The most notorious and shocking royal family to rule over England was the Tudors.
The Tudor monarchs despite only ruling for just over a century would change the face
of the country forever, with huge alterations to religion being brought into the nation.
The Tudor times were a time of bloodshed and execution, with some of the most high profile
members of society being brutally killed in the name of the King’s justice.
Henry VIII executed two of his own wives inside the Tower of London, and some of his closest
friends would also meet their maker on Tower Hill.
But Mary I, Henry’s daughter would also instigate a reign of terror in which many
were burned at the stake.
But after the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, the Tudor era came to an abrupt end.
Previous monarchs had envisioned that the House of Tudor would remain on the throne
for centuries after.
Most of the Tudor monarchs were buried inside of Westminster Abbey, and the only real outlier
in this was King Henry VIII who was buried at St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle.
But in the centuries after, the tombs of the Tudor monarchs were opened and broken into,
by a curious dean of Westminster Abbey, who found out some remarkable secrets.
The first foundation stone of Henry VII’s new Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey was put
in place on the 24th January 1503, and two old chapels were demolished to make way for
a huge and magnificent royal mausoleum.
Henry VII would envision that his family and descendants would be buried around him, and
that this new chapel would be the resting place of King’s for centuries to come.
However, a month later, Henry VII’s wife Elizabeth of York died of childbirth at the
Tower of London on her 37th birthday.
The mausoleum was nowhere near complete, so Elizabeth was then interred inside of the
abbey.
Her body would later be reinterred next to her husband’s once everything was complete.
But by the time Henry VII died, the chapel was near completion, and his body was held
at St Paul’s before being brought to Westminster.
The coffin was covered in black velvet, emblazoned with a white satin cross and it was lowered
into a cavernous vault.
However, over the next century, further Tudor Queens and Kings would be interred inside
of the Abbey.
Edward VI the son and heir of King Henry VIII following his early death was buried there,
as was Mary I or Bloody Mary, and Elizabeth I. Westminster Abbey and especially near the
Lady Chapel would also house the remains of Margaret Beaufort, and later Mary Queen of
Scots.
But then centuries later, the Dean of Westminster, Stanley would break into the Tudor vaults,
and he would find great treasures, intrigue and information regarding the burials of the
Tudors.
Dean Stanley and his team initially began to dig west of the Henry VII and Elisabeth
of York monument, in an area which was believed to contain the tomb of Edward VI.
They came across a shallow vault containing one leaden coffin, and it’s appearance was
described as deformed as well as wasted by long corrosion and perhaps by having been
examined before.’
This mean that someone before, had broken into the tomb of the young Tudor King.
This narrow vault was measured as 7.5ft long and 2.5ft wide, and there was no other coffin
found.
Also found was the remains of the lost Torregiano altar, which one sat in front of the west
end of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York’s memorial.
At the time the altar was considered priceless, and it’s believed it was placed in Edward’s
tomb to protect it from the English Civil War and destruction by the Puritans.
Also under the coffin was debris, and the wooden case had been part cleared away, but
at the lower end, the coffin plate of the King was loose and unsoldered and had been
curled up.
It said on it, ‘Edward the sixth by the Grace of God King of England, France and Ireland,
Defender of the Faith and on earth under Christ supreme head of the churches of England and
Ireland and he migrated from this life on the 6th day of July in the evening at the
8th hour in the year of our Lord 1553 and in the 7th year of his reign and in the 16th
year of his age.’
The sad death of Edward VI, Henry VIII’s here and son was recorded as occurring at
8pm on the 6th July 1553.
The plate was then placed back into the grave, but the artwork was then placed back to it’s
original position.
At the time, Dean Stanley wasn’t looking necessarily for a Tudor King, but a Stuart
one and the remains of King James I.
He looked in every possible other place in the Abbey, but then he came across the tomb
at the head of the chapel.
He would break into the vault of the first Tudor monarchs, Henry VII and Elizabeth of
York.
It was said in the Abbey’s Register that James I was buried alongside the two monarchs,
but this was rejected.
At the time there was no evidence of the floor being disturbed, and it was believed at the
time that the founders of the Tudor dynasty had been left for centuries.
Dean Stanley then began to open up a narrow space close to the vault of Edward VI, and
immediately they realised this earth had been disturbed before.
As the earth was cleared, they found a stone step, and further brickwork which opened up
the entrance to the tomb.
The tomb which had not been opened in almost 400 years.
Arthur Stanley said, ‘It was with a feeling of breathless anxiety amounting to solemn
awe, which caused the humblest of workmen employed to whisper in baited breath, as the
small opening at the apex of the arch admitted the first glimpse into the mysterious secret
which had hitherto eluded this long search.’
They shone a light, and they managed to reveal three coffins.
Two of them were dark and grey with age, but the third was brighter and newer.
The darker ones were laid, and the newer was still in it’s wooden case, and it had an
inscription on the lid.
To enter the tomb, Stanley and his workmen continued to reveal the loose brickwork, which
was very small.
They measured the vault as being 8ft 10 inches long, and 5 ft wide and 4.5ft high.
Stanley said when the vault was opened he got a deadly chill, but there lying on the
north side was the elusive James I’d coffin.
But interestingly the Stuart King was buried next to Elizabeth of York and Henry VII, and
it was deemed fit to place his remains with the founders of the Tudor dynasty.
Both of the Tudor Monarch’s coffins were led, and the whole of the wood casing had
been removed before.
This had been done deliberately during James I’d internment to make space for the Stuart
King’s coffin.
Each Tudor coffin was shaped at the head and shoulders and it ran down.
Elizabeth’s was marked with a Maltese Cross, and to her right was Henry VII her husband,
and an inscription plate read, ‘Here lies Henry VII, King of England, France and Ireland,
who died the 21st Day of April in the 24th year of his reign and in the year of our Lord,
1509.’
Inside of the vault, there were burial urns found and also further treasures including
silk, but also graffiti marking where someone else had also been inside the vault.
Etched onto the vault and the lead was ‘John Ware,’ and the initials EC, and the date
1645, the year that James I was interred in the vault.
The vault was yet again closed, and Dean Arthur Stanely had got what he wanted.
But there were two more Tudor monarchs buried inside of Westminster Abbey, those being Mary
I and Elizabeth I. Initially Elizabeth I’s body had been deposited in the vault occupied
by Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, but in 1607 her coffin was moved to the same location
as Bloody Mary I’s, her half sister.
The removal of the Queen’s body cost 46 shillings and 4 pence, and a magnificent monument
to her was made by James I. Stanley would survey the burial of Elizabeth and Mary, and
he would come across the narrow vault containing two coffins, Elizabeth placed on top of Mary.
He said there was ‘no disorder or decay,’ except the centring wood, and that the uppermost
coffin had fallen in, and some of the sides were crumbling which had drawn away part of
the decaying lid.’
No coffin plate was present, but there was a Tudor rose carved, which had the initials
ER carved beneath the year 1603.
This was Elizabeth I’d coffin, and she had been laid directly on the mortal remains of
her half sister Mary I, which was unique but symbolised her importance over her half sister.
With this, Arthur Stanley the Dean of Westminster had broken in and examined all of the Tudor
tombs containing monarchs inside of the abbey.
There were more Tudors buried inside of the abbey, and there were also important figures
such as Anne of Cleves who were buried.
But the curious Dean had been given permission to do this work by Queen Victoria, and at
the time there was a rebirth in intrigue in the past, and in History, and in particular
in the Tudors.
It’s likely that he would have invited visitors into the Abbey to see the burial places of
these monarchs, and today the vaults containing the tudors still remain in place.
It’s believed that this was the last time that the burials were disturbed, and that
the secret Tudor vaults of Westminster Abbey, have remained sealed since then.
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