Herkenrode painted glass

Summary.  Flemish, hand-painted glass from Herkenrode Abbey, Belgium, was bought by the cathedral in 1802. The glass has been described as “perhaps the finest specimens of pictorial glass-painting in the world”.

 

Central east window in the Lady Chapel.

     Flemish painted glass in the Lady Chapel comes from the Cistercian Abbey of Herkenrode, in Kuringen part of the municipality of Hasselt in the Limburg province, north-west Belgium. The Abbey was founded c.1182 and became a Cistercian Abbey for nuns in 1217. In 1795, the French Revolutionary Army invaded the region and annexed it,[1] causing the 25 resident nuns from noble families[2] to be expelled. The unoccupied abbey gradually deteriorated and dissolved c. 1801. It was then bought and converted into a wool-spinning and weaving factory. Brooke Boothby, born in Ashbourne Hall, but from 1786 was living in the Close,[3] happened to be travelling in France when he saw the Abbey in 1802. He arranged purchase of the glass for the cathedral[4] subsequently being reimbursed for £200.[5] Boothby wrote there were 17 windows with nearly 400 squares of lead. In 1826, a fire destroyed much of the Abbey and today there is little original building left. In 1830, it returned to Belgium,  and a new monastery and retreat centre now occupy the site.

AI rendition of the Herkenrode Abbey depicted in a north bay window.   

          Brooke Boothby

          Early in the 16th-century, three successive abbesses commissioned glass work. The artists are unknown, but the names of Marten Tymus, Pieter van Venedigan and Peter Coeke are possibilities,[6] and the dates for the Lichfield glass are 1532–1539.[7] See the post ‘Lady Chapel and Saint Chapelle’ to know what was already in the windows. In 1802, eleven cases with 332 squares of glass, each 572 mm square (22½ inches), were shipped across the sea via Rotterdam and Hull and along canals. It was laid out on the nave floor for establishing the best order of installation and placed in the mullions in 1803. John Betton of Shrewsbury supervised the work.[8] It is now thought there is more original 16th-century Flemish glass in Lichfield than is in Belgium today.

Panel showing a date

324 panes were placed in the seven-most eastern windows (bays 2 to 8) and 8 panes were added to windows elsewhere in the cathedral. In bays 2 and 3, on the north side, the glass shows the donors, aristocrats, knights and a cardinal, that gave the glass to Herkenrode. Bays 1 and 9 contain darker glass, which is also Flemish and 16th-century, thought to have come from Antwerp, and was installed in 1895.[9] There is added glass by Charles Kempe of London. 

          AI enhanced panel showing the Ascension of Christ. His two feet in the middle panel is his last vision on Earth as he rises above the clouds.

During the 1880s much work was undertaken restoring the stonework and ironwork in the windows. All the Herkenrode panes were removed and re-fitted to new stone mullions. By now the painted glass was suffering from wear, damp and shoddy repair and because it is thin (2–3 mm) had become fragile in places. The bottom panel of the middle window was added by Burlison and Grylls and shows the three Marys painted in the same style as the Herkenrode. It replaced plain glass behind an altar that had been removed.

AI enhanced panels showing the three Marys., 1895.

 

          During the Second War the glass panes were taken down and stored in a vault on the south side of the Cathedral. Between 2009–15, the panes, over 600 small panels, were taken down again and conserved in the Barley Studio in York.[10] They were cleaned and retouched including painting of missing areas on the reverse side of the glass using a cold, unfired, paint mixed from traditional glass pigment and gold size. This meant the restored painting could be removed at a later time, if necessary. There was also the re-use of original Herkenrode glass to replace missing bits.[11] Whilst away in York, clear isothermal glass was added to the mullions. The returned panels were placed in manganese bronze frames in 2014 and now attached to the inside of the plain glass with a gap to give internal ventilation.

 

Lady Chapel with plain glass before return of the restored Herkenrode

 

          The main windows follow the life of Christ, but not in an expected order. There is the entry into Jerusalem, Last Supper, betrayal at Gethsemane, carrying the Cross, Pentecost, doubting Thomas and the Last Judgement. Also, the Annunciation. The scourging and mockery of Christ appear in one window, whilst Pilate washing his hands is in another. The centre piece is the meal at Emmaus and above is the Ascension of Christ leaving through a cloud. It is unknown what order they had at Herkenrode. A striking omission is an image of crucifixion and this might be because installation in 1803 was before the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829 and depiction of a Catholic crucifixion scene in a Protestant cathedral would be seen as inappropriate. Christ is also depicted in purple costume, not white, in recognition of his kingship. The glass has been described as “perhaps the finest specimens of pictorial glass-painting in the world”.[12] A definitive study of Herkenrode glass has recently been published.[13]

AI enhanced panels showing the Last Supper

 

Leftover fragments

There are 12 small fragments of early glass in a window in St Michael’s Chapel within the south Transept that were once thought to be early medieval, but are now considered more likely to be pieces left over from the Herkenrode collection.[14] The top pair of fragments, a moon and sun, are the most likely to be the earliest, 15th-century,[15] though could also have been part of a now missing Herkenrode crucifixion scene[16] representing the eclipse at the time of death.[17] There is a small roundel as part of a stained-glass window in the cathedral of St Steven, Bourges, France, dated 1210–15, showing a sun and moon above the arms of the cross. Symbolising the eclipse at the time of death was a common motif in the 13th-century. There is a window at Hampton Court showing this motif.

 Window containing fragments of medieval glass, a little hidden by colours of the South Staffordshire regiment.

 

Moon and Sun fragments. The moon fragment might have been repaired and altered.

 

Possible dove fragment.

 

            Small clenched hand fragment.

 

Leaf fragment.

 

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[1] The notion the nuns fled the abbey because of the threat of the guillotine is wrong.

[2] T. Harwood, The history and antiquities of the church and city of Lichfield. (London: 1806), 113.

[3] There is a narrative that Brooke Boothby was wealthy and on a European tour with time to spare. There is the view that  Brooke Boothby saw the purchase of the glass as a way of memorialising his daughter, Penelope, who died in 1791 aged five years. It has been suggested the loss of his daughter much affected him. There is anecdotal evidence he had cheated his family and fled to France to avoid those he had cheated. His move from Ashbourne Hall to a prebendal house in the Close indicates his fortune had been dissipated. He collected artwork using his wife’s dowry. In which case his purchase of the glass might have been an opportunity to redeem himself. It is uncertain what Boothby paid for the glass, but £112 and £160 have been mentioned. The account of the purchase has become almost as important as the saving of the windows. The total expense of purchasing, importing, arranging, and repairing this glass, and of fitting the windows to receive it, may have cost about one thousand pounds, John C. Woodhouse A short account of Lichfield Cathedral. (Lichfield: 1811), 9.

[4] It is unknown what glass was originally present in the lancet windows of the early 14th-century Lady Chapel. With the restoration of the Lady Chapel after the Civil War, there was glass showing the resurrection by Benjamin West and glass showing armorial entitlement.

[5] There is an alternative story recorded by G. Cobb, English cathedrals: the forgotten centuries. Restoration and change from 1530 to the present day. (London: 1981). A ship carrying the glass was captured on its way to a cathedral in South America. Brooke Boothby tipped off the cathedral it was lying in a dock and was available for a very small sum. The acquisition of the glass is murky.

[6] Marks of workers on the glass panes have been found.

[7] C. Winston, ‘Remarks on the painted glass at Lichfield Cathedral’, The Archaeological Journal. (1864), 21, 193.

[8] Herkenrode glass also appeared in Ashstead, Shrewsbury, Barton under Needwood, New Barnet and elsewhere. In 1805 some of the glass was offered for sale.

[9] The origin of the glass in these two bays is also uncertain. It belonged to the Marquess of Ely having bought it from France. It was then sold to Christie’s auction house around 1845 and kept in storage. It was purchased in 1895 for £2000. There were possibly previous owners before it was obtained by Christie’s.

[10] In collaboration with Belgium glasswork consultants.

[11] Strap leads added when the windows were removed in the Second World War were removed.

[12] C. Winston, Memoirs illustrative of the art of glass-painting. (London: 1865), 251.

[13] Y. V. Bemden and I. Lecocq, ‘The stained glass of Herkenrode Abbey’. Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevii. Great Britain. (2021).

[14] H. Snowden Ward, Lichfield and its Cathedral: a brief history and guide. (London: 1892), 51.

[15] H. and P. Scaife, The stained glass of Lichfield Cathedral, Cathedral publication (2009) describes the sun and moon fragments as medieval glass.

[16] I. Lecocq and Y. Vanden Bemden, The stained glass of Herkenrode Abbey, (Oxford: 2021), 342–3 suggested this could be the case. Unfortunately, the fragments were not analysed.

[17] There is a paradox. The Herkenrode glass is unusual in not having a crucifixion scene, so a sun and moon fragment either shows this scene was lost with only bits retained or the sun and moon is from elsewhere.

Bishop Langton's shrine

Summary.  Bishop Langton funded a sumptuous shrine to house Chad’s relics, c. 1307-8. This medieval artwork was desecrated in the Reformation, 1538.

      At least five shrines for Chad are known. The first was the original grave site in the nave area described by Bede as a ‘little wooden house’, and later converted to a stone shrine chest of which the 'Lichfield Angel' is part. The second was possibly a reliquary chapel behind the high altar. The third was 'Langton's shrine' in the retroquire facing the Lady chapel at the east end. Then there were three portable reliquaries, one with a gilded skull, another with his right arm bones encapsulated and a third with bones in a box. The last is the current arrangement in the retrochoir.

  Langton’s shrine

Bishop Walter de Langton,1296–1321, was the wealthiest of all the medieval bishops of Lichfield.[1] He left in his will funds to complete the Lady Chapel  and probably made provision for the completion of the cathedral.[2] Around 1303, money recorded as £2120, was given to Paris goldsmiths to make a stone monument for Chad’s new shrine in the retroquire.[3] It could have been in place by 1307- 8, later dates have been given; which was before the Lady Chapel was built. This rich monument would be equal in splendour with the Crown of Thorns shrine at Sainte-Chapelle, Edward’s tomb in Westminster Abbey and Becket’s shrine, 1220 – 1538, at Canterbury. It must have been the most sumptuous monument. In one year, the shrine brought in £400 income from pilgrims.

 

Recreated Chad’s shrine much based on Becket’s shrine. If similar, pulleys lifted a wooden chest canopy upwards to expose the casket on an elaborate plinth. It was decorated with 6 rubies, 5 sapphires, 15 large emeralds, 16 pearls and many small stones. Some jewels were set in an image of Chad. It is unclear which relics were kept in the casket, and which were still in St Chad’s Head Chapel. Pilgrims would have left many valuable offerings around the shrine, such as rings, brooches and necklaces. Permission for the image was given from The Centre for the study of Christianity and Culture, University of York, 2018.

Another AI rendition of what the shrine might have looked like.      

AI imagined Bishop Walter de Langton blessing Chad's shrine, perhaps in 1319 when he visited the cathedral. 

     There is an incomplete description of this stone and metal shrine. An inventory of 1445[4] described a large rectangular jewel-encrusted gilt reliquary in the shape of a church, presumably the cathedral. The bell tower was surmounted with an enamelled gilded crucifix. It had cockle shells on its roof, with figures of saints, St Chad, Mary and probably Michael, on the sides. St Chad was richly adorned with jewels including a jewelled gold clasp with an image of the Angelic Salutation and a gold brooch with an image of the lamb of God. There were two large crystal stones and a block of crystal, a gilded ring and seven collars. The figure of the Virgin was decorated with nine pearls, three rubies, and a sapphire. A statue of St Katherine was listed. A gilded collar or necklace with a pendant portrait of St John the Evangelist was mentioned together with a pendant with images of swans. The west face had a gold clasp with an enamelled falcon surrounded by eight clusters of pearls, each with a diamond. The whole shrine might have had a gilded, wooden hood that could be raised and lowered with a chain or rope, much like most shrines. Langton’s shrine was almost as lavish as Henry III’s shrine for Edward the Confessor, had similarities to shrines at Rouen, Nivelles and Beverley and would have out shone most; it is undoubtedly a lost masterpiece of medieval religious art.[5] Lepine linked the shrine with a 'golden age of translation and remodelling,' 1270-1350 for such saints as Richard at Chichester, Hugh at Lincoln, William at York, Alban at St Albans and Erkenwald at St Pauls.

        

AI rendition of a drawing by Revd William Stukeley, 1687–1765, of stonework some say to have been part of Chad’s shrine.  The drawing was possibly done on Stukeley’s travels through the north Midlands in 1725.[6]   

 

Isolated stone kept in the cathedral. It might have come from a shrine.

     It is likely Langton’s shrine was not in place in the retroquire until May 1360 with the building of the Lady Chapel and then the remodelling of the choir. Where it stood before then is unknown, but one guess is the well decorated arcade in the south aisle where there is a trinity fresco on the wall. Its final place where there is now a portable shrine to Chad was the work of Bishop Stretton in 1378.

    Pilgrims left many objects at the shrine. The 1345 Sacrist’s Roll stated one clasp of pure gold and two gold rings were left by Thomas de Berkeley and his wife. Others left gold coins or jewellery. Unwell pilgrims left wax models shaped like their infirmity, some left special candles that had been close to their bodies. Those who were desperate would want to touch the stone base and if ever allowed sleep alongside the shrine through the night. Penitents had to visit the shrine several times to obtain remission. Absolution of their sin might be quickened by paying an indulgence. After leaving the cathedral a pilgrim might buy an ampulla of holy water or a blessed pilgrim’s badge showing their saint.

The shrine to St Chad until November 2022.

St Chad’s new shrine. Shrine cabinet housing a feretory containing an encolpium.

Reformation, 1534.

In 1536, Richard Layton and Thomas Leigh visited the cathedral to find ‘superstitious’ items that needed to be removed according to the edicts from Henry VIII. They stated, pilgrimage is held to St Chad and inevitably anything to do with this would have to be removed as part of the Reformation of churches.

It is presumed Chad's shrine was plundered in 1538 in a way conducted in other cathedrals. Thomas Becket’s shrine at Canterbury was degraded from August 11 to 19, 1538, and gold and silver removed sufficient to fill 26 waggons. There is no recorded date when this happened at Lichfield in 1538 and the manner of desecration is unknown. Lepine⁵ thought gold and precious jewels were removed. Wharton[7] stated Bishop Roland Lee successfully petitioned the king to keep part of the shrine for the use of the cathedral. H.E. Savage[8] presumed the structural feretory was saved, but the accumulated treasures were removed. There is an account by William Stukeley, 1715, of the defaced St Chad's tomb being stored in St Peter's Chapel.[9] This might have been the room above the vestibule and now part of the cathedral library, but more likely was the retrochoir where it stood originally. It is not known what happened to the remains which considering its importance is a mystery. Losing something of this size and weight, no matter how degraded, is unfortunate. The spot where the shrine stood was possibly the place where a Paget monument was raised in 1577 to the memory of William, Lord Paget of Beaudesert, died 1563, his eldest son and heir Henry, died 1568, and their respective wives. It was destroyed during the Civil War sieges.

     The current shrine has a container for one, very degraded, small bone and stands below a chandelier of candles in an oval shape. It bears no relationship to Langton’s shrine.

 Speculation on Langton’s retrochoir floor?

Only three medieval mosaic pavements survive; two in Westminster abbey at the shrine of St Edward the Confessor and one in Canterbury cathedral for the shrine of St Thomas Becket. The Cosmati pavements added to the splendour of the shrines at Westminster Abbey and the tomb of Henry III. Canterbury’s pavement of cut and shaped stone dates from c. 1182–4 and now lies in front of the shrine of Becket in the Trinity Chapel located here in 1220.This pavement could have been the inspiration for Westminster’s Cosmatesque mosaics in the 1260s.[10] It is possible Langton would also have wanted a similar pavement in the retrochoir floor.

 Lichfield’s ‘cosmati’. This is Henry Moore’s monument organised by G. Gilbert Scott, 1876, for the archdeacon of Stafford. The cosmati-like decoration contains green, red, white, blue, black and ochre stones.[11]

 

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[1] He left landed property in eleven counties.

[2] Includes a Bishop’s palace on the east wall and also at Eccleshall, strengthened battlements around the Close, the upper west front and towers of the cathedral and much more.

[3] A Lichfield Muniment Inventory of 1345 estimated the value at £2000.

[4] R. N. Swanson, ‘Extracts from a Fifteenth-Century Lichfield Chapter Act Book’, in A Medieval Miscellany (being SHC, 4th series, XX, 2004), 129–70 (at 142–3). B. Nilson, Cathedral shrines of Medieval England, (Woodbridge: 1998) 34 stated there was a basic conformity of shrine design in England. A rectilinear stone chest base had a jewelled reliquary above and a gabled roof. Many had jewels and gold items.

[5] D. Lepine, ‘Glorius Confessor: The cult of St Chad at Lichfield Cathedral during the Middle Ages’. SAHS transactions, (2021), 33–5 and 51.

[6] W. Stukeley. ‘Itinerarium Curiosum: or an account of the antiquities and remarkable curiosities in nature and art observed in travels through Great Britain’. (London: 1776).

[7] H. Wharton, Anglia Sacra, (1691), I, 457-8.

[8]  H. E. Savage, The Cathedral and the Chapter 1530–1553. Unpub. articled in the cathedral library, (1927), 8.

[9] An account supposed to be written by W. Stukeley around 1715 now lost. It is known from a manuscript entitled ‘Commonplace book of collections for Staffordshire History by S. Pegge dated about 1757 and now MS 302 in the William Salt Library, 243–247. It was recorded again by N. J. Tringham, ‘An early eighteenth-century description of Lichfield Cathedral’, South Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions, (1988), 28, 55–63. T. Cox, Survey of the ancient and present state of Great Britain, (London: 1738), 254, repeats the assertion the defaced Langton’s shrine plinth was kept in St Peter’s Chapel after the Civil War restoration. On Gale’s groundplan of the Cathedral, 1720, St Peter’s chapel is the retroquire, the location where the plinth shrine always stood.

[10] W. Rodwell, ‘Cosmati at Canterbury Cathedral? Current Archaeology, (April 2023), 397, 46–51.

[11] G. T. Noszlopy and F. Waterhouse, Public sculpture of Staffordshire and the Black Country. (Liverpool: 2005), 229.