Three Malvern Churches - June 8 There are links to all the illustrations on the contents page.
It was a wet and windy morning so it was fortunate that this outing was going to be mostly indoors. Some of us gathered for a chat with coffee and biscuits in the room Jane had hired at the Great Malvern Priory, and others joined us inside the priory for our talk and guided tour. Altogether 15 members and guests attended.
The guide stressed the main attractions of the priory - the largest collection of 15th century stained glass of any parish church in England; the wonderful medieval tiles, all made locally, and the amazing misericords, many displaying a sense of humour. We managed to see Richard’s coat of arms high up in the clerestory glass, and Anne Neville’s recreated arms with original bear supporters in a window opposite. Originally both would have been in the west or doom window which the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester donated to the priory, showing the day of judgement.
We split up afterwards. Some of us returned to the hired room to eat lunch and have a cup of tea and others ate in the Lyttelton Well Café attached to the priory, while others wandered further afield.
We all gathered at 2pm at St Mary’s Church Hanley Castle for a talk by Jane before having a look round. The original tower was replaced by a brick one in 1674. The Lechmere family has funded restoration of the church, most recently in 1858.
Finally onto Little Malvern Priory nestling in the foothills of the Malverns, for a very interesting talk about the church and its history. Both priories were originally much larger when home to Benedictine monks, and set in a royal hunting forest. William Langland was educated at the priory and started writing Piers Plowman in 1362.
There is a statue of Bishop Alcock in the entrance of the priory. He was responsible for much rebuilding and the royal window, with one of only a few known contemporary images of Edward Prince of Wales (Edward V).
After looking round we enjoyed tea, coffee and biscuits kindly provided by some of the Friends of Little Malvern Priory, while having a good chat amongst ourselves on matters Ricardian.
See also pages 14 - 17 for greater detail about these churches.
Many thanks to Jane Tinklin for organising this wonderful day which gave us all plenty of time at each venue.
There have been lots of articles in Dickon Independent about both priories:
Great Malvern Priory is in issue 30, pages 10-13; issue 41, pages 5-9; issue 44, pages 12-15 and 15 - 17; issue 47, pages 4-8.
Little Malvern Priory is in issue 33, pages 9-12; issue 46, pages 13-16.
These articles can all be read on the website.