Whalley Abbey Vestments

Although recorded as part of the textile collection, these two vestments are valued separately from the rest of that collection. They were made around 1425 and are of national importance.

The Whalley Abbey vestments at Towneley are part of a set of High Mass vestments, said to have been made for Whalley Abbey around 1425 and brought to Towneley for safekeeping by Sir John Towneley (1473-1540) around 1537 at the time when the Abbey was being closed down by the orders of King Henry VIII.

The chasuble and one of the dalmatics were offered at auction by a descendant, Maurice, 3rd Lord O'Hagan, in 1922 and purchased by Burnley Corporation and returned to Towneley. In September 1923, Lord O'Hagan offered to sell Burnley Corporation the second dalmatic but the offer was refused and it was eventually purchased by Sir William Burrell.

Probably the earliest public display of the Whalley Abbey vestments, rather than as part of a church service was at Burnley Mechanics in December 1894, as part of 21st anniversary of the founding of the Burnley Literary and Scientific Club. Lady O'Hagan took them from Towneley in 1902 to Pyrgo Park in Essex and they were displayed in London at the Burlington Fine Arts Club exhibition of English Embroidery in 1905. This was the first major exhibition of Opus Anglicanum and the Whalley Abbey vestments were also on display in the next major exhibition on this theme at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1963.

Opus Anglicanum, "English work", is the name given to English embroidery in the mediaeval period that was produced by professional workshops, most of them in London, and bought at great expense by wealthy Europeans. In the middle ages, these works were symbols of great wealth and power for both Princes and Bishops. The great period of opus Anglicanum began in the middle of the 13th century. At this time the whole of a garment might be covered with biblical or heraldic subjects. By the beginning of the 15th century, richly patterned Italian silk brocades and velvets became available and embroidery played a lesser role, being restricted to orphreys, decorative bands, separately embroidered on linen before being added to the finished article.

Today, what mostly survives of Opus Anglicanum are items produced for the church, either preserved in England by Catholic families for secret use after 1558 when the Mass was banned in England, or preserved in Catholic Europe. Almost nothing survives of the large amounts of costumes, bed hangings and the like, produced for the world at large. These items were mostly worn out and discarded. The main significance of the Whalley Abbey vestments is that the chasuble and two dalmatics together represent the only set of English High Mass vestments still remaining from the middle ages. (There is also one pre-reformation (16th century) white damask set at St. John's College, Oxford.)