Culture, England, Societies, Society of Antiquaries of London Publications, Vetusta Monumenta
Vetusta Monumenta is in Society of Antiquaries of London Publications.
Vetusta Monumenta is a series of papers on ancient buildings, sites and artefacts, published at irregular intervals between 1718 and 1906 by the Society of Antiquaries of London.
The full title is Vetusta monumenta quae ad Rerum Britanicarum memoriam conservandam Societas Antiquariorum Londini sumptu suo edenda curavit ie The Society of Antiquaries of London has undertaken to publish, at its own expense, the ancient records which preserve the memory of British things.
Note. The text describing the Plates sourced from University of Missouri.
Culture, England, Societies, Society of Antiquaries of London Publications, Vetusta Monumenta Volume 3
Culture, England, Societies, Society of Antiquaries of London Publications, Vetusta Monumenta Volume 3.7 Grave of Edward IV
Mr. Emlyn’s Account of King Edward IV’s Vault in St. George’s Chapel, explanatory of the Drawing.
On Friday, March 13, 1789, in making the ground to receive the new pavement in the North aile of St. George’s Chapel at Windfor, some of the ftones which closed the entrance to the vault of King Edward IV fell out, fo that the vault could be entered with ease by removing some other loose stones. In the vault was a quantity of bricks, earth, &c. The bricks had originally closed the vault, as appeared from the lower part, where the original brick-work remained. The earth seemed to have been dug from the bottom, which was sloping, from near the sides and ends, and sunk the depth of the king’s coffin. On clearing away the rubbish, the decayed parts of a stout wooden coffin, a skull, and some bones, were found over the king’s coffin. The king’s coffin was of lead, of very irregular thickness, about a quarter of an inch in the thickest places; it was much compressed, and in some parts a little decayed, as is shown in the drawing, fig. 1. The head of the coffin was ten inches from the West end of the vault, and it lay with a descent of about three inches at the feet. On opening the coffin, the entire skeleton was found, as in fig. 2. Some long brown hair lay near the skull; and some of the same colour, but shorter, was on the neck of the skeleton. There was in the bottom of the coffin a liquid, which at the feet was about three inches deep: the feet and part of the leg-bones were immersed in it. The skeleton measured six feet three inches and a half, and the coffin seven feet, in length.
The vault must have been built at the same time with the church, as part of one of the pillars stands on the arch, as in the drawing. The vault is nine feet long, four feet seven inches wide, and six feet six inches from the surface of the pavement of the aisle, to the bottom of the foundation of the walls. The walls are two feet six inches high to the springing of the arch; and the arch rises two feet three inches. In the summer of 1788, an ineffectual attempt to find the entrance of this vault was made in the choir, by which the stone on the back part was damaged, as seen in the drawing. An exact copy (to half the size) of what was written in chalk is given in the drawing; and the characters cut on the stones drawn to the full size.