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Bath Abbey

Coordinates: 51°22′51″N 2°21′33″W / 51.38083°N 2.35917°W / 51.38083; -2.35917
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The Abbey Church of Saint Peter, Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican parish church and a former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, reorganised in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries, it is now one of the largest examples of Perpendicular Gothic architecture in the West Country.

It is a listed building, cruciform in plan, and seats around 1,200 people. It is used for religious services, secular civic ceremonies and lectures.[1] The building contains monuments to several notable people.

In 1999 it celebrated its five hundredth anniversary.[2] It contains several organs and a ring of ten bells, and its choirs have issued recordings and been broadcast by the BBC.

History

Early history

In 675 Osric, King of the Hwicce, granted the Abbess Berta 100 hides near Bath for the establishment of a convent. This religious house later became a monastery under the patronage of the Bishop of Worcester. King Offa of Mercia successfully wrested "that most famous monastery at Bath"[3] from the bishop in 781. William of Malmesbury tells that Offa rebuilt the monastic church to such a standard that King Edwy was compelled to describe it as being "marvellously built".[3] Monasticism in England had lapsed by that time: Edwy's brother Edgar (who was crowned "King of the English" at the Abbey in 973) began its revival on his accession to the throne in 959. He encouraged monks to adopt the Rule of St Benedict, which was introduced at Bath under Abbot Ælfheah (St. Alphege).

The Middle Ages

Following the death of William the Conqueror in 1087, Bath was ravaged in the struggle for power between his sons. The victor, William Rufus, granted the city to a royal physician, John of Tours, who became Bishop of Wells and Abbot of Bath.[4] Permission was given at this time to move the see of Somerset from Wells — a comparatively small settlement — to the then walled city of Bath.[5] This was effected in 1090. John therefore became the first Bishop of Bath and St Peter's was raised to cathedral status. Since the roles of bishop and abbot had been combined, from then on the monastery was run by its prior, and so became a priory. John of Tours planned a new cathedral on a grand scale, dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, but only the ambulatory was complete when he died in December 1122,[4] and he was buried in the cathedral.[6]

The half-finished cathedral was devastated by fire in 1137, but work continued and was completed by about 1156: when finished, the building was about 330 feet (100.6 m) long.

Joint cathedral status was awarded by Pope Innocent IV to Bath and Wells in 1245: Roger of Salisbury became the first Bishop of Bath and Wells at this time, having been Bishop of Bath for a year previously. However, later bishops preferred Wells, the canons of which had successfully petitioned various Popes down the years for Wells to regain cathedral status. Bath Cathedral gradually fell into disrepair.

When Oliver King, Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1495 to 1503, visited Bath in 1499 he was shocked to find this famous church in ruins. He took a year to consider what to do about it. He wrote to the Prior of Bath in October 1500 to explain that a large amount of the priory income would be dedicated to rebuilding the cathedral. Work probably began the following spring. Bishop King planned a smaller church, covering the area of the Norman nave only. He did not live to see the result, completion being reached just a few years before the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539.

The Reformation and subsequent decline

Prior Holloway surrendered Bath Priory to the Crown in January 1539. The church was stripped of lead, iron and glass and left to rot. Rescued a generation later by the citizens of Bath, its restoration to serve as the grand parish church of Bath was promoted by Queen Elizabeth I from 1574, who ordered a national fund to be set up to restore the abbey.[7] James Montague was Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1608 until 1616, during which time he paid £1000 for a new nave roof of timber lath construction. He is buried in an alabaster tomb in the North aisle.

Modern renaissance

Major restoration work was carried out by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the 1860s, funded by Rector, Charles Kemble. This included the installation of fan vaulting in the nave. However, this was not merely a fanciful aesthetic addition, but a completion of the original design. Bishop King had arranged for the vaulting of the choir, to a design by William and Robert Vertue. There are clues in the stonework that King intended the vaulting to continue into the nave, but that this plan was abandoned, probably for reasons of cost.

The Abbey today is a grade I listed building and is an active place of worship with hundreds of congregation members and hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. 20th and 21st century work on the Abbey has included a full cleaning of the stonework and reconstruction of the pipe organ by Klais Orgelbau of Bonn.

Architecture

First building

Little is known about the first building on this site: it is credible to suggest that, given the town's origins, it was built on the site of some form of pagan temple. King Edwy described it as being "marvellously built".

Norman church

With the elevation of the Abbey to Cathedral status in 1090, it was felt that a larger, more up-to-date building was required. The ambulatory was completed by the time of Bishop John's death in 1122. Work was set back by a fire in 1137, but was completed by about 1156. The existence of an ambulatory suggests a very large building, on a par with Durham Cathedral. This noble edifice, much larger than the current structure, fell into such disrepair following the removal of the See to Wells in 1245 that nothing of it could be preserved by the time rebuilding work started in 1500.

Gothic church

Rebuilding work started in 1500, but not completed until 1609.[8] The new church was not to be as large an edifice as its predecessor, as the Abbey, having been stripped of its status as cathedral, was not required to have such space. The new church is not a typical example of the Perpendicular form of Gothic architecture: the low aisles and nave arcades and the very tall clerestory present the opposite balance to that which was usual in Perpendicular churches. However, as this building was to serve as a monastic church, it was built to a cruciform plan, which had become relatively rare in parish churches of the time. The interior contains fine fan vaulting by Robert and William Vertue, who designed similar vaulting in the Henry VII chapel, at Westminster Abbey. The building has 52 windows that fill about 80% of the building's wall space,[9] giving the interior an impression of lightness, reflecting the different attitudes towards churchmanship shown by the clergy of the time and those of the 12th Century. The stained glass windows at the East End depict 56 scenes in the life of Christ. The church again fell into neglect following the Reformation, but was restored and completed with the addition of the fan-vaulting in the nave in the 1860s. Prior to this, the great medieval rood screen had been removed, with similarly disastrous effects as those caused at Durham Cathedral around the same time.

Monuments

The Abbey is home to several notable memorials including some dedicated to Beau Nash, Admiral Arthur Phillip, Isaac Pitman, James Montague — Bishop of Bath and Wells — and William Bingham.

Music

Main organ

The first mention of an organ in the Abbey dates to 1634: of this instrument, however, nothing is known. The first properly recorded organ in Bath Abbey was built by Abraham Jordan in 1708 on a new gallery installed in place of the medieval rood screen: it was modified in 1718 and 1739 by Jordan's son. The specification recorded in 1800 was one of twenty stops spread over three manuals.[10] The compasses of the manuals were extended, one and a half octaves of pedals were added and the instrument renovated in 1802 by John Holland: further repairs were effected by Flight & Robson in 1826.[3] This instrument was removed first to the Bishop's Palace at Wells in 1836,[11] then to St Mary's Church, Yatton, where it was later rebuilt out of all recognition.[12]

The next organ in the Abbey was built in 1836 by John Smith of Bristol to a specification of thirty stops over three manuals and pedals.[13] This instrument was rebuilt on a new gallery in the North Transept by William Hill & Son of London in 1868 to a specification of forty stops spread over four manuals and pedals, although the Solo department, which would have brought the total well over forty, was only prepared for.[14] It was to have but a short life in the Abbey, being mostly removed to the Church of St Peter & St Paul, Cromer in 1896, the remainder being kept for incorporation in the new Abbey organ.[15]

A new organ was supplied to the Abbey in 1895 by Norman & Beard of Norwich: it had 52 stops spread over four manuals and pedals:[16] it stood divided on two steel beams in the North and South crossing arches, with the console standing on the floor next to the north-west pier of the crossing: new cases were to be provided to designs by Brian Oliver of Bath, but were never executed.[3] Norman & Beard re-erected it in a new case designed by Sir Thomas Jackson in the North Transept in 1914, with the addition of two stops to the Pedal:[3] it was again rebuilt by them in 1930, then by Hill, Norman and Beard in 1948, which brought the number of stops to 58,[17]then in 1972: this brought the instrument to a total of 65 speaking stops. The Positive division, with its separate case behind the console, was installed at this time. Problems caused by the tonal scheme's lack of coherence - the 1895 pipework contrasting greatly with that of 1972 - and with reliability, caused by the wide variety of different types of key actions, all difficult to access, led to the decision to have the instrument rebuilt yet again.

The organ was totally reconstructed in 1997 by Klais Orgelbau of Bonn, retaining the existing instrument as far as was possible and restoring it largely to 1895 condition, although the Positive division was kept.[18] The instrument as it now stands has 63 speaking stops over four manuals and pedals.[19] The instrument is built largely on the Werkprinzip principle of organ layout, i.e. the case being only one department deep, the only exception being that parts of the Pedal are sited at the back and not the sides of the case. New 75% tin front pipes were made and the case completed with back, side walls and roof: pierced panelling executed by Derek Riley of Lyndale Woodcarving in Saxmundham, Suffolk, was provided to allow sound egress from the bottom of the case. The old console has been retained but thoroughly rebuilt with modern accessories and all-new manuals. 22 out of 83 ranks in the organ contain some pipework from the 1868 instrument. Four ranks are made up entirely of 1868 pipework. 21 ranks contain 1895 pipework. Only two ranks are entirely of 1895. 48 ranks contain some new pipework: 34 of these are entirely new. Old wind pressures have been used wherever possible. The old wind reservoirs have also been restored rather than replaced. The instrument has tracker key action on the manuals, with electrically assisted tracker action to the pedals. The stop action is electric throughout.

Continuo organ

A four-stop continuo organ was built for the Abbey in 1999 by Northampton-based organ builder Kenneth Tickell.[20] The instrument, contained in a case of dark oak, is portable: it can be tuned to three pitches, A=440 Hz (modern concert pitch), A=415 Hz and A=486 Hz. A lever pedal can reduce the stops sounding to only the 8' stop and, when released, returns the organ to the registration in use before it was depressed. A page about similar instruments on the builder's website can be found here.

Choir

The Choir have broadcast Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3[21] and have made several recordings. They performed at the Three Tenors concert for the opening of the Thermae Bath Spa.

Bells

In 1700 the old ring of six bells were replaced by a complete ring of eight. All but the tenor still survive. In 1770 two lighter bells were added to create the first ring of ten bells in the diocese. The tenor was recast in 1870.[22]

The Abbey's tower is now home to a ring of ten bells, which are, unusually, hung so that the order of the bells from highest to lowest runs anti-clockwise around the ringing chamber: the tenor weighs 33 cwt (3,721 lb or 1,688 kg).[23] Bath is a noted centre of change ringing in the West Country.

  • The West Front
    The West Front
  • The West Front
    The West Front
  • The West Front
    The West Front
  • The West Front
    The West Front
  • Details of the angels climbing - and, in the case of one, falling down - the ladder to Heaven on the West Front
    Details of the angels climbing - and, in the case of one, falling down - the ladder to Heaven on the West Front
  • The Abbey seen from the Roman Baths
    The Abbey seen from the Roman Baths
  • The Abbey seen from the former cloister
    The Abbey seen from the former cloister
  • The Abbey seen from Beechen Cliff
    The Abbey seen from Beechen Cliff
  • The view from the East
    The view from the East
  • The North side of the Abbey
    The North side of the Abbey
  • The Nave, looking West
    The Nave, looking West
  • The Nave, looking East
    The Nave, looking East

References

  1. ^ "Bath Abbey". Bath Abbey. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
  2. ^ "Bath Abbey". Beehive. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Bath Abbey". Robert Poliquin's Music and Musicians. Quebec University. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  4. ^ a b Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p. 205
  5. ^ Barlow William Rufus p.182.
  6. ^ British History Online Bishops of Bath accessed on September 23, 2007
  7. ^ "Bath Abbey". Fromers Guide. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
  8. ^ "Abbey Church". Images of England. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
  9. ^ "Bath Abbey". Sacred destinations. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
  10. ^ "Bath Abbey: The Jordan organ". The National Pipe Organ Register. Cambridge University. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  11. ^ "The Bishop's Palace, Wells". The National Pipe Organ Register. Cambridge University. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  12. ^ "Saint Mary the Virgin, Yatton". The National Pipe Organ Register. Cambridge University. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  13. ^ "Bath Abbey: The Smith of Bristol organ". The National Pipe Organ Register. Cambridge University. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  14. ^ "Bath Abbey: The Hill organ". The National Pipe Organ Register. Cambridge University. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  15. ^ "Cromer Parish Church". The National Pipe Organ Register. Cambridge University. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  16. ^ "Bath Abbey: The Norman & Beard organ". The National Pipe Organ Register. Cambridge University. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  17. ^ "Bath Abbey: The Hill, Norman & Beard organ". The National Pipe Organ Register. Cambridge University. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  18. ^ "Bath Abbey: The Klais organ". The National Pipe Organ Register. Cambridge University. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  19. ^ "Klais Orgelbau: Bath Abbey". Klais Orgelbau. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  20. ^ "The National Pipe Organ Register - Bath Abbey: The Tickell continuo organ". The National Pipe Organ Register. Cambridge University. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
  21. ^ "Choral Evensong from Bath Abbey". BBC Radio 3 webpages. BBC Online. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
  22. ^ "Bells on Sunday". Bells on Sunday. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
  23. ^ "Dove's Guide - Bath Abbey". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 2007-09-18.
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51°22′51″N 2°21′33″W / 51.38083°N 2.35917°W / 51.38083; -2.35917

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