Pershore

The Abbey is dated to the reign of King Edgar in the early C10th, though likely founded upon an earlier C7th  monastery. It had a tempestuous history, in its time buffeted by earthquake, fire, the depredations of malicious dukes and kings. Duke Alphere was a ferocious predator but met a timely end and a horrible death: ‘being eaten by vermin.’ His son, Odda restored what his father had plundered and vowed to remain a virgin lest a son of his should prove guilty of similar crimes. He lived a saintly life and on his death in 1056 was rewarded with a mention in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle and burial within the Abbey. For much of the Middle Ages, the abbey largely prospered, though not without its ups and downs. Then, in 1539 the accusations of a disgruntled cleric gave Thomas Cromwell the excuse to close it down and pension off the remaining monks. 

Little is left of the original abbey, much of it collapsed or cannibalised in the years following the Reformation. In 1913 two large flying buttresses were added to strengthen an almost collapsing west wall.

The Chancel. The altar is largely obscured by temporary seating for a choral performance.

Note the ‘ploughshare’ vaulting, so called because of their resemblance to the medieval plough. 

Note the stone carved roof boss above, one of many, all originally brightly coloured until the Victorians cleaned them.

The stained-glass windows were installed by the Victorians in 1870. One shows the history of the abbey from Saxon to Victorian times.

The baptismal font is carved with images of the twelve apostles. It was rescued from a garden in 1921 long after the Victorians had discarded it in favour of a spanking new alternative. 

The Crusader’s Tomb is thought to be that of Sir William de Harley, a local knight who held  land from the abbey and fought in the crusades. He is famous amongst military armour experts because the carving shows three buckles in his right armpit that fastened his back and breast plates together. It is the only known carving in England that illustrates this feature, and it is wonderful to think there are military tomb obsessives who would have noted and recorded it. Equally wonderful that medieval craftsmen would have paid such attention to detail.

The two tombs are of the local wealthy Hazelwood family, who dominated the area from the  C16th to C18th 

And as for Pershore