[MR] History Blog: New Discoveries at Bath Abbey

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

By coincidence, today I have more news about Bath Abbey. Recent renovations
there have uncovered a new floor over six feet below the current level.
Parts of it are covered in rare Wessex School tiles dating from the 13th
century. Among them are the arms of Plantagenet kings and the soon-to-be
extinct de Clare family: http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/52565 . The
photo showing the tiles is clickable, though it takes a while to load.
There is also a brief video piece.

The story mentions the memorial stones. These are something like grave
stones, but there are no (or perhaps few) bodies buried beneath them. They
actually represent burials from an off-site cemetery. Although many people
call the Abbey a cathedral, it has not functioned as such since 1539 during
the Dissolution. It was refounded in 1572 as a parish church for Bath
(though a very large and spectacular one!). Since then Bath Abbey has been
under the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose seat is near-by Wells Cathedral
(also spectacular).

The article goes on to say that the Abbey is undergoing a £19.3 million
renovation that will stabilize the structure, and finally provide public
restrooms. Whew! Lack of the jakes is something I missed both times I was
there (thankfully). I would love to see the defaced carvings around the
doors restored, but the article doesn't say if that's in the cards.

Wikipedia has an article on Bath Abbey's history at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_Abbey . The Abbey's own web site at
http://www.bathabbey.org has more history (click on "history") and
information about the "Footprint Project" renovations.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆