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Prior Leschman's Chantry, upper screens & painted panels
chantry | furniture
oak
old dark much carved
East side three tall painted panels over one wide one (with Resurrection witnessed by kneeling man in late Mediæval dress saying something but text lost). On left: Instruments of The Passion.
North side 16 uprights – of these, seven very plain and may reflect losses over the centuries. No upper tracers. Retains elaborate outer attached buttresses with upper parts set at 45° to screen. Two only retain upper crocketed finials.
South side, facing presbytery 13 upright at some intervals – the south screen being shorter to allow for the entrance at its west end. Here nine upper areas retain open tracery making up four and a half pairs above ogee arches. Only one upright (next to last on west) is plain. The Chantry is partly roofed over approx. its eastern half. One slight beam connects west ends of south and north screens.
Carved in the wooden beam above the retable is the name ‘The Lady Katherine Fenwick’; see “A Cruel Litany of Betrayal” by Stephen Marchant in The Northumbrian No.58 Oct/Nov 2000 [HEXAB5014] pp39–41.
Original central ceiling boss missing, drawn from a cast in London by Hodges [HEXAB3174]. Stone carvings drawn by Kathleen Sisterson [HEXAB5138.1]. See carving of St Christopher(?) [HEXAB6506.1]
c1500
In 1858 damaged while being moved from its former position on the N side of the Chancel to the N bay of the S Transept E aisle [see photograph HEXAB9019.17]. Restored to its former position in 1908.
1858. “The Leschman chantry was pulled to pieces and placed in the south transept. It was considerably shortened, some portions were destroyed; it was also turned round and the altar-tomb and effigy placed inside the chapel.” [Hodges, Monograph 1888, p.53.] “Novr 19th. Returned bosses of Prior Richard's Shrine to Robson the Clerk, which I had borrowed.” [Table-Book, Fairless, p.1.]
1859: “Feb. Part of Prior Richd shrine taken away.” [Joseph Fairless, Table-Book pt.1 p.1]
A faculty was applied for a sanctuary lamp, a gift, in the Leschman Chantry on the 28th October 1912.
1991: “New low voltage lighting installed in Ogle & Leschman Chantries” [Churchwardens Record HEXAB9535 p67, 10 Nov]
East panels H 2140, W 1800, D max. c. 150 | South Screen H 1980 L 3250 W c. 140 intervals centre to centre uprights 210 | North screen H 1970 L 3940 | West filler: H 990 L 250 hollow buttress with upper blind
Chancel/Presbytery
1907. Faculty: 21 November. … 8. The restoration of Prior Leschman's and the Ogle Chantries and refixing thereof in their original positions in the ancient choir. NRO Faculty Book No.1, no.316; and NRO EP.184/80.
1961: “(2) To restore the Mediæval Panel Paintings”; Faculty Regr. no.3. Faculty no. 2195, 10.7.1961
See also URL: www.hexhamabbey.org.uk

HEXAB213.9Hover on
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St Peter
painted-panel | flat art
wood
St Peter. The red background originally had fleur-de-lis stencils, but they do not survive well. There is obvious use of a red ochre pigment, and gilding is only present in the halo.
Consists of two boards with vertical boards. Appears structurally stable. The paint barbs along the edges fit the framework, i.e. no alterations to this relationship has been effected since painting. The surface presents remnants of non-original whitewash, and a lot of wax present in join, most likely added in connection with a consolidation campaign.
15th cent
St Peter is depicted in another panel: HEXAB203.7; and seven times in windows: HEXAB1405, HEXAB1407.1, HEXAB1418.1 (twice), HEXAB1418.3, HEXAB1418.5, & HEXAB1423
Chancel/Presbytery/Leschman Chantry

HEXAB213.10Hover on
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St Andrew
painted-panel | flat art
wood
St Andrew with his cross in his right hand and a closed book with clasp in his left. Losses to the paint scheme shows that a white ground is present. This panel has a large amount of missing paint, especially in Andrew's cross. Sporadic retouching is present, but is now very badly matched to the original.
Evidence of a clinker construction between the two boards making up this panel. The jointing method appears to be bird's-mouth.
15th cent
Andrew the Apostle was born between 5 and 10 AD in Bethsaida, in Galilee. The New Testament states that Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter, and likewise a son of Jonah. Andrew is said to have been martyred by crucifixion at the city of Patras (Patræ) in Achaea, in AD 60. Andrew's relics were probably brought to Britain in 597 as part of the Augustine Mission, and then in 732 to Fife, by Bishop Acca of Hexham, a well-known collector of religious relics. Andrew is Patron Saint of fishermen, fishmongers, rope-makers, textile workers, singers, miners, pregnant women, butchers, farm workers, protection against sore throats, protection against convulsions, protection against fever, protection against whooping cough, Russian Navy.
St Andrew is also depicted in two other panels, HEXAB133.24 & HEXAB203.14, and in stained glass: thrice at the top of HEXAB1407, in HEXAB1417, HEXAB1418.1 (twice), & HEXAB1418.5
Chancel/Presbytery/Leschman Chantry

HEXAB213.11Hover on
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St Paul
painted-panel | flat art
wood
St Paul: right hand holding the handle of a sword resting on the ground, and left hand holding a well-filled red bag.
The two boards making up this panel appear to have been joined with a bird's-mouth joint. This panel presents flaking of the whitewash layer, revealing original green and red paint of the underlying paint scheme. Clear evidence of death watch beetle activity is visible, and possibly active, on the back of the St Paul panel.
15th cent
St Paul is also depicted in HEXAB203.10 and in stained glass: HEXAB1421
Chancel/Presbytery/Leschman Chantry

HEXAB213.12Hover on
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Retable: Resurrection with Prior Leschman
painted-panel | flat art
wood
A scene of the Man of Sorrows, standing in the tomb and surrounded by symbols of the Passion (the pillar with cords and scourge, a right hand [of Judas?] pointing to the thirty pieces of silver, although only twenty-five can be seen, a hammer and pincers, the cross with the seamless robe draped over it, three dice, the ladder, the spear, and a sponge on a reed) and worshipped by the kneeling figure of the donor, Prior Leschman (the scroll above his head bearing the words of his prayer is now blank).
The figure of St Mary Magdalene, represented because she was first to arrive at the tomb, is kneeling on the right.
Carved in the wooden beam above the retable is the name ‘The Lady Katherine Fenwick’; see “A Cruel Litany of Betrayal” by Stephen Marchant in The Northumbrian No.58 Oct/Nov 2000 [HEXAB5014] pp39–41.
The retable consists of three horizontal boards with a thin chalk ground. The support appears stable. Aspects of the paint scheme includes an underdrawing visible through the paint layers, the use of red lake which has now faded, and gold leaf stencils on the red background. The colour scheme consists of a rather limited palette, which does not include blue. The framework is green (but now not very obviously) with two white or yellow floriated stencils employed for the decoration. The surface appears to have remnants of whitewash paint, which has subsequently been mostly removed.
15th cent
There are instances of historic, 17th-century graffiti, and obvious, deliberate iconoclasm on Christ, donor and donor inscription.
The retable was cleaned and varnished in situ by Pauline Plummer in the 1960s, and retouching applied to losses without prior filling. It is interesting to note that her archives indicate these paintings to have been flaking and in need of consolidation in the 1960s.
Chancel/Presbytery/Leschman Chantry