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| Athenaeum |
Thursday
May 26th, I enjoyed a splendid evening at the Athenaeum
when Robert Lloyd Parry
delivered an exact re-creation
of an important lecture, The Abbey Church at Bury,
given by M. R. James in the self-same Athenaeum on 21 April 1932,
four years before his death.
Dr Richard Hoggett, a
heritage consultant, lecturer and writer,
found the hand-written, pencilled original text among M. R. James’s
papers in Cambridge University Library in
2018 and eventually
published it in 2020. He introduced the Thursday evening performance
with an interesting
resume of James’s distinguished academic life which saw him as Vice
Chancellor of Cambridge University [briefly],
Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum and from 1918 to 1936, Provost
of Eton College. James was a fine mediaeval scholar with wide-ranging academic interests
though, above all, he had a life-long fascination with St Edmund’s Abbey and,
after extensive research on
his passion, published a
seminal two-part volume on the Abbey in
1895, applauded as the single most important piece of research by an
individual since the Dissolution
of the Monasteries. James
became the leading expert on the Abbey mediaeval manuscripts and the
history and lay-out of the great abbey.
During his research, he uncovered a reference in an Abbey register in
Douai to the burial places of several of the early
Abbots. This eventually led,
in 1902/3, to excavations in the Chapter House, pinpointed
by James’s research, when
the graves of five
abbots were duly unearthed
together with a sixth,
uncoffined. The skeletons were lifted, studied and photographed
before being replaced with solemn ceremony. New stone lids were made
by local masons, Hanchets, inscribed with the abbots’
names and placed over the coffins, where they can be seen today.
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| Robert Lloyd Parry as M. R. James |
In
fact, during his lifetime, M. R. James was most popularly
known
for his highly-regarded ghost stories and Thursday evening’s
performance actor, Robert Lloyd Parry, arrived at his
interest in James’s academic revelations through performing his
peerless ghost stories in public. He has brought solo performances of, and documentaries about, M. R. James’s creative work to a wide
audience and his Thursday evening appearance in Bury was evidence of
both his
dramatic skills and his
strong feeling
for his subject. The
audience felt they were hearing James himself talking about his huge
scholarly passion for the history of the Abbey. A superb performance.
The
audience was welcomed to this special event by the Chairman, Adrian
Tindall, of the Abbey of St Edmund Heritage Partnership which
promoted the performance, supported financially by the Bury Society.
For
me, personally, Thursday’s occasion was an excellent opportunity to look around the inside of the Athenaeum for the first time. It is one of the town's most iconic buildings, purpose-built in the early 18th century as the Assembly Rooms where people could meet to play cards and attend balls. Subsequently, it was re-named the Athenaeum in 1854 enabling the Grade 1 listed building to become available for hire. The stunning spaces within include the Georgian ballroom with its chandeliered ceiling and grand decor, while outside, the entrance is entitled, 'Subscriptions', a Dickensian touch one feels. Famous names associated with public readings and performances there include, indeed, Charles Dickens and also, Oscar Wilde.
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The five stone coffins, burial places for five Abbotts.
Revealed on January 1st, 1903 in the Chapter House.
The five were Abbotts Sampson, Richard de Insula,
Henry, Edmund de Walpole, and Hugo. |
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Montague Rhodes James
1862-1936.
He described his famous appearance at the
Athenaeum, as having given 'a vast,
stirring lecture.' |
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1903 First edition of James's
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. |
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