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EXILED TO HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, SUTTON COLDFIELD, WARWICKSHIRE: THE REFUGEE MARIAN CHOIR STALLS FROM WORCESTER CATHEDRAL

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2019

Nicholas Riall
Nicholas Riall*
Affiliation:
Tethers End Cottage, 9 Elley Green, Neston, Wiltshire SN13 9TX, UK. Email: nriall2010@yahoo.co.uk
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Abstract

The reign of Mary i (24 July 1553–17 November 1558) is widely seen as a disaster for both the woman herself and her devout faith. It can be argued that she did more than anyone to make England a Protestant nation. When we seek to find any trace of her patronage of the arts or of major building projects, we find that little survives. Eamon Duffy called such traces the ‘disjecta membra’. Yet each piece, each surprising survival, demonstrates an awareness of the latest fashions, embracing a forward-looking form of Renaissance arts rather than a backward-looking, conservative Gothic. To discover and emphatically assign a major new piece of work to this catalogue of relics is justifiably a cause of celebration. In 2011, Charles Tracy FSA re-assessed the Marian choir stalls now in Holy Trinity church, Sutton Coldfield (in Warwickshire), rightly calling them the ‘refugee choir stalls from Worcester’, for it was from Worcester cathedral that this magnificent suite was evicted in a fit of Victorian vandalism. In this article, the author demonstrates that these choir stalls were created through the patronage of Mary i, and their makers evoked in their creation ideas and fashions that emanated from Hans Holbein and Sebastiano Serlio, to create what is a unique set of work.

Type
Research paper
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 99 , September 2019 , pp. 187 - 224
Copyright
© The Society of Antiquaries of London, 2019 

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References

Bibliography

Chancellor Mark Powell, QC, 11 December 2012, Holy Trinity Church Sutton Coldfield, Judgement, November 2012Google Scholar
Chancellor Mark Powell, QC, 29 July 2013, Holy Trinity Church Sutton Coldfield, Supplemental Judgement, July 2013Google Scholar
Biddle, M 1993. ‘Early Renaissance at Winchester’, in Crook, J (ed), Winchester Cathedral: nine hundred years, 257–304, Phillimore, Chichester Google Scholar
Biddle, M 2012. ‘Nonsuch, Henry viii’s mirror for a prince: sources and interpretation’, in Sicca, C M and Waldman, L A (eds), The Anglo-Florentine Renaissance: art for the early Tudors, 307–350, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
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Bridges, T 2015. ‘Worcester cathedral altar rails’, Worcs Rec, Spring, edn 9b, 10–12Google Scholar
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Cobb, G 1980. English Cathedrals, Thames and Hudson, London Google Scholar
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Foister, S 2004. Holbein and England, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
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Foister, S 2012. ‘Holbein, Antonio Toto, and the market for Italian painting in early Tudor England’, in Sicca, C M and Waldman, L A (eds), The Anglo-Florentine Renaissance: art for the early Tudors, 281–306, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
Girouard, M 2009. Elizabethan Architecture, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
Hall, L 2005. Period House Fixtures and Fittings 1300–1900, Countryside Books, Newbury Google Scholar
Hughes, P 2016. ‘Worcester cathedral altar rails’, Worcestershire Rec, 94, 10–11 Google Scholar
Lewis, E 1996. ‘A Sixteenth-century painted ceiling from Winchester College’, Proc. Hampshire Field Club Archaeol Soc, 51, 137–65Google Scholar
Lindley, P (ed) 2015. The Howards and the Tudors: studies in science and heritage, Shaun Tyas, Donington Google Scholar
Lloyd, D, Howell, P and Richards, M 1986. The Feathers, Ludlow Research Paper 5, Birmingham Google Scholar
MacCulloch, D 1998. ‘Worcester: a cathedral city in the Reformation’, in Collinson, P and Craig, J (eds), The Reformation in English Towns, 94–112, Macmillan, Basingstoke and London Google Scholar
MacCulloch, D and Hughes, P 1995. ‘A bailiff’s list and chronicle from Worcester’, Antiq J, 74, 235–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pevsner, N and Cherry, B 1975. The Buildings of England: Wiltshire, Penguin, London Google Scholar
Pevsner, N and Wedgwood, A 1966. The Buildings of England: Warwickshire, Penguin, London Google Scholar
Riall, N 2007. ‘The early Tudor Renaissance in Hampshire: Anthony Blunt and ‘L’influence Française sur l’architecture et la sculpture décorative en Angleterre pendant la première moitié du xvime siècle’ revisited’, Renaissance Stud, 21/2, 218–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riall, N 2008. ‘The diffusion of Early Franco-Italian ornament: the Renaissance frieze in the chapel of the Hospital of St Cross, Winchester, and the Gaillon stalls now at St Denis, Paris’, Antiq J, 88, 258–307 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riall, N 2013. ‘“Exiled” to Sutton Coldfield: the Marian choir stalls from Worcester cathedral: some provisional observations’, unpublished submission to Birmingham Diocesan Advisory Committee and the Birmingham Diocesan RegistryGoogle Scholar
Riall, N 2014. The Renaissance Choir Stalls at the Hospital of St Cross, Hospital of St Cross, Winchester Google Scholar
Riall, N 2019. ‘The Sandford Orleigh overmantle: a 19th-century Tudor puzzle’, Post Medieval Archaeol, 53, 125–52CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riland Bedford, W K 1891. History of Sutton Coldfield, Times Printing Co., Birmingham Google Scholar
Salzman, L F (ed) 1947. A History of the County of Warwick, Vol 4, Hemlingford Hundred, Victoria County History, London Google Scholar
Serlio, S 1559. Libro primo [-quinto libro] d’architettura, Colombia University Libraries, online editionGoogle Scholar
Summerson, Sir J 1991. Architecture in Britain 1530–1830, 8th edn, Penguin, London Google Scholar
Thurley, S 1993. The Royal Palaces of Tudor England, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
Tracy, C 2011. ‘Holy Trinity, Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire: a significant assessment of the carved woodwork’, unpublished survey for Holy Trinity Parochial Church CouncilGoogle Scholar
Vallance, A 1947. Greater English Church Screens, Batsford, London Google Scholar
Wells-Cole, A 1997. Art and Decoration in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
Whinney, M (rev by J Physick) 1988. Sculpture in Britain 1530 to 1830, Penguin, Harmondsworth Google Scholar
Wilde, C 1823. An Illustration of the Architecture and Sculpture of the Cathedral Church of Worcester, C Wilde and Knibb & Langbridge, London Google Scholar
Chancellor Mark Powell, QC, 11 December 2012, Holy Trinity Church Sutton Coldfield, Judgement, November 2012Google Scholar
Chancellor Mark Powell, QC, 29 July 2013, Holy Trinity Church Sutton Coldfield, Supplemental Judgement, July 2013Google Scholar
Biddle, M 1993. ‘Early Renaissance at Winchester’, in Crook, J (ed), Winchester Cathedral: nine hundred years, 257–304, Phillimore, Chichester Google Scholar
Biddle, M 2012. ‘Nonsuch, Henry viii’s mirror for a prince: sources and interpretation’, in Sicca, C M and Waldman, L A (eds), The Anglo-Florentine Renaissance: art for the early Tudors, 307–350, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
Blunt, A 1969. ‘L’influence Française sur l’architecture et la sculpture décorative en Angleterre pendant la première moitié du xvime siècle’, Revue de l’Art, 4, 17–29 Google Scholar
Blunt, A 1999. Art and Architecture in France 1500–1700, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
Bond, F 1910. Wood Carvings in English Churches: stalls and tabernacle work, Frowde, OUP, London Google Scholar
Bridges, T 2015. ‘Worcester cathedral altar rails’, Worcs Rec, Spring, edn 9b, 10–12Google Scholar
Buck, S 1999. Hans Holbein, Könemann, Cologne Google Scholar
Cobb, G 1980. English Cathedrals, Thames and Hudson, London Google Scholar
Duffy, E 2009. Fires of faith: Catholic England under Mary Tudor, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
Foister, S 2004. Holbein and England, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
Foister, S 2006. Holbein in England, Tate Publishing, London Google Scholar
Foister, S 2012. ‘Holbein, Antonio Toto, and the market for Italian painting in early Tudor England’, in Sicca, C M and Waldman, L A (eds), The Anglo-Florentine Renaissance: art for the early Tudors, 281–306, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
Girouard, M 2009. Elizabethan Architecture, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
Hall, L 2005. Period House Fixtures and Fittings 1300–1900, Countryside Books, Newbury Google Scholar
Hughes, P 2016. ‘Worcester cathedral altar rails’, Worcestershire Rec, 94, 10–11 Google Scholar
Lewis, E 1996. ‘A Sixteenth-century painted ceiling from Winchester College’, Proc. Hampshire Field Club Archaeol Soc, 51, 137–65Google Scholar
Lindley, P (ed) 2015. The Howards and the Tudors: studies in science and heritage, Shaun Tyas, Donington Google Scholar
Lloyd, D, Howell, P and Richards, M 1986. The Feathers, Ludlow Research Paper 5, Birmingham Google Scholar
MacCulloch, D 1998. ‘Worcester: a cathedral city in the Reformation’, in Collinson, P and Craig, J (eds), The Reformation in English Towns, 94–112, Macmillan, Basingstoke and London Google Scholar
MacCulloch, D and Hughes, P 1995. ‘A bailiff’s list and chronicle from Worcester’, Antiq J, 74, 235–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pevsner, N and Cherry, B 1975. The Buildings of England: Wiltshire, Penguin, London Google Scholar
Pevsner, N and Wedgwood, A 1966. The Buildings of England: Warwickshire, Penguin, London Google Scholar
Riall, N 2007. ‘The early Tudor Renaissance in Hampshire: Anthony Blunt and ‘L’influence Française sur l’architecture et la sculpture décorative en Angleterre pendant la première moitié du xvime siècle’ revisited’, Renaissance Stud, 21/2, 218–53CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riall, N 2008. ‘The diffusion of Early Franco-Italian ornament: the Renaissance frieze in the chapel of the Hospital of St Cross, Winchester, and the Gaillon stalls now at St Denis, Paris’, Antiq J, 88, 258–307 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riall, N 2013. ‘“Exiled” to Sutton Coldfield: the Marian choir stalls from Worcester cathedral: some provisional observations’, unpublished submission to Birmingham Diocesan Advisory Committee and the Birmingham Diocesan RegistryGoogle Scholar
Riall, N 2014. The Renaissance Choir Stalls at the Hospital of St Cross, Hospital of St Cross, Winchester Google Scholar
Riall, N 2019. ‘The Sandford Orleigh overmantle: a 19th-century Tudor puzzle’, Post Medieval Archaeol, 53, 125–52CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riland Bedford, W K 1891. History of Sutton Coldfield, Times Printing Co., Birmingham Google Scholar
Salzman, L F (ed) 1947. A History of the County of Warwick, Vol 4, Hemlingford Hundred, Victoria County History, London Google Scholar
Serlio, S 1559. Libro primo [-quinto libro] d’architettura, Colombia University Libraries, online editionGoogle Scholar
Summerson, Sir J 1991. Architecture in Britain 1530–1830, 8th edn, Penguin, London Google Scholar
Thurley, S 1993. The Royal Palaces of Tudor England, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
Tracy, C 2011. ‘Holy Trinity, Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire: a significant assessment of the carved woodwork’, unpublished survey for Holy Trinity Parochial Church CouncilGoogle Scholar
Vallance, A 1947. Greater English Church Screens, Batsford, London Google Scholar
Wells-Cole, A 1997. Art and Decoration in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, Yale University Press, New Haven and London Google Scholar
Whinney, M (rev by J Physick) 1988. Sculpture in Britain 1530 to 1830, Penguin, Harmondsworth Google Scholar
Wilde, C 1823. An Illustration of the Architecture and Sculpture of the Cathedral Church of Worcester, C Wilde and Knibb & Langbridge, London Google Scholar
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