demolished
by Wyatt, stood at the east end of the building on the north side of
the Lady Chapel, with which it was connected by openings cut in the
main wall. This chapel was one of those of which Fuller so quaintly
wrote, "A chantry was what we call in grammar an adjective, unable to
stand of itself, and was therefore united for better support to some
... church." An addition to the building in a much later style, it was
founded by Margaret (daughter and sole heir of William, Lord
Botreaux,) in 1464; she was interred within its walls in 1477. Her
history, too full to note here, is a sad one, the loss of her movable
goods by "fyre" in Amesbury Abbey being but a small incident among her
many troubles. A peculiarly interesting inventory of the ornaments and
furniture that she gave to this chantry has been preserved; it is
printed in Dugdale's "Baronage," vol. ii., p. 207, and also in "The
Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine," vol. xi. The chapel, in the
somewhat florid late Perpendicular style, had a large east window of
five lights, and three of triple lights in its north wall. The outside
was adorned with shields and devices of the family, and crested with
battlements. Within it had a richly-groined roof, and underneath a
large arch cut in the north wall of the Lady Chapel, and therefore
opening into the hall of the chantry, stood the monument of Lord
Hungerford, surmounted by an ornamental four-arched canopy. This altar
tomb, now devoid of the gold and colour that once enriched it, is in
the nave. Its armour, "like a lobster," with its peculiar pattern, its
large shoulders and elbow-pieces, and its jewelled girdle, is quoted
by Meyrick as a very fine example of its period. Above were eight
niches of demi-quatrefoiled arches, with a fascia of quatrefoils
surmounted by a cornice of oak leaves. Between the monument and the
doorway was a series of wall-paintings of great interest. One, "Death
and the Gallant," has been engraved, and the dialogue below it
preserved. As the verses are archaic in spelling, it may be best to
follow a more modern version ("Wilts Archaeological Magazine," vol.
ii., p. 95):

"Alas, Death alas! a blissful thing thou were
If thou wouldst spare us in our lustiness,
And come to wretches that be of heavy cheer
When they thee ask to lighten their distress.
But out, alas, thine own self-willedness
Harshly refuses them that weep and wail
To close their eyes that after thee do