Pershore Abbey, at Pershore in Worcestershire, was a Benedictine abbey with Anglo-Saxon origins until the reformation. It is now an Anglican parish church, the Church of the Holy Cross.

History

Foundation

The foundation of the minster at Pershore is alluded to in a spurious charter of King Æthelred of Mercia (r. 675–704). It purports to be the charter by which Æthelred granted 300 hides (about ) at Gloucester to King Osric of the Hwicce, and another 300 at Pershore to Osric's brother, Oswald. It is preserved only as a copy in a 14th-century register of Gloucester, where it is followed by two charters listing the endowments made to the abbey until the reign of King Burgred (852-874). The 300 hides mentioned here are unlikely to be a contemporary detail, as they were intended to represent the triple hundred which later made up the area of Worcestershire. Oswald's foundation of a monastery at Pershore is not stated explicitly in the charter, but the Worcester chronicle Cronica de Anglia, written c. 1150, reports it under the annal for 683, and John Leland, consulting the now lost Annals of Pershore, places the event around 689. Patrick Sims-Williams suggests that the foundation by Oswald may also represent an oral tradition at Pershore, as its archives were probably destroyed in fires of 1002 and again in 1223.

Refoundation

In the reign of King Edgar (959-975), Pershore reappears as one of the abbeys to be re-established (or restored) under the programme of Benedictine reform. Writing c. 1000, the Ramsey monk Byrhtferth relates that under the auspices of Oswald, bishop of Worcester, seven monasteries were founded in his diocese, notably including Pershore. The first abbot was one Foldbriht, whose name is sufficiently rare to suggest that he may be the same Foldbriht whom Bishop Æthelwold previously installed at Abingdon and used to be a monk of Glastonbury before that time.

The refoundation is what lies behind an exceptionally elaborate charter for Pershore, dated 972, in which King Edgar is presented as granting new lands and privileges as well as confirming old ones, such as the one granted by Coenwulf. Since then, Susan Kelly and John Hudson have vindicated the status of some of these charters, including the one for Pershore, which is written in square minuscule characteristic of some of Edgar's charters. More recently, Peter Stokes has brought to light a variant copy of the charter and suggests that two different versions may have been produced around the same time, somewhere between 972 and 1066. A possible scenario is that they were produced to make up for the loss of the original charter(s), perhaps shortly after the fire which is reported to have destroyed the abbey in c. 1002 (see below).

The 12th-century historian William of Malmesbury, who seems unaware of any pre-existing minster, claims that one Æthelweard (Egelwardus), whom he describes as "ealdorman of Dorset", had founded the abbey of Pershore in the time of King Edgar. Similarly, Osbert's Life of Eadburh of Winchester alleges that one Alwardus, who is styled comes and consul, was responsible for the refoundation. Both authors also attribute to him a role in the translation of some of the saint's relics to Pershore. Osbert writes that an abbess of Nunnaminster had sold some relics to Æthelweard (Alwardus), who in turn handed them over for the refoundation of Pershore. Some scholars have identified him with Æthelweard, the well-known chronicler and ealdorman of the western shires. until ten or twelve o'clock, and come to Matins as drunk as mice, some [playing] at cards, some at dice.)right|300pxPershore Abbey church was partly demolished after the reformation when it was surrendered to the King's Commissioners in 1540; only the tower, choir, and south transept remain. The abbey church remained in use as a parish church. When the north transept collapsed in 1686, a wall was built in its place. Further alterations were carried out, including a restoration by George Gilbert Scott in 1862–64. Scott removed the belfry floor and opened up the lantern tower, exposing the internal tracery which he thought the best in England after that at Lincoln Cathedral. The tower pinnacles were added in 1871. In 1913, two western flying buttresses were added to replace the support from the missing portion of the building.

Current structure and features

thumb|150px| [[Norman architecture|Norman baptismal font]]

The church as it now stands represents only a small portion of the original building. It is a Grade I listed building. Repairs in 1994 stabilised the south transept, strengthened its roof and repointed the tower and pinnacles. An underfloor heating system was also installed.

Bells

Pershore Abbey has a ring of eight bells, of which six were cast by the younger Abraham Rudhall in 1729. The treble was cast in 1814 by Thomas Mears of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The cracked 4th (also 1729 by Rudhall) was recast by J. Barwell & Sons of Birmingham with "moderate success" in 1897, the same year they were rehung. The largest bell (the tenor) is estimated to weigh 25½ cwt (2856 lbs.) and sounds the note D.

The ringing room, devised as part of Gilbert Scott's 1862-64 restorations, is a metal 'cage' suspended high above the chancel crossing; it is accessed by means of two stone spiral staircases, a walkway through the roof, a squeeze through a narrow passage and a see-through iron staircase.

The bells have the following inscriptions (in capital letters).

Abbots

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! width="25%" | Name

! width="20%" | In office

! width="55%" | Comments

|- valign="top"

| Foldbriht

| c. 970 – 988

|

|- valign="top"

| Brihtheah (Brihteah)

| ? – 1033

| Nephew of Wulfstan I, Archbishop of York; went on to become bishop of Worcester (1033–8)

|- valign="top"

| Roger de Rudeby (Rudby)

| 1234–1251

| Chamberlain of Pershore.

|- valign="top"

| William de Newenton

| 1413

| This organ was built by Mr. Russell of London and opened by the organist Charles Clarke of Worcester Cathedral on 1 November 1826. This organ is thought to have functioned for 47 years when it was sold to Sedgley Parish Church. In 1864 it is recorded that during a restoration of the church, it was reconstructed by Nicholson of Malvern and moved to the north-east chapel.

A new three manual organ was built by Nicholson of Malvern and opened on 18 April 1873. The Nicholson was restored twice by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd, in 1940 and 1971. This was replaced by a Bradford electronic organ.

A new pipe organ, costing around £850,000, was commissioned from the Fratelli Ruffatti workshop in Italy and installed in 2023.

Past organists and masters of music include Charles Tovey (1832-1868), William Hancox (1868-1869), Charles Henry Ogle (1869-1896), Edred Martin Chaundy (1898–1899, formerly of Enniskillen Parish Church, afterwards Holy Trinity Church, Stroud and Armagh Cathedral), Frank Alfred Charles Mason (1900–1949), Peter Bruce Waddington (1949-1951), Rodney Clifford Baldwyn (1951–1981), Ian Gerrard (1993–2003), Sheila Joynes (2003–2004), Mike Pegg (2004–2005), David Barclay (2005–2007) and Alex Crawford (2007–2008). In 2009, Mike Pegg resumed his former duties.

Grounds

The buried foundations of the other monastic buildings, which lie to the southwest of the church, were identified in an archaeological excavation in 1929.

At the Dissolution, these buildings and the abbey grounds were acquired by John Richardson. The buildings were demolished and the grounds passed through various owners. Abbey House was later built on the site, sometime in the 1830s. In 1910 its owner, Henry Wise, donated the house to the Anglican Benedictine monks of Caldey Abbey, Pembrokeshire. When these monks converted to Roman Catholicism in 1913, they returned Abbey House to Wise who then provided it for the use of the small remnant of monks from Caldey who had remained Anglican. In 1922 the monks bought the house. They left Pershore for Nashdom Abbey, Buckinghamshire, in 1926, but only sold Abbey House in 1947 when it was demolished and the grounds became housing and parkland.

See also

  • List of English abbeys, priories and friaries serving as parish churches

<gallery>

File:Pershore Abbey from the west.jpg|Pershore Abbey from the west

File:Pershore Abbey in winter sun.jpg|Western path to Pershore Abbey

File:Pershore Abbey NE window.jpg|North aisle, NE window, by Franz Mayer & Co., 1898

File:Pershore Abbey Sculpure - geograph.org.uk - 489424.jpg|Abbey sculpture in the grounds

File:South transept, Pershore Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 1057546.jpg|South transept

</gallery>

Notes

Citations

References

Secondary sources

Primary sources

  • Anglo-Saxon charters: S 70, 209, 1782, 786; S 1143, S 1144, S 1145, S 1146.
  • Byrhtferth, Life of St Oswald, ed. (Vol II)
  • John Leland, Collectanea, ed.
  • John Leland, Itinerarium, ed.
  • Domesday Book: Great Domesday, f. 174v–175r
  • William of Malmesbury, Gesta pontificum Anglorum, ed. and tr.
  • Pershore Abbey website
  • Pershore Abbey images