The Royal Abbey of Reading

by Ron Baxter

Overview

Reading Abbey was built by King Henry I to be a great architectural statement and his own mausoleum, as well as a place of resort and a staging point for royal itineraries for progresses in the west and south-west of England. From the start it was envisaged as a monastic site with a high degree of independence from the church hierarchy; it was granted enormous holdings of land and major religious relics to attract visitors and pilgrims, and no expense was spared in providing a church comparable in size and splendour with anything else in England.
However, in architectural terms, the abbey has, until recently, remained enigmatic, mainly because of the efficiency with which it was destroyed at the Reformation. Only recently has it become possible to bring together the scattered evidence - antiquarian drawings and historic records along with a new survey of the standing remains - into a coherent picture. This richly illustrated volume provides the first full account of the abbey, from foundation to dissolution, and offers a new virtual reconstruction of the church and its cloister; it also shows how the abbey formed the backdrop to many key historical events.

Ron Baxter is the Research Director of the Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783270842
Publisher:	Boydell & Brewer, Limited
Publication date:	01/21/2016
Series:	Boydell Studies in Medieval Art and Architecture Series , #7
Pages:	407
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 9.50(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Research Director, Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland. The project is hosted by King's College, London

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations and Tables vi

Glossary of Architectural Terms xiv

Preface and Acknowledgements xviii

Introduction 1

1 Foundation 11

2 Pilgrimage and Relics 41

3 Death and Burial at Reading Abbey 73

4 The Abbey and the Court 91

5 Dissolution and Dilapidation 131

6 The Architecture of the Abbey Church 169

7 The Architecture of the Cloister 215

8 The Sculpture of the Cloister 263

Afterword 301

Appendix A Reading Abbey relic lists 303

Appendix B Verses for Prophets and Apostles recorded in Lambeth Palace MS 371. 319

Appendix C Inventory of items received by King John from Alan Marcell, 18 December 1204 320

Bibliography 323

Index 349

Editorial Reviews

A triumph: a splendid, richly detailed account of the abbey, its importance, and its wider setting....Baxter's book is very timely in reminding us all of one of the forgotten glories of medieval England. CHURCH MONUMENTS Will undoubtedly serve as a new starting-point for work on Henry I's magnificent abbey. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW (Ron) Baxter is...uniquely qualified to do this work, and in doing so, he invests the detritus with a sense not only of scholarly importance but also of its former glory. LANDSCAPE HISTORY An important book of reference for anybody intereso of its former glory. LANDSCAPE HISTORY An important book of reference for anybody interested in the history and archaeology of m

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