Warwick

Outings

Warwick

Although I had heard of the Warwick fire of 1694 and the subsequent re-building, I had never visited the town before even though like many people I had been to Warwick Castle when the children were little. Fortunately Ruth Barbour had the idea for an OUHS outing to Warwick and made the arrangements for us. We began with coffee and a scone at a small tea-room before going to St Mary’s church.

As befits the seat of the powerful medieval Earls of Warwick, the town has a magnificent parish church. Just as half the town was destroyed by the fire, so the church suffered the loss of its nave and tower but fortunately the chancel and side chapels remained unscathed. We were given a guided tour of the medieval part of the building by Tim Clark, a local historian and author. Tim’s extensive knowledge gave us insights into the meaning of the perpendicular architectural and historical details from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and related these details to those in other churches as well as demonstrating the wealth of the earls in that period.

The outstanding feature is the Beauchamp Chapel which contains a gilded bronze effigy of the thirteenth earl and a stunning stained-glass window. Guidebooks rate this as one of the country’s greatest medieval treasures. The chapel also contains the tomb of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, a famous favourite of Elizabeth I. My own favourite though is the tomb of the eleventh earl, an army commander at both Crecy and Poitiers. This tomb dominates the chancel and the effigies show the earl and his countess holding hands, a rare and touching feature (there is one other such example in Chichester Cathedral). Between the chapel and the chancel is a small chantry chapel with exquisite fan vaulting. One part of the Norman church remains, the crypt which has an example of a ducking stool!

We followed this with lunch at Wylie’s Tearooms which describes itself as a ‘curiosity shop’, with excellent food and service amidst very unusual furnishings. After lunch Ruth herself gave us a guided tour of the town. Some medieval buildings have survived both the fire and re-development, the most striking example being Lord Leycester’s Hospital. There are plenty of early Georgian buildings which are unostentatious but give an understated elegance to the place, and these are from the surprisingly speedy re-building of the parts of the town which were damaged by the fire. The nave of the church with its substantial tower are also a part of the re-building. The tour ended at the town’s museum.

We thanked Ruth for organising such an excellent day out.