York tombs
York tombs
2013-03-20 01:48:08
All this talk about burials made me remember a book I read a few years ago, called "The Royal Tombs of Great Britain" by Aidan Dodson - on the dust jacket it says he's a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Bristol, and the author of eight books and over a hundred articles. A quick search of the archives doesn't come up with anything about this book, so hopefully none of this is repeating what's already been posted.
In the entry for E4, he begins by describing E4 and EW's tomb. Then under post-interment history:
"The tomb was damaged during the Commonwealth, and was partly reconstructed by Henry Emlyn in 1789-91. A wall was built above the slab marking the tomb, decorated with a black marble slab bearing the king's name in brass letters. The iron gates were placed on the opposite of the wall, north of the high altar, and effectively hidden from view.
"In 1788 an unsuccessful attempt had been made to find an entrance to the vault from the quire. On 21 March 1789, however, while repair work was being carried out in the floor of the chapel, the vault was uncovered. It had clearly been disturbed at some earlier point, as the discovery of the remains of the coffin, skull and scattered bones of Queen Elizabeth Woodville under an upper layer of bricks and rubble demonstrated. A little below lay the compressed, but generally undamaged coffin of the king; no soft tissues seem to have been preserved on the skeleton, but some long brown hair had fallen off the skull. 6.5 centimetres of liquid lay in the bottom of the coffin, which was at an angle, leaving the feet and lower legs immersed."
For his sources he gives Anon. 1770; Blackburne and Bond 1962; Carliol, Emlyn and Lind 1790; Lysons and Lysons 1813; Roberts 1976-77; Tanner and Wright 1935. (No idea what Tanner and Wright would have been saying about E4's tomb but there ya go...) If anyone wants the detailed sources with page numbers, etc. they can e-mail me privately as this post is probably long enough.
The book mentions nothing about two more coffins being in the vault with them, but a diagram of St. George's Chapel which I shall scan and upload to the photos area shows what appears to be a single coffin identified as containing their children George and Mary right beside them.
Regarding Anne Neville he says, "Buried on the south side of altar of the Confessor's Shrine; her leaden coffin may have been one uncovered in 1866." I'll also scan that diagram and upload it.
In the entry for E4, he begins by describing E4 and EW's tomb. Then under post-interment history:
"The tomb was damaged during the Commonwealth, and was partly reconstructed by Henry Emlyn in 1789-91. A wall was built above the slab marking the tomb, decorated with a black marble slab bearing the king's name in brass letters. The iron gates were placed on the opposite of the wall, north of the high altar, and effectively hidden from view.
"In 1788 an unsuccessful attempt had been made to find an entrance to the vault from the quire. On 21 March 1789, however, while repair work was being carried out in the floor of the chapel, the vault was uncovered. It had clearly been disturbed at some earlier point, as the discovery of the remains of the coffin, skull and scattered bones of Queen Elizabeth Woodville under an upper layer of bricks and rubble demonstrated. A little below lay the compressed, but generally undamaged coffin of the king; no soft tissues seem to have been preserved on the skeleton, but some long brown hair had fallen off the skull. 6.5 centimetres of liquid lay in the bottom of the coffin, which was at an angle, leaving the feet and lower legs immersed."
For his sources he gives Anon. 1770; Blackburne and Bond 1962; Carliol, Emlyn and Lind 1790; Lysons and Lysons 1813; Roberts 1976-77; Tanner and Wright 1935. (No idea what Tanner and Wright would have been saying about E4's tomb but there ya go...) If anyone wants the detailed sources with page numbers, etc. they can e-mail me privately as this post is probably long enough.
The book mentions nothing about two more coffins being in the vault with them, but a diagram of St. George's Chapel which I shall scan and upload to the photos area shows what appears to be a single coffin identified as containing their children George and Mary right beside them.
Regarding Anne Neville he says, "Buried on the south side of altar of the Confessor's Shrine; her leaden coffin may have been one uncovered in 1866." I'll also scan that diagram and upload it.
Re: York tombs
2013-03-20 02:29:52
--- In , "Angie" <gooble@...> wrote:
>
> All this talk about burials made me remember a book I read a few years ago, called "The Royal Tombs of Great Britain" by Aidan Dodson - on the dust jacket it says he's a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Bristol, and the author of eight books and over a hundred articles. A quick search of the archives doesn't come up with anything about this book, so hopefully none of this is repeating what's already been posted.
>
Angie replies to herself: If anyone is interested, I've scanned some images from this book and created a photo album called "York Tombs".
>
> All this talk about burials made me remember a book I read a few years ago, called "The Royal Tombs of Great Britain" by Aidan Dodson - on the dust jacket it says he's a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Bristol, and the author of eight books and over a hundred articles. A quick search of the archives doesn't come up with anything about this book, so hopefully none of this is repeating what's already been posted.
>
Angie replies to herself: If anyone is interested, I've scanned some images from this book and created a photo album called "York Tombs".
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