Table Of ContentWESTMINSTER
The Art, Architecture and
Archaeology of the
Royal Abbey and Palace
General Editor Helen Lunnon
Plan A. Plan of Westminster Abbey, drawn in 1921. Adapted from RCHME, An Inventory of the
Historical Monuments in London, I: Westminster Abbey (London 1924)
WESTMINSTER
I. The Art, Architecture and
Archaeology of the
Royal Abbey
Edited by
Warwick Rodwell and Tim Tatton-Brown
The British Archaeological Association
Conference Transactions XXXIX, Part I
The Association is very grateful to the Palace of Westminster
for a generous grant towards the cost of publishing this volume.
The Art, Architecture and Archaeology of the Royal Abbey
is dedicated to Barbara Harvey.
Cover illustration: Westminster Abbey:
the south side of the nave viewed from the cloister
#ChristopherWilson
ISBN Hardback 978-1-910887-25-7
ISBN Paperback 978-1-910887-24-0
Parts I and II
ISBN Hardback 978-1-910887-29-5
ISBN Paperback 978-1-910887-28-8
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Contents
page
List of Abbrevations vii
Preface viii
The Medieval and Early Tudor Topography of Westminster
tim tatton-brown 1
‘A Fine and Private Place’: The Sarcophagus of Valerius Amandinus and the Origins of
Roman Westminster
martin henig 23
The Archaeology of Westminster Abbey: An Historiographical Overview
warwick rodwell 34
Edward the Confessor’s Church at Westminster: An Alternative View
francis woodman 61
The Romanesque Monastic Buildings at Westminster Abbey
stuart harrison and john mcneill 69
Numerical Archaeology: Gleanings from the 1253 Building Accounts of Westminster
Abbey Revisited
a. richard jones 104
The Iconography of Henry III’s Abbey: A Note Towards Elucidation of Themes
pamela tudor-craig 129
The Cosmati Pavements and their Topographical Setting: Addressing the
Archaeological Issues
warwick rodwell 158
Seats, Relics and the Rationale of Images in Westminster Abbey, Henry III to Edward II
paul binski and emily guerry 180
The Polychromy at Westminster Abbey, 1250–1350
helen howard and marie louise sauerberg 205
The Virgin Mary and White Harts Great and Small: The 14th-Century Wall-Paintings in
the Chapel of Our Lady of the Pew and the Muniment Room
jane spooner 262
History and Chronicles at Westminster Abbey, 1250–1450
richard mortimer 291
The Abbey and Palace as Theatres for Coronation
nicola coldstream 301
The New Work: Aspects of the Later Medieval Fabric of Westminster Abbey
tim tatton-brown 312
Sir George Gilbert Scott as Surveyor of Westminster Abbey, 1849–78
steven brindle 325
An Historical Sketch of the North Precinct of Westminster Abbey with Special Reference
to its Prisons
richard foster 353
Westminster School Buildings, 1630–1730
eddie smith 372
Plan B. Enlargement of Plan A showing the presbytery and sanctuary area of
Westminster Abbey
List of Abbreviations
Antiq. J. Antiquaries Journal
Archaeol. J. Archaeological Journal
Art Bull. Art Bulletin
AS All Souls College, Oxford
BAA Trans. British Archaeological Association Transactions
BL British Library, London
BM British Museum, London
CCR Calendar of the Close Rolls
CLR Calendar of the Liberate Rolls
CPR Calendar of the Patent Rolls
CR Close Rolls
JBAA Journal of the British Archaeological Association
L&P J. S. Brewer, J. Gairdner and R. H. Brodie ed., Letters and Papers,
Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, 21 vols (London
1862–1910 and 1920–32)
LMA London Metropolitan Archive
MoLAS Museum of London Archaeology Service
MPW Medieval Palace of Westminster (images forming part of the ‘Medieval
Palace of Westminster Research Project’ funded by the Arts and
Humanities Research Board, currently held by John Crook)
PR Patent Rolls
RCHME Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England
SAL Society of Antiquaries of London
TLAMAS Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society
TNA The National Archives, Kew
VCH Victoria County History
WAM Westminster Abbey Muniments
WCA Westminster City Archives
WS Wren Society
WSA Westminster School Archives
vii
Editors’ Preface
The summer conference of 2013 took place between Saturday 20 and Wednesday
24 July in London, the theme being the Architecture and Archaeology of the Royal
Abbey and Palace of Westminster. Although the Association based its 1984 conference
on the City of London, it had not been to Westminster since 1902. The Lord Mayor of
Westminster was President at that time, and in his inaugural address he mused on the
fact that it had taken the Association fifty-nine years to bring its annual congress to
Westminster, but expressed great satisfaction that it had finally done so in the year of
the coronation of King Edward VII (JBAA, ns, 9 (1903), 2).
After an interval of a further 111 years, holding the Association’s 2013 conference at
Westminster was equally felicitous, falling as it did just six weeks after Her Majesty
The Queen had celebrated the diamond jubilee of her coronation in the Abbey in 1953.
The conference was jointly hosted by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, West
minster School, and the Palace of Westminster. Unlike the 1902 congress, when dele
gates went on excursions around London and the home counties, the 2013 conference
was firmly focused on the Abbey and Palace, but also included Westminster School,
which was established within the monastic precinct and adopted many of its buildings.
The conference was over-subscribed, necessitating a ballot for places. In all, 192
delegates attended, the highest number recorded in the history of the Association.
Twelve scholarships were awarded to students covering the full costs of the conference,
and five scholarships that allowed students to attend lectures but not the site visits. In
total, twenty-five papers were read in Westminster School Hall (formerly the monastic
dormitory).
In the late afternoon of Saturday the conference enjoyed its first visit to the Abbey,
when the chapter-house, Undercroft Museum and Pyx Chamber were open. On Sunday
and Monday delegates split into groups to visit parts of the Abbey not normally
accessible to the public, including the triforium (where the Abbey’s new museum and
gallery is to be established), the Shrine of Edward the Confessor, the Cosmati pavement
in the sanctuary, the Coronation Chair, the chapter-house crypt, St Faith’s Chapel, the
Islip Chapel, the Library, Jerusalem Chamber and College Hall. There were also exten
sive tours of Westminster School and the surviving monastic precincts. Tuesday after
noon took the conference to St Margaret’s Church and the Palace of Westminster,
where on-site presentations were made.
The President’s reception was held in the east walk of the great cloister, while the
Association was also honoured with receptions and dinners in the Abbey cellarium,
College Garden, College Hall and the Members’ Dining Room in the Palace of West
minster, for which we offer grateful thanks to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster,
Westminster School, the House of Commons and English Heritage. The reception in
College Garden, which followed a visit to the Jewel Tower, marked the launch of a
new ‘red guide’ to the Tower, and we are grateful to English Heritage, and to Simon
Thurley, Edward Impey and the guidebook’s author, Jeremy Ashbee, for honouring the
conference with its launch. Holding the conference dinner in the 14th-century College
Hall was an enormous privilege granted by the Dean, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall,
who attended in person and gave a very warm and entertaining speech of welcome.
Lindy Grant, the President, was in attendance throughout the conference, introducing
proceedings and offering eloquent thanks to our various hosts.
viii
Preface
The Association wishes to record its deep gratitude to all those who assisted in the
organization and smooth running of the conference, in the first place, for granting
permission for privileged access to, and use of, buildings which are not normally
available to visiting groups: the Dean and Chapter of Westminster; Dr Stephen Spurr,
Headmaster of Westminster School; and Chris Silcock, School Bursar. Similarly, we
would like to thank David Harrison and Mark Collins, who facilitated access to areas
in the Palace of Westminster. Organizing an event such as this for a large number of
delegates, in the heart of London, at the height of the tourist season, presented un
precedented challenges for the Association, not least on account of the level of security
in force in all three of the hosting institutions. Any number of things could have gone
wrong, but two years of careful planning, patient negotiation and enormous goodwill
from all concerned paid off, and everything ran like clockwork.
The Association is most grateful to the lecturers for sharing the fruits of their
researches, and would also like to thank most warmly the on-site speakers and guides,
without whom the visits would have been much the poorer. Collectively, the volume of
new information and fresh insights that they presented is truly impressive. We are
additionally grateful to everyone for responding to a tight production schedule for
these Transactions. Nearly all the speakers have contributed to the present volume, to
which have been added a further three papers arising from on-site presentations by
Steven Brindle (the New Palace), Martin Henig (the Roman sarcophagus) and Eddie
Smith (the Westminster School buildings). A fourth paper kindly offered by Paul Binski
and Emily Guerry has also been included.
For help in setting up the complex visits to the Abbey, and for assisting more
generally, the Association would like to record its deep gratitude to Ptolemy Dean,
Surveyor of the Fabric; Tony Trowles, Librarian and Head of the Collection; Matthew
Payne, Keeper of the Muniments; Diane Gibbs, Museum Coordinator; Vanessa Simeoni,
Head Conservator; and Marie Louise Sauerberg, Painting Conservator. All made site
presentations. Many other members of staff at Westminster Abbey also helped in
various ways, both in planning the conference and in its day-to-day running. Particular
mention must be made of Sir Stephen Lamport KCVO, Receiver General; Lorraine
Rossdale, Head of Event Management; Alex Anderson, Head Marshal; and Martin
Castledine, Dean’s Verger; and their respective teams. The volunteers responsible for
keeping delegates refreshed with teas, coffees and lunches did sterling work, and the
conference would have seized up without Jenny Freeman, Susan Rigg and Robert
Tatton-Brown. Gareth Hughes also rendered valuable administrative assistance on site.
Ultimately, there are many individuals without whose assistance the conference
would not have run smoothly, but the Association wishes to offer particular thanks to
Kate Davey, conference organizer, and Abigail Wheatley, conference secretary, for
making this such a successful event. They had to weather an exceptionally challenging
conference, both in terms of coping with the varying wishes and needs of the greatest
number of delegates the Association has ever accommodated at a conference, and the
logistics of orchestrating visits to so many places — some of them very restricted — in
three complexes of buildings that lie at the heart of Britain’s royal and ecclesiastical life,
and its seat of government. We are profoundly in their debt.
Finally, the magnitude of the papers resulting from the conference rendered publi
cation in a single volume impracticable, and it was decided that in this instance the
Transactions should be divided into two parts. The papers relating to Westminster
Abbey are contained in Part I, and those relating to the Palace of Westminster in Part II.
ix
