Thorney Tales (16) College Hall, Westminster Abbey / School

 

One of the least visited parts of Thorney Island is the College Hall of Westminster School. This is because during the day it is a full time dining room for the pupils and outside of term time it reverts to the Dean of Westminster as part of his dwelling. And not without reason because this used to be the medieval dining hall of former abbots of the Abbey. It is claimed to be “ the most perfect, indeed only almost complete mediaeval house existing in London“. It is not be confused with the much bigger - and less attractive - School Hall visited by TTIS members recently where, among other things, the annual pancake “Greaze’ takes place.

The structure of College Hall is largely unchanged from medieval times and the oak roof immediately recalls an Oxford or Cambridge college. The windows have been replaced but shards of the original 1376 stained glass can be seen at the arched top of two of the windows. There used to be an open fire in the middle of the hall through which junior Scholars were made to jump through as a rite of passage. You can still see the aperture in the roof through which the smoke would escape. 
 
The hall, which is not open to the public, is accessed from a private courtyard near the entrance to the cloisters and has been in continuous use since it was constructed by the free spending Abbot Litlyngton who also built the Jerusalem Chamber (where Henty lV died) in the early 1370s. 
Queen Elizabeth l visited the hall on several occasions to hear the annual Latin play which her own statutes for the school had laid down.
It was in this hall that another Elizabeth - Elizabeth Woodville, Edward IV’s Queen - twice claimed the ancient right of sanctuary when her life and that of her family were threatened. On the second occasion she was with her five daughters and second son, Richard, the Duke of York trying to escape the wrath of Richard lll when things turned nasty. See our earlier post https://tinyurl.com/y7spbo66
 
The right of sanctuary in the area immediately around the Abbey was so ingrained that even a ruthless king like Richard dare not abuse it. One of the celebrated people to take advantge of it was the poet John Skelton sometime tutor to the young Henry Vlll who composed sycophantic verses for royalty and noblemen. But he could also be acerbic and when he turned his satirical pen on the over-indulgent lifestye of his former patron Cardinal Wolsey it was a step too far. He sought refuge in the Sanctuary at Westminster to avoid being sent to prison by the Cardinal and spent the rest of his life there. 
 
The hall is believed to be the oldest regularly used dining room in London. Although it iis difficult to visit it, the outside wall is visible above the gift shop adjacent to the western entrance to the Abbey. The building peeping above the shop to the left is the Jerusalem Chamber and to the right is College Hall.
 
 

Visit to The Church House - August 2018

 

We were privileged to be taken on the first ever official tour of The Church House, Westminster, the headquarters of the Anglican church - temporal and spiritual, which sits proudly between Dean’s Yard and Great Smith Street.

We soon learned of a special link between us as when Church House acquired buildings on the Abbey side of Great Smith Street to build their new HQ, they demolished the public library and moved it to the other side of the road. This is the 1893 public library that was saved by a campaign group in 1985 which then became The Thorney Island Society.

Our host, Chris Palmer, chief executive of The Church House, gave us a fascinating tour of the building, starting on the outside, where Tufton Street meets Great College Street, he pointed out the equisite flintwork of the building.  Amongst the flints were notched stones from a pile of 14th century stones found in the Abbey ditch when the nearby gatehouse was excavated. Some stones also contained traces of fossils and builders’s personal trade marks.  I was lucky enough to also view in the basement almost immediately beneath the wall, remains of a pillar in situ believed to be part of the ancient gatehouse leading onto Thorney Island and dating back to the 14th century.  At first glance you would miss the intriguing images within the flint, a dove to represent the name of the builders and a partridge for a dignitary of that name, a cottage loaf, an eye, a wheel, an 'N' and there must be more !

 

Our visit took in the beautiful oak and marble (sourced from all over the UK) chapel to the large circular hall which has held over 600 people and survived a bomb during the Second World War so well that Churchill took it over as an alternative site for the House of Commons.  It was here that the first meeting of the United Nations took place after the war, the preliminary meetings prior to the Nuremburg War Trials and where numerous inquiries have been held including the Brixton Riots, the Kings Cross Fire and leaks of information from the Bank of England.  It now uses some of the most modern hi-tec audio-visual equipment for global and local conferences amit beautiful plaster icons on the walls representing Anglican communities around the world.

We are very grateful to Chris Palmer for this memorable visit.

 

 Visit to The Church House - August 2018

"The Devil's Acre before Peabody" Talk - August 2018

London historian Victor Keegan told the extraordinary story of how Old Pye Street, Westminster and its surrounds (seen here in Gustave Doré’s etching) - were so depraved that Dickens dubbed them The Devil’s Acre.  Following his own recent research, Victor compared old etchings and drawings to some of the buildings and streets we know so well. A fascinating snapshot of extreme poverty and the change that George Peabody and others contributed to the area.

 

 

Visits to Westminster School - July 2018

Our visit to Westminster School proved so popular we had to split it into two. There was so much to see, such as the huge hall, known simply as 'School' which was once the monk’s dormitory and Headmaster Dr Busby's Library.  The highlight though was Ashburnham House, a building teeming with history. Once the London home of the Earls of Ashburnham, it was acquired by the school in 1882. 

You get a hint of its past as you go through the front door and see a picture of Elizabeth I, a patron of the school, on the wall. This is a copy but the original is in the Headmasters study – so pupils would have to commit serious misdemeanours to see it. These days Ashburnham houses activities like IT and mathematics but it once contained the unique Cotton Library built up by the redoubtable Sir Robert Cotton from books he rescued from monasteries after the Dissolution. Some were lost during a fire here in 1731 but three quarters were rescued and became the basis of today’s British Library. 

But the gem of the place is the small garden where you can still see the original wall of the monk’s refectory which has a strong claim to be the origin of Parliament because it was the site of some of the earliest meetings of what became the House of Commons. The lawn would have been the floor of the refectory. The building on the left, somewhat bizarrely houses several Fives courts of recent origin. We are most grateful to Elizabeth Wells, Archivist of the school for giving us a fascinating tour. 
 
 
 
The wall of the monastic refectory - the origin of Parliament
 

Purcell Musical Tour of Westminster Abbey - June 2018

With thanks to the Purcell Club singers, prodominantly members of the Westminster Abbey Old Chorister's Association, for a wonderful evening of music and history.  We have already put our name down on the waiting list to go again in 4 years time ! 

 

 

Proposals for Christchurch Gardens, Victoria Street - June 2018

If you missed the public exhibition of the plans, you may view the exhibition boards and make comment CLICK HERE

 

Reception to mark the opening of The Queen's Jubilee Galleries, Westminster Abbey - June 2018

‘It’s not every day you get to add a new tower to Westminster Abbey.'  So said the Dean as he urged guests to climb up to the new triforium galleries, seven stories above the nave at a reception to mark their completion.  The lift shaft is clad with 17 different stones with each band representing the type of stone used in the Abbey over the years. From pinkish Purbeck Marble in 1000 to Clipsham in 1900.  A geological tour de force.

What is extraordinary and wonderful about the galleries is the view of the glorious vaulted ceiling and down onto the nave 16 metres below with light streaming through the west door providing a glimpse of the busy world outside.

In the ‘Abbey Attic’ visitors step over and under ancient diagonal oak beams and rafters, thrilling in itself.  The sight-lines across and through the galleries are positively an invitation to explore the views out to Parliament Square and the Palace of Westminster.  In the galleries themselves over 300 objects from the Abbey’s collection are presented in four sections: Building Westminster Abbey, Worship and Daily Life, Westminster Abbey and the Monarchy, The Abbey and National Memory.

There are swords and shields, corbel heads and graffiti, memorials and wall monuments.  Funeral effigies of Kings and Queens, side by side which are quite unnerving. Queen Elizabeth I’s corset made of fustian, whalebone and leather gives a rather jarring jolt.  Carved Caen stone sculpture, possibly of Abbot John Islip is a reminder of the street names of Thorney Island.... and back down to earth.

We are in the process of arranging a tour of the galleries for Members and guests in September. 

The Queen's Jubilee Galleries, Westminster Abbey - June 2018

 

Thorney Island Sources Tour of Westminster Archives - June 2018

Gathering in what was the old wash-house, adjacent to what were the Great Smith Street public baths, we were introduced to the building. Opened in 1995 and housing Westminster's parish, council, church, school and business records, some dating back to the 1450's, they are still accepting items of importance.  With the resurgence in interest, via the Find My Past website, visitors most popular searches are the records of Births, Marriages and Deaths, the Adoption Indexes, Electoral Registers and Censuses. Particular building searches are also popular although most of the original planning records did not survive the LCC clear-out, but Victorian surveyors added drainage details to plans and these can be viewed for thousands of properties.  They have some 7,000 digitised images which can be accessed via their online catalogue WestCat and cabinets full of microfiche and an extensive library.

We first visited the busy Conservation Studio, where work was underway cleaning old maps delicately with special rubbers, carefully removing crumbling mounts and remounting on handmade Japaneese acid-free paper.  The Studio and volunteers had just finished restoring what is the largest public collection of Victorian West End theatre programmes.

Then we were treated to a special selection of Thorney Island material in the Search Room.  Maps, watercolours, etchings, books, photographs and plans.  What a treat and we spent a good amount of time studying closely these fascinating items.  We finished our tour in the Strong Rooms and were shown the oldest item in the Archives, a Henry III Charter of 1256, granting "...the Abbey of Westminster a weekly market every Monday in Tothill, and an annual fair for 3 days...". 

Many thanks to the staff of the Archives for their time, enthusiasm, knowledge and this very special tour.

Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Henry III 1256

Millbank Street before Victoria Tower Gardens c1863

Faithhorne Map 1658

Bomb damage to Old Pye Street and St Matthew's Street 1940

Grant of Arms to the City of Westminster 1601

View of Millbank and Vauxhall Bridge from the Horseferry on the Lambeth shore

Tour of Westminster Archives - June 2018

 

St James's Park Tree Walk - May 2018

Walking through Saint James’s Park will never be quite the same again after an illuminating session with Royal Parks Arboriculturist Greg Packman who extolled the secrets of many trees we have been walking past for years without really noticing. 

He started off with a Judas tree near the war memorial in front of Horse Guards Parade. It is a lovely looking tree with beautiful crimson flowers and we were amazed to learn that botanically it is part of the Pea family and in Asia is pollinated by bats.

Next, a bit further down in front of Duck Island was the sprawling Medlar which arrived with the Romans. It looks as though it is hundreds of years old but turns out to be as young as 60 years. It looks as though it is on its last legs but there is a younger one nearby if anything happens to it.

Among other specimens which stood out were a Caucasian Wing Nut tree. Its leaves make you think it is an Ash but actually it’s a member of the Walnut family. We were intrigued by the Weeping Beech on the southern side of the bridge by the lake which is only weeping because of a past mutation or graft. If you planted seeds from it they would grow up straight but any cuttings would produce a similar Weeping Beech.
 
We were delighted that a maximum of 21 people attended and we are very grateful to Greg who has kindly offered to do further walks for us in future. One option would be The Green Park which he says is much more interesting than it seems at first sight. We will look forward to that and, hopefully, many other walks in future.
 
In the shade of a Weeping Beech

Visit to the Institution of Civil Engineers - May 2018

We had an enjoyable visit to the handsome Institution of Civil Engineers at 1 Great George Street. This year they are celebrating the two hundredth anniversary of their founding, by eight civil (as opposed to military) engineers at Kendall’s coffee house in Fleet Street. As the Institution grew they moved premises several times. The last move, which was caused by the demolition of their building for the construction of the present Treasury Building, was across Great George Street, where the present stone-clad building was completed in 1913, incorporating the very fine wooden panelling from their old headquarters, only finished in 1986.

We were lucky to be able to see all the ground floor rooms, in which the earlier panelling was installed. These are often used for conferences, and are each called after a distinguished early engineer and feature many portraits of past presidents – there were many familiar names: Brunel, Stephenson and Telford among them. We then proceeded up the magnificent stairs to the first floor, where there is a lecture theatre and a very sumptuous reception room, previously used for engineering examinations and their annual ball, as well as the old library in which the Institution puts on exhibitions open to the public. We were also taken upstairs to their excellent modern library, which is much used by their 90,000 members.

On the way the portrait of a past president was pointed out: Mr Brodie, who was president from 1920 to 21 and solved the problem of disputes over whether football goals had been scored or not, by proposing the attachment of nets to the back of goals! A good example of the wide-ranging problem-solving that engineers are trained for.

The main entrance, staircase and exhibition room are open to the general public, Monday to Friday and are well worth a visit, especially to view their bi-centenial "Invisible Superheroes" exhibition. 

 

 

  1. Unveiling of Millicent Fawcett Statue in Parliament Square - April 2018
  2. Visit to Watts & Co, Ecclesiastical Furnishers & Outfitters - April 2018
  3. Broadway & Carteret Street
  4. Spring 2018 Newsletter

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