The Lost Chapel of Westminster, by John Cooper - Colin
John Cooper’s The Lost Chapel of Westminster is a scholarly work, rich in detail, showing that an immense amount of research has been devoted to the subject. I felt it was a book of two tonal styles: the introductory “Reformation” chapter and the latter part dealing with the seventeenth century onwards are engaging and will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in history. The part in between, from the building of St Stephen’s Chapel to Charles I, seems much dryer and I struggled to absorb the information at times. I think that’s because it gives huge detail about the physical structure of a building that no longer exists – and this shows the dichotomy of the book.
St Stephen’s Chapel was completed in the 1360s and was destroyed, along with most of Westminster Palace (the old Houses of Parliament) by the fire of 1834. A couple of pieces of the building remain, but any imaginative reconstruction or 3D model must be based upon documents and old paintings or drawings. Cooper can tell us about the Chapel’s builders because the building accounts exist, “a medieval historian’s dream.” We get descriptions of the building; of items such as three iron-bound chests and two pewter candlesticks. We read about gilding, gold leaf and paintings; the names of women who supplied material to the builders; and the canons who worshipped there. As I wrote above, there is immense detail – and I have huge respect for Cooper’s research, but it’s respect, not enjoyment, for this section. If you enjoy reading about medieval ecclesiastical buildings, this is THE book for you – don’t hesitate, snap it up now. It’s all very well written, but it’s not my era and didn’t grab me.
However, I really enjoyed the second part of the book. St Stephen’s Chapel is really important for its post-Reformation influence. The small chapel became the meeting place for the early modern House of Commons in 1549-50 and remained so, with refurbishments and modifications, until the fire of 1834. The subsequent new Houses of Parliament built by Pugin and Barry; and the current rebuild, following a bombing raid in WWII, both deliberately retained aspects of the medieval chapel. The building is too small to seat all members – but there are very few occasions when there are too many members in the Chamber; most debates are fairly sparsely attended. Most of the real work happens in the offices and Committee Rooms around the Chamber. The Chamber is narrow and confrontational with MPs literally taking sides. Cooper debunks the myth about the front benches being two swords’ length apart – the chapel’s aisle permitted a priest and two acolytes to process side by side to the altar and also (which I didn’t know – thank you, Dr Cooper) that MPs don’t bow to the Speaker as they enter, but to the royal arms above the Speaker’s chair. I found this part of the book absorbing. I loved the description of women gathered around the ventilators installed in the Commons, which provided excellent conduction of members’ speeches to those who were forbidden to hear them. I also enjoyed the anecdote about William Pitt confessing he had drunk so much, he couldn’t see the Speaker, and Dundas retorting that he could see two!
So, this is a book of two halves, each of which will be absorbing for many historians – but not everyone should expect to enjoy every chapter equally.
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Colin
