Itm payd to a carrman for ye cariage of yt fro Southwark unto ye Bull in Bishops gate streat vjd Itm payd to Cutche for his labour wth his horse and cart to bringe from Goramburye to Cambridge the pece of tutch stone wch my Ladye Bacon hath gyven vnto this woorke xxiijs. iiijd Itm payd for a sawe made of purpose to cutt ye sayd tutch iiijs xvijs. ixď XS stone Itm payd for ye expenses of one [in riding] to London to chuse and bye ye foresayd Sussex marble Itm for 2 tun of welden stone Itm payd to Tho. Hobson ye cariar for cariage of ye Sussex marble from London to Cambridg [into ye Colledge, yt weinge 8 C at 25 ye C in toto [Item for a great marble ston from Ely Item [pd to John Martin] for ye working of a marble stone It for ye paving [with freston ashler] before ye dore xvis] vjs viijd] VS xxxiijs iiijd ls xxd xd]" It may be conjectured that the Weldon oolite would be used for the plinth, and general structure of the porch; the Sussex marble for the pillars; the clunch for the ornamental scrolls at the top; and the "touch-stone," which perhaps was only a piece of black marble, for the shields on which the coats-of-arms were carved. In the centre were those of Sir Nicholas Bacon, quartering Quaplode; and on the tablet beneath, in gilt letters: HONORATISS . DS. NICOLAVS BACON EXTRVXIT. The shield on the right bore the same arms impaling Fernley, his first wife, with the crests of Bacon and Fernley above; the shield on the left the same again, impaling Cooke, his second wife, with the crests of Bacon and Cooke above. On the tablets beneath the shields were the following inscriptions: The intrinsic beauty of this porch, and the historic interest attaching to it, did not however avail to preserve it, or indeed any portion of it, from destruction, when in 1823 Mr Wilkins succeeded, not without difficulty, in persuading the Society to authorize the destruction of their ancient Chapel.] Immediately after the Restoration, Dr Wilford being Master (1661-1667), "a diligent search was made after the Consecration of the Chapel," which was to have been performed when several others were consecrated by Archbishop Laud about 16361. But as no instrument of it could be found, the Bishop of Ely performed the ceremony, Sep. 21, 1662. On this occasion an organ was bought by the Master, and Dr Laurence Womock (afterwards Bishop of S. David's); and the hangings and rails about the Altar were put up. In 1694, a legacy of £50 from Dr Spencer (Master, 1667-1693) was laid out upon a pavement*; and about 1742 a gift of £100 by Sir Jacob Astley was bestowed, in the words of Masters", "upon a new Altar-piece and wainscotting the upper end, according to a Plan of that ingenious Architect James Burrough Esq, President of Gonvile and Caius College. The windows were then entirely new glazed, the Organ taken down, and the whole fitted up with great neatness and elegance." Other changes, and the general appearance of it at this time, are described by Cole", whose account is dated August 27, 1744: "For an Account of this antient College see ye printed Books that treat abt it... I purposing only to take an acct of ye prest Antiquities in ye Chappel, wch indeed are very few: ye College having quite new glased and wainscoted ye Chapel, and put a new and elegant Altar Peice of carv'd Oak supported by two large Corinthian Pillars, and in ye middle a Pannell of crimson Velvet in a gilt Frame: with new Rails, and on 1 Masters, 160. 2 [The Act of Consecration has been preserved by Cole (Add. MSS. Mus. Brit. 5808) and by Baker, MSS. vi. 28. The Bishop states that the Chapel had been built 80 years before, and that it was the desire of the College "ab usibus quibuscunque communibus et profanis prorsus separare, atque in vsus solummodo sacros ac divinos consecrare et dedicare." These words imply that it had hitherto been the custom to use the Chapel for other purposes than those of divine service.] 3 Masters, 161. + [Cole says; "Several of ye Masters of this College have been buried in ye Chapel; but upon y° new paving...their Monuments, if they had any, were removed..."] 5 Masters, 210. 6 [MSS. Cole, Parochial Antiq. of Cambridgeshire, vi. 20. Add. MSS. Mus. Brit. 5807.1 two Steps: ye old Altar Peice is removed to Wilbraham Church, belonging to this College. The Stalls are old, but ye Wainscote above them all round ye N & S and E sides of ye Chapel is new: but ye Wainscote of ye W. Part is old, wth 4 small Pillars between ye 3 Stalls on each side of ye Door for ye Master and 2 Fellows on one side, and ye President and 2 others on ye N. side;...ye S. Door into ye Antichapel...is a very handsome one wth Pillars and other Ornaments in Stone.... Proceed we now into ye Chapel: and 1st over ye Door are 3 Coats of Arms carved in ye Wainscote: that nearest ye Master's Stall has 16 Quarterings for Manners Duke of Rutland...The 2d Coat belongs to ye College, and is exactly over ye Door in ye middle...On ye other side near ye President's Stall is only one Coat...for Jegon, who was Master of ye College I suppose when this Part of ye Chapel was wainscoted; viz. ye Latter End of ye 16th or Beginning of ye 17th Century, for there was two Masters who succeded one another of ye name of Jegon'. Over these Arms about a year ago was a neat small Organ wch projected a little into ye Chapel; which, at ye new fitting up of ye same, as it had for some time been useless and out of repair, it was, by ye Society, judg'd rather an Eyesore than an Ornament; for wch reason it was taken quite away, and ye Place where it stood filled up: in ye same manner a very handsome brass Eagle wch stood in ye midst of ye Chapel and on wch was used to be read ye 1st and 2nd Lesson, as it stood in ye Way of ye new Altar-peice, was within these few days removed entirely away and laid up in a Lumber Place'. In ye N Wall by ye side of y* Altar is a neat Stone projecting Window out of ye Master's Gallery, for him to overlook if he should not be at Chapel, or indisposed. The Chapel is entirely paved wth handsome Squares of freestone wth small squares of black Marble at ye Corners. The Windows are all new glased; & ye old Glass Coats of Arms wch formerly were in ye Chapel, are all now removed into ye Hall.... On ye Ceiling..., wch is very handsomly decorated, are 4 large Sheilds in ye middle of it, wth abt 38 Coats in each, but being so high and fill'd up with ye Whitening, I could not easily distinguish them particularly... The Antichapel is paved with free Stone in Squares..." The ceiling was flat, with pendants and intersecting curved lines in plaster, after the manner of the ceiling in Nevile's great room at Trinity Lodge, which was wrought about the same time. The bosses of the pendants appear to have been identical with those at Trinity, but the ribs from which they 1 [Blomefield decides that they were the Arms of John Jegon, Master 1590-1602.] 2 [This Eagle had been given by a Mr Hawshead of Malton. The following extracts from the Accounts refer to it. Compare Masters, p. 209. "For ye hire of 2 horses to ride to Malton to speak with Mr Hawshead for ye Eagle xviijd. Item to George the goldsmith for making v newe claws to the Eagle, and for sothering on a pece of brass to the wing therof vjs. vjd."] proceeded were curved downwards, so as to suspend them at a considerable distance below the general level of the ceiling. In Trinity Lodge the bosses are attached immediately to the ceiling, which is coved at its junction with the side walls'. When the New Court was built in 1823, the Fellows proposed to retain this Chapel, extending it eastward. As the plan shews, it would have projected some twenty feet into the New Court at a distance of about eight feet to the south of the centre-an eccentricity of position which would have given occasion for a picturesque and characteristic effect in the hands of a genuine medieval architect. Wilkins, however, was possessed with a spirit of symmetrical arrangement, and the historical monument was sacrificed thereto. The present Chapel, the same in dimensions as the old one, was built with its gable exactly in the middle of the eastern range of chambers, and in tame continuation of the line of wall on either side. [The original stall-work was retained, except the canopies at the west end, four of which are now in the hall of the Master's Lodge. The fate of the rest is unknown. In 1870 the Chapel was lengthened eastward, as far as the extent of the ground would permit, under the direction of A. W. Blomfield, Esq., Architect.] CHAPTER VI. PLANS FOR PROVIDING ADDITIONAL ACCOMMODATION. THE NEW COURT. THE foundation, in the reign of Elizabeth, of additional Scholarships and Fellowships, with special chambers assigned to those who held them, had completely filled the Old Court, notwithstanding the additional space obtained by the construction of garrets, as described in the second chapter; and the College was therefore unable to accommodate any "external students," as Josselin terms them, or as we should now say, 1 [A portion of this ceiling is figured in the History of Trinity College.] "pensioners." It has been already related how, in order to diminish this inconvenience to some slight extent, the Tennis-court was fitted up in 1569, so as to contain six sets of rooms, after which it was called "The Pensionary" (F, fig. 4), and in 1578, a license to appropriate the Rectory of S. Benedict having been granted by the Bishop of Ely, the Rectory House, which was in contiguity with the north side of the quadrangle, was taken into the College, and fitted up for chambers, and a Porter's Lodge. In the petition from the College to the Bishop, praying him to grant the appropriation, it is alleged among other reasons that certain buildings belonging to the Parish Church are in contiguity with those belonging to the College, and are exceedingly necessary for them; that the deficiency of chambers. is so great that many students admitted to the College have to be sent away again, and others who desire to come refused, to the great disadvantage of the College; for otherwise more persons would have to be lodged in each chamber than can be safely allowed, for fear of infectious disease, which at this time so frequently breaks out in Cambridge3. A new quadrangle had been contemplated as early as 1624, as we learn from the magnanimous resolution of the Master and Seniors in that year which has been already quoted in the first chapter. Nothing however was done at that time, either in the way of suggesting a plan, or of collecting subscriptions. A ground-plan is prefixed to the history of the College by the Rev. Robert Masters, of which the first part was published in 1753. [This plan, however, had been drawn in December, 1747, and was probably circulated at that time, or shortly afterwards, for in September 1748, James Essex set forth his claims to be its real author by issuing the following advertisement, dated "Cambridge, Sept. 20, 1748;" 1 [Josselin, § 73. "Ut magister et socii existentes grata recordatione prosequantur aliquot exteros studiosos qui continuo in eo collegio versari cupiant."] 2 * John Raysom, one of the first fellows appointed, afterwards Rector of S. Benedict for 30 years, bequeathed this house to the College in 1382, for the use of his successors in the Rectory. Masters, 31. 3 The documents relating to this appropriation are copied by Baker, MSS. xxx. 162. [The distribution of the chambers will be seen from a plan of the Old Court, preserved in the College Library (Miscell. Letters, etc., No. 138), and printed to illustrate the edition of Josselin referred to above.] |