The Archbishop's Bones

An important discovery was made recently in a London church. Maggie Lane was quick to spot the connection with Jane Austen

 

The coffins of five archbishops of Canterbury from the 17th and 18th centuries were recently found deep beneath the high altar of St Mary’s-at-Lambeth, a deconsecrated church attached to Lambeth Palace in London. Workers discovered the vault by chance when they were working on the floor of the chancel to extend some exhibition space, and found a six-inch hole opening up beneath them. Having lowered a mobile phone to take a photograph of what was down there, they saw a brick stair and vault with a red and gold archbishop’s mitre placed on the topmost coffin. They realised that they had made an historic discovery.

Further investigation revealed that there were 30 lead coffins, some bearing the names and dates of their occupants. But what no one remarked on when the story broke was that one of the archbishops, John Moore, who died in 1805, had a family connection with Jane Austen. She was on visiting terms with his widow and his eldest son, who had married her brother’s sister-in-law. Some of his grandchildren were well known to her.

Lambeth Palace, on the south bank of the Thames, has been the London home of all Archbishops of Canterbury since the 13th century, and is still used as such. There is a chapel within the palace for the Archbishop’s use but additionally, until the 1970s, services were held in a small adjoining church of medieval origin, known as St Mary’s-atLambeth. It was then considered redundant and deconsecrated; for a few years there was danger of demolition, but a new use was found for it and its surrounding churchyard. It is now home to the Garden Museum, a small but charming green oasis for visitors in the busy heart of London.