished soon after the dissolution by Henry The rood might have been hidden from the Iconoclasts of the 16 and VIII. The Altar in this chapel was the tomb of one of the abbesses. It 17th centuries. was moved here from the north side of the chancel.  What does it say about our world today that the rood can be on St Ethelflaeda’s chapel, again an archway to the Lady Chapel, has a display? coffin lid of an abbess and dates from the 13 -14th centuries. We know  Most people could not read or write so important messages had it is an abbess because of the staff. Look carefully and you can see to be told in pictures. the abbess’s hand coming out of the coffin to hold the staff. o Can you identify all the signs and symbols and what they mean? St Anne’s Chapel is remarkable because it has a small Saxon rood o Think of a religious event that you could create an image behind the altar. The rood was moved here by Rev Berthon around for? Think about how you would decorate it to show how 1888. In 1742 it was ‘on the south wall near the communion table’ and important it is. at sometime earlier it had been hidden by being turned face inwards  It is thought that King Edgar gave the rood to the Abbey when it into a wall of the retro choir. The Rood was covered in gold and was re-founded in 967. adorned with jewels. o Create the story behind the rood of Romsey Abbey. Make up where the rood came from, who gave it, who  Could you recreate how it once looked? carved it?

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 L. Mason’s Mark M. Deed of sale

Robert (Bob) the builder The Biggest Receipt

Stone masons were the master The Deed of Sale is dated 20 builders of the past. They not February 1544 and is the only carved stone but were also receipt from Henry VIII for £100. able to layout / plan a building. Around £4 - £5 million today. They knew how to build large and complex churches. The deed is sealed and signed with a great flourish by King Today these jobs are done by Henry VIII himself, and the many different people, planners, architects, technical drawers, agreement is made with four local men, described as ‘guardians’, who quantity surveyors, bricklayers and on and on and on. act on behalf of the church. The small drawing within the first letter of the deed is probably a likeness of King Henry VIII. Masons often left their mark or signature on their work. It was usually an image not in writing. On the left is a King and an Angel holding a V Many abbey churches were destroyed and the stone used for other shaped scroll. It reads ROBER x TME FECIT or Robert made me. buildings. We only have the abbey now because the townspeople raised the £100 to keep their church which they used for worship. That is why you will often hear ‘You are welcome because this is your church’. The church belongs to the people because the town bought it from the king.

One reason Henry VIII dissolved monasteries and nunneries was to make money from the materials the buildings were made of and the On the right could be two masons holding a V shaped scroll (or maybe treasures inside. The stone of the walls, the timber holding up the roof a set square). This one reads ROBERT TUTE CONSL. This is harder and the lead on the roof were all very valuable and could be sold for to translate but may mean "Robert look around you at your work or money. The gold and silver treasures inside were also valuable to the Robert take very great care." king. The abbey also had land and farms which were sold or given to families faithful to the king. We think this mason was called Robert and that he carved himself into the picture. The big smiley face on the right. The king insisted that any religious building given to a noble person must be pulled down or converted into a family home. The nearby We like to tell very young children that it was in fact our very own Bob Mottisfont Abbey was converted into a home. the Builder who made this. What do you think?

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 N. Names of the 4 who bought the Abbey O. The Organ

A knight and three cooks? The Organ Today

The names of the ‘guardians’ who negotiated The current organ was built in 1858 by J W with Henry VIII to buy The Abbey are Walker & Son. It was originally installed in a gallery in the north transept and was moved to John Knyght, John Ham, John Salt and Robert this new location in 1888. Cooke. It is a curious coincidence that three of the names seem to relate to food. Above the organ in the Triforium you can just see black pipes and parts of the organ that provide This stone was laid in the chancel in 1994 to the air (the blowers and bellows). These blowers commemorate the 450th anniversary of the purchase of the Abbey run from a very large electric motor. from Henry VIII. It had to be cut down to fit and the decorated panels on the front of the  Does this kind of fundraising go on today? organ can be seen at the back of the organ today. Look up to see the  Could a small town like Romsey do it again? rising sun painting.  When have you been involved in raising millions of pounds for charity? There were two other organs in the Abbey, a Coster organ which was  Write the story of the ‘guardians’ and how they persuaded the installed half way down the nave on a gallery but we do not know people of Romsey to raise £100 in 1544. where the earlier Wale’s organ from 1637 was fitted. The Coster Organ, installed in 1782 in the nave gallery was moved to the north transept gallery in 1843.

When the Walker organ was first installed in the north transept a space of 2½ feet (76 cm) was left behind it so the men / boys could work the hand bellows that provided the air. This must have been hard work – think about the breath needed to play a recorder – now imaging a recorder pipe 32 feet long (9.75 m).

 Find out more about how an organ works.  Make your own organ pipe using some tubing.  How many pipes will you need for a scale, an organ stop, a complete manual? (You will need to research these names scale, stop and manual.)

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 P. St Nicholas Chapel – chapel for children Q. Central Tower

A High Point

Originally you could see right up to the roof of the Abbey.

When the bells were moved inside the Abbey in 1624 and the old bell tower to the north east was demolished in 1625, a ringing chamber had to be This chapel has many memorials – some of very famous people. built for the bell ringers.

Read the memorials to see some of the ways in which people were The floor of this chamber was lower (at the bottom of the small arches remembered. How would you like to be remembered? you can see today) it was painted in the Jacobean style of the period.

It was once a chapel for children, and the on the east wall is St Later around 1845 the floor was raised so we can now see the arches. Nicholas. th th The first bells were cast on site in the 10 or 11 century. We know On the south wall is a statue of a lady lying down. She is not a queen this because a bell-casting pit was found in excavations in 1996 next or an abbess because she does not have the right robes or symbols of to the vicar’s vestry on the south side of the Abbey. It was underneath office. But she must have been important, perhaps a benefactor of the the Norman building so must be earlier than 1066. Abbey. In 1457 a mandate of Callixtus III required that more or larger The stone was found bottom side up, it was probably hidden on bells should be installed, since the existing ones could not be heard purpose so it would not be destroyed after the dissolution. It was throughout the parish. discovered in the 18th century under the floor at the west end between the north and south doors.  Find out what metal is used to make a bell.  What notes do you need for a set of bells?  Write a memorial to a famous living person.  What is a peal of bells?  Write a memorial to a person special to you.  Research the mathematics of ringing a peel.  Write a memorial to yourself.  Can you create a new peal for a set of bells? Perform it for your  St Nicholas has other names, find out more about him. friends.

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019 R. The Abbess’s Door S. The Nave

The Main Door for the Nuns The body of the church

This was the door that the nuns used to enter Work on the current Abbey started around the Abbey from their lodgings on the south side 1120, further east than the Saxon stone church, of the Abbey. so that the nuns could continue using the old church as the new one was built. The door led out into the Cloisters on the south side. There were steps down from this door as The nave was built in stages. This first column the ground was much lower than it is today. on each side is round, a common feature of Norman buildings. When the Norman Abbey was built, the Saxon Rood which is now outside the Abbess’s Door, was moved here. As the nuns entered the Around the 1150’s the next 4 bays have columns build of smaller Abbey they would have walked past it – it was an important symbol for columns bunched together (clustered style). The style was still them as Christians and as an artefact from the older Saxon church. Romanesque but less ornate. Around this time the old Saxon church was demolished. Today the doorway is not used except in an emergency. Between 1240 and 1260 the last three bays were added. Fashions The curtain was made in 1961. It depicts saints with their symbols. had changed since the building work started and these bays are in the Early English style, with pointed arches and with three tall lancet  Can you decipher who the saints are on the curtain? windows in the west wall.  Find out about a day in the life of a Saxon Nun.  Recreate some prayers nuns may have used. Look carefully on the north and south side where these three bays  Find out about a Benedictine order of nuns. meet the older rounded arches, they do not fit properly – the new  Create your own “life of a nun” for the 21st century. arches had to be cut short to meet the old ones. This was because they started at the west end and worked back to the existing building. They didn’t measure carefully enough and missed!

 Investigate how arches work. o Do the stones have to be a particular shape? o What is a key stone? o What stops the arch collapsing when a load is applied on top?  How did the Normans build arches this big and this high up?

Education 60 Minute Guide Nov 2019